Avery Arc hitectural and Fine Arts Library Gift of Seymour B. Durst Old York Library THREE YEARS INT NORTH AMERICA. LONDON: GILBERT & RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE. THREE YEARS NORTH AMERICA. BV JAMES STUART, Esq. ' The true state of every nation is the state of common life." Samuel Johnson. THIRD EDITION, REVISED. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. EDINBURGH : PRINTED FOR ROBERT CADELL, EDINBURGH ; AND WHITTAKER AND CO. LONDON. MDCCCXXXIII. PREFACE. If the following pages have any merit, it con- sists merely in their conveying, in plain lan- guage, a faithful and candid representation of the facts which the Author observed and noted in the places where they presented themselves. He has not been accustomed to write for the press, and makes no pretensions to literary attainments. The observations which he made in America are now given to the public, solely from a conviction that they furnish a greater variety of minute details regarding the every-day habits, and the social condition of the people, in those parts of the United States which he visited, than can be found in any similar publication a 3 vi PREFACE. of recent date. The statements and docu- ments with which the reader is here presented will also tend, it is to be hoped, to expose the mistakes of some late writers, who seem to have visited these States under the influence of strong prejudices and preconceived opinions. Though the Author travelled wholly free, as he thinks, from any such biases, and with an earnest desire to inform himself aright as to the matters to which he directed his attention, he cannot but be sensible that a stranger must occasionally fall into errors, when writing of a country of such vast extent, where the customs of the people, and many of the institutions, not only differ essentially from those with which he has previously been acquainted, but are in fact very different in the United States themselves. The Author farther hopes that his Notes will be found to contain such information, geographical and historical, as travellers gene- rally wish to possess respecting a country PREFACE. vii which they may have occasion to visit, as well as hints, which may be of some value to emigrants from Europe to the United States, — especially to the State of Illinois, and the other parts of the great valley of the Missis- sippi. Perhaps, too, these pages may not be without use in directing future travellers from Europe as to the route they should follow, in order to see the objects of greatest interest in the United States, or in enabling them to make those inquiries to which their peculiar pursuits have reference. The form of a Journal, preserving dates, and occasionally referring to individuals, where that could be done without any breach of de- licacy or propriety, is adhered to, as affording the best evidence of accuracy and authen- ticity, as well as possessing other advantages. Several of the most popular American writers on Great Britain have followed this course. It affords in many cases data, from which the public may form an opinion of the probable viii PREFACE. correctness of the statements laid before them, and the weight to be attached to them. The Author has made great use of Mr. Darby's View of the United States, and of Mr. Timothy Flint's Geography and History of the Western States ; both of them valuable works, and very necessary companions for travellers in the countries described. He has also availed himself freely of the information contained in such other works as he could confide in ; particularly Count Marbois' very instructive History of Louisiana. Owing to his distance from the press, and other circumstances, he fears that some ble- mishes of style may have been left uncor- rected ; but if he shall be thought to have succeeded in his main objects, he will not feel much disturbed by criticisms bearing only upon such defects. London, December, 1832. CONTENTS OF VOL. I. CHAPTER I. Fro7n IGth July to 23d August, 1828. PAGE Voyage from Liverpool to New York, and arrival at New York 1 CHAPTER II. From 23d to 28th August. Bay, Harbour, and City of New York — Buildings — Customs — Manners 14 CHAPTER III. August, 1828. Voyage in Steam-boat North America to Albany — River Hudson — Steam Navigation 34 CHAPTER IV. 29tk August. Albany — Erie Canal 50 CHAPTER V. Fj'om 30th August to '[st September. Journey from Albany to Auburn — Canal-boat — Stage 64 CONTEXTS. CHAPTER YI. 2d September, 1828. PAGE State-Prison at Auburn — Details — Want of such a Prison in Britain 86 CHAPTER YII. Fro7n 2d September to 9th September, Journey from Auburn by Cayuga and Seneca Lakes, Geneva, and Canandaigua, to Bufialo on Lake Erie 114 CHAPTER VIII. Froj)i 9th to 17th September, Journey from Bufialo to Falls of Niagara — Actions during the last War between the British and Americans near Niagara Falls — Canada — Lake Ontario 13G CHAPTER IX. From ITfh to 20th September. Journey from Canada to Glen's Falls, near Saratoga Springs, in the State of New York — Lake Champlain — Lake George — High Sheriff* of the County of Warren 164 CHAPTER X. From 27th September to ^\st October. Saratoga Springs — General Burgoyne's Campaign — Ballston Spa 189 CHAPTER XL bih November, 1828. General Election for the State of New York — Details of general Government, and of Elections 231 CONTENTS. xi CHAPTER XII. November, 1829. PAGE State of Agriculture in New York State — Mr. Stimson's Farm 254 CHAPTER XIII. From 2]st November, 1828, to March, 1829. Journey from Ballston Spa to Albany, to the Village of the Shakers, to Northampton, and to Boston — Boston — Details — Scene of the Commencement of the American Revolution 282 CHAPTER XIV. fVinter, 1829. Schools — Free Schools — System of Education in Connecticut and New England — Number of Persons educated contrasted with number in Britain and Ireland — Judicial Proceedings at Bos- ton—Trials for Libel 321 CHAPTER XV From 20th April to 2d May, 1829. Journey from Boston to New York by Providence, Hartford, and Newhaven, and Long Island Sound 357 CHAPTER XVI. May, 1829. J ourney to Philadelphia — Miss Wright's Lectures — Naval Yard — Baltimore — Washington and Annapolis — Mount Vernon — Return to Vicinity of New York 370 Xll CONTENTS. ^ CHAPTER XVII. May, JuneyJuhj, August, and September, 1829. PAGE Excursions to Neighbourhood of New York — Staten Island — Camp-Meeting in Long Island — Pine Orchard- House — West Point Academy and Fort Putnam, &c. — Further Details of New York — New Rot hell e 400 CHAPTER XVIII. September and October, 1829. Excursion by Land along the East Side of the Hudson River from New York to Troy 455 CHAPTER XIX. October, 1829. Return by Land by the west side of the Hudson to New York, and New Rochelle * • • • 491 CHAPTER XX. December and January, 1830. Residence at Hoboken near New York — Details of New York and Vicinity .... e 513 THREE YEARS IN NORTH AMERICA. CHAPTER I. Voyage from Liverpool to New York — Days of sailing of Packets — Passage Money — Passengers — Crew — Details — Gulf-stream — Arrival at New York — Pilot- Boat. From I6ih July to 23c? August 1828. I SHOULD pass over the five weeks' voyage from Li- verpool to New York with very little notice, if I knew to what publication to direct those, who may be de- sirous, before undertaking the same voyage, to obtain the requisite information, respecting the sort of ship in which they must spend some time, the accommodation, the style of living, and similar details. I had looked in vain for explanations of this nature into some of the recent publications of travellers in America, but I was not even able to learn from them the days on which the regular packet ships from Liverpool to New York sail. I found, on reaching Liverpool, on 15th July, 1828, that, wind and weather serving, they depart VOL. I. B 2 LIVERPOOL. regularly from Liverpool and from New York on the 1st, 8th, 16th, and 24tli days of every month. The passage money from Liverpool to New York is thirty- five guineas, paid on agreeing for the passage, and includes every charge for provisions, wine, spirits, and liquor of all kinds. From New York to Liverpool the passage money is only thirty guineas ; the voyage to Europe, owing to the greater prevalence of westerly winds, and the favourable influence of the stream from the Gulf of Mexico, being made in the packet ships, on an average of voyages, in twenty-five, while the voyage to the westward generally occupies forty days. We secured our passage, soon after our arrival at Liverpool, in the packet William Thomson, Captain George Maxwell, — a w^ell know^n ship, — Mathews, the comedian, having crossed the Atlantic in her, and cele- brated her, and her captain and owners, on his stage. The packet ships are of the burden of from 400 to 500 tons, generally about 500 tons. I was surprised to be told at Liverpool, that the packet ships are all Ame- rican built, and that British ships are generally a fourth more time at sea, in making this voyage, than Ameri- cans. The latter are sharper in the bows, and not so stout, and of course sail quicker than the former ; but the former, be it observed, will stand a harder knock, in case of collision, or of getting ashore. The British attend more to the capacity of the vessel to carry a large cargo, and to her stability, than to the rate at which she is to sail. At least so I was told at Liverpool, and had the information confirmed on the passage. PASSENGERS. 3 We sailed in the forenoon of 16th July, towed out of the Mersey by a steam-boat, under the charge of a pilot, as far as the floating light at the mouth of the river. We were speedily summoned to luncheon, at which all the passengers appeared. There were four- teen of us, viz. in the ladies' cabin, a British officer on his way to Canada, his lady, and their female ser- vant ; an unmarried English lady, on her way to visit a brother settled in the interior of the United States ; my wife, and myself ; and in the large cabin, six gen- tlemen resident in the United States, two of them natives of England, one South American, and one Scotch gentleman, who accompanied us. There were only two steerage passengers. The cr^w, exclusive of the captain, consisted of two mates, the first mate, from the island of Nantucket, off the coast of New England, — a hardy and excellent seaman, and a good specimen of Yankee independ- ence, — sixteen men and a boy, of various nations, English, Irish, American, Norwegian, Prussian, and French. The three stewards and two cooks were men of colour. Our total number was thus thirty-one. There are sleeping places for thirty passengers in the cabins of the William Thomson, the length of the two cabins, which are thirty-one feet broad, being about sixty feet ; but the state rooms, as the sleeping closets are called, are too narrow, which is generally the case in packet and merchant ships. I should have given the same character to the beds, if I had not been told on board of our packet, that they are purposely B 2 4 REGULAR PACKETS. contracted, to prevent accidents happening, by the in- mates falling out of bed in a rolling sea. It is no less singular, than true, that, notwithstanding the obvious convenience of having regular packets across the Atlan- tic, no such establishment was set about for above 150 years after the di/scovery of America. The first packets sailed between Corunnaand the Havannah in 1764, and as soon as the American revolution was accomplished, monthly packets were established between New York and Havre de Grace. Now there are regular packets between various ports in the United States, and Liver- pool, London, Hull, Belfast, Havre, &c. No Custom-house examination of baggage or effects took place on our leaving Liverpool. The wind blew from the south when we got out of the Mersey. Captain Maxwell, therefore, at once de- cided on proceeding by the north of Ireland. The northern channel is in some places narrow. The first mate had never passed through it ; and I found that the captain hardly quitted the deck, even during the night, till we were clear of it. Off Belfast, w^e hailed the ship Fabius, going into that port, after a voyage of only eighteen days from New York. It was very fortunate that Captain Maxwell adopted the northern course, as we eventually had a far shorter passage than the ships w^hich left Liverpool with us, and for some days previously, that went by the South of Ireland. The wind for the first part of the voyage was favourable, and a fine breeze, so that we sailed at the rate of from seven to nearly nine knots an DETAILS OF VOYAGE. 3 hour for the first two or three days. The first quarter of the passage, the whole distance being computed at about 3400 miles, was passed in six, and the second in nine days. Calms and contrary winds, fogs, and changes of weather, which prevail in crossing the New- foundland bank and Gulf-stream, detained us at sea for twenty-three days longer. We were caught in two or three squalls, none of them very severe, lost a royal top-gallant-m^st when it was blowing fresh, and we were • carrying perhaps too much canvas; had our breakfast equipage tossed about one morning by a sea breaking into the cabin; and were for four or five days annoyed by the rolling of the vessel, occasioned by a contrary wind, which laid her so much on one side as to give some alarm to the ladies ; but I have witnessed far more unpleasant weather on a voy- age between London and Leith, and been exposed to a more disagreeable swell during north-easterly gales, in the old fashioned Kingliorn ferry-boats of the Frith of Forth, than on this voyage across the great Atlan- tic. Many of the passengers had made the voyage again and again ; some of them in the same ship ; and they seemed all to agree in opinion, that, from April to October inclusive, it rarely happens that the weather is such as to cause much uneasiness to passengers in the packet ships, who are at all reasonable people, and not disposed to be frightened at their own shadows. Captain Maxwell was most assiduous in his atten- tions to all, and made us feel quite at home from the first day of the voyage, treating us exactly as his B 3 6 LIBRARY. guests, whom he wished to call for, and enjoy every good thing he had provided for us. He left it to the passengers to arrange the hours of meals; and they decided, that we should have breakfast at half- past eight, luncheon at twelve, diimer at four, and tea at seven. The table was excellent, — quite as good, in all respects, as at well-managed hotels in London or Edinburgh. Liquors of all kinds, port, sherry, Madeira, and claret, with champagne three or four times a week, and porter, cider, soda water, brandy, whisky, &c. without any other charge than the pas- sage money. There was a cow on board, which sup- plied us with many luxuries ; and we had plenty of live stock to the very end of the voyage. Captain Maxwell had provided a small library in the large cabin Jfor the use of the passengers. Reading and w^alking on deck occupied our forenoons. We ge- nerally spent about two hours at dinner. And in the evening, after a walk on deck, there was a rubber at whist for those who liked it. Some amusement was afforded by our daily stock exchange meetings for buy- ing and selling tickets in a lottery, the prize in whicli was destined to the holder of the ticket, marked with the day of the month, on which we should receive the pilot, who was to conduct us through the channel to New York. We had each of us early in the voyage subscribed a small sum, and drawn two of thirty-two tickets, marked with one of sixteen days and nights, on which our arrival on the American coast was considered to be possible. The tickets were continually varying MOTHER Carey's chickens. 7 in value, as the weather led us to expect a longer or shorter passage. Towards the end of the voyage, a calm, or contrary wind, occasioned a depression in value of one ticket, and the corresponding elevation of another to as great an extent as in other times, and in other funds, — Lord Rodney's victory, or the battle of Waterloo. No occurrence of extraordinary interest befel us during the voyage ; but there were many new sights for those who had been little at sea previously. We were, as I understand is usual, very generally followed for the sake of the garbage thrown from the ship, by many small birds, called, why I know not. Mother Carey's chickens. They are never observed to approach the shore, exchanging a homeward bound for an outward bound ship, on drawing near the land. It has never, I believe, been ascertained where they breed. The Argonauta, or Nautilus, called by the sailors the Portuguese Man-of-war, was often seen by iis in fine weather. It is a sea snail, which possesses the faculty of swimming or diving. Its appearance, in sunshine, being of a light violet colour, is very beautiful. As soon as a storm commences, it draws into its shell, taking in as much water as will carry it to the bottom ; and on the approach of fine weather, reascends to the surface, putting up a small sail, and guiding its move- ments by its tail as a rudder. We had very calm weather for a day or two, when passing the Newfoundland banks, and amused ourselves B 4 8 GULF-STREAM. in fisliing. Some excellent cod were caught, and a greater supply obtained in exchange for salted pork, and other articles, from a Nova Scotia fishing smack, whose crew, with unshaven beards, were most bar- barous-looking persons, ignorant of their longitude and latitude, and even of the day of the month and week. Whales, porpoises, and sharks, were frequently in sight, and bore us company for a considerable way. The first mate, with great dexterity, harpooned one of the porpoises. The sharks were sometimes prevailed on to follow us by throwing a piece of meat occasion- ally overboard to them. The winds were light and variable, and the weather sometimes foggy, at the period of our crossing the Gulf-stream, so that good opportunities occurred for observing its remarkable phenomena. Our approach to it was, as usual, foretold by weeds floating about the ship ; and soon afterwards the current of this great oceanic river, as Darby very properly styles it, and the change of temperature of the water of the ocean, from cold to heat, became sufficiently apparent to all. The current issuing from the southern part of the coast of Florida runs at the rate of about five miles an hour, decreasing in velocity in its progress to the north as it extends in breadth, and proceeding at a distance of from twenty to thirty leagues from the American shore, till it meets the Arctic currents from Davis's Straits, when its course is diverted to the east and south-east. Its breadth, of forty or fifty miles on the North American AURORA BOREALIS. 9 coast, increases to about 160 leagues at the Azores, from which it runs by the Straits of Gibraltar, Madeira, and the coast of Africa, to about the latitude of Cape Verd, at which, mixing with the tropical current, it is carried to the west, and impelled by the trade wind, which always blows from east within the tropics, into the Gulf of Mexico, through the Caribbean Sea, and thence between Cuba and Yucatan. It then rushes into the Atlantic by the channel of Florida, and the Bahama islands, and thus completes its course. This prodigious w^hirlpool has a circumference of about 15,000 miles. It was unknow^n to Columbus, and for about a century after the discovery of America, when it w^as first of all observed by Sir Francis Drake. But, which is singular, the warmth of its tempera- ture, and its effect on the climate of the adjoining country, remained unnoticed, until about half a cen- tury ago. The excess of heat in the stream over the contiguous w^ater, varies from about eight to twenty degrees, diminishing, of course, as the stream recedes from the gulf. We found the difference from eight to ten degrees on our voyage. The water becomes colder, as its depth lessens on the banks adjoining, so that the thermometer is in fact almost as necessary an instru- ment as the compass for the mariner, in crossing the stream and the banks. The stream itself is unfathom- able ; but the banks formed by the deposit alongside of it, require the navigator's constant care. The light of the aurora borealis exhibited very curious and striking effects on the evening of the B 5 10 SEA-SICKNESS. 14tli of August. Land, water, islands, in all variety of form, became, as we thought, so distinctly visible, that we could hardly convince ourselves that our senses were imposed on, and that we were still in the midst of the ocean. The phosphorescence of the sea, when greatly agitated, was greater on the voyage than I had before observed it. It is hardly visible when the water is at rest. The singular appearance of ships in the air, when the weather is hazy, so that the horizon is not clearly distinguishable, often occurred. We had frequent opportunities of satisfying ourselves of the spherical shape of the earth, by noticing how invaria- bly we lost sight of the hulls of the ships before their sails and top-masts disappeared, and got the first sight of the masts and sails of ships about to meet us. But not one of the sights that were new to us delighted us so much as the brilliancy of the sunsets and moonshine on the ocean at this fine season of the year. None of us, who have any relish for the beauties of nature, can ever forget them. There was less sea-sickness among the passengers than I had expected. Four of them, one of whom had never been at sea before, were entirely free of it. One of the ladies, who was well informed, and agreeable, was unfortunately the only severe suflFerer. We had calm weather, however, near the conclusion of the passage, when she regained her health and spirits, and became a great addition to our society. Most of us found our taste, both as to what we ate and drank, more capricious than usual ; but a good appetite, espe-^ AMERICAN SEAMEN. 11 daily at dinner, was pretty universal; and, unless for cathartics, very generally useful at sea, recourse was not had to the apothecary's shop during the voyage, except for one of the seamen, who had an aguish attack near the end of it. The duty of the seamen was performed with as much alertness and quietness, as was possible, had we been on board of a man-of-war. There was not a high word, nor the slightest appearance of ill-humour in any quarter, nor did we ever hear an oath during the voyage. Many a chat we had relative to the prospects of the United States, and the situation of Great Britain and of Europe politically; but our discussions were never pursued too far, although we had enough of combustible matter of all sorts on board, republicans as well as zealous whigs, radicals, and even ultra tories, and one American young gentleman, hardly in his teens, who had every particular of the New Orleans battle, and of the American naval engagements, by heart. Yet, I believe, we all separated, pleased with each other, and in the hope that it might be our lot to meet again. The morning of the 23d of August w^as rather un- favourable for our course : but a breeze from the eastward having sprung up in the forenoon. Captain Maxwell announced to us about eleven o'clock, that he expected that we should very soon see land. About half an hour afterwards, the hills of Neversink, on the Jersey coast, which rise 300 or 400 feet above the sea, the nearest high grounds to the fortified cape, called B 6 12 NEW YORK. Sandyliook, the point of entry to New York bay on the south, were descried. Nowhere is the triumph of science more remarkable than on such an occasion as this, when, after a voyage of 3000 or 4000 miles, out of sight of land for about a month, we regain the first glimpse of it at the very spot the nearest to our des- tined port. Sir Humplirey Davy justly remarks, that the results of intellectual labour, or of scientific genius, are per- manent, and incapable of being lost. Monarchs change their plans, governments their objects, a fleet or an army effect their purpose, and then pass away ; but a piece of steel touched by the magnet preserves its cha- racter for ever, and secures to man the dominion of the trackless ocean. The dominion of the Britons in Asia may share the fate of that of Tamerlane; but the steam-boat which ascends the Delaware, the Missis- sippi, and the St. Lawrence, will continue to be used, and will carry the civilization of an improved people into the deserts of North America, and into the wilds of Canada. The breeze increased, and all was bustle, the pas- sengers busying themselves in selecting such parts of their baggage as they required to take ashore with them: for the next day, the 24th5 being Sunday, clearances for landing their effects could not be got at the Custom-hoase till ^Monday. Before we passed the floating buoy without Sandy- hook, a pilot boat came alongside, and the pilot ascend- ed the ship's side. He immediately issued his orders PILOT-BOAT. 13 as commander of the ship. From him \ve learned that the Manchester packet ship, which left Liverpool on 1st July, had not yet reached New York. The Wil- liam Byrne packet ship, which left Liverpool on 8th July, eight days before us, had been in our sight for two or three days, and was now a few leagues astern of us. The pilot-boat was schooner-rigged, decked, and neatly painted. Some of us could not help con- trasting her appearance and that of the pilot, with those we had been accustomed to see in the Frith of Forth ; — the contrast, we are obliged to admit, is not a little in favour of the western side of the Atlantic. The pilot is an intelligent well-dressed person : in short, a gentleman in appearance and manners, as we should say. There could not be a more charming afternoon, nor a more cloudless sky, than when we passed Sandy- hook, and got the first peep of the delightful scene within it. 14 NEW YORK. CHAPTER II. The Bay, Harbour, and City of New York — City Hotel— Climate — Facilities of intercourse with the interior — River Hudson — Erie Canal — Long Island Sound, &c. — Population and Trade of New York — Steam Navigation — Situation of New York on Manhattan Island — Broadway — City Hall — Frequent fires — The Battery — Mer- chants' Exchange — Post Office — Churches — Theatres — Hackney Coaches — Manners — Dress — Custom-House — Accommodation at Hotel — Provisions — Breakfast — Supply of Water — Language — News- papers — Advertising — Lotteries — Republican Customs. From 23d August to 28th August. Sandyhook is about eighteen miles from New York. We had hardly got wuthin it, when a light- looking small boat, belonging to some of the news- paper offices, came along side, and exchanged some New York papers, just published, for the latest Eng- lish papers in our possession. I had heard much of the beauty of the approach to New York from the sea ; but the reality altogether ex- ceeded my expectation. It is undoubtedly one of the most magnificent scenes in the world. I know of no more happy disposition of land and water, nor such variety of marked and pleasing features anywhere on the shores or rivers of the British islands. Neither the Bay of BAY. 15 Dublin, nor the Isle of Wight, nor the Frith of Forth, or Clyde, present the works of Nature on a grander scale, or in more varied and interesting aspects. That boldness of character which lofty hills and mountains produce is alone wanting. The hills which bound the prospect in three or four directions are nowhere above four or five hundred feet in height. Within Sandyhook, the channel passes through the outer harbour of New York, called Rariton Bay, from one of the great rivers, which discharges itself into it. The bay is skirted by Long Island, and by the shores of New Jersey and Staten Island. About five miles from New York, Long Island and Staten Island ap- proach each other within less than a mile, forming a strait called the Narrows, from the northern part of which the sea \'iew is splendid. — commanding the har- bour, or inner bay of New York, above twenty miles in circumference, with its islands and indented shores: and above all, in the centre of the bay, the Island of Manhattan, on the nearest, or southern, part of which is placed the city of New York, surrounded by its ship- ping. Half a dozen rivers, which in other countries we should call arms of the sea, viz. the Hudson, na^n gable for above 180 miles, the Rariton, Long Island Sound, the Passaic, the Hackensack, pour their waters into those bays, the shores of which, and of the islands, are covered with ornamented villas and orchards. The sun was setting as we darted through the inner bay, decorated with the lightest and most graceful de- scription of sailing boats we had ever seen ; it had just 16 NEW YORK. set when our voyage was completed. The feelings of all the passengers, even of those to whom it was not new, v/ere highly excited by such an exhibition of the beauties of nature, in such an evening, and at the most favourable moment for enjoying it. Words cannot express the delight with which a picture like this is seen by those who understand it. " Who can paint like Nature?" Much of the city is not visible from the water, — the island on which it is built consisting of undulating, but not, in any part, of elevated ground. Still the spires of the churches make a brilliant appearance; gilded by the setting sun, and towering among the trees, which shade the streets, and amongst the masts of the ships, surrounding the city on all sides but the north. The situation of the city, projected into the bay on the southern part of the island, is a very re- markable one. The island, which is twelve or thirteen miles long, by one and a-half broad, has all the ap- pearance of a narrow promontory, open to the sea on all sides but the north, on which it is separated from the adjoining country by the Haerlem river, over which there are long wooden bridges. * As soon as we reached the wharf on the east side of the city, several gentlemen from the Custom-house stepped on board to seal up the doors of the cabins, until the baggage is examined, and to see that the necessary articles to be taken on shore immediately, contain nothing for which any duty is chargeable. Hackney coaches, here called hacks, were in waiting, CLIMATE. 17 and conveyed us, z. e. the party in the ladies' cabin, who had agreed to remain together for a few days, and our friend who accompanied us, to the City hotel, situated in Broadway, the principal street of New York. There are two entrances to this great hotel : the one for the American, and the other for the European side of the house. We are accommodated in the latter, which we find well attended to by an English waiter, formerly at Brookes's Club- House, London. We had hardly got out of the ship, when we were sensible of a prodigious change of temperature. In the ship, the thermometer had seldom been higher than 70 of Fahrenheit. Here it had been for some days at 90, — a degree of heat which is uncommon at any time in this part of the United States, and more especially so late in the season. We were anxious, in so fine an evening, to see something of New York, and sallied forth. But our enjoyment was not of long duration, for the heat was so overpowering, that we were soon forced to re- turn. Nothing could be more gay than the appearance of the streets, especially Broadway, the favourite pro- menade, which is what Queen-street formerly was in Edinburgh in summer evenings, and what Bond-street or Regent-street now is in London; and the shops here called stores, many of them very handsome, and lighted with gas, crowded with the population, whom the excessive warmth had kept in the 'house during the day, also arrested our attention. We have now spent four days in the city, endeavour- ing to see those objects that are pointed out as best 18 NEW YORK. worthy of a traveller's attention ; but tlie weather con- tinues so exceedingly sultry, that we have resolved to discontinue the necessary exertion, and to set out, with- out delay, on a tour to the northern part of the State of New York, and to the Falls of Niagara. I must content myself, therefore, at present, with noticing what struck us as most remarkable, or as differing most from what we had been accustomed to see, in our pere- grinations through the metropolis of the New World. Its situation has been most happily chosen ; in nearly the most central position of the shores of this great con- tinent, wdth a harbour safe and deep, and of unlimited capacity, comprehending, as it does, the mouth of the Hudson itself, — unrivalled in its facilities of intercourse with the interior parts of the country, not merely by means of its sounds and rivers, but by its recently con- structed canals, which, through the exertions of the late governor of this state, De Witt Clinton, were completed and brought into full operation three years ago. The Erie Canal, which will immortalize the name of Clin- ton, begins at that point in the River Hudson, about 160 miles to the northward of New York, w^here the river becomes no longer navigable for vessels of great size. The canal is above 360 miles long, communicat- ing with Lake Erie, wiiich is elevated 568 feet above the Hudson at low water, and, of course, with Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior, the most extensive repository of fresh w^ater on the globe. The successful execution of this great work has led to splendid conti- nuations of the system of w^ater communication, espe- POPULATION. 19 cially to the canal, now far advanced, from Lake Erie to the Ohio, which continues the internal navigation from New York to the Ohio, Missouri, and Mississippi, and of course to Pittsburg, Cincinnati, St. Louis, New Orleans, and the Gulf of Mexico, — a length of internal water communication unparalleled in the world. The Champlain Canal connects New York by Lake Champlain with the St. Lawrence, and Canada. Independent of canals. New York enjoys prodi- gious advantages from her internal seas and rivers. Long Island Sound affords a second channel to the Atlantic, and a safe course to the steam-boats and shipping, to the whole of Long Island, the States of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and Newhaven, Hartford, and Providence. New York Sound, and the contiguous rivers, open the way to the coasts of New Jersey and Staten Island, and, by means of steam navigation, bring Philadelphia within a short day's journey of New York. It is not then to be won- dered at, that with such a situation, the population and trade of New York should have increased in a degree unexampled, since all restrictions were removed at the peace of 1783. The population was then 22,000, and what is worthy of notice, had been pretty stationary for a dozen years preceding. In 1790, seven years after the peace, it had increased to 33,000; in 1800 to 60,000; in 1820 to 123,000; in 1825 to 166,000; and it is now about 200,000, besides the population of 10,000 or 12,000 in the village of Brooklyn, on Long Island, at the distance of a quarter of a mile. No other 20 NEW YORK. city of the United States has increased in a corres- ponding proportion. The vahie of merchandise annually imported and ex- ported is now calculated to exceed one hundred millions of dollars. The post-ofBce revenue has doubled since I8IO5 being then sixty, and now 121,000 dollars, — the same duty on goods sold by public auction, which in 1816 yielded 72,000, in 1826 produced 298,000 dollars. Steam navigation, which was first of all introduced on the Hudson in 1807, has no doubt of late years con- tributed much to the growing population and commerce of the city. There are now between sixty and seventy steam vessels, many of them of great size, daily plying in the harbour and bay. Steam-boats of admirable con- struction convey passengers to New Jersey, to which the distance across the Hudson is about a mile and a-half, and to Brooklyn on Long Island, across Long Island Sound, or the East River, as it is most frequently called, so quickly, frequently, and cheaply, that the want of bridges, v/hich, if practicable, would impede naviga- tion, is not much felt. We had planned excursions to Staten Island, to the other islands in the bay, and to Hell Gate, a narrow passage in Long Island Sound, famous for its whirlpools and the rapidity of its cur- rents, — but the state of the weather induced us to postpone them till our return. In our projected ex- pedition to the north, we can avail ourselves, if the extreme heat continues, of the facility for travelling in such weather which the Erie Canal affords. We could BROADWAY SHOPS. 21 not, however, depart without crossing the ferry to Brooklyn, to have a view, from the terrace overlooking the city, of the harbour and the striking objects around it. The crowded part of the harbour is opposite to Brooklyn. In the bay, it was impossible not to admire particularly the elegant forms of the numerous sailing boats and small schooners, and the shape and colour of their sails, as w^hite as snow. The whole of Manhattan Island has been subjected by the legislature to statutory restrictions, with a view to its being built on as the city extends. There is lit- tle inequality of ground in any part of the island, and as the buildings proceed, the ground is levelled, so that only such a declivity is allowed to remain as is requi- site for the necessary conduits. The city, therefore, does not possess any romantic or strongly marked fea- ture, and can thus only be seen to advantage from the bay, or the high grounds of New Jersey, or of Long Island, or Staten Island. The present circuit of the city is somewhat more than eight miles. Broadway, the chief street, is between three and four miles long. It will be eight miles long when the plan of the city is completed. It is eighty feet broad — contains the best shops — several of the handsomest churches and dwelling-houses — and on one side of it, for a considerable way, has a fine open space called the Park, on which stands the City Hall. This hall, in which the courts are held, is the only very striking building. It is advantageously situated in the heart of the city, with a large open area around it, laid out in gravel walks, with trees on each side of them, 22 NEW YORK. and well inclosed with a massive iron railing. The building is 216 feet long, and 105 feet wide, of white marble in front, and would be noticed any where as handsome, though not without architectural faults. The churches, at least many of them, are large, but there ig nothing in their architecture, or that of the steeples, particularly requiring notice. There is no building here to bear any thing like a comparison with many of the public buildings in the European capitals, such as St. Martin's or St. Pancras Churches in Lon- don — the front of the Register Office in Edinburgh — or that of the Chamber of Deputies at Paris ; but there are churches and public buildings in all those cities, of recent erection, quite as deficient in good taste as any of those which I have observed here. In short, my notion is, that, though there is no very fine building in this city, there is not much to hurt the eye of the fastidious ; and the city is generally composed of clean-looking buildings and streets, and is regularly built. There are still many buildings of wood, and fre- quent fires. We had not been long asleep on the night of our arrival, when w^e were alarmed by loud and re- peated cries of fire ; but we afterwards found that this is so common an occurrence, that none but the firemen, who are very expert, are disturbed by the cry. Stran- gers, however, should be warned of the frequency of the alarm. One of our party got up in a fright, thinking that the fire was in the hotel, and ran into the street. Besides the area surrounding the city hall, the ex- tent of which is only ten or twelve acres, there is not f'UBLIC BUILDINGS. 23 any large vacant space in the city, excepting a piece of ground of about tlie same size laid out as pleasure- ground, called the Battery, at the southern extremity of Broadway, and adjoining the bay. Its situation, and the views from it, are delightful, but its extent far too limited. Hudson Square is the only square hitherto finished, but the area is, as with us, private property. The dwelling-houses in it, and in the central parts of the city, are, as I was told, as high priced as in the best squares in Edinburgh. The pavement all over the city is generally good, and the side pavements broader than in British cities. The police, in respect to cleanliness, is far better than I had been taught to expect, yet inferior, though not very much so, to British cities of the second class in point of size. In one respect. New York has greatly the advantage of any city in England that chiefly con- sists of brick houses. The outside of the brick build- ings is almost always kept painted of the colour of the red brick, with white lime in the seams, which gives a clean, fresh, and cheerful appearance to the buildings, and to the city in general. The buildings for public institutions and the churches seem quite as numerous as in British cities, when the diff'ereiice of population is taken into account. On the day after our arrival, we attended divine service in the forenoon in Grace Church, an episcopal church, and in the presbyterian church in Cedar Street in the afternoon. The service was conducted in the same w^ay as in churches of the same description with us, except- 13 24 NEW YORK. ing that we observed the precentor's seat in the pres- byterian church, in the centre of the front gallery, opposite to the preacher, and not in the body of the church, in front of the pulpit, as with us. These churches were well filled, and the streets crowded at the time of going to church ; no shops, so far as we observed, open. There are about 100 churches in New York, with a population which is supposed to amount nearly to 200,000. In London, there are 500 churches, with 1,500,000 inhabitants. The clergymen have from 1500 to 3000 dollars per annum. The pre- sident of the United States was prayed for in the churches which we attended. There are tw^o large, and two smaller theatres. I looked into one of tlie former, the Bowery, which was newly opened on it^ being rebuilt after being destroyed by fire ; but I was glad to get out of it, though a very handsome house, as fast as possible. It was filled to suffocation, in one of the hottest evenings I ever felt. The neatness, lightness, and cleanness of the hack- ney-coaches, w^hicli are numerous, and the rapidity with w^iicli they, and all carriages, w^hether for the convey- ance of passengers or effects, are driven, was new to us. We saw no heavy horses for w^aggons or carts ; all are driven at a trot. The hackney coaches are only constructed for four persons, very nice-looking without and wdthin, gene- rally driven by Irishmen, or men of colour, who are, we found, as apt to overcharge strangers as in other places. The carriages have heads, or tops, supported MANNERS. 25 on light iron frames ; attached to the tops are curtains of silk as well as of leather, which may be rolled up and buttoned, or let down at pleasure, so that the pas- sengers may either have the space from the top of the carriage down to its middle altogether open, or in- closed with curtains of silk or leather. The fares vary according to the number of persons in the carriage, and the weight of baggage to be conveyed in it. We have seen little of the manners of the people, the great heat of the weather having forced us at present to decline invitations, which were very hospitably given us by some of our fellovz-passengers, whose good offices towards us on our arrival we can never recollect with- out grateful feelings. The dress of the people differs little from our own. Ladies seem to dress more smartly, when shopping or walking out in the forenoon, than in British cities ; and their bonnets and head-dress are probably more according to the Parisian, than the London fashion. Shopkeepers, or rather storekeepers, — for here a shop is uniformly called a store, — are less obsequious in their manners than in Britain; but I have observed no want of civility any where. The number of foreigners from all countries is great. One hears the French and Spanish languages almost in every street. Smoking cigars seems universal during the warm weather in the open air, the inhabi- tants being seated on the street, near the doors of their houses, or in their porticos or verandas. The noise of a grasshopper called the Catydid^ from the trees in the evening, is quite overpowering. It is a beautiful insect, VOL. I. c 26 NEW YORK. of a bright green colour, constantly chirping catydidj catydid^ or something very like it. At the Custom-house, (where, by the way, it was a novelty to us to see the clerks in a great public office obliged, by the oppressive nature of the heat, to attend to their duty disrobed of their coats, and without neck- cloths,) the Deputy-collector showed something like official hauteur in the manner in which he detained us before we got our clearances for landing our baggage, for which a very trifling fee is paid ; but we had no reason to find any fault with the subsequent arrange- ment, which is exactly as it ought to be in all countries. A revenue-officer, a very respectable-looking person, attended us on board of the packet. He very properly had every trunk and package opened, and made such examination as was sufficient to satisfy him that they contained no goods for traders, or for sale, and that no improper evasion of the law could take place, under the general exception from duty of travelling baggage. Considerable discretion must always rest with the offi- cer in judging whether the quantity of articles of any description, such as books, &c. is greater than ought to be comprehended under this exception ; and the go- vernment of this country, therefore, judge wisely in giving the officers such a salary, — about eight hun- dred dollars, we were told, — as will induce people of education and intelligence to accept the situation, and render the offer of a bribe, and its being accepted, equally improbable. The accommodation at the hotel was very good. PROVISIONS LODGINGS. 27 The general system at the American hotels is for the whole inmates to eat together at fixed hours : in this hotel at eight to breakfast, three to dinner, six to tea and coffee, and nine to supper, the charge being at a fixed rate, — here a dollar and a half, or 6s. 4^rZ. ster- ling, per day for board and lodging. The charge is less when the accommodation is required for a longer period than a few days, but is payable whether the in- mate has his meals at home or abroad, and is exclusive of liquor. Separate apartments may, however, be had in the great towns in the United States, and without any ex- tra charge, when the party consists of five persons or more; but the payment is, even in this case, at the usual rate per day. Our party was anxious to remain toge- ther in private apartments while at New York, and we occupied a large and most comfortable dining-room, furnished in the same way, and as handsomely as at the best hotels in Edinburgh or London. The table was excellent. A bill of fare was brought us every morning ; but the maitre d'hotel was not satisfied with sending in those dishes alone which we marked, but, besides those, furnished every thing which he himself thought best. Turtle soup twice without extra charge ; beef good ; poultry excellent ; fish different from what we had been accustomed to, and, as we thought, softer, and not so good; melons of very superior quality; peaches abundant, but not higher flavoured than our own ; tea and coffee good ; tea made by the person c 2 28 NEW YORK. superintending the establishment, and not produced in the tea-chest or canister. The breakfasts were most abundant, consisting of fish, beef-steaks, broiled chicken, and eggs in large quantities, all produced without special directions. From what we have seen and heard, we entertain great doubts of the soundness of Dr. Johnson's opinion, that an epicure would always desire to breakfast in Scot- land. Wine-glasses are placed on the breakfast table in lieu of egg-cups. On enquiry, we learned from the waiter, that this is the universal custom, and that the Americans never eat an egg direct from the shell, but pour the contents into a wine-glass, in which they mix it up with salt before tasting it. The bed-chambers do not correspond with the eat- ing-rooms, either in appearance or accommodation, — the whole fitting up and furnishing looking meagre : Beds without curtains, — not a bit of carpet in the bed- rooms, — even water not so plentiful as is requisite, most of all in a warm climate, — neither hot nor cold baths in this, one of the tw^o greatest hotels in New York, — nor proper accommodation of a different, but still more necessary description, for which a plentiful supply of water is indispensable. I am told the British complain every where of the privations to which they are subjected from the want of such ac- commodation. The natives not being much accus- tomed to it, are not aware of its value. Sure I am, if they once had it in perfection, they would take the ne- cessary means to possess it. An abundant supply of SUPPLY OF WATER. 29 water is no doubt necessary before it is attainable ; but the wealth and population of this great city increase so rapidly, that the object will be eflFected in a few years. Water is both deficient in quantity and quality. Much of it is brought in carts from a considerable dis- tance, and sold at high price. Mosquitos have plagued us much less than we were taught to expect, — not more than wood-flies sometimes do in Britain. The common fly is in great numbers, and very troublesome. Iced soda water from the fountain is the liquid in universal use by all descriptions of persons, and is ad- mirably prepared, — the pleasantest beverage, as it ap- peared to me, that I had ever tasted in warm weather. It is frequently mixed with a small portion of lemon syrup ; the price threepence sterling for a tumbler. It is prepared and sold in almost every street. The demand at the fountains is so great, that very large sums of money have been made by the manufacturers. In point of language, we could not observe any very perceptible diiference between that in general use at New York and in many parts of England, certainly not so great as between that spoken at the west end of the town, and in parts of the city of London. The people are not so ruddy complexioned, nor so stout, as in Britain ; but we thought them, especially the fair sex, very good-looking. The immense number of people of colour, — many of them as well dressed as the whites, — was one of the greatest novelties to us. Per- haps nothing struck us more than the style of the com- mencement of their legal writings, which we observed c 3 30 NEW YORK. in the last page of the first newspaper put into our hands. Instead of the British form of " George the Fourth, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King," it runs, The people of the State of New York, by the Grace of God, free and independent." Newspapers innumerable are seen everywhere. In going out early in the morning you find them lying at the doors of almost every house before the inmates are out of bed. They contain a great deal of statistical information, — of intelligence and remarks respecting their local elections, and their public works in progress, — but little attention seems to be paid to the collecting of domestic news or occurrences, reports from their police courts, or courts of law. Advertising is so cheap, that the newspapers are much more gene- rally, than with us, used as advertising vehicles. Puff- ing seems well understood. Take the following as examples : — John Dillon, an undertaker for funerals, closes a long advertisement thus : " J. D. has provided two hearses of different styles to suit the taste of differ- ent people, one being on the American, and the other on the European plan. Attached to the latter are two full sets of rich massy mourning plumes in the London style, which may be used or not, at the pleasure of the employer. One set is intended for single, and the other for married, persons. The former are all white, to de- note the purity and innocence of youth ; while the lat- ter are jet-black, to represent the gloom of that heart from which its conjugal counterpart has been torn by the hand of death." I suspect none of our undertakers ADVERTISING LOTTERIES, 31 have sliown equal regard to the feelings of the Ame- ricans, in providing, in any of our cities, a hearse on their plan. A clothier, who changes his advertise- ment almost every month, has the following notice : — Quid pro Quo. — Not a year since, in traversing thf lower end of William Street, any one may have no- ticed a tall and rather genteel-looking man, with a melancholy countenance, hanging over his shop-board in a sort of hopeless expectation. Poverty is amaz- ingly apt to produce your long faces. To make a bad matter still worse, fire eventually untenanted him. Notwithstanding this, Charles Cox, of 44, William Street, has now a jolly-looking phiz, most marvel- lously shortened. The discernment — or more pro- perly, perhaps, the kindness — of the public, enables him to boast (and he does it with grateful feelings,) of an unprecedented patronage since his return to his former stand. From the extreme pressure of busi- ness, he is very sorry he has been under the necessity of disappointing some customers ; but this, by new arrangements, will hereafter be completely obviated. These changes of circumstances, however, have not changed his plan a whit. His garments are manufac- tured with the same elegance, excellence, and cheapness, (for cash only,) as formerly; and he is the same good- natured fellow that all men should be who are well patronised, and receive the ' quid pro quo.' " Lotteries are very common, but the legislature has fixed the period at which they are to be discontinued, c 4 32 NEW YORK. or lias declared that they are to be discontinued after those already sanctioned are drawn. We were puzzled with a sign at No. 321, Broad- way. " Intelligence OfBce. Male and female help can be obtained, by applying at this office." Servants do not like the name, and are frequently called Helps, so that the meaning of the notice is, that servants can be obtained there. Signs for shops are universally more neatly painted than with us. Goods in large quantities are exhibited at the doors of the stores. The pavement of the streets is generally covered with awnings, so that passengers are well protected from the effects of the bright sun- shine. One cry in the streets at this season surprised ns, " Corn piping hot." This is the Indian corn boiled, and very good it is, often produced at table ; one sort of it particularly so. A more musical cry to our ears, in this hot weather, was, "ice," by carters driving carts of ice for sale, in small quantities, all over the city. Republican customs are observable in the plainness of the address on the door plates, on which ikfr., be- fore the name, is always omitted. The governor of the State — the merchant worth a million — and the mechanic, — have their names engraved on the door- plates in the very same style. We have only yet had an opportunity of seeing one instance of the greater courtesy paid to females in REPUBLICAN CUSTOMS. 33 this country, of which we have heard much. In pass- ing across the ferry to Brooklyn in a steam-boat, my wife, and three gentlemen who accompanied her, were seated, when some females came into the boat, and all the seats were occupied. Their male attendant at once addressed those gentlemen, " Ladies, gentle- men;" and they of course relinquished their seats. It behoved them to have done so whoever the fe- males might be, mechanics' wives, or even in what we should call the lower orders of society. We have not been accosted by a beggar in New York. The streets seem to be well watered. 34 NEW YORK. CHAPTER III. The Steam-Boat, North America — Trip in her from New York to Albany — The Hudson River — Breakfast and Dinner in the Steam- Boat — Spit-boxes — Eagle Inn at Albany — Fulton's Discovery of Steam Navigation — Henry Bell, of Glasgow, built first Steam-Boat in Britain in 1812 — First Steam-Boat in Western Rivers of America in 1811. Albany y August, 1828. The continuance of intense heat (Fahrenheit's thermometer at 90,) having led us to shorten our stay at New York, we, that is, the friend who accompanied US, my wife and I, proceeded on 28th August from New York to Albany, in the North America steamer, the most beautiful and swift of the floating palaces on the Hudson, or, as I believe, I may add with truth, in the world. She left New York at 7 a.m., and arrived here at half-past 5 p.m. The distance is 154 miles, and the scenery through- out of the most interesting and diversified description. We feel, as having seen more of the beauties of nature in one day than w^e have ever done before, far too much to allow us accurately to recollect all that passed before us, or to give even a sketch of it. STEAM-BOAT. 35 The boat leaves the wharf in the very heart of the city of New York, surrounded by splendid objects ; on the one side of the river, the city and bay of New York ; and on the other, at the distance of a mile and a half, the city of Jersey, projected into the river, very much as Burntisland is on the Frith of Forth, the pro- montory and pleasure-grounds of Hoboken, and be- hind them the abrupt hills of Weehawken. Those hills, which when they approach the river, are called the Palisados, form in most places a precipitous wall, from 200 to 700 feet high? for about thirty miles on the western side of the river. The New York, or eastern side, exhibits a waving outline of rich, culti- vated, and undulating country, ornamented with villas, farm-houses, and cottages, and bounded by sloping rising grounds. The river itself expands into a noble bay, four or five miles wide, called the Tappan Sea, about thirty miles from New York, at the top of which, ten miles farther on, the banks approach each other so closely, that the channel, through which the river has at a dis- tant period forced its way by some violent convulsion, is not perceived until you almost enter it. Here we suddenly found ourselves in a narrow pass between precipitous mountain tops, rising on both sides from the water's edge to an elevation of 1200 or 1500 feet. These mountains or hills, as we should call them, are what are called the Highlands of the Hudson; and the entry to them seemed to us the most remark- able point of the river, not to be contemplated with- c 6 36 HUDSON RIVER. out feelings of the deepest interest. The river course continues to run in this defile among romantic hills covered with wood, sweetly inlaid with plateaus of green pasture, and of table land, for about twenty miles. The farm-houses and villages look as if they hung on the cliffs, or rose by terraces from the water's edge. The river is of various breadths, from a mile and a half to two miles. The projecting rocks often force it to change its direction, so much indeed, that you frequently appear to be sailing in a lake, from which you cannot discover an outlet. Fort Putnam, Stoney Point, and the chief military posts of the Americans on the northern territory dur- ing the revolutionary war, and of course the most in- teresting places in their history, the scenes of Arnold's treachery, and of Andre's misfortunes, are all situated on the banks of this part of the river. West Point, which is placed on a beautiful piece of level land above the river, is now the great military academy for all the States of the North American confederacy. The ocean tides carry sufficient depth of water for the largest vessels through the whole of this primitive mountain chain, exhibiting the only example yet dis- covered where this takes place, excepting on the St. Lawrence, which passes through a chain of p/imitive mountains, on a breach of which Quebec stands. After leaving the Highlands, the banks of the river are comparatively low, 100 or 150 feet in height. The hills through which we had passed incline to the right, and do not break off till they reach the St. Lawrence. HUDSON RIVEK. 37 The river for sixty or seventy miles frequently opens into beautiful lakes and bays, with projecting and marked shores. Great part of this district, which is called the Valley of the Hudson, consists of good land and fine corn-fields, and is one of the richest parts of the State of New York. The town of Newburgh on the one side, the village of Fishkill on the other, the noble terrace of Hyde Park, the Dutchess County, famed for its fertility, are all situated in the southern part of this reach. On the upper part of it, the grand range of mountains called the Catskills, about 3000 feet high, which are a spur from the Alleghanies, and the popu- lous city of Hudson strikingly placed on a fine promon- tory, are the most prominent objects. From Hudson to Albany, about forty miles, the Hudson has more the appearance of a river than below. It is here orna- mented with many islands, — the shores become less steep, — the country rich looking, and more peopled. Villas on the banks appear more frequently in ap- proaching Albany, the view of which, from the river, is very striking. The oldest part of the city reaches to the water's edge, but a great part of it is on a fine elevation on the face of a hill. The Hudson was discovered by a native of Eng- land, Henry Hudson, then in the service of the Dutch government, when seeking a north-west passage to India. An original portrait of him hangs in the city hall of New York. The Hudson is still a large river, and navigable for small sloops to Waterford, thirty miles north from 38 HUDSON RIVER. Albany, above which the tides do not flow. It is there joined by the ^Slohawk river, a considerable stream. The sources of both rivers are in the northern parts of New York State, at the distance of about 120 miles from Waterford. The direction of the river from New York to Albany is pretty directly north, with occa- sionally a slight inclination to the westward. Whether the glorious scenery of the Hudson be superior to that of the Rhine, the Danube, or any of the European rivers, which many of the Americans who have travelled in Europe maintain, I, who have not seen the greatest of those rivers, do not pretend to say, — but I am very much mistaken, if there be anywhere continuously in Great Britain so remarkable a combina- tion of natural beauty and romantic scenery as on the Hudson between New York and Albany. Nowhere in the British dominions can so great a variety of in- teresting and pleasing objects be seen in the course of a single day. The Trosachs, though in miniature, resemble the passage through the Highlands of the Hudson, in all respects but one, the grandeur of the bounding objects. The lofty mountains of the High- lands of Scotland impart a character of sublimity to those justly celebrated works of nature, which is here to a certain extent wanting. No stranger should visit New York without seeing the Hudson. If his time be limited, so that he cannot make his voyage by divisions at the rate of fifty or sixty miles a-day, he may get a tolerable idea of the beauties of the river, and of the excellence of the North Ameri- HUDSON RIVER. 39 can steam-boats, by proceeding by. the North America steamer to Albany on the one clay, and returning on the following; but if he is proceeding by the Hudson to Canada, which is frequently the case with the Eng- lish, who, on account of the superiority of the packets, and in order to avoid the dangerous navigation in as- cending the St. Lawrence, generally prefer the New York route to Canada, he should content himself with seeing half the Hudson in a day, and should by all means make the hotel of Hyde Park, which is about eighty miles from New York, his stopping-place, in the neighbourhood of which he may spend a few hours to good account, in visiting the splendid grounds in the vicinity, and beholding those noble views of the river which are to be seen here, in which the Catskill moun- tains form a bold and remarkable feature. The Hudson, then, not only contributes most essen- tially to the commercial prosperity and greatness of New York, but in no ordinary degree to the enjoyment of its inhabitants, and of every foreigner who is led to the United States. Where is there such a river or such scenery, not only so easily, but so luxuriously seen, so near any of the other capitals in the world ? It is in the power of a European, on the very day after his arrival in the United States, without any exertion on his part, except a five minutes' walk from his hotel, to behold that part of this "exulting and abounding river," the sight of which is sufficient to repay him for all the annoyances attending a transatlantic voyage. When we embarked in the steamer yesterday morn- 40 STEAM-BOAT ACCOMMODATION. mgj tliere seemed to us a considerable number of pas- sengers, and no difference between the descriptions of people in any part on deck. Chairs and benches covered the decks both above and below; for the American steam-boats being, with few exceptions, intended for the smooth navigation of rivers, are pro- vided, without endangering their security, with upper or additional decks, which not only afford greater ac- commodation for passengers, but a situation the best calculated for those who take pleasure in viewing with attention the country through which they pass. The machinery being altogether on deck, the space ap- propriated to passengers below is also much increased. The North America, too, has even more than is usual of the remaining space fitted up for passengers, be- cause few beds are required in her, her voyages being altogether made in the day. She has oftener than once conveyed 1000 passengers at a time, though under 500 tons in tonnage. Yesterday the number was said to be about 300. The North America is splendidly fitted up and fur- nished ; the cabinet work very handsome ; the whole establishment of kitchen, servants, waiters, and cooks, all people of colour, on a great scale. Dr. Macleod, a native of Scotland, a zealous Presbyterian clergyman, long established in New York, and a true republican, and Mr. Anderson, a Scotsman, from St. Andrews in Fifeshire, a gentleman advanced in life, who has been very successful at New York, (both of whom were known to the friend who accompanied us,) beingamong our fellow-passengers, we soon had a sufficiently nu- RATE OF SAILING. 41 merous acquaintance, and much agreeable conversation. The charms of the scenery were described to us with enthusiasm, and great anxiety shown to give us the knowledge we required relative to those places we passed in rapid succession, which were famed in the revolutionary annals of this country, or which have been immortalized by the able and amusing pen of the author of the Sketch Book. We are of course ex- pected, in our turn, to afford such information as was asked of us respecting persons and things in our own country; but no greater disposition to be inquisitive was shown than was consistent with the ordinary manners in England, when a meeting of a similar kind takes place. I notice this the more, because, from what I had heard, as well as read, I expected some questions to be put to me respecting my profession, business in the United States, and such matters; but I was agreeably disappointed. The persons in this coun- try about whom enquiries were chiefly made, were, as was to be looked for, Sir Walter Scott, Mr. Brougham, and Dr. Chalmers. Most of our fellow-passengers were, we found, on their way to Saratoga springs, which are the chief Harrowgate of the United States, about thirty miles to the northward of Albany. One object of the journey was to avoid the air of New York during the present tract of hot weather. We had breakfast and dinner in the steam-boat. The stewardess observing that we were foreigners, gave notice to my wife some time previous to the 42 BREAKFAST AND DINNER. breakfast-bell at eight, and dinner-bell at two, so that we might have it in our power to go to the cabin, and secure good places at table before the great stream of passengers left the deck. Both meals were good, and very liberal in point of quantity. The breakfast con- sisted of the same articles that had been daily set before us at the city hotel, with a large supply of omelettes in addition. The equipage and whole style of the thing good. The people seemed universally to eat more animal food than the British are accustomed to do, even at such a breakfast as this, and to eat quickly. The dinner consisted of two courses, 1 . of fish, in- cluding very large lobsters, roast-meat, especially roast-beef, beef-steaks, and fowls of various kinds, roasted and boiled, potatoes and vegetables of various kinds ; 2. which is here called the dessert, of pies, padding, and cheese. Pitchers of water and small bottles of brandy were on all parts of the table ; very little brandy was used at that part of the table where we sat. A glass tumbler was put down for each person ; but no wine-glasses, and no wine was drunk. Wine and spirits of all sorts, and malt liquors, and lemonade, and ice for all pur- poses, may be had at the bar, kept in one of the cabins. There is a separate charge for every thing procured there ; but no separate charge for the brandy put down on the dinner table, which may be used at pleasure. The waiters will, if desired, bring any liquor pre- viously ordered, and paid for to them, or at the bar, to the dining-table. SPIT-BOXES. 43 Dinner was finished, and most people again on deck in less than twenty minutes. They seemed to me to eat more at breakfast than at dinner. I soon afterwards looked into the dining-room, and found that there was not a single straggler remaining at his bottle. Many people, however, were going into and out of the room, where the bar is railed off, and where the bar-keeper was giving out liquor. The men of colour who waited at table were clean- looking, clever, and active. — evidently picked men in point of appearance. We had observed a very handsome woman of colour, as well dressed, and as like a female of education, as any of those on board, on deck. My wife, w ho had some conversation with her, asked her, when she found that she had not dined with us, why she had not been in the cabin ? She replied very modestly, that the people of this country did not eat with the people of colour. The manners and appearance of this lady were interesting, and would have distinguished her anywhere. The charge for breakfast and dinner was half-a- dollar for each person, (exclusive of the fare, which was two dollars,) for each meaL We observed nothing to find fault with in this beautiful vessel, but the presence of spit-boxes everywhere, — a necessary evil, I sus- pect, whilst cigars, and tobacco in other shapes, are so generally used as in this country. Smoking of cigars is not, however, allowed in the cabins, or on the decks in the after part of the vessel. 44 RATE OF SAILING. Let US not be too fastidious. Spit-boxes have only disappeared in Scotland within these thirty years, and not even totally, at so late a date. Our voyage of 154 miles occupied, as already men- tioned, ten hours and a half, so that our rate of moving was nearly fifteen miles an hour : but, as the delay at nine landing-places, where the North America regu- larly stops in the course of each trip to Albany, occu- pies above an hour, the voyage was performed at a rate somewhat exceeding sixteen miles an hour. She sometimes completes it in nine hours and a half, but on an average, in less than twelve hours. Her average speed through the water, independent of tide, is ascer- tained to be above fourteen miles an hour. Formerly, the voyage between New York and Albany frequently occupied no less than eight days. The benefits of steam navigation are therefore nowhere more apparent than here. To the Western States, on the great rivers, the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Missouri, they are incalculable. t Fulton, who unquestionably had the merit, the great merit, of accomplishing what many ingenious men had previously unsuccessfully attempted, is well entitled to the lasting gratitude of the people of the United States : and it will not be to their credit, if the general government do not, in the end, make some great and liberal provision for the family of an individual, who was so great a benefactor of his own country, and of the world. It is as well established, that Fulton first INVENTOR OF STEAM-BOAT. 45 of all completely succeeded in adapting the steam-en- gine to the model of such a vessel as would answer the purpose, as that many able men had previously pretty clearly perceived that the thing was possible, although they could not exactly hit on the proper method of doing it. I do not allude to Vasco de Garay in the 16th cen- tury, nor to the Marquis of Worcester in the succeed- ing one; because, although they expressed decided opinions of the possibility of propelling vessels against wind and tide, neither of their descriptions proves that steam was the propelling agent to which they trusted : but Jonathan Hulls, the Marquis de JoufFroy, the Duke of Bridgewater, Mr. Miller of Dalswinton, Lord Stan- hope, and others in the last century, undoubtedly were convinced of the practicability of propelling vessels by steam, and only failed in the application of that agent to a proper model. The experiment made in the year 1789, on the Forth and Clyde canal, by Mr. Miller, of Dalswinton — a patriotic, public-spirited individual, zealous for the improvement of the naval architecture of his country, unquestionably proved, that vessels might be propelled by steam. But his experimental vessel had been constructed for a dif- ferent purpose : she was too slight for the weight of the engine, and parts of the machinery were not sulB- ciently strong. The apparatus was in consequence unshipped. Mr. Miller embarked in other pursuits, and did not afterwards repeat his experiment, although a period of nearly twenty years elapsed after the date of the experiment, before Fulton's first voyage 46 FIRST STEAM-BOAT. on the Hudson, and before steam-boats were first used with a view to profit, and the solid advantage of the public. It was thus undoubtedly left for Fulton, in the nineteenth century, to confer on his country and the world the great boon of steam navigation; but let those who assisted him have their due share of praise. Henry Bell of Glasgow either gave him the model of the vessel which made the first voy- age, or aided him most materially in her construc- tion. Messrs. Boulton, Watt, and Co. of Birmingham, manufactured the engine used in her. And Chancellor Livingston, of the State of New York, encouraged the undertaking, although at the time laughed at as a wild speculation, and assisted Fulton with the pecuniary means necessary for carrying it into execution. The difficulties he after all encountered were such, that, though the engine was furnished in the year 1804, it was not until the summer of 1807 that it was put to use in the vessel, the Clermont, of 160 tons, in which, on the Hudson, the first steam-boat voyage in the world was made. Fulton's letter to his friend, Joel Barlow, giving an account of that experimental voyage, is extremely interesting. " Neio York, August 2, 1807. " My dear Friend, " My steam-boat voyage to Albany and back has turned out rather more favourable than I had calcu- lated. The distance from New York to Albany is 150 FIRST STEAM-BOAT JN BRITAIN. 47 miles ; I ran it up in thirty-two hours, and down in tliirty hours ; the latter is just five miles an hour. I had a light breeze against me the whole way going and coming, so that no use w^as made of my sails, and the voyage has been performed wholly by the power of the steam engine. I overtook many sloops and schooners beating to windward, and passed them as if they had been at anchor. " The power of propelling boats by steam is now fully proved. The morning I left New York, there were not perhaps thirty persons in the city who be- lieved that the boat would ever move one mile an hour, or be of the least utility ; and while we were putting off from the wharf, which was crowded with spectators, I heard a number of sarcastic remarks. This is the way, you know, in which ignorant men compliment what they call philosophers and projectors. " Having employed much time, and money, and zeal, in accomplishing this work, it gives me, as it will you, great pleasure to see it so fully answer my expec- tations. It will give a cheap and quick conveyance to merchandize on the Mississippi and Missouri, and other great rivers, which are now laying open their treasures to the enterprize of our countrymen. And although the prospect of personal emolument has been some in- ducement to me, yet I feel infinitely more pleasure in reflecting with you on the immense advantage that my country will derive from the invention." It is not very creditable to the spirit of enterprize, 2 48 MONOPOLY OF STEAM NAVIGATION. for wliicli Great Britain and the United States, the two greatest commercial nations, take credit, to find-that several years elapsed after the power of propelling ves- sels by steam was thus in 1807 completely proved, be- fore any attempt to construct a steam-vessel in Britain was made, and before steam-boats appeared on the great western rivers of America, for the navigation of which they are, above all, admirably calculated. The first steam-boat in Britain was constructed in 1812, by Henry Bell, to navigate the Clyde between Glasgow and Helensburgh; the first steam-boat on the western rivers of America was built at Pittsburg, on the Ohio, above 2000 miles from the sea, in 1811 ; no attempt to ascend them from New Orleans to Louis- ville on the Ohio, distant from each other above 1350 miles, Avas made till 1817, when the event was cele- brated by a rejoicing, and a public dinner at Louis- ville to Captain Shreve, who accomplished that voyage in twenty-five days, now generally completed in from twelve to fourteen; nor was it till the year 1818 that the first steam-vessel to make regular .sm voyages w^as constructed at Dumbarton, to ply between Greenock and Belfast. The State of New York was early sensible of the great services which Fulton had rendered ; and confer- red on him a most valuable monopoly, — the exclusive right to navigate in the w^aters of the State with, steam- vessels for a term of years ; if I remember right, till the year 1838. It was subsequently, indeed, found, after a keen litigation in the supreme court of the L^nited MONOPOLY OF STEAM NAVIGATION. 49 States, that no separate State could establisli sucli a monopoly, — the general government alone having power, by the American constitution, " to regulate commerce among the several States." New York State, however, it is undeniable, showed their feeling of last- ing obligation to their meritorious countryman, and their desire to see him suitably rewarded ; and now, when it is known, that, in consequence of his prema- ture death (for he died in 1815) he left no inheritance to his children ; and when it is fully ascertained, that the great discovery attained by his skill, exertions, and perseverance, has tended to advance the improvement of the United States generally, to an incredible degree, and of the western States of the Union, probably at least half a century, it is to the general government that his family should look for the liberal and merited discharge of a debt most justly due to their deceased parent. My own countrymen are, to admit the truth, almost as much to blame, in delaying long, to make any pro- vision for Mr. Bell, who had, there is reason to believe, not much less perseverance and knowledge of the subject than Mr. Fulton, and only wanted the pecu- niary means to have turned them to good account. His necessitous circumstances at last obtained an ali- mentary provision for him ; but he lived only a short time afterwards to enjoy it. VOL. I. D so ALBANY. CHAPTER IV. Albany — Population — Horse-Ferry-Boat — General Van Rensellaer, the Patroon of Albany — Mrs. Grant, of Laggan's, Sketches of Albany, and of American Manners — The Erie Canal — Continuation of that communication from Lake Erie to the Ohio River — The Champlain Canal — Imperial Canal of China — Languedoc Canal — Holstein Canal — Bridgewater Canal — Canal from Amsterdam to the Helder Point. 29th August. Albany consists of one street of very considerable length, parallel with the river, from which the rest of the city rises abruptly. The eapitol, containing the chambers of the Houses of Representatives and Sena- tors, from which there is a commanding view of the city, the river, the canal, and the fine well-cultivated adjacent district, stands at the top of a steep, but handsome and very wide street, called State Street, from which many streets and lanes, which are the crowded parts of the city, diverge. The population rapidly increases: in 1800, only 4000: in 1810, 10,000; in 1825, 15,000; and now certainly above 20,000. This is easily accounted for by the far greater facilities that have followed the introduction of steam-boats and the establishment of the Erie HORSE-FERRY-BOAT. 51 Canal. Albany is now the second city in the State in point of population. It was originally settled by the Dutch in 1612, and retained by them till the year 1664, when New York, then called Amsterdam, and Albany, then called Williamstadt, with the other Dutch possessions in this quarter, were surrendered to the British. Charles the Second granted the whole to his brother, James Duke of York and Albany, from whom the cities of New York and Albany take their names. Albany, being so near the top of the tide navigation, is a place of great resort and bustle. That part of the town, in which was our hotel, seemed full of stages and waggons, and contained an apparently unusual nmnber of stores. The appearance of the city from Greenbush, on the opposite side of the river, to which there is a horse- ferry-boat, is striking and splendid : the situation, on the side of a hill, is favourable for every part of it being seen; — and the capitol and public buildings are fine large objects. The horse-ferry-boat over the river is, I believe, pe- culiar to America, — certainly an American invention, — and extremely convenient in situations where the inter- course across a river is considerable, yet not so great as to authorize the expenditure required for a steam- boat. Two vertical wheels resembling the paddle- wheels of a steam-boat are moved by a larofe wheel placed horizontally below the deck of a boat, and pro- pelled by horses, so placed on its surface at the sides of the boat, from which the deck is removed, that the motion of their feet in grooves cut in the wheel moves D 2 52 ALBANY. it forward in a direction opposite to that in which they appear to be pressing forward. The number of horses is of course greater or less, according to the size of the boat, rapidity of the tide, and other cir- cumstances. At the north end of Albany, near the termination of Market Street, is the residence of General Van Ren- sellaer, the Patroon, the greatest, or most wealthy, landed proprietor in the United States. The mansion- house has more of the accompaniments of garden, shrubbery, conservatory, &c. than is, I am told, often seen in this country ; but no great quantity of land is devoted to what we call pleasure-grounds. Mrs. Grant, of Laggan, in her curious sketches of American man- ners and scenery, written a few years previous to the American revolution, gives this account of the origin of the family of Rensellaer: "A gentleman of the name of Rensellaer was considered as in a manner Lord Para- mount of this city, Albany; a pre-eminence which his successor still enjoys, both with regard to the town and the lands adjacent. The original proprietor had obtained from the High and Mighty States a grant of lands, which beginning at the church, extended twelve miles in every direction, forming a manor of twenty- four Dutch miles in length, the same in breadth, — in- cluding lands not only of the best quality of any in the province, but the most happily situated, both for the purpose of commerce and agriculture. This great pro- prietor was looked up to as much as republicans in a new country could be supposed to look up to any one. RENSELLAER. 53 He was called tlie Patroon, — a designation tantamount to lord of the manor. Yet, in the distribution of these lands, the sturdy Belgian spirit of independence set limits to the power and profits of this lord of the forests, as he might then be called. None of these lands were either sold or alienated. The more wealthy settlers, as the Schuylers, Cuylers, &c. took very extensive leases of the fertile plains along the river, with boundless liberty of woods and pasturage to the westward. The terms w^ere, that the lease should hold while water runs and grass grows, and the landlord to receive the tenth sheaf of every kind of grain the ground produces. Thus ever accommodating the rent to the fertility of the soil and changes of the seasons. You may suppose the tenants did not greatly fear a landlord, who could neither remove them nor heighten their rents. Thus, without the pride of property, they had all the inde- pendence of proprietors. They were like German princes, who, after furnishing their contingent to the Emperor, might make war on him when they chose. Besides the profits yearly augmenting, which the Pa- troon drew from his ample possessions, he held in his own hands an extensive and fruitful demesne. Yet, preserving in a great measure the simple and frugal habits of his ancestors, his wealth was not an object of envy, nor a source of corruption to his fellow-citizens." The present proprietor of these extensive possessions is a person of the most amiable and benevolent dis- position, and greatest respectability of character — a zealous encourager of public improvements, and judi- D 3 54 ALBANY. cious manager of the vast property here, and in other parts of the United States, which belongs to him; always happiest when he has it in his power to be of use to his tenants, or to those with whom the care of his estates leads him to be connected. He is now advanced in life ; and the only individual in the United States to whom, on account of his great property, and the vene- ration with which they regard him, the people have since the revolution continued the title or distinction which his family had previously enjoyed. Even official distinctions are now on the wane in this country. The great possessions of the Patroon have hitherto passed undivided to the eldest son of the family ; but it seems to be understood, that the present proprietor, who has a large family, intends to divide them among his children, as is almost universally the practice in this country, and the law since the revolution, in those cases in which the proprietor does not otherwise devise his property. Near the residence of the Patroon is the great basin of the Erie and Champlain canals, thirty-two acres in extent, the river being let in between the shore and a pier 4,300 feet in length, consisting of eight acres, connected with the city by drawbridges. The canals are works of which the State of New York has great reason to be proud ; but it is only by comparing them with other similar works, that their magnificence can be judged of. Their whole course is within the State of New York, that of the Erie Canal, westward by the ERIE CANAL. 55 valley of the Mohawk, and of the Cliamplain Canal, northward by that of the Hudson. The length of the former is 363 ; of the latter, 63 miles ; in all, 426 miles. They were commenced in July 1817, and jcompleted in October 1825, in eight years and four months. The object of the Erie Canal is to form a communication be- tween New York and the internal, or Mediterranean seas of North America, and through them to the great western country of the United States, and the rivers Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri. The object of the Champlain Canal is to form a communication through Lake Champlain, and the river Richelieu or Chambly, with the St. Lawrence and Canada. The Erie Canal includes 83 locks 90 feet long, and 18 aqueducts, one of which is about 1,200, and two about 800 feet in length. The canal is 40 feet wide at the top, and four feet deep. The valley of the Mohawk offered great facilities for the construction of above 100 miles of the Erie Canal nearest to Albany ; and the highest summit level between the Hudson and Lake Champlain being only 140 feet above the tide in the Hudson, the valley of the latter afforded advantages in forming the Champlain Canal almost unparalleled. But those natural resources might have remained comparatively little noticed and little known, but for the zeal, public spirit, and indefatigable exertions of the late De Witt Clinton, Governor of this State ; a man who seems to have in the most disinte- rested manner devoted himself to the developement of its means of improvement, and to whom alone the merit 56 ALBANY. of having tlie canals constructed at this period is truly to be ascribed. The soundness of his views was long questioned by very eminent persons connected with the State; but it has been fully proved by the complete success which has attended the execution of the under- taking, as well as the financial scheme on which it was founded. The whole expense amounted to about nine millions of dollars, and the revenue for the year 1827 was 859,000 dollars. The memorial which Governor Clinton prepared for the New York Legislature in the year 1816, recommending the immediate con- struction of the canals, as preserved in Dr. Hosack's valuable and interesting memoir of his life, is quite a model for such compositions — perspicuous in all its parts, — pointing out, first of all, the prodigious im- portance of the appeal submitted to the Legislature, — enlarging on the great duty of the government of every State to improve the means of intercourse between its different parts, — and then applying the views, w^hich had been fully explained and illustrated, to the object of the memorial by most lucid statements, and ample infor- mation, especially by detailed references to similar works which had been completely successful, notwithstanding very formidable obstacles, both natural and pecuniary. The eloquence of the concluding part of the memo- rial sufficiently authorizes its being here recorded: " It may be confidently asserted, that this canal, as to the extent of its route, as to the countries which it connects, and as to the consequences which it will produce, is without a parallel in the history of mankind. ERIE CANAL. 57 The union of the Baltic and the Euxine; of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean ; of the Euxine and the Caspian ; and of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, has been projected or executed by the chiefs of power- ful monarchies ; and the splendour of the design has always attracted the admiration of the world. It re- mains for a free State to create a new era in history ; and to erect a work, more stupendous, more magni- ficent, and more beneficial, than has hitherto been achieved by the human race. Character is as impor- tant to nations as to individuals ; and the glory of a republic, founded on the promotion of the general good, is the common property of all its citizens. " We have thus discharged with frankness and plain- ness, and with every sentiment of respect, a great duty to ourselves, to our fellow-citizens, and to posterity, in presenting this subject to the fathers of the common- wealth. And may that Almighty Being, in whose hands are the destinies of states and nations, enlighten your councils, and invigorate your exertions, in favour of the best interests of our beloved country." This memorial, presented on the part of the citizens of New York, in February 1816, was, after much op- position, referred by the legislature to a committee of five, who were directed to take the necessary measures for exploring the line of country ; for estimating the expense; for ascertaining how the necessary funds could be raised; and to apply for donations of land and money. Governor Clinton was president of the board, and pre- sented their reports in February and March 1817. The D 5 58 ALBANY, bill authorizing the construction of the canals passed the legislature on 15th April. The first meeting of the commissioners was held on 3d June, and the work was commenced on 4th July, all in the same year, 1817. The bare reference to dates shows the energy with which the commissioners prosecuted the undertaking. The work was not long successfully carried on, be- fore the State of Ohio, — a State, the first settlement in which was not made until several years after the sepa- ration of the colonies from Great Britain in 1783, — followed the example of the State of New York, and began to consider how Governor Clinton's great pro- ject of completing the communication to the western rivers of America, by a canal from Lake Erie to the Ohio, was to be effected. They obtained plans and estimates, which, before proceeding, they transmitted to Governor Clinton for his opinion and advice. The governor's reply to the communication was most satisfactory : expressing it to be his decided opinion, that, as no insurmountable phy- sical difficulty was in their way, they had no question to consider, but the designation of the most expedient route ; because, as the canal through Ohio State would, in connection with the Erie and Champlain Canals, form a communication between the Bay of New York, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the adv^antages were in every point of view sufficiently obvious ; this line of internal seas embracing within its influence the greater part of the United States, and of Canada. CHAMPLAIN CANAL. 59 Accordingly, the legislature of Ohio, in February 1825, authorized the construction of their great canal, 320 miles long, from Lake Erie by Chillicotlie, and passing near Columbus, the seat of the legislature of the State, to the river Ohio. Much of it is now finished. When completed, three years hence, the market of New Orleans will not be more open to the w^estern States, — to the people of Missouri, Indiana, and Ohio, — than that of New York or of Montreal, and the greater part of the United States, — all of it, in fact, except what is situated to the westward of the Mississippi, will, as stated in one of Clinton's admirable addresses, " form one vast island, susceptible of circumnavigation, to the extent of many thousand miles. The most distant parts of the con- federacy will then be in a state of approximation, and the distinctions of eastern and western, of southern and northern interests, will be entirely prostrated. To be instrumental in producing so much good, by increas- ing the stock of human happiness : by establishing the perpetuity of free government ; and by extending the empire of knowledge, of refinement, and of religion, is an ambition worthy of a free people. The most exalted reputation is that which arises from the dis- pensation of happiness to our fellow-creatures." The Champlain Canal, although attended with most beneficial consequences to the State of New York, and to the United States generally, in opening the com- merce of the Canadian Sea, is not to be compared in importance with the Erie Canal ; but its construction D 6 60 ALBANY. has been accompanied by even more singular effects, in completing, by a water communication, only sixty- three miles in length, the division of the New England States, comprehending Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire, with a part of the State of New York, from the re- mainder of the United States. A great chasm, not less than 387 miles in length, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in a direction a little east of north, is occupied by the Hudson River from Sandyhook to Glen's Falls, which are within twenty- two miles of Lake Champlain, by an intermediate table land to the head of Lake Champlain, by the lake itself, and its outlet, the Richelieu, or Chambly river, into the St. Lawrence. Darby remarks, that there is only one other pass which resembles this glen, viz. that which divides Scotland into unequal sections; and through which the Caledonian Canal has been lately carried, declining a little towards the meri- dian from north-east and south-west, and extend- inti from the Atlantic Ocean to the German Sea, having no summit above seventy feet, though bounded by high mountains. " In one respect," says Darby, these two vales excite astonishment; in their ex- tent they deviate so little from a direct line, as to almost appear the effects of large masses of solid matter liaving been impelled with prodigious velocity over the earth's surface. In both, the lakes, as well as the rivers, obey the general direction ; and in the Scot- tish glen, the Murray Frith, Loch Ness, Loch Oich, CANAL or CHINA. 61 Loch Lochy, Loch Eil, and the Frith or Loch Linhe, supply the same office performed in North America by Hudson River, Wood Creek, Lake Champlain, and Chambly River. Both passes have been recently made navigable; that in North America by the Champlain Canal, and that in Scotland by the Cale- donian Canal. Perhaps no two facts in history more strongly mark the progressive advance, not alone of improvements in means of transportation, but in an infinitely more important subject — the human mind." There is not in Europe any canal of equal length with the Erie Canal. The greatest continuous line of canal is that of the Imperial Canal of China, which is said to be 900 miles long, 200 feet broad, and to have been constructed 800 years ago ; but the Chinese are ignorant of the system of lockage, by means of which different levels are connected in the European and American canals. The first considerable work of this description in modern times was the Canal of Languedoc, uniting the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas, and completed in 1681, in the reign of Louis XIV. 140 miles in length, 144 feet in breadth, and six feet deep. The Holstein Canal, uniting the German Ocean with the Baltic, finished in 1785, although only fifty miles long, is remarkable on account of its depth, not less than ten feet in any place, so that ships drawing above nine feet of water make use of it. Two to three thousand ships pass in a year. No attempt to construct canals in Britain was made 64 STAGE-COACH. CHAPTER V. Journey from Albany to Auburn, in the State of New York — Stage to Schenectady — Passengers — Road — Dinner at Schenectady — Canal- Boat on Erie Canal from Schenectady to Utica — The Johnson Family on the Mohawk — Mrs. Grant's Account of them — Of her own Travel- ling in this Country about IJfiO — Little Falls of the Mohawk River — Soil — Cultivation — Maple Sugar — Passengers in Canal-Packet — Election of President of United States — CofFee-House-Hotel at Utica — Tea and Supper — Situation of Utica — Trenton Falls — Stage from Utica to Auburn — Appearance of the Country — Farm-Houses — Vernon — Onandaga — Tea and Supper at Auburn — Account of Rochester — Situation of Auburn — Newspapers — Mrs. Grant's and Chateaubriand's Account of their Travelling in this Country at former periods. From 30th August to 1st September. The number of locks on the first part of the Erie Canal is so great, that travellers generally prefer going by the stage to Schenectadyj about fifteen miles distant from Albany. Accordingly, we took seats in the stage, and a huge coach of elliptical shape, hung low on strong leathern belts, and drawn by four horses, awaited us at the door of the hotel, on the morning of 30th August. The coach is somewhat wider than a six-seated English stage-coach, and is much longer, so that there is sufficient space for a seat in the middle, and accom- STAGE-COACH. 65 modation for nine inside passengers. The door is placed as in English coaches. The driver's seat is so low, that his head is pretty much on a level with the top of the coach. There is only room for one outside passenger, who sits on the same seat with the driver. The baggage is placed, not very securely, at the back of the coach, within leathern aprons, which are buckled or tied up with ropes or chains. The top of the coach is fixed on a frame, that the leather curtains round the carriage may be rolled up in fine weather, to afford air, and allow the country to be seen. The old- fashioned stages, of which some are even yet in use, contained four seats, the driver having his place on the front bench, and all the passengers entering in a very inconvenient way by the fore part of the carriage, and sitting with their faces to the front, which was open. The staofe had been first of all sent to our hotel on the morning when we left Albany. We were after- wards driven about the town to pick up the remaining passengers, the practice being universal to call at the residences of the passengers, to receive them and their baggage. Having been told that the people of this country are very subject to sickness in the stages, and, on that account, anxious to sit with their faces to the front of the carriage, we took possession of the front, or foremost seat, nearest to the driver's seat, as being the least popular, with our faces to the back of the carriage. The Chancellor of the State was the first passenger, after we set out, for whom we called. He placed himself in the most distant seat, but gave it up to afamily, con- 66 STAGE PASSENGERS. sisting of two ladies and children, which we picked up at Cruttenden's, the chief hotel at Albany, in the upper part of the town. The ladies were from Providence, in Rhode Island, and on an excursion of pleasure to Niagara. There is no such thing as post- chaise travelling in any part of the United States. Journeys are usually performed either in the four-horse stages, or in steam -boats ; but on most of the roads of very great resort, extra stages may be obtained, which may be regulated, as the passengers incline, as to the time they are to be on the road. In general, however, the travelling of this country by land is performed in the regular stages, it being the ordinary custom of the country for all descriptions of persons to travel by the same conveyance, and, while travelling, to eat toge- ther. The present President of the United States, Mr. Adams, whose private residence is near Boston, travels to Washington, the seat of government, by steam-boat, and the regular stage. People going short journeys, of course, make use of their own carriages. The close carriage of Britain is rarely seen, but barouches and gigs are common ; and small waggons, and dearborns, which are a light, four- wheeled carriage, on springs of wood, wdth a moveable seat, frequently covered on the top, are in general use. The road on which we were driven to Schenectady was in many parts rough, and not well engineered, but wide ; and there were rows of large Lombardy poplars on each side of a great part of it : the soil sandy, and by no means fertile ; the orchards not productive ; the SCHENECTADY. 67 wood chiefly oak, cedar, and pine, — the greater part of pine. The driver stopped twice on the way to give water to his horses, on account, I presume, of the heat of the weather ; and the ladies from Providence also got water for themselves and their children, always ask- ing, before they tasted it, whether the water was good ? The persons waiting at the doors of the hotels on the road, — for the most trifling inn or house of public entertainment, is styled a hotel, — very civilly handed tumblers of water ta the passengers, without pay- ment of any kind. The conversation of the passengers was far more unrestrained than it probably would have been, — more especially had the chief justice been one of the party, — in an English stage-coach; nor did the judge presume in the slightest degree on his high official situation. We reached Schenectady about twelve o'clock, and found the usual arrangement was, that the passengers should dine here, before embarking in one of the canal packets at two o'clock. The low land on the bank of the Mohawk, where Schenectady is situated, is good. The town contains a college, at which about 200 young men are educated : the whole population is about 4000. The Mohawk Indians, who are now extinct, possessed the fine district of country in this neighbourhood, and to the westward, on the banks of the Mohawk. The ringing of a bell summoned us to dinner about one o'clock, and about twenty people assembled, con- sisting of the ladies who had accompanied us, and the boarders. The system in all the country inns or hotels 68 DINNER — ERIE CANAL. is to have breakfast, dinner, and tea, at fixed hours, which are announced by the ringing of a hand-bell. At those hotels there are generally boarders, consisting of many of the merchants, and merchants' clerks, me- dical men, &c. in the place. Some of them only board ; others board and lodge, at rates from two and a-half dollars to three and four dollars a-week. Mechanics generally live in the same way, at houses somewhat of an inferior kind, at a lower rate, — a dollar and a half to two dollars a week. The innkeepers do not like to have the trouble of preparing separate meals, unless where absolutely necessary, and fix the hours of the meals, so as to suit the passengers in the stages as far as possible. Dinner was abundant, consisting of fish, roast beef, boiled lamb, broiled chickens, potatoes, squash, beet-root, green cabbage unboiled, cut down like pickled red cabbage, in vinegar ; apple-pie, pud- ding, cheese, melted butter, cold butter, and pickled cucumbers. The table was literally covered with dishes. Brandy was set down, but little used. No wine, nor an)" liquid, but water. The waiters were men of colour. No payment was made to them, nor to the driver of the stage. Half a dollar for each person was the charge for dinner. The canal passes the door of the hotel. We em- barked in the packet at two p. m; and, though it did not appear to us to be in all respects a desirable mode of conveyance, we had no reason to regret our preferring it to the stage for the first part of the journey, on ac- count of the very interesting district through which ERIE CANAL. 69 this part of the canal is carried. The accommodation for ladies, in respect to sleeping-places, is tolerably good ; but that for gentlemen is not to be commended. The bridges over the canal are numerous, and so low, that passengers must leave the higher deck of the packet, where alone they can see the country, each time they pass them. We, therefore, very soon after leaving Schenectady, resolved again to betake ourselves to the stage when we arrived at Utica, distant eighty miles from Schenectady. We had tea and supper on the day we embarked, and breakfast and dinner on the following one, before we reached Utica : every thing good, and as plentiful, as at the hotels. Three horses drag the boat at the rate of about four miles an hour ; but the locks occasion considerable detention ; and at one of them we were, owing to some accident, detained for an unreasonable time, and did not arrive at Utica until the afternoon of the 31st August, twenty-six hours after we had left Schenectady, The country through which we passed has been long settled, — originally peopled by the Dutch — the present proprietors speak- ing both Dutch and English ; farm-houses good, with orchards loaded with fruit, and every appearance of com- fort and plenty. The outsides of many of the houses painted of different colours; white, green, mulberry brown. Great part of the canal is close to the river ; and supported for a considerable space by a prodigious wall, twenty or thirty feet high. There are small ho- tels in many places on the sides of the canal, where fruit, liquors, &c. may be had ; and various places, Rot- 70 THE JOHNSON FAMILY. terdam, Amsterdam, Frankfort, &c. well situated on the river. There is also Caughnawaga, a fine Indian name. Indeed all the Indian names, such as Niskayuna, Sa- ratoga, Ticonderago, Cayuga, Ontario, Onandaga, Nia- gara, &c. are fine, — far preferable to the modern ones. There are two large stone houses not far from Caugh- nawaga, formerly belonging to the Johnson family, whose great possessions here were confiscated at the pe- riod of the revolution, in consequence of their adherence to the British, who gave them compensation by grants of land in Canada. The founder of this family is said to have acquired this fine tract of country by a piece of dexterous management. He traded extensively with the tribe of Mohawk Indians. Their chiefs were in the habit of applying to him frequently for tobacco and rum, which they had, they told him, dreamt that he was to give them. The Indians profess to place great faith in dreams; which Johnson never failed to encou- rage, — humouring their foible, by acceding to every request founded on them. Thus visits and dreams became frequent on the part of the Indians. Johnson never sent them away empty-handed. To every re- quest he replied, " I will prove that you were right and presented them with whatever they applied for, on the footing that they had dreamt of it. At length the king had the conscience to dream that, if he was invested with Johnson's military dress of scarlet and gold, he should be as great a man as King George ; — and King George he soon in so far became, for no long time elapsed before Johnson had him apparelled as he THE JOHNSON FAMILY. 71 wished. But Johnson's turn to dream had now arriv- ed ; for he had all the while attached the same weight to dreams. He dreamed, that the nation had, in con- sequence of his kindness to them, and in return for the hospitality he had shown them, bestowed on him part of their territory, which he described, and which he of course took care should be sufficiently extensive and valuable ; in fact one of the finest tracts of land that it is possible to conceive. " Have you really had such a dream?" ( they exclaimed, ) with terror and alarm depicted on their countenances. Beingsatisfiedon this point; the chief, or king, convoked his tribe, who deliberated, and then announced to the dreamer that they had confirmed the dream. "Brother Johnson," (they said,) "we give thee that tract of land; but never dream any more." The head of this family, whether the Johnson who ob- tained this grant, or his descendant, I know not, was subsequently created a baronet, for his gallantry in ac- tion in the war, when the French made an incursion from Canada in 1755. Mrs. Grant's representation of Sir William Johnson's intercourse with the Indians, and of his mode of life a few years subsequently to this pe- riod, is singular. " He had built two spacious places of residence, — Johnson Castle and Johnson Hall ; the one on an eminence, fortified, and the other on a de- lightful plain on the river side. The hall was his sum- mer residence; and here, where he made his greatest local improvements, he lived, like a little sovereign, keeping open table for strangers, officers, &c. His trade with the five Indian nations, then in his neigh- 72 MOHAWK CASTLE. bourhood, was extensive; and he treated them so fairly and honourably, that they placed unlimited confidence in him. When they returned from their summer ex- cursions, and exchanged their furs for fire-arms, &c. they used to pass a few days at the castle, while Sir William's family were at the hall. There they were liberally entertained; and 500 of them have been known for nights together, after drinking freely, to lie around him on the floor, while he was the only white person in a house containing great quantities of everything that was to them valuable or desirable." The ruins of Mohawk Castle are about thirty miles from Utica. INIrs. Grant, then a very young woman, was one of the first females, above the lowest ranks, who penetrated so far into what was then (about 1760 or 1761) con- sidered a remote wilderness. The second day of her journey from Albany with her father, a British officer, and her mother, they came to the residence of the " Sachem, or king of the Mohawks, whose castle stood on a rising ground, surrounded by pallisades. He re- sided at the time in a house which the public workmen, who had lately built Fort Hen rick, so called after the name of the Sachem, had been ordered to erect for him in the vicinity. They waited upon his Majesty, who, not choosing to depart too much from the customs of his ancestors, had not permitted divisions of apartments, or modern furniture, to profane his new dwelling. It had the appearance of a good barn, and was divided across by a mat hung in the middle. King Henrick, who had a princely figure, and a countenance that would MOHAWK LITTLE FALLS. 73 not have dishonoured royalty, was sitting on the floor beside a large heap of wheat, surrounded with baskets of dried berries of different kinds ; beside him, his son, a very pretty boy, was caressing a foal, which was un- ceremoniously introduced into the royal residence. A laced hat, a fine saddle, and pistols, gifts of his good brother the great king, were hung round on the cross beams. He was splendidly arrayed in a coat of pale blue, trimmed with silver. All the rest of his dress was of the fashion of his own nation, and highly em- bellished with beads and other ornaments. I was pre- pared to admire King Henrick, by hearing him de- scribed as a generous warrior; — add to all this, that the monarch smiled, clapped my head, and ordered me a little basket, very pretty, and filled, by the offi- cious kindness of his son, with dried berries. Never did princely gifts, or the smile of royalty, produce more ardent admiration and profound gratitude." There is a striking assemblage of romantic objects at the Little Falls of the Mohawk, about twenty-two miles from Utica, near which, at one place, the pass, between hills and through precipitous rocks of granite and limestone is so narrow, that a great deal of cutting and expensive operation has been necessary, in order to make room for the canal and road by the river side. The cataract itself is nowise remarkable, the descent being gradual over a rough rocky bed, and not unlike the Ra- pids at Killin, near the burying-place of Macnab of Mac- nab, in Perthshire, in Scotland. The fall is occasioned by a chain of hills of no great elevation, which crosses VOL. I. E 74 CULTIVATION. the Mohawk. There are good specimens of petrifaction in this neighbourhood, especially of wood of large size. Above Little Falls, the canal passes through a plain of fine alluvial land, called the German Flatts, from its being originally peopled by German emigrants. Much of the land, from Schenectady to Utica, consists of good soil. Very little green crop is seen ; some potatoe, but very little turnip. Wheat is cut in July ; but part of the maize, wdiich is sown in rows, and is a most valu- able crop, — the great staple of American husbandry, — and of the oats, an indifferent crop, are still in the field. No hedges, and the fences generally of wood, strong substantial posts and rails, for which locust, cedar, and hiccory are preferred. The number of farm-houses and cottages seemed to us as great as in well-cultivated districts in England. We saw many fine maple trees, valuable for giving shade, wdth little injury to the growth of grass and grain under them, — for their wood so beautifully marked for cabinet-makers, — for fuel, and chiefly, I believe, for giving sugar. The sugar has a peculiar flavour, which we thought unpleasant ; but habit would, I doubt not, soon reconcile one to the use of it. The trees are tapped, two or three inches into the wood, wdth a view to ob- taining the sap, from which the sugar is extracted, some time in February, or the beginning of March. The holes are made in a slanting direction, in which sprouts of elder or sumach, projecting from the tree, are placed. The holes are plugged as soon as the sap is draw^n. The tree does not become impoverished by PASSENGERS. 75 repeated tappings. There are instances on the Hudson, where the process has been continued for fifty years. Maple trees never thrive but on good land. The party in the canal packet consisted of the ladies and their family who had accompanied us from Albany ; one of the agents of the canal ; a store-keeper from New Jersey, and his sister ; and one or two other gentlemen, besides passing travellers, and workmen, who were often with us only for a mile or two. The charge is, I believe, three or four cents a mile. There are one hundred cents to a dollar ; a cent is therefore of about the same value as a halfpenny, supposing the dollar to be worth four shillings and threepence sterling. Although the passengers were in different ranks in life, little or no distinction was observable among them in the perfect freedom with which they entered into conversation, or gave their opinion on any subject which w^as started. All spoke with equal ease, and seemed on a par. The canal works, and the beauties of the country, were of course pointed out to the strangers; but the engrossing subject was the election of the president of the United States, to be decided two months hence, a topic of warm but perfectly good- humoured discussion. The canal agent was as vigorous a partisan of Adams, as the storekeeper of Jackson ; and we soon found that the opinions of the party were pretty equally divided. Some one said, that Jackson had merely distinguished himself as a soldier, and that it was now too late in life for him to acquire the habits necessary for the great situation to which he aspired. E 2 76 ELECTION OF PRESIDENT. My friend from New Jersey set us all to rights in this respect. Jackson was originally a lawyer, attorney- general for his state of Tennessee, and for many years member of Congress. A new light was also given us respecting the execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister. We were told that the court-martial had been prevailed on, after the promulgation of their sentence, when they were entirely divested of the character of a court, to alter it, which they had no more right to do, than any other men in the country ; that Jackson had merely enforced the first sentence of death in both cases ; but that, had he even altered the sentence, it was no more than our commander-in-chief is every day in the habit of doing, when he is called to revise the sentences of courts-martial. Were we to judge of the claims of the candidates from all that we have heard during the few days we have been in this country, we should incline to think that Jackson's popularity is mainly owing to his being considered the sterner, and more inflexible republican of the two. The family of Adams were from the beginning federalists. The name of Feder- alist is now extinct, but their principles remain, and are not without influence. The present president, Mr. Adams, on one occasion left his party ; and it was for having done so that Mr. Jeff'erson, then president, gave him office. Nothing struck me more than the ease with which people of the lowest description, as we should view them from their appearance, entered at once into con- versation, and delivered and enforced their sentiments. CANAL COFFEE-HOUSE. 77 The late Sir Isaac Brock was, by some accident, men- tioned. The canal agent spoke of him in terms of great respect, as the best commander the British had ever sent to Canada, — equally regretted on both sides of the St. Lawrence. At Utica we landed at the canal coffee-house, and here, for the first time in the United States, saw an intoxicated person, an Indian, standing by the side of the canal, hurraing for Jackson. Having dined in the packet, we were desirous to have tea immediately on our arrival, that we might make as much use of our time as possible, in walking out while day-light remain- ed, but we found that our request could not be complied with, without transgressing the ordinary rules of the house. We might have gained our object by extra payment, but even in that case as a favour. We there- fore set out on a long walk through the town and its environs, returning in time for the tea and supper hour at six, when we joined thirty or forty people seated at table in a large and rather handsome room. Tea and coffee were handed about, and there was plenty of food of all kinds, broiled meat, bread and biscuit, and cake of various sorts, plum jam, &c. The boarders seemed to make as hearty a meal as the travellers. Utica stands on the south bank of the Mohawk, and is altogether of recent erection, though the population is now 8000 or 9000. It is regularly built, has wide streets, and many handsome houses and gardens. There are several hotels, one of them, Bagg's hotel, a very large house. Utica, being the point where many E 3 78 TRENTON FALLS. of the chief roads of the State unite, is a place of great resort for stages, and has been increasing rapidly since the canal was completed. There are at present no less than five daily four-horse coaches from hence to Buf- falo, on Lake Erie, 200 miles distant, on the way to Niagara ; the fare six and a half dollars, and no pay- ment to coachmen. There is no guard. The stores are very handsome, and there are several soda-water establishments. The Trenton Falls, — a succession of water-falls, which travellers generally go to see, there being six chutes^ and the wooded ravines and banks very roman- tic, — are about fourteen miles from Utica, on a creek which supplies the Mohawk; but as there was no in- termission of the heat, we preferred proceeding onwards to Niagara in the stage. We had great difficulty in being ready at the hour for departure, the female ser- vant having neglected to bring us a light in sufficient time. The stage was partly filled before we were pre- pared to take our seats, — half an hour before sunrise, — and did not reach Auburn until nearly sunset. A gen- tleman who had taken his seat in the back row, insisted on giving it up to my wife, so decidedly, as being her right, that she had no alternative but to accept it, al- though it was a matter of indifference to her on which row she sat. In the same row with that gentleman was a poor woman, the widow of a labourer on one of the lakes, with a child, to whom the gentlemen, two of whom were persons of no small consideration in point of fortune, showed the same attention and wish to be UTICA TO AUBURN. 79 of use, as they could have clone to any other female, whatever might be her rank in society. The morning was very hot, but we had some wel- come showers in the forenoon, after which the heat became much more tolerable, the road indifferent, and frequently not in the best line ; but our charioteers drove pretty steadily at the rate of seven miles an hour. T|jpre were many wooden bridges over creeks, — the name given to small rivers in this country, — and the rapid driving of our cumbersome machine down the hills to those bridges was at first rather appalling; but the drivers got on so fearlessly, and at the same time seemed to have their horses so well in hand, that we very soon thought ourselves as safe as in an English stage coach. The drivers generally stopped to water their horses every four or five miles, often themselves drawing the water from the wells. Our route led us through a good country, diversified with hill and dale, and considerable hollows, — much excellent land, all cleared and settled within the last thirty or thirty-five years. We passed many thriving villages, — towns we should call most of them ; New Hartford, Manchester, Ver- non, Oneida, Lenox, Cliitteningo, Manlius, Jamesville, Onandaga, Marcellus, and Skeneateles, adjoining a lake of the same name. The valley of Onandaga is exceed- ing beautiful, and the town very neat and clean-look- ing, with a handsome opening and piece of fine sward in its centre. We were in the neighbourhood of two small sentlements of Indians. In one place, the chil- dren of the Indians followed the stage a long way to E 4 80 FARM-HOUSES. get a few cents from us. Every thing lias a thriving appearance in this district — crops good — and we have also to-day seen many patches of buck-wheat. Farm- houses, generally with a portico, piazza, or balcony on one side, and a few locust trees or Lombardy poplars ^ about the buildings, and in all cases large orchards at this season loaded with fruit. The gardens are univer- sally in the worst order, and full of weeds ; notwith- standing which, and that the garden is as often, as it appeared to us, cultivated with the plough as the spade, ordinary vegetables, as well as cucumbers and melons, seem abundant. Near the house, and sometimes in the orchards, is the burying-ground of the family, marked by the erection of a few grave-stones. We breakfasted this morning at Vernon, seventeen miles from Utica, and had even more than an abun- dant American breakfast set before us ; after which the passengers made as free with the apples and plums in the hotel-keeper's garden, as if they had been their own. Onandaga is the usual place for dining on this journey ; but a party of militia on duty there had, I presume, forestallen our dinner; for we were told that we must wait for some time. This w^e were un- willing to do ; and, having got a lunch of cheese and bread, we delayed our chief meal until we reached the coffee-house hotel at Auburn. There tea and supper were prepared as soon as we arrived, with broiled chickens, potatoes, and the other et ceteras^ preserved fruit, &c. most plentifully. The hostess sat at table. A hired female, — for in this part of the country the ROCHESTER AUBURN. 81 word servant is hardly, as we are told, ever used, — at- tended the table, always sitting at the foot, when her services were not wanted to hand the tea-cups, bread, &c. No fermented liquor of any kind was called for by any of our fellow-travellers; but soon after tea some of them I observed, smoking cigars in the bar- room, where they might have any liquor they wanted. We were successful in finding a soda-water fountain on our peregrinations in the village. Among our fellow-travellers to-day was a gentleman of large property at Rochester, the most thriving of the villages on the Erie Canal, about eighty miles to the westward, situated on a considerable river, the Genessee, near Lake Ontario, and possessing immense water power. This gentleman told us, that the first child born at Rochester, after the settlement of the place, was a son of his, eighteen years ago. The place only contained 1000 inhabitants in 1818, and now about 13,000. There are cotton-works, power-looms, woollen factories, eleven flour-mills, and six or seven churches. Large fortunes have been made by the pur- chase and sale of building lots. Auburn itself is situated on the outlet of the Oswesco Lake, conveniently for manufactures, and is a thriving place, with a population of about 4000. It might have been the Auburn of Goldsmith, but for its numerous manufacturing establishments, and for its being the situation of one of the two great state-prisons of the State of New York. There are printing-ofiices, and various newspapers here, as at all the villages ; one of 82 TRAVELLING r MRS. GRANT. the papers devoted entirely to religious discussion and intelligence. There are several hotels ; one of them, a splendid-looking house, contains about 200 beds. The house seems well-regulated. The hostess invited my wife to her parlour, where there is a good collection of books, including many of Sir Walter Scott's works, which we find even more frequently that Mr. Cooper's novels, wherever we go in this country. Nowhere in this country has there been a more complete change since the revolution, than in that part of it where we now are, in respect of improved living, travelling, and augmented population. Mrs. Grant, who travelled as far as Utica, then called Fort Schuyler, nearly seventy years ago, and Chateaubriand, who passed through this part of the State on his way to Niagara in 1791, are good authorities at different periods. In Mrs. Grant's time, roads there were none. The party proceeded up the river Mohawk in batteaux. The first night they spent with the King of the Mo- hawks, who allowed no division of apartments in his palace ; and where any of the forts were in the neigh- bourhood they slept in them, but at other times they encamped at night on the bank of the river. " This, (she writes) in a land of profound solitude, where wolves, foxes, and bears abounded, and were very much inclined to treat and consider us as intruders, might seem dismal to wiser folks ; but I was so grati- fied by tlie bustle and agitation produced by our mea- sures of defence, and actuated by the love which all TRAVELLING CHATEAUBRIAND. 83 children have for mischief that is not fatal, that I en- joyed our night's encampment exceedingly. We stop- ped early wherever we saw the largest and most com- bustible kind of trees. Cedars were great favourites : and the first work was to fell and pile upon each other an incredible number, stretched lengthways, while every one who could was busied in gathering withered branches of pine, &c. to fill up the interstices of the pile, and make the green wood burn the faster. Then a train of gunpowder was laid along to give fire to the whole fabric at once, which blazed and cracked mag- nificently. Then the tents were erected close in a row before this grand conflagration. This was not merely meant to keep us warm^ but to frighten ^vild beasts, and wandering Indians. In one place, where we were surrounded by hills, with swamps lying between them, there seemed to be a general congress of wolves, who answered each other from opposite hills, in sounds the most terrific." Chateaubriand's description of the diflSculties he had to encounter thirty years afterwards, is not less inter- esting. He set out from Albany on horseback, having bought a couple of horses, and procured a Dutchman as a guide. " When I found myself, (he writes,) after passing the Mohawk, in woods which had never been subject to the axe, I fell into a sort of intoxication. I went from tree to tree, to the right and the left indiscri- minately, saying to myself, ' Here are no more roads to follow, — no more towns, — no more close houses, — no more presidents, republics, or kings : and, to try whether I was at length reinstated in my original rights, I in- E 6 84 TRAVELLING FORMERLY. dulged in a thousand whimsical acts, which enraged the tall Dutchman, who officiated as my guide.' " Our horses (near Onandaga) needed rest. I sought with my Dutchman a spot suitable for our en- campment. We found one in a dell, at a place where a river rushes impetuously from the lake. It was in the bend of the river that we prepared our lodging for the night. We planted two tall poles in the ground, and laid a third horizontally across their forks ; pieces of birch bark, one end resting upon the earth, and the other against the transverse pole, formed a roof worthy of our palace. A fire was kindled to cook our supper, and to drive away the mosquitos. Our saddles served for pillows, and our mantles for bed- clothes. We fastened bells to the necks of our horses, and turned them loose in the woods. By an admi- rable instinct, those animals never wander so far as to lose sight of the fire, which their masters kindle at night to drive away insects, and to defend themselves from serpents." Again, " The new settlements exhibited a curious mixture of the state of nature, and the civilized condi- tion. In the corner of a forest, which had never rung but with the shouts of the savage, and the braying of the fallow-deer, you met with cultivated lands: you perceived, from the same point of view, the hut of an Indian, and the habitation of a planter. Some of these habitations already completed reminded you, by their neatness, of English or Dutch farm-houses; while others were but half-finished, and had no other roof than the dome of a spreading tree. SINGULAR INN. 85 " 111 the best situations, villages were erecting. It is impossible to conceive the feelings and the delight experienced on seeing the spire of a new steeple rising from the bosom of an ancient American forest. As English manners stick to the English, wherever they are, so, after traversing countries, where there were no traces of inhabitants, I perceived the sign of an inn dangling from the branch of a tree by the road-side, and swinging to and fro in the wand of the desert. Hunters, planters, Indians, met at these caravanseras; but the first time I slept in one of them, I vowed it should be the last. " One evening, on entering one of these singular inns, I was astounded at the sight of an immense bed constructed in a circular form round a post. Each traveller came and took his place in this bed, with his feet to the post in the centre, and his head at the cir- cumference of the circle, so that the sleepers were ranged symmetrically, like the spokes of a wheel, or the sticks of a fan. After some hesitation, I took mv place in this singular machine, because I saw nobody in it. I was just dropping asleep, when I felt a man's leg rubbing along mine ; it was my great devil of a Dutchman's, who w^as stretching himself beside me. I never was *so horrified in my life. I leapt out of this hospitable contrivance — cordially execrating the good old customs of our good old ancestors, and went and lay down in my cloak in the moonshine. This com- panion of the traveller's couch was nothing less than agreeable, cool, and pure." 88 STATE-PRISON. of the building. The door of the cell, of which the grate is a part, closes on the inner edge of the wall, two feet deep. This recess in front of each door, in- creases the difficulty of conversation and communica- tion between the prisoners, — prevents them from see- ing into the galleries, — and furnishes a convenient place for an officer of the prison to converse with the prisoner, without being seen or heard by those in the adjoining cells. The area round the cells, which is ten feet wide, is open from the ground to the roof, in front of five stories of cells. Of this area, three feet adjoining the cells are occupied by the galleries. The advantages of this description of building, are its security and economy. The security is obvious. The prisoner must first escape from his cell; then avoid the sentinel in the open area; then force the external wall; and after all, he is only in the yard, the wall of which is 30 feet high. No escape has hitherto taken place from this prison. The economy is great in respect to the space occu- pied, and in heating, lighting, and guarding. Twelve small stoves, and twelve small lamps, placed in the open area in front of the cells, afford heat and light for 555 cells ; and one sentinel is found sufficient to guard the prisoners. The space in front of the cells is a perfect sounding gallery, so that a sentinel in the open area on the ground can hear a whisper from a distant cell in the upper story. The shops, or working-rooms, are almost all attached to the outer wall of the prison, — that wall being the GOVERNMENT. 89 outer wall of the shops. They are, when completed, to be about 1600 feet long, 26 feet wide, and 7 feet high on the side towards the yard, and 16 feet on the external wall. The side of the shops on the yard is lighted by a row of windows 4 feet by 3 feet 4 inches, and 2 feet 7 inches asunder. There is also a row of windows in the roof of the shops, consisting of an un- broken line of 7 by 9. In the rear of the shops is an avenue or passway, sufficiently lighted by numerous small openings cut in the partition, which enables the keepers to inspect the convicts without their know- ledge, and visitors to pass through without going into the shops. All the filth is swept through a grated passage beneath the external wall, into the creek or river of Oswesco, which runs at the foot of it. There are two reservoirs of water for bathing in the prison yard, one fifteen feet by forty-three, and the other eighteen feet in diameter. The prison is governed by a board of inspectors, residing in the village, who are appointed every two years by the Governor and Senators of New York State, and who make such regulations as they think necessary, and appoint the keeper, deputy-keeper, physician, chaplain, and all the subordinate officers. At the period when the prison was erected, the legislature of the State, and the public, had become so dissatisfied with the mode of penitentiary punishment without solitary confinement then existing, which seemed rather to harden than to have any tendency to 90 STATE-PRISON. reform the delinquents, that it was generally believed, that, unless a severe system was adopted, the old san- guinary criminal code must be restored. In the State of New York, and in other of the most populous States, it should be noticed, that no crimes are punished with death, excepting murder and fire-raising; and that in all the States of the Confederacy, transportation beyond seas is a mode of punishment unknown. The legis- lature of New York State, therefore, in the year 1821, directed a selection of the oldest and most heinous offenders to be made, who should be confined constantly in solitary cells. Eighty con\dcts were accordingly put into solitary cells on •25th December, 1821. Five of those convicts died during the year preceding January 1823, while only five died out of 140 convicts con- fined at the same time in prison, but who were kept to labour. The health of the solitary convicts was very soon seriously impaired. Some of them became insane ; and the effect of this constant imprisonment was not more favourable to reformation than to mental and bodily health. Before the end of 1823, exclusive solitary confine- ment was entirely discontinued, and the present suc- cessful system, combining solitude and silence with labour, introduced; a majority of the commissioners, who examined the prison, have reported, that they were entirely averse to solitary confinement without labour, on the grounds of its being injurious to health, expensive, affording no means of reformation, and un- necessarily severe. La Fayette, when he was lately in DETAILS. 91 the United States, and heard of the experiment of ex- clusive solitary confinement, said it was just a revival of the practice in the Bastile, which had so dreadful an effect on the poor prisoners. " I repaired," he said, to the scene on the second day of the demolition, and found, that all the prisoners had been deranged by their solitary confinement, except one ; he had been a prisoner twenty-five years, and was led forth during the height of the tumultuous riot of the people whilst engaged in tearing down the building. He looked around with amazement, for he had seen nobody for that space of time ; and before night he was so much affected, that he became a confirmed maniac, from which situation he never recovered." The details of the management of the prison must be accurately known, in order perfectly to understand the system now acted on. When convicts arrive, they have their irons taken off, are thoroughly cleaned, and clad in the prison dress. The rules of the prison are explained to them, and they are instructed by the keeper in their duties, — to obey orders, and to labour diligently in silence, — to approach all the officers of the institution, when it is necessary for them to speak, with respectful language, and never to speak without necessity, even to the keepers ; never to speak to each other under any pretence ; nor to sing, dance, or do any thing having the least tendency to disturb the prison ; never to leave the places assigned to them without permission ; never to speak to any person who does not belong to the prison, nor to look 92 STATE-PRISON. off from their work to see any one ; never to work carelessly, or be idle a single moment. They are also told, that they will not be allowed to receive letters, or intelligence from, or concerning, their friends, or any information on any subject out of the prison. Any correspondence of this kind, that may be necessary, must be carried on through the keeper, or assistant keepers. A Bible is, by order of the State, put into each cell. The bodies of all criminals, who die in the State prisons, are, by order of the legislature, delivered to the College of Physicians when they are not claimed by their relations within twenty-four hours after their death. The State prisons being in the country, — at a distance generally, it must be presumed, from the resi- dence of the relations, — such a claim can, it is obvious, be but rarely made. For all infraction of the regulations, or of duty, the convicts are instantly punished by stripes inflicted by the keeper, or assistant keepers, with a raw hide whip ; or in aggravated cases, under the direction of the keeper, or his deputy alone, by a cat made of six strans of small twine, applied to the bare back alone. Conviction follows offences so certainly, and instan- taneously, that they rarely occur ; sometimes not once in three months. At the end of fifteen minutes after the ringing of a bell in the morning, the assistant keepers unlock the convicts, who march out in military order in single files to their work-shops, where they wash their faces and hands in vessels prepared in the shops. DETAILS. 93 New convicts are put to work at such trade as they may have previously learned, provided it be practi- cable ; if not, or if they have no trade, the keeper selects such trade as appears, on inquiry, best suited to them. The hours of labour vary according to the season. In long days, from half-past 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. In short days, the hours are so fixed as to embrace all the daylight. At the signal for breakfast, the convicts again form in line in the shops, and are marched by the assistant keepers to the mess-room, which they enter at two different doors, face around by their plates, standing till all have got their places, when a bell is rung, and all sit down to their meals : but, as some eat more, and some less, w^aiters, provided with large vessels, pass along constantly between the tables, taking food from those who raise their right hand in token that they have it to spare, and giving to those who raise their left hand to signify they want more. The tables are narrow ; and the convicts, sittmg on one side only, are placed face to back, and never face to face, so as to avoid exchanging looks or signs. When the steward perceives that the convicts have done eating, or have had sufficient time for it, gene- rally from twenty minutes to half an hour, he rings the bell, when all rise and march to their work-shops, those going out first who came in last. Twelve o'clock is the hour of dinner. The proceedings the same as at breakfast. Before quitting labour, the convicts wash their faces andhands, — form line, according to the num- 94 STATE-PRISON. ber of tlieir cells, — and proceed, in reversed order, from that in which they come out in the morning, to the wash-room, where, without breaking their step, they stoop, and take up their supper vessels and water cans, and march to their galleries, enter their cells, and pull their doors to. Each gallery is occupied by one com- pany, which is marched and locked up by one assistant keeper. Assistant keepers are constantly moving around the galleries, having socks on their feet, that they may walk Avithout noise, so that no convict can feel secure, but that one of the keepers may be at the very door of his cell, ready to discover and report next morning for punishment the slightest breach of silence or order. The house, containing between 500 and 600 convicts, is thus perfectly still. The convicts are required, by the ringing of a bell, to go to bed upon their framed flat canvass hammocks, with blankets, and are neither permitted to lie down nor to get up w^ithout a signal. After the convicts are rung down at night, all the locks are again tried by the assistant keepers. On Sundays the arrangement is the same, with this difference, that, instead of working, the convicts are marched to the chapel, where divine service is per- formed by the chaplain. Such of them as are ignorant attend the Sunday school, which is admirably taught, and gratuitously, by students belonging to the theolo- gical seminary at Auburn. The keeper and assistant keepers must be present at divine service, and at the teaching in the Sunday school. RATIONS. 95 The rations for each man per day are, 10 oz. pork, or 16 oz beef; 10 oz. wheat flour, the wheat to be ^ound jSne, and not bolted ; 12 oz. Indian meal ; i- gill molasses, — a ration. And 2 qts. rye ; 4 qts. salt ; 4 qts. vinegar; l|oz. pepper; '2^ biLshels potatoes, — each 100 rations. From these provisions the conWcts are supplied in the morning with cold meat, bread, a slice of cold hominy (a preparation of Indian corn), hot potatoes, and a pint of hot rye coffee, sweetened with molasses. For dinner, they have meat soup made from broth, thickened with Indian meal, bread, hot potatoes, and cold water for drink. And for supper a portion of mush, (porridge made of Indian meal), and cold water. This quantity of food for each man is considered to be indispensably necessary when the labour is hard and constant, and not more than sufBcient to enable the convicts to perform it, and to remain in the enjoyment of health. Labour, only interrupted by the time necessary for meals, is required from the convicts for eleven hours per day, when there is enough of daylight. The agent makes contracts for the labour of the con- victs, with persons furnishing materials, so that all risk of loss is avoided, and much private capital and enter- prise are brought into action. Strict rules are enforced, preventing a contractor from speaking to a con^-ict. His wishes must be expressed to one of the keepers. There must be at least one assistant keeper in each mechanical department, who is master of the business 9G STATE-PRISON. pursued in it, to instruct new convicts, and see that the whole make first-rate work. The instruction is chiefly given by showing, and not by verbal direction. The convicts are so arranged in the shops as not to face each other, and have their work entirely separate. A shop, and the business of a hundred convicts, are so managed, that hours frequently pass without a word being spoken. Spectators are taken through the in- spection avenues in the rear, which surround all the shops, where they have a full view of the convicts without being seen. They are not allowed to speak so loud as to be heard by them. There are separate shops for car- penters, masons, coopers, tool-makers, shoemakers, tailors, weavers, blacksmiths, machinists, gunsmiths, chair-makers, cabinet-makers, and basket-makers. We saw some cabinet work beautifully finished. Indeed, all the work seemed to us well arranged, and systematically carried on. Carriage-making, polishing stone, and comb-making, have been begun during the year 1828. The gains of the convicts during the last year averaged 29 cents, or Is. 2ld. sterling per day, some of them earn- ing as much as 50 cents, and others not more than 15 cents per day. The amount was sufficient to defray the an- nual expense, including the whole salaries of the keepers, inspectors, the guard, and all other officers. The keepers have no doubt that the earnings will increase in subse- quent years, — many of the workmen who are under sen- tences of long confinement having, from practice,become much more perfect in their trades and occupations. The convicts are never, on any pretext whatever, permitted HEALTH OF CONVICTS. 97 to work on their own account, nor to receive any food, except the prison fare. Neither fermented liquor of any kind, nor tobacco, are allowed to be brought within the precincts of the prison. Nothing is bought or sold within its walls, so far as the prisoners are in any way concerned, except their labour. The regulations for the officers of the prison, for preserving it and the cells quite clean, and respecting the dress, cleanliness, and health of the convicts, are extremely minute, and well judged, and seem to be strictly enforced. A very well-informed person, one of the assistant-keepers, accompanied us through every part of the prison, except the workshops, which we saw from without, unseen by the inmates. It is, I have no doubt, truly observed in one of the recent publications on the subject of this prison, that " the whole establishment, from the gate to the sewer, is a specimen of neatness, and that the unremitted industry, the entire subordination, and subdued feeling of the convicts, have probably no parallel among an equal number of criminals." The degree of health which has prevailed since the introduction of the present system, probably surpasses anything ever known of an equal number of convicts, — between 500 and 600 ; the number of patients con- fined to the hospital being about one per cent, and the number of deaths one and a half. No convict has been discharged since the present system commenced, who has not, previous to his liber- ation, communicated details of his previous history, VOL. I. F 98 STATE PRISON. — how he was brought up, — what instructions he en- joyed, — his employment, — his residence, — his general habits, &c., and also information respecting his confine- ment, how he considers himself to have been treated, &c. A very curious body of facts will, in this w^ay, be obtained, especially as means are taken to procure, as far as it can be done, a knowledge of the after lives of the convicts. Of 160 convicts discharged from Auburn, of whom accurate accounts have been ob- tained, 112 have turned out decidedly steady and in- dustrious, and only twenty-six decidedly bad. It is generally admitted by the convicts, that their being deprived of all intelligence of their friends — of the affairs of the world — and of all means of intercourse and conversation with, each other, — occasions them more suffering, and tends more to humble them, than everything else, — that they are necessarily driven to reflection in their solitary cells, and through all the un- varying routine of their labour and rest. They allow, that the desire to converse is so great, and the tempta- tion to it so strong, that they will risk the hazard of speaking to each other whenever there is any probable chance of escaping detection, but that the vigilance of the keepers is such, that they are never able to carry on a connected discourse. It is not an uncommon thing for a convict, when discharged, to state that he did not know the names of his fellow convicts, who had for months worked by his side, and lodged in adjoining cells. An excellent summary of the advantages of the management of this prison is to be found in a report MANAGEMENT. 99 from commissioners appointed by the legislature of New York to visit the prisons at New York and Au- burn ; it contains this passage :— "The Auburn prison, combining the construction of the prison with the dis- cipline enforced in it, presents the following advanta- ges : — That the sentence of the law can be enforced with almost absolute certainty, since escapes must be nearly impossible, and conspiracy quite so, and an attempt at insurrection therefore hopeless ; consequently, that the prison is governed with great comparative safety to the lives both of the keepers and prisoners, which, in case of insurrection, are necessarily in danger. The sepa- rate cells by night, and the silence preserved, always entirely prevent all contamination among the prisoners; thus at once is excluded the great question of the clas- sification of convicts, which has so much engaged the attention of benevolent men in Europe and America. By this system, every prisoner forms a class by him- self ; and to all moral and social purposes he is insu- lated. The novice in crime may work for years by the side of the most expert felon, without making any pro- gress in the mysteries of criminality. The prisoners are compelled to work diligently and profitably, and are deterred from spoiling their work ; and we may add, as an important feature of this system, that, if any human means can, as it were, enforce repentance and amendment, it is this. The entire separation from all criminal associates, — the sobriety of feelings conse- quent upon temperance and labour, — and, most of all, the sadness of solitude, must frequently make serious F 2 100 STATE PRISON. impressions. We have seen manifest proofs of such impressions among the prisoners, and only wish there were reason to expect they would be permanent." During my stay in the United States 1829 and 1830, 1 was at pains to obtain information respecting the progress of the system of management, which has been described, of the Auburn prison. It has continued to be perfectly successful in all respects, especially in the financial department, the amount received for the earn- ings of the convicts having in both years greatly ex- ceeded the whole expenses of the prison. There were 570 inmates in the prison at the close of 1828. The whole expenses for the preceding year were 33,571 dollars, — the earnings 36,908 dollars, — making the profit to the State 3336 dollars. The discipline of the institution, to secure such a result, must be supposed good; but a single fact will place it in a stronger light. On the night of the 23d October 1828, an alarming fire broke out in a paint- shop in the prison, connected with a wood shed. The fire spread with great rapidity, and very soon commu- nicated with the windows of the building in which the convicts were locked up, and before any progress could be made in arresting it, the flames burnt through the windows, and threatened the convicts in their night cells with suffocation. The keepers, at the hazard of their lives, rushed through fire and smoke, and suc- ceeded in unlocking every door, and discharged into the yard, at midnight, 550 convicts. Two avenues had now been opened to the street, through either of which EXPENSES. 101 the convicts might have escaped in the confusion of attending the carriage of water, and the passing and repassing of citizens. Instead, however, of attempt- ing to escape, they formed the most efficient fire com- pany, having extinguished the flames, and when this was done, were found in their places, no one having attempted to escape. The evidence of the discipline being reformatory, continued to be equally satisfactory. Intelligence had been received concerning 206 discharged convicts, of whom 146 are reformed. Concerning many of these 146 persons information had been received, three years in succession, giving them the same character. The first year of this system of inquiry, favourable returns were received concerning 52, — the second year con- cerning 112, — and the third year concerning 146. The recommitments in 1827, out of 427, were 19. In 1829, out of 570, only 17. During the year 1829 the expenses were 34,070 dollars, — the earnings of the convicts 39,933 dollars, — making the profit to the State 5862 dollars. The deaths less than one in one hundred, — about the same as in the most favoured country villages in the State of New York or in New England. The managers of the Prison Discipline Society of Boston, who have done, and are doing great good, in making the Auburn system known over the American continent, have, in their Report for 1830, published a very satisfactory letter, dated 20th May, 1830, from Mr. Smith, chaplain to the Auburn prison, and who f3 102 STATE PRISON. formerly had been superintendent of the Sabbath school of that prison, and had, of course, become tho- roughly acquainted with the prison system, and its in- mates, from which what follow are extracts : " I have now spent two years among the convicts in this prison. I review the period with, deep emo- tion. I think it has been the most useful, certainly the happiest, portion of my life. They who have asked me, ' How can you immure yourself in so dreary a place, and among such a class of men ?' have yet to learn what is the richest luxury that a benevolent heart can enjoy. If left to my choice, no earthly con- sideration would tempt me to leave this for any other field of labour on earth. " The ordinary religious services have been regu- larly performed. To the preaching on the Sabbath the convicts have uniformly listened with fixed atten- tion, and often with deep and overwhelming emotion. The services are always characterized by perfect or- der, and apparent solemnity. It has been the com- mon remark of casual visitors, as well as others, that they never witnessed an equal degree of attention, and apparent seriousness and interest, in any other congregation. From the chapel I have followed them in the afternoon to their solitary cells, and there, in the best possible circumstances for producing effect, have pressed home upon their consciences, individually, the truths which they had heard in the public assembly, in such manner, as I conceived to be best adapted to their different capacities and states of feeling. In these visits SABBATH SCHOOL. 103 I have often witnessed the power of truth, in making- the stoutest heart, the heart that could be approached in no other circumstances, tremble. Nothing is more common than to hear them express their surprise, that they never thought of these things before, and their gratitude that they have been arrested, and brought into a place where they are taught them, and where they cannot but think of them. In this labour I have been assisted by the use of tracts, which the keeper has kindly given me permission to put into their hands on the Sabbath, and which, by a suitable selection and adaptation to particular cases, have not unfrequently proved to be efficient co-workers in producing and strengthening salutary impressions upon their minds. " The Sabbath school still holds a prominent place in our system of instruction, and claims our highest regard. Its number has been gradually increased, till it now contains about 160 pupils, in thirty-one classes, which are under the care of thirty-two theological stu- dents as teachers, one of whom takes the immediate oversight of the whole. I scarcely know which most to admire, — the devotedness of the teachers, or the ardour and industry of the scholars. The liveliest interest is manifested by both. A mutual and strong attachment springs up between them. The teachers seem willing to forego any other privilege for the sake of meeting and instructing their pupils; and, among the scholars, generally, no other punishment is more dreaded than exclusion from the school. It has been interesting to me to observe, upon the discharge of these scholars F 4 104 STATE PRISON. from prison, how often the first inquiry has been, where they might find their teacher ? " In all my intercourse with the convicts, I have met with nothing but respectful and affectionate treat- ment. No one, in his right mind, has ever manifested towards me the least disrespect or unkindness." Mr. Smith will, no doubt, be viewed as an enthusiast by those who think lightly of the labours of such per- sons as Howard, Buxton, and Mrs. Fry; but the man who publishes to the world, that he considers that pe- riod of his life to be the happiest which he has spent among the convicts in the prison of Auburn, is not likely to be deterred by sneering remarks, from perse- vering in his course of usefulness. Instances are not wanting of individuals who, like Mr. Smith, prefer the feeling arising from the consciousness of doing good to their fellow-creatures to all earthly considerations, and who would rather immure themselves within the walls of a prison, when they are satisfied that their exer- tions are crowned with success, than accept any other situation^ however desirable. Many years have not elapsed since a committee of the House of Commons on prison discipline made known the interesting anec- dote of the excellent Pere Joussony, who, being sent by the French consul at Algiers to minister to the slaves^ fixed his residence in their prison, and, during a period of thirty years, never quitted his post. Being compelled to repair to France for a short period, he re- turned again to the prison, and at length resigned his breath in the midst of those for whose interests he had PRISON AT SING SING, &C. 105 laboured, and who were dearer to him than life. The conduct of the present Bishop of Lichfield, Dr. Ryder, looking to his birth and station, and the influence they generally exercise, in visiting jails, and concerning him- self about the welfare of the prisoners, is not much less remarkable, and is an example to all ranks of the clergy. Efficient and well-paid officers are indispensably necessary for maintaining such a system of management, vigilant superintendence and discipline, as that which exists at Auburn. The salary of the agent and keeper, who finds security to the amount of 25,000 dollars, is •2500 dollars. Each of the assistant-keepers has 450 dollars a-year. The system introduced at Auburn is making rapid progress in the United States. The State of New York has erected a state-prison, with 1000 cells, at Sing Sing, on the Hudson River, about thirty miles from New York ; and the States of Massachussetts, Connec- ticut, Vermont, Maryland, and Kentucky, have adopt- ed, generally, the Auburn plan ; the State of Connec- ticut with peculiar success, so far as respects the revenue of the prison, — the produce of labour in the new pri- son at Wethersfield in Connecticut having, in 1829, on an average number of 150 prisoners, exceeded the whole expense of the prison by 5068 dollars. In some of the old prisons, where it is impossible to con- fine in solitary cells, the system of constant labour has been successfully and profitably established. No attempt to regulate any of the prisons in this 106 STATE PRISON. country according to the Auburn plan has, so far as I have learned, been made. This appears the more ex- traordinary ; because it is stated, in the printed report of the agent of the Auburn prison for 1827, that the British minister at Washington, Mr. Vaughan, after a critical examination of the institution, declared in ardent language that he hoped in God it would be made the model of imitation not only for this country, but for all Europe. And Mr. Vaughan would, of course, not fail to make his opinion, and the results on which it was founded, known in the proper quarter. Great Britain ought, of all countries on the face of the earth, to be the most grateful to the State of New York for having set such an example before her ; for in what country are there so many convicts in reference to the population ? — where are they maintained at so great expense to the state ? — and where has so little yet been done towards accomplishing the great end of punishment, — the diminution of offences by the terror of punishment ? — or in promoting the reforma- tion of the offenders ? 1. The number of committals in England alone is from 16,000 to 18,000 a year; more than double the number of committals in France, allowing for the dif- ference of population. The number of committals in Ireland is about 14,000 a year. The number of com- mittals in England and Wales is nearly equal to the number in the whole of the rest of Europe. 2. The expense of convicts to this country is enor- mous. Our settlement in New South Wales has cost BRITISH CONVICTS. 107 many millions. The present annual expenditure is between 200,000Z. and 300,000/. per annum. The average expense of sending a convict to Botany Bay is in round numbers 20Z. ; and the annual average ex- pense of maintaining him after his arrival is 12/. The expense of maintaining convicts in the prisons of England is great beyond belief. The average annual expense of each convict, in eleven of the greatest pri- sons, is 38/. 7^. 2d. The only other way of disposing of convicts is in the Hulks in England or in Ber- muda ; — the greatest nurseries of crime in the world ; •and there, by keeping the convicts at hard labour, their average annual expense was reduced, in the six years ending with 1829, to 8/. 14^. Qd. per man. 3. The first object of punishment, to prevent the re- petition of the crime, as well as the second, to promote the reformation of the criminal, are entirely lost sight of, whether the criminal be sent to New South Wales, confined in prison, or in the hulks. The great majo- rity of persons sent to Botany Bay consider their situ- ation improved, and very generally thank the judges for pronouncing sentence of transportation. Instances not unfrequently occur where criminals commit the offences with which they are charged in order that they may be transported. So much for the effect of the sentence of transportation in diminishing offences by the terror of punishment ; and as to the reformation of the offenders, all hope of it is at an end by their removal to this colony, than which there is no more wicked place anywhere in the world, — a congregation F 6 108 STATE PRISON. of felons, where the thief on his arrival finds no one to associate with but his companions in vice. The same results pretty nearly follow from imprisonment in the jails in this country, and in the hulks, where no effectual check is given to persons of different classes mixing together, — where their conversation is unre- strained, — where they very generally have better food than before their committal, — the offender that is young and inexperienced, on his entering the prison, becoming hardened, and fit to commit crimes of the deepest dye before he leaves it. Our prisons, instead of promoting the reformation of criminals, are undeni- • ably schools of vice. The Auburn system embraces all the objects which Howard and the philanthropists of this and the last century have been endeavouring to attain. In the Maison de Force at Ghent, which both Howard and Buxton visited at different periods, thirty-four years apart, and which both of them eulogize, the same ma- nagement in respect to solitary cells, silence, and labour, prevailed as at Auburn, and was attended with excellent effects ; but the convicts were allowed a cer- tain portion of their earnings, and the system was not adhered to with the exactness, precision, and regular- ity which are indispensably necessary, so that at one period the earnings of the prisoners were much re- duced in amount, and there was great laxity of disci- pline. Mr. Western, one of the magistrates of the county of Essex, and one of the representatives of that county in Parliament, a gentleman whose benevolent MR. WESTERN^S VIEWS, 109 and patriotic views are well known, has^, in a pamphlet on prison-discipline, which he published a few years ago, suggested the following plan, the details of which he has well explained : — " Solitary confinement, marching and remarching to the cells, (as practised at Auburn) ; hard labour for eight instead of eleven hours, (as at Auburn,) but without restriction as to conversation^ and with liberty for airing and exercise for three hours." And he asks, " If each successive day was spent in this manner, can it be doubted that the frequent commis- sion of crime would be checked, and more done to deter, coiTect, and reform, than could be accomplished by any other punishment? A period of such disci- pline, longer or shorter, according to the nature of the offence, would surely be sufficient for any violation of the law short of murder, or tliat description of outrage which is likely to lead to the perpetration of it. This sort of treatment is not to be overcome : it cannot be braved, or laughed at, or disregarded by any force of animal spirits, however strong or vigorous of mind or body the individual may be. The dull, unvarying course of hard labour, with hard fare and seclusion, must in time become so painfully irksome, and so wear and distress him, that he ^vill, inevitably, in the end, be subdued." If Mr. Western's plan would be at- tended with the effects he describes, " to deter, correct, and reform," how much more certainly would those consequences attend that followed at Auburn, where the offenders suffer the penalty of total exclusion from society, deprived of all knowledge of their friends and 110 STATE PRISON. relations, and of their associates, even if confined in the same prison with them ; are doomed to constant hard labour, their earnings altogether applied for the benefit of the State; subjected to stripes, inflicted summarily and instantly by any one of the keepers, for every infraction of the prison rules, even for the slightest at- tempt to break silence, or for inattention to work, or not working constantly and well. The punishment of stripes has been found fault with; but both at Ghent and Auburn the keepers have given it as their opinion, that constant labour, and the main- tenance of the very strict discipline enjoined, cannot be enforced without their having the power to inflict this summary punishment. It is only permitted to be inflicted on the back of the convict, in such manner as to produce personal sufi*erLng, without danger to the health or any vital part. In point of fact, however, the certainty of punishment following every off"ence is so thoroughly understood, that the power is, as already noticed, seldom exercised. It has been said, that the higher price of provisions, and lower price of labour, render it improbable that such a financial result could be obtained in England as in the State of New York, where the w^hole prison expences are more than paid by the earnings of the con^dcts : and that, in point of fact, the experiment of labour has been tried in twelve of the best prisons in England, where the earnings of each convict amounted only to ten dollars per annum ; 3,699 convicts having earned 8,867/. = 39,361 dollars, or 10 dollars, 64 PRISON EXPENSES. Ill cents each. The result of this experiment proves far too much. It demonstrates, from the nothingness of the earnings, that the convicts had not been kept to labour ; that the keepers had paid no attention to their duty, and did not wish the experiment to succeed; probably on account of the trouble and increased at- tendance it would occasion to themselves if persevered in. How does it happen, if convicts can only earn 10 dollars a-year in jails in England, that they sometimes earn 13Z. a-year in the hulks, which the Parliamentary returns prove to be the case ? But, farther, it is ex- pressly stated by Mr. Western, that at Preston there is a clear annual profit to the county from the labour of the prisoners of 1,398/. 9s. Id. If this result can be obtained in the prison at Preston, it may be ob- tained any where else ; and our prisons may be ren- dered sources of profit, and their great objects, to deter from the commission of crime, and to contribute to the reformation of the offenders, at the same time, be accomplished. But so desirable a change cannot be effected without having individuals thoroughly well qualified, as keepers, assistant-keepers, and officers, ready to devote their whole time to the duties imposed on them, and fairly and fully remunerated for the faith- ful discharge of them. Each of the assistant-keepers at Auburn has a salary of 450 dollars, which, when the cheapness of provisions and absence from taxes in the State of New York are considered, may be looked on as worth at least 150Z. with us. Hitherto it has but too frequently happened in this country, that keepers 10 112 STATE PRISON. of prisons, and other persons employed, have owed their appointments not so much to their fitness to hold them, as to their being the retainers of the friends of the political party in power. Now, however (1832), when it has been publicly announced by the adminis- tration, that the government is no longer to be main- tained by corruption, we may hope to see situations of this description filled by those best qualified to discharge their duties efficiently. I quite agree with those who think that criminals, by being kept at constant labour from which they are to derive no profit, in a state of humiliating re- straint, in solitude to a certain extent, and almost always doomed to silence, should be made to feel the wretchedness of their situation, and to view that sort of imprisonment to which they are subjected with dread and aversion. Such punishment is abso- lutely necessary for the sake of example, and to deter from the commission of crime ; but this granted, I cannot conceive any rational objection, as some well- meaning and well-informed persons have done, to ac- company this necessarily severe and strict course of discipline with the use of all the means likely to reclaim the oflFenders, — by religious instruction, — the benefit of a chaplain in the prison, — by education, where it has previously been neglected, — and by teaching culprits trades or professions, by betaking themselves to which they may, when liberated, gain ^ an honest livelihood. It is perfectly fair to complain, in modern times, of OBJECT OF IMPRISONMENT. 113 the increased salubrity and cleanliness of prisons, and of the efforts made to reform the prisoners, and to put them in a way of gaining their bread when the term of their imprisonment is completed, provided, but only provided, that the great object is never for a moment lost sight of, viz. the rigid enforcement of such a system in other respects, as may infallibly lead crimi- nals to contemplate the period of their imprisonment with feelings of fear, loathing, and horror, A well- regulated prison is in itself an object of dislike, dread, and terror to the really vicious, the thoroughly-formed delinquents. To them the easiest labour, if regular, and with the enforcement of regular habits, would be dreaded more than any thing else ; for it is not the less true, though often forgotten, that, to be compelled to act like the regular and virtuous, is a heavy punish- ment to the irregular and criminal. — ( Vide Scotsman Neivspaper of Edinburgh^ Sd September^ 1828.) 114 AUBURX. CHAPTER VII. Journey from Auburn by Cayuga and Seneca Lakes to Buffalo, on Lakp Erie — Stage from Auburn to Ithaca by Aurora Lake — Aurora Village — Gypsum — Apples — Ithaca Falls — Serenade to a party lately mar- ried — Bill at Ithaca — Breakfast on road — Village of Ovid — Geneva Village and Lake — Manners of Servants, or Helps — Professor Silli- man's Advice how to act in respect to them — Mr. Macnab of Geneva — Ride with him — First Settlements in this Country — Agricultural Societies — Number of Stages at Geneva — Stage from Geneva to Canandaigua -^Fine Country — Blossom's Hotel — Avon — Civility of Landlord — Anecdote — Carriages at Avon Church door — Presby- terian Church — Forms — Notice — Sacrament — Anecdote of Wash- ington — Good understanding among Clergymen of diflferent deno- minations — Freedom of Remarks in Stages — Absence of Hypocrisy in Religious Matters — Boarders at Avon — Village of Genessee — Mr. Wadsworth's Meadows — Civility at the Hotel at the Village — Rapid change of Climate from Heat to Cold — Stage from Avon to Buffalo — Girdled Trees — Corduroy Road near Buffalo. From 2d September to 9th September. Soon after our visit to the Auburn prison, we left the very comfortable family hotel at that village in the Stage for Ithaca, at the head of the Cayuga lake, in order to see the village of Aurora, on the eastern side of the lake, and a little more of the lakes than we should have done had we adhered to the di- [ t I CAYUGA LAKE. 115 rect western road, which passes the outlets or northern ends of those lakes. The lakes are parallel to each other, about thirty-three or thirty-five miles long, and two miles broad ; our route is by the eastern side of the Cayuga lake to Ithaca, and thence by the western side of Seneca lake to Geneva on its northern ex- tremity. We proceeded by the western road as far as the out- let from Cayuga lake, where there is a wooden bridge remarkable for its length, above a mile, and thence by the east side of the lake to Aurora, which is charmingly situated on a rising ground above the lake, and is con- sidered an eligible place of residence, on account of the beauty of the surrounding scenery, and cheapness of the necessaries of life. The village does not consist of a connected street, or rows of houses, but of a nmnber of detached, clean-looking, and apparently comfortable small villas, inclosed in courts, or spots of garden ground ornamented with a few weeping willows or locust trees. Gypsum is found in large quantity in the northern parts of the land adjoining Cayuga lake, and much used as manure at the rate of two bushels per acre. There is a great deal of ground in the neighbourhood devoted to orchards, at present in all their glory, loaded with fruit. The coachman drove so near the trees by the road, that we had as many apples as we chose to pull. We dined at a small hotel at Aurora, on pork, which, as we have always hitherto found it in this country, was excellent. The hogs are allowed to run out in the forests and orchards, where 116 ITHACA. they subsist in great measure in the autumn on nuts, acorns, and fallen apples ; and in some instances on fallen peaches. Before being killed they are put up for a short time on Indian corn. The flesh of the hogs fed in this way is firm and good. Our fellow-passen- gers consisted of a Pennsylvania farmer; an Ithaca store-keeper; and a female, with her son Ulysses. We passed many good farms, some of them recently brought into cultivation, on which the usual processes of house-building, and inclosing by strong wooden rails, were in progress. We found the regular supper was finished before we reached Mr. Irons's hotel at Ithaca. The hotel seemed crowded with boarders and strangers ; but the landlord, without our applying for it, gave us separate accommodation, and continued it, unasked, while we remained. Mr. Irons is a most attentive land- lord in all respects, — ofiered us his services on the day after we arrived, and which, too, we spent at Ithaca, to show us the village, and everything in the neighbourhood which we had any curiosity to see. Ithaca is a very flourishing village, the centre of se- veral great roads, with a population of between 3000 and 4000, and buildings in rapid progress. It is sur- rounded on all sides, except that towards the lake, by hills 300 and 400 feet high. The soil of the low grounds is rich. Public or tea-gardens are common in the American towTis. In one of the gardens here kept by an Irish gardener, formerly employed by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the gardens FALL CREEK. 117 itt Lambeth, we saw some fine fruit, especially grapes, of which he sent us a liberal present to the hotel. The falls of Fall Creek, a river of considerable size, which discharges itself into the Cayuga Lake, within a very short distance from Ithaca, almost in the environs, are very remarkable, — the descent being about 350 feet in the course of a mile and a half. At the last fall the water tumbles from a height of ninety feet; the banks are rocky, wild, and romantic. There was a great deal of keen discussion in the bar- I room of this hotel, on the subject of the approaching ! election of a President of the United States. Upon one 1 occasion it was carried perhaps too far, and apparently I as methodically, as if a regular meeting had been ar- ranged to debate the merits of the two candidates. Ra- ther too great warmth was displayed, but we afterwards found that one of the parties was a gentleman travelling through the State in order to learn the general senti- ments as to one of the candidates, and that on this occa- sion he had accidentally got into collision with a gentle- man similarly engaged on the other side. They addressed each other, the one as judge, probably a justice of peace, the other as colonel. A good many people were pre- sent, but took hardly any share in the disputation. During the night we were for several hours dis- turbed by a band of music, — clarionets, hautboys, and wind instruments, — close to the hotel. Scots airs were chiefly played. Auld Lang Syne, John Anderson my Joe, &c. It turned out that a marriage had taken place the day before, in a house a door or two from the hotel. 118 ITHACA. and that tlie friends of the party had ordered a serenade for them. We had not previously observed any public musical performers, not even an organist in the street, at New York, or anywhere else. At the Ithaca hotel, both brandy and white wine were set before us at dinner, and though we partook of the latter, no separate charge was made. The bill, instead of stating so much for board for a certain period, as is usual, was made out at so much for each meal, — breakfast 1^. 6d. ; dinner. Is, 6d. ; tea and supper, Is. 3rf., and lodging, Sd. per night for each ; so that the whole charge for two nights' lodging ; supper on the evening of our arrival, and meals during the next day, — at all of which there was animal food and poultry in profusion, — amounted, for three persons, to 5 dollars, 13 cents, or IZ. 6s. 9d. No waiter or boots to be paid, nor extra charge of any kind. In general in this part of the country, we are told, that the charge per day for persons travelling is a dollar, — probably not more than three dollars a-week for resident regular boarders. We pursued our journey on the 5th towards Geneva. Looking back from a height about two miles from Ithaca, and to the north-west of it, we were delighted with a view of the village, the falls, the hills covered with wood, and the lake. We breakfasted at a hotel by the roadside, kept by a person of the name of Pratt. The farm-labourers were seated at table with us, but the breakfast was good. We were hungry, and we solaced ourselves after breakfast with as many fine peaches in GENEVA. 119 the orchard as we chose to devour. Some of our Ame- rican fellow-passengers were not well pleased that the labourers should have been present, on account of the strangers, and were anxious to explain, that it was only at such a place as this, off the great roads, that it could have occurred. We had the widow of a farmer in the stage with us, now herself managing above 150 acres. She gave us minute details of her agricultural operations, — her butter, cheese, and cyder-making ; as well as maple sugar-making ; but although she was, as generally hap- pens here, the proprietor of the land she farmed, and had only taxes of the most trifling amount to pay, it did not appear that the high price of labour allowed her to do much more, than to bring up comfortably a family of half a dozen children. The only village we passed on our way to Geneva was Ovid, with its handsomely situ- ated church, and fine piece of green turf between the church and hotel. The American villages are gene- rally announced to you by the spires of their churches peeping through the trees on your approach. No re- ligious sect is more favoured than others. Every church, whether consisting of Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, or Unitarians, has its spire if the funds be sufficient, generally of wood, frequently with a glit- tering roof of tin, and of better architecture than the church itself. The situation of Geneva on a terrace above the lake is very delightful as well as commanding. It contains some good houses, and a population of 2000 or 3000, 1-20 GENEVA. seems an agreeable place of residence, more cheerful- looking, and the landscape and views more pleasing, than any of our resting-places since leaving the vale of the ]Mohawk. The hotel is large, and well kept, and the people disposed to be obliging : but it is every- where, we find, rather difficult to get the waiter or chambermaid to come to the bed-chamber door for the shoes to clean, and to bring them back, and to bring hot water for shaving in the morning. The custom is in the evening to exchange your shoes, which are left in a corner of the bar-room, for a pair of not very nice looking slippers, which again you exchange next morning in the bar-room for your cleaned shoes. As to shaving, it is a very general practice for travellers to shave in public in the bar-rooms, where there is always a looking-glass. Males frequently wash close to the pump well, where there are basins placed on a wooden bench, a practice not uncommon in France. The people in this house seem very attentive to every request; but you have no redress anywhere if the waiters forget or refuse to attend to requests consi- dered unusual ; and if they are Americans, and not of colour, they will seldom receive money from a pas- senger; and so generally consider the offer an insult, that it is not ad^dsable to make it. On the other hand, whenever the waiters are people of colour, or Irish, or generally speaking European, they will not object to receive a douceur; but let the traveller, if he intend to give one, do it in private ; and let him take an opportunity to let the waiter know his inten- MANNERS OF SERVANTS, 121 tioii in time, for otherwise he will not expect any thing, and may perhaps in that case turn out less attentive to your requests than the American, who w^ill seldom re- fuse if your application be made as a matter of favour in civil terms. Civility, as Lady Mary Montague truly observes, costs nothing, and buys everything. There is so much truth and good sense in the instructions which Professor Silliman of Newliaven, in his tour from Connecticut to Quebec, gives on this subject to Eng- lish travellers, that my pen cannot, I believe, be better employed than in transcribing them. " We were at- tended (Dr. S. alludes to an inn in Connecticut) by one of tliose comely respectable young women, (a daughter of tlie landlord,) who so often in our public houses per- ' form these services, without departing from the most correct, respectable, and amiable deportment." " This is a peculiarity in the manners of this country which is not at once understood by a foreigner, and especially by an Englishman. Such a person, if unin- structed in the genius of the country, almost of course presumes that all those whom he sees in public houses are in servile situations. If he adopt towards them an imperious and harsh manner, he gives offence, and pro- duces coldness, and possibly resentment, so that the in- terview ends in mutual dissatisfaction. If the traveller should write a book, he of course enlarges on the rude- ness of American manners, and it is very possible that even the servants of our inns may give him some occa- sion for such remarks, if they are treated as persons of their condition commonly are in Europe. Some years VOL. I. G 122 MANNERS OF SERVANTS. since, to an Englishman emigrating to America, the obvious causes which often disgust the English, and offend the Americans, when the former are travelling among the latter, and especially in the smaller towns and villages, were faithfully pointed out. It was strongly recommended to him, rather to ask as a favour what he had a right to command as a duty; to treat the heads of the public houses with marked respect, and their sons and daughters who might be in attendance, and even the servants, with kindness and courtesy, avoiding the use of terms and epithets, which might imply inferiority and servitude ; to make their duties as light as possible ; to manifest no unpleasant peculiarities ; and to make no unreasonable demands with respect to food, wanes, and cookery. He was assured that with such a spirit he would be treated with respect and kindness ; that he would be cheerfully served ; that the best the house afforded would be promptly obtained by him ; and should he even visit the same house again, that he would pro- bably be remembered and welcomed with cordiality. It was suggested that he must indeed occasionally con- cede something to familiarity and curiosity ; but that, with an amiable spirit and courteous deportment, he would not meet with rudeness or neglect, or have oc- casion to wTite an angry sentence concerning the x\mericans. And he was told that even the familiarity and curiosity which are sometimes unpleasant, w^ould be commonly repaid by the communication of valuable local information. As the gentleman to whom these remarks were BELLS IN INNS. 123 addressed was gay, and had been a military man, he was cautioned not to presume that any members of the fa- milies at the public houses might be treated with levity, for he would find that fathers and brothers were at hand, and pecuniary considerations would be sacrificed at once to the respectability of the house. After this gentleman had travelled fourteen months in the United States, he came to the town where his adviser resided, and thanked him for his cautions. He said that they had been of the greatest service to him, — that he had found the predictions fully verified, and himself treated with hospitality and kindness, while he had seen others of his countrymen, pursuing an opposite deportment, meet with very unpleasant treatment, and creating both for themselves and others perpetual dissatisfaction." While noticing the customs of inns in this country, I ought not to omit to notice that we have found bells altogether dispensed with since leaving Albany. We understand that American waiters are not fond of being called by the sound of a bell, and that, unless in the large towns, we shall hardly see them anywhere. Bells, however, are not in universal use over Europe, — they are more frequent in England than in any other country. Even in France they are very far from being general. In Turkey there are none, as Lord Byron tells us, " Turkey contains no bells, and yet men dine." There are neither posts nor curtains to beds in that part of the country where we are tra- velling, nor even the means of putting up a canopy or covering to exclude light. g2 124 MR. MACNAB. My friend who was travelling with us was known to Mr. Macnab of Geneva, a Scotch gentleman, who has resided here for several years, greatly respected, and who has the charge of the chief land-office. He prevailed on us soon after our arrival to remain there on the 6th, by his obliging offer to drive us out in his barouche to see the neighbouring country. The weather was very propitious on the 6th, — fine clear sky. In the course of our ride we saw great tracts of country lately settled and improved, much of it good, though not all of equally fertile soil, — the farm-houses generally new and good, — several of the farms belong- ing to British settlers ; one of the largest to an English - man, — the country roads far better than I expected, — the trees in the forest magnificent, not in point of cir- cumference, for they are too close to each other even to have lateral branches, but in point of height and cleanness of the bark. I am no advocate, even from what I have already seen, and w^ith the very limited information I possess, for foreigners undertaking the first settlement in this country themselves. The toils of wood-cutting, house-building, and inclosing, areim-j mense ; and, added to these is the great risk to health, which a foreigner and his family, far more than a native, incur by the exhalations from the wood-cutting process. All the necessary operations are performed better, more quickly, and with less danger to health, by the natives, who are accustomed to them, and better inured to the hardships attendant on bivouacking in the woods before a dwelling-house is prepared. The AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 1-25 necessary privations are more readily submitted to by tlie natives than by foreigners, and are in truth mucli less prejudicial to their health. Agricultural societies are almost universal in every county of the State of New York, and patron- ized by the State government, which has contributed large funds for the promotion of their objects, espe- cially in premiums for raising the best crops. These had been given in some of the neighbouring counties of the northern part of the State to farmers who had been the successful competitors, for raising 80 bushels of winter wheat per English acre, 44 bushels of spring wheat, 84 bushels of oats, 56 bushels of barley, and 132 bushels of Indian corn, — a quantity of Indian corn sufficient to furnish bread to eleven men for a year. On applying for our stage tickets from Geneva to Canandaigua, or to have our places marked, which is according to the usual custom, the bar-keeper seemed to hesitate. I asked him if all the places were already taken, and received the comfortable answer, that we could never be subjected to any inconvenience on that account in travelling on this line of road, as extra carriages are always provided to carry forward any number of travellers that may apply at the regular stage-houses. The number of stages leaving the hotel at Geneva where we lodged, was twenty, and they continue to run during the whole year. There seemed to be a great number of boarders in the hotel at Geneva. Mr. Macnab, though possessed g3 1-26 CANANDAIGUA. of a good house and servants, followed the usual prac- tice. Not ha^-ing a family, he boarded at the hotel. Mr. Macnab was in bad health when we saw him, and died, as I learned, a few months afterwards. Early on 7th September, we proceeded to Canandai- gua, on the lake of the same name, sixteen miles distant from Geneva, through a very fertile district. Canan- daigua is considered the most beautiful village in the State of New York; population about 3000. It rises gra- dually for above a mile from the lake, mth an exten- sive opening for the public buildings in the centre of the street. I am not sure, if I admire the situation more than that of Geneva, but the style of the houses is decidedly superior. There is more appearance of their having been designed and set down with taste than I have observed elsewhere. In short, advantage has been taken of the ground, and of its relative situa- tion with the lake, to place them on the fittest spots. They are generally separate, and distinct dwelling- houses, their exterior is painted perfectly white, — they recede from the street of the ^nllage, the sides of which are shaded with trees, inclosed in neatly laid out gardens. Some of the houses are large, and too good to be denominated villas. Mr. Blossom's hotel might be called splendid, if every part of it be equal to the dining-room, which is spacious, and handsome ; but we saw little more of it, our stay being limited to two or three hours. The dinner was excellent ; and the landlord did the honours well at the head of the table. We had the AVON HOTEL-KEEPER. 127 luxury in the middle of the day, which still continues very hot, of partaking of a bottle of London brown stout from a cool cellar, and certainly never enjoyed it more. From Canandaigua to Avon, where we finished our journey on the Tth, the distance is about twenty-four miles, generally through good land, equal to any we have seen. We found a very clean and well-managed, though not very large hotel, at Mr. Asa Bowlen's, at Avon, where we agreed to remain till the 9th. The hotel-keeper himself was at the head of every thing, and attended to his bar-room ; his wife was house- keeper and cook; and his daughters, smart young ladies when the work was done after dinner, oificiated both as chambermaids and waiters. The only stranger in the house was a white man, a waiter. Next morn- ing, the 8th, the landlord had a carriage waiting for us, having heard us say that one of us intended to go to a Sulphur Spring, about a mile distant, to have a bath. The spring, which is situated in the adjoin- ing forest, is highly sulphurous, but the accommoda- tion is not yet good ; the spring having only lately been brought into notice. After breakfast, we pro- posed attending divine service in the Congregational Church at some distance from the hotel, and were told the carriage would be ready to take us. We gladly availed ourselves of the conveyance, the day being very hot, and had not proceeded 200 yards on our way, when the driver stopped, and took up a little girl, of about eleven years old, who came from a house G 4 128 COUNTRY CHURCH. we were passing. We looked, I presume, somewhat surprised, as if we had said, "who are you?'' or, "we have not the pleasure of your acquaintance for she lost no time, without, however, appearing in the least degree abashed, in telling us " I am the captain's driver's girl:" — letting us know, in short, that she conceived she had as good a right to a seat in the carriage going to church as we had, if there was room. The captain and our landlord are the same person, he being, or having, I suppose, been captain of militia. Military designations are those alone which the people seem to care for; — waiters and drivers in addressing strangers with respect, address them as major or captain. I have been addressed as captain again and again in this journey. The great number, and the variety of carriages, gigs, and dearborns at the church door was quite new to us, w^ho now for the first time were at a country church door in the United States. No one, who does not live in the village, walks to church on foot. All have conveyances of some sort or other, and come in them. Indeed, such a thing as a human being walk- ing any where on the public roads out of the villages is rarely seen. The earnings of the labourers enable them to travel in the stages ; and the custom of the country is for all to ride in some sort of carriage. The horses and carriages were tied up in great sheds near the church doors, during the time of service. There was nothing remarkable in the first part of the service. The day was hot, and the precentor, as usual, LIBERALITY OF CLERGY. 129 in the centre of the front gallery, opposite to the minis- ter, officiated not only without a gown, but without a coat on his back. There was some sort of instrumen- tal music, — hautboys and bassoons, I think, — against which there are, as we hear, no prejudices in this coun- try. The clergyman, a very unaffected, sincere-look- ing person, delivered a plain, sensible discourse, in which he introduced the names of Dr. Erskine and Dr. Chalmers, which sounded strange to us, considering where we were, on the western side of the Atlantic, not very far from the Falls of Niagara. At the close of the sermon, he addressed his hearers in some such terms as these : — " My friends, the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is to be dispensed here this evening. This is a free church, open to all, — Presbyterians, Me- thodists, Baptists, and other denominations of Christ- ians. This is according to our belief. All are invited ; the risk is their's." Such liberality is, we find on in- quiry, not unusual among clergymen, and congrega- tions of different sects, with the exception, in general, of Unitarians. I observe an example, not of recent date, recorded in Hosack's Life of Clinton, already referred to ; and, as it relates to the great father of the United States, and is of unquestionable authority, resting on the testimony of a clergyman to whom Dr. Jones re- lated the facts, I think it of sufficient interest for in- sertion. " While the American army, under the com- mand of Washington, lay encamped in the environs of Morris Town, New Jersey, it occurred that the ser- vice of the communion (then observed semi-annually G 5 130 ANECDOTE OF WASHINGTON. only) was to be administered in the Presbyterian Cliureli of that village. In a morning of the previous week, the General, after his accustomed inspection of the camp, visited the house of the Reverend Dr. Jones, then pastor of that church, and, after the usual prelimi- naries, thus accosted him : ' Doctor, I understand that the Lord's Supper is to be celebrated with you next Sunday. I would learn, if it accords with the canons of your church to admit communicants of another de- nomination ?' The Doctor rejoined, ' Most certainly. Ours is not the Presbyterian table. General, but the Lord's table: and we hence give the Lord's invitation to all his followers, of whatever name.' The General replied, ' I am glad of it ; that is as it ought to be ; but, as I was not quite sure of the fact, I thought I would ascertain it from yourself, as I propose to join with you on that occasion. Though a member of the Church of England, I have no exclusive partialities.' The Doctor re-assured him of a cordial welcome, and the General was found seated with the communicants the next Sabbath." During my residence in the United States subse- quent to this period, I was frequently witness to the good understanding which generally, though doubt- less, not universally, prevails among clergymen profess- ing different opinions on church forms, and doctrinal points ; and I occasionally observed notices in the newspapers to the same purpose. The two following I have preserved : — " The corner-stone of a new Bap- tist Church was laid at Savannah in Georgia, and the 13 FREEDOM OF RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 131 ceremonial services were performed by the clergymen of the Methodist, German, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Baptist Churches. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered in the Reverend Mr. Post's church, (Presbyterian Church at Washing- ton,) and, as usual, all members of other churches in regular standing were invited to unite with the mem- bers of that church, in testifying their faith in, and love to, their Lord and Saviour. The invited guests assembled round the table ; and it so happened, that Mr. Grundy, a senator from Tennessee, and two Che- rokee Indians, were seated side by side." Nothing is more astounding in the stage-coach inter- course with the people of this country, as well as in the bar-rooms where travellers meet, than the freedom, and apparent sincerity of their remarks, and the perfect feeling of equality with which the conversation is main- tained, especially on religious matters. I have heard the most opposite creeds maintained without anything like acrimonious discussion, or sarcastic remark, by I persons in the same stage, professing themselves un- I disguisedly Calvinists, Episcopalians, Methodists, and Unitarians. On one occasion, I recollect the father of I a family unhesitatingly avowing, in a considerable party of people in his own house, that he was a free-thinker, and never went to a church ; while at the same time his daughters, who were young women, had brought my wife for perusal Calvinistical religious tracts, of which she understood them to express their approval. It would perhaps be quite as well, if hypocrisy in G 6 132 BOARDERS AT AVON. religious matters were an unfashionable vice in otner countries as well as this. Lord Byron would have found, if he had been here, that it does not always require to be chaunted by a " forty parson power." The boarders at Avon were not numerous. The landlord did not appear at the head of his table, but his place was supplied by the physician of the village, who boarded in the house. The dinner was excellent ; plenty of brandy on the table, but, as usual, little of it used. This does seem very odd ; for if you go half an hour afterwards to the bar-room, it is not at all im- probable that you may meet some of your dinner com- panions smoking a cigar, and taking a tumbler or half tumbler of brandy, water, and sugar. For this three- pence sterling is in general payable ; sometimes six- pence at the great houses. The quantity of brandy which the partaker pours into the tumbler, for the bar- keeper puts the bottle into his hands, is usually about half a wine-glass. I have never seen plain brandy, or spirits of any kind undiluted, used by any person in this country; but people, by going from house to house, and drinking at the bar-rooms, may take what quantity they like, almost unobserved, and without much expense. In the afternoon, we hired a carriage to take us to Genessee, a small village on the river of the same name, which passes through Rochester, where are tlie magnificent Falls of the Genessee, that we might have an opportunity of seeing Mr. Wadsworth's flats or' meadows, which are thought the finest and most pro- ductive in this country ; they consist of a great tract of GENESSEE. 133 low-lying land along the river side, covered with luxu- riant herbage. We learned, on arriving at the village of Genessee, that our driver was ignorant of the w^ay to the low grounds, and therefore stopped at the village, nine miles from Avon, at one of the hotels, where we applied for, and obtained a guide. The farm of Mr. Wadsworth is of great extent, about 4000 acres ; but the beautiful tract of alluvial land does not exceed 1600 or 1700 acres of the most fertile soil that can be conceived. A few noble oaks, single trees, which are seldom met with here, adorn the fields. I measured one of them, which was twenty-eight feet in circum- ference. On our return to the village, it was necessary to stop to water the horses. We alighted at the hotel, and asked for some fruit, that we might not be giving trouble without calling for something for which we should have to pay. They brought us some early apples, which are in this country quite a delicious fruit. When we returned to the carriage, and asked what we had to pay, and what was the charge for the guide, the latter showed that he almost considered himself in- sulted by the question. He was very glad to be of any use to strangers : the people of the hotel would receive nothing for the apples, and were happy they had been able to show us any civility. The evening continued very warm to its close ; but to our surprise, the next morning was extremely cold. The thermometer had fallen above thirty degrees, being at forty-eight of Fahrenheit. Great coats and 134 AVON TO BUFFALO. shawls were tlierefore put in requisition, and the cur- tains of the stage let down. At settling our bill, we found no charge for the carriage which had carried us to the Sulphur Spring and to church ; but before get- ting off, the driver, a man of colour, placed himself in a snug situation, where I could not fail to see him, in expectation of a gratuity. The whole charge at this hotel, exclusive of the hire of the carriage to Genessee, ^vas five dollars, or about seven shillings sterling each person, for two suppers, two breakfasts, one dinner, and two nights' lodgings. The distance from Avon to Buffalo, the extent of our journey on 9th September, is sixty-seven miles; the country almost all settled, and some very good farms on the way. The people are busily employed in many places in harvesting Indian corn, between the rows of which, when the crop is taken off, there appear pumpkins in considerable quantities, which here are used as food both for man and beast. The farm-work is entirely done by men. No white woman is ever allowed to work out of doors in the United States. In clearing the forest, the settlers find it the easiest plan to make a cut through the bark altogether round the trees, a few feet above the ground. The trees decay and die, and, being without leaves, grain crops are raised close to them. Fire is afterwards applied to them, but the stumps remain for a considerable period in the ground, and give rather a lugubrious aspect to CORDUROY ROAD. 135 the country vvlien they are in great numbers. Wlien the bark is cut in the manner described, the trees are said to be j^irdled. Our road passed through several thriving villages, Caledonia, Le Roy, Batavia, Alden, &c. Le Roy and Batavia are considerable places, the population of each being about 3000. At our dining inn, they gave us in lieu of a pie or pudding, sliced peaches not quite ripe, and not boiled, mixed up with cream and sugar. We found this substitute for the ripe peach, a very good one. The last part of the road, before we reached Buffalo, is the most unpleasant that can be imagined, and had almost shaken us to pieces. The ground is swampy, and the road passes over logs or trees cut on the spot, and placed so near, that the wheels pass from the one to the other. There is not enough of earth or other materials between the logs, and the stage makes such swings in getting along, as would break the springs of any British carriage, but the strong leathern belts of the American carriages never give way. The Ame- ricans call this a corduroy road. We did not get on for several miles at the rate of more than three miles an hour, and foimd on our arrival at the Eagle, a very spacious hotel at Buffalo, that supper had been some time finished. An excellent supper was, how- ever, soon provided, and the fatigues of the journey, occasioned by the roughness of the road, were speedily forgotten. 136 BUFFALO. CHAPTER VIII. Buffalo, on Lake Erie — Burning of Buffalo — Breakfast at Buffalo — Stage from Buffalo to Falls of Niagara — Expense of Boarding at Buffalo — Village of Black-Rock — Chippewa — Islands in the River Niagara — Grand Island — Rapids in the Niagara — Bath Island and Goat Island — First View of Falls of Niagara — Details — Immensity of the Mass of Water — Mr. Morris's Account of the Falls — Beauty of Rainbows — Darby's Account of the Falls — Swiftness of Current above Falls — Chateaubriand's Escape there — Actions between the British and Americans on the Niagara last War — Great Loss on both sides — Character of American Soldiers and Militia — Views of Americans as to Canada — Mr. Clay's Speech — Navigation of the St. Lawrence-J Right of Impressment, and of Search — Number of Militia of United States — Of the Regular Army — Expense of Canada — Inferior Timbei brought from it — Welland and Rideau Canals — Quebec Fortifications — Administration of Canada — Its Resources — Hotels in neighbourhood of Niagara Falls — Inmates in Mr. Forsyth's House — Captain Brant— j Mr. Norton — Cyder difficult to be got good — Stage from Niagara Palli to Newark, near Lake Ontario — Steam-Boat Queenston, on Lake Ontario — Basin of St. Lawrence — Contents of Water — Passengers in the Steam-Boat — Depth of Lake Ontario — Kingston — Brockville — Lake of a thousand Islands — Rapid crossed in Steam-Boat to La Prairie — Stage from La Prairie to St. John's on the Outlet from Lake Champlain. From 9th to \7th September. Buffalo is on the Niagara River, tlie outlet from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, and the Canadian Sea. BUFFALO POPULATION. 137 The river is about thirty-five miles long, and the de- scent to Lake Ontario above 330 feet. The village is close to Lake Erie, on ground somewhat raised above the lake. There is a fine alluvial plain below the village, almost on a level with the lake, and the place is remarkable from being the point where the Erie Canal commences. There are many good-looking hotels ; but we are told that the Eagle, which contains accommodation for nearly 200 persons, is the best. We have found it very good. Buildings are going on ra- pidly, and there is every prospect of Buffalo becoming one of the greatest commercial stations in the State of New York. Its present population is between 5,000 and 6,000, double of what it was four years ago. Buffalo was burnt by the British in the year 1814, in retalia- tion for devastations of the same kind committed by the Americans at Newark, on the Canadian frontier, near the mouth of the Niagara. Only one house escaped the conflagration at Buffalo. We took a hurried view of Lake Erie, a sea 250 miles long, and 50 miles broad, and of the village itself, on the morning of the 10th; and on our return from our peregrinations, were ushered into the dining-room of the hotel, about 100 feet long, where from 80 to 100 people were assembled, partaking of as abundant and excellent a breakfast as I have ever seen. We were at once recognised to be strangers; and our neighbours at table vied with each other in showing us civilities, in off'ering the various sorts of bread and other good things, placed on the different parts of a 8 138 BUFFALO TRAVELLERS. very long table. This sort of attention we find every- where paid to us as strangers, more especially as com- ing from Britain. The number of travellers here is prodigious, — most of them on their way to the shores of the American Mediterranean, of which Buifalo is the first, the eastern port. Mr. Spafford, the geographer, who was here in 1825, writes, "that in 1797, there was not a house from Genessee River to this place, and here only a few huts for Indian traders ; that in July 1825, there were passing, as he supposed, 500 persons each day, all going west ; and that, from what he had observed, there must be about 1,000 strangers con- stantly in this village, just arrived, all in a bustle." The breakfast ended, we took our departure by the stage for Niagara Falls. The stage was full of passengers, one of whom, a well-informed, mercantile man, who boarded permanently in the Eagle Hotel, and had an establishment at Buffalo, as well as at Newark, told me, that the weekly charge at the Eagle Hotel for per- manent boarders was only two and a-half dollars. Pro- visions of every kind are extremely cheap at Buffalo ; beef two-pence per lb., &c. Our route was on the American side of the Niagara, as far as the village of Black-Rock, where we crossed the river, about a mile wide, in a horse ferry-boat. There is a handsome villa, belonging to General Porter, late secretary to the navy for the United States, in the neighbourhood. From Black-Rock we had a very pleasant ride, by a level road along the river side six- teen miles, to Chippewa, the battle-ground of a severely FALLS OF NIAGARA. 139 contested action between the Americans and the British in 1814, and to Niagara Falls, three miles farther. The country we passed through was entirely level, greatly overcropped, and there was very little appear- ance of industry or exertion to reclaim it. Wherever the stage stopped to water the horses, the doors were crowded with children offering apples and plums for sale ; and we saw, for the first time on this side the Atlantic, several beggars. We distinctly heard the sound of the cataract, about ten miles from the falls ; but it is often heard at a far greater distance in favourable states of the wind and atmosphere, even, it is said, thirty miles from them. The spray, appearing like a cloud of smoke, was visible at the distance of more than two miles. There are many islands in the Niagara, all the way to the falls, and close above them ; but the principal island is about half-way between Black-Rock and the falls, called Grand Island, containing between 11,000 and 12,000 acres. The river is about a mile and a half in width below Grand Island, and there the current increases. The river becomes still more contracted on its way to the falls. The rapids succeed, which are swift currents, occasioned by great descents of the river, tumbling perpendicularly, in some places six, eight, and ten feet, over ledges of rock, the whole descent being about sixty feet. Two small islands, Bath Island and Goat Island, intervene on the American side, very near the falls, and separate the river into two branches, the great 140 FALLS OF NIAGARA. mass of water descending by the direct and far wider channel on the Canada side, by what is called the Horse-shoe Fall. Part of Goat Island, above 900 feet in width, is here interjected between the Horse-shoe Fall, and the fall on the American side. The road from Buffalo passes so near the falls, tliat they are to some extent visible from the stage ; but the carriage being full, we liad no notion of this, the greatest of the wonders of nature which we liave ever seen, until after we landed at Mr. Forsyth's hotel, which is within 200 or 300 yards of the falls. I need not say with what impatience we passed through it, and got the first view from the piazzas in the rear of the house. The first sight only increased our desire to have the whole scene unfolded. We hurried across the adjoining field to the Table Rock, which projects and looks over the falls, and to the other stations on the Canada side of the river. We afterwards crossed the river in a small boat, about 200 or 300 yards below the falls, saw them from the American side, and from Goat Island, and hardly quitted the spot, unless to snatch a bit of dinner, while day-light remained. The best points of view are from the Table Rock and from the boat, from which the falls, as well on the American as on the Canada side, are seen. But the rapids are seen to the greatest advantage from Goat Island, to w^hich a very ingeniously constructed and strong rough bridge has been thrown on the American side, over great blocks of rock and rapids. There is no difficulty in getting to these stations. FALLS OF NIAGARA. 141 To Table Rock, the way across the field from the hotel is without any difficulty; and there is a winding path to facilitate the descent of about 300 feet to the boat. The water is a good deal agitated at the point, about 1200 yards in width where the boat crosses, but the boatman's knowledge of the eddies enables him to pass with perfect safety in ten or fifteen minutes. Passen- gers must, however, lay their account with something like a drenching from the spray of the falls in crossing, and should be well provided with great coats. There is a steep wooden stair from the landing-place to the top of the bank on the American side, and from thence by the bridge over the rapids already mentioned. Goat Island is readily approached. On the north side of that island, the rocks, projected into the river 200 or 300 feet immediately over the falls, are accessible by a rough wooden bridge, below which the water runs with fear- ful velocity. From these rocks, the view over the pre- cipice and great fall is terrific, — absolutely appalling, although the prodigious magnitude of the tumbling waters is not so apparent at this spot as from the Table Rock and the boat. I descended a spiral staircase, which conducts to the edge of the river below the Table Rock, but did not proceed into the cavern below the rock. The ground was exceedingly slippery. A false step might have precipitated me into the abyss. The spray was driving in no small quantity into the cavern. Were it not for those serious obstacles impeding the approach, and which at all times exist to a considerable extent, the edge of the cavern would be the station of 142 FALLS OF NIAGARA. all others the most sublime for contemplating this ex- traordinary sight. There is, however, an excellent point of view, which the spray very often does not pre- vent a spectator from enjoying, somewhat nearer the falls than the foot of the ladder, and there it is perhaps as well that cautious travellers should stop. The overwhelming sensations, with which a spectator can hardly fail to be affected, are produced by the im- mense flood, — not less than 100 millions of tons of water per hour, — the stupendous mass, and overpowering force of the roaring and falling waters. It is in truth a great deep ocean, thrown over a ])recipice nearly 160 feet high. Everything, every surrounding object, is view^ed with indifference, while the mind is wholly ab- sorbed in the contemplation of a spectacle so sublime, — surpassing in majesty, and grandeur, and power, all the works of nature which have ever arrested the at- tention, or presented themselves to the imagination. No just or adequate description can be conveyed by language. Such w^ords as grandeur, majesty, subli- mity, fail altogether to express the feelings which so magnificent a sight, exceeding so immeasurably all of the same kind that we have ever seen or imagined, ex- cites. Dr. Hosack's Life of Clinton contains a letter from the late Gouverneur Morris, the American minis- ter in France, to his friend, Mr. John Parish, of Ham- burgh, giving an account of a journey he had been making in the State of New York. His allusion to the Falls of Niagara, in the following paragraph, seems to me exceedingly just, and to afford, as far as can be done FALLS OF NIAGARA. 143 by verbal description, the simplest, plainest, and most intelligible data for forming a conception of them : " To form," says Mr. Morris, " a faint idea of the cataract, imagine to yourself the Frith of Forth rush wrathfully down a deep descent, leap foaming over a perpendicular rock 175 feet high, then flow away in the semblance of milk from a vast basin of emerald." Suppose, then, for the sake of greater accuracy, the Frith of Forth at Queensferry, or rather that part of it interjected between Inchgarvey Island and the north shore, w^here it is not quite so wide as the river Nia- gara at the top of the falls, tumbling in mass over a precipitous rock 160 feet into an abyss, and you will then have some notion of the unparalleled, the pe- trifying influence, with which the Falls of Niagara impress the beholder. But truly, as the poet says, the eye of man must see this miracle to comprehend it, or the feelings it produces. The great volume of water, of course, inclines very much forward in its descent, projecting about fifty feet from the base, and falls, for the most part of the per- pendicular height, in an unbroken sheet of dark-green colour, until it meets a cloud of spray ascending from the rocks below, in which it is lost to the eye. We were fortunate in having fine weather, — bright sunshine, — when we were on the spot. The prisma- tic colours were always to be seen ; and more than once we had rainbows complete, of the most vivid co- lours, and peculiarly brilliant at sunrise, but of the beauty of which it is impossible to give any idea. 144 FALLS OF NIAGARA. It is said that instances frequently occur of travel- lers, who visit Niagara Falls, expressing at first sight something like disappointment. This may perhaps be accounted for by the want of mountains, rocks, and the grand romantic scenery which generally accompany any considerable falls of water, and which travellers are thus so much accustomed to associate with them, that they seem, when the latter only are exhibited to view, to feel themselves, as it were, only in possession of one half of their expected enjoyment; but this impres- sion can only be momentary, and must be succeeded by a perception of the matchless extent and terrific power of this prodigious rush of waters. " It is left alone," as Darby very correctly remarks, " in simple and sublime dignity, to impress upon the soul a sense of the majestic grandeur, which loss of life or intellect can alone obli- terate, and the force of which no language can convey. If towering mountains and craggy rocks surrounded Niagara, much of its first effect would be lost. As it is, it is an image whose whole contour is at once seen, and the view unbroken by extraneous objects. Even sound is subservient to the impression made upon the heart. None is heard, except the eternal roar of the cataract." The currrent for more than a mile above the falls is so swift, that accidents not imfrequently happen from the fool-hardiness of persons attempting to cross the river in small boats, near that part of it where the rapids begin. Many sad recitals were given us ; but we took more pleasure in turning to the account of the FALLS OF NIAGARA. 145 almost miraculous escape of Chateaubriand from being thrown over the precipice above the falls themselves, — an instance of good fortune not unworthy of being no- ticed. " On his arrival he had repaired to the fall, having the bridle of his horse twisted round his arm. While he was stooping to look down, a rattle-snake stirred among the neighbouring bushes, the horse was startled, reared, and ran back towards the abyss. He could not disengage his arm from the bridle, and the horse, more and more frightened, dragged him after him. His fore-legs were all but oS the ground, and squatting on the brink of the precipice, he was upheld merely by the bridle. He gave himself up for lost, I when the animal himself, astonished at this nev/ dan- ger, threw himself forward with a pirouette, and sprang to the distance of ten feet from the edge of the abyss." Those who have dreamed that they were on the point jof being thrown over a perpendicular precipice, and iwho, awaking, find themselves well, and comfortablj^ |in bed, will be able to form some idea of the sensa- tion of this celebrated person at such a time. ^ The banks of the river Niagara were the scene of a succession of very severe actions between the Ameri- jcans and the British in the years 181'2, 1813, and !l814. The warfare beinor altosrether on the frontier, and the militia on both sides of the river being called out, the contest was attended with all the iiggrava- jtions attending a state of civil war; the combatants 'being not merely near neighbours in point of resi- dence, but so connected with each other by blood, VOL, I. H 146 AMERICAN WAR. that brothers and fathers-in-law were obliged to fight against each other. Every town on the boundary line was in the course of the war destroyed, either by the one belligerent or the other, as they were alter- nately successful; and the inhabitants, women and children, were frequently forced to take refuge in the neighbouring forest from the inclemency of the wea- ther, and the barbarity of their enemies, part of whom were Indians. In the beginning of the war the British were suc- cessful, but the Americans rallied as soon as they and their commanders acquired the skill, discipline, and steadiness necessary to give effect to their bravery. In the four desperate rencontres that took place in the months of July, August, and September, 1814, not far from Niagara Falls, it is even now difficult for those, who have nothing but the official despatches of the American and British commanders to rely on, to decide to which side victory chiefly leaned. The first of these engagements took place at Chip- pewa, on the road from Black-Rock to Niagara Falls, within two miles of the falls, on the 5th July, 1814. ■ Here the INIarquis of Tweeddale was severely wounded. Both parties claim the victory in the official despatches: ij but as the British, who made the attack, retreated after il the action, it is rather to be presumed that they did not succeed in their object. The battle of Lundylane, or Bridgewater, very soon followed the action at Chip- pewa. It was fought on the 25th of July, on the road and adjoining ground, on the way to Queenston, about half a mile from Mr. Forsyth's hotel at Niagara Falls, BATTLE OF LUNDYLANE. 147 and was most obstinately contested. General Drum- mond, who commanded the British, was severely- wounded; General Rial, second in command, wounded, and made prisoner ; the American generals, Brown and Scott, wounded. General Drummond, in his offi- cial despatch, admits, that " in so determined a manner w^ere the repeated attacks of the enemy directed against our guns, that our artillerymen were bayonetted by the enemy in the act of loading, and the muzzles of the enemy's guns were advanced within a few yards of ours.^' On this occasion, the Americans were the as- sailants ; and as they returned to their camp after the action, it may in like manner be taken for granted that they did not gain their object. Both parties, however, claim the honour of being victors in this, which is said to have been the most sanguinary action ever fought in America. It is difficult to ascertain the number of combatants from the despatches of the com- manders ; but it would seem that not more than 9000 men were engaged on both sides. And of these 1738 are recorded as killed, wounded, and missing ; the loss was very nearly equal on each side. General Drummond directed the attack on the American army, which had retreated to Fort Erie, in the neighbourhood of Black-Rock, and on the fort itself, on 15th August, but was obliged to retire with great loss. Colonel Scott of the 103d, and Colonel Drmnmond of the 104th regiments, were killed. The British, however, continued in the neighbour- hood, engaged in the construction of batteries, with a H 2 he AMERICAN WAR. view to storm the fort, until the 17th of September, when the American army made a sortie, captured the batteries, destroyed the cannon, and had a partial engagement with the Britisli, who retreated two or three days afterwards to Chippewa. The American General Ripley was wounded on this occasion. The total loss on both sides in these four battles amounted, according to the British returns, to 2703 English killed, wounded, and missing; and, accord- ing to the American returns, to 1783 Americans, — above a third part of the armies engaged, — which cer- tainly did not amount in all, on the largest computa- tion, to 12,000 men. General Drummond states in one of his despatches, that he did not include the militia in the specified number of his troops, neither does he mention the number of the Indians, so that numerical exactness is out of the question. It is impossible to peruse the official accounts of these actions, without giving credit to the talent displayed by the American commanders, as well as to the gallantry of the army under their command. No doubt their raw troops could not in the outset cope with the ve- terans with whom they had to contend ; several British Tegiments having, previously to the first engagement to which I have referred, arrived in Canada from the Peninsula. None of the American generals who com- manded had, previously to the warfare on this frontier, been engaged in actual service. General Scott, who, above all, distinguished himself, both at Chippewa and Lrundylane, and who is now considered one of the MILITIA. 149 \ ablest officers in tlie American army, had been a lawyer i of some eminence in Virginia. The first battle he . witnessed was that in which Sir Isaac Brock was killed i at Queenston, in October 1812. These campaigns have taught the Americans what disciplined soldiers are, and have created generals and troops for them. They have done what the Czar Peter predicted Charles the Twelfth would do for the Russians, when he said, " I know that the Swedes," (a mere handful of men when compared with the Russians, to whom they were opposed,) " will beat us for a long time, but at r last they will teach us to beat them." Fighting al- most in their own country, with ample resources at hand, the American militia, possessed not only of phy- sical, but moral power, (for the militia consists of the whole male population, many persons connected with the chief families in the United States, members of Congress, and lawyers, having actually served in the frontier war, to which I have alluded,) must, whenever their government thinks it an object of sufficient im- portance, easily be able to make themselves masters of Canada. Mr. Clay, certainly one of the ablest states- men in the United States, and who will most probably, at no distant day, be the president of that great confe- deracy, has, during the last war, recorded his opinion on this subject in one of his celebrated speeches in Congress: — " We have (said he) the Canadas as much j under our command, as Great Britain has the ocean, j I would take the whole continent from them, and ask j H 3 150 VIEWS OF AMERICA. them no favours. God has given us the power and ' the means." For such a change we ought some day or other to be prepared, and to have our minds made up. The time for it has probably not yet arrived; but there are still subjects of sufficient moment at issue between the countries, viz. the free navigation of the river St. Lawrence, which the government at Washington are i anxious to establish, and the important question re- ' specting the exercise of our riglit of impressment and ( search, cither of which may, at any period that best suits the United States, afford legitimate grounds for national hostility. The Americans have already, in the course of Mr; a Gallatin's negociations with Mr. Canning in 1826, \ made a claim to the free navigation of the St. Lawrence, i which, however, did not lead to any result ; but it iar not, I apprehend, at all likely, even when seriously in- ^ sisted on, to involve us in war. The St. Lawrence is the outlet of the great American Mediterranean Sea, on the banks of which the United States have more extensive property, and far more valuable establishments, than Canada, and our other dependencies in that quarter. At the present day there is no great chance that any administration would be supported in going to war about a right of this kind. The Danes would be equally justified in refusing to give Russian ships a passage through the Sound, or the British at Gibraltar in sealing up the Mediterranean, as Canada in keep- RIGHT OF IMPRESSMENT. 151 ing the navigation of the St. Lawrence closed against the people of the adjoining states. The rights of impressment and of search involve far more important considerations. It is not easy to justify their exercise on abstract principles ; but if they are essential to our safety, — and if our dominion of the seas^ which enabled us to oppose, during the last war, the only invincible obstacle to the total subjugation of Eu- rope by France, cannot, as is conceived, be maintained without them, they will never be given up without a most serious struggle. Still it is undeniable that the enforcement of those rights is attended with most haras- sing, and sometimes ruinous, consequences to other nations ; and that the Americans have been most of all exposed to their humiliating and galling operation. It was one of the causes of the last war with the United States ; but was not considered by the Ame- rican negociators at Ghent in 1814, as a sufficient reason for continuing the war after peace was re-esta- blished in Europe, and the annoyance had, of course, for the time, ceased. Mr. Jefferson's understanding of the nature of the peace is thus recorded in his letter to Mr. Madison, then President of the United States : — ^' I presume, that, having spared to the pride of England, her formal acknowledgment of the atrocity of impressment in an article of the treaty, she will concur in a convention for relinquishing it. Without this, she must understand that the present is but a truce, determinable on the first act of impressment of an American citizen committed by anyofBfcer of her's.'* H 4 152 AMERICAN ARMY. No admission of our right was conceded ; and the discussion is thus only suspended, until we again attempt to enforce it in the course of some future European war in wliich we maybe engaged; and then the cool, calculating people of the United States, will come forward at the season that suits them best, and make an appeal to arms, rather than submit to the degradation, annoyance, and loss of having, in time of peace, their ships detained, and searched, and their coasts blockaded, Whenever such a state of things occurs, the frontier of Canada will be the field of battle ; and the result of the war, so far as respects our Ame- rican possessions, can hardly be matter of doubt. This consideration is not unimportant for persons emigrating to Canada, especially to Upper Canada, all of whom, it should be known, will be enrolled and trained as militiamen, that is, will have to serve as common soldiers, in the event of a future war between Great Britain and the United States. The banks of the Niagara are altogether on the boundary line of Upper Canada, which is unquestionably, with this ex- ception, that province of the British territory the best adapted for emigrants, both in point of soil and cli- mate, and in other respects. The United States now possess a force of 1,200,000 militia, v/liile their regular army consists only of 6000 men ; but the late war has given them officers fully able to render their militia effective whenever its ser- vices are required. While attending to the description of their militaiy force, may we not consider whether AMERICAN ARMY. 153 it be impossible for us to learn, on this subject, a lesson of economy from this prosperous transatlantic nation ? Would our security be put to hazard, if, rather than continue our present grievous taxation, or so much of it as is required for maintaining a great standing army, we were to have all the male population of a certain age trained to arms, and well officered, as to which we cannot for a long period to come have any diffi- culty ? When occasion called for it, a sufficient army could at any time be formed from such a militia, quite as much to be relied on as a permanent force which has not actually been employed or seen ser- vice, for the last fifteen or twenty years. I have already had opportunities of seeing parties of the Amierican militia at drill, and certainly they do not appear to me more effective-looking than the awkward squads of the Edinburgh Volunteers thirty or forty years ago ; but I was told that in this country it is not considered ne- cessary to make militiamen disciplined soldiers, in the strict acceptation of that term, in times of profound peace. The skeleton companies and the numbers are always kept up, and great attention is paid to make every member of the corps a good marksman ; but cor- rectness in manoeuvring, or any thing like perfection in training, is not expected. Were their services wanted, they would have sufficient warning to prepare clothing, and to be thoroughly drilled. I know that it is said that a standing army is necessary for our colonies, and that our colonies are all-important as affording nur- series for our seamen ; but I am mistaken if the time H 5 154 CANADA. be not fast approaching wlien it will be questioned, whether any colony is worth preserving, which yields no revenue to the mother country, which does not, in short, pay for the protection afforded ? Canada has already cost us much blood and treasure ; and, at a time when it has been proposed to spend mil- lions on fortifications, and when we are actually disburs- ing immense sums on public works in that country, the ordinary annual expense of which cannot be rated at less than half a million, it may well be asked, cui bono? The money expended on Canada, and our other Ame- rican possessions, if laid out at compound interest, would liave gone far towards the payment of the national debt, and our commerce would have been carried on on equally advantageous terms. This is abundantly proved by our commercial relations with the free states of Ame- rica ; and if our commercial relations with Canada, and our other American colonies, would in like manner not be diminished by their becoming free States, or by their incorporation with the American confederacy, it is not easy to see how the ships employed in the trade with the colonies afford better or greater nurseries for seamen, than those employed in the trade with the United States or South America. These remarks, however, refer to a great public question, too extensive to be discussed here, but a ques- tion which the state of the country, as connected with the depressed situation of our finances, w^ill soon force on public attention. Canada is not only a prodigious burden on the revenue of Great Britain, but the WELLAND CANAL. 155 monopoly of the timber trade which we have most unwisely created in her favour, forces our builders to use timber very liable to dry rot, and inferior iii every respect to that which we might obtain on far cheaper terms from the Baltic. The loss which the naval service at one time sustained from having recourse to Canada timber in building vessels of war is well known ; but that practice has been long ago entirely discontinued by order of our government. If Canada be unable to maintain her own independence, and de- sires our protection in preference to that of the United States, let her pay for it such a sum as will at least in- demnify us ; but it is quite monstrous that we, the over- taxed inhabitants of Great Britain, should allow part of the sums annually drawn from us to be expended for the support of establishments in Canada, — a country which not only makes us no return, but has the ad- dress to impose on us a bad article at a greatly in- creased price. The public works alluded to, as at present in progress in Canada, are the Welland Canal, and the Rideau Canal, — works certainly of great magnificence : and the first undoubtedly of great commercial importance to Canada. A communication is to be alforded by the first for vessels as large as navigate the lake?, or of the burden of 125 tons, and for steam-vessels, between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, by a line of canal about forty-three miles long, in which there are 334 feet of lockage, and great natural obstacles, so that the inconvenience which the Falls of Niagara create, H 6 156 RIDEAU CANAL. SO far as internal commerce is concerned, will be re- moved. The estimated expense is about 200,000/. ; it was set agoing by the Canada Land Company,— an association formed in 1825 for the purchase and improvement of the Crown Reserves, and other land in Upper Canada; but the British government are paying a considerable share of the pecuniary expense, besides contributing largely in land. There are two prodigious excavations in the course of the opera- tions ; one of them called, jpar excellence^ the Deep Cut, (the greatest artificial work in America, except tiie Desague in Mexico,) passing through an almost abrupt rocky summit of twenty-seven feet above the canal bottom. The expense of the Rideau Canal has been estimated at half a million, but will probably amount to twice that sum, and has been altogether defrayed by the British government. I had conceived, until I came to this country, that the object of this canal was to com- plete the navigation between the eastern part of Lake Ontario and Montreal, which is interrupted, except for a very inconvenient and dangerous description of boats, by the rapids, called Longue Sault, Cedars, and the Cascades, on the St. Lawrence ; but I find that the canal is carried in a circuitous direction, in order not to be liable to interruption by a foreign enemy. It runs from Kingston, at the east end of Lake Onta- rio, to the great Ottawa River, which joins the St. Lawrence above Montreal, and it has been under- taken solely with a view to the transportation of troops QUEBEC — FORTIFICATIONS. 157 and military stores to Upper Canada in the event of a war. Independently of the canals, great additions to the Quebec fortifications have, as already mentioned, been projected by the British government since the war, some parts of which have already been executed. The total estimated expense of these works amounts to several millions; but it seems almost impossible that it can now be seriously contemplated to carry this scheme into execution. It is obviously only by a system of good, steady, and conciliatory government, that this colony, which has been chiefly colonized, until within the last few years, from the United States, can, if worth retaining, be preserved. The people must be interested in the maintenance of the government by its cheapness, impartiality, efficiency, and the purity of the administration of justice. At present all are dissatisfied — the original settlers in Upper Canada, with nothing more than the way in which the sufi'erers on the frontier during the war have been treated. The people sustained prodigious losses, and encountered hardships of the severest kind ; but little more than one-half of the sums, which they maintain are due to them, have been granted ; and no appeal to any court of law is allowed for the purpose of ascertaining the justice of their claims. The whole arrangement has been made, as they state, in the most arbitrary and partial manner. Between 200,000/. and 300,000Z. was the amount paid from the taxes levied from the inha- bitants of Britain for this purpose. The recent govern- 158 RESOURCES OF CANADA. ments are charged, — with what truth I have not the means of ascertaining, owing to the shortness of our stay- in Canada, — with great unfairness in the management and disposal of the public lands, and with bad policy, in discouraging settlements from the United States. These and other causes, such as the reservation of large portions of land in the settled country by the Crown for clergy and other appropriations, in conse- quence of which long tracts of road fall to be made by the actual settlers, have retarded the general improve- ment of the province. The United States' land on the side of the Niagara river, opposite to Canada, contains about thirty inhabitants on each square mile ; while that part of Upper Canada contains not more than six. I am aware, that it has appeared to some persons, who have visited this colony at no distant period, that the re- sources of Canada are even now sufficient to enable her not only to support herself, but, by the adoption of a ju- dicious system in the disposal of the public lands, and in the general administration of the government, to yield a surplus revenue to Great Britain. If this be so, all objections to afford her sufficient protection may be re- moved ; but, if experience of the past be to serve as a guide for the future, such a result seems improbable. There is a superabundance of hotels in the neigh- bourhood of the Falls of Niagara, — another large house, not far from Mr. Forsyth's hotel, on the Canada side, — and two or three hotels at Manchester, a village on the New York side of the river. Mr. Forsyth's hotel is Forsyth's hotel. 159 large, containing accommodation for about 150 people; the system of boarding tlie same as in the American hotels. About twenty people were in Mr. Forsyth's hotelwhenwe were there; among others Captain Brant, an Indian, a chief of the Mohawk tribe, who is in the British military service. He has so entirely given up the manners of the Indians, that I should not have dis- covered him to be one of the original inhabitants of this country ; and it was not until after I had been told who he w^as, that I recognised their features. He is a tall good-looking man, between thirty and forty years old. He has a comfortable residence on a grant of land not far from hence, w^hich his father obtained from the British government in acknowledgment of his services during the revolutionary war. The present possessor served as a lieutenant during the late war, and enjoys that rank. His father translated the Gospel of St. John into the Mohawk language, and did much towards the civilization of the small number of his once powerful tribe that now remain. They have a church. The clergyman is of their own nation. The Gospel of St. Luke has been more recently translated into the Mo- hawk language by a chief named Norton, who was known in Britain, and was killed in the last war. We were unable, which to us appeared singular in a country abounding in the finest apples, to get a drop of tolerable cyder at any of our stopping-places from Albany, until we reached Mr. Forsyth's hotel, w^here it is abundant and good, and produced as small beer is in Britain, plentifully in time of dinner, A very large 160 OUEENSTON NEWARK. quantity of cider is annually made in all the northern part of the United States, but it is immediately used, the quality not being such as to insure its keeping. At Newark, a village in New Jersey, not far from New York, the best cider is said to be made. We tasted it at New York ; but it did not seem to us to be at all equal to the best English cider. From Niagara Falls we proceeded by the stage first to Queenston (seven miles), near which a monument has been erected to the memory of Sir Isaac Brock, from the top of which, about 120 feet high, there is a noble view of Lake Ontario and the adjoining country, and thence to the village of Newark (seven miles), for- merly called Fort George, on the Niagara river. This is a very pleasant ride, and the road smooth and good. Fort Niagara is on the American side of the river, opposite to Newark, as Lewiston is to Queenston. There is a landing-place near Newark on the Niagara, very near its outlet into Lake Ontario, from which we embarked in the steam-boat Queenston, to proceed to Lower Canada, intending to travel entirely in steam- vessels, unless at those parts of the St. Lawrence which rapids render impracticable for navigation by steam ; and there stages, in communication with the steam- vessels, are in waiting to forward passengers to the next open reach of the river. The great basin of the St. Lawrence contains in mass more than one-half of the fresh water on this planet, — the solid contents in cubic feet of the Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, Ontario, and St. Lawrence being, according to LAKE ONTARIO. 161 Darby, 1,547,011,792,360,000, and the superficial area in square miles being 72,930, a quantity of water which would form a cubic column of nearly twenty- two miles on each side. We found, immediately on getting into the steam- boat on the lake, a great change of manners, the majo- rity of passengers being British. A glass of wine was taken during dinner, and two or three glasses after it, for which, however, an absurdly high price w^as j charged. The travelling, so far as respects the stages, [ steam-boats, and hotels in Canada, so much resembled that in the United States, with one only difference, its increased expense, that it is unnecessary to go into details, especially as the object of these pages is to j communicate information respecting the United States, ! and my stay in Lower Canada was not of sufficient duration to enable me to see much of the country or I of the people. I had frequent opportunities, before i revising these notes, of satisfying myself as to the cor- rectness of the details in relation to the State of New York, in which I subsequently made various excur- I sions, and resided for a considerable period. I Lake Ontario is celebrated for its depth, which is, in I some places, unfathomable, and for the clearness of its water. Its length is about 170 miles, and its circum- I ference 467 ; its height above the level of the sea 230 j feet. Little York, the capital of Upper Canada, lies j on its north-western shore. Kingston, the best harbour j on the north-eastern side, belongs to the British. It j was to the fleet here that we last war sent out quanti- 162 MONTREAL — TIDES. ties of water-casks, in the belief that Lake Ontario was a salt water lake. From Kingston to Broekville, the lake, which narrows at last to two miles, in a low-lying country on all sides, is studded with multitudes of islands, many of them very picturesque, far exceeding the number of a thousand, generally allotted to it. The passage through them is interesting, though sometimes intricate. They are almost all covered with wood, and the vegetation very luxuriant. Nothing is wanting but the vicinity of mountains and hills to make this the most beautiful scenery in the world. The shores are fine, rising by a gentle and regular acclivity. Vessels of 600 tons reach Montreal, which is above 500 milcg from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The ocean tides pene- trate 432 miles in the main channel of the St. Law- rence, to a point between Montreal and Quebec. From Montreal we crossed the St. Lawrence obliquely to La Prairie, a village at the distance of nine miles, on the south side of the river, in a steam-boat. Al- though she was not of great power, we had to contend with a rapid of about fifteen feet in three miles, but we did not find much difficulty. At times it looked, to a stranger, doubtful whether we should be able to contend with so powerful an obstacle to our progress ; and at one place it retarded us so much, that we did not advance much more than fifty yards in fifty minutes. The road from La Prairie to St. John's, on the Richelieu river, the outlet from Lake Champlain, passes for almost the whole distance of sixteen miles, through a flat, sandy, ill-cultivated country; houses ST. John's — soil. 163 and fences entirely out of repair ; and the inhabitants as indolent-looking a set of beings as I have ever seen. St. John's is a village of about 800 inhabitants, and has a British collector of customs. It is the point of departure for steam-boats to Whitehall, on Wood Creek, at the south end of the lake in the United States, on the direct thoroughfare to New York. The difficulty and danger of the passage up the St. Lawrence have made the route by the New York packets, and from New York by the Hudson and Lake Champlain, very gene- rally used by the British proceeding from England to Canada. I never observed land more in want of manure than this part of Canada, originally of indifferent soil, and now totally worn out by over-cropping, and in the most wretched state as to agriculture. Yet the manure in a great stable-yard belonging to the hotel where we lodge is thrown into the river, and obviously little use of it is made anywhere. We observed in this neigh- bourhood women at work in the fields, which is never to be seen in the United States. 164 LAKE CHAMPLAIN. CHAPTER IX. Journey from Canada to Glen's Falls, in the State of New York- Franklin Steam-Boat on Lake Champlain — Cross the Boundary to the United States — Plattsburg — Naval Action on the Lake — Port Kent — Burlington — Burning of Pha?nix Steam-Boat — Crown Point — Ticonderago — Abercrombie's Expedition — Lord Howe killed — Burgoyne's Capture of Ticonderago — Whitehall — Burgoyne's March from "Whitehall — Sandyhill — Indian Barbarities — Employ- ment of Indians in War — Glen's Falls — Lake George — Driver of Barouche — Caldwell — Overcharge for Boat on the Lake — Conver- sation with Driver of Barouche — Baron Dieskau's Defeat at Fort William Henry — The Bloody Pond — Montcalm's Attack, followed by Capitulation of Fort William Henry, and Barbarities of Indians — System of Schools in New York State, Connecticut, &c. — Pre- sidential Election — Jefferson's Sentiments respecting the Contest between Jackson and Adams — Settlers in this Country — High Sheriff of the County — Advertisement of a Candidate for the Office. From l^th to 20th September. The Franklin steam-boat, wliicli is large and well managed, conveyed us from St. John's to Whitehall, a distance of 150 miles, over Lake Champlain. The provisions were excellent ; and here, as In every place where we have yet been in the United States, places were left for us at the head of the table, on account of our being foreigners. I notice this particularly on this occasion, because there were several persons of PLATTSBURG NAVAL ACTION. 165 eminence in the boat, — part of the family of the Attorney-General of the United States, and several clergymen. The Isle Aux Noix, an island in the lake, about eleven miles from St. John's, and consisting of about ninety acres, is the frontier post of the British. It is low-lying, but there is no elevated ground in the neighbourhood. Fever and ague prevail to an alarming extent. A few miles above this post, we again entered the territories of the United States. A custom-house offi- cer was on board of the boat, who was satisfied with our declaration, that our portmanteaus contained nothing but travelling baggage, and did not require them to be opened. We had been treated with the same civility at Black-Rock, on our entering Canada, by the British custom-house officer. About thirty-five miles from Isle Aux Noix, Plattsbiu-g, a considerable village in New York State, is situated, in the neighbourhood of which the American and British flotillas on the lake had a severe engagement in 1814, which was attended with disastrous consequences to the British, — their commander. Captain Downie, being killed, — their fleet captured, — and Sir George Prevost, with a large army invading the United States from Canada, forced pre- cipitately to retreat. This expedition, in which we sustained so great loss, was even more rashly deter- mined on than that of Burgoyne in 1777. The object of both expeditions was the same, viz. to cut off" the New England States from the Confederacy; but the population of Xevr England, which consisted compara- 166 BURLINGTON BAY. tlvely of a liaiulful of men in the time of the revolu- tionary war, was in 1814 greater than that of half the States at the period of Burgoyne's invasion. We were deceived on the last occasion by stories of the unpopu- larity of the war at Boston, and in other parts of New England, and were presumptuous enough to suppose, that we might detach this valuable part of the Ameri- can republic from the Union. In this vain attempt we made prodigious sacrifices of blood and treasure. At the distance of ten miles from Plattsburg, we passed Port Kent, a thri\ing village, near which are considerable iron-works. Mr. Watson, one of the pro- prietors, who resides at Port Kent, and was a passen- ger in the boat with us, gave us a very hearty invita- tion to go ashore, and visit his house, that we might see the works, which we were sorry it was not in our power to accept. On the opposite side of the lake lies Burlington Bay, and the town or tillage of Burlington, in the State of Vermont, both remarkable for their beauty. Not far from Burlington, the Phoenix steam- boat, when employed in the conveyance of passengers, was burned a few years ago, in circumstances pecu- liarly trying. The conflagration happened in the middle of a severe gale, when the captain, ashore in bad health, had substituted in his place his son, a young man of twenty. At midnight, the vessel caught fire, but by good management, and presence of mind, the juvenile commander succeeded in saving the passengers and crew, — he himself was the last person picked up, float- ing on a piece of wood, almost exhausted. Burlington FORTRESS OF TICONDERAGO. 167 contains 3000 or 4000 inhabitants, and is the largest village on the lake. The houses are particularly neat and clean-looking, all painted white. The situation is on a bank rising above the lake. Crown Point, where some old works are still visible, is about thirty-six miles from Burlington, near the head of the lake. It was originally occupied by the French as a military position, — was captured by the British in 1759, — and was afterwards alternately in their possession and that of the Americans till the peace of 1783. The views from this part of the lake are strikingly varied at every change of situation, and the scenery marked and bold. The Vermont hills, called the Green Hills, are the highest on the eastern coast of America; some of them 6000 feet high. Lake Champlain is nowhere above six miles broad. It becomes narrow above Crown Point, and more and more contracted all the way to the ruins of the well- known fortress of Ticonderago, twenty-four miles from Whitehall, and to Mount Defiance, on the opposite side of the inlet of the lake. The Fort of Ticonderago was first constructed by the French in 1756. It stands on a narrow peninsula between Lake Champlain and the passage into Lake George. The works are about 200 feet above the lake, of considerable extent, and the ruins still very interesting. The object of the French in erecting it, was to distress the British settlements from this position; and, with the as- sistance of the Indians, they so frequently succeeded, 168 TICONDERAGO — LORD HOWE KILLED. that an expedition, under General Abererombie, Avas in 1758 dispatched to reduce the fort. Lord Howe, a fine young man, devoted to his profession, and a great favourite with the soldiers, was second in command. He was the grandson of George I. — his mother. Lady Howe, being the daughter of Lady Darlington, when she was the mistress of the King. He made himself quite the idol of the army, by his unceasing attention to their wants, and by his sharing with all ranks every self-denying regulation which he established. ]Mrs. Grant enumerates some of those privations, which now appear sufficiently curious. Nothing at this pe- riod was reckoned so ornamental as to have the hair — the more abundant the better — put up in a great queue, and the whole powdered and pomatumed. Though himself remarkable for fine hair. Lord Howe had it cut short ; and the whole army followed his example and were cropped. He allowed no furniture to be carried on the march, and showed them, before setting out, how unnecessary it was, by having his officers to dine with him in his tent, where they found neither chair nor table, nor any furniture but bear skins for a carpet. He always wore an ammunition short coat with no gold on it. This valuable officer was unfortunately killed in one of the first skirmishes with the French, about two miles from Ticonderago, before General Abercrombie's fine army of 16,000 men reached it. This army embarked at the south end of Lake George, on 5th July, on board of 125 boats, and 900 batteaux. Lord Howe was killed soon after landing on the fol- lowing day, at the outlet of the lake. The party by TICONDERAGO. 169 whom lie had been opposed were defeated; and the army proceeded next day, without waiting for their artillery, and with the greatest confidence, to attack the fort, defended only by 3000 men. General Abercrom- bie relied on the report of his engineers, that the works could be taken by assault, but the assailants had to carry an impenetrable abatis formed of trees, felled so as to interweave their branches in front of a ditch, eight or nine feet high, and were exposed to such a tremendous fire of small arms and artillery, while the enemy were perfectly secure within their entrenchments, that the British army was finally obliged to retreat, with the loss of!2000 men. The 42d regiment was cut to pieces, every officer being killed or woimded. Such disastrous consequences had not, it would seem, given us a suffi- cient warning, as the lamentable issue of our attack on the American lines at New Orleans, in 1815, in cir- cumstances very similar, unfortunately proved, j The French, however, in the following year, 1759, Iquietly abandoned the fort on the approach of the Bri- Itish under General Amherst, w^itli a great force ; and it remained with the British till 1775, when the Ame- ricans took it. They retained possession till 1 777, when General Burgoyne, on his march from Canada, conceiving it to be commanded by Mount Defiance, — a hill 800 feet high on the opposite side of the lake, — ihad a battery of heavy cannon, with great labour, car- iried up the hill, and having proved it to be within range of the guns by firing a few shots upon a vessel in the lake, the Americans in the followinor niofht evacuated VOL. I. I 170 WHITEHALL TO SANDYHILL. tlie place. Since tins period, Ticoiiderago has not been tlie scene of hostile strife. The garrison ground, con- sisting of 600 acres, and the forts and barracks, are now the property of Mr. Pell of New York, who prevents any farther dilapidation of the works, and has put the whole in good order, — especially the garden, formerly called the King's garden, to which he has been at pains to bring varieties of trees, shrubs, and fruits. The passage on Woodcreek to Whitehall is in many places singularly winding and narrow. Whitehall itself is a small low-lying place, — created entirely by its situation at the end of the navigation from Lake Champlain, and by its neighbourhood to the point of junction of the Champlain Canal with the lake. General Burgoyne occupied Whitehall on his march from Canada towards Saratoga. He proceeded from Whitehall southward by Fort Anne, and Sandyhill on the Hudson. We travelled along this road on leaving Whitehall, part of which, still called Burgoyne's road^ was made by that General, by laying logs transversely in wet ground, for the conveyance of his cannon and baggage waggons. Sandyhill is a small, very pleasantly situated village, close to the Hudson. We came so far in the stage from Whitehall with some very agreeable travellers; especially a lawyer from New York, well acquainted with the historical facts which have rendered the whole line of country, from Canada by Lake Champlain to New York, classical ground to the Americans. Sandyhill is regularly laid out, and composed oi: SANDYHILL ANECDOTE. 171 clean-looking houses, surrounding a beautiful central green. It was in former times the scene of two shock- ing instances of Indian barbarity. The first occurred in the course of the French war, that ended by the capture of Quebec in 1759. Mr. Schoonhoven, and six or seven Americans, had the misfortune to be taken prisoners by a party of the savages near Sandyhill. They were conducted to the central green, and ordered to sit down in a row upon a log of w^ood. The In- dians then began very deliberately to tomahawk their victims, commencing at one end of the log, and split- ting the skulls of their prisoners in regular succession, while the survivors, compelled to sit still and to wit- ness the awful fate of their companions, awaited their own in unutterable horror. Mr. Schoonhoven was the last but one upon the end of the log, opposite to where the massacre commenced. < The work of death had al- ready proceeded to him, and the lifted tomaha^vk w^as ready to descend, when a chief gave a signal to stop the butchery. Then approaching Mr. Schoonhoven, he mildly said, " Do you not remember, that at such a time, when your young men were dancing, poor In- dians came, and wanted to dance too ; your young men said, ' No ! Indians shall not dance w^ith us;' but you (for it seems this chief had recognized his features only in the critical moment), you said, ' Indians shall dance now, I will show you that Indians can remember kind- ness." This providential recollection saved the life of Mr. Schoonhoven, and of the other survivor. The other occurrence w^as one well known at the I 2 172 INDIAN BARBARITY. time, and of most aggravated atrocity, the murder of the young and beautiful Jane M'Crea. This unfortu- nate lady was betrothed to Captain Jones, an American refugee, an officer in General Burgoyne's regiment; and when the American army retreated, had the im- prudence to remain behind, in the expectation of meet- ing her lover. Being anxious to obtain possession of Lis expected bride, wliose residence in the heart of the contending armies, and of hostile Indians, subjected her to danger. Captain Jones despatched a party of Indians, in whom he thought he could confide, to con- duct her from the neighbourhood of Sandyhill to Fort Anne, at the distance of a few miles, then (in 1777) the head-quarters of the British army. She set off, imder their escort, on horseback, in order to be imme- diately married to Captain Jones ; but had not pro- ceeded above half a mile, when a second party of In- dians, also sent by Captain Jones, who was uneasy on account of the delay that had taken place, met them. The two parties had a collision as to the reward, a barrel of rum, promised to the party which should bring Miss M'Crea to the camp, at the end of which the unhappy victim was found tomahawked and scalped. Captain Jones did not long survive the object of his affections. He died of a broken heart. General Gates, the American commander, did not fail to avail himself of the opportunity afforded by the perpetration of so horrible an outrage, to remonstrate wdth General Burgoyne, rather in exaggerated terms, against his bringing with him to the invasion of the INDIAN AUXILIARIES. 173 I American States, hordes of savages, whose established warfare was that of promiscuous massacre. His allu- sion to Miss M^Crea is in these words : — " The mi- serable fate of Miss M^Crea was peculiarly aggravated by her being dressed to receive her promised husband, but met her murderer employed by you." General l?argoyne thus replied, " In regard to Miss M^Crea, her fall wanted not the tragic display you have laboured to give it, to make it as sincerely lamented and ab- horred by me, as it can be by the tenderest of her friends. The fact was no premeditated barbarity. On tlie contrary, two chiefs, who had brought her off for tlie purpose of security, not of violence to her person, disputed which should be her guard, and, in a fit of savage passion in one from whose hands she was snatched, the unhappy woman became the victim. , Upon the first intelligence of this event, I obliged the Indians to deliver the murderer into my hands ; and though to have punished him by our laws or principles of justice would have been perhaps unprecedented, he certainly should have suffered an ignominious death, had I not been convinced, by my circumstances and observation, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that a pardon, under the terms which I presented, and they accepted, would be more eflScacious than an execution, to prevent similar mischiefs." It is not, howefver, to the credit of the humanity or civilization, either of the British or of the Americans, that they have always employed, and continued to em- ploy, the Indians as auxiliaries when they go to war I 3 174 INDIAN AUXILIARIES. with eacli other ; but, although there is no apology for the atrocity of Lord Cornwallis's famous letter of Sep- tember 1780, in which, writing to one of his officers, he announced his satisfaction " that the Indians had pursued and scalped many of the enemy," the Ame- ricans have no good reason, and are not entitled, to find fault, as I know they have done on all occasions, with the British for doing that which they do them- selves. The Indians, in the revolutionary war, no doubt, flocked in greater numbers to the British than to the American standard ; but the guilt consisted in at all employing savages, who could not be controlled nor prevented from murdering and treating the van- quished with every description of barbarous ferocity. The French were chargeable with the same inhuman practice, while they possessed Canada, in their wars with the British. It can only be put a final stop to by a convention between the belligerents, stipulating, that Indians are in no circumstances to be employed. If they are resorted to for assistance on one side, it becomes absolutely necessary to employ them on the other. It had been our intention to proceed southward from Ticonderago by Lake George, but we found that the steam-boat on that lake v/as discontinued, on account of the lateness of the season, and were, therefore, obliged to make a circuit by Whitehall, Sandyhill, and Glen's Falls, four miles from Sandyhill, and situated on the Hudson, before we could get a road to Caldwell, at the head of Lake George. We reached Glen's glen's falls. 175 Falls in time for a late dinner, on the 18tli September, and found Mr. Tlireeliouse's hotel a very good one, and the host, a French Canadian, very obliging, not at all disposed to make any difficulty in getting us broiled chickens, and other good things, though a long time after the regular dinner hour. A very good female servant waited at dinner, sitting, of course, at all times when she was doing nothing for us. This practice was more observed by us, being in private rooms which we had here, than at a table with boarders. The Falls of the Hudson, close to this village, are well worth seeing. The descent is above sixty feet, the water separating at the bottom into three channels, and dashing over great flat layers of black limestone rock. They are best seen from the pendant wooden bridge, 160 yards broad, the arches of which are sup- ported on pillars, consisting of large beams laid across each other, resting on a foundation of limestone, cut throuofh bv the Hudson. The villasfe is clean, con- taining probably 1000 people. The district of country- is reckoned very cheap. Boarding for mechanics or labourers at a dollar and a-half per week ; and for this sum animal food allowed three times a-day. Finding that there was not at present any public conveyance from Glen's Falls to Caldwell, on Lake George, nine miles, we contracted, on the evening of our arrival, with a stage-hirer for a barouche to carry us next morning: at seven to Lake Georofe. In the morning, 1 found a barouche, rather a bet- ter-looking one than usual, in all respects, already at I 4 176 CALDWELL. the liotel door, when I appeared before the appointed hour to give notice, that on account of the indisposi- tion of one of our party, it would be impossible to set out before nine o'clock. " That will not suit me so well," said the driver, as, after hearing what I had said, he was driving from the door. Such a remark from him struck me at the moment as strange, but made of course no great impression. At nine we started. Soon after- wards, the driver leaned back from the driving-seat, which was not much above the level of the seats in the barouche, and addressed some general remarks to us as strangers ; but the sunshine was at the time so over- powering, and one of our party still so much annoyed with headache, that he must have observed our indis- position to enter into conversation with him, and he afterwards contented himself with answering such questions as we put to him. He showed us, however, that he had perfect knowlege of the country, and of the dreadful scenes of which it had in former times been the theatre, and that he was a very different person in point of education and information from the coachmen of our own country; but he had taken the hint, which he conceived we intended to give him, and now confined his answers pretty closely to our questions. The country is sandy and stony, but there are fine hills in the distance, and the prospect of the lake, surrounded by mountains, very beautiful in de- scending from higher grounds on Caldwell, the vil- lage, or rather county town, at the south-western edge of the lake. Caldwell has been but recently built, but LAKE GEORGE. 177 it contains public buildings of all kinds, — a gaol, being the county town of the county of Warren, — a news- paper, — and a great and charmingly situated hotel for strangers coming to see the lake or to fish. Having arrived at Caldwell, we hired a small boat to take us out on the lake, and directed our charioteer to have the carriage ready as soon as a signal, w^hicli we ar- ranged, should appear from our boat. The lake very iiiucli resembles the lakes of Westmoreland, and some of the Scotch lakes. Hilly country (mountainous it is called here, though none of it is above 1500 feet high,) surrounds the lake on all sides. The shores are finely broken, and the lake itself sprinkled with a great num- ber of beautiful islands, on one of which, where we landed, there is a tea-house. The waters of the lake are deep, and most transparent; and fish, especially red trout, is excellent, and most abundant. The lake is about thirty- six miles long, of very various breadth, nowhere exceeding four miles. On coming to the shore from the lake, the money which I had agreed to pay for the boat was refused. The sum promised, we were told, was for the boat itself, but not for navigating it- There was no redress, and we submitted w^ithout much- grumbling to what we considered an imposition, re- marking that this was the first time the Yankees had come Yorkshire over us. This settled, we were even more at a loss, for our driver was nowhere to be found, and we were ready to set out. Our signal from the boat had never been noticed. We did not know how to proceed, when a bystander, taking pity on us, said, I 5 178 AMERICAN DRIVER, tlie driver is probably in the gaol, pointing out the way to it. We set oft' in that direction, and met him com- ing from it. He made no excuse or apology, but set about preparing our conveyance. As soon as it was ready, we got into it, but the driver showed no symp- toms of settinor out. We asked the cause. He was waiting, he said, for the little boy he had brought out with him on the driving-seat, and who would pre- sently be with us. We began to think that the driver was disposed to treat us rather cavalierly ; and I had almost asked him, whether he looked to the boy, for whom he was waiting, or to us, for the hire of the con- veyance; but I recollected in time, that all altercation with the natives ought, if possible, to be avoided by persons travelling in a foreign country, and that the trouble of obtaining redress, even in cases which re- quired it more, made it much wiser to submit in silence to a little inconvenience. We therefore sat for some time longer, whether patiently or impatiently I need not say, when I notice, that we were all well again, w^ith a good appetite, and dinner waiting for us at Glen's Falls. In the meanwhile, we applied to the driver to give us a little of the information he had vo- lunteered in the morning, but we found him apparently not much inclined to be communicative. He had not, we presumed, forgotten the reception we had given liim in the morning. This was provoking, as Cald- well and its neighbourhood comprehend the grounds on which the dreadful combats between the French and British, between the years 1750 and 1760, were ENGAGEMENT AT CALDWELL. 179 fought. We succeeded, however, at last, by being' more than usually communicative ourselves, in satisfy- ing the driver that we were not saucy travellers, and he got into good humour with us. The weary boy made his appearance, and we were off. The driver soon showed himself so well informed, that all anxiety about our dinner left us, and we stopped again and again to have pointed out to us, on the spot, the scenes of those battles, which he described almost as if he had been an eye-witness. Caldwell itself stands so nearly on the site of the ruins of the British Fort William Henry, that the batteries, erected to attack it at the period alluded to, cross the street of the present village. The first attack was attempted by the French under Baron Dieskau, in 1755. General Johnson was here with a considerable army, and with Hendrick, the chief of the Mohawks, on his way to attack Crown Point on Lake Champlain, then occupied by the French* Dieskau was sent to oppose him. On 8th September, 1755, Johnson sent out a party of 1200 men under Co- lonel Williams early in the morning, to meet Dieskau who was approaching, but the latter having placed the Indians in ambuscade, Williams was induced, by the apparent inferiority of the force opposed to him, to ad- vance too far, and he and his party were defeated with severe loss in a defile, which was shown us. He as well as Hendrick were among the slain. This success encouraged Dieskau to proceed to the instant attack of Johnson, but Dieskau was in his turn repulsed with, great slaughter, and was himself killed. He was first I 6 IbO BLOODY POND. of all wounded in the leg, and seen leaning against a tree ; he began to feel for his watch to deliver it up to • a soldier approaching him, but the soldier, supposing him to be searching for a pistol, shot him. On the evening of the same day, that part of Dieskau's army which made good their retreat, when resting on the very ground on which they had in the morning de- feated Colonel Williams, fell in Avith Captain M'Gin- nis, who had been sent from Fort Edward, near San- dyhill, with some troops to Johnson's assistance, and were totally routed. Captain M'Ginnis was, how- ever, killed. This was a memorable day in the annals of French and British American warfare. Three battles fought almost on the same ground. Three commanders and an Indian chief killed, and Johnson wounded. The barbarities committed by the Indians attached to both armies were shocking to humanity. The road to Glen's Falls passes through the heart of the battle ground. The hill from which the French poured down in the morning, is to this day called the French Mountain, and the spot where Colonel Williams fell is called Williams' Rock. Close by the road, and on its north side, is a circular pond, 200 or 300 feet in diameter, shaped like a bowd, which w^as the common sepulchre of the slain, the dead bodies of most of those killed being throwni into it in undistinguished confusion. From that time to the present it has been called by no other name than the Bloody Pond. Two years after Dieskau's attack, Fort William FORT WILLIAM HENRY. 181 Henry was besieged by a more powerful army. The •Marquis of Monteabn in 1757 conducted an army of 10,000 men to invest it. Colonel Munro the British commander, made a gallant defence, but was at last obliged to capitulate with 3000 men. In the face of the capitulation, the Indians attached to Montcalm's army pursued the garrison on their retreat, dragged the men from the ranks, plundered all without distinc- tion, and murdered almost the whole, men, women, and children, in the most savage manner, iii the same defile which had been the field of battle in 1755. Montcalm levelled Fort William Henry, which has never been rebuilt. He was generally at the time blamed for not using such means as he possessed to restrain the Indians, and was even suspected of wink- ing at the enormities they committed. He fell glori- ously two years afterwards at the head of the French army, in the celebrated battle with Wolfe, which^ by annihilating the French dominion in North America, put a final end to the frequent and formidable irrup- tions, by Lakes Champlain and George, of the French and their Indian allies into the British North Ameri- can settlements. Mr. Henry Spencer, for we found that to be the name of our charioteer, made an easy transition from the battles of Lake George to those on the Hudson, fought by Burgoyne, about thirty miles from hence, on his well known unsuccessful expedition from Canada during the revolutionary war ; but, as we intend to make an excursion from Saratoga springs to the scene of Burgoyne's misfortunes, it is unne- 182 PUBLIC SCHOOLS. cessary at present to enter into details. Mr. Spencer, finding that we were from Edinburgh, afterwards de- scribed to us with great minuteness the system of schools and of teaching at present established in the State of New York. The public funds appropriated to this purpose are great,— a money income of about 200,000 dollars a year, — besides about a million of acres of land, which are rapidly increasing in value. 500,000 children were last year taught, for about eight months of the year, out of a population of about ] ,800,000, of which the State of New York is under- stood to consist. Its extent is 46,000 square miles. In all the States, the provisions for public schools, though varying much, are very ample. The greatest fund is that of Connecticut, in New England, in which, though the population is only 275,000, and the extent only 4764 square miles, the amount exceeds two mil- lions of dollars. The system of teaching at present in use at the High School of Edinburgh was, we found, much better known to Mr. Spencer than to myself, though educated at that school. His attention had, he said, been particularly called to it, because the citizens of Glen's Falls had been considering various plans for a high school, and had given the preference to the Edinburgh school as their model. He ex- patiated on the advantages of education being placed in the power of all, especially in such a government as theirs, where all men had public duties to dis- charge, and no man was in station or rank inferior to his neighbour. Upon the approaching presidential election his opinion was very decided, preferring the REPUBLICANS AND FEDERALISTS. 183 plain republicanism of Jackson to Adams, originally a federalist, and who had so long mixed with Euro- pean courts. Jefferson early predicted, that the eon- test would be decided not by Jackson's popularity as a general, but by the belief, that the vote would be between the old republican and federalist parties. He writes to Lafayette, on occasion of Jackson's first appearance as a candidate against Adams, that Jackson would get all those denominated republicans of the old school, and Adams every federal vote. "You are not (he writes in 1823) to believe that these two parties are amalgamated, — that the lion and tlie lamb are lying down together. The Hartford Convention, — the victory of New Orleans, — tlie peace of Ghent, — prostrated the name of federalism. Its votaries abandoned it througb shame and mortifica- tion, and now call themselves republicans. But tlie name alone is changed ; the principles are the same ; for, in truth, the parties of Whig and Tory are those of nature. They exist in all countries, whether called by these names, or by tliose of aristocrats and demo- crats, — cote droits and cote gauche^ — ultras and radicals, serviles and liberals. The sickly, weakly, timid man fears the people, and is a tory by nature; — the healthy, strong, and bold, cherishes them, and is formed a whig by nature." Mr. Spencer gave us much interesting information respecting the habits of the agricultural part of the population of New York State and of New England, as to which we may be better able to judge with our own eyes after a longer residence in the countiy. 184 AGRICULTURAL POPULATION. There is hardly a family engaged in the cultivation of the soil who do not send out emigrants to distant parts of the same State, or to other States, to clear lots of the forest, and make new settlements. The original settler frequently removes himself, leaving his improved land to members of his family, or sell- ing it, but more generally, as his sons arrive at man's estiite, — twenty-one years of age, — and marry, he sets them off to the wilderness in quest of new land, with a turn-out of a waggon or two, a rifle-gun, and such horses, oxen, cows, implements, and furniture, as he can spare, but with very little money, not more than enough to enable them to pay the government price for the land, — probably a dollar and a quarter per acre, — and to assist them in erecting log-houses and fences. All the Americans work expertly with the axe, and get up a house very quickly after they fix on a settlement. In a very few years, the settlement improved in this w^ay, — that is, with houses and fences erected, and the wood in part cut, and in part burnt, so that the land is capable of yielding crops, — becomes worth, according to soil and situation, twenty or thirty dollars an acre. At length we approached the door of our hotel, and all of us felt regret at the idea of so soon being de- prived of the agreeable society of our charioteer. As soon as we got out of the carriage, when we were within hearing of each other, I applied for, and had the sanction of my fellow-travellers, to beg him to favour us with his company at dinner, and to take a glass of wine with us. I hastened to the bar-room, where MR. SPENCER. 185 I found him smoking a cigar. I preferred my request in the most civil terms I could think of. He looked at me for a moment, and then expressed great surprise, that a foreigner should have asked his driver to dine with him. I urged our anxiety to have a little more of his agreeable company, and promised that we should endeavour to impart to him all the information we could give, relative to the institutions of our own country, in return for the valuable communications he had made to us. But he finally declined, with perfect civility, though, at the same time, with that sort of manner, which prevented any attempt to press him. " His family," he said, " expected him, and he must go home. Perhaps, Sir," he added, " you was not aware that the High Sheriff of the County was your driver to-day. We are very neighbourly here. The horses expected for you this morning had not come in, and I could not refuse my neighbour, mentioning his name, when he applied to me. I have good horses, and would have been sorry to disappoint a stranger." Having finished his cigar, Mr. Spencer took leave of me with a shake of the hand. We found, on inquiry, that he was a ge- neral merchant in the village, and had mills and a store. His neighbours had singled him out, — not on account of his education, which was not superior to that of his fellow- citizens, but on account of his shrewdness and good character, — to make him a justice of peace, which confers the title of judge. As justice of peace he gave so great satisfaction that they promoted him to be their high sheriflF. In the latter capacity he had business this 186 ANECDOTE. morning to transact at Caldwell, the county town of tlie county of Warren, where the gaol committed to his charge is situated. This explains the anxiety he ex- pressed to be off early. The little boy on the driving- seat was the son of a prisoner in the gaol, to whom he was carrying clean linen. Ne siitor ultra crepidam^ let the cobbler stick to his last, has no part in the republican character of America. To please those whom that say- ing pleases, a play was got up in England at the close of the revolutionary war, in which Americans holding the most distinguished places, military commanders, &c., were represented as (jobblers, tailors, &c. John Bull was delighted. He forgot his expenditure of 200 millions, the loss of his colonies, and their three millions of people ; but a sly Yankee in the gallery roared out, " Great Britain drubbed by tailors, cobblers, and tinkers, hurrah !" Honest John then found out, after a moment's reflection, that he had been laughing at Ms own expense. Washington himself was a country surveyor ; Franklin a journeyman printer; General Greene a blacksmith; Roger Sherman, of the first congress that declared independence, was a shoemaker. Princes may make dukes, but all the kings in the world cannot make a Washington, a Franklin, or a Fulton. Jefferson notices, in one of his letters, that instances have occurred of a shoemaker, or other artisan, removed by the voice of his country from his work-bench into a chair of office, instantly commanding all the respect and obedience w^hich the laws ascribe to his office. OFFICE OF SHERIFF. 187 It is not, however, to be taken for granted, that the high sheriff is always, or generally, as things now are, a person in Mr. Spencer's circumstances or situation in life. He is more frequently, as we understand, a man of landed property, a farmer w^ho may have had a legal education. Such dignitaries are still, however, occa- sionally taken from all classes of the people, the nomi- nation being with the people, with whom a person of popular manners and address, and of upright character, is more likely to succeed in this country than a merely wealthy man, or one of considerable possessions. The inhabitants of New York lately elected, as their high sheriff, Mr. Noah, a Jew, who had formerly been the American consul at Tunis, and who is now editor of a newspaper at New York. The office is often applied for by public advertisement. I insert the following address from a candidate for the office, on account of its remarkable propriety of expression, and because it shows in some degree the deference really paid to the people of this country, and the power they actually possess. " To the Voters of Baltimore city and county. Friends and fellow-citizens, — I have been induced, by the solicitations of a number of my friends, to present myself to your notice as a candidate for the office of sheriff. It is your right and your duty to inquire into my general character, and my peculiar qualification for the office to which I aspire ; and I trust that my long residence among you, and my long experience in the duties of the sheriff^s office, will give to this inquiry a 188 OFFICE OF SHERIFF. gratifying result of your confidence and favour. I am aware of the responsibility of the station. I know that the power given to the sheriff is one of the most deli- cate and important trusts which the people can confide in one of themselves ; but I have honestly endeavoured to estimate aright my ability to execute it, and have an humble, yet firm confidence, that, if the office be con- ferred upon me, its powers will be faithfully, impar- tially, promptly, yet humanely executed. — Respect- fully your fellow-citizen, William Steuart." SARATOGA SPRINGS. 189 CHAPTER X. Glen's Falls to Saratoga Springs, great Watering-place of the United States — Accommodation — Sir William Johnson, first European there — Analysis of Waters — Extensive use of them — Exercise seldom taken in the open Air, excepting in Carriages — Hotels — Mosquitos — Flies — Apples and Peaches dried in the Sun — Population — Churches — Persons of Colour — Employment of Persons who do not go to Church — A Funeral — October Weather — Colours of Trees — Saratoga Lake — Ballston Lake — Fish Pond — Field of Burgoyne's Battles — Account of his Campaign — Stark defeats part of his Force — Actions of 19th Sep- tember and 7th October — Burgoyne's Surrender — Incidents of the Campaign — Baroness Reidesdel — General Eraser's Death — Funeral — Lady Harriet Ackland — Particulars of the Surrender — General Schuy- ler's Kindness and magnanimous Conduct — Dinner in a small Country Inn — Saratoga Springs to Ballston Spa — Population — Analysis of Water — Hotels — Mrs. Macmaster's Boarding-House — Mr. Brown — Expense of Inquest of Lunacy — Episcopal Church — Funeral — Pro- clamation of Thanksgiving Day — Washerwoman. From 20th September to ^\st October. Saratoga Springs, the great watering-place of tlie United States, is situated on liigli dry ground, at the distance of seventeen miles southward from Glen's Falls. We came here on 20th September. The weather had previously become comparatively cool, and 190 SARATOGA SPRINGS. tlie multitude had taken tlieir departure. The great hotels were about to close. Intending to remain for some time, we went to one of the lesser houses open for visitors during the whole year, and afterwards to a private boarding-house. The gentleman who had accompanied us from Britain left us, to our regret, on his return, a few days after we reached this village. It consists of a fine broad street, fringed with trees, having so many large and splendid hotels, that it appeared to me that there was more extensive accom- modation for company than at Harrowgate. Fifteen hundred people have been known to arrive in a week. They come from all parts of the States, even from Nev>^ Orleans, at the distance of between 2000 and 3000 miles, to avoid the heat and unhealthy w^eather, which prevail in the southern part of the States during the end of the summer, and to enjoy the very wholesome and pleasant mineral waters of Saratoga. The Indians were acquainted with the medicinal qualities of those waters before the country was known to Europeans. Their attention was attracted by the great quantity of game, and occasionally of wild cattle, that frequented the place. The first communication by the Indians was made to Sir William Johnson on the Mohawk river, w^hen he was in bad health, in the year 1767. They conveyed him to the springs, — cutting a Toad for him through the forests. Sir William's health improved, and he made know^i the virtues of the water. The revolutionary war prevented the springs from ANALYSIS OF WATER. 191 being resorted to for many years ; and in 1787 similar springs were discovered at Ballston, seven miles from Saratoga springs. Hotels were erected there, — the land being at that time the property of more enter- prizing persons ; and it was not till the Congress water at Saratoga springs was discovered, about twenty-five years ago, that much was done with a view to pro\dde accommodation for strangers. The medical properties of the waters at the different springs, of which there are fourteen here, and four at Ballston, are owing to their containing, in various proportions, muriate of soda, carbonate of soda, carbonate of lime, carbonate of mag- nesia, carbonate of iron, and carbonic acid gas. A gallon, or 231 cubic inches, of the Congress water at Saratoga springs, which is more used than all the other waters there, contains of Muriate of soda, - - 471.5 Carbonate of soda, - - 16.5 Carbonate of lime, - - 178.476 Carbonate of magnesia, - 3.356 Carbonate of iron, - - 6.168 676. grains. . and 343 cubic inches of carbonic acid gas. The quantity of fixed air in the Congress water is much greater than in any of the other waters here or at Ballston, and vastly exceeds any thing yet disco- vered in this or in any other country. The medical gentlemen say, that the large quantity of the gas, com- bined with the marine salt, and various carbonates, give to the Congress water, in its cathartic properties, a de- 192 SARATOGA SPRINGS. ! cided superiority over every water of the same kind ! hitherto discovered. The temperature at the bottom ' of the spring is fifty degrees of Fahrenheit, and suffers no change in winter or summer; neitherdoes the season of the year affect the quantity of the water. The taste is very agreeable ; and the briskness of the water at the fountain delightful. Three or four pint tumblers are generally taken in the morning before breakfast. We also, as most people do, use it at meals from choice, although it is never so good as at the fountain, before there is any escape of gas. The people resident in the village and its neighbourhood, within six or eight miles of the place, have it carried to their houses, preferring it very much to ordinary spring water. The quantity of gas is such, that a very nice sort of breakfast bread is baked with Congress water instead of yeast. So large a quantity of it is bottled, and sent all over the States, that the proprietors, Messrs. Lynch and Clarke, ai*e said to derive a verj'- great revenue from it. Even the American packet-ships are supplied with it in abund- ance : but there is a very considerable loss of the gas in bottling, which renders the taste insipid, and the least loss of gas occasions a precipitation of iron, which gives the water a muddy appearance. Seltzer water in the bottled state is as pleasant as Congress water, except at the fountain. The use of the water is chiefly recommended in bilious, dyspeptic, and calculous complaints, for diseases of the skin, and for chronic rheumatism; but the great bulk of the people who resort to these celebrated springs, many INVALIDS EXERCISE. of them regularly once a-year, come for amusement, land for the preservation, rather than the recovery, of jhealth, at a period of the year, when the violence of ithe heat renders a visit to a high and comparatively a cold country very desirable. I found the water and Ibaths of Harrowgate so beneficial for a trifling com- plaint, for which I tried them last year, that we re- solved to remain here and at Ballston springs for a ijouple of months. The gay people had almost disap- peared before we arrived. The invalids seem to live /ery sparingly, — hardly tasting any liquid but the ivater, and tea, which here, and at other places Vvhere r ^'e have been, we sometimes observe ladies take at linner. Many of those invalids are quite able to take : exercise in the open air on foot, and v/ould, if I am I lot much mistaken, derive as much benefit from it, i f taken in moderation, as from the use of the water ; )ut they seem to confine themselves to a five or ten :i ainutes' walk in the morning, when they go to the foun- • ain, and to drive in an open carriage for an hour, or u hour and a half. When they meet us walking seve- al miles for exercise, and the pleasure of being in the pen air, they, whether acquainted with us or not, fre- c! [uently stop their vehicles, and very civilly offer us a i^i ide with them, and can hardly believe us serious when ^e, in declining to avail ourselves of their kindly-meant . 'ffer, tell them that we prefer walking. There are few lore striking points of difference between this coun- ry and Britain, than in the numbers of people who ide and walk on the public roads. It absolutely seems VOL. I. K II 194 CARRIAGES HOTELS. disgraceful to be seen walking ; and, though there are no fine equipages here, every one rides in his gig, dearborn, or open carriage of some description or other. This no doubt proves the easy circumstances of the mass of the people, as well as the value of time to a mechanic, or labourer, whose wages may be from one to two dollars a-day, and who, in consequence of the saving of time, finds it better to pay for a convey- ance than to walk. Still I am persuaded that our habits in this respect are far more favourable to health ; and that dyspepsia, a very general complaint in New York State, and in this country, is in no inconsiderable degree owing to the people supposing, that enough of exercise can be had in carriages and waggons, espe- cially by persons w^ho partake largely of animal food three times a-day, and who hardly ever walk a mile, or mount on horseback. There are four great hotels. Congress Hall, the largest, is 200 feet long, wdth two immense wings. The United States Hotel contains as much accommo- dation. This is the hotel to which the Ex-king Joseph Bonaparte resorts when he pays an annual visit to the springs. He now associates at the public table as an American citizen, which he did not do at first on com- ing to this country. There are of course public read- ing-rooms, library, and ball-rooms, and a newspaper press. Backgammon-boards, and draft or checquer- boards, as they are called here, are in the bar-rooms generally all over the country: the bar-keeper not nnfrequently plays at checquers with people, who INSECTS. 195 appear as respectable as any in the house. Baek« gammon is not so often played here. Cards seldom seen. We have here, and in the whole of our excursion hitherto, been much less annoyed with mosquitos than we expected. The common fly has been far more troublesome. And in the canal boat, and twice or thrice in hotels, we have had to submit to be tor- tured by bugs. Apples are very abundant in this neighbourhood, sold at 3d. sterling per bushel. We see large quan- tities of them dried by exposure to the sun, first pared and cut in quarters, and then laid in any convenient situation, frequently on the house tops. Peaches are dried in the same way. Apple sauce is made of the i apples thus prepared, which is used with roast beef and I many other dishes, without any mixture of sugar. The whole appearance of the place is cheerful, — the population residing in the village between 2000 and 13000. There are four or five churches, with spires I covered with tin glittering through the trees, Presby- I terian. Baptist, Methodist, and Universalist ; the two I first rather handsome houses of some size. There was not public worship regularly in all the churches, the crowded season being over ; but two of them at least jwere open every Sunday: the sermons good plain i discourses, but there was no eminent preacher when jwe were here. In the Methodist and Universalist j churches, the males occupy the pews on the one side of the church, and the females on the other. This prac- K 2 196 CHURCHES — SUNDAY. tice we afterwards found not unusual in the Metho- dist churches in the United States. The Methodists generally kneel at prayer, and stand while singing, but tlie practice varies in different churches. Ladles are common, as they used to be in Scotland,, handed about by the church officers or deacons for offerings of mo- ney, previously to the last prayer ; the singing good, usually accompanied by instrumental music, and but few of the congregation joining. Everywhere there is a band of singers. The deacons and congregation very attentive in giving seats to strangers. There is no whispering or speaking in the church before the clergy- man comes in. Few people of colour in the churches, and such of them as are there assemble in a corner separate from the rest of the people. Such of the in- habitants as do not go to church, seem to be under no restrictions. They shoot or work, or amuse themselves as they choose. We saw a house get a thorough repair on two Sundays, but this is not usual. On the 12th of October, we were for the first time, and quite accidentally, present at a funeral. It was on a Sunday, when it so happened that there was no ser- vice but in the Baptist church, to which we went in the afternoon. We v^ere surprised to find it much more crov/ded than when we had been there previously, and took our seats in the front row in the low part of the church, which was the only one empty. One of the deacons observing this, procured accommodation for us in an adjoining seat, whispering, that the seat in which y*^e had placed ourselves was reserved for the mourners BAPTIST FUNERAL. 197 at a funeral about to take place. The family and their relations soon appeared, but before they were seated, the body of the deceased, a respectable farmer and pro- prietor's wife, of the name of Waterbury, who had died on the preceding day, laid in a coffin of cherry-tree wood, was set down on four chairs in the front of the seat appropriated for the mourners, and between it and the pulpit. The body remained in chnrch during the service, the clergyman, of course, preaching a sermon suited to the occasion. When the service w^as con- cluded, the coffin was carried to the churchyard, and there, very near the church door, was placed on a bench. The upper part of the lid of the coffin, which was hinged, was opened, and the face of the deceased, covered by a piece of glass, was looked at by her friends, and the body not removed until all the congregation, who wished, had an opportunity of looking at the coun- tenance of the deceased. The coffin was then placed in a very small plain hearse, being drawn by a single horse, to the burying-ground at some little distance, followed first of all by the clergyman, and then in pairs by the relations and friends, the congregation follow- ing in such order as they liked. The body was depo- sited in the grave, and, after a few spadefuls of earth were thrown into it, the clergyman expressed, in a few words, the gratitude of the family for the attend- ance on the occasion. The relations, with only one or two exceptions, then went away, leaving it to the grave-digger and assistants to complete the work. Burying-groimd is very generally unconnected widi k3 198 FOREST SCENERY. a church, and very frequently farmers rail in a small piece of ground near their houses, to be used as such. The people pay little attention to their dress Qji such occasions as that I have mentioned. Several of the mourners wore white gowns and yellow straw bon- nets, with black ribbons. Even at New York, where the mourners were in coaches, I observed many of the men without any other mourning clothes than a piece of black crape on the hat. Women generally attend funerals in this country. In the beginning of October, the mornings became frosty, and the ice occasionally of some thickness, but the sun had great influence in the middle of the day, so that Fahrenheit's thermometer generally rose, in the course of the day, to 70% sometimes to 78°. And during the whole month we had a cloudless sky and pure atmosphere, — finer weather than I ever before witnessed at this season. The leaves of the trees began to change their colours soon after the month commenced, and acquired, at difl'erent periods, colours of such beauty and brilliancy as are not to be seen in Britain. The maple became of a fine scarlet, — the liic- cory and walnut as yellow as a crocus, — and the sumach of a deep red or scarlet. The appearance of an Ame- rican forest, at this season, is altogether superior in magnificence, beauty, and clearness of tint, to any similar scene in other countries. During this tract of charming autumn weather, which is called by the Ame- ricans the Indian summer, we made various excursions to the neighbouring country. There is no object to SARATOGA LAKE. 199 be compared to York Minster, or Fountain's Abbey, or to many noble parks within reach of the multitude, who annually resort to Harrowgate for their health or amusement ; but the neighbourhood of Lake George, of the Hudson and its falls, Saratoga Lake, and Balls- ton Lake, offers many temptations to those who take pleasure in the beauties of nature. Saratoga Lake, about five miles from the springs, is a fine sheet of water, where there is good fishing, and where pleasure- boats can be had. There is also a fishing-pond con- veniently situated, only two miles from the springs, the proprietor of which, Mr. Barhyte, of German ex- traction, makes strangers very welcome to enjoy the sport. Although he has a considerable property, not of trifling value, we found him, the first time that we called in the evening to see the place, at work with the necessary implements, mending his shoes. I po- sitively at first took him for a shoemaker, but he re- ceived us so hospitably, that I soon was convinced of the mistake I had so nearly committed. Every one in this country is taught to do much more for himself than with us. I have never met an American, who, when put to it, could not use the needle well. Mr. Barhyte set down cyder, and peach-brandy, and forced us to partake, before he would show us his grounds. The pond is not of great extent, but the scenery about it, though on a small scale, is sweet. It pleased Joseph Bonaparte so much, that Mr. Barhyte told us he would have been very glad to acquire it as a retired situation for himself on his annual visit to the springs; but K 4 200 BANKS OF THE HUDSON. Mr. Barhy te was not inclined to sell. King Joseph got the first lesson in fishing from Mr. Barhy te, in which, however, he says, he is by no means a proficient. The field of General Burgoyne's chief battles, and of his surrender, is on the Hudson, about ten or twelve miles from Saratoga Springs. Most people devote a day to survey it. On the 27th of October, we hired a conveyance from Mr. Samuel Burtis, at Saratoga Springs, who is a most useful and obliging person, as horse and carriage hirer, and setting off early in the morning, spent most of the day on those parts of the banks of the Hudson, rendered memorable by the disasters, sufferings, and ultimately by the surrender of a great British army, which, in its consequences, led to the separation of the American colonies from Great Britain. Before Burgoyne left Canada, the British had got possession of Lake Champlain, after an engagement on the lake, in which General Arnold, afterwards so well known for his treachery to the cause he then espoused, w^as defeated. Burgoyne's army v/as 10,000 strong, well equipped, and with a formidable train of artillery. He was confident of success, the great object being to meet Sir Henry Clinton and the New York army, which was to co-operate by the Hudson River, and thus to place the American army between two fires, and cut off the New England States from the Union. General Burgoyne, at the commencement of the cam- paign, gave out in his general orders the remarkable expression, " This army must not retreat." And he burgoyxe's proclamatiox. 201 soon afterwards, 29tli June, 1777, issued a vaunting proclamation, assuming that he had possession of the country through which he had to pass, rather than that he sliould have to fight for it. " The forces," he begins, entrusted to my com- mand are designed to act in concert, and upon a com- mon principle with the numerous armies and fleets, which already display, in every quarter of America, the power, — the justice, — and, when properly sought, — the mercy of the king." " I have but to give stretch to the Indian forces under my direction, — and they amount to thousands, — to overtake the hardened enemies of Great Britain and America. I consider them the same wherever they may lurk. If, notwithstanding these endeavours and sincere inclinations, the frenzy of hostility should remain, I trust I shall stand acquitted in the eyes of God and man, in denouncing and executing the ven- geance of the state against the wilful outcasts. The messengers of justice and of wrath await them in the field; devastation, famine, and every concomitant horror that a reluctant, but indispensable prosecution of military duty must occasion, will bar the way ta their return." Burgoyne met with no obstruction until he reached the south end of Lake Champlain, and approached Ticonderago, which, as before mentioned, he reduced with ease. This happened on 6th July. He pro- ceeded without opposition to Whitehall, from whence the distance to Albany is not much more than sixty K 5 202 MILITIA GENERAL STARK. miles. With part of the army which had retreated from Ticonderago, he came into contact at White- hall ; and at Fort Anne, twelve miles farther to the southward, he had sharp skirmishes, which were far more distressing to an invading army cut off from its resources, than to the enemy, who were constantly receiving additions to their force from the militia of the neighbouring States, and who, having recovered from their panic, delayed General Burgoyne's progress by destroying the roads, felling trees, and placing every obstacle in his way. In the meantime, and before he reached Saratoga, about twenty miles from Fort Anne, he sustained great loss ; General Stark, commanding a body of American militia, having on 16th August fallen in with, and defeated, a large body of the British army under colonels Baum and Breyman, whom Burgoyne had sent out to possess themselves of a quantity of stores which the Americans had collected at a consider- able distance from the British army. A thousand men were lost in this engagement, and their commander, Baum, killed. This victory had a prodigious effect The Americans had been confounded with the loss of Ticonderago without a blow. They expected that for- tress, in the worst case, to have detained Burgoyne for some time, but their spirits were now as much elated as they had been depressed, when they found that their militia, hastily raised, had gained an important victory over veteran troops. Stark's address to his little army, before the combat commenced, was short and to the point. " We must to-day beat the enemy. If we do BRITISH DEFEATED. 203 not, Mary Stark (his wife) will be a wddow before the sun sets." Before the British army reached Saratoga, General Gates, an Englishman, who had adopted America as his country, had superseded General Schuyler and General St. Clair, in the command of the American army, now considerably more numerous than the Bri- tish, and daily increasing. The armies were for some days posted near each other, not far from the Hudson river ; their light troops in advance of the artillery by the river side, and the rest of the armies on the heights. At length, general engagements took place on 19th September and 7th October. The first action was not decisive. Neither army gained ground ; but the loss of men was attended with serious consequences to Burgoyne, who could get no reinforcements, his communication with Canada being cut off, while, on the other hand, the American army was hourly augmenting. The second battle ter- minated unfavourably for the British. Circumstantial details of these battles have been published by General Burgoyne ; by General Wilkinson of the American army ; and by Baroness Reidesdel, the wife of Baron Reidesdel, who commanded the German troops in Bri- tish pay, which make it not very difficult to understand on the spot, — Bemus's heights, and Freeman's farm, which we visited, — the relative positions of the armies, even without the assistance of Mr. Ezra Buel, whom we saw, now a very old man, who was the guide of the American army, and wounded in one of these battles. K 6 204 burgoyne's surrender. Biirgoyiie was obliged to retreat after the last action. But finding that part of the American army had taken a position in his rear, he, on 17th October, surren- dered to the American forces by capitulation, or con- vention, as it was afterwards called. Any thing like a history of this important, though short campaign, would be out of place here, — my object merely being to give such information as may prevent travellers from passing through this part of the country without being aware of the interest attached to it, or knowing how easy it is to have pointed out to them, in the course of a few hours, and still with perfect pre- cision, some of the leading circumstances of the greatest military event which has occurred in America, — the stations of the opposing armies, — the houses which were the head-quarters on each side, — the spots where General Fraser, and some of the most eminent officers were killed, — where Fraser was buried, — and the field in which were piled the arms and stores of the capitu- lating army. Many of the incidents which occurred after General Burgoyne reached the Hudson were strikingly ro- mantic and tragical. Burgoyne, at the period of the surrender, had received no intelligence of Sir Henry Clinton being on his way to meet him, although Sir Henry had ascended the Hudson as far as Fort Mont- gomery, at the entrance to the Highlands, which he had taken. The messenger dispatched with this im- portant information to Burgoyne, whose name was Taylor, was taken by the American General, George AMERICAN SOLDIERS. 205 Clinton. Taylor, finding himself in danger, turned aside and took something from his pocket, which he swallowed. A severe dose of emetic tartar was admi- nistered, which had the desired effect. He discharged a small silver bullet, which being unscrewed, was found to contain Clinton's despatch to Burgoyne. Taylor was tried and executed. In the first engagement on the 19 tlx September, a very disproportionate number of British officers fell. Many of the American soldiers were placed on the boughs of the trees in the rear and flanks, who took every oppor- tunity of destroying them by single shots. In one in- stance. General Burgoyne himself was aimed at, but the aid-de-camp of General Phillips received the ball through liis arm, w^hile delivering a message to Bur- goyne, the mistake being occasioned by his having- his saddle trappings of rich lace, which induced the marks- man to suppose him the commander. General Bur- goyne states in his narrative respecting the battle of 19th September, " that few actions have been charac- terized by more obstinacy in attack or defence, — the British bayonet being repeatedly tried inefi'e's surrender. tlieir hazardous situation. A truly adverse stroke of fortune had befallen him before the last battle, in the failure of a stratagem, by which he had reason to expect to be able to effect the destruction of a considerable part of the American army. He had succeeded in lead- ing General Gates to believe that the main body of the British army had marched to the north to Fort Edward, and that a rear guard only was left in the camp, who, after a while, were to push off as fiist as possible, leav- ing the heavy baggage behind. On this it was resolved by Gates to advance, and attack the camp without de- lay, but Burgoyne, unknown to the Americans, had a line formed behind a quantity of bruslm'^od to support the post of artillery, where the attack was to be made. But at the very critical moment when the plan had all but succeeded, a deserter from the British camp com- municated the important fact, that the whole British army was now encamped beliind the thick brushwood, wdiich concealed them from the American army. The order for attack was instantly countermanded, but some loss was sustained, the British artillery having opened on the rear of the retreating Americans. The site of both armies on this occasion is yet well known, and pointed out by persons in the neighbourhood. But for the information conveyed by the deserter, such a turn of affairs might have taken place, as would have enabled Burgoyne to get on to Albany, or at all events to secure a safe retreat. The surrender was carried into effect on 17tli Octo- ber. The American Adj utant- General WiUdnson'sac- burgoyne's surrender. 217 count of the interview between the American and the British general is thus given: — " General Burgoyne proposed to be introduced to General Gates, and we crossed the Fishkill, and proceeded to head-quarters on horseback. General Burgoyne in front, with his Adju- tant-General, Kingston, and his aides-de-camp. Cap- tain Lord Petersham and Lieutenant Wilford, behind him; then followed Major- General Phillips, the Baron Reidesdel, and the other general officers, and their suites, according to rank. General Gates, advised of Burgoyne's approach, met him at the head of his camp, Burgoyne in a rich royal uniform, and Gates in a plain blue frock. When they approached nearly within sword's length, they reined up, and halted. I then named the gentlemen ; and General Burgoyne, rais- ing his hat most gracefully, said, ' The fortune of war, General Gates, has made me your prisoner.' To which the conqueror, returning a courtly salute, promptly replied, ' I shall always be ready to bear testimony, that it has not been through any fault of your excellency.' Major-General Phillips then ad- vanced, and he and General Gates saluted and shook hands, with the familiarity of old acquaintances. The Baron Reidesdel and other officers were intro- duced in their turn." General Gates showed great delicacy in directing, that the American soldiery should not witness the piling of their arms by the British army. j Baroness Reidesdel, on the day of the surrender, ^ went to the American camp. General Schuyler, whose I VOL. 1. L 218 GENERAL SCHUYLER. mansion-lioiise at Schuylerville had been burnt, and grounds laid waste, by Burgoyne on the retreat, rather wantonly, as was thought, received her with great kindness. " You may find it (he said, ad- dressing her,) embarrassing to be the only lady in such a large company of gentlemen. Will you come with your children to my tent, and partake of a frugal dinner, offered with the best v/ill ?" — " By the kind- ness you show to me," returned I, " you induce me to believe that you have a wife and children." " He regaled me with smoked tongues, which were excel- lent, with beef-steaks, potatoes, fresh butter, and bread. Never did a dinner give me so much pleasure as this. I was easy after many months of anxiety, and I read the same happy change in the counte- nances of those around me. That my husband was out of danger, was a still greater cause of joy. After our dinner. General Schuyler begged me to pay him a visit at his house near Albany, where he expected that General Burgoyne would also be his guest. I sent to ask my husband's directions, who advised me to accept the invitation. On the next day we reached Albany, but not, as we had hoped we should, with a victorious army. The reception, however, which we met with from General Schuyler, his wife and daugh- ters, was not like the reception of enemies, but of the most intimate friends. They loaded us with kindness ; and they behaved in the same manner towards General Burgoyne. But all their actions proved, that at the sight of the misfortunes of others, they quickly forgot MAGNANIMOUS CONDUCT. 219 tlieir own." General Burgoyne, indeed, himself pub« liely acknowledged the magnanimity of General Schuy* ler's conduct in the House of Commons. In his speech, 26th May 1778, he says, "The district of Saratoga is the property of Major-General Schuyler of the American troops. There were large barracks built by him, which took fire the day after the British army arrived on the ground. General Schuyler had likewise a very good dwelling-house, exceeding large store-houses, great saw-mills, and other out-buildings, to the value altogether, perhaps, of 10,000Z. A few days before the negociation with General Gates the enemy had formed a plan to attack me. A large co- lumn of troops were approaching to pass the sm^all river, preparatory to a general action, and were en- tirely covered from the fire of my artillery by those buildings. Sir, I avow, that I gave the order to set them on fire, and in a very short time, that whole property I have described was consumed. One of the first persons I saw after the convention was signed was I General Schuyler. I expressed to him my regret at the event which had happened, and the reasons which had occasioned it. He desired me to think no more I of it; — said the occasion justified it, according to the principles and rules of war ; and that he should have done the same upon the same occasion, or words to that effect. He did more. He sent an aide-de- camp to conduct me to Albany, in order, as he ex- pressed, to procure me better quarters than a stranger i might be able to find. This gentleman conducted me l2 220 CHARACTER OF BURGOYNE, to a very elegant house, and, to my great surprise, presented me to Mrs. Schuyler, and her family ; and in this General's house I remained during my whole stay at Albany, with a table of more than twenty covers for me and my friends, and every other possible demonstration of hospitality !" Although the termination of General Burgoyne's military career was so unfortunate, he was indisputably a man of talent. He had previously acquired consi- derable reputation as a soldier in Spain and Portugal, — was a good speaker in Parliament, — and the author of several successful dramas, the Heiress, Lord of the Manor, &c. Nothing is publicly known of his pa- rentage with certainty, which is remarkable, consider- ing that he was for a long period distinguished as a man of fashion, moving in the higher circles in London, and married to a daughter of Lord Derby. It has been said that he was a natural son of Lord Bingley. We returned from the battle-grounds to the country hotel, about half a mile from the house w^here the Ba- jToness de Reidesdel spent the miserably anxious day, the 7th of October, 1777, very ready for the dinner set out for us, beef-steaks, potatoes, vegetables, and apple-pie. In passing through the ante-room, on our way to dinner, we saw another edition of precisely the same dinner placed in it for our driver. This is an example, and one of the most common e very-day kind, of the equality existing in this country. The drivers OOl^ unfrequently dine at the stage-hotels with the pas- BALLSTON SPA. 221 sengers ; but they would not submit to have an infe- rior dinner, nor one served up after the others. All pay, and, if industrious and sober, are able to pay, alike. On the 31st of October, we changed our quarters from Saratoga Springs to Ballston Spa, in a pleasant situation, in a hollow surrounded on all sides by high grounds. The Kayaderoseras, a small river, runs through the village, containing 800 or 1000 people. There are only two great hotels here, the Sans Souci, which is on the largest scale, and Mr. Aldridge's. There are several small hotels and boarding-houses. The baths are as good as at Saratoga Springs; but the water is obviously not so pleasant to the taste, nor are its effects so powerful. The quantity of carbonic acid gas in a gallon of the water is only 210 cubic inches, while in the Congress water it is 343 cubic inches. The substances common to both are here in smaller quantity. We are in the boarding-house of Mrs. Macmaster, one of the most comfortable we have seen in this coun- try. The house is managed by herself, two daughters, and a little girl. Everything good of its kind ; poultry the best that we have met with ; dinners well-cooked ; and coffee as well prepared as in the best restaurateurs in the Palais Royal. The charge four dollars per week. But this is not the gay season, when the rate is of course greater. There is nothing to find fault with, excepting that L 3 222 BOARDING — LAW EXPENSES. now, wlien the nights are becoming cold, the beds are without curtains, and the bed-room barely furnished. Mr. Brown, an attorney and counsellor here, and an exceedingly well-informed man, is apermanent boarder in the house. Law -suits are very cheaply and expe- ditiously brought to a conclusion in the county court, — so cheaply, that legal means of redress are really and truly equally open to all. Mr. Brown was a day absent while we were here, attending an inquest of lunacy on a person of some property. The whole expense of the proceedings from beginning to end, in which the lunacy was established, would not, he said, cost above sixty dollars, — a sum diflfering too widely from the 8000Z., the amount of taxed costs in the recent proceedings for establishing Lord Portsmouth's mental incapacity, not to furnish matter for serious reflection. There is too much truth in the statement of the ruinous expenses of law proceedings in England, which a lady of high rank, in one of her late novels, puts into the mouth of a man of wealth, who was seeking for means of revenge against an individual to whom fortune had not been so bountiful, " Right or wrong, is it not your opinion that I can force him to law with me, and so ruin him ? Nothing is easier than that." There is an Episcopal church here. The clergyman has an establishment for educating young men. A per- son belonging to his church died while we were here, in consequence of swallowing a poisonous drug, in- stead of the medicine ordered by the physician, and was buried in the same way as in the case mentioned AUTUMNAL THANKSGIVING. 223 at Saratoga Springs. The funeral was not on a Sun-* day; but there was a previous sermon in the church. A thanksgiving day is appointed at some time every autumn by the governor of the State, on account of the blessings which the people enjoy. The procla- mation for this season appeared in the newspaper while we were here. Proclamation by Nathaniel Pitcher, Lieutenant- Governor of the State of New York: "Whereas the continued goodness of Almighty God to the people of this State, in permitting us to enjoy the blessings of republican institutions; in crowning the year with his mercy, by the production of the ' kindly fruits of the earth ;' in the diffusion of moral instruction and science, by sustaining our col- leges, academies, and Sabbath and common school institutions ; in continuing us the light of Revelation, and the consolation and toleration of religious profes- sion and worship : these, and numberless other evi- dences of Divine favour, demand from us a public expression of devout and grateful acknowledgment. " I do therefore, in accordance with custom, and under a solemn sense of public duty, recommend to the good people of this State the observance of Thurs- day, the 4th day of December next, as a day of public prayer and thanksgiving ; and, in so doing, I indulge the confident expectation that all, with the exception of those who may be restrained by conscientious scru- ples, will assemble on that day in their respective L 4 2-24 AUTUMNAL THANKSGIVING. places of public worship, and, with devout and grate- ful hearts, present their thank-offering to Almighty God for the multiplied blessings which we are per- mitted to enjoy. " In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name, and affixed the privy seal at the city of Albany, the 29th day of October, anno Domini 1828. Nathaniel Pitcher." Such a proclamation could hardly be expressed in more appropriate terms ; yet that which immediately preceded it by the late lamented governor of this State, De Witt Clinton, is so peculiarly to the purpose, that I cannot omit it. It was issued 23d October, 1827. " Whereas the recommendation of a particular day for the offering up to Almighty God of public and united thanks for his manifold blessings, interferes in no wise with religious freedom, and is the most direct and proper means of uniting individual thanksgiving in one social expression of the public gratitude : And whereas the people of this State have been greatly dis- tinguished by the gracious dispensations of Divine Pro- vidence, having experienced for a long time the bless- ings of liberty, plenty, and peace, the benefits of great internal improvements, of prosperous seminaries of education, and of a general state of health, an abundance of fruits of the earth, and an augmenting diffusion of the lights of religion and knowledge : Now, therefore, I have judged it my incumbent duty to recommend to WASHERWOMAN. 225 the good people of this State, the observance of Wednesday, 12th day of December next, as a day of prayer and thanksgiving : and I do so in the earnest hope, and in the confident expectation, that all, except such as may be withheld by scruples of conscience, will on that day assemble in their respective places of worship, and present the sublime spectacle of a whole people offering the homage of devout and grateful hearts to that Great and Good Being from whose bounty we derive all that we enjoy. " In witness whereof," &c. Both here and at Saratoga Springs, doors are very generally left unlocked during the night. Shutters to the windows- are not common. Clothes are left out to bleach during the night on the uninclosed greens in the villages. On my wife applying for a washerwoman two or three days ago to wash some clothes, our land- lady said that they should be washed in the house, and that she would get in a ladi/ to assist. The lady, when she appeared, turned out to be a lad?/ of colour. It will not do here to talk of the lower classes. " Send for that fellow: — order such a woman to come here." Language of that kind will not be tolerated by any part of the community. The feeling of self-respect exists almost universally. Soap and candles are very generally manufactured at home. Wax candles are muih used even in ordi- nary boarding-houses, and said to be almost as cheap L 5 226 SOAP AND CANDLES. as tliose made of tallow; miicli use is made in washing of water run off wood aslies. When tallow candles are not made at home, it is usual to exchange the wood ashes, and the fat offals from meat used in the family, with the manufactiu'er for soap and candles. * GENERAL ELECTION. 227 CHAPTER XL General Election for the State of New York — Contest between John Quincy Adams and General Jackson for the Presidency — Explanation, of particulars — Twenty-four States, among which Representatives and direct Taxes are apportioned according to their numbers — Con- gress — President and Vice-President of the United States — Powers of President and of Congress — Separate Government of each of the twenty-four States — Union of the States limited to distinct Objects — In other respects, the twenty-four States are separate Republics — Elections generally by Ballot — Senate of the State of New York — House of Assembly — Right to vote — Division of State of New York into Counties, with Sheriff, Coroner, &c. — Division of Counties into Townships, and of these into Subdivisions — Each Township an Elec- tion District — Public Notices of the Elections — Election at Ballston Spa, 5th November, 1828 — Votes taken by Inspectors — Objection's to Voters instantly determined — Quietness of the Election Day — Can- vassers afterwards make up Returns — Number of Votes given for" President — Election completed in three Days — Dr. Dwight's Descrip- tion of an Election — Opinions of Chancellor Kent — Joseph Gerald and James Flint — Acts against Bribery in Elections — Caucus, or pre- paratory Meetings — Specimen of Proceedings at such Meetings — Issue of Elections announced by County Canvassers in Newspapers — Excite- ment at Elections soon subsides. I HAD been at Ballston Spa but a very few days. bth November, 1828. L 6 228 GENERAL ELECTION. This being the last of the four years of the presi- dency of Mr. John Quiney Adams, and he and Gene- ral Jackson being candidates for the chair for the four years commencing in the month of March next, the people had to give their votes by ballot, the method of voting now almost universal in the large States, for electors of a president and vice-president of the United States. They had also at the same time to give their votes for the governor and lieutenant-governor of the State of New York ; for a senator, and representative to the Congress of the United States ; for three mem- bers of Assembly of the State of New York; for a she- riif; for four coroners, and for the county clerk. Some short general explanation may be necessary to make the particulars of this election understood. The North American Confederacy is now composed of twenty-four States ; among which, representatives and direct taxes are apportioned according to their numbers, these being determined by a census taken at the end of every ten years. Each State, whatever its population may be, has* at least one representative in the House of Representatives ; and is not entitled to have more than one for every 30,000 inhabitants. The number of representatives was at first between sixty and seventy; — it now exceeds 200. Each State sends two senators, and no more, to the Senate of the United States. Hence the Senate at present consists of forty-eight members. The representatives are elected for two, and the senators for six years. PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS. 229 The House of Representatives and the Senate are styled the Congress of the United States. The mode of election of representatives and senators to Congress is regulated by the legislatures of the re- spective States. The president and vice-president of the United States are elected for four years by delegates, — nei- ther representatives nor senators, appointed by the people of the respective States, according to forms, which, although an attempt has already been made to amend them, have been found troublesome in prac- tice, and will therefore, probably, at no distant period, be altered. The powers of the president and of Congress relate to peace and war, the support of the army and navy, the militia, the imposition of taxes for the expense of the general government, contracts for public loans, coining money, regulation of commerce, the post-office establishment, the punishment of piracy, and offences against the law of nations, and the establishment of the necessary tribunals for the adjudication of all cases touching the general constitution, arising between the States themselves, and between citizens of the States and foreign states ; but under the express declaration, that all other powers are reserved to the States respec- tively; and most especially, that Congress shall make no law respecting a religious establishment ; and that in all the States a prisoner shall, in criminal trials, have the assistance of counsel for his defence, and that the right of trial by jury in all cases exceeding twenty dollars shall be preserved. 230 LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. Each of these States, now twenty-four in number, has its own separate government; and, with the ex- ception of two small States, in which there is no senate, and some other trifling modifications, its own governor and lieutenant-governor, its own house of representa- tives and senators, and the management of the whole affairs of its municipal government and internal regu- lation ; as also the establishment of its code of laws, civil and criminal, without the slightest right to inter- fere on the part of the Congress, or of the general government. The president of the United States has no more right to pardon an offender convicted of murder or fire raising in the State of New York than in England. Neither has the general government the slightest power to put down or to regulate slavery in any of the States, or to make any regulation as to the liberty of the press. This distinction is very often overlooked, at least in ordinary conversation, in England. The United States are considered a slave-holding country; while, in point of fact, there is not a slave in Pennsylvania, New England, the State of New York, and the new, but great State of Ohio, nor in Indiana, or Illinois, States which form by far the greatest and freest part of the confederacy. The regulations in the different States as to the liberty of the press are as different as those respecting slavery. This liberty can hardly be said to exist in Louisiana, or Georgia, while in most of the northern States it is enjoyed, almost, I may say, without control. The Union, in fine, is limited to distinct objects. ELECTION BY BALLOT. 231 In other respects, the twenty-four States are separate republics, with w^hich the congress and general go- vernment cannot, in any shape, interfere. In most of the States, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York State, and a very large portion of the confede- racy, elections are conducted by ballot, which is be- coming more and more universal ; — the States of Connecticut, Kentucky, and Louisiana, having lately adopted it instead of the vote viva voce. The right to elect is generally, but not without considerable excep- tions in some of the States, bestowed on all males, twenty-one years old, excluding persons against whom infamous punishments have been awarded. In the State of New York, the Senate consists of thirty-two members, elected for four years ; the House of Assembly of 128 members, annually elected. All white men have a right to vote who have resided a year in the State, and half a year in the town and county, where they tender their vote, and are possessed of qualifications, which all have, by payment of a tax, however trifling, on real or personal property, or by being called out to work on the highways. Free men of colour are entitled to vote after three years' resi- dence, provided they are possessed of a freehold estate of the value of 250 dollars. The State of New York, the population of which now considerably exceeds 1,800,000 persons, and com- prehends 46,500 square miles, is divided into fifty-six counties, each consisting of from 700 to 900 square miles. Each county has its sheriff, coroners, and clerk ; and 232 TOWNSHIPS COUNTY TOWN. is divided into townships, each containing from seventy to ninety square miles, sometimes a little more, each of which has its supervisors, assessors, clerk, constables, and road-overseers. The townships are arranged in subdivisions, each of which has school-overseers and road-surveyors. All the appointments are made by the male inha- bitants, twenty-one years old. Most of the office- holders, except the sheriffs, who are elected for three years, are appointed every year ; but there is no ob- jection to the same persons being reappointed. Each township is a district for the elections to the Congress, and to the local State, which take place to- gether at three stations chosen by the town officers, named annually by the people, the election being thug to be completed on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th November, 1828. No voter has in this way to travel above a few miles, in order to exercise his franchise, nor is he ne- cessarily detained from his occupation above afew hours. Ballston Spa is the county town of the county of Saratoga, which consists of twenty townships, the whole population of the county being, as nearly as can be as- certained from the last census, about 37,000, and that m of the township of Ballston about 2,000. The officers of that township had thus only in the course of three days to collect the lists for ballot boxes from about 2000 people; at Ballston itself, probably from a smaller number than 800 persons. The secretaries of state of the respective States give written notices to the sheriffs of each county of the pe- riods of general and State elections, which, certified by NOTICE OF ELECTIONS. 233 tlie sheriffs, are published in the newspapers for some months before the election. The following appeared in the Ballston Spa Gazette : " State of New York, Secretary's Office, Albany, August 12, 1828. " Sill, — I hereby give you notice, that, at the next general election, a governor and lieutenant-governor are to be elected: and also that a senator is to be chosen in the fourth senate district, in place of John Crary, whose term of ser\dce will expire on the last day of December next. " And that an elector of president and vice-president is to be chosen for the seventeenth congressional district. " A. C. Flagg, Sec. of State. To the Sheriff of the Count?/ of Saratoga.''^ " I certify the above to be a true copy, as received by me, L. B. Langworthy, Shff. " Ballston Spa, August 16, 1828." It was on the 5th November that I was present at the election at Ballston Spa, held in one of the hotels, about the door of which twenty or thirty people might be stand- ing. My friend Mr. Brown introduced me, and got me a place at the table. I must confess that I have been seldom more disappointed at a public meeting. The excitement occasioned by the election generally was declared by the newspapers to be far greater than had ever been witnessed since the declaration of indepen- dence in 1776. And at Ballston Spa, any irritation 234 ELECTION AT BALLSTON SPA. which existed had been increased by an attack made a few days previously to the election by the local press, and by hand-bills, on the moral character of one of the candidates, — a gentleman who had filled a high office in Congress, and who resided in the neighbourhood. I was therefore prepared for some fun, for some ebulli- tion of humour, or of sarcastic remark, or dry wit, to which Americans are said to be prone. But all was dumb show, or the next thing to it. The ballot-boxes were placed at a long table, at which half a dozen inspectors or canvassers of votes were seated. The voters approached the table by single files. Not a word was spoken. Each voter delivered his list, when he got next the table to the officers, who called out his name. Any person might object, but the objection was instantly decided on, — the officers having no diffi- culty, from their knowledge of the township, of the persons residing in it, and to whose testimony reference was instantly made, in determining on the spot, whether the qualification of the voter was or was not sufficient. I need hardly say, that I did not attend this excessively uninteresting sort of meeting for any long time ; but I am bound to bear this testimony in its favour, that so quiet a day of election, both without and within doors, I never witnessed either in Scotland or England. I did not see or hear of a drunken person in the village or neighbourhood, nor did I observe any thing extra- ordinary, except the increased number of carriages or waggons of all kinds, three or four of them drawn by four horses, one by six. We were residing close by NUMBER OF VOTERS. 235 tlie hotel where the election took place, and in the evening the tranquillity was as complete as if no elec- tion had occurred. The county canvassers for the twenty townships of this county of Saratoga afterwards met, and made up their returns for the county, in all of which, as well as in the whole of the State, the same quietness and per- fect order prevailed. The number of votes given in this State for the electors of the president was 276,176, in a population of upwards of 1,800,000; and that this part of the election was most keenly contested, is ob- vious from the fact, that the majority for Jackson over Adams in this State only amounted to 5350. The total number of votes given in the presidential election on this occasion was afterwards ascertained to be nearly 1,200,000 in a population of about twelve millions, of which the whole States are composed. Thus, in a State far exceeding Scotland in extent, and almost equalling it in population, the votes for the chief magistrate of the United States and his substitute, — ^for the governor and lieutenant-governor of the State, — for a senator and representatives to Congress, — for three representatives to the State of New York, — for four coroners, a sheriff, and a clerk to the county were taken, — and the business of the election finished with ease, and with the most perfect order and decorum, in three days. All voted by ballot, which is here con- sidered the only way to obtain independent and un- biassed votes; and if so in this country, how much more in the British islands, where the aristocracy and 236 SOBRIETY OF ELECTORS. higher orders are so infinitely more powerful, influ- ential, and numerous. The late eminent Dr. Dwight, President of Yale College in Connecticut, describes an election meeting in New England very much as I witnessed it here. After declaring that he had never known a single shilling paid for a vote, he says, " I have lived long in New^ England. On the morning of an election day, the electors assemble either in a church, or a town-house, in the centre of the township, of which they are inhabitants. The business of the day is some- times introduced by a sermon, and very often by pub- lic prayer. A moderator is chosen. The votes are given in with strict decency, without a single debate, — without noise, or disorder, or drink — and with not a little of the sobriety seen in religious assemblies. The meeting is then dissolved ; the inhabitants return quietly to their homes, and have neither battles nor disputes. I do not believe that a single woman, bond or free, ever appeared at an election in New England since the colonization of the country. It would be as much as her character was worth." Dr. Dwiglit's authority, liowev^er, is not greater than that of many others to which I might refer. Chancellor Kent of New York is a person of the greatest respectability as a man, and of the highest character as a lawyer. In his Commentaries, which is quite a standard book, he bears this evidence on the subject of elections : " The United States, in their improvements upon the rights of representa- tion, may certainly claim pre-eminence over all other governments, ancient and modern. Our elections AMERICAN ELECTIONS. 237 are held at stated seasons, established by law. The people vote by ballot in small districts; and public officers preside over the elections, receive the votes, and maintain order and fairness. Though the compe- tition between candidates is generally active, and the zeal of rival parties sufficiently excited, the elections are everywhere conducted with tranquillity." Chan- cellor Kent retired from his judicial situation at the age of sixty, in terms of a law of the State. He is now the chief consulting lawyer at New York; and his professional income, owing to the weight attached to his opinions, which are applied for in all important cases, is said to be greater than when he was in office. The testimony of Joseph Gerald, a martyr to the sincerity with which he, at a period not so recent, ad- vocated the propriety of resorting to the same form of elections in Great Britain, before biassed judges and a biassed jury, at a time of great political excitement in Scotland will long be remembered. " I myself," he declared, in his speech on his celebrated trial before the Supreme Criminal Court in Scotland, " resided during four years in a country where every man who paid taxes had a right to vote, — I mean the Common- wealth of Pennsylvania. I was an eye-witness of many elections which took place in Philadelphia, the capital of the State, — an industrious and popu- lous city, and can safely assert, that no one riot ever ensued." Mr. James Flint, who travelled in the United States about a dozen years ago, and whose scrupulous cor- 238 BRIBERY ACT. rectness of narration is well known to all who know him, in his published letters from America, states his views as to their elections thus : — " A few clays ago I witnessed the election of a member of Congress for the State of Indiana. Members for the State Assem- bly, and county officers, and the votes for the town- ship of JefFersonville, were taken by ballot in one day. No quarrels or disorder occurred. At Louisville, in Kentucky, the poll was kept open for three days. The votes were given viva voce. I saw three fights in the course of an hour. This method appears to be pro- ductive of as much discord here as in England." With relation to the ballot, I would only farther add, that a great point gained by it is celerity; 10,000 votes can easily be taken in five or six hours. The acts against bribery in elections, or in canvass- ing for any elective office in the State of New York, are extremely strict. Punishment by imprisonment and fine, to be awarded against all persons, whether candi- dates or their friends, or persons acting for them., who, with a view to promote their election, furnish enter- tainment, pay, or engage to pay for it, or give compen- sation of any kind, to any person or persons, in order to promote an election. The expense of printing in all ways, by handbills, &c. is excepted, and to the press, accordingly, the candidates and their friends resort not unsparingly. The newspapers, since we came to this country, have been filled with paragraphs for and against Jackson; and reports of meetings, — conven- tions, as they are generally called, — and caucus meet- CAUCUS, OR PREPARATORY MEETING. 239 ings, as tliey are sometimes called — appeared daily in tlie papers, stating, with no great delicacy, the reasons for supporting one or other of the candidates for the presidency. The word Caucus is of real Yankee or New England origin. A dispute having occurred a short time previous to the revolution, be- tween a party of the English soldiery at Boston, and some rope-makers and caulkers, a scuffle ensued, in which the military fired, and some lives were lost. The citizens of Boston held meetings for the pur- pose of considering what was to be done, which the British, contemptuously, called Caulkers' Meetings. Caulkers' meetings have been changed into caucus meetings; and the latter term not unfrequently ap- plied to preparatory meetings of any kind, gene- 1 rally previous to an election. Such meetings are i convoked by any of the people without the sanction of a convener, often anonymously. A chairman is ap- pointed. Friends of the candidate for an office pro- j pose him, and state their grounds for doing so. A vote is taken, and the proceedings published. Such proceedings, on occasion of an election for the State Assembly, may be held in every county of the State, and give previous information who is likely to be pro- I posed, and to succeed, but no one is bound by them, j These meetings are nurseries for public speaking, j and have a powerful effect in giving readiness of ! utterance to the people generally, and in working off I the keenness and excitement which might otherwise, in some degree, prevail on the election day. The fol- lowing proceedings of meetings on opposite sides were 240 ELECTION PROCEEDINGS. published in all the neighbouring newspapers for some time antecedent to the late election. There any many other minutes and resolutions of the same kind, of far greater length, in the newspapers. I copy the first from the Saratoga Sentinel of 7th October, and the other from the Ballston Spa Gazette of 3d November. " Republican Meeting in Edinburgh. " At a numerous and respectable meeting of the Re- publicans of the town of Edinburgh, held at the inn of Major Weeks Copeland, in said town, on the 13tli day of September, 1828, for the purpose of appointing delegates to attend the county con- vention, and for taking into consideration the pre- sent presidential contest, John Rhodes was called to the chair, and Martin H. Butler was appointed secretary. " The committee appointed for the purpose reported the following resolutions, which were adopted without a dissentient voice : — " Resolved, That it is not only the privilege, but the duty, of republicans, to inquire into the conduct of those who are appointed to rule, detect and arrest their encroachments to power, and to check examples of evil and corruption ; and that it is the opinion of this meeting, that the present crisis is one w^hicli calls loudly for an investigation. " Resolved, That we cannot support the present administration in its unexampled expenditures, — its misrule of national concerns, — its contempt of some of our most distinguished citizens, — its profuse rewards ELECTION PROCEEDINGS. 241 lavished upon favourites, — its neglect of its dignity by- its various electioneering journeys through the country, — and its unwarrantable means to sustain its existence, and secure a re-election. " Resolved, That we believe General Andrew Jack- son is the man ' who has filled the measure of his coun- try's glory, whose services to this nation entitle him to its highest rewards;' that by his sound principles, by his ardent attachment to his country in times of peril and danger, — by his devotion to democracy, — by his unostentatious life, — and by his unexampled services to this nation, — he is well fitted to check the progress of prodigality, stay the march of corruption, and to rein- state the government in the purity of its lost and aban- doned principles. " Resolved, That, for these and other considerations, we approve of the nomination of General Andrew Jack- son, and that we will use our best endeavours to secure his election. " Resolved, That our confidence in him is not les- sened by believing that he will come to his high office directly from the people, without abusing the contin- gent fmid, unaided by cabinet connexion, by the ' line of safe precedents,' or by pledges, intrigue, and ma- nagement. " Resolved, That we approve of the nomination of John C. Calhoun for the office of vice-president ; be- lieving that during his whole political life, he has con- ducted himself in such a manner as to warrant us in supporting him for that office. VOL. I. M 242 ELECTION PROCEEDINGS. Resolved, That we do not thank some of our ad- mmistration members of Congress for basely prostitut- ing their privilege of franking, by sending through the country sucli multitudes of papers, pamphlets, and hand- bills, containing spurious electioneering matter, too pal- pably false and absurd to be credited by any body of civilized men, much more by enlightened republicans. " Resolved, That v/e disapprove of the nomination of governor and lieutenant-governor of this State, re- cently made at Utica by the administration party, be- cause it has the stamp of coalition management endea- vouring to encroach upon the privilege of this State, by sending one of our national ministers of justice into the bounds of our local politics, and to connect the anti- niasonic with the presidential question, whereby the honest feelings of that class of our fellow citizens are made subservient to the ends of that party, whose only hope hangs on extremities. " Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the chairman and secretary, and published in the Saratoga Sentinel and V/aterford Reporter, " JoHX R.HODES, Chairman. " M. H. Butler, Secretary^' The American System. " Rejmhlican Administration Convention, " At a convention of delegates friendly to the admi- nistration of the national government, from all the towns in the County of Saratoga, held at the court house, in the village of Ballston Spa, on Wednes- ELECTION PROCEEDINGS. 243 day, tlie 22cl day of October, 1828, General John Prior was called to the chair, and John House and James M^^Crea, Esquires, were chosen secretaries. " Resolved, That the present enlightened and pa- triotic administration of our national government is entitled to our warmest support, and that v>'e will use all honourable means to promote the election of John Quincy Adams for president, and Richard Rush for the office of vice-president of the United States. Resolved, That we heartily approve of the nomi- nation of Smith Thompson for governor, and Francis Granger for lieutenant-governor of this State, and will support them at the ensuing election to the utmost of our abilities. " Resolved, That Vy^c have full confidence in the ta- lents and integrity of John McLean, Junior, of Wash- ington county, and cordially unite with the Republican Convention of this senate district, in recommending him for the office of senator of this State. " Resolved, That the delegates from each town appoint one of their nmiiber to compose a select com- mittee, with instructions to report, for the considera- tion of the Convention, the names of candidates for the county offices, to be filled at the ensuing election. " The said committee having retired, and returned to the Convention, reported their unanimous agreement to recommend the following candidates : — For elector, Sahnon Child ; for congress, John W. Taylor ; for sherifi", John Dunning; for county clerk, Thomas Palmer : for members of assembly, Gilbert Waring, 31 2 2U ELECTION PROCEEDINGS. Joshua Mandeville, and Calvin Wheeler; for coroners, Herman Rockwell, Dirck L. Palmer, Hugh Alexan- der, and Nathan D. Sherwood. " Whereupon each recommendation having been again read, and separately considered, was unani- mously approved by the convention. " Resolved, That Salmon Child, Samuel Freeman, Edward Watrous, James M'Crea, Anson Brown, In- crease W. Child, and Moses Williams, be a central committee for the ensuing year. " Resolved, That the delegates appointed by the several towns to this convention be a committee of vigilance in their respective towns, to carry the above nominations into effect. " Resolved, That the proceedings of the convention be signed by the chairman and secretaries, and pub- lished. " Address. " Fellow-Citizens. — In a government like ours, where every individual holds in his hands a portion of the sovereign power, it is important that he should ex- ercise the authority with w^hich he is clothed with an enlightened judgment. The approaching presidential election is one of vital importance to the prosperity and happiness of these United States. It will determine, whether an enlightened and virtuous administration shall be prostrated or sustained, an(! whether ifieasures deeply affecting the interests of a vast majority of our i3itizens shall be promoted or defeated. The present ELECTION PROCEEDINGS. 245 administration of tlie general government is at the head of a great system of policy that promises to elicit the enterprise, — enlarge the resources, — increase the wealth, — and promote the independence of our country. Great Britain, for a number of years past, has refused to receive into her ports a single article of the growth or produce of the Northern and Middle States, while this country has been annually receiving from her mil- lions in value of her manufactures. The consequence has been, that we have been drained of our gold and silver to pay for British goods. Our farmers have been without any adequate market for their surplus produce ; and a pressure has been felt by every class in society, in consequence of this unequal intercourse. Our government has sought to remedy these evils by protecting American industry from the competition of foreign capital, by having our country act on the maxim of buying from those only that buy from us, by prac- tically enforcing the doctrine inculcated by Jefferson, of planting the manufacturer and farmer side by side, thereby creating a domestic market for the surplus pro- duce of our soil. It is for its adherence to this system of policy, — so congenial to our situation, — so insepara- ble from our prosperity, — and so honourable to our cha- racter, — that the present administration has been as- sailed. Our fellow-citizens of the south have indulged in factious and treasonable threats of dissolving the Union, unless they can succeed in defeating the re- election of Mr. Adams. We trust, fellow-citizens, that you are not prepared to sacrifice your own interest to M 3 246 ELECTION PROCEEDINGS. gratify an iinliallowed faction, by the overtlirow of the present administration of the general government. " If yon are not, — if yon are prepared to assert yonr own rights against the factious violence of the south, rally to the polls, and sustain the cause of prin- ciple and our country. The candidates we have presented to you for your suffrages have long been known to most of you. They are decided friends of the administration, and their qualifications for their respective offices, for which they are nominated, are unquestionable. " John Prior, Chairman. " John House, The issue of the elections is announced to the elec- tors and the public by certified notices, in the follow- ing form, inserted in the newspapers. There is no chairing of the successful candidates, nor generally any public demonstration of joy by their friends. I insert that return of the Ballston elections which relates to the greatest number of offices, the members of State assembly, and local or county offices. " Official Canvass, — Saratoga County. " Assembly^ Sheriffs Clerk^ and Coroners. " We, the board of county canvassers of the votes taken at a general election, held in the said county, on the 3d, 4th, and 5th days of November 1828, having received the statement of the votes taken at such elec- tion, in the respective towns of Ballston, Charlton, ELECTION PROCEEDINGS. 247 Clifton, Concord, Corinth, Edinburgh, Galway, Green- field, Hadley, Halfmoon, Malta, Milton, Moreau, Northumberland, Providence, Saratoga, Saratoga Springs, Stillwater, Waterford, and Wilton, and hav- ing upon such statements, duly canvassed and estimated the votes given in the said county at such election, do certify, that 19,456 votes were given in the said county for the office of members of assembly ; 6529 votes for the office of sheriff; 6535 votes for the office of clerk; and 25,837 votes for the office of coroner. Of the votes thus given for the office of member of assembly, Gilbert Waring received 3551 ; Joshua Mandeville, 3678; Calvin Wheeler, 3303; Jesse Robertson, 2923; Harvey Granger, 3131; and Samuel Stimson, 2864 ; Francis Granger, one ; Samuel Stimps, one ; Harvey Grange, one; Gilbert, two; J. Mandeville, one, votes. " Of the votes thus given for the office of sheriff, John Dunning received 3663; and Hugh Hawkins, 2862; Dunning three; J. Dunning, one, votes. "Of the votes thus given for the office of clerk, Thomas Palmer received 3586; Oran G. Otis, 2945 ; Anson Brown, one ; Thomas Palmer, one ; Thomas Parmer, one votes. " Of the votes thus given for the office of coroner, Herman Rockwell received 3259 ; Hugh Alexander, 3601; Dick L. Palmer, 6375; Nathan D. Sherwood, 3189; Eliphalat St. John, 2861 ; John Vernam, 2874; Iva Heath, 2847 ; John W. Taylor, one ; Wheaton Wood, 405; James Barker, 307; Derick L. Palmer, M 4 248 ELECTION PROCEEDINGS. 116; Thomas Mairs, one; Thomas J. Marvin, one; Samuel Vanness, one, votes. " The Board of County Canvassers therefore deter- mine and declare, that Gilbert Waring, Joshua Man- deville, and Calvin Wheeler, by the greatest number of votes, were duly elected members of assembly : " That John Dunning, by the greatest number of votes, was duly elected sheriff: That Thomas Palmer, by the greatest number of votes, was duly elected clerk: " That Herman Rockwell, Hugh Alexander, Dirck L. Palmer, and Nathan D. Sherwood, by the greatest number of votes, were duly elected coroners. In witness whereof, we have caused this statement to be attested, according to law, by the signatures of our chairman and secretary. Dated Ballston Spa, this 1 1th day of November, in the year 1828. " Ely Beecher, Chairman. " Thomas Palmer, Secretary^ Very soon after this election, the excitement created by it appeared to us to have altogether subsided, and no traces of ill-humour seemed to remain with those most opposed to each other. They associated with each other as if nothing had happened to interrupt their harmony. We have heard it often observed in this country, tliat differences on political subjects, or at election meetings, are unattended with those estrange- ments which they occasion elsewhere, where votes, and the rights to vote, are subjects of purchase and sale. ELECTION PROCEEDINGS. 249 Tlie truth of this remark was strikingly demonstrated on occasion of La Fayette's arrival in the United States in the autumn of 1824. At that period, the contest between Adams and Jackson for the presidency for the four years commencing in March 1825, was carried on with the greatest keenness, and the news- papers were almost filled with statements of the claims of the candidates, and political squibs relative to the election. On La Fayette's appearance a total change took place. The newspapers closed their columns against all such effusions, the disputes of party seemed to be at an end. The supporters of both candidates vied with each other in showing attentions to the guest gf the nation. Their broils were forgotten, and they associated together as if no cause of difference existed between them. La Fayette was himself at Washington on the day when it was announced that Adams was elected, and in the evening present at a large party given by Mrs. Monroe, the wife of the president in office. He was. there in time to witness the first meeting after the issue of the election was known between Adams and Jackson, who, the moment they recognised each other, hastened to meet, and to take each other cordially by. the hand. M 5 250 STATE OF AGRICULTURE. CHAPTER XII. State of Agriculture — Mr. Stimson's Farm — Situation — Division of Farm — Soil — Rotation — Produce — Agricultural Premiums — Maize — Mrs. Stimson's attention to us — Price of Labour — Advantages of the Americans over the European Emigrant — Clearing of the Ground — A Frolic — Dwelling-House — Orchard — Crops — Period of Sowing — Hay — Green Crops — Dr. Dwight as to Quality of Uncleared Land — Crops — Hogs — Silk — Woodland — Prices of Grain — Wages of Labour — Manures — Gypsum — Bargain when Land is Let — Fences — Roads —Horses and Cattle — Agricultural Shows — Sheep — Hogs — Poultry — Implements of Husbandry. November 1828. On tlie 18tli of November, we made an excursion to tlie township of Galway, with a viev/ to see Mr. Stim- son's farm, about eleven miles from Ballston Spa. Mr. Stimson is a very enterprising person, has an ex- tensive farm, a large hotel, and great stores as a mer- chant. We are told that there is no farm within our reach at present so well entitled to notice. Mr. Bur- tis, our Saratoga charioteer, carried lis to it. We were unlucky in not finding Mr. Stimson at home, but Mrs. Stimson was extremely communicative and obliging, most especially considering that we had no introduction to her. The situation of the farm is very elevated, wdth the MR. STIMSON's farm. 251 liigliway running through it. Of 800 acres, of which the farm consists, Mr. Stimson has about one-Iialf in cultivation. His fences, horses, farm-houses, and the whole establishnient, are good, and in good order; and there is an appearance of activity and attention about the place that would do credit to the agriculturist of any country. The whole land has been improved by Mr. Stim- son; it is laid off in fields of about eight acres, in- closed with stones gathered from the land in thelower part of the fence, and a frame of wood on the top of them. There are two rails above the stone, and about twenty miles of this sort of fence The soil is generally light, but Mr. Stimson ma- nures, though perhaps not so much as might here be done with advantage, yet a great deal more than most farmers in this country, and of course raises better crops. His general rotation is, 1. Maize, or Indian corn, with patches of potatoes or turnips on the edges of the field; 2. Barley, or sometimes oats; 3. Wheat, in which he sows five pounds clover seed, and two quarts timothy per acre. Then he cuts the timothy for two years and pastures for one. He breaks up the pasture for wheats then takes a crop of maize, and follows the above ro- tation, manuring either on breaking up or with the maize. Land is less overrun with weeds here than in Britain, and for some time after being cleared, much richer in point of soil. In this view, the rotation by which crops of grain are taken consecutively may ad- mit of justification to some extent. Yet I cannot but M 6 252 ROTATION OF CROPS. suspect tliat tlie return would, on the wliole, be greater if the manure was always applied to the maize or green crop, followed by only one grain crop of wheat, or oats, or barley, with which grass seeds are sown. The land would thus constantly be clean, and in good tilth, and the lesser number of grain crops would be compensated by their superior quality. Mr. Stimson has reported his produce from eighty- five acres to be what follows, after actual survey and examination ; and while he can obtain such a return, he is well entitled to adhere to his own system. 10 acres of Orchard ground produced 25 tons hay. 8 do. Maize, . 560 bushels. 8 do. do. 720 do. 10 do. do. , 300 do. and 16 tons hay. 4 do. Wheat, . 140 do. 1 do. Flax, 600 lbs. 8 do. Oats, 560 bushels. 8 do. Hay, . 32 tons. 8 do. do. 36 do. 1 do. Barley, . 60 bushels. 3 do. Hay, lOJ tons. 4 do. do. 12 do. 8 do. do. 24 do. 2 do. do. 1000 bushels potatoes. 2 do. in vegetables raised 400 chickens. Mr. Stimson has gained almost all the agricultural premiums in the county ; for having the best managed farm ; for having raised 104 bushels of maize on an acre; for having raised sixty-two bushels of barley on an acre ; for having raised 357 bushels of potatoes on half MAIZE CROP. 253 an acre ; and for having raised five tons of timothy hay per acre. The field of maize on this farm, when well-hoed and cleaned by the plough, cannot fail in summer to give a very gay appearance to the field, — even superior to that of the best dressed green crops to which the eye of a British farmer is accustomed: but, at this season, the want of those green crops of turnips, mangel wurzel, ruta baga, &c., which, as well as potatoes, are only raised in small portions in the margins of the fields, creates a great blank. The maize is the great article used, not merely as the cleaning crop, but for feeding horses, cattle, and poultry, for which it is admirably adapted. When we returned from the fields, we found a very nice dinner prepared for us, and a bottle of wine on the table. Mrs. Stimson had previously dined, but gave us the pleasure of her company; and was, I believe, not less inquisitive in putting questions to us respecting land-npnagement in Scotland, than we respecting that in this neighbourhood. On coming away, we found, that there was no bill to pay, for ourselves, Mr. Burtis, or horses. Mrs. Stimson could make no charge on strangers, who had paid them a visit, in order to see the farm ; she only regretted that we could not stay some days with them. We find all the farmers in this part of the country, whom we meet in our pretty extensive perambulations, com- municative, and well-informed on the subject of their management, perfectly aware of the importance of 254 CLEARING FOREST LAND. fallows and green crops ; but generally of opinion, tliat they dare not attempt that system, on account of the high price of labour in this country in relation to the value of land, ne siimptus fructum supcret^ according to the sound advice of Varro. The price of labour, too, is the great obstacle to all sorts of ornamental improve- ment, such as the formation of gardens, and keeping them up. Making, tlierefore, the necessary allow- ance for change of circumstances and situation, there does not seem to be any ground for charging the American agriculturist v/ith want of knowledge, or of activity and enterprise. In originally dispossessing the forest, and clearing* the ground, the American has great advantages over the European emigrant. He understands the use of the axe from his infancy, and much more rapidly brings the trees to the ground. His house and fences are far more economically erected. His employment in these operations is that to w^hich he has been all his life accustomed. His health does not suffer, as a stranger's does, from the hardships to which he is in the mean- time exposed, nor from the exhalations which always accompany the clearing of woodland, and which are so apt in this country to produce fever and ague. My present impression is, that it is far more advisable for an emigrant to pay a little for land lately cleared, though at a price exceeding the sum actually expended, than to risk his own health and that of his family ; but let him be well advised, and not acquire land, already impover- ished by cropping, and which has become foul, and lost CLEARING FOREST LAND. 255 the vegetable mould, — tlie efficacy of which renders the use of manure for a time unnecessary. Let him, above all, be satisfied, before he fixes on a situation, that there is good wholesome water near the spot, where his house is to be placed; and that the district of country is, gene- rally speaking, healthy. Water is very frequently bad in this country ; and often impregnated with lime to so great an extent that it cannot be used with safety. One of the first questions that a traveller, on arriving at an hotel, puts, is, whether the water is good ? and it is extremely difficult to get information that can be depended on, either on the quality of the water, or the comparative healthiness of the place. The in- habitants already settled and possessed of property have an obvious interest to make favourable represen- tations. In many cases, where emigrants do not show due caution, they not only expose themselves and their families to disease, but to that sinking and depression of spirits, which frequently result from discourage- ments and difficulties, so likely to incapacitate for the necessary exertions, especially in a country, to many of the customs of which they are strangers. After a portion of the ground is cleared, and the ne- cessary accommodation for the family of the new settler obtained on the spot, the maize of the first crop, which is generally abundant, in consequence of the effect of the vegetable mould, the accumulation of ages, gives a sure supply for the family, and the necessary horses and cattle; — and a regular arrangement, according to the settler's means, is fixed for proceeding in clearing and 256 GIRDLED TREES. increasing the plougliable land, either by girdling the trees, or taking them out altogether. A tree is said to be girdled when the bark is cut round, so as com- pletely to destroy the vessels by which the process of circulation is conducted. Part of the foliage gene- rally remains for the first year. The general practice is to cut down and remove such trees as are best suited for the houses to be built, and for fencing, and to set fire to the remainder, and to the rubbish on the field ; — the fire, of course, consumes a considerable part of the girdled trees ; and until they decay, it has a melancholy desolate appearance, even though covered with luxuriant crops, which it at first bears. Many of the trees are black from top to bot- tom, and all going fast to decay, and tumbling with a crash, as you pass them. This method of bringing land into cultivation is not, however, by any means universal. In many cases, the whole wood is cut down, and th^ land at once cleared: and a fine crop of maize, perhaps forty or fifty bushels per acre, raised, with very little exertion on the part of the cultivator, from the rich virgin soil. It is not unusual for the neighbouring farmers to assist in conveying the wood, and in the other opera- tions for putting up the first log-house for the settler's family, which is quickly completed. When neigh- bours in this or other similar works lend their assist- ance for a day, they call it a frolic, and all work with alacrity. This house, though rudely constructed, is, so far as I have seen, far better in point of accommo- LOG-HOUSE. 257 elation than cottages for farm-overseers in Britain : and it is only meant as a temporary dwelling-liouse, until other matters are so far arranged as to give leisure to the settler to erect a comfortable abode. The perma- nent dwelling-houses are fully equal in extent and ap- pearance to the average farm-houses of Britain. There is no want of comfort. The house is always placed near a spring, from which the farmer has his supply of water ; and over the spring he frequently places his milk-house, which also is constructed for keeping meat. An ice-house, too, is now very generally reckoned ne- cessary for the accommodation of the family. About the house, there are usually a few weeping-wiUows and locust-trees, both jfine trees in this country, the latter, too, most useful. The garden though close to the house, is, as already mentioned,, apparently in bad order, and frequently not inclosed : but the soil and climate are such, that, with very little labour, abund- ance of vegetables are raised. An apple orchard, with some peach and plum-trees, is almost always to be found within a few hundred yards of the house ; and at about the same distance, if the farm is not near a village, is a small bit of ground inclosed as the burying-ground, — the grave-yard, as it is here called, of the family. The various crops raised in that part of the State of New York which I have seen are very much the same as in Britain, with the addition of maize, for which the climate of Britain is not well adapted. Wheat, how- ever, is the most valuable crop. A considerable quan- 258 ROTATION OF CROPS. tity of buck-wheat and rye is grown. The greater degree of heat is not favourable for oats and barley. Potatoes, turnips, and other green crops, are not at all generally cultivated in large fields. Rotations of crops are far too little attended to. I observe in the maga- zines and almanacks, that in the rotations, a crop of turnips, ruta baga, or other green plants, is generally put down as one part of the course ; but I have nowhere seen more than the margins or edges of the maize, or other grain, devoted to green crop, properly so called. The attention of the farmers seems chiefly directed to the raising enough of maize for home consumption, and of wheat for sale ; and when you talk to them of the necessity of manuring, with a view to preserve the fertility of the soil, they almost uniformly tell you that the expense of labour, about a dollar a day, for labour- ers during the summer, renders it far more expedient for them, as soon as their repeated cropping very much diminishes the quantity of the grain, to lay down their land in grass, and make a purchase of new land in the neighbourhood, or even to sell their cleared land, and proceed in quest of a new settlement, than to adopt a system of rotation of crops assisted by manure. There is great inconvenience, according to the notions of the British, in removing from one farm to another; but they make very light work of it here, and consider it to be merely a question of finance, whether they shall remain on their improved land, after they have con- siderably exhausted its fertilizing power, or acquire and remove to land of virgin soil. In a great part of MAIZE OR INDIAN CORN. 259 the nortiiern district of the State of New York, there is still a great deal of land to be cleared; and a farmer may, in many cases, acquire additions to his farm so near his residence that his houses may suit the purpose of his new acquisition; but he is more frequently tempted to sell at a price from fifteen to thirty dollars an acre, supposing the land not to be contiguous to any village. If he obtains land near his first farm, after he has worn it out, he lays down the first farm in grass, allows it to be pastured for some years, and breaks it up again with oats. Maize, or Indian corn, which par excellence is alone in this country called corn, is a most important addi- tion to the crops which we are able to raise in Bri- tain. It is said to have been first found in the island of St. Domingo. It is used as food for man in a great variety of ways, as bread, as porridge, in which case it is called Mush, and in puddings. When unripe, and in the green pod, it is not unlike green peas, and is in that state sold as a vegetable. One species in particu- lar, called green corn, is preferable for this purpose. Broom corn is another species, of the stalks of which a most excellent kind of clothes' brush, in universal use at New York, is made, as well as brooms for sweeping house-floors. Horses, cattle, and poultry, are all fond of this grain, and thrive well on it. The straw is very nutritive, and considerable in quantity. The usual period of sowing is from 15th May to 1st June, in drills from three and a~half to four and a-half feet apart, and the seed from four to six 260 CULTIVATION OF MAIZE. inches apart. It is harvested in October, sometimes later. The hoe weeding and cleaning of this crop is expen- sive, the whole work being performed by males, — fe- males, as already noticed, never being allowed to w^ork out of doors. Pumpkins are very generally sown betw^een the rows of corn, and give the field quite a golden appearance, after the corn itself is harvested. Thirty-five or forty bushels of corn per acre is con- sidered a good average crop on land suited to it, well- prepared, and well-managed, but 150 bushels have been raised on an acre. Arthur Young remarks, " that a country whose soil and climate admit the course of maize, and then wheat, is under a cultivation that, per- haps, yields the most food for man and beast that is pos- sible to be drawn from the land ! " That course is fre- quently adopted here, and with success, where the soil, lately cleared, is of the best description, and might, without question, be continued for many years, if a sufficient quantity of manure was allowed; but where such a course is persisted in without manure, after the land has been severely cropped, the crops which follow are inferior in quantity to crops of the same description on similar soils in Britain. As a cleaning crop, maize is most valuable, but being a culmiferous plant, it is of course far more exhausting than the green crops, which in Britain in most cases precede wheat. Wheat is sown in the end of September, and some part of it in spring, — if after maize, it should be sown as soon as possible after that crop is harvested. It is I AGRICULTURE. 261 reaped in July. It is excellent in quality; if the flour which we have seen in every place where we have been, and the bread we eat, are tests by which to judge of it. The bread in this country is uniformly good, and inmost places baked at home. Nothing can be superior to the bread baked in the boarding-house here. Thirty-five and forty bushels of wheat are considered a very abun- dant crop, — the average produce in that part of the United States in which wheat is grown is said not to exceed thirteen bushels, while in England it is reck- oned at twenty-five bushels. Barley or oats very frequently succeed wheat, before i the land is laid down in grass, or again bears a crop of maize ; but it is not to be understood that barley, and even oats, do not in many case follow the crop of maize immediately, and precede the wheat crop. Oats are sowed in the end of April and beginning of May, and are reaped in August or the beginning of September. We saw several fields not cut, but no very great crop, in the northern part of this State in the beginning of September. Oats being of a less binding quality than other grain, are therefore generally pre- ferred for horses in stages, or which are driven rapidly on the road. The average crop is said to be twenty bushels per acre, but from forty to fifty bushels are ) often obtained by good management. The grain is not ► so plump as in Britain. In 1827, the premium of one of the agricultural societies was given for fifty-seven bushels on an acre. Barley is sown at about the same time as oats, and reaped two or three weeks earlier ; the produce about 262 AGRICULTURE. one-fiftli less tlian oats; but I observe the premium of one of the agricultural sacieties adjudged in 1827 for fifty-eight bushels on an acre. Both rye and buck-v>'heat are grown in far greater quantity than in Britain. Thirty-one bushels of rye were grown on an acre in 1828; but that is an uncom- mon quantity. Buck- wheat cakes are much relished at breakfast. They are brought to table hot, and consumed very greedily, after being covered with but- ter and molasses. I have not yet discovered them to be equal to flour cakes, but they appear to us to be the most popular breakfast bread in this country. From what I have been told, I suspect it will be found, that after the effect of tlie vegetable matter on the surface of the land cleared is at an end, the average crops of all sorts of grain (maize excepted, which the climate of Britain does not allow,) are, according to the prevailing system of management in this State, a half, or nearly a half less than on similar soils in Britain. Hay is very easily made, the weather being gene- rally dry, and the sun, at the season of hay-making, so powerful, that the effect even of heavy rain continued for several hours is not visible on the roads or any- where two or three hours after the rain ceases. A ton and a half of hay per acre is reckoned a fair crop, w^orth about 2Z. per ton. Irrigation is practised in some places where we have been, and with success. Potatoes, turnips, ruta-baga, peas, lucern, &c. are all to be seen here in small quantities, but not so well managed as in well cultivated districts of Britain. The high price of labour is the great obstacle to the manage- NEW LAND. 263 ment which those crops require. It is not because the farmer does not understand his business that such crops are apparently not sufficiently attended to, but because he in all cases calculates whether it will not be more profitable for him to remove his establishment to a new and hitherto unimpoverished soil, than to commence and carry on an extensive system of cultivation, by manuring and fallow, or green crops. Such a system may be adopted in the neighbourhood of great towns, where many green crops are easily disposed of, and where manure can be had in large quantity, and at a cheap rate ; but it is in vain to look for its adoption at all generally, or to expect to see agricultural operations in their best style, until the land even in the most dis- tant States and territories be occupied, so that the far- mer may no longer find it more for his interest to begin his operations anew on land previously uncultivated, than to manage his farm according to the method which will render it most productive. Dr. D wight's statements respecting the objects of cidtivators in acquiring new or uncleared land in this part of North America are v/ell worthy of attention. " In estimating the quality of new lands in America, serious errors are very commonly entertained, from the want of due attention to the following fact : Wherever the forest has been undisturbed by fire, they have ac- cumulated, by shedding their foliage through a long succession of ages, and by their own decay, a covering of vegetable mould from six to twelve inches deep, and sometimes from eighteen to twenty-four. This mould 264 NEW LAND. is the best of all soils, and eminently friendly to every species of vegetation. It is, indeed, no other than a mere mass of manure, and that of the very best kind, converted into mould, and so long as it remains in considerable quantities, all grounds produce plentifully. Unless a proper allowance be made, therefore, when we are forming an estimate of the quality of soils, for the efficacy of this mould, which, so far as my obser- vation has extended, is not often done, those on which it abounds will be of course overrated. On the con- trary, where it does not abound, the quality of the soil will, in a comparative view, be imderrated. Hence all maple lands which, from their moisture, are incapable of being burnt, are considered as more fertile than they ultimately prove ; while oak, and even pine lands, are almost, of course, regarded as being less fertile. The maple lands in Ballston are found to produce wheat in smaller quantities, and of a worse quality, than the in- habitants, misled by the exuberance of their first crops, expected. Their pine lands, on the contrary, yield more and better wheat than, till very lately, they could be induced to believe. The same things severally are true, as I have already observed, of the oak and maple lands in the county of Ontario. From this source it has arisen that all the unburnt new lands, in the northern, middle, southern, and west- ern States have been, and still are, uniformly valued beyond their real worth. When the tract on the green mountains in Massachussetts was ^rst' settled, the same luxuriant fertility was attributed to^it which has since COMPARATIVE FERTILITY. 265 characterised Kentucky. About the same time it was ascribed to the Valley of Housatonnuc, in the county of Berkshire. From these tracts it was transferred to the lands in New Hampshire and Vermont, on the Connec- ticut ; and thence to those in Vermont, on the western side of the Green Mountains. From these regions the paradise has travelled to the western part of the State of New York, to New Connecticut, to Upper Canada, to the countries on the Ohio, to the south-western territory, and is now making its progress over the Mississippi into the newly-purchased regions of Lou- isiana. The accounts given of all these countries, suc- cessively, were extensively triie, but the conclusions which were deduced from them were in a great mea- sure erroneous. So long as this mould remains, the produce will regularly be great, and that with very imperfect cultivation, — for the mould in its native state is so soft and light, as scarcely to need the aid of the plough. " But this mould, after a length of time, will be dis- sipated. Where lands are continually ploughed, it is soon lost ; on those which are covered with grass from the beginning, it is preserved through a considerable period. At length, however, every appearance of its efficacy, and even of its existence, vanishes. " The true object of inquiry, whenever the quality of a soil is to be estimated, is the nature of the earth immediately beneath the vegetable mould, for this, in every case, will ultimately be the soil. If this is ca- pable of being rendered, by skilful cultivation, regu- VOL. I. N 266 NEW LAND SUBSOIL larly productive, the soil is good ; if not, it is poor. With this object in view, I have formed the opinion expressed above, concerning the country under discus- sion. Throughout most of this tract, the earth beneath the mould is an excellent soil. The mould itself will speedily be gone. It is wisely and kindly provided by the Creatoi-, to answer the immediate calls of the first settlers. These are of course few and poor, — are em- barrassed by many wants and difficulties, and need their time and labour to build their houses, barns, and in- closures, as well as to procure, with extreme inconve- nience, many articles of necessity and comfort, which are obtained in older settlements without labour or time. To them it is a complete and ample manure, on which whatever is sown springs with vigour, and pro- duces, almost without toil or skill, a plentiful harvest. But it was not intended to be permanent ; it is not even desirable that it should be. To interrupt, or even to slacken, the regular labour of man materially, is to do him an inj ury. One of the prime blessings of tempe- rate climates is this, that they yield amply to skilful labour, and without it yield little or nothing. Where such is the fact, energy and effort will follow, and all their inestimable consequences. Where countries are radically barren, man will despair." Besides the vegetable mould above the soil, the far- mers possess many advantages over British agricul- turists. Maize is an invaluable crop. Their hay and crops of all kinds are hardly ever damaged by bad weather. The heat of the sun is, as I am told, in this country CROPS — ORCHARDS. 267 often enough in a single day to make tlie hay crop, so that not only the expense of making it is saved, but all loss in making it avoided. Live stock of all kinds are much healthier than with us, which is attributed to the greater prevalence of wet weather in Britain. Clover and all sorts of grass seeds are used. Much more timothy is grown in this country than in any part of Britain. None of the pastures that I have seen, ex- cepting the alluvial land on the banks of rivers, have the beautiful appearance of English meadows, nor are highly dressed fields anywhere to be found. The manage- ment which is requisite, — by frequent ploughings, roll- ing, and cleaning, — is far too expensive to be attempted here. There is, however, much fine verdure by the sides of the rivers. Orchards are very productive. The crab-apple, of which much cyder is made, is worth about sixpence per bushel, but a considerable quantity of engrafted fruit is generally used with it. The engrafted fruit is here worth, according to its quality, from tenpence to two shillings per bushel. I have hitherto seen no apple for the table superior to the Newton pippin, but there is an apple of a deep-red colour, very good, which, we are told, is more used immediately after the apples are ga- thered. Cyder, as already mentioned, is for the most part very inferior to English cyder, and sold at from two to four dollars per barrel of thirty wine gallons. A bushel of apples should yield three gallons of liquor, sometimes more. The Shakers, a religious sect, w^ho have two establishments in this State, are said to make excellent N 2 268 SILK TRADE- ; WOODLANDS. cyder of a much higher price, — ten dollars per barrel. The price of the Newton pippin is from half a dollar to four shillings per bushel. Melons are grown exten- sively for family use. Pumpkins to be used in puddings, as well as for cattle, are very common. There is no such thing as a dinner without an apple or pumpkin pie. Hops are cultivated, but not extensively, in the dis- tricts where we have hitherto been. We have seen very little malt liquor, and London porter is more fre- quently called for by persons travelling at the stage houses or hotels, than any other malt liquor. The culture of silk has been long prosecuted, but not on a great scale, in various parts of the United States. Coercive laws for the cultivation of mulberry trees were passed by James I., and about the middle of the seventeenth century; but, though the silk trade still maintains itself, it is nowhere carried on. extensively. One farmer on Cayuga Lake very lately was selling silk to the amount of about 600 dollars a-year. The woodland is valuable not only as fuel, but on account of the food and shelter it affords for cattle. There is no underwood, the trees being so close to each other, that the sun has little influence below them. In many parts of the country where we have been, no more of tlie woodland remains than is necessary with a view to what is required for fuel and for farm purposes. In some places, especially near Geneva, where it was pointed out to us, too much wood has abeady been cut. Wherever a sufficient quantity of land hasbeen cleared, the woodland of a farm bears as high a price per acre WOODLANDS 1 — OAK — PINES. 269 as the land actually cleared. The trees are of far greater height than in Britain, — sometimes above eighty feet high, — and almost always are of healthy appearance, and with the bark clean. I have seen no trees of great circumference, owing to their being in a far too crowded state in the forest. There are numerous varieties of the oak, of which the white oak, adapted for many useful purposes, is the most valuable, and a noble tree. The hiccory and black walnut, the chesnut, the plane f Platanus occidentalis Jy the maple, the ash, the beech, the elm, the tulip tree, here called poplar f Lir^iodendron tulipifera and wild cherry, are the ordinary trees, with red cedar, and a variety of the pine tribe. The plane and tulip trees are the largest. The pines are generally on inferior land in the American continent. The locust tree, as well as the weeping willow, — and, in some places, the Lombardy poplar, — have been extensively planted. The poplar is now excluded; but the locust is not only a beautiful tree, but of excellent wood, and now much attended to. The locust and cedar are prefer- red for wooden railings on account of their durability. Posts of locust, and rails of cedar, will, it is said, last for forty or fifty years. They tell you here, that the uppermost part of the post, when growing, is that which should be driven into the ground. I suspect, however, that the durability of railings in this country is mainly to be attributed to the dryness of the climate. The frequent alternation of wet and dry weather which prevails in Britain is unknown here. The locust tree, N 3 270 TIMBER LOCUST-TREE. though a native of the United States, was not found north or east of the Potomac river until after the coun- try was settled, and ha-S, of course, not been long in- troduced into the north-western part of the State of New York. For beauty, and utility, and quick growth combined, it is unrivalled. The best materials for ship-building are the live oak of the southern States for the lower timbers, the locust and cedar for the upper works, and the pine for decks, masts, and spars. Nothing can be superior to maple for inside finishing. No other descriptions of wood are more desirable for ship-building. The locust timber is so hard, that it is in this country now uniformly preferred to oak for the tillers of large ships. The sumach is, in autumn, one o the finest of the lar^'er shrubs on the edo^e of the forest. It grows to a great size, and is of a deep red colour but no plant is so beautiful as the wild \'ine, whic climbs to the tops of many of the highest trees, and is often trained to the porticos, the verandas, and roofs of the houses. Its colours are all shades of red and pink. The frost in winter is too severe for most of the evergreen shrubs which now abound in Britain, and give so much interest and shelter to a winter shrubbery. These shrubs are, however, to be found in the green- houses attached to nursery grounds, and require great care, as their price, — a couple of shillings, or half a dollar, for a single plant, — proves. Prices of grain vary much. Wheat is, of course, the grain which the farmer chiefly raises for market, and he considers himself remunerated if the price is not below PRICES OF LABOUR. 271 a dollar for a bushel. Flour, when wheat is at a dollar per bushel, is expected to bring somewhat more thaii five dollars per barrel of 196lbs. Indian corn 2s. to 2^. 6d, per bushel; oats. Is. 2d. to Is. 4:d. ; barley. Is. 6d. to 1^. 8d. It is difficult to give any precise information as to the wages of labour. A hired servant gets from ten to twelve dollars a month besides his board, which, he very frequently has at table with his master, con- sisting of animal food three times a-day. Labourers hired by the day for those sorts of farm work in which women are employed in Britain, such as hoeing, assist- ing in cleaning grain, and even milking of cows, get about three quarters of a dollar per day, — in time of hay-making or harvest-work, frequently a dollar be- sides their board. The workmen work, or are said to work, from daylight to sunset : but I doubt, from any thing I have seen, whether the ordinary plan of keep- ing workmen employed for ten hours a-day be not as profitable for the employer as well as the workman. The days are never so long in summer, nor so short ui winter, as in Briiniru The sun rises on 21st June about half-past four, and sets at half-past seven ; on 21$t De- cember rises at half-past seven, and sets at half-past four. Manures are far too little attended to, as has been already noticed; but there are instances of individuals keeping their land in good heart with manure, espe- cially where, as in many parts of the State of jsew York, gypsum and lime are in the neighbourhood. Gypsum is more used than any other manure, and with great effect, generally in about the quantity of a ton to tea N 4 272 MANURE ; RENT — : FENCES. or fifteen acres. Manure for the villages is often sold at and under a shilling per ton. The question which the American settler always puts to himself is, whether it will be more expedient for him, in point of expense, to remove to a new soil covered with vegetable mould, or to remain on his cleared land, and to support its fertility by regularly manuring, and a systematic rota- tion of crops ? Land is almost always in this country in the posses- sion of the proprietors, except in the neighbourhood of New York, and some of the larger towns and villages, such as Albany, Troy, Rochester, &c. When it is let, the bargain generally is, that the landlord shall provide half of the seed, and receive half of the produce, but these contracts of course vary according to the descrip- tion of land, its condition, vicinity to market, &c. In case of pasture farms let in whole, or in part, in shares, one half of the stock, in like manner, belongs to the proprietor. General Washington a long time ago proposed to let some very large farms of wheat land at Mount Vernon, on the Potomac River, about ten miles from Washington, at a bushel and a-half of wheat per acre. — See his published Letters to Sir John Sin- clair, Bart., president of the late British Board of Agriculture, p. 36. Fences are in most cases erected before land is cropped, in order to protect the crops from cattle and cows put out to pasture on the pieces of green sward in the neighbourhood of the villages, on the road sides, and in the forests. The cows have bells about their necks, by which they are found if they stray. I have nowhere ROADS — CATTLE. 273 j seen a live fence, all are of wooden railings, or stone I walls. Roads are made and kept in repair by the work of j the inhabitants actually called out. The roads are not usually covered with small broken stones, but are merely formed in a rough w^ay, so as to keep off the water, and the holes and ruts are immediately filled up with clay, or earth, when they occur. It is asto- nishing how well such roads answer the purpose, though certainly very inferior to our Macadamized roads, or to well-made roads of any description ; but there are so few rainy days In this country, and the ground dries so rapidly after rain, that we have seldom seen deep ruts or holes in the roads, and have for the most part proceeded on our journeys in the stages at the rate of six and seven miles an hour. We are told, however, that on the melting of the snow in the spring, the roads, as might be expected, become deep and almost impassable for a few days, until the ruts and holes are filled, and the sun dries them. There are in many parts of the States instances of Macadamized roads, and of turnpike roads, made by commissioners, or trustees, invested with the necessary powers by the le- gislature; but the condition of the roads over this State^ generally is such as I have described. The expense for turnpikes, and for pontages, in travelling in this country, is quite trifling. The horses and cattle are of mixed breeds, and are always, in consequence of the abundance of food in this country, and the easy circumstances of the people, in N 5 274 HORSES MARKETS. good order. A starved-looking animal of any kind is never seen on the one hand, nor very fat pampered cattle, nor very fine coated, over-groomed horses, on the other. Both horses and cattle are generally of middling size; the horses of that description that an- swer for all sorts of work, the saddle, the w^aggon, or the plough. The heaviest are selected for the stages. All carriages are driven at a trot. Horses are broken with great gentleness, and are, I think, better and more thoroughly broken tlian in England. An Ame- rican driver of a stage, awkward-looking as he ap- pears, manages his team, as he calls his horses, with the most perfect precision. The law of the road is to keep to the right side of the road, not to the left, as in Bri- tain. Great exertions are, I observe from the news- papers here, making to improve the breeds of cattle and horses, by importations of the Teeswater cattle, and of stud-horses from England. The British admi- ral, Sir Isaac Coffin, has displayed great public spirit in sending over fine cattle, and superior horses from Britain to New England, where he has considerable landed property, and of which he is, I believe, a native. In the neighbourhood of his property, he has been a zealous promoter of the establishment of free-schools, and of all benevolent works, so that he is an example to the people of all countries, and most deservedly popular all over the United States. The price of beef varies from twopence to fivepence per pound, according to the prices and quality, from which the value of the animal may be computed. I have now^here seen any beef AGRICULTURAL SHOWS SHEEP. 275 equal to the best beef of an English market, or to the kyloe of the West Highlands of Scotland well fed; but beef of bad quality is never brought to market, and a great deal of it is good. I have looked into the mar- kets wherever we have been. Oxen are much used in ploughing, and are so well trained, that they are very useful in many operations of carting on farms. The price of ordinary horses is from 16/. to 25/. I observe at the agricultural shows of last year, pre- miums awarded for milch cows yielding ten or eleven pounds of butter per week, one of them yielding thir- teen, and twenty-three to twenty-four quarts of milk per day. One of the breeds of cows is called very appropriately the " fill-pail." A premium was also awarded for a cow that calved on 7th January, — calf sold in March, — another calf put to her, and sold in June, — and a third at her side ; the price of the three calves forty dollars. Sheep are not so much attended to as they should be in this country, where the dryness of the weather pre- serves them from diseases to which they are subject in Britain. The Merinos, and crosses with the Merino, are those generally seen ; but little care is paid to their being well-fed before being killed and brought to mar- ket. The mutton is of course inferior in quality, and the people led to entertain prejudices against it. Even the slaves in the south are said to object to being fed on sheep's meat. I have again and again seen good mutton, but far more rarely than good beef and pork* Hogs are universal in this country, and are well fed, N 6 276 POULTRY PLOUGH. frequently, first of all in the woods on cliesnuts, hie- cory nuts, sometimes on fallen peaches and apples, but almost always before being killed, they get a sufficient quantity of meal, either from Indian corn, or barley. Steamed food is also supplied in some cases. The steam-boiler for food for cattle is well known here. General La Fayette saw one so well constructed some- where in this country, that he had a steam-boiler of the same pattern made for himself, and carried to France. Poultry are excellent, well-fed everywhere, and in great numbers about the farm-yards. Turkeys and guinea-fowls abound more than in Britain, which is not to be wondered at, as their relatively cheap price places them within the reach of all. The price of geese and turkeys even at New York is frequently not much above half a dollar ; ducks and fow^ls about one shil- ling. Eggs, a dollar for a hundred; cheese very good at fourpence or fivepence per pound. Implements of husbandry are on the whole well suited to the country. The two-horse plough, driven by one man, is universally used, unless in bringing in rough stony land, when four oxen or horses are ne- cessary. The cradle-scythe is in pretty universal use. A good workman can cut down an acre of wheat per day. The harvest work being altogether per- formed by males, and the crops ripening, and of course reaped, at seasons differing from each other much more than in England, the cheerful appearance of the harvest field all over Britain, filled with male and female reap- PLOUGHING-MATCH. 277 ers and gleaners, is nowhere seen in this country. The prices of implements are not higher than in England. The lower price of wood makes up for the higher price of labour, especially as carpenters are very expert. Ploughing is well executed, and premiums given by agricultural societies at their yearly meetings. I ob- serve, at a late meeting in Massachussetts, sixteen ploughs, drawn by oxen, started for the competition, — that the ploughs were of the improved kind, with cast- iron mould-boards, — the ploughing five inches deep, — - and the furrows not more than ten inches in w^idth. Premiums were at this meeting awarded for various agricultural implements. Threshing-machines are not yet so general as in Britain. 278 ALBANY. CHAPTER XIII. From Ballston Spa to Albany — Driver at Table with Passengers — Extra Stage to Boston — Greenbush Barracks — Culture of Silk — New Leba- non — Shakers — Account of them — Origin — Professions — Rule of Life — Liberty of Conscience — Manner of Worship — Dancing — Order and Government of their Church — Management of their Temporal Con- cerns — Extent of their Settlement — Its Neatness — Clothes of the Shakers — Situation of New Lebanon — Water of the Springs hot- Analysis — Hotels at New Lebanon — From thence to Boston by North- ampton — Beauty of Northampton, and of the Villages of New Eng- land — Population of Northampton — Academy there — Mount Holyoke — Arrival at Mr. Smith's, in Howard Street, Boston — Boston, Capital of New England — Peopling of New England — Cromwell prevented by Charles the First from emigrating to New England — Situation of Boston — Bridges — Harbour — Vicinity — View from State-House — Street of Boston — Market-place — The Common — Hospitals — Athe- naeum — Lines of Stages — The People busy and active — Population of Boston — Chantry's Statue of Washington — Cenotaph to the Memory of Franklin — Sunday calculated from Saturday Evening — Oratorios at Boston on Sunday — The Mayor's visiting the Theatre — Annual Thanksgiving Day — Market preceding it — After Divine Service, the Day is devoted to convivial Happiness — Dr. Beecher's Sermon — Organ in the Church — Singing — Dr. Channing — Boarders in Mr. Smith's House — Scotch Dishes — Oil Lamps more used than Candles — Cambridge and Yale Universities — Horses and Oxen — Value of Real Property at Boston — Excursion to Nahant — Lynn — Mr. Phinney's Boarding-House, near Boston — Dorchester Heights — Beginning of LE MET's hotel. 279 the War of the Revolution, and Battles in the Neighbourhood of Boston — Weather in December— Severe Frost — Mr. Fairchild, Clergy- man at South Boston — Form of Baptism. 'From 2\st November 1828, to March 1829. On the 21st of November we left Ballston Spa, and proceeded in the stage to Albany, thirty-seven miles. We dined at a half-way house, where the driver sat at table with the stage-passengers. At Albany we were annoyed to find that the stage did not run from thence to Boston at this late season of the year. We had ex- cellent rooms and accommodation at Albany, at Mr. Le Met's hotel, where we saw several families of re- spectability, who were then boarding at this hotel, the legislature being in session. We remarked every thing in this house as being excellent of its kind. The want of the regular stage obliged us to make a bargain for an extra coach to carry us to Boston, a dis- tance of 164 miles. The sum agreed on, after some discussion, was sixty-one dollars, without any other pay- ment whatever ; — we being at liberty to take as long time, as many, or as few days, as we liked on the road. For this sum, we had a large stage-coach to ourselves, drawn by four horses, with a change of horses and drivers, at every one of the usual stopping stage-houses. This sum is at the very reasonable rate of a trifling frac- tion above one shilling and fourpence sterling per mile. After crossing the Hudson in a horse ferry-boat, we passed at a little distance Greenbush, where barracks were formerly erected for the soldiery, attached to 280 CULTURE OF SILK . MULBERRY. which is a considerable tract of land, consisting of be- tween 200 and 300 acres, peculiarly adapted to the cul- ture of the mulberry, and which is now very properly about to be appropriated by the General Congress to that purpose. It has been well ascertained that the soil and climate of the United States arc suitable for the culture of silk ; in particular, by means of pretty extensive trials successfully made in Virginia and Georgia, and as far north as Conn.ecticut. The mul- berry has been proved to thrive well, even at Burling- ton, in the State of Vermont, and in tlie 45th degree of north latitude. What should recommend the culture of silk, wherever practicable, is, that it is added to the ordinary and accustomed productions without essentially diminishing any of them, and that it gives employment to old men, women, and children, incapable of the severe labour of the field. The mulberry beautifies and embellishes the country, being a fine tree for shade. One acre of full-grown mulberry trees will, according to the present prices, produce, as it is esti- mated, 200 dollars worth of silk ; but it would require ten acres of the best land to produce the same value of wheat in this part of the United States. Neither is there any comparison in the quantity and quality of the labour required. The most robust are necessarily employed for the production of wheat ; but women and children are competent to the manufacture of silk. The general government are, therefore, acting most wisely in encouraging its production ; more especially as the SILK TRADE. 281 -annual value of the silks, even now imported into the United States, exceeds seven millions of dollars. It is not consistent with the enterprising character of this people that they have hitherto so little attended to the silk trade. The mulberry thrives equally well in those States as in France and Italy, in which, ever since the introduction of the silk-worm from India in 1455, the culture of silk has been an important branch of industry. The growth of silk was in these countries promoted, not only in consequence of premiums of- fered for its cultivation, but of various laws which were passed with that view, until at length the Euro- peans became successful competitors in this manufac- ture with the Chinese and the people of the East Indies. It has now been ascertained by a report in Congress, founded on correct information, that the American silk is superior in quality to that produced in any other country. In France and Italy, twelve pounds of cocoons are required to produce one pound of raw silk; whilst the same quantity of American cocoons will produce one pound and a half. The market for silk has always been a ready one. Even France, which produces so much of it, pays annually more than twenty millions of dollars for imported silk. England pays a large sum ; and the United States pay above seven millions of dollars. On the day we left Albany our journey was limited to twenty-six miles, to Lebanon springs, in consequence of our spending some hours at the chief establishment of the religious sect called the Shakers, situated about 282 NEW LEBANON SHAKERS. two miles from New Lebanon, which, not only on ac- count of their peculiar religious creed, but of their mode of life, and economical arrangement in all re- spects, especially in point of order and neatness, is well entitled to notice. This religious sect have six regular societies in New England and New York States, and five in Ohio, Kentucky, and in Indiana. Their pre- sent number amounts in all to between 4000 and 5000. The number at Lebanon is between 600 and 700. This society originated at Manchester, in Englan about the year 1747. Mother Ann Lee, the leader o the society in the United States, joined them in 1748 and soon afterwards, professing herself to have receive revelations through the Spirit of Christ, she was re ceived as their mother in Christ. She and her fol lowers suffered so much persecution in England, tha she, with most of them, in the year 1774, emigrate to America, where they were afterwards joined b some of the inhabitants of New England and Ne" York. Mother Ann Lee died in 1784, exhibiting the last unshaken confidence in the doctrines she ha maintained. This society call themselves the Unite Society or Millenial Church. But they do not objec to call themselves, or to be called. Shakers. According to their professions, they do not believe ' a trinity of persons in the Godhead, nor in Christ the real and eternal God ; but conceive that he pro ceeded and came forth from God, and not from eternity, being brought forth at a certain period by th DOCTRINES OF THE SHAKERS. 283 operation of Divine power and wisdom. They believe that religion consists more in the practice of virtue than in faith, or in speculative opinions ; that man is saved by the practice of faith ; that there is one su- preme, eternal, and self-existing God ; that man was created innocent, and a free agent respecting his choice of srood and evil ; and that man havino- lost his first rectitude, the power of salvation was not possessed by any on earth until Christ appeared : That Christ took on him the fallen nature of man, and overcame the power of the death which reigned in man's fallen na- ture, and rose triumphant out of it ; but that the church having gradually fallen into the spirit and principles of the world, the church of antichrist arose : that the real manifestation of the second appearance of the Divine Spirit of Christ commenced in the testimony of Ann Lee ; and that through her was manifested the same Divine Spirit which dwelt in Christ ; that this is the second appearing of Christ, because the power re- ceived by all who obey this testimony enables them to live as Christ lived. The confession of every known sin is a principle of their faith, according to the text, " He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso- ever confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.'* The rule of life established by the church of this society is summed up in seven injunctions. Ist^ Duty to God. — "Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart," — the entire devotion of every faculty to God. Duty to Man. — " Thou shalt love thy neighbour 284 DOCTRINES OF THE SHAKERS. as thyself." This, rule includes every obligation of man to his fellow-creatures. 3dj Separation from the World. — " My kingdom is not of this world." Hence they abstain from all the politics of the world, and from all posts of honour, and vain pursuits. 4th^ Practical Peace. — Christ being the Prince of Peace, they consider his followers bound to maintain his principles. " If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight." 5th J Simplicity of Language. — " Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile." All kinds of profane language, and vain talking, and false- hood. All titles of distinction are rejected. Be ye not called Rabbi. 6th, Right Use of Property. — Christ prayed that his follovv ers might be one with him. This unity ought to extend to all things, spiritual and temporal. The primitive church was established on this principle. 7th, A Virgin Life. — They appeal to the example of our Saviour, " The married care for the things of the world, how tliey may please their husbands and wives ; but the unmarried care for the things of the Lord, how they may be holy in body and spirit." — " The children of this world marry and are given in marriage ; but they that shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage." They consider marriage merely as a civil institution, with w^liich the true followers of Christ have nothing to do. DOCTRINES OF THE SHAKERS. 285 They also believe that the only true resurrection consists in the soul being- raised from a death of sin into the spirit and life of Christ ; that this resurrection began in Christ, and will continue till all souls come forth under the resurrection of life or damnation ; and further, that the second appearance of Christ is in fact the day of judgment, a gradual work, in which Christ is sending forth his angels and ministers to preach the Gospel. " This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come." Liberty of conscience they hold to be a sacred right given by the Creator, which no human authority can control; tliat all w^hich man can require of man is, that he should do his fellow-creatures no injury. Therefore, they recommend to all to live according to the best light of their own consciences, as the only means of obtaining justification before God. Their peculiar manner of worship is dancing. They were first led to it involuntarily. Afterwards it became established and confirmed by revelations. They be- lieve it supported by Scripture and reason. By Scrip- ture, from the dancing of the Israelites at the Red Sea; the dancing of David and Israel before the ark ; and the prophecy of Jeremiah, " then shall the virgin re- joice in the dance, both young men and old together as well as from the parable of Christ, when " there was music and dancing" on the return of the prodigal son; and other similar passages of Scripture in favour of dancing, without any against it. They bold it to be supported by reason, because it is just that the active 286 SHAKERS — DANCING. powers of the body, as well as the mind, should be called forth to perform acts of devotion to God ; that God, having created all the active powers of man for his honour and glory, will not accept the homage of the tongue alone. The hands and feet, which are useful to man in his own service, ought also to be em- ployed in the worship of God. The abuse of the faculty of dancing in the carnal recreation of the wicked is, they maintain, no reason why the followers of Christ should not improve it in the service of God, because the same argument would equally exclude singing, and indeed every other faculty of man ; and upon this principle, we should be obliged to lay aside all acts of devotion to God, both in body and mind. The established order and society of the church is founded upon a union of interests in things temporal and spiritual. Candidates for admission generally present themselves to the society as fast as it is able to provide for them ; but no pecuniary advantage is ever held out to them, nor any gifts of charity be- stowed with any such views. Husbands and wives are not required to separate from each other on em- bracing the faith of the society ; but are required to preserve themselves in continence and purity. Chil- dren born before their parents were members, and obedient to them until they become of age, are enti- titled to their equal portion of their paternal inherit- ance, although not remaining with the society. Chil- dren belonging to it are all carefully instructed. Bibles are in the hands of all. CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 287 The government of the cliurcli is considered by the society to be under the influence of the Spirit of Christ. But its visible head is vested in a ministry consisting- of males and females, generally four in number, two of each sex. The first in the society is considered as the leading elder. There are also in each society ministers appointed to preach their doctrines to the world as occasion re- quires, and whose duty it is to receive and instruct candidates. The society is established in diflFerent places, and generally composed of a number of fami- lies, in each of which there are male and female elders to superintend the spiritual concerns of the family. In these families the management of temporal con- cerns is entrusted to deacons and deaconesses. The appointment of all officers of care and trust is made, in the first place, by the ministry and elders, by whom they are also removed or changed as occasion requires ; but no appointment is considered as fixed until it re- ceives the united approbation of those whom it most immediately concerns. Nothing, however, is decided by vote, but by a general and spontaneous union of the members concerned. The property of the society being consecrated to sacred uses, and held in common, no individual can have any demand for wages. There are no official salaries in the society, nor can any ministers, elders, or deacons have any claim upon the property otherwise than as trustees for the joint bene- fit of all. The general employment of the people in all their 288 SHAKERS — MANUFACTURES. societies are agriculture, horticulture, and tlie mecha- nic arts. The males and females live together in the same house, eat together in the same dining-room, take all needful care of each other, practise reciprocal kindness and correspondence, and maintain a social union in all things becoming their profession, and are understood to enjoy as great a degree of health, peace, and contentment, as any people whatever. They have at this settlement about 3000 acres of land. Their buildings are very clean-looking both without and within, a little detached from the road, as well as from each other, and extend for about a mile. They are large, plain, and handsome, — almost all painted of a yellowdsh colour. Not a weed or nuisance of any kind is to be seen in their fields, gardens, or even in the adjoining road through their property. Their w^ood is put up with the greatest regularity with. solid pillars of stone as gate-posts. Their orchards are large, and in excellent order, and their agricultural operations w^ell managed. They manufacture and sell brushes, boxes, pails, baskets, ladies' reticules, and a great variety of domestic utensils. Their garden seeds and vegetable medicines are celebrated all over the Union, — their gardens being on a great scale. Their cyder is excellent. The females are also employed in domestic manufactures and house- work, and the com- munity fed and clothed almost entirely by its own pro- ductions. Not being burdened wdth the care of chil- dren, they are more at liberty than other communities to follow their occupations wdthout interruption. NEW LEBANODf. 289 We had no introduction to these people, but there was no hesitation on their part in showing us their houses, work-houses, and sale-rooms, all of which are patterns of order. We bought some trifling articles. Their clothes are much like those of quakers. They showed us their church, which is a clean, comfortable place of worship. We asked and obtained permission to return, to be present on Sunday, the day following that on which we were with them. A violent storm of snow and hail prevented their meeting; but we un- derstand they begin with singing, and afterwards the men on one side of the church, and the females on the other, move forward in a body dancing, then turn, and continue the evolution for a considerable time. Those who do not join in the worship remain near the walls and sing. The conduct of these people is blameless, and they rigidly adhere to their professions, although there are, as there must be in all human institutions, instances of backsliding. Although their mode of living requires far greater self-denial than is necessary, according to the system recommended by Mr. Owen, yet the shakers, among whom the union of temporal interests and pro- perty is completely established, have prospered, and continue to prosper, after the lapse of half a century, while Mr. Owen's grand experiment in Indiana has resulted in total failure and great pecuniary loss. New Lebanon, which is considered the Buxton of America, is situated in a very beautiful district on the VOL. 1. o 290 NEW LEBANON — BATHS. side of a sloping liill, from wliicli the view of a fine amphitheatre of hills, and of a well-cultivated valley below, is extremely pleasing. In point of scenery and fine mountain air, and charming rides, Lebanon pos- sesses advantages whicli are not to be found at Sara- toga and Ballston, — but the Congress water is wanting. The water here is chiefly used for warm-bathing, its constant unvarying temperature being about 73^ of Fahrenheit ; the water boils up from a hill so pellucid, that a pin may be seen at the bottom of the spring, and is so copious, that it feeds many mills, — for which, as it never freezes, it is admirably adapted. Animals are fond of it, and it is said to be very useful in cutaneous affections, and in restoring the appetite. Two quarts of water contain, of ]\Iuriate of lime, - - 1 grain. !Muriate of soda, - "1? Sulphate of lime," - - Ih Carbonate of lime, - - | 5 The aeriform fluids in two quarts of water are thir- teen cubic inches of azotic gas, and eight cubic inches of atmospheric air. The gas readily extinguishes a candle. There are no remains of volcanos here, nor other marks of subterranean heat, with the exception of those afforded by the water. The hotels at these springs are upon a great scale, one of them affording accommodation for about 300 people. We lodged at one of the minor houses, which was recommended by the driver, and had every reason PITTSFIELD XORTHA3IPTOX. 291 to be satisfied, as tlie landlord and landlady, both Americans, were at great pains to make our rooms warm and comfortable in a very stormy night. From New Lebanon, we passed through a very hilly country to Pittsfield, a clean-looking village, where the meetings of the Berkshire agricultural society, in- corporated by the legislature of Vermont, are held, and reached Peru, a small village, where we spent the night in a very good country hotel. The hotels on this road seemed to us faultless. We were not shown into a parlour in any of the stage-houses where we stopped, in which there was not a very tolerable library in history, philosophy, religion, and novels. Paley, Rollin, Sir Walter Scott, Dr. Robertson, and Cooper, are almost always on the shelves of a book-case, and there is a piano in the room much oftener than in Britain. The next place of note where we stopped was North- ampton, in the western part of the State of Massachu- setts, and between fifty and sixty miles from Albany, and which, whether taking it alone, or in conjunction vrith the neighbouring country, is decidedly the most beautiful village that I have seen in this country. The only place at all to be compared to it is Canandaigua. The villages of New England are proverbial for their neatness and cleanness. Cooper, the well-kno^^^l American writer, says truly, " New England may justly glory in her villages, — in space, freshness, and air of neatness and of comfort, they far exceed any thing I have ever seen even in the mother coimtry. I have passed in one day six or seven of these beautiful ham- o 2 292 NORTHAMPTON. lets, for not one of wliieli liave I been able to recollect an equal in the course of all my European travelling." It is, in fact, hardly possible to figure a handsomer country town than Northampton, or a more charming country than that in its neighbourhood ; but the town is not more remarkable for neatness and cleanness, and for handsome and suitable buildings, and houses and gardens, than for beauty of situation, and the delightful scenery in its vicinity. No mere traveller who comes to this country will do justice to it, if he does not visit Northampton. If a traveller in Britain were to stumble on such a place as this, he would not fail to inquire whose great estate was in the neighbourhood, and at- tribute the decorations of shrubs, flowers, &c. which t adorn even the smallest habitations here, to the taste of a w^ealthy neighbour, or to his being obliged to make them to promote electioneering views. Here every thing is done by the people spontaneously, and if any authority is exerted, it is by officers appointed by themselves. The population of Northampton amounts to between ^000 and 4000. There is only one great broad street, with a fev/ fine trees, in which are situated the churches and court-house, — buildings decidedly ornamental, and of considerable size. But the beauty of the place, apart from the situation, arises from the great width of the street, and the light clean appearance of the white painted houses with their verandas, porticos, and green Venetian blinds, enclosed with handsome white railings in large pieces of dressed garden-ground, ornamented POPULATION ACADEMY. 293 witli large old trees. Nortliampton consists, in truth, of a number of villas of various sizes, but of very pleas- ing, though irregular, architecture, seeming to vie with each other in the taste and elegance of their external decorations. There is primitive white limestone in the neighbourhood, and much of the pavement and steps are of vrhite marble. The trees in the neighbourhood of the town are single spreading trees, principally elms, and of considerable age, — the roads are wide, and the footpaths are excellent everywhere. We were shown the old elms that shaded the house of the celebrated President Edwards. At the hotel where vre lodged, kept by Mr. Warner, the dinner set down to us alone was as good and as well-dressed as at any London hotel. A very handsome female vraiter attended us, and took her seat by us, very much as our equal. Northampton is surrounded by rising grounds, on one of which is placed a flourishing academy, from vv^hich there is one of the best views of the town; but Mount Holyoke, situated on the opposite side of the Connec- ticut river, and about 800 feet high, is the hill which all strangers ascend, for the sake of the very extensive and glorious prospect from its summit. There is not much difficulty in getting to the top, and the labour is fully repaid by the splendour of the view of the river Connecticut and its windings, and of a very rich and fertile valley. This valley contains the most extensive and beautiful plain in New England, well-cultivated, and populous. About thirty churches, all with spires, are seen from the top of Mount Holyoke, from which, o 3 294 AMERICAN VILLAGES. too, in a clear day, the lulls of Newhaven, on Long Island Sound, are distinctly visible. The whole of the villages from Northampton to Bos- ton, Belchertown, Ware, and Worcester, are hand- somely laid out, and comfortable places, and everything about them so neat and so much in order, that it is de- lightful to see them. If we had not been at North- ampton in the first place, we should have been more loud in their praise, — but about Northampton there is so much more appearance of real comfort, and of beau- tiful village scenery, than I have seen anywhere else, that it is absolutely necessary to moderate the lan- guage employed in eulogizing the other villages of New England through which we passed. On this journey from Albany to Boston, we never happened to reach any of the hotels at their regular hour of dinner ; nor had we any of our meals at the same time with the boarders in the house. No diffi- culty was anywhere made on this account, — we were shown into private parlours everywhere, and had every thing w^e required as comfortably as if we had been travelling in England ; and at the same expense as if we had arrived at the hours of the general meals. There were obvious distinctions between the customs of the two countries; especially in the quantity of animal food placed before us at breakfast, and at tea, and in the demeanour of the female waiters, who never fail to seat themselves when their services are not re- quired; but we wanted nothing that was essential, and had nothing to pay to drivers, w^aiters, or chambermaids. CITY OF BOSTON. 295 The hotel at Worcester seemed to iis one of the best on the road, — as good as any we have seen in the United States. The hotel-keeper there, when I told him that we wished to go to a private boarding-house at Boston, rather than to an hotel, recommended to us the house of Mr. Smith, in Howard Street. On alighting there, we were surprised to find the landlord a Scotchman, from Glammis, in Forfarshire, a hospitable and kind person, who keeps a most excellent family hotel, and did not give us the less hearty reception, when he found that we were wanderers from the Land of Cakes. Boston, wdiich w^as the chief city of America when those disputes with the colonies, which first broke out into open warfare there, arose, is the capital of New England, — the north-eastern section of the United States ; consisting of the State of Massachusetts, in which it is situated, and of the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. New England was originally peopled by Europeans in 1620. They were English dissenters, who left their country, not for the sake of gain, like other adventurers, but to secure the free exercise of their religion ; and who, on account of the hardships they endured at the period of their settlement, were subsequently called the Pilgrims ; but Boston w^as not founded for eight or nine years after the landing of the Pilgrims in 1620. It was to Boston, not many years afterwards, that Oliver Cromw^ell, with some of his afterwards cele- brated adherents, formed a plan to remove, in order to o 4 296 BOSTON — SUBURBS. enjoy civil and religious liberty ; but Charles the First, alarmed by the number of emigrants, issued a procla- mation for detaining the very men destined to over- throw his throne, and to bring him to the scaflfold. The situation of Boston is very remarkable, placed on a small peninsula in the inmost part of the great Bay of Massachusetts, about eight or ten miles from the ocean. — In tliis bay there are about 100 islands, many of them of a very picturesque appearance; some of them strongly fortified. The peninsula, on which the city is built, is between two and three miles long-, and a mile broad, joined to the continent by a narrow isthmus, or neck of land, which had been formerly overflowed by the tide. The name of the city was given to it by Mr. Cotton, its first minister, who came from Boston in England. Two of its suburbs. South Boston and Charlestown, are also placed on peninsulas ; and there are no less than six great wooden bridges of considerable length, one of them nearly two miles long, to connect the city with the suburbs a,nd adjoining continent. The harbour is large and deep ; but it is not alto- gether free from ice in winter. The neighbouring country is undulating and sprinkled with many of the beautiful white villas of New England, neatly enclosed, and adorned with a few" fine trees and well-kept gardens. Tlie view from the top of the State-House, 230 feet above the level of the sea, and which overlooks the whole of the city, — the bay, the islands, the neigh- STATE-HOUSE — PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 297 boiiriiig heights, and the adjoining country, is one of 'the noblest that can be imagined. The surface of the peninsula on which the city is built is irregular in shape and height. There are three eminences in it, from which the city was originally called Trimountain; the chief one is 110 feet above the level of the sea. This variety of surface, combined with the elevation and size of the State-House, of many of the publicbuild- ings, and the spires of the churches, contributes much to give the city a striking appearance in approaching it. The streets of Boston are generally narrow; but many of the private houses in the best streets, and many of the churches, are handsome and massive, built of a light grey granite; and, upon the whole, there is no feeling of disappointment on a near inspec- tion of the whole town. The market-place, which has been lately erected, is a very well-managed building', by far the best of that description in the United States. Indeed, I am not sure whether, in reference to the respective populations of the cities, it be at all inferior to the market-place at Liverpool. Boston is distinguished from all the other American cities by its pleasure ground, called the Common, consisting of seventy-five acres in the heart of the city. It is vv'cU laid out, and contains many fine trees ; and, being reserved for public purposes, tends greatly to the comfort and health of the inhabitants. The State-House, and the handsomest houses in the city, surround it on three sides. o 5 298 BOSTON ATHENiEUM — STAGES. There is more wealth, in proportion to the popula- tion, in Boston than in any of the other cities of this continent. It abounds in hospitals and other buildings for charitable purposes. The Athenaeum, containing a valuable library, reading-rooms, lecturing and ex- hibition-rooms, is an admirable and well-conducted institution. There are at Boston about 100 distinct lines of stages ; a greater number than in any other part of the United States, — owing to the natural facilities for steam travelling being fewer here than elsewhere. The stage-register, which is quite a volume, is pub- lished every two months. The city is clean and well-paved, and seems to be not only entirely free of beggars, but of any popula- tion that is not apparently living comfortably. I did not observe a single individual in the streets of the city who was not vrell apparelled, nor an individual of what we call the lower orders. Even at New York, during the few days I was there, I observed some small dis- tricts of the city where cleanliness was less attended to than in others, and where there were indications, espe- cially among the coloured people, that dissolute habits prevailed in some degree ; but at Boston there is not the semblance of idleness or filth among the people any where. All are, or seem to be, in the full enjoyment of the necessaries of life, and all busy, active, and em- ployed. What a contrast in these respects between this city andjlie city of Dublin, which, in the month of POPULATION — STATUE OF WASHINGTON. 299 July 1827, I saw crowded with beggars almost naked, even in the heart of it, on the arrival of a mail-coach in Sackville Street, scrambling, as if they were abso- lutely starving, for the few halfpence which the pas- sengers threw among them. The population of Boston is now reckoned at nearly 70,000. Until the period of the revolution it contained as many inhabitants as any other of the American cities ; but now not only New York and Philadelphia are nearly three times as large as Boston, but Balti- more, altogether created since the revolution, surpasses Boston in population. This is to be chiefly attributed, as I understand, to the superiority of internal commu- nication enjoyed by those cities over Boston. Still the population of Boston, when joined to that of its suburbs and the neighbouring villages, is very great. The population of the State of Massachusetts is rapidly increasing ; and the quantity of shipping at Boston is greater than that of any of the American sea-ports except New York. A statue of Washington, by Chantry, has recently been erected in the State-House. Washington is represented as standing on a pedestal. A cenotaph has been erected here to the memory of Dr. Franklin, who was a native of Boston, though he chiefly resided at Philadelphia. It is placed on the tomb in which are the remains of his parents. There are two theatres at Boston, not diff'ering much in the interior from the smaller British theatres, very well filled while we were there, owing to some o6 300 BOSTON THEATRES. British and French performers of eminence, especially as dancers, who were loudly applauded by the puritans of New England, although the French danseuses seemed to me saltare elegantius^ quam necesse est proh(B. The more outrt the dancing, the more applause. Smoking and cigars are prohibited in the theatres, but the smell of tobacco sometimes prevails in a disagreeable degree. The theatres are not open on Saturday evenings at Boston, many of the Kew Englanders conceiving the Sabbath to commence on Saturday evening, and to finish on Sunday evening, according to the text in the first chapter of Genesis, " The evening and the morning were the first day." There are, however, public oratorios at Boston on Sunday evenings. The Antiquary, from Sir Walter Scott's novel of the same name, v/as a favourite piece at one of the theatres. Great fault was found, vdiile we were at Boston, with an intimation in some of the newspapers, that, on a certain evening, the mayor would honour the Tre- mont Theatre with his presence and apologies and explanations were given by the editors to the sovereign people for the announcement, on the ground, that they did not read all the advertisements, and were not aware that they had made any such communications until their attention was called to the matter. The annual thanksgiving day in the State of Mas- sachusetis was held while we remained at Boston. We were advised to see the market on the evening pre- viously. It was handsomely lighted, and was filled with provisions of all kijids ; but the quantity of turkeys MARKET ANNUAL THANKSGIVING. 301 in relation to other kinds of food, seemed to us most extraordinary, until we were told, that on thanksgiving days persons of every condition have a roasted turkey at dinner. The market was crowded to excess ; and the turkeys were sold quickly at from three to five or six shillings sterling. Finer fatter large birds are not to be seen anywhere. Pickled cucumbers of a large size seemed to be sold for a trifle at every stall in the market. After divine service is performed on thanks- giving days, and the people have, w^ith devotion, expressed their gratitude for the privileges and enjoy- ments they possess, they see their friends, and the re- mainder of the day is given up to visiting and convivial happiness. Even at our boarding-house there was a difference in the style. We had both a fat goose and a fat turkey, and a greater display of good things than usual. Our good-humoured landlord also presented us v»dth wine. The editor of the Picture of Boston notices the thanksgiving day thus : — " Agreeably to a good old custom of our forefathers, a day is set apart, by procla- mation of the governor, as a day of public thanksgiving. It commonly occurs at the close of November, and is observed as a religious festival, services being held in the different churches ; and the day being ended by an interchange of good feelings between families and re- latives over tables which are loaded with the richest bounties of our country." We heard Dr. Beecher, the head of the orthodox clergy here, preach on this occa- sion. His church is congregational and evangelical. He came into the pulpit with his great-coat on ; and his 302 BOSTON CHURCHES. manner and appearance altogetlierjputting clerical garb out of the question, reminded me not a little of the late well-known Sir Henry MoncreifF of Edinburgh. He was equally firm and decided in the delivery of his senti- ments; and, while he expressed in strong language his veneration for republican institutions and forms of go- vernment, and his gratitude for the political blessings which the American people enjoy, he commented with freedom on the want of real religion which openly cha- racterized many of the leading men in the general go- vernment, as well as in the government of the State of Massachusetts. His sermon was a good argumentative discourse, and might have been supposed to be deli- vered by a sound Protestant minister in any part of Great Britain, had it not been for the allusions to the form of the government, and his eulogies upon it. There is an organ in this church, and a band of singers. The singing in the churches of this country is more ge- nerally that of a paid band of singers than of the con- gregation. This is the case even in the village churches, such as those of Ballston and Saratoga, &c. and there is always an organ or some wind instrument. On another occasion we attended divine worship at a fine church adjoining the common, where a son of Dr. Beecher officiates. There are about forty churches in Boston, some of them very handsome. The congre- gations in about one-third of those churches are Uni- tarian. Dr. Channing is at the head of the Unitarian clergy. As a preacher he is not, I think, distinguished in the pulpit. He is neither persuasive nor impressive. BOARDING-HOUSE : BOARDERS. 303 which I conceive a speaker in the pulpit ought above all things to be ; but his manner is quaint, and more like that of a person of literary acquirements, and a gentleman who has seen the world, than that of any of the clergy whom I have yet heard in this country. The people are universally attentive to strangers in offering or procuring them seats in the churches. Watts's Psalms and Hymns are generally used in the Congregational churches of this country. In Mr. Smith's boarding-house the permanent board- ers were a physician, a lawyer, a bookseller, and se- veral mercantile gentlemen, all professional men in Boston. The transient boarders, as they are called, were the captain of one of the packet-ships between Boston and Liverpool, and his wife, and several ladies, besides ourselves. The charge for the permanent boarders is 260 dollars per year, and for the others a dollar a day. Every thing was good and abundant at Mr. Smith's table. Breakfast at eight, dinner at three, and tea and supper at six. I do not think the dinner ever consumed above twenty minutes, before the party, at least the permanent board- ers, separated, and were out of the house, in order to attend to business again. There was brandy on the table, and beer, or rather ale, but water was far more generally used by the Americans. Mr. Smith had an Edinburgh cook, formerly in Lady Sinclair of Murkle's house ; and sometimes there were Scotch dishes, even a haggis, sheep's-head, minced- collops, &c. but the Americans had no great relish for them. They care 304 BOSTON — UNIVERSITIES. more for roast-beef, beef-steak, roasted turkey, and apple and pumpkin pie, than for anything else. There was one male servant, an American, at this boarding- house, who seemed to attend to his duty well, and constantly, but his manners are as different as possible from those of a British servant. No obsequiousness ; nor would he, I suspect, have touched his hat, on pass- ing one of the inmates of the boarding- house, for the world. There is, however, no want of civility, but it is expected to be shown to servants as well as by them. Even the blacks and free colour people address each other by the ordinary appellations of Sir and Madam ; and the people generally, when speaking of any one in his absence, call him citizen, &c. Mr. Smith himself was as kind and hospitable a landlord as could be conceived, and the house altoge- ther is well managed. He is a bachelor, but a female housekeeper presided at breakfast and tea. Lamps of oil seemed to us more used here than candles. The two great universities of the United States are situated in New England, viz. Cambridge, in the neigh- bourhood of Boston, and Yale, at Newhaven in Con- necticut. Cambridge is between two and three miles from Boston. The buildings of Cambridge College are plain, but in good order ; and the university is in possession of a sufficient space of fine level grounds in a very healthy situation. The theological school of this university is understood to be Unitarian. Cam- bridge was founded about a century ago by a clergy- VALUE OF PROPERl'i!'. 305 man of the name of Havrard. The number of stu- dents is, I understand, about 400. The horses used at Boston for draught are not so light as at New York. Oxen too, admirably broken, are much used in the streets, and sometimes oxen have horses yoked in front of them. Both horses and oxen are broken to stand much more quiet and immoveable on the street, without any one holding them, than in Britain. The difficulty of getting servants, owing to the high price of labour, is probably the cause of this. The peninsula, on which Boston is situated, being almost altogether covered with houses, excepting the common reserved for the recreation of the inhabitants, the value of real property, and sites for houses, is of course great. I was told that the splendid house, and bit of garden ground in the centre, and best situation of the city, consisting of an acre or an acre and a half of ground, belonging to Mr. Green, a banker, mar- ried to a sister of Lord Lyndliurst, were worth 200,000 dollars. In the beginning of December, I made an excursion on a fine frosty morning to Nahant, the sea-bathing village for the inhabitants of Boston, and lying about fourteen miles to the north-eastward. It is situated on a long narrow peninsula, not more than half a mile broad, thrown forward into the bay ; the ground irre- gular in shape and height, and with bold and strik- ing rocks on the shore. There is a fine sandy beach, and admirable accommodation in hotels, boarding- houses, baths, &c. The village of Lynn is on the way 306 VILLAGE OF LYNN. from Nahant to Boston, about a mile and a-lialf from Naliant, with wliicli it is connected by a remarkable bar of sand. Lynn is noted for the manufacture of ladies' shoes, about a million and a-half pairs, valued at one million of dollars, being annually made by a population of about 5000 inhabitants. The women of Lynn earn about 60,000 dollars by binding shoes. In the course of our walks in the neighbourhood of Boston, we found out, beyond the high grounds of Dorchester, to the south of Boston, and about three miles from it, a clean-looking small boarding-house on the edge of the bay, the windows of which towards the sea, commanded a charming view of the bay and islands. At this season of the year it was occupied only by the proprietress, a widow, but we found she had no objection to receive us, not as boarders, but to have a separate table, at three and a-half dollars per week for each; and to her house we removed in December, while the weather continued fine. Her establishment consisted of herself, her two daughters, sixteen and eighteen years old, and a servant or help, a boy of thirteen, to take care of a cow, clean shoes, go errands, &c. She had a bar, z. e. a place for selling liquors, which hardly any one frequented but boatmen or people going to or coming from a small fortified island, about half a mile from the shore, called Fort Inde- pendence. We had a regular hourly stage from this house to Boston, on account of the intercourse with the adjoining island. The walks in this neighbourhood were very delightful, especially on the well-known DORCHESTER HEIGHTS. 307 adjoining heights of Dorchester, from which are many of the finest prospects in the vicinity of Boston. It was by getting possession of these heights that General Washington gained his first success over the British army at the commencement of the American war, and forced them to retire from New England, which did not again become the theatre of war. The inhabitants of Boston most zealously opposed from the beginning the right claimed by the British Parliament to tax the colonies, and even before the first decided step was taken by the British act, imposing stamp- duties on the colonies, denied the right of Parliament to impose duties on those who were not represented in Parliament. The opposition of the colonies in- duced Parliament to repeal this act in the year 1776, the year following that in which the bill passed, but the repealing act contained a very unwise declaration, that the British Parliament possessed the right to bind the colonies, and, accordingly, in the next year, 1767, Parliament imposed duties on teas and other articles. Meetings of the people, consequently, were held at Boston. Resolutions were passed against the impor- tation of British goods. British troops were stationed in Boston, and the worst understanding subsisted be- tween the British government and the Boston people. At length in 1770, all the duties were taken off by Parliament, except that on tea. Three ships laden with tea arrived at Boston, and several persons, dis- guised as Indians, who acted with great coolness, boarded the ships and threw their cargoes into the 308 DESTRUCTION OF TEA. I water, without making any further disturbance. It was never ascertained wlio these persons were. The secret has been as well kept as that relating to the persons who, in the face of a royal pardon, deliberately exe- cuted the convict, Porteous, at the usual place of exe- cution in Edinburgh, in the year 1736. In consequence of this proceeding. Parliament shut up the port of Boston by an armed force, and removed the assembly of the State and the custom-house to Salem, about a dozen miles from Boston. The other States regarded the proceedings against Boston as against themselves, and at lengtli, on the 4th Sep- tember 1774, the first congress of the United States was held at Philadelphia, which declared their unal- terable resolution to oppose every attempt to carry the British tax act into execution. General Gage, the Bri- tish governor, in 1775, prevented the assembly of the State from meeting together; but they voted them- selves a provincial congress, and adjourned to a neigh- bouring village, where they immediately resolved to raise a military force, and to purchase military stores. General Gage having learned where some stores had been deposited, about twenty miles from Boston, dis- patched Major Pitcairn and 800 men to seize or destroy them. The British troops, when they arrived at Lexing- ton, about ten miles on their way, fired on some American militia on parade, and killed eight of them. They went on and destroyed the stores, but on their way back, the colonists pressed on them, and a continued skirmish took place till they got back to Boston. The British LEXINGTON. 309 lost 273, and the Americans 88. This was tlie first engagement in the American struggle, and has been commemorated by a granite monument, erected at Lex- ington in the year 1799, containing the following in- scription: — ^* Sacred to the liberty and rights of man- kind; the freedom and independence of America, sealed and defended by the blood of her sons. This monument is erected by the inhabitants of Lexington, mider the patronage and at the expense of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, to the memory of their fellow citizens. Ensign Robert Munroe, Messrs. Jonas Parker, Samuel Hadley, Jonathan Harrington, junior, Isaac Muzzey, Caleb Harrington, and John Brown of Lexington, and Asaiiel Porter of Woburn, who fell on this field, the first victims to the sword of British tyranny and oppression, on the morning of the ever-memorable 19th of April 1775. " The die was cast. The blood of these martyrs, in the cause of God and their country, was the cement of these States, their colonies, and gave the spring to the spirit, firmness, and resolution of their fellow citi- zens. They rose, as one man, to revenge their brethren's blood, and, at the point of the sword, to assert and defend their native rights. They nobly dared to be free. The contest was long, bloody, and affecting. Righteous Heaven approved the solemn appeal. Victory crowned their arms, and the peace, liberty, and independence of the L^nited States of America were their glorious reward.'' General Gage immediately after the Lexington 310 REVOLUTIONARY WAR. affair fortified Boston, and both parties prepared for war. The Americans in considerable numbers en- trenched themselves on the high ground in the neigh- bourhood of the city, from which the British dislodged them in June 1775, after the severe engagement of Bunker's Hill, in which they sustained very great loss, not less than that of a third of their army. General Warren, a physician in Boston, and a most energetic and patriotic citizen, was killed in this action, to com- memorate which, an obelisk, to be 200 feet above ground, is at present in the course of being erected on the hill where it took place. The foundation of this obelisk was laid on the fiftieth anniversary of the battle. The hill was covered with the population of Boston, before whom a most eloquent address was delivered by Mr. Webster, the distinguished orator of New England. The proceedings of the day were closed by an entertainment on the hill, for which 4000 covers were laid. General Washington joined the American army, of which he had just then been appointed commander-in- chief, soon after this battle, and by gaining possession of Dorchester heights, which commanded the city of Boston, in the month of March, 1776, forced the British troops to evacuate it, and to betake themselves to their fleet. The weather continued free from snow and from very severe frost during the whole of the month of December, and we enjoyed the beauty of our situation very much. The sim-risings in the bay were very fine. DECEMBER WEATHER. 311 It was very remarkable that, during tlie whole of this month, there was neither a rainy nor a snowy day, — but on the 2d January, 1829, the wind got to the north, and the sharpest frost we ever experienced succeeded. The thermometer fell several degrees below zero, and continued for three days pretty sta- tionary. In one of the neighbouring islands the degree of cold was 16^ below zero. The bay was full of ice, and part of the crews of several vessels came in frost-bitten. It was difficult to preserve the body in sufficient warmth, even wrapped in two suits of clothes, and every one kept on stockings and flannel j garments during night. The ink froze in my pen i in lifting it to the paper from an ink-horn, placed I within the fender in front of a good fire. I had I scruples as to relating this, afraid that I might be accused of telling a traveller's story; but these w^ere removed, when I afterwards accidentally stumbled on an authority, proving beyond controversy that the same effect of cold had been observed in England above a century ago. It is mentioned in a letter from Mr. W. Congreve to Mr. Porter, the husband of Mrs. Porter, the actress. Mr. Congreve writes him on the 1st January, 1700. "I am by a great fire, yet my ink freezes so fast, I cannot write. The haut- boys who played to us last night had their breath frozen in their instruments, till it dropped off the ends I of them in icicles. This is true." Snow succeeded the severe frost, and we had occa- sionally very cold weather, though not colder than 312 SEVERE FROST. during the first days of January, till the middle of March, a far longer period of intensely cold weather than I had before witnessed. Mr. Fairchild is clergyman of the ^congregational church in South Boston, an excellent plain preacher, and a very wortliy man. We frequently heard liim preach. Having observed us again and again in his church, he was so kind as to wait on us as strangers, though living at a distance of two miles ; and we thus became acquainted with him. The form of infant baptism is totally different in the congregational churches here from what prevails in Britain. We saw- Mr. Fairchild perform the ceremony again and again, — on one occasion he baptised his own child. There are no sponsors. The clergyman descends from the pulpit and receives the child into his arms from the mother or other relation, and sprinkles the child's face with water, and mentions its name, none of the pa- rents or relations being called on to take any vows on them for the child. There certainly is not any ex- press warrant in the Scriptures for sponsors at bap- tisms, or for parents being called on to come under promises hovv^ they are to bring up their children, far less for the refusal w^hicli clergymen in Scotland often think themselves entitled to give to persons applying for the baptism of their children, on the ground of their having been guilty of immorality, in which, surely, the subject of baptism could not have partici- pated. But this is rather a ticklish subject to touch on, for it may, I know, be said that clergymen are as FORM OF BAPTISM. 313 well entitled to alter the original form of this cere- mony, as to perform it on infants at all, there being I unquestionably, at least so far as I can find, after reading every word written on the subject in the New I Testament, no authority whatever to show that sprink- ling in the face is baptism, or that children are the subjects of baptism. In fact, in the first ages of the church, and for 200 years after the birth of Christ, baptism of adults by immersion universally prevailed, I and even after that period the baptism of infants was not much in use for above eleven centuries. VOL. I. p 314 SEVERE ACCIDENT. CHAPTER XIV. Accident by falling on the Ice — Mr. Sheaffe's offer of Books — The London Examiner— Education in this Country — Extraordinary Extent to which it is carried — Free Schools — Salaries to Teachers — Advan- tage of Public Schools — Education in Connecticut — In the whole of New England — Education in New York State — All over the States — Appropriations of Lands for Schools in New States and Territories — Provisions for Schools in Great Britain and Ireland — Order and Regularity of the People of the United States, especially on Occasion of Elections — Expense of establishing a System of General Education in the United Kingdom — Mr. Field's Teaching — Evening Parties at Mrs. Phinney's — Election of Chaplain to the House of Assembly — A Baptist Ministry — Charges for Dinners at Mrs. Phinney's — Election of Mayor of Boston — Visit to the Village of Quincey — Mrs. Carpenter, Washerwoman, invited us to Tea — Inauguration Day of General Jackson, as President of the United States — Trial for Libel at Mr. "Webster's Instance — Circumstances which led to it — Mr. Jefferson's Letter — Communication from Mr. Adams — Correspondence between Mr. Otis and Mr. Adams — Article inserted in Jackson Republican, by General Lyman — Courtesy of the Judges to the Bar — Defence — Chief Justice Parker's Charge — Result of Trial — Singular Indictment for Libel — Verdict — Objections to Evidence — Settled by Acts of the Legislature in some States — Act in Connecticut. Wi7iter, 1828-29. I WAS SO unlucky in the beginning of the severe frost, as to fall on the ice on the outer steps of the house door, MR. SHEAFFE BOOKS. 815 and to receive an injury which confined me to the house for some time. Dr. Mann, the surgeon to the garri- son of Fort Independence, being in the neighboiu-hood, immediately bled me, and paid me two visits, for which he made the very moderate charge of a dollar and a-half ; but I afterwards, for some time, had the benefit i of the advice of Dr. Reynolds of Boston, — an extremely I well-informed and eminent medical man, to whose skill f and attention I was much indebted. When I was again able to get out of doors, my state of weakness I made me content myself for some days with taking a I few turns on a piece of turf near the house. On one of the first days I walked out, I was joined by a sea- faring person of the name of Sheaffe, with whom I had got acquainted in the course of my walks by the sea- side, who lived in the neighbourhood, and had a small boat, and seemed to gain his livelihood by fishing, and ferrying over passengers to and from the island. After congratulating me on my recovery, he asked me if 1 was not in want of books. He had seen me occasionally I bring books from Boston, before I met with the accident j before noticed. He mentioned various historical and I philosophical books in his library, which were at my i service ; and also the London Examiner newspaper for several years. 1 caught at his offer, when he mentioned j the Examiner, having been recently reading the Ameri- can account of the battles on the Canada frontier, in the war of 1813 and 1814, and being anxious to compare • | ' them with the British Gazette accoimts. I therefore accepted the Examiner, which he fortunately had at p 2 316 SYSTEM OF EDUCATION. the period I wanted. I doubt whether such an occur- rence as this couki have happened anywhere else in the world. I found that Mr. Sheaffe, whose house is as humble-looking a wooden cottage as any one in the neighbourhood, liad formerly been a seaman in a merckant skip, and kad been in England; but tke explanation is easy. Education is open to all in tkis country ; and all, or almost all, are educated. It was lately ascertained by reports accurately taken, tkat, out of a population of about 60,000 persons, in tke State of Massackusetts, only 400 beyond tke age of ckildkood could not read and write. And more espe- cially, by returns from 131 towns presented to tke legislature, that the number of scholars receiving in- struction in those towns is 1*2,393; that the number of persons in those towns, between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one, who are unable to read and write, is fifty-eight ; and that in the town of Hancock, there are only three persons unable to read and write, — and those three are mutes. The general plan of education at the public free schools is not confined to mere reading, writing, arithmetic, and book-keeping, and the ancient and modern languages; but comprehends grammar, mathematics, navigation, geography, history, logic, po- litical economy and rhetoric, moral and natural philo- sophy; these schools being, as stated in the printed regulations, intended to occupy the young people from the age of four to seventeen, and to form a system of instruction advancing from the lowest to the highest degree of improvement, w^hich can be derived from any BOSTON. 317 literary seminaries inferior to colleges and universi- ties; and to afford a practical and theoretical ac- quaintance witli the various branches of a useful edu- cation. There are at present at Boston sixty-eight free schools, besides twenty-three Sabbath-schools ; in all of which the poorest inhabitant may have his children educated, according to the system before specified, from the age of four to seventeen, without any expense what- ever. The children of both sexes are freely admitted. The funds for these schools are derived from bequests and donations by individuals, and grants from the legis- lature and corporations ; and enable the trustees, con- sisting of tw^elve citizens, annually elected by the in- habitants of each of the twelve wards of the city, with the mayor and eight aldermen, to give the teachers salaries varying from 2,500 to 800 dollars a-year. The assistant teachers have 600 dollars. The trustees elect the teachers, and vote their salaries yearly ; and no preference is given on any principles but those of merit and skill. The teachers of the grammar-schools must have been educated at college, and must have attained the degree of bachelor of arts. The morning and evening exercises of all the schools commence with reading the Scriptures. A very strict system of super- vision and regulation is established by the trustees. No expense wdiatever is incurred at those schools by the children, except for books. The richer classes at Boston formerly very generally patronised teachers of private schools, who were paid p3 318 FREE SCHOOLS. in tlie usual way, but they now find that the best teachers are at the head of the public schools, and, in most cases, prefer them ; — the children of the highest and lowest rank enjoying the privilege, altogether in- valuable in a free State, of being educated togetlier. In the adjoining State of Connecticut it has been ascertained by accurate reports, that one-third of the population, about 275,000, attend the free schools. In the New England States, the population of which, in- cluding Massachusetts and Connecticut, amounts to about two millions, it is certain that almost the entire population are educated, that is, can read and write. The exceptions, which do not at most amount to 2000 persons, are composed of blacks and foreigners. The result of the recent inquiry into the state of education in the State of New York, which adjoins New England, and is almost equal to it in population, is very much, though not entirely, the same. It is proved by actual reports, that 499,434 children, out of a population of one million nine hundred thousand, were at the same time attending the schools, that is, a fourth part of the whole population. Although the public funds of New York State are great, these schools are not entirely free, but free to all who apply for immunity from payment. The amount of the money paid to the teachers by private persons does not, however, amount to one-third of the whole an- nual expense, v/hich is somewhat less than a million of dollars. It is not, however, to be inferred, that education at FREE SCHOOLS. 319 free scliools is so general all over tlie United States, as in the four millions of inhabitants of New England and the State of New York ; but the provision for public schools is admirable in all the popidous States, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, &c. ; and free education can everywhere be procured, even in the southern States, for whites, on application being made for it. The appropriations of land for schools in the old States were formerly very much confined to the donations of individuals, many of which have now, however, become very valuable ; but the appropria- tions for schools in the new States have been regulated by Congress, and their extent is immense. Every township of the new lands is divided into thirty-six sections, each containing a mile square, or 640 acres. One section of every township is appropriated for schools. In addition to this, great appropriations have been made in Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, and others of the western States, for seminaries of a higher order, to the extent of about one-fifth of those for schools. The land belonging to public schools in the new States and territories, in which appropriations have been made on the east side of the Mississippi, amounts to about eight millions of acres, and is, of course, ad- vancing in value as the population increases. The extent of land, which will be appropriated to the same purpose when the land on the w^estern side of the Mississippi is settled, must be prodigious, — at present not capable of being guessed at. The facts now stated respecting the number of p 4 320 PROVISION FOR SCHOOLS. persons educated and receiving education at schools in the United States will appear the more striking when contrasted with the provision for schools in Great Britain and Ireland. In England and Ireland the number of persons attending schools, instead of being about one-third, as in Connecticut, or one-fourth, as in the New York State, is at the rate of one in sixteen in England, — in Wales at the rate of one in twenty, — and in Scotland at the rate of one in ten ; and the evils resulting from the want of schools are increased, in consequence of their not being placed regularly where the population requires them, as in the United States Thus in Wales, there are about 200 parishes, with population of 80,000 persons, without schools, or the means of education. There are many parishes i England and Ireland, and very large tracts in the Highlands of Scotland, in a similar situation. It has been ascertained that in Ireland there are 500,000 persons who cannot speak the English language. The number of persons in the Highlands of Scotland, who are in a similar predicament, is great, certainly to the extent of a third part of the population. The preceding information in relation to the British Islands has been almost altogether derived from official documents obtained a few years ago. It presents views not unworthy of notice, especially if the order and deco- rum which distinguish the people of the United States, and the total absence in that country of those who, in Britain, are designated as the rabble, or the mob, are to be ascribed to the general education of the people. IN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 321 All ranks are educated in those parts of tlie United States where there is any thing like a crowded popu- lation. The order and regularity which pervade their universal suffrage and annual elections have already been described, and are unquestionably in a great measure owing to the education and intelligence of the people, and to their being perfectly well-informed on the general political questions which agitate the coun- try. The example of the United States proves that there is no risk in bestowins: the rio-ht to vote in elec- tions on all persons, not incapacitated by crime, who have been well educated. Neither the Patroon of Albany, probably the most wealthy landed proprietor in the United States, nor Mr. John Jacob Astor, the greatest capitalist of New York, would consider their property as more secure by being authorised to send members to Congress, or to the State Assembly of New York State. It is altogether a different question, whether such pri\'ileges as the Americans enjoy may be safely intrusted to a people, few of whom comparatively are educated or well-in- formed, and who, not possessing that feeling of self- respect for w^hich the Americans are distinguished, might be more easily led into excesses or stimulated to do what was foolish by designing demagogues. Every exertion ought certainly now to be made in the view of rendering the people of this country fit to be trusted with the right of representation. The expense of establishing a general system of education for the whole population of the United Kingdom, though great^ p 5 322 EFFECTS OF EDUCATION IN GREAT BRITAIN. need not be considered as a bugbear. Taking the po- pulation at twenty-four millions, and supposing that education is to be provided for one-fourth of it, or for six millions, the annual expense at the same rate as in the State of New York, viz. a million of dollars for 500,000 children, would amount to about two millions and a half sterling. It might easily be shown, that the funds at present derived from public charities and existing establishments, and from government, for Ireland, and from the landholders of Scotland, are fully equal to defray half of this expense. Thus, the sum wanted would be reduced to 1,250,000/. sterling. This sum might probably be raised without any additional tax, by the equitable adjustments of tithes and land said to belong to the church. It is stated in the Edinburgh Review for June 1822, that there are estates attached to five Irish bishopricks, worth 530,000/. a year. Difficulties no doubt are to be overcome, but in the present state of the world, the imiversal education of the people of Britain would tend more to the stability of the government, and to dissipate those feelings of apprehension which are en- tertained respecting the influence of demagogues on the lower classes, than any other measure which can be devised. I had opportunities w^hile I remained in the neigh- bourhood of Boston of becoming acquainted with several of the masters, and their modes of teaching, and I believe there are nowhere better instructors to be found. Mr. Field, the teacher of the South Boston GENERAL KNOWLEDGE. 323 free school, and the instructor of Mrs. Phinney's daugh- ters, — both of whom are well-educated, one of them particularly so, indeed as well-informed a young woman as is usually found in the upper orders in Britain,— invited us to his school, where we had ample proofs of the attention paid to the children, and of their acquire- ments. Their general knowledge, and the celerity with which questions of some difficulty in mental arith- metic were solved, surprised us. The progress of the females was especially remarkable. The Miss Pliinneys had a good collection of books, which were at our command when we liked, and they were eager to get from us the perusal of such books as were in our pos- session which they had not before seen. These young ladies attended to the household duties in the morning, but when their work was finished, and they changed their dress, their appearance and manners fitted them for any society. Mrs. Phinney had occasionally even- ing parties, at which the clergymen, both of the Epis- copal and Congregational persuasion, and Mr. Field, the teacher, were present. These parties were entirely for conversation. Tea and coffee and cake were suc- ceeded by wine, nuts, &c. While we remained at Boston the election of a chap- lain to the House of Assembly for Massachusetts took place. It was contested. The successful candidate was the Reverend Mr. Sharp, pastor of one of the Baptist churches at Boston. All religious sects are not only tolerated in this country, but possess equal privileges. p 6 324 CHARGES FOR BOARDERS. I have already mentioned that the charge for board- ing in Mrs. Phinney's liouse was three and a-half dol- lars per week, and her charges were altogether very moderate, of which I cannot give a stronger instance than this, that Mr. Smith, our former landlord at Bos- ton, with a mutual friend of ours, dined with us by in- vitation one day, and her charge for their dinner, at which among other good things roasted turkey and apple-pie were presented, and for coftee, amounted for both to sixty-seven cents, about two shillings and ninepence sterling. There was a contested election for the office of Mayor of Boston in the month of December while w^e were there. There were two candidates, Mr. Otis and Mr. Quincey. Mr. Otis was elected by a majority of 500, the wdiole number of votes given being 4516. Quincey, to which I paid a visit before leaving Boston, is a village a few miles from it, well known, because in its neighbourhood are situated the landed property of the late president of the United States, Mr. John Adams, now^ belonging to his son Mr. John Quincey Adams, and their country residence, a very unpretending plain building. There are very fine quarries of granite in this neighbourhood, from which a raihvay has recently been made to the beach. In the village of Quincey a very handsome church of Quincey granite has lately been built, partly from funds bequeathed by the late John Adams. This church contains a plain monmnent, erected by Mr. John Quincey Adams to the memory of his father. WASHERWOMAN HOLIDAY. 325 In the boarding-houses in the United States clothes are never washed by the servants in the house, but always given out to washerwomen. Mrs. Carpenter, who lived about a quarter of a mile from the shore, was our washer- woman while we remained at the sea-side. Finding that we were Scotch, she expressed great anxiety to hear all the particulars we could tell her respecting the family of one Burns the poet, her own parents being Scotch, and related to Burns. We had it in our power to give her some information on this subject; and in re- turn for our civility, she invited us to a tea-party, which we should have gladly accepted, as we wished to see the manners of all ranks, had I not been under orders to remain at home in the evening until the effects of my late accident were entirely removed. The 4tli March was celebrated at Boston as a holi- day, on account of its being the inauguration day of General Jackson as President of the United States. We were amused with part of the programme for the procession : — " The procession will move from the new State-House, escorted by that elegant democratic company, the W^ashington Light Infantry, under the command of Captain Kendall, who will appear on this occasion in a splendid new uniform." There were, as usual, religious services and an oratorio, and all the citizens were invited to join in the procession. While we were in the neighbourhood of Boston, a trial for libel, of an interesting, nature, took place. Although the law, both civil and criminal, in the United States, and the forms for enforcing it, are derived 326 TRIAL FOR LIBEL. from England, many great changes have been made. One of the most striking alterations, — improvements I may well say, — is contained in the following article of the constitution of New York and other States, which at a late period has been adopted into that of Massa- chusetts: — " Every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being re- sponsible for the abuse of that right ; and no law shall be passed to restrain or abridge the liberty of speech, or of the press. In all prosecutions or indictments for libel, the truth may be given in evidence to the jury; and if it shall appear to the jury that the matter charged as libellous is true, and was published with good motives, and for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted; and the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the fact." The action to which I allude originated in public dis- cussions, which require some explanation. The lead- ers of the Federalist party in New England, to which Mr. John Quincey Adams, as well as his father, the second president of the United States, were attached, were hostile to the embargo on American vessels, to which President Jefferson's government resorted in the year ] 808, in consequence of the British orders in Council, and of the Milan decrees. At this period Mr. J ohn Quincey Adams was a senator of the United States, but, the republican party being in power, he was un- employed. Soon afterwards, however, he was taken into favour by President Jefferson, — was in 1819 sent to Russia as minister, — and has filled the highest offices TRIAL FOR LIBEL. 327 of the State ever since. On Mr. Munroe's retirement from the presidency, he, in March 1825, succeeded in being elected president, after a keen contest with Ge- neral Jackson. It now turns out, that, on the present occasion, General Jackson has a considerable majority of votes, and that he will fill the president's chair when Mr. Adams's first term of four years expires in March next ; but the probable issue of the election was not by any means ascertained until very near the close of the contest. At that period some injudicious friends of Mr. Adams, with a view, as it should seem, to im- press the people, previously to the presidential election, with a belief in the almost Spartan virtue of Mr. Adams, — by showing that he was willing to sacrifice his dearest friends rather than that the republic should suffer, — published from a copy which they had ob- tained from the repository of President Jefi'erson, a letter from Jefferson to a friend, in which he gave him information respecting the unconstitutional or almost treasonable views of the leaders of the Federalists in Massachusetts at the period of the embargo, which he said he had in 1808 received from Mr. Adams. Mr. Jefi'erson's letter w^as not written till the year 1825, when his memory was impaired, and he was obviously inaccurate in many particulars. Still it contains state- ments of such a description, as made it indispensable for Mr. Adams, as soon as they w^ere made public on such authority, to deny them altogether, or to specify those which he admitted to be true. He, therefore, in the end of October 1828, a very short period before the election for the next president, published in a 328 PREVIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES. Wasliington newspaper an article admitting, that he, in the year 1808, gav^e President Jefferson and other friends information of designs formed by the leading Federalists of New England, with a view to effect a dissolution of the Union, so far as New England was concerned. This discovery was quite unexpected by the indivi- duals alluded to, with whom Mr. Adams's habits of in- tercourse had remained unchanged ; and Mr. Otis, the present mayor of Boston, and about a dozen of the most respectable inhabitants of Boston, who unquestionably were at the head of the Federal party of Massachusetts at the period to which Mr. Adams's communications to President Jefferson referred, have not only most so- lemnly disavowed all knowledge of the designs im- puted to them, or of any plan of a similar tendency, but have publicly, and in writing, called on Mr. Adams to specify the individuals to whom he alluded in those communications, and the evidence on which his charges against them rested. Mr. Adams has declined to afford this information, on the ground that the reputation of individuals might now needlessly suffer by the disclo- sure of names, which, even at the time when he made the disclosures, he did not think fit to divulge, and that, by giving such information, he might subject himself to actions for libel. Very long statements from each party have recently been published in the newspapers, which have produced a pretty general con- viction, even among his own political supporters in New England, that Mr. Adams was ready to sacrifice his friends in order to forward his own ambitious views. TRIAL FOR LIBEL. 329 and which have tended to reconcile them not only to his being deprived of the presidency for the second term, but to his having thus, in all likelihood, put an end to his political life, so far as official situation is concerned. It is singular that the presidents since Washington who have only remained in office for the first term of four years were Mr. John Adams, and his son, Mr. John Quincey Adams, both belonging to the Federal party ; while the other presidents, Jeffer- son, Madison, and Munroe, all of the republican party, have retained the situation each for eight years. On one of the last days of October General Lyman, a very respectable person, the editor of a new^spaper published at Boston, called the Jackson Republican, inserted in its columns Mr. Jefferson's letter, with the article referring to it, which Mr. Adams had communi- cated to the Washington paper, and with a comment- ary on those documents, the contents of which gave rise to this action, by indictment for libel, at the in- stance of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts against General Lyman. It is stated in the article referred to, that Mr. Web- ster, a senator of the United States, a lawyer at the head of the New England bar, and certainly at pre- sent a person of the most eminent public character in New England, with other individuals named in that article, were the undoubted leaders of the Federal party at the period when Mr. Adams made the com- munications in question ; and that Mr. Adams admits, in the article published by him at Washington, that those persons were engaged in a plot to dissolve the 330 TRIAL FOR LIBEL. Union, and that he possessed unequivocal evidence of the design. General Lyman farther states, in the article referred to, that Mr. Webster and those indivi- duals continued to be Mr. Adams's political friends ; and he asks, how Mr. Adams could hold Mr. Webster to his bosom as a counsellor, whom he had denounced as a traitor ? and how lie could live in habits of friend- ship and intimacy, eating their bread and drinking their wine, with individuals whom he had accused of a plot to dissolve the Union ? The trial took place before the Supreme Judicial Court on the 16th and 17th December. The real party was Mr. Webster, the action being brought for the libel against him alone. Although there were neither wigs nor gowns, the proceedings were con- ducted with most perfect decorum, and with consider- able talent. The trial excited much interest, and the court w^as crowded. One circumstance was quite new, the proceedings being suspended for an hour at two o'clock, and at three being recommenced after dinner. The counsel for the prosecution was the Solicitor- General of Massachusetts, Davis. Messrs. Dexter and Hubbard were for the defendant. When Mr. Hubbard closed the defence the first day, the so- licitor-general intimated, that, from fatigue, he would scarcely be able to do justice at that time to his case, by attempting to close on the part of the prosecution. The defendant's counsel objected to the delay, because his argument might not be so distinctly remembered by the jury next day. The court granted the delay, ob- serving, that it was unfortunate to break off the case TRIAL FOR LIBEL. 331 at this point, but that the defendant's counsel would be allowed to recapitulate the chief points in the case next morning. The greatest courtesy prevails on all occasions, so far as I can learn, between the judges and the bar, and between the gentlemen of the bar themselves. jjjll^ The authorship and publication were proved in the usual way. The defence was, that there was no in- tention to libel Mr. Webster, and that the alleged libel was a fair commentary on what Mr. Adams had WTit- ten, the object being to hold Mr. Adams up to ridicule and contempt, with a view to show that he was un- worthy of being re-elected to the presidential chair ; that the intention of General Lyman was merely to expose the apostacy of Mr. Adams in having disowned and held up as traitors such men as Mr. Webster, and other persons of great wealth and property, and that his view could only be made clear by mentioning names : that the construction put upon the communi- cation of Mr. Adams was correct and obvious to the eye of reason ; and that, on the whole, there was a total want of any malicious intent on the part of General Lyman. The Chief Justice Parker's charge seemed to me extremely fair, as published in the newspapers. I therefore insert it, as a specimen of the style of speak- ing on the bench of this country. It was unfortunate," he said, " that there ever was occasion for this prosecution. It was unfortunate, too, that, after it commenced, there had not been some 332 TRIAL FOR LIBEL. amicable disposition of it, upon explanations not dero- gatory to the honour of the accused, and yet satisfac- tory to the feelings of the party aggrieved. It was very apparent, from some of the evidence in the case, that, but for the interposition of some point of etiquette to which importance had been attached, such a dispo- sition of it would have taken place. It is one of those prosecutions in which, though public in its character, yet, as it is instigated by an individual as much to pro- tect his ow^n character as for the public interest, an ac- commodation would be permitted by the court. But the honour of the gentlemen was in their own hands; and if that is thought to create an insuperable barrier between them, we can only regret that the controversy must be terminated by the ultima i^atio of peaceable citizens, — a verdict of the jury of their country. In other parts of the country this ultima ratio might have been of a different kind. No case could be presented to a jury with less reason to apprehend that their final opinion would be founded upon any thing but what ought always to be its basis, — the law and the evi- dence. The accuser and the accused stand before you, gentlemen, with high claims upon your consideration and respect. The former has brought much reputation and dignity to this his adopted State, by his eminent talents in every department where he has been called to act. His name has pervaded every part of the Union ; and the fame of his talents has gone far beyond its limits. The latter is a native of your own city ; CHIEF justice's CHARGE. 333 has been deservedly a favourite of the citizens ; and has been highly useful to the commonwealth in civil and military departments, and in support of those insti- tutions which are the pride and ornament of the city. Between such men it must be unpleasant to be called on to decide ; but the law has summoned you to this duty, and you will discharge it faithfully ; nor is there any reason to apprehend that any political feeling or circumstances will influence or pervert your judg- ments. " Though a great political struggle has existed, it is now over, and, I believe, has, in this part of the coun- try, left much less of bitterness behind it than any preceding conflict of the kind. We know too well the value of independent opinion, and estimate too justly the free right of suff'rage, to call in question the honour and integrity of those w^lio take a side difi*erent from our own. An administration man and a Jackson man can sit side by side, — receive the evidence and arguments of a cause, — and agree or disagree in their results, without any reference to their past political differences. Such ought to be the case in a country like ours — such, I believe, w^as the case ; and with re- spect to those political events of past times, which the president has seen fit, after a burial of twenty years, to spread before the nation, of which disclosure the present prosecution is one of the first fruits, the young, — who know nothing except from the president's com- munication, when thev see the names of those who are branded as traitors, — will smile with incredulity ; and 334 TRIAL FOR LIBEL. tliose who are old enough to have been partakers in the plot will withhold the expression of their opinion until a fit occasion arises to divulge it. " The case before you, gentlemen, is a prosecution by indictment for a libel, — and a libel of a political bearinof and character. Prosecutions of this nature have, both in England and in this country, been the source of more trouble and disquiet than any other. They excite the passions and feelings of the friends and partizans of those who are immediately interested ; and the contagion is apt to spread through the community. " The liberty of the press is always a subject of dis- cussion in such cases, and this is a subject which, more than any other, engages the public attention, and inte- rests the popular feeling. And very justly, — because the press is the chief engine to create and sustain civil, political, and religious liberty. " It has been truly said, that no country, where there is a free press and an educated people, can remain long under a despotic government; and I believe that no country, without such a press, however popular may be its forms and institutions, can long remain free. It is the sustaining vital principle of freedom, — it proclaims the vices and abuses of government — the rights of the citizen — the merits and demerits of rulers — and these are its proper and legitimate offices. He who would restrain it in the exercise of these functions, commits treason against the fundamental principles of civil liberty. But the press is not invested with the power or CHIEF justice's CHARGE. 335 right of invading private character, or of circulating falsehood against public or private men. It may pro- mulgate truth, however harsh and severe, with good purpose, and with an honest view to expose or reform ; but it cannot, with impunity, under the garb of good motives, and justifiable ends, traduce and calumniate. Powerful as the press is, it has a master ; that master is the laio^ which, when it transgresses its legitimate bounds, will punish the transgression. It may be diffi- cult accurately to define these bounds ; — they contract or extend with the subject about which it treats. Each case stands almost independently of every other de- pending upon the facts or circumstances which belong to it.; and hence the principle now universally acknow- ledged in this country, and in England, that the jury, who are a selection from the people, shall determine the whole case, both as to law and fact, by a general verdict of guilty or not guilty ; unless they choose to refer the matter of law to the court, in the form of a special verdict. " There have been great controversies upon this subject, and the highest order of talents exercised upon it. Until quite a recent period in English his- tory the judges arrogated to themselves the right to determine the criminality of an alleged libel; leaving to the jury the power only of finding the fact of pub- lishing, and the truth of the inuendoes. But in the late reign of George the Third, by an act of Parlia- ment, the whole power of determining the facts and law has been vested in the jury. 336 TRIAL FOR LIBEL. " I believe that was always the law with us ; it cer- tainly is now. It never could have been otherwise in practice, whatever might be the theory, — for the jury have always had the right to return a general verdict, which involves both law and fact; and when there was an acquittal, there was no power in the court to sus- pend or defeat their verdict. With this popular guard over the rights of the press, and the rights of tlie citi- zen, the system is safe from anything but occasional errors, which, though to be regretted, will scarcely be able to produce general mischief. But the jury have a right to the advice and opinion of the court upon all matters of law arising in the course of the trial ; and, indeed, it is the duty of the court to give such advice and opinion, clearly and distinctly, in order that the jury, with whom is the final responsibility, shall not excuse themselves from an erroneous verdict on the score of ignorance. " The decision of this cause, then, gentlemen, rests entirely with you ; and you must act with the intelli- gence and discretion which the occasion demands. It is my duty to state to you the leading principles which ought to guide your deliberations, and, where I perceive any question of law, to endeavour to solve it in such manner that you may clearly comprehend it. If I should be mistaken to the prejudice of the defend- ant, he is not without remedy, — if in his favour, and the opinion is sanctioned by your verdict, he is dis- charged. The publication complained of as a libel is con- CHIEF justice's CHARGE. 337 tained in a newspaper called the Jackson Republican, bearing the date of the 29th October last. The paper you will have in evidence was purchased at the office of the proprietors of that paper, and the defendant has acknowledged, in a letter to Messrs. Curtis and Fletcher, in answer to one written by them, that he is the author of the piece complained of. " The fact of the publication being thus proved, the paragraph is submitted to your consideration ; and the question to be settled by you is, whether it is criminal or libellous ? And the general question comprehends all the various points which have arisen in the case, — such as the sense and meaning of the words made use of, — the explanation attempted to be given by reference to other communications in the same paper, and whether it is false and malicious in the sense in which these terms are used in the law. These are all matters clearly within your province to determine. And first, I think, you will read the piece itself to ascertain, as well as you can, its true import and meaning; and if you find it has reference to any other communication, you will examine that, in order to come at- the true sense and meaning of the piece set forth in the indictment. It purports to be a commentary on certain commu- nications agreed to have been made by the president of the United States in the National Intelligencer, at Washington, which are printed in the same number of the Jackson Republican. Without doubt, the defend- ant had a right to publish any fair commentary upon that communication made by the president. If that VOL. I. 2 338 TRIAL FOR LIBEL. high officer will commit his thoughts and opinions, or what he considers facts, to a public newspaper, they become public property, and any citizen has a lawful right to criticise or speculate upon the opinions, and to deny the facts, or comment upon them, observing only the rules of decorum in his treatment of the subject. But he has not a right to misrepresent them, or to draw unreasonable inferences from them, to the prejudice of the reputations of other persons. If he does this wil- fully, in such manner as to expose a third party to public indignation, hatred, or contempt, he cannot shelter himself under cover of the communication upon which he made his commentary. " The first sentence of the commentary is unexcep- tionable. The \\Titer then proceeds to say, ' The reader will observe, that ISIr. Adams distinctly asserts that H. G. Otis, S. Dexter, W. Prescott, Daniel Webster, and others of the federal party of their age and standing, were engaged in a plot to dissolve the Union, and to re-annex New England to Great Britain, and that Mr. Adams possessed unequivocal evidence of the most solemn design. The reader will also observe, that, in the statement just published of Mr. Adams, there is no intimation whatever that he does not still believe what he revealed to Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Giles twenty years ago.' " This by the government is believed to be libellous, not as a direct charge by the defendant, that the gentle- men whose names are mentioned w^ere engaged in the plot therein mentioned, but because it states that CHIEF justice's CHARGE. 339 Mr. Adams distinctly asserts that they were. On re- turning to the communication of Mr. Adams, I suppose you will not find that he has mentioned any person by name, as engaged in such a plot ; nor does he dis- tinctly assert that such a plot existed ; he speaks of the purpose and views of certain leaders of the federal party who had the management of the State legislature. That the embargo would be met with forcible resistance, sup- ported by the legislature, and probably by the judiciary of the State : That, if force should be resorted to by the government, it would produce a civil war, and in that event he had no doubt the leaders of the party would procure the co-operation of Great Britain: That their object was, and had been for several years, a disso- lution of the Union, and the establishment of a separate confederation; he knew from unequivocal evidence, although not proveable in a com*t of law, &c. " There is then no distinct assertion of Mr. Adams in the communication, that the several gentlemen whose names are mentioned in the commentary were those who were engaged in these proceedings. There is, however, a distinct assertion, that the leaders of the fe- deral party were so engaged ; and the counsel for the defendant argue, that the gentlemen whom he has named being at the time such leaders, the insertion of their names did not add any thing in substance to Mr. Adams' communication; and I am of opinion, that if you should be satisfied that the gentlemen named were the persons whom Mr. Adams intended to designate as leaders of the federal party at that time, that the insertion of those 22 340 TRIAL FOR LIBEL. names would not be an unfair or unjustifiable commen- tary upon the communication, — it would be only filling up a picture, the figures of which were as distinct and discernible to the mind before as after filling up. And though this might be a libel by Mr. Adams, yet, if the commentary introduced no new matter, and was only a fair exposition of the communication, it would not be a libel. " But the case of Mr. Webster may be considered by you different from that of the other gentlemen named. It is insisted by the government, that Mr. Adams, in his communication, confines his remarks to the leading federalists in the State of Massachusetts; and that, as Mr. Webster was not then an inhabitant of this State, he could not have been intended by Mr. Adams as one of the leading federalists to whom he imputed the objects, acts, and purposes mentioned in the communication ; so that the insertion of his name was altogether gratuitous and unjustifiable. " The answer given to this is, that Mr. Adams spoke of, or had in view, the federal party of New England and their leaders ; and that, as Mr. Webster is admitted to have been an eminent and conspicuous federalist in New Hampshire, he fell within the class described by Mr. Adams. "You will look over the communication of Mr. Adams, and see whether he has reference to any as chargeable with high political offences, except those of his own native State. I do not think it will do to refer to Mr. Jefferson's letter on this point, because the defendant CHIEF justice's CHARGE. S41 says, that ^Ir. Adams distinctly asserts, undoubtedly referrino; to Mr. Adams' own communication. The in- sertion of Mr. Webster's name, if not justified by the communication of Mr. Adams, was not warranted; and if done wilfully, and the effect is to expose him to scorn or hatred, it is libellous ; if by mere inadver- tence or mistake, as has been suggested, it is not so. " The other part of the paper objected to as libellous is in these words : — ' Why, for three years has he held to his bosom, as a political counsellor, Daniel Webster, a man w^liom he called in his midnight denunciation, a traitor in 1808?' " This, again, does not charge Mr. Webster with being a traitor, but alleges that Mr. Adams had called him one. To say in print that a person of high standing has called one a traitor, is libellous, unless it appear from the context, that it was intended to show" that such a denunciation w^as unjust; for the imputa- tion of crime is not necessary to constitute a libel. Any opprobrious terms calculated to expose the party of w^hom they are used to contumely may be libellous. It is not so in mere verbal slander, unless some special damage be proved. " The last section of the paper described in the in- dictment is in these words : ' And as the last question, why, during the visit he has made to Boston, he al- w^ays met on friendly, intimate, and social terms, all the gentlemen whose names, a few^ years before, he placed upon a secret record in the archives of the go- vernment as traitors to their country?' S3 342 TRIAL FOR LIBEL. " It is argued by the counsel, that this does not in- tend necessarily that Mr. Webster was one of those whose names are thus recorded. Of this you must judge ; if, by looking at the whole piece, you are sa- tisfied the writer, in this sentence, had reference to all those whose names are mentioned below, then of course Mr. Webster is included. It is also said that this is a mere rhetorical flourish, and means nothing more than was contained in the preceding parts of the comment; and if you are satisfied that the writer, by records and archives, meant nothing more than the let- ters of Mr. Adams, referred to in his communication, the remark is fair, and this should not be considered as distinct libellous matter, but a mere amplification of the former charge. But if you believe the writer in- tended by this to assert, that this charge of his being a traitor was actually recorded, it is certainly the most serious part of the subject. " But there is another ground of defence taken dis- tinct from this detailed view, and which covers the whole matter of the supposed libel. " It is argued, that, from the political purpose with which this paper was set up, — it being for the lawful ob- ject of advocating the election of the successful candi- date, — and from the obvious tenor of the piece itself, having due reference to the communication it was in- tended to criticise, — that it necessarily follows that the use of the names was not with a view to prejudice those persons, but merely to put in a strong point of view what was thought by the writer to be an improper and CHIEF justice's CHARGE. 343 dishonourable conduct on the part of Mr. Adams, — that these names were holden up to the community as illustrative of the extreme injustice of Mr. Adams' ac- cusation against the leaders of the federal party. If this be the true purport and effect of the publication, and it would be so understood by intelligent readers, then certainly it is not libellous; for, if the words of a supposed libel are not calculated to injure the party of whom they are used in the opinion of the community, they have no noxious meaning or tend- ency, and such tendency is an essential ingredient of offence. " This is a matter about which you will exercise your best discretion. If you are satisfied that the ob- ject of the writer was to disparage Mr. Adams in the minds of the citizens, and that these names were held up in contrast with his communication, and that such is the natural meaning, then the defendant will be ac- quitted. You will not, however, strain the words to give them such a meaning, but judge of them as well as you can from the effect they produced on you when you first read them ; comparing the opinion you then formed with the arguments and evidence you have now heard, and form your opinion, cautiously and de- liberately, on the real tendency and effect of the pub- lication. " In regard to a malicious intent, which it is said must be made to appear, the law does not require proof of particular malice. If the publication was un- justifiable, and its natural tendency was to create hostile 344 TRIAL FOR LIBEL. feelings, aversion, and hatred toward Mr. Webster, malice is inferred by law. "The inference which the law makes may be re- butted by direct proof of an honest purpose and an innocent design ; without such proof the act itself is evidence of malice. You have had all the evidence on this part of the subject, and will judge of it. " With regard to the form of the indictment, in which it is supposed there is an unnecessary accumu- lation of harsh epithets, I suppose it is in the usual form. The prefatory words of general accusation are wholly immaterial. If the defendant is convicted, it- is only of this libel ; his character in other respects will stand as fair as before. This is the antiquated dress of indictments, which might usefully be ex- changed for a more modern costume. " In regard to the circumstances relied upon to prove- particular malice, as they have happened since the pub- lication, much reliance cannot be placed upon them ; as subsequent circumstances have produced them, and they will not go far to show the interest at the time of publication.'* The result of the trial was, that the jury could not agree in a verdict, and were discharged. No new trial was applied for. Another singular Indictment for a libel was the sub- ject of a trial at Boston, on the 8th March, 1829. The character of a young man who died was held out in the columns of a newspaper, edited by a religious sect called Universallsts, to which he belonged, as having CHIEF justice's CHARGE. 345 been irreproachable, and it was particularly stated that he had never used profane language. A commentary on this notice appeared in an Anti-Universalist news- paper, stating that this young man, instead of being an example to others, and free from the use "of profanity, was actually habituated to it. After a long trial, at the instance of the commonwealth, against the editor of the last-mentioned newspaper, for having published the commentary alluded to, and a most patient and fair charge on the part of the judge, the jury brought in a verdict of not guilty, declaring that, although they did not approve of the publication, they had acquitted him on the ground that they did not think that the defend- ant had any particular malice against the deceased ; but the most remarkable part of the trial related to objec- tions made to witnesses, on the ground that they did not believe in the doctrine of rewards and punishments in another world, and the judge, in the first instance, allowing evidence to be led on that point. He was afterwards satisfied he had done wrong, and, in his charge to the jury, made the following candid admis- sion : — " In the course of the examination of some of the witnesses, much time was spent in inquiries as to tlie extent of their religious belief. I confess that I have always been desirous to exclude from this hall all inquiries which have a tendency to excite a sectarian or party spirit, either in religion or politics. Good men will differ on these points, and their passions will in- sensibly become enlisted in the controversy. It is the duty of courts to assuage the violence of party spirit, 25 346 TRIAL FOR LIBEL. and to administer justice with an equal hand. To with- hold equal civil privileges from any of our citizens, how- ever they may differ in their speculative views of reli- gious faith, seems to me to be against the spirit of our institutions. Objections to witnesses, arising from de- fective or erroneous views of religion, ought to go to the credibility rather than to the competency of a wit- ness ; and in conformity with this sentiment, where it was objected to a witness, that he did not believe in the existence of a future state, on account of his pro- fessed declarations to that effect, our Supreme Judicial Court still admitted him to testify, considering the ob- jection as applying to the credibility and not to his com- petency, 15 Mass R. 1824, Hunscomb v. Hunscomb. Errors in speculation insensibly creep into the mind, having their origin in our virtues as well as in our de- fects — sometimes arising from education and example, sometimes from pride and vanity. Some men think it the part of wisdom to doubt every thing, while others deem it meritorious to believe even in impossibilities. It is best to leave them all to the corrections of reason, and to the sure influence of time, ' which, while it dis- sipates the errors of opinion, will not fail to confirm the decisions of truth.' It is well settled, that atheists, and such infidels as profess not any religion that can bind their consciences to speak the truth, are excluded from being witnesses. But every person who believes in the obligation of an oath, whatever may be his religious creed, whether Jew, Christian, Mahomedan or Pagan, is an admis-; CHARGE TO THE JURY. 347 sible witness, and may testify in a court of justice, being sworn according to that form of oath, which, ac- cording to his creed, he holds to be obligatory. Phil- lipson. Evidence 19. It may be justly doubted, whe- ther it is not wholly inconsistent with the rights of conscience to compel a man to disclose his opinions on religious subjects, inasmuch as they are matters between his conscience and his God. If, from his veneration to truth, he should avow the belief of a sentiment which would render him unpopular or odious to his fellow- citizens, or to any class of them, or which would tend to his disgrace or injury, it would be to criminate or bear witness against himself. If, therefore, an objec- tion is taken to a witness on account of his religious sentiments, it is Y,ery reasonable that these should be proved by other witnesses ; and I cannot but regret, that I allowed any of the witnesses who have been examined on this trial to be interrogated on these points, Tvith a view to their own disqualification ; and, with my present views of the law, I should not allow it to be done again." In several parts of the United States such objections to witnesses have been settled by acts of the State legis- lature. In the State of Connecticut, the following act of the legislature, which is inserted as an example ofbrevity to the legislatures of other countries, was lately passed. It is almost as short as the acts of the Scotch Parliament before the union with England : — " Be it enacted, that no person who believes in the existence of a Supreme Being shall, on account of his religious opinions, be Q6 348 LEGAL PROCEDURE. adjudged an incompetent witness for any court of judi- cature in this State." The forms of writs, and of proceedings in courts, were all originally the same in this country as in Eng- land ; but many changes for the better have been made in those forms, as well in the criminal as in the civil systems of jurisprudence. Much, as it appears to me, yet requires to be done to simplify and render perfect the system of national jurisprudence, which, it is truly observed by an eminent writer, constitutes the firmest bond for securing the cheerful submission of the people, and for engaging their affections to government. It must, however, be admitted, that many great and essential improvements have been made, both in rela- tion to the forms of proceedings, and the laws, civil, and criminal. Forms of writings have been very much shortened, though many of the absurd fictions df the English law are still retained. But I have seen deeds of mortgage completed in two short pages of paper, which is no inconsiderable curtailment of a deed of the same kind in England. Then the cheapness of law in America puts it in the power of all to obtain redress. In England it has been stated by a great authority to be better, in a pecuniary point of view, to give up 40Z. than to con- tend for it, because it costs that sum in England to gain a cause; and in a court of equity to abandon 500Z. or lOOOZ. than to contend for it. The absurd- ities of the English marriage law are unknown in America. The poorest person has it in his power, when CRIMINAL CODE. 349 necessary, to apply for, and obtain, a divorce, — a pri- vilege which is in England reserved for the peerage and a few of the wealthiest of the citizens. Entails, it is well known, are prohibited ; and the property of a person deceased is divided among his children, un- less he settles it otherwise by will. In their criminal code the punishment of death is seldom inflicted but in cases of murder, fire-raising, piracy, and robbery of the mail. Persons accused of crimes of all descriptions are entitled to the assistance of counsel on their trials. The expense of the judicial establishments of this country is very trifling compared to what it is else- where. In New England and the State of New York, the population of which is about twice as great as that of Scotland, the whole expense of the courts and re- quisite establishment does not amount to 25,000/. sterling. 350 BOSTON TO PROVIDENCE. CHAPTER XV. Journey from Boston to Providence, by Dedham and Pavvtucket — Inci- dent at the Hotel at Dedham — Road from Pawtucket to Providence — Stage from Providence to Hartford — Stages call for Passengers before the Hour of Departure — Mr. Lad and Anti-War Societies — Hartford — The Charter Oak — The Deaf and Dumb Asylum — Monte Video — Stage from Hartford to Newhaven — Culture of Onions — Women not allowed to work out of the House — Academy of Messrs. Dwight — Yale College — Burying-Ground — Bay — Hackney Coach and Driver — Breaking of Horses — Steam-Boat from Newhaven to New York — Long Island Sound — Hellgate — Steam-Boat Expedition from New York — Mount Vernon on the East River — Boarding-House — Its Style. From 20th April to 2d Mai/, 1829. The snow did not wholly disappear at Boston during the month of March, and even until the middle of April some vestiges of it remained. On the 20th April we left the neighbourhood of Boston. We travelled in the stage on the first day to Providence, forty-two miles from Boston, passing through a considerable tract of poorish land near Boston, the enclosures of which were generally walls of stone without lime, called in Scotland Galloway Dykes. We dined at a beautiful village called Dedham, where everything was nice, A FEMALE WAITER. 351 and the house clean and excellent. A female waiter attended at dinner, a very pretty girl, on whom one of our fellow-travellers, an Irish gentleman, bestowed more notice than is relished, or rather allowed, in such circumstances in this country. He first looked hard at her, and then said to his neighbour at table, but so as to be overheard by all, " What a charming creature." The girl blushed, and did not lose a moment in leaving the room. It happened, fortunately, that there were other waiters in the house. The hotel-keeper did not make his appearance, as we expected, to complain of what he no doubt considered rudeness and familiarity on the part of this gentleman ; but another of our stage companions, a resident of Boston, explained to our Irish fellow-traveller the very difi'erent manners of the two countries, in relation to houses of public entertain- ment ; that the profession of an innkeeper was con- sidered perfectly respectable here ; and that the daughters of innkeepers, though as well educated as the daughters of any other persons in the State, did not consider themselves degraded by attending to the household work in the mornings ; and that it was not at all impossible that the female who had been remarked upon so unceremoniously was one of the daughters of the landlord, who, as soon as dinner was over, would dress as smartly as any of the young ladies in the town, and be received on a complete footing of equality in the most respectable families. He therefore recom- mended to our fellow-traveller to beware of repeating conduct of this kind, as it might happen, that he might 6 352 PROVIDENCE. find a landlord who would resent it, by turning him out of his house without much warning. Instances of this kind had often happened. Approaching Providence, we passed Pawtucket, where there are considerable cotton manufactories, and from whence to Providence, there is the best road over which I have travelled in the United States ; — tliere are handsome footpaths, rows of trees on each side of the road, and even milestones every quarter of a mile. There is not a piece of better Macadamized road in England. An act of the legislature of Rhode Island, of which Providence is the chief town, had been obtained some years ago, which declared, that all the money to be collected at the turnpike gate on the road, with the exception of ten per cent., should be ex- pended on the road itself ; and the commissioners are now almost at a loss how to lay out their funds bene- ficially. Providence, where we stopped for a day, is a con- siderable commercial town, with about 15,000 inha- bitants. It is placed on Providence River, in a fine elevated situation. The seminaries for education are upon a great scale. The steam-vessels from New York bring the passengers for Boston to Providence, which is 180 miles from New York. The rest of the journey is performed in the stage. We paid for our places in the stage to Hartford, on the Connecticut River, on the evening previously to our departure. The hour of setting off, was, we were told, five o'clock. Next morning, accordingly, STAGE-COACH CALLS. we were preparing to be ready at that hour, when a loud knock at the door of our bed-room, and a call from the driver, when it was yet twenty minutes be- fore five, made us quicken our preparations ; but we found it impossible to be ready much sooner than five o'clock. When we got into the stage, both the driver and some of the passengers complained, because, as the stage was to pick up various passengers at diff'erent parts of the town after we got into it, some time would be taken up, and the stage would not leave the town itself until nearly half an hour after the proper period of departure. The passengers were very soon brought to reason, when they found that it had not been ex- plained to us that the stage would be at the door sooner than five; and at the first stopping-place, I turned the tables against the driver for not giving us inti- mation on the previous evening that we should be wanted before five. In the course of my subsequent travels in the United States, I found that it w^as gene- rally necessary to be ready twenty minutes before the regular hour, in order to afford time for the stage to call, as is always done, for the passengers at their respective houses. Even in the great cities of New York and Philadelphia, the stages call for the passen- gers, unless their residences are at very inconvenient distances. On our way to Hartford, Mr. Lad, a gentleman who lives in the northern part of New England, near Ports- mouth, I think, and who has lately made himself re- markable by his enthusiastic endeavours to convince a54 MR. LAD. the world of the folly of war, joined the stage. We found him a very agreeable companion, and possessed of a great deal of information. He has been again and again in Europe ; and is married to an English lady, who accompanied him. Like other enthusiasts, he recurred rather too frequently for general conversa- tion to the subject which engrosses his thoughts, — the establishment of anti-war societies. He was to lecture at Hartford next day in favour of his theory. His great text seemed to be, that, as Christ and his apostles commanded all men to live in peace, no man who voluntarily engaged in war yielded obe- dience to the Christian religion. He was confident that, at no distant period, Britain, America, and France^ would form an association to prevent future wars over the earth. We did not arrive at Hartford till very late in the evening, and found the door of our hotel locked. Thei waiter, an American, did not receive us very cour* teously, and made some difl&culties as to getting tea and supper ; but his master, to whom we next morning communicated what had happened, expressed himself very much dissatisfied with his conduct, and we had ample amends by his attention for his servant's want of civility. Hartford is a very handsome country town. The streets are wide. One of the great ob- j jects of attraction here is the charter-oak, which is still ■ standing in the lower part of the town, and is said tofl have been a forest tree before the land was cleared. ■ The original charter to the State of Connecticut was^ HARTFORD ASYLUM. 355 demanded by Sir Edmund Andross, on the part of the English government, in 1687. The legislature had no alternative but to deliver it up. At the meeting ap- pointed for that purpose, which was attended by the British agent, the candles in the room where the meet- ing was held in the evening were extinguished, and the charter seized by a citizen, who escaped and con- veyed it to this tree, in which it remained until after the revolution. The charter is still preserved in the office of the secretary of state. The country is very rich-looking in the neighbour- hood of Hartford, and the vicinity adorned with many handsome villas. One sign in the town amused us, " Hot Oysters and Cold Ham." — Hot ham and cold oysters, we should rather have expected. The Deaf and Dumb Asylum is a handsome large building in the neighbourhood of the town. This in- stitution, under the charge of Mr. Gallandet, has been eminently successful. Its permanent funds amount to about 50,000Z. sterling. The number of pupils is about seventy. On the day after we reached Hartford, we made an excursion about nine miles into the country, in order to see what is here rare, the seat and pleasure-grounds of a country gentleman, and were not disappointed. Monte Video, — the property of Mr. Daniel Wads- worth, — stands in a very fine situation, not less than 600 feet above the Connecticut river, and the beau- tiful meadows and pasture grounds on each side of it. The road to the house (which is here considered a 356 PLEASURE GROUNDS. great mansion, tlioiigli quite inferior, considering the splendid features of the scene, to a third-rate country gentleman's house in England, or to what would be expected from any one who placed his mansion-house in a spot so well entitled to a noble edifice,) is about three miles in length, and is carried over a succession of small hills finely wooded. There is a handsome piece of water near the house, and a hill behind it, from a tower on the top of which there is as magnifi- cent a view, bounded by the hills of Massachusetts, of a rich and fertile country, watered by a great river, the Connecticut, the windings of which are all in sight. Advantage has certainly been taken of the natural beauties of the place in laying out the road, the piece of water, and the grounds; but it is not kept in the handsome style of an English country residence. In one respect only, the mode of laying out a place here is, in consequence of the heat of the climate, superior to ours. They have much finer fruit than w^e have, ^\ithout being obliged to resort to the formality of a garden wall, generally very injurious to the appearance of our country-seats, especially of the smaller ones. The expense of our carriage, a light coach for four persons, from Hartford to and from Monte Video, w^as three dollars and a half. We returned in time for a very late dinner. From Hartford we had a day's journey in the stage to Newhaven, upon Long Island Sound, along the west bank of the Connecticut river. The meadows are here very valuable, but they were not yet relieved from a 8 NEWHAVEX — SCHOOLS. 357 great overflow of the Connecticut river, which generally happens on the melting of the snow at this season. The soil on this road, a few miles below Hartford, is of so very fine quality, that a considerable part of it is devoted to the culture of onions for exportation. A great part of the labour necessary for their cultiva- tion is performed by children and by women, who are here permitted to work in the open ground. Women, as before noticed, are hardly ever allowed in the United States to work out of doors ; it is considered inconsistent with the respect due to the sex : but an exception has been lonof admitted at Wethersfield, the villaore near which the onions are chiefly cultivated, on account of the necessitv, at particular periods, of emplojnng a great many hands for a few days. Newhaven, which we reached on the 25th April, is considered one of the handsomest towns of its size (population 9000 or 10,000,) in the United States. In point of situation, and of the neatness, cleanness, and elegance of its buildings, it is as unlike the well- known dirty village of Xewhaven on the Forth as can well be conceived. They resemble each other in their name and situation on an inland sea, but in nothing else. The town is built on a large plain, about two miles from north to south, and three from east to west. The hotel where we were is about as large, or larger, than that on the Waterloo Bridge in Edin- burgh: and the academy for boys, kept by the Messrs. Dwiofht, contains about the same accommodation as one of the Edinburgh High Schools. The number 358 YALE COLLEGE. and size of tlie schools and seminaries of education would surprise us, if we did not know that here edu- cation is in the power of all. The streets and squares are quite regular, and all shaded with fine trees. In the centre of the city is the public square, in which are situated the State-House, two Congregational churches, and one Episcopal. Yale College is situated on one side of the square. The buildings of Yale College are plain, but of considerable extent ; the number of students about 500. The American Journal of Science and Arts is con- ducted at Newhaven by Professor Silliman, who is equally well known in Europe and in this country. The burying-ground at Newhaven is laid out with more care and attention, and better kept, than any other ground devoted to the same purpose in the United States. It is of considerable size, and formed in broad lanes, shaded with weeping willows, poplars, &c. The whole has a good effect ; and many of the monuments are fine, — a considerable number of them brought from Italy. In short, this is quite the Pere la Chaise of the United States. The bay, at the inmost part of which the to^vn of Newhaven is built, is large, surrounded with head- lands, and behind them on each side of the town by the West and East Rock, and Mount Carmel. These rocks very much resemble Salisbury Crags, near Edinburgh. Below one of the rocks, in a point well chosen for observing any approach, is a cave, rendered memorable for being some time the abode of the regi- NEWHAVEN. 359 cides, GofFe and Whalley. The commissioners of Charles II. made many fruitless attempts to seize them. Near the top of the rock is inscribed, " Opposition to tyrants in obedience to God." We had a most intel- ligent driver to convey us in a hackney coach to the places worth seeing in the neighbourhood. He volun- teered to accompany us to the heights, tying his horses to a tree at the foot of the hills. Horses are certainly much better broken in this country, and more patient in enduring heat and the attacks of flies, than in Britain. When a traveller stops in the middle of his ride, the horse is either tied to a post without, or lias a place within an open shed. Water is furnished to him, but nothing else, nor, however much heated, is he rubbed down or cleaned. Our driver de- scribed every place within our view, and was quite an enthusiastic admirer of his own town, and especially enlarged upon its salubrity. We questioned him upon that head, and found a ready answer, for he referred, with perfect correctness, as we afterwards found, to the bills of mortality here and at other towns, to show the great difference in favour of Newhaven. The distance from Newhaven to New York, by land or by water, through Long Island Sound, is nearly the same, about ninety miles. Steam-boats pass daily. We preferred the steam-boat conveyance in a very comfort- able vessel, in which we made the voyage in about ten hours. There is nothing remarkable in the shores of Long Island Sound, until the boat reaches within twenty miles of New York, when they become in- 360 NEW YORK. dented ; from thence to New York the Sound is very- interesting, of various breadths, and in many places agitated by rapid currents and tides, which the power of steam has at last controlled. Hellgate, which is situated upon the Sound, at the spot where the water is most agitated, is only a few miles from New York. The violence of the currents here has often occasioned serious accidents. An English frigate was lost during the war of the revolution. Now, however, a steam- boat of ordinary power has no difficulty in prosecuting her voyage ; but sailing vessels are often obliged to wait for a favourable time of the tide. From Hell- gate to New York the river is narrow, and the city is approached very beautifully among smiling villas on each side of the river, and the numerous shipping in the part of the Sound between Long Island and New York. At this period we were uncertain whether we should remain much longer in the United States; and, as much travelling by land during the heat of the summer must have proved disagreeable, I thought it advisable to make the neighbourhood of New York our head quarters. From thence a far greater number of steam-boat ex- peditions are practicable than from any other city or place in the United States. Many hundred miles of river coasts are approached daily by the steam-vessels of New York, — nearly 400 miles on the sides of the Hudson alone. These advantages can be enjoyed "in such endless variety nowhere else. An expedition to MOUNT VERNON. 361 any place on the banks of the sounds or rivers, within fifty miles of New York, may, in ordinary cases, be accomplished every day during summer ; and the ex- pense of going and returning in the evening will not exceed two or three shillings for the boat, and often, where there is competition, not more than half that sum. We immediately set about obtaining a comfortable lodging-house in the neighbourhood of the city, and at length pitched our tent at Mount Vernon, about four miles from New York, on the East River or Long Island Sound, a good house in an airy situation, from the door of which a stage went to Nev/ York two or three times a-day. The house is placed upon the top of the bank, about fifty feet above the river ; and the view of the river and of the gay sailing craft constantly passing*, and tossed about by the eddies in every direction, is very interesting. The house in which we got rooms is kept by the stage-hirer, and is much resorted to in the afternoon by persons taking their evening ride or drive from New York ; it being very much the custom to stop at such a house as this, and have a little spirits and water or lemonade. There was a course for trot- ting horses in an adjoining field, which tended to in- crease the ^number of people. We bargained from the beginning to have our m-cals in our own parlour, and had many pleasant walks for exercise in the neighbour- ing parts of the island of Manhattan, at times v,hen they were free from the crowds of people who come out of the city in the evenings. During the summer VOL. I. R 362 EVENING DRIVE. months the great mass of the people of New York leave the town in carriages, gigs, or on horseback, for an hour or two before sunset, which, at the longest day, is at half-past seven. They drive and ride very fast, and the number of carriages of all descriptions, on the various outlets of the city, especially towards the beautiful parts of the island, is such as I never saw but in London or its immediate vicinity. They seldom or never think of driving out a few miles without stop- ping to smoke a cigar, and having a small tumbler of spirits and water, or some such mixture, for which the price is from three halfpence to sixpence sterling, according to the rank of the house, and the quality of the liquor. The bustle, however, of this house is always over before or very soon after sunset, and we are not in the slightest degree subjected to noise or intrusion. The landlord told me of his having collected sixty dollars in threepences sterling, one evening since we came here, but even on that evening the business was over before sunset, and not a straggler remained half an hour after- wards. Near as we are to New York, and within 300 yards of the high road, there is neither a shutter nor a bar to a window in the house. Clothes are laid out to bleach all night without the slightest fear of their being carried off. PHILADELPHIA. 36.3 CHAPTER XVI. Journey to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington — To Philadelphia by Steam- Boat and Stage — Arrangement as to Stages — Market and Market-Place of Philadelphia — Cleanness of the City — United States* Bank — Girard's Bank — State-House — Philadelphia Water-Works — . Miss Wright's Lectures — Rejoicings at Philadelphia on the News of the Emancipation of the Irish Catholics — Charles Carroll Naval Yard, Philadelphia — Description of the Pennsylvania" Ship of War — American Naval Tactics — Commodore Bainbridge — His Civility- American Naval Officers — Captain Hall's Character of them — Pro- gress of their Navy — Commodore Decatur's Letter — Opinion of the British Navy by the Americans — Mr. Noah's Account of his Capture by our Fleet — Sir Philip Durham's Reception of him — Correctness of Narration recommended to Journalists — Washington Irving's Opinion of English Publications on the Subject of America — Joseph Buona- parte's House and Grounds — General Washington's Surprise of the British Forces there and at Princeton — From Philadelphia by Steam- Boat and Stage — The Independence" Steam-Boat — Bay and Har- bour of Baltimore — City Hotel — Arrangements of the Hotel — Wash- ington's Monument — British Invasion of Baltimore — Loss of the Inhabitants — Monument to their Memory — Churches at Baltimore — Roman Catholic Cathedral — Mercantile Classes — Public Works — Chesapeake and Ohio Canal — Railway from Baltimore to the Ohio — From Baltimore to Washington by the Stage — Entrance to the City Capitol — Chamber of Representatives — Senate — Supreme Court — Devastation at Washington by the British now repaired — Mount Vernon — Bridge over the Potomac — Details of Mount Vernon — From r2 364 PHILADELPHIA. Washington to Annapolis — State- House — Hotel at Philadelphia — Use of Tobacco — Mansion-House Hotel — Mr. Head. May, 1829. Being uncertain at this time whether I should re- main much longer in this country, I resolved to make a rapid trip to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washing- ton, that I miglit make sure of having a sight of the seat of government, and of the most populous part of the country, before I quitted it. Accordingly on the 2nd May, I set off for Philadelphia, distant about ninety-four miles from New York, all by steam-boat, except about twenty-seven or twenty-eight miles by stage, from New Brunswick to Trenton, in New Jersey. The part of this journey by steam-boat is very pleasant — the boats good — and the scenery di- versified, — but the road across New Jersey is very indifferent, and the general appearance of the soil of inferior quality. The arrangement for the stages on leaving the steam-boat is very well managed. Sup- posing that there are fifty-four passengers in the l)oat going to Philadelphia, the captain or the clerk assembles them on board, and he gives each a ticket for a particular stage, numbered 1 , 2, 3, 4, &c. Nine pas- sengers are allowed to each stage, so that six stages are necessary for fifty-four persons. The captain or clerk makes the arrangement at pleasure, unless there are parties who Vvish to be together in the same stage. In case there are, he makes the arrangement to suit the passengers. As soon as this arrangement is made, and the passengers have got their tickets, they see their PHILADELPHIA. 365 luggage marked with chalk, according to the number of the stage in which they are to travel. The whole luggage belonging to No. 1, is allotted to one porter, w^ho has it carried to the stage No. 1, and so on, so that when the boat stops, the passengers are perfectly- ready to take their places in the stage to which they are allotted, and, before they are all seated, the luofofaofe IS removed, and the stage is ready to drive off. Twenty or thirty stages are sometimes required to convey the whole passengers when they are very numerous. The arrangement, however, is made with equal faci- lity, as the contractors are bound to carry the passen- gers from place to place within a fixed period, and keep an immense establishment. Tlie passage-money from New York to Philadelphia is at present four dollars, besides the expense of the two meals, which cost half a dollar each. In the steam-boat on the Delaware, we had tlie sweet potatoe, very mealy, and very good, w^iich does not thrive well much further north than Philadelphia. It is raised in great perfection in Vir- ginia. The market of Philadelphia is reckoned the most abundant in the United States, and is remarkable both for the variety and excellence of provisions. The market-place is a covered building in the middle of Market-street, and is of great length. There is no- thing handsome about the building, but it is of con- siderable antiquity. It is said that more animal food, in relation to the number of inhabitants, is con- sumed in Philadelphia than in any other city in the world. The general practice there, and throughout R 3 366 PHILADELPHIA. the United States, is to partake of animal food three times a -day. On reaching Philadelphia, I found the vegetation much farther advanced than in the neighbourhood of New York, — the peach tree in blossom. There is a great air of neatness, and of almost peculiar cleanness, about the city itself ; but the extreme "regularity of the streets is tiresome. The steps of the outer stairs of a great part of the houses are of white marble, and the tops of the outer railings of brass, and both, as well as the windows, are not only cleaned every morning, but made bright with a degree of care which I never before witnessed. The streets are very generally shaded with trees, — a very desirable luxury in this hot climate. The United States Bank is of beautiful marble, a plain Grecian building, with an imitation of the portico of the Parthenon, which is frequently adopted in the public buildings lately erected in the United States. Mr. Girard's Bank is also an imposing structure; but the State-House, from whence the declaration of in- dependence in 1776 was promidgated, is the most interesting building in this city. It is abundantly plain, and is situated in Chesnut Street, the fashion- able street of Philadelphia, and is surrounded by a small cupola, in which there is a clock illuminated at night. The suburbs of the city towards the Schuylkill river are very beautiful, and the number of handsome villas is great. The works for supplying Philadelphia with water, close to the city on the Schuylkill, are extensive, and WATER-WORKS MISS WRIGHt's LECTURES. 367 well executed. They stand on a part of the river where the scenery is peculiarly interesting ; and the buildings which were found necessary in the prosecu- tion of the undertaking are handsome and well con- structed. No stranger should visit Philadelphia without seeing the water-works. The river in the neighbourhood of the works is about 900 feet wide, and between twenty and thirty feet deep. It is con- tracted by a mound dam, the construction of which was a work of great difficulty, its length being upwards of 270 feet, damming the water up the river about six miles. Eight water wheels are used to raise the water into the reservoir, forty gallons on the wheel raising one into the reservoir ; the quantity raised is about eleven millions of gallons per day. The whole ex- pense incurred has been about 600,000 dollars. The celebrated Miss Wright was delivering lectures in the Walnut Street Theatre at Philadelphia when I was there. She is at present engaged with Mr. Owen, Junior, at New York, in editing a weekly paper called the Free Inquirer, the chief object of which is to dis- prove the truths of Christianity. She had come to Philadelphia for a few days to repeat the lectures she had been delivering at New York. The theatre in Walnut Street contains about as many persons as the minor theatres in London, or the Edinburgh Theatre. The house was well filled with both sexes, and no mark of approbation or disapprobation was given at any time. Miss Wright seemed to me to be between forty and R 4 368 PHILADELPHIA. forty-five years old. Tliere is nothing remarkable in her figure, except that she is very tall, but a considerable interest is excited when she addresses the audience. She has an artless and persuasive style of speaking, sometimes emphatic, and even eloquent. She seemed to have her lectures written out, and in her hand, but seldom, if ever, referred to the ma- nuscript. When the curtain was drawn up, the stage was occu- pied by her, and by about half a dozen persons, who had rather the appearance of trades-people than of those in her own situation in life. Miss Wright's chief aim seemed to be to persuade her hearers, that, instead of employing the first day of the week in the services of the Christian religion, and spending, as she alleges, twenty millions of dollars a-year in making provision for the preachers of that religion, and in building churches, they should devote their time and their money in endeavours to discover everything in the bosom of nature. " Take for your teachers," she said empha- tically, experimental philosophers, — convert your churches into halls of science, and devote your leisure day to the study of your own bodies and the examination of the fair material world." She told her audience in the outset, that she staked her fame and fortune on the cause of human improvement, and was devoting her talents to the promotion of knowledge, and would speak what she believed. She was aware, however, that her opinions must lead her to combat prejudices of the most delicate nature, and entreated them during the MISS Wright's lectures. 369 lectures to abstain from all manifestation of sentiment, which could not fail of hurtiiiiJ: the feelingrs of some part of the audience. They seemed to take this hint in good part, for no visible signs of approbation or disap- probation were given, excepting, perhaps, when she made use of the expression, " convert your temples into halls of science," when I observed in the people about me a look of surprise, which might very easily have been converted into an unequivocal expression of dis- pleasure. It did not appear to me that there was much originality in the matter of Miss Wright's lectures. The arguments which she adduced are all, I believe, to be found in the works of the sceptical and deistical writers, Voltaire, Hume, &c. But it is but fair to give an extract from one of her published addresses, that the reader may form an opinion for himself : — " I have said, to study ourselves. Oh, my fellow- beings, what a study is here ! v/hat a field of discovery ! — what a world imexplored is that of our own being ! What truths yet unperceived! — what duties unexer- cised ! — what faculties unimproved ! — what delights unenjoyed are in the nature, the neglected, the slan- dered, the perverted, the outraged nature of man ! " Let not bold inquiry apprehend, that the field of human knowledge is confined in its horizon, and unin- teresting in its details. While every path is rich with treasures, and rich with novelty, there is one, — and that the noblest and the fairest, — on which the restless mind of man hath barely thrown a glance. " The master science, — the centre path, and fairest R 5 370 PHILADELPHIA. avenue in the field of knowledge, and from which, and into which, all others, if Nrightly followed, would be found to branch and converge, — the science of human life remains to this hour in its infancy. We have dived into the secrets of external nature; — we have pierced the blue ether, and tracked the courses and revolutions of its planets, its systems, its comets, and its universe of suns; — we have laid bare the bowels of the earth, disclos- ed their hidden treasures, and brought to light the past phenomena of primeval worlds ; — we have passed over our globe, and explored its realms and climates through the scorching tropics, to the icy barrier of the poles; — w^e have torn the lightning from the clouds, and jewels from the depths of the ocean ; — we have bowed the elements to our will, and, appropriating and guiding their strength, have achieved more than the fabled ex- ploits of demi-gods, or the miracles of prophets and saints; — we have, in truth, in ingenuity, proved our- selves magicians; in power, all but gods; — yet is our knowledge only ignorance, and our wisdom that of babes, seeing that, while exploring the universe, we have left unexplored the human heart, and, while mas- tering the earth, we have still to master ourselves. " Oh let us not fear, that within the atmosphere of our own world, — in the powers and wants of our own nature, — and in the woes of human life, as originating in human error, — that we may not find a field of in- quiry more than suflScient to fill our time, enchain our thoughts, and call into action every latent faculty and feeling of our nature. CATHOLIC EMAXCIPATION BILL. 371 " Let, then, morals, or the science of human life, as- sume, among a people boasting themselves free, (and free, rightly interpreted, would mean rational,) the place of religion. Let us, instead of speculating and disputing where we can discover nothing, observe and inquire where we can discover every thing." While I was at Philadelphia, the news arrived there of the royal assent being given to the Catholic emanci- pation bill. Great rejoicings took place. The mayor ordered the bells, especially the great old bell which first proclaimed the independence of the United States in 1776, to be tolled, and to ring during a whole day. Public rejoicings on this occasion took place in all the towns of the United States, especially at New York and Baltimore. Contributions from the United States had been sent to the subscription in Ireland for forward- ing Catholic emancipation, especially from Maryland, a considerable part of the population of which consists of Roman Catholics. Lord BaltimorCj the founder of that colony, with many of his followers, were Catho- lics. The gentleman at present at the head of that body is Charles Carroll, the only survivor of those who signed the declaration of independence, a man of great respectability of character, of immense wealth, and grandfather to the present Marchioness Welles- ley. It was at his expense chiefly that the Roman Catholic cathedral at Baltimore was built. The num- ber of Catholics in the United States is at present calculated at half a million. Some persons make the number greater by 200,000 or 300,000. R 6 372 SHIP-BUILDING. There is now constructing at tlie naval yard, Phila- delphia, the largest, or about the largest, ship of war that has ever been built. Ship-building in this country- is carried on in large wooden houses. This ship, which is called the Pennsylvania, will carry 200 guns. Her complement of men is 1400. The forty-two pounders for her are in the yard. Her best anchor weighs 10,171 pounds. She is 220 feet long by 58 broad. There are thirty-four beams on each deck, the main beams of yellow pine, two feet by one in depth. Some of the beams are of live-oak. She has five entire decks, spar, orlop, and three gun-decks. On the spar deck she has • • . . • 44 ports. On the upper gun deck* • 44 On the second ditto 42 On the lower ditto 32 162 Deduct for stern and bridle ports 22 Remain, 140 In many conversations which I have had with Ame- rican naval officers, they attributed their success in the late war — how truly I cannot tell, — chiefly to their ex- pertness and celerity in firing tlieir guns. They often, they say, fired three times while we fired twice, and they consider themselves to take a surer aim. They also say that we fire when the ship is ascending on the wave, and not when she is descending, as they do, when they can take a better aim. The discipline on board their ships is allowed on all hands to be most strictly maintained, and they insist that, at the time of the AMERICAN NAVY. 373 sliort war with them, the discipline in British ships had become somewhat rehixed, from our having had no naval enemy at all equal to cope with us for many- years previously. Commodore Bainbridge, who, when in command of an American frigate, took the Java frigate from the British, commands the naval yard at Philadelphia. I went to the door of the yard in a hack. At the very moment when I was applying to the centinel for ad- mission. Commodore Bainbridge passed. Coming out of the yard, he discovered, from my language, that I was a foreigner, — and knowing that, according to the general rule of excluding strangers at the din- ner hour, the centinel would not allow me to be ad- mitted at that time, he, after passing about forty yards from the door, called the centinel, and desired him to admit me, because he perceived that I was a foreigner. I had many opportunities, both before and after I was at Philadelphia on this occasion, of becoming ac- quainted with various naval officers of all grades in the service of the United States; and if I were to form a judgment of those whom I have seen, I should pronounce them as well-informed and as gentlemanly a class of men as there is in Great Britain. Captain Hall, an authority worthy of being referred to on such a subject, has given them the highest character for the discipline maintained in their ships, and generally for their skill as seamen. The British ought never to un- derrate them as a naval enemy. The government of the United States is proceeding steadily in the esta- 374 COMMODORE BAINBRIDGE. blisliment of a navy, and the service is extremely popular with all descriptions of people. In the war of 1812-14, many of their best officers were not more distinguished for their knowledge of their profession and for their gallantry, than for their gentlemanlike conduct in the collisions with the enemy. Commodore Bainbridge's disinterested and most liberal conduct towards Sir Thomas Hislop and the passengers in the Java frigate is well known ; but the late commodore Stephen Decatur, w^as, at the period to which I allude, the Nelson of the United States — equally devoted to the service, and almost as remarkable for the chivalry of his character, and his personal bravery, which led him to be the first to ex- pose himself on all hazardous occasions. His letter to the Secretary of the Navy at Washington, on his taking the Macedonian frigate, is as deserving of notice for its modesty as its perspicuity ; and as free from boasting, gasconading language, which the Bri- tish are too much disposed to attribute to the Ameri- cans, as any of the despatches of our most esteemed naval commanders; it may therefore with propriety be inserted in this place. U. S. S. United States at sea, October 30, 1812. " Sir, I HAVE the honour to inform you, that on the 25th inst., being in lat. 29^ N. long. 29'' 39' W., we fell in with, and after an action of an hour and a half cap- tured, his Britannic Majesty's ship Macedonian, com- COMMODORE DECATUr's LETTER. 375 manded by Capt. John Garden, and mounting forty- nine carriage guns. She is a frigate of the largest class, two years old, four months out of dock, and re- puted one of the best sailers in the British service. The enemy being to windward, had the advantage of engaging us at his own distance, w^hich was so great, that for the first half hour we did not use our carron- ades, and at no moment w^as he within the complete effect of our musketry or grape. To this circum- stance, and a heavy swell, which was on at the time, I ascribe the unusual length of the action. " The enthusiasm of every officer, seaman, and marine, onboard this ship, on discovering the enemy — their steady conduct in battle, and precision of their fire, could not be surpassed. Where all met my fullest expectations, it would be unjust in me to discriminate. Permit me, however, to recommend to your particular notice my First Lieutenant, William H. Allen. He has served with me upw^ards of five years ; and to his unremitted exertions in disciplining the crew, is to be imputed the obvious superiority of our gunnery ex- hibited in the result of the contest. " Subjoined is a list of the killed and wounded on both sides (5 killed, 7 wounded, in the United States, and 36 killed, and 68 wounded in the Macedonian). Our loss, compared with that of the enemy, will ap- pear small. Amongst our wounded, you will observe the name of Lieutenant Funk, w^ho died in a few hours after the action. He was an officer of great gallantry 376 AMERICAN NAVY. and promise, and the service lias sustained a severe loss in his death. " The Macedonian lost her mizen mast, fore and main top mast, and main yard, and was much cut up in her hull. The damage sustained by this ship was not such as to render her return into port necessary; and had I not deemed it important that we should see our prize in, should have continued our cruize, " With the highest consideration and respect, I am, Sir, your obedient humble servant, " Stephen Decatur." The Americans, as it appeared to me, on all occa- sions, do justice to the prowess of the British, and to their naval superiority ; but they allege, that, even in the short war with them, instances had occurred where there was obviously mismanagement, owing, on parti- cular occasions, to some of the captains being appointed in consequence of political influence rather than of merit. One instance where this happened, in which the appointment was obtained through borough in- fluence, and was followed by the most disastrous con- sequences, is as well known in America as in Eng- land. A late American writer, wdio was consul from the United States to the kingdom of Tunis, has given a very graphic, as well as good-humoured, account of his capture by our fleet ofi* Rochefort, in which he does not fail to bestow just commendation on our REAR-ADMIRAL DURHAM. 377 liaval officers, and on tlieir general arrangements. Sir Thomas Staines, of the Briton frigate, captured tlxe ship on board of which this gentleman, Mr. Noah, was a passenger; and next day Sir Thomas said to him, " The admiral wishes to see and converse w^ith you, — you can see his list of prizes, and their value, as he is particular in keeping a register." — We got into the boat,'' (proceeds Mr. Noah,) "and shortly found ourselves on board the Bulwark, seventy-four, commanded by Captain Worth, and bearing the flag of Rear- Admiral Durham. The admiral received us very courteously, and made several inquiries as to our voj^age, news in America, and prospects of the duration of the war; and, as was anticipated, he showed us a list of American vessels captured within one year, the value of which, according to his computation, exceeded 8OO5OOOZ. sterling, an amount that 1 could not con- ceive would have been hazarded on the coast of France. ' Your merchants,' he observed, ' have too much en- terprise for the prosperous issue of their expeditions; they calculate erroneously, that if one vessel arrives safe out of three, they will be no losers.' — ' If even,' said he, ' this was the case, it is impossible that the aggregate profits of the one will cover the loss of the two. But it must be known, that, in the aggregate, one vessel out of three does not arrive. Hov/ever,' said he, with a smile, ' I like enterprise ; and if your insurance companies do not complain, they will never hear any objections on my part.' He assured us, in conveying an idea of the profits incident to his com- 378 BRITISH SHIP OF THE LINE. inand, that his share of the prizes would not fall short of IO5OOOZ.; ' and under such circumstances/ he added, ' I have no objection to the continuance of the war.' The admiral then invited us to visit the ship ; gave orders to have the armoury, carpenters' and other rooms lit up, while he politely accompanied us through every part, and explained the various facilities and pecu- liar advantages of each department. The ship was in elegant order; the armoury displayed every species of warlike weapons, arranged with taste and fancy, and in the highest state of preservation. The carpenters' and riggers' department were equally worthy of observa- tion, and everything in short, indicated convenience and comfort, and an organization which we could hardly believe a vessel of war capable of sustaining. The admiral, on our departure, invited us to return to din- ner, saying, with much frankness and hospitality, ' I'll have the grange thrown out, and catch you some French turbot.' At four o'clock, we w^ere conveyed to the Bulwark, and found several captains and officers, to whom we were separately introduced. ' We have caught the turbot for you,' said the Admiral, ' and, with a good glass of claret, you may, if you please, imagine yourselves in France, — a meagre substitute for the reality. We supply ourselves with French w^ine,' said he, ' from the chasse marees, which are small coasters, generally laden with wine; and those not worth send- ing in when captured, we let go, after replenishing our stock.' The conversation at dinner was sprightly, and on general subjects. I discovered that most of the NAUTICAL THEATRICALS. 379 officers were experienced men, and were familiar with important national, as well as political subjects, which were handled with delicacy and address. No reference at any time was had to the war, and no remark, even remotely made, served to indicate to us our situation. While partaking of a choice dessert, which, on board of a vessel having no connection with the shore, appeared rather singular, a young midshipman entered the cabin, and handed the admiral a folded paper, which, after reading, he smiled and reached to me, saying, ' Will you have a bill of the play ?' — and I read, with no small surprise, the following written bill: — ' This evening, by permission of Rear- Admiral Durham, will be performed, onboard of His Majesty's ship Bulwark, a celebrated play, in five acts, written by John O'Keefe, Esq. called W'ild Oats, or the Strolling Gentleman. After the play, a hornpipe will be danced. The whole to con- clude with Foote's afterpiece of the Mayor of Garrat. Performance to begin at half-past seven o'clock. — Vivant Rex et ReginaJ' " ' There, Sir,' said the admiral, ' what do you think of that? — shall we patronize the drama?' — ^ By all means,' said I, — 'there is no reason why Neptune should not be dramatized ; but of all arts, the histrionic art is the last, I should think, could be perfected at sea.' — ' Don't think so,' said the Admiral, ' we have as excellent a company of comedians as any ship in the fleet, and I'll warrant you'll say so.' A boy announ- ced that the play was ready, and we arose to visit this nautical theatre. On the gun-deck, some fifteen paces 380 NAUTICAL THEATRICALS. from the officers' ward-room, we found it fitted up with a neatness as well as ornament that was really- surprising. Scenery, drop-curtains, stage-doors with knockers, foot-lights, and all the paraphernalia neces- sary to a well-organised and well-governed stage. A full band of music was stationed on the right, which, on our entrance, struck up God save the King. ' Sit down,' said the Admiral, politely, — * you have no occa- sion to stand up when God save the King is played, thouo^h we are accustomed to do it.' We did not avail ourselves of this delicate permission, but stood up until the air was concluded. We found, on seating our- selves, that the audience was numerous, and not alone composed of the officers and crew of our vessel, but those belonging to other ships, who had been invited on the occasion. The play commenced, and was really sustained throughout with considerable force and spirit. The parts seemed to be vrell conceived and faithfully executed ; and the character of John Dory received additional zest from its being personated by a genuine sailor, who gave it those nautical touches so familiar in real life. Every character was perfect, and the voice of the prompter unheard, — a lesson from which many theatres on terra firma might eminently improve. After the play, the band struck up a sprightly air, and the dancing commenced. The naval Terpsichore Vv^as an interesting figure, tastefully dressed, and moving on the ' light fantastic toe' with much ease and agility. ' Don't stare so,' said the Admiral, ' it is a real woman, the wife of a foretop-man. V/e are compelled in a JOSEPH BUONAPARTE. 381 fleet to have a few women to wash and mend, &c.' The sight of a real woman, as the admiral called her, with an agreeable conntenance, was refreshing after a long voyage ; particularly as the female parts in Wild Oats were ankwardly sustained by men." It would be well for both countries, if American writers on England, and English writers on America, adhered to facts as strictly as Mr. Noah has done. Those who are acquainted with Sir Philip Durham will not fail to recognize his peculiar manner, even in this sketch, which is given with the fidelity which all journalists should observe. Washington Irving has truly observed, that " over no nation does the press hold a more absolute control than over the people of America ; for the universal education of the poorest classes makes every indivi- dual a reader. There is nothing published in Eng- land on the subject of our country, that does not circulate through every part of it. The preposses- sions of the people are in favour of England." If the opinion of this accomplished writer required confirma- tion, I might add, that everything I have seen in the United States convinces me of the correctness of this observation. Joseph Buonaparte's house and grounds are situated on the banks of the Delaware, about thirty miles from Philadelphia. The house is a plain building ; but the suite of rooms is good, and there are^a few valuable pictures and busts by Canova. There are from the grounds rich views of the banks of the Delaware, 382 TRENTON. wliicli is here a good deal indented, and of the neigh- bouring woods; but too much money seemed to me to be expending on a place where there is so little variety of ground. No man can be more respected for quiet and gentlemanly deportment than the ex-king is. When he travels to Philadelphia, New York, and Sara- toga Springs, he lives quite unostentatiously at the pub- lic tables. Passengers are allowed freely to see his grounds. I met him in the middle of them superintend- ing some workmen. From Bordentown on the Dela- ware, in the immediate neighbourhood of Buonaparte's house, I proceeded to Trenton. Next day being Sunday, I went to church, where I heard a very good sermon from a Congregational clergyman. I after- wards dined at the public table of the boarding-house where I lodged. The party was very smalL None of the family at the boarding-house appeared, but one of the^members of the House of Representatives for New Jersey, who happened to be in the house, sat at the head of the table. He asked a blessing before dinner. I mention this the rather, because it was the first time that I had heard a blessing asked at a public table in this country. There is a great wooden bridge near Trenton. Trenton is remarkable as the scene of a very gallant exploit of General Washington's, and which contributed powerfully at the time, in the commence- ment of the w^ar of the American revolution, to alter the face of affairs. After the evacuation of Boston by the British, the hostile armies had not met, until Sir W^illiam Howe AFFAIR AT TRENTON. 383 took the command of the British forces, and first drove the Americans with great loss from Long Island, and then forced them to evacuate New York ; — he after- wards followed them to the county of West Chester, where he gained a considerable advantage in the battle of White Plains, a few miles from Xew Rochelle. At this period, the close of the year 1776, the situation of the American army was most discouraging; a large proportion of the troops had returned from service at the expiration of the term of their enlistment; and the small remains of the American army in Philadelphia w^ere retreating before the enemy. In this situation, Washington having obtained information that the ad- vanced party of the enemy, consisting of about 1,500 Hessians, and British horse, was stationed at Trenton, crossed the Delaware in the night of the 25th Decem- ber in boats, with 2,400 men. He had nine miles to march, but he reached the village, about seven o'clock in the morning, with such promptitude and secrecy, that the enemy, finding themselves surrounded, threw down their arms and surrendered. The commanding officer was killed. Washington did not lose ten men. He recrossed the Delaware the same day, bringing off the cannon, small arms, standards, and baggage. This unlooked for success brought considerable reinforce- ments to the American army ; which induced Washing- ton again to cross the Delaware and face the enemy. It turned out, however, that the British army under Lord Cornwallis, was far superior to the American army ; and upon Lord Cornwallis's advancing to attack 384 DELAWARE BALTIMORE. tliem, it required all tlie resources of Washington's mind to extricate him from his very critical position. He ordered a number of fires to be lighted in his camp, and leaving a sufficient number of men to keep them burning during the night, he made a rapid march by a circuitous route ; and at nine o'clock next morning attacked three British regiments posted at Princeton, and routed them with the loss of 500 men. The daring successes of Washington filled the ranks of the Ameri- can army, and forced the British to quit the whole of New Jersey, in the full occupation of which tliey would otherwise have been. After staying a day or two at Philadelphia, I vrent on to Baltimore, — travelling by steam-boat on the De- laware, by stages from the Delaware to the Chesapeake, and thence by steam-boats on the Chesapeake. The last part of our voyage was performed in the Inde- pendence, one of the finest steam-boats in the United States, of 360 tons, and 100 horse power. She per- formed her distance of seventy-five miles in five hours and eighteen minutes. I have never seen machinery better kept, or better arranged. The crew consisted of twenty-five persons ; and were all men of colour, excepting the captain, engineer, and fireman. The cost of the vessel was 75,000 dollars. She belongs to a company at Baltimore, who have already made above a million of dollars by steam na- vigation. We passed considerable iron works at Wil- mington, in the State of Delaware, — one of the pro- prietors of which, a Quaker, travelled in the steam-boat DELAWARE : BALTIMORE. 385 with us, and told me that, though their original cost was only 25,000 dollars, they now yielded an annual revenue of 6,600 dollars. In the State of Delaware free schools are established on the same footing as at Boston. The passage-money from Philadelphia to Baltimore is four dollars and a-half. The first part of the voyage, forty miles, is performed by the steam-boat from New York in three hours, — from six to nine o'clock. The road crossing the State of Delaware, though only sixteen miles, occupied us three hours, — till twelve; and the remainder of the way, seventy-five miles, was performed in the Independence steam-boat in five hours and eighteen minutes. The bay and harbour of Baltimore, and the town itself, are all handsome. In point of population the tow^n now exceeds every other city in the United States, excepting New York and Philadelphia, being rated at nearly 80,000 persons. It was only a village of 8000 inhabitants at the end of the revolutionary war. The position of Baltimore on tlie Patapsco river, with the Potomac river on the one side, and the Sus- quehannah on the other, is nearer the centre of the United States than any of the other great cities, and is in many respects admirably chosen. There are very handsome rising grounds behind the town. The great hotel, called the City Hotel, has been lately erected, and contains accommodation for about 250 people. It was well filled w^hen I was at Baltimore. The party at dinner was very large; Mr. Barnum, the landlord, a very portly figure, sitting at the top of his table, and VOL. I. s 386 MONUMENT TO WASHINGTON. doing tlie honours in the same manner that a private gentleman would do in his own house in Britain. It would be considered quite as rude to make any appeal to him as to any private individual, if the dinner was not reckoned good by any of the party. The bar- keeper, or the waiters, are the only persons to whom any fault could be mentioned. The bed chambers in this hotel are always locked, unless when those who inhabit them are within, and the keys numbered, are hung up in the bar-room under the charge of the bar-keeper. The waiters are very numerous, and are almost all persons of colour or Irish. The arrangements of the house, considering its great size, appear to me very good; but the frequent use of tobacco renders it im- possible to keep a house of public entertainment so clean as it should be. The people of Baltimore are at present employed in erecting, in a fine situation close to the town, a noble monument to the memory of Washington, by far the finest in the United States. The structure resembles Trajan's Pillar. Its height is 160 feet from the ground ; it stands on a base fifty feet square, and is surmounted by a circular pedestal, on which a statue of Washing- ton, fifteen feet high, is to be placed. The ground on which the column rests is 100 feet high, so that the building, which is of white marble, rises 275 feet above the tide. The inhabitants of Baltimore have not yet forgot our incursion under General Ross in the late war. All the inhabitants between the ages of eighteen and forty-five BALTI3IORE CHURCHES. 387 were called to figlit at a day's notice, and were only a single day in the field, when a successfid action on their part deprived the city of some of the principal inhabit- ants, and sent back many of them wounded. A mo- nument commemorating the engagement, on which are inscribed the names of the sufferers, has been erected in one of the conspicuous streets close to the entrance of the great hotel. The people at Baltimore and in the neighbourhood give sad accounts of the excesses committed during the last war in this quarter, especially by our naval troops, under the command of Sir George Cockburn, who landed on various parts of the adjoining coasts, and acted in the most barbarous manner towards the unarmed and female part of the population. Some of the churches at Baltimore are very large and handsome, especially the Roman Catholic Cathe- dral and the Unitarian Church. At Baltimore the ladies are reckoned peculiarly handsome, and dress very smartly. I never saw an assemblage of handsomer women than in the Cathedral on a Sunday. The in- terior of that church is well fitted up, and there are a few good pictures : the organ is very fine. The mercantile classes of Baltimore are considered enterprising and intelligent. Great public works are at present in progress. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, a stupendous work, will connect Baltimore with a population of nearly 200,000 persons, the cultivators of above one hundred millions of acres of land, much of which is of the most productive soil in the world* S2 383 WASHINGTON. The railway from Baltimore to the Ohio, part of which I saw, and to which the State liberally contributes, is another magnificent undertaking- ; it is three hundred miles long, and the estimated expense five millions of dollars. The Baltimore clippers, a very fast-sailing description of vessels, are well known. At Baltimore, the privateers, which so much annoyed our shipping during the war, were built; and here, it is said, the South Americans and West Indians procure their piratical schooners, which sail like the wind. The distance from Baltimore to Washington is about forty miles, by a not very good road, which I travelled in the stage. I was agreeably disappointed on my arrival. I had been told that I was to see a city in a ruinous-looking state, in consequence of the exten- sive plan of the city, little of which was completed. The ground not having been built upon so quickly as was expected, houses had been erected in various streets, which were not likely to be filled up, and the whole effect was, therefore, as I had heard, very bad. Although this is the case to a certain extent, the city is placed in so very fine a situation, and the Capitol is so truly an imposing building, both in itself and by its situation, that I have seldom been more pleased than with the first view of the seat of the legislature of the United States. The entrance to the city by the Penn- sylviinia avenue, which reaches from the Capitol to the president's house, among rows of poplar trees, and which is 160 feet wide, is magnificent; and the hotel to which it leads, kept by Gadesby, is upon a scale THE CAPITOL. 389 quite equal with that of the public buildings devoted to the State. The Congress not being at present in session, I met with no interruption in my visit to the Capitol and its apartments. The capitol is placed in an area of above twenty acres of ground, enclosed by an iron railing, and commands, by the sudden decli- vity of the ground on one side, a very charming view of the city and adjoining country, and of the river Potomac. The building is 352 feet in front, and the greatest height to the top is 145 feet. The chamber of representatives is semicircular, in the form of the ancient Grecian theatre. It is surrounded by twenty- four columns of variegated native marble, from the banks of the Potomac, which stand on a base of free- stone, and support the magnificent dome. The seats for the members are conveniently disposed, — each member has his fixed place, a chair, and a small desk. The members, when speaking, generally stand in the space between the desks, w^hich affords sufficient room. An engraved plan of the house, a copy of which is easily procured at the door, points out the name and place of each member, so that by referring to the plan every member is at once known. The senate chamber is also semicircular, and a handsome room, though of smaller dimensions. The library is small, but it is a very convenient room for the purpose to which it is applied. The supreme court of the United States holds its sittings in one of the apartments of the capitol, and the committee rooms are conveniently arranged. s 3 390 MOUNT VERNON. It is well known tliat, during the late war, in tlie year 1814, the British, under General Ross and Ad- miral Coekburn, committed great devastation at Wash- ington. Congress were obliged to assemble for seve- ral years afterwards in a building erected for them by the citizens of Washington. All the mischief was, however, repaired, and the whole ground railed in, with the accompanying terraces, gateways, and lodges, in the course of ten years. Everything is now in the most complete state, and it is impossible to conceive a building more suitable in all respects to the views of its founders. General Washington's favourite residence of Mount Vernon is situated on the opposite side of the Poto- mac, at the distance of about fifteen miles from Wash- ington. I found the best way to go to see it was in a hack (a hackney coach) from Washington, w^hich I procured for three dollars and a-half ; before, however, I had proceeded far from Washington, I had a demand of a dollar for crossing the great wooden bridge above a mile in length over the Potomac, and the same sum Tecrossing it on my return. When La Fayette was in this country, a few years ago, he went to Mount Vernon, accompanied by the president of the United States, Mr. Adams. The toll-keeper, as usual, stop- ped the coach and received the toll-duty ; but hearing a moment afterwards that La Fayette was in the coach, he ran after it and repaid the money, declaring he could receive nothing from the guest of the nation. I was very glad that I made this excursion to Mount MOUNT VERNON. 391 Vernon. It is a delightful place, and interesting" from tlie associations connected with it. I set off imme- diately after breakfast, at half-past eight o'clock, a. m., and had no difficulty in seeing everything that was to be seen, and returning to a dinner considered very late here, at 6 o'clock p.m. I found no objection on the part of those entrusted with the charge of the hotel, in letting me have dinner on my return without any extra charge. The horses of the hack were never out of harness till I returned to Washington, and had nothing but water on their way. They were out with me nine hours. The property of Mount Vernon, which belongs to General Washington's nephew, now deceased, (1832,) who was one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, is of very considerable extent, about 10,000 acres, as I w^as told by the servants at the place. About five miles of the drive from Washington pass through wooded ground, belonging to the property. The porter at one of the lodges, who is a man of colour, and very old, is the only one of General Washing- ton's servants w^ho now survives. The situation of the house, on a fine bank of land above the Potomac, and the elevation and undulation of the neighbouring ground are altogether very desirable, and afford great facilities for making Mount Vernon a magnificent place ; but neither the house, nor the offices, nor the kitchen-garden, nor the flower-garden, nor the grounds generally, are in anything like good order. The im* s 4 392 MOUNT VERNON. pression tliey made upon my mind was, that few, if any changes, except those wrought by the hand of time, had been attempted at Mount Vernon, since the days of General Washington ; and if this happens, with a view that the place may retain, as long as possible, that interest, which arises from its having been the favourite residence of that distinguished man, it is all well. The narrow path at the top of the bank above the river, begun by General Washington, when he was carried oif by sudden illness, remains to the pre- sent day in its unfinished state. The burying-place where General Washington's remains are deposited, is quite unadorned, on the bank leading to the river, in front of the house. It is a plain subterraneous vault, nearer to the Potomac than the mansion-house, and is overspread with red cedars. The house itself contains only what we should in Britain consider one good apartment. In the parlour, I observed engrav- ings of Nidpath and RosHn Castles, and in the passage, one of the keys of the Bastile, which had been sent to General Washington by La Fayette. General Washington was the eldest son, of the second marriage, of Augustine Washington, of Vir- ginia, grandson of John Washington, a gentleman of respectable family in the north of England, who emi- grated about 1657, and became the proprietor of an extensive tract of land. Lawrence Washington, the eldest son of General Washington's father by his first ANNAPOLIS — PHILADELPHIA. 393 marriage, left the estate of Mount Vernon to General Washington, who was born on the 22d February, 1732, and died on the 11th December, 1800. In returning from Washington to Baltimore, I made a detour to Annapolis, the seat of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It is situated on the river Severn, a branch from tlie Chesapeake. The city is not large, but there is a fine State-house built, I believe, by the British before the revolution, from which there is a splendid view. There are many handsome houses and gardens in the vicinity. Much of that part of Vir- ginia, through which I passed in travelling by the stage, forty-five miles from W^ashington to Annapolis, has been deteriorated by being overcropped with tobacco. It is a dry sandy soil. I hardly observed a white person w^orking out of doors in that part of the coun- try. Slaves do all the drudgery in Virginia and Mary- land, and are in many places most obsequious. This was particularly the case at Williamson's Hotel at Annapolis. A daily steam-boat on the Chesapeake, is the conveyance from Annapolis to Baltimore, distant from each other about thirty miles. On my way from New York to Baltimore, I lodged in a very good hotel at Philadelphia, and had I been known to the people in the house, I should certainljr have returned to it in my way back, but for the smok- ing and chewing of tobacco, which never ceased in the reading-rooms. The chewing and spitting were car- ried to such a height, that it was difficult to escape from their effects. I, therefore, on my return, w^ent to the s 5 394 MR. head's hotel. Mansion-house, which is more free from the annoyance to which I have alluded, than any other hotel which I have seen in the United States, and which is in all respects superior to any other establishment of the same kind that I met with in America. The accommo- dation in the house itself is ample and excellent ; the attendance is good, and quite sufficient, and the table of a superior description. It is equal to that of a man of considerable fortune in England in the cookery, and the whole style of the thing. Mr. Head, to whom this establishment belongs, is quite a gentleman in manners and education, and has been in Britain, and over the continent of Europe. The dinner is served in courses, and Mr. Head makes a point that the arrangements shall be such, that it shall occupy an hour ; but the haste of some of the American gentlemen to get away to bi;siness again is so great, that, before the course of pastry and puddings is placed on the table, some of them rise and take their departure. Everything is neat and clean, and well ordered. There is supper in this house at nine, as well as tea and coffee at seven. The charge at such a house as this is of course pro- portionally higher, being two dollars per day. I never saw asparagus liner than at this house, but- it is a most abundant vegetable in this country, and very cheap. NEW YORK. 395 CHAPTER XVII. Excursion to Country in the Neighbourhood of New York — Manners of the People — Exclusives — Wealth does not confer the same Advantages as in Britain — Excursion to Staten Island — Details — Stage to New York — Steam-Eoat to Staten Island — Bar-Keeper's Room — Quaran^' tine Ground — View from the Pavilion — Dr. Westervelt — Dinner-^ Details — Drive through Staten Island — Mount Izard — Tarbarrell Hill — Captain Hall's Travels — Darby's View of the United States— Camp-Meeting in Long Island — Details — Objects of the Meeting- Religious Revivals — Opinions of Jonathan Edwards, Dr. John Ers- kine, and Sir Henry Moncrieff — Lord Byron on Field- Preaching- Rules of the Camp-Meeting — Oyster Bay — Long Island Shooting- Ground — Babylon — Camp-Meeting of People of Colour — Pine-Or- chard House — Catskill — Barouche from Catskill — Manners of the People — Sunrise at Pine-Orchard House — Kauterskill Falls — Scotch Driver — "North America" Steam-Boat — V^est-Point Academy— Dr. Hosack — Dr. Mitchell — Hotel at West Point — Colonel Thayer — Details of the Academy — Duke of Saxe Weimar's Account of it- Captain Hall's Account of it — Sentiments expressed by him to Colonel Thayer — Colonel Thayer's Library — Monument to Kosciusko — Fort Putnam — Importance of this Post — Arnold's treacherous Attempt to deliver it up — Long Branch, Sea-Bathing Place — Newark — Orange Springs — Schooley's Mountain — View from Brooklyn Heights — From Hoboken — Colonel Stevens and Family — Blowing up of the Fulton Steam-Frigate — Anniversary of the 4th of July — Post-Office Esta- blishment — Post-Office at New York — Scotch preferred to other Fo- reigners — Brown and Clark's Eating-House at New York — Captain Hall's Mistake — Turtle and Venison — Eating-House at the Sign of s 6 396 MOUNT VERNOX. Burns' Portrait — Book-Store at the Sign-Post of Blackstone's Por- trait — Wilson's Nursery Ground — Kept by Scotch People — Thunder Storms — Conductors — Episcopal Chapel near Mount Vernon — Boarding-House near New Rochelle — Presbyterian Church — Mr. Stebbings — Dr. Smith — Carriages at the Church Doors. May, June, July, August, and September, 1820. After my return to Mount Vernon, near New York, I made various excursions to see those parts of the country in the vicinity of the city, which I was tokl were most worthy of notice. Some account of these excursions will enable the reader, or future travellers, to acquire information respecting the neighbouring country, which may be of use to them, more especially respecting the manners of the people; but here let me remind those into whose hands these pages may come, as to my views in writ- ing them. They are not meant to furnish details ne- cessary for those who wish to learn how the exclusive class in the great American cities, or the elite of the society at Washington, live. That there is a class of people in the great tovvus of the United States, and at the seat of Legislation, who are entitled to the ap- pellation of Exclusives, I have no doubt; but it is well- known that this class, in most cases in all countries, resemble each other much more closely in their arti- ficial way of living and in their artificial manners, than the other portions of society. The exclusive society of the United States, however, is far more trifling in number in relation to the population, than in any other country, and is, therefore, less entitled to notice, MOUNT VERNON. 397 especially as they can only maintain tlieir separation from tlie mass of the people to a very limited extent. In their own houses they may live as they please, dine at London hours, and associate only with such persons as they choose; but in travelling, and at places of public resort, they can command no different sort of treatment, in any respect, from that which is given to every person who conducts himself with pro- priety, and has enough of money to pay his share of the requisite travelling expenses. I had abundant opportunities of satisfying myself of the truth of this observation. Wealth in the metro- polis of the British empire, when properly employed, confers all advantages. It not only enables the pos- sessor to procure all the luxuries of life, but it bestows a station in society which is not otherwise attainable, and which may lead even to the acquisition of rank. In the United States, rank, respect, and consideration are given to talent alone, and to high office, which can only be obtained by the display of talent and industry. One of the first of the expeditions to which I have alluded took place early in June. I had the pleasure of being accompanied by an officer in the army of the United States, and by a friend who lived in the neigh- bourhood of Mount Vernon. I got acquainted with both those gentlemen in the stage; and they pro- posed, with a view of obliging me^ that I should join them in an excursion to Staten Island, in the Bay of New York, to which I readily agreed. We set out in the stage at eight a.m., on a charming morning after 398 EXCURSION TO STATEN ISLAND. breakfast. The fare is ninepenee for eacli person in a long carriage, with four seats, containing two persons on each. The steam-boat to Staten Island runs from Whitehall Slip, the most southerly point of New York, adjoining the pleasure ground called the Battery. On getting into the steamer, I was introduced to a middle- aged gentleman, Mr. Symonson, who made himself very agreeable, and was obviously well-informed as to the localities of the island. We found many people in the boat going on a similar errand with ourselves, to pass the day, free from the cares of business, in the country, and had a good deal of conversation with our fellow-passengers ; for I am bound to say, that except- ing at dinner, when the professional men of the United States generally show considerable anxiety to return to their business-pursuits without much loss of time, they are never indisposed for conversation with a stranger, and are always polite to him. I never ob- served one instance of opposite conduct. The pas- sage across the Bay was very pleasant, and the views of the city and adjoining coast clear. While we were enjoying the scene, one of my fellow-travellers re- minded us, that we must not leave the boat without visiting the bar-room, where we should find every thing very nice. Thither we accordingly went. The bar and gentleman's cabin contained a great variety of eatables and drinkables, such as Bologna sausages, hung-beef, biscuits, and all sorts of confectionery; with wines, spirits, oranges, lemons, limes, lemonade, and ice, which is always to be had in this country. My STATEX ISLAND. 399 companions partook of a sausage, and a little brandy and water, and sugar, mixed by the bar-keeper, in small tumblers. I had some lemonade. I found that the charge for these good things had been paid by one of my friends before I thought of offering pay- ment ; but I took care to treat them at another of the places where we stopped in the course of the day for the same sort of refreshment ; and this is, according to the general custom of the country, before as well as after breakfast, and at all times of the day. This cus- tom, though general, is not, however, by any means universal in any class. I rather think that most medi- cal men, at least in the cities, refrain from the practice, and that the majority of them, as well as of the exclu- sive class, set their faces against its continuance. We landed at the quarantine ground in about half an hour; and Mr. Symonson having told us that dinner at his house was served punctually at one, I rightly conjec- tured that he was hotel-keeper of the house now in idew, adjoining the quarantine ground. We agreed to walk about before dinner, and immediately after dinner to have a barouche to carry us to the highest grounds in the island. The shores of Staten Island are finely indented, and sprinkled with the white, clean-looking villas of this country. The island rises quickly to a considerable height, containing an area of about fifty-two square miles. The quarantine establishment and the adjoining vil- lage are pictures of cleanness, all painted of a bright 400 STATEN ISLAND. white colour. The houses, hotels, &e. generally dis- joined, and many of them closed in small gardens. The whole buildings are situated on a bank gently rising from the shore, and overhanging a beautiful bay below, in which there were some large ships, as well as^ few of the elegant sailing craft, with which the Bay of New York is always adorned. Behind the village the ground becomes abrupt, to a point at which a building is erected called the Pavilion, expressly on account of the splen- dour of the view, the top of which is, I should think, nearly 250 feet above the sea, consisting of handsome saloons, with balconies, piazzas, &c. on all sides, and a look-out place from the summit, from which the prospect is most glorious. I have never been more delighted with any of the prospects of this description vrhich have charmed me most, on the Frith of Forth, t]ie Clyde, the Bay of Dublin, or in the Isle of Wight. I caimot help doubting whether there be a more magnificent prospect in the world. All the features which it con- tains are beautiful, and many of them splendid. Then the moving ships, pilot-boats, and small craft, never allow the view of the water to be for two moments the same. The view comprehends half a dozen friths, dividing, by marked head-lands, tracts of well-wooded and waving country ; and it embraces not only the city of New York, surrounded with a vast mass of shipping, but the city of New Jersey projected into the bay, quite as much as Burnt Island is into the Frith of Forth, as well as the village of Newark. The cities lie too low. QUARANTINE ESTABLISHMENT. 401 but they serve to convince the beholder that he is in the heart of a densely-peopled country. Peninsulas, promontories, islands, isthmuses, land, in a variety of shapes, lie before him, and beyond all, the boundless Atlantic. New York, the magnificent Hudson, the Frith of Newark, and lands and hills of Jersey, are on the north ; Long Island and its sound, the narrows, and the quarantine ground, with the Atlantic, on the east, and the coast of New Jersey, Rariton Bay, Sandihook, and the Atlantic, to the south ; the whole forming a noble prospect in the heart of as rich-looking a country as is in the world. After enjoying the delights of this charming spot for some time, a hint was given, that a visit at the bar-room would be expected. I was lucky enough to procure some cherries. The rest of the party partook, as usual, of some spirits and water. The charge for each was threepence sterling. Finding that the dinner hour had not yet arrived, my friends proposed to me to accompany them to call on some of the officers of the quarantine establishment who were their acquaintances, which I accordingly did. Dr. Westervelt, the principal health officer, is a very intelligent person. He has a yearly allowance, as I was told, of 5000 dollars, besides a house charmingly situated, and a garden. He introduced us to his family, and after our hats were taken from us, which is always done, even on making a short call in the forenoon, a female servant appeared with a waiter containing white and red wine, cyder, and porter, and my friends 402 STATEN ISLAND. again partook of a little spirits and water. It must not be inferred, however, that they were persons addicted to the bottle; on the contrary, they were both perfectly sober men, not in the slightest degree given to excess — they merely took their liquor in small portions frequently, according to the general cus- tom of the country. They, on the other hand, are sur- prised, and often shocked, when they find foreigners sitting for some hours at dinner, and partaking liberally, as we do, of wine, while eating and afterwards, accord- ing to what I consider our more convivial, and more agreeable habits, when not carried to excess. The heat of the day on which we visited Staten Island, was such as to lead our party to take liquor perhaps more frequently in the way practised here, than on most occasions, but I am sure, neither of my friends drank as much as would, when put together, have amounted to nearly a bottle of wine. Dinner was on the table when we reached the hotel ; it consisted of abundance and variety of roast meat, poultry, potatoes, peas, salad, lobsters, large and good, currant pies and puddings. Soup and dressed dishes are generally excluded from ordinary dinners, and fish, though abundant, are not so much cared for as with us. Fish are more frequently produced at breakfast. There is a considerable variety of good fish, such as shad, bass, rock-fish, occasionally sheep's-head fish, and red trout, &c. on the Atlantic coast of the United States, but nothing to make up for the want of salmon, turbot, sole, and haddock. Lob- sters are very large, and coarser than ours. Oysters DINNER AT STATEN ISLAND. 403 are abundant and large. Brandy was on tlie table at tliis dinner, and a little brandy, mixed with water, was drank by some of the party, consisting of about twenty persons or more. Most of them, however, tasted no liquor but water. I called for beer, and got it very good, which is always the case when it is to be had, but this is not generally the case. It is stronger than our beer, and more hopped. No one called for or tasted wine, although there were ladies at table, and the high-sheriff for the county, and a member of Congress, happened to be present. Mr. Symonson, who was particularly attentive to me as a stranger, sat near me at the side of the table. He probably would have sat at the head of it, had he been in the room when the dinner commenced, but even in that case the land- lord does little more than carve the joint before him. In his absence the waiters generally carve. The guests are not always very willing to take this trouble, far- ther than helping themselves, or any friend, to a dish, placed near them. The table was served by two or three men of colour, who seemed to understand their business well. Cheese and cold butter are almost al- ways put on the table with the tarts and puddings ; and the dinner is finished when that part of it which is called the dessert, consisting of tarts, cheese, &c. is over. In the course of less than half an hour after we had sat down to dinner, we were in one of Mr. Symonson's barouches, a carriage holding five persons, himself accompanying us. We had a fine drive through the 404 MOUNT IZARD — TARBARRELL HILL. most interesting parts of the island, the surface of which is much varied. We saw many comfortable-looking farm-houses, amidst rich valleys and lands, and orchards abounding in fruit; but what most surprised me in looking at the fruit, was the extraordinary quantity of cherry trees producing the small black and red cherry. In this ride, I saw a greater number of cherry trees, I am persuaded, than I had seen in the whole course of my life. The quantity of ripe cherries everywhere on the trees we passed was so great, that all seemed to partake of them as they chose. We drove the ba- rouche below the trees on the road side, and pulled what we liked. Property, in such fruit as apples and cherries, is far less regarded than in Britain. Objec- tions are seldom made to the public taking all they can get, without intruding on fenced land. No part of the w^ood in Staten Island, on Long Island, or within any inconsiderable distance from New York, is of great size, the British, during their occupation of New York, in the revolutionary war, having cut down for fuel all the wood within their reach. We made one pause while driving through the island, at a hotel, where brandy and water and a pipe were the order of the day with my fellow-travellers. The points from which we had the most extensive views in the course of our drive, were the top of Mount Izard, the highest in the island, and the top of Tarbarrell Hill, both of them nearly 400 feet in height. There is a single hiccory tree on the top of Mount Izard, from which the prospect is far more ex- STATEN ISLAND. 405 tensive than at the Pavilion, commanding a consider- able part of the view from thence, the unbroken pros- pect to the vrestward of Staten Island Sound, Elizabeth Town, and a greater reach of the Atlantic. From the top of Tarbarrell Hill, too, which is immediately- above the Pavilion, the prospect resembles a panorama much more than on the lower ground at the Pavilion ; but the combination of objects at the Pavilion gave me more pleasure than on the higher grounds, and the fore ground at the Pavilion is far more beautiful. We returned to our steamer at six o'clock, after taking leave of Mr. Symonson, whom we never should have discovered to be a hotel-keeper from any thing that passed, except, perhaps, from his seeing that the waiters attended particularly to me. His father has a fine property in the island, and a nice house, which we passed while we were taking our airing in the ba- rouche. The evening was fine, and tempted us to walk a considerable part of the way home. The brandy and water was given up for soda-water, iced from the fountain, at one place, and lemonade, or rather limeade, at another. The quantity of soda-water used by all classes at this season is beyond belief, generally mixed with a little lemon syrup. The price of limes here at present is fifteenpence sterling per hundred. The whole expense of this little excursion, amounted, inclusive of dinner, barouche, steam-boat, brandy and water, soda-water, and stage, to seven shillings and threepence sterling each. The steam- 406 FIRE-FLIES. boat fare to Staten Island, five miles from New York, is sixpence sterling. To Albany, 150 miles distant, it is a dollar. Such is the effect of unlimited compe- tition. A thousand passengers went to Albany in the North America steamer one day lately. One of the companies to which the steamers belong, at a late public auction, agreed to pay 3650 dollars for a year's use of one of the wharfs at New York, only affording ac- commodation for two steam-boats at a time. Real property of all kinds at New York brings great prices. The site of a house at the corner of two central streets, twenty-nine feet in one street, and 130 in another, was lately sold for 38,100 dollars. The light from the fire-flies was most brilliant in the evening I have mentioned, and almost illuminated our way home. The fire-flies, the numerous small squir- rels, and the catydids, remind us that we are in a fo- reign climate. Snakes, too, are occasionally seen, but not of a dangerous kind, at least the people here seem to have very little fear of them. I have hitherto seen nothing in this country to be compared to the prospect which I have endeavoured to describe from the Pavilion at Staten Island. There are finer views of New York itself from the opposite shores of New Jersey, on the one side, and from Brook- lyn, and the heights of Long Island, on the other ; but Staten Island is unquestionably the place for seeing New York in combination with its noble harbour, and the surrounding seas and the shipping which adorn them. After I had once found my way under the . STATEN ISLAND. 407 guidance of my friends to the Pavilion, I frequently- bent my steps to it when 1 had leisure, to spend an hour or two in the island, and never returned without being equally delighted with the scenery above the quarantine ground. Strange it is, but not less strange than true^ that I have never observed in any of the published tours relative to the United States, the slightest reference made to the beauties of Staten Island, or to the pros- pect from the Pavilion. Captain Hall's Travels were brought me while I was wTiting the notes of this ex- cursion; but it does not appear from them that he had ever visited this island, though only five miles from New York, where he resided for a considerable period. At a subsequent period I procured, at Philadelphia, Mr. Darby, the geographer's, valuable view of the United States, and was glad to find that he recommended Sta- ten Island as possessing the most variegated landscapes on the Atlantic coast of the United States. " No tra- veller ought (he writes) to neglect it. In a clear day, a single hour on some of the hills of Staten Island is worth a voyage of considerable extent. How many who visit New York with all the means of gratification, and who travel for mere amusement, lose the invaluable pleasure of scanning the rich perspective from Staten Island ? Thousands and tens of thousands." Some time after my expedition to Staten Island, an advertisement of a Camp-meeting, to be held at Mus- quito Cove, on Long Island Sound, came in my way* I expressed to the hotel-keeper at Mount Vernon a wish to be present; and he, and one of the friends 408 CAMP-MEETING. who accompanied me to Staten Island, very good hu- mouredly agreed to make a party to Long Island for a day. We hired a barouche, which is to be had at New York for four doUars a-day, then crossing by the steam- boat ferry to Long Ishuid, and breakfasting at the vil- lage of Flushing, where are situated Mr. Prince's long- established nursery grounds, we reached that part of Musquito Cove, where we understood the meeting was to be held, at about twelve o'clock. The meeting was held within a forest or wood, where a sufficient num- ber of trees had been cut to make such an opening as was required. The morning service was concluded some time before we arrived. From the high grounds, the view of the bay, of the shipping, and of the assembled multitudes, with their carriages and horses, was very striking. A great many of the people were straggling in the adjoining fields during the interval of service. The shipping, all of which had been employed in bringing persons from a considerable distance to join the meeting, consisted of five steam-boats, about sixty sloops and schooners, besides open boats* The number of horses and carriages was proportionably great. It was calculated that there were about 12,000 persons on the ground, certainly not less than 9,000 or 10,000. There seemed to be about a dozen clergymen, all belonging to the Methodist persuasion, in a large co- vered and elevated platform. Benches were provided for the congregation, placed on the vacant or open space in front of the platform. The males were on the one side of the benches and the CAMP-MEETING. 409 females on the other. There were benches for a great part of the assembled multitude, and the benches were surrounded on all sides by a close body of those who had only standing room. When the afternoon service commenced, the effect of this prodigious assemblage of people, all standing, lifting up their voices, and joining in praise to their Creator, was more sublime than those who have not witnessed such a scene can well imagine. The sermon, which was afterwards delivered, lasted for an hour, and was distinctly heard all over the ground, for the most perfect order and silence prevailed. The clergyman preached from the 29th verse of the 10th chapter of the book of Numbers : We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you : come thou with us, and we will do thee good ; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel." The discourse seemed to me altogether faultless, and the address at the end was most remarkably impressive. The speaker, in the conclusion, alluded to the sect of Christians to which he belonged, the Methodists; but he meant, he added, to say " nought against other de- nominations of Christians who did good." After ser- mon, prayer, all kneeling, succeeded. Then a hymn was sung, and another clergyman, a very old man, com- ing to the edge of the platform, said that a friend whom they had never heard before was about to address them. Another clergyman, an aged person, then stepped for- ward, to enforce, as he said, the invitation in the text, which he did very shortly, and very skilfully, particu- larly, and with great earnestness, exhorting those mem- VOL. I. T 410 CAMP-MEETING. bers who had lately been added to their church, to communicate to their brothers, sisters, and friends, some idea of the happiness which they now enjoyed, that they might be induced to follow their example, and accept the invitation, by joining the church, even before the meeting was over. The afternoon service was concluded as usual, with singing and prayer, and the most perfect decorum pre- vailed. The service continued for about two hours and a-half. I understood that this meeting w^as to last for about four days. Many people came from a distance of one hundred miles and upwards. The great objects of holding such meetings in this part of the country, are to afford opportunities to persons whose situation, such as that of servants, prevents them from attending wor- ship regularly on Sunday, of being present on the occa- sion, when they are almost always indulged, and allowed to avail themselves of it; and to keep people who have not yet turned their minds to religious subjects together for such a time, that their attention must be arrested. It is conceived that extraordinary eff'orts ought fre- quently to be made by all those ministers of Christ who are faithful, and do not neglect their duty. Such of the clergy as approve of the observance of numerous days for prayer meetings, and of such assemblages as this, ascribe the want of revivals, by which I merely imderstand the addition of any considerable number of converts at one time to any church, to the languor of the minister, and to his making no further exertion than RELIGIOUS REVIVALS. 411 custom has established as a standard. They maintain, that where the minister contents himself with preaching once or twice on the Sabbath, performing the profes- sional duties required of him, and nothing more, with- out questioning himself whether anything more be re- quired of him by the precepts of the religion he profes- ses, the church becomes relaxed in discipline, — and that the absence of anything like a revival in such circum- stances, shows that those who believe in the Gospel of Christ must perform more ministerial and Christian duties, and must show more earnestness. I had a very different notion of what was meant by a revival of religion in the United States, both from what I had previously heard, and from what I had been told since I was in this country, by persons who consider every clergyman to be weak, and eccentric, and an enthusiast, who deviates from the ordinary routine of ministerial operation, or who shows the sincerity of his belief by using all the means in his power to obtain converts to that religion which he professes to believe. The United States being free from any religious establishment, every one is not only tolerated in the ex- ercise of the religion he believes, but is at full liberty, without the fear, except in a very few and very peculiar cases, of his temporal concerns being at all affected by his religious profession, (whatever it may be,) to em- brace those religious doctrines which he conceives on due consideration are true. It follows from this state of things, that there is much less hypocrisy in the pro- fessors of religion in this than in other countries. Those T 2 412 RELIGIOUS REVIVALS. in this country, who voluntarily go to a Protestant church, and who voluntarily pay for the ministration of a Christian clergyman, may be generally, ( I do not mean to say universally,) held to have made the necessary examination, and to be real believers of the doctrines of the Christian religion ; — whereas those from other countries, who have travelled in the United States, and who have put forth sneering and ill-founded state- ments on the subject of revivals, camp-meetings, &c. are generally Christians professing that religion, merely because their parents did so, or because Christianity is the religion of their country, and not because they ever investigated its truth. I found at Northampton a short narrative of a revival in a Presbyterian church at Baltimore, written in a plain unsophisticated style by Mr. Walton, the clergyman of that church, which I w ould recommend to the attention of some late English wTiters, who, in perfect ignorance, as it appears to me, treat the reliarious meeting^s and the revivals in the United States in a contemptuous manner, and as if they were approved and attended by no one of sane mind. Mr. Walton describes himself as having been for many years a clergyman, who thought that, by preaching the Gospel at the usual times, he was doing all that w^as required of him, and that he ought to leave the rest to the Divine influence ; adding that, upon being called to a different sphere of labour, he had an increasing desire to be useful. He redoubled his exertions ; he appointed prayer meetings, not only public, but pri- vate, from house to house, and engaged the assistance RELIGIOUS REVIVALS, 413 of all, wlio were members of the church, to impress upon the young people the necessity of their examining the doctrines of the Christian religion, and, professing them, if they believed them to be true. The result was the addition of between eighty and ninety communi- cants to his church in the space of a few months. And this is precisely what is called a revival in the United States, and what was formerly, and what very probably now is, among certain classes of Christians, called a revival in Great Britain. A revival then happens as often as any clergyman is led to make greater exer- tions than are usual, by himself, or by exciting his flock, or by their united exertions ; and when the con- sequence of their labour is, that a greater number of persons than usual is added to the church. Is there anything irrational in this ? Quite the contrary. This is not the place for attempting to prove or disprove the truth of the Christian religion. What I maintain is this, and nothing more than this, that all persons, whether clergymen or laymen, should show their belief in the religion, whether Mahometan, Roman Catholic, or Protestant, which they profess, by obeying its precepts and doctrines ; and more especially, that clergymen, who set themselves apart to the work of the ministry, should be zealous in promoting the doctrines of the religion they have embraced. Those who do not so act, show themselves to be the vilest of all hypo- crites. If they are clergymen, professing the Christian religion, it is well known to all those acquainted with the doctrines of the Bible, that no duty is more strictly t3 414 RELIGIOUS REVIVALS. enjoined than that the teachers of the word should preach it to the world, — should be instrumental in saving all the souls they can. They ai'e bound to make the utmost exertions that it is possible for them to make, in order to produce in others the same belief which they entertain. We have teachers of philoso- phy, and of every branch of science, and applaud and honour those who show the greatest earnestness and talent in explaining and enforcing those doctrines which they themselves believe. Why should equal earnestness and sincerity not be expected from those who undertake to teach and explain the doctrines of the Christian religion ? Upon this subject of revivals, on which so much nonsense has lately been written, there is abundance of sound authorities in the United States, as well as in Britain, which may be referred to with advantage. For example, Jonathan Edwards, a man equally dis- tinguished as a profound divine and an acute philo- sopher, the president of the College of New Jersey, published, so long ago as the middle of the last century, accounts of remarkable conversions at Northampton, in Massachusetts, attended by symptoms of bodily agitation. Dr. John Erskine of Edinburgh, about the same period, or rather later, was the writer of a pamphlet relative to revivals at Cambuslang, and other places in the west of Scotland, attended with remarkable mental and bodily agitations, the truth of which is attested by the evidence of men of the strictest truth and greatest respectability of character. At the period when the RELIGIOUS REVIVALS. 415 famous Mr. Whitfield visited Scotland, the multitudes that often assembled in the open air were perhaps more numerous than any congregation ever before collected in Scotland. The religious impressions made on the people were much greater, and more general, and the visible convulsive agitations which accompanied them exceeded everything of the kind which had yet been observed. This is stated in Sir Henry Moncrieff's Life of Doctor Erskine. Sir Henry Moncrieff, than whom no man had less claim to the character of an enthusiast, a person too of sound judgment and great eminence, and a zealous clergyman, declares in his life of Dr. Erskine, that no events can be more satisfactorily attested, as unquestionable facts, than those in the west of Scot- land, to wdiich allusion has now been made, adding the following very pertinent and interesting observa- tions : " It must not be forgotten, that the number was very considerable of those who dated their first and best impressions of religion from this time, and who were afterwards distinguished by a visible and unquestionable reformation of manners ; of which few examples of the same extent can be produced in mo- dern times. Even some of those who have done their utmost to decry the converts of Cambuslang, and to diminish their number, are obliged to admit that they might amount to some hundreds ; and others, who ap- pear to have honestly related the facts from their own observations and inquiries, and to have rejected every circumstance from their narratives of which they did T 4 416 RELIGIOUS REVIVALS. not think themselves fully assured, mention 400 at Cambuslang, independent of those who belonged to Kilsyth. " Whatever opinion may be held with regard to the means or influence with which 400 individuals connected a reformation in their moral and religious characters, which they afterwards supported through life, no fair man will deny that such an effect produced on such a number of human beings is a subject neither of ridicule nor contempt. Many thousands attended, on whom no visible impression seems to have been made. And this fact, according with ordinary expe- rience, and honestly related in the narratives on the subject, confirms, instead of lessening, their credibility. " On the other hand, let the thousands who go away without having received any visible impression be out of the question, (though many good effects might have been produced, which were neither observed nor re- lated at the time), 400 individuals, who, to the con- viction of those who knew them, become better men, — men more useful and conscientious in their stations, and more faithful in their practical duties than they ever were before, and who preserve this character while they live, — exhibits a view of the religion of Cambuslang and Kilsyth which a wise man will not easily bring himself to reprobate, and which no good man, if he candidly examines the facts and believes them, will allow himself to despise. " It is vain to represent the religious instruction of Cambuslang as so defective, either in form or in sub- RELIGIOUS REVIVALS. 417 stance, as to be incapable of producing any salutary effect, and as having been addressed much more to the imaginations and the passions, than to the consciences or the understandings, of the people. " Though this is not admitted to have been the fact by those who had best access to judge, — if it be true that what was there preached became the instrument of producing a permanent reformation of manners in 400 or 500 individuals within the short space of six or eight months, — no other testimony is requisite to demon- strate either its value or its efficiency. " The examples published to establish this fact it is impossible to mention here with any minuteness. It was observed, in particular, at Kilsyth, that, before this period, the people of the parish had been remark- able for such a litigious spirit, as had, in a great mea- sure, destroyed the comfort and confidence of private life ; and that, immediately after this period, the spirit of litigation seemed to be so much extinguished by the spirit of religion, that the magistrate of the district declared, that for many months no action whatever had been brought before his court, where it had before been usual to have a great many during the course of every week. " Similar facts, equally decisive, were related from- other districts ; and, in general, it was certainly be- lieved, by those who had the best access to be tho- roughly informed, and who lived many years in the habits of intimate communication with the individuals, that they who were called the converts of 1742, with few T 5 418 RELIGIOUS REVIVALS. exceptions indeed, supported through life the character which they then assumed, and were equally distin- guished by purity of manners and Christian sincerity. "It is more than probable that they are now all in their graves, with Mr. Whitfield himself, and every individual who attempted to stigmatize or to defend him ; and it is surely consolatory to know, that, accord- ing to the best information which h2is been preserved, they have left no stain on their religious profession, or on the strong impressions of religion, which, under God, they ascribed to the ministry of Mr. Whitfield and his associates ; that their conduct was equally open to those who distrusted their original professions and to those who relied on them ; — and that, at the dis- tance of upwards of seventy years, every information with regard to their personal conduct is in favour of the powerful impressions, by means of which they believed themselves to have been first persuaded to become Christians in earnest, and to have first imbibed the spirit of practical religion." Sir Henry afterwards mentions, that Dr. Erskine, in his pamphlet already referred to, appreciated the lead- ing facts in the same way. The bodily agitations or convulsions he considered as nothing more than the effect of deep impressions made on the conscience, such as any serious alarm on any subject in common life, remote from religion, might, in similar circum- stances, have occasioned. The evidence afforded by the testimony of Ed- wards, Erskine, and Sir Henry Moncriefi", clergy- RELIGIOUS REVIVALS. 419 men of the most irreproachable character, all of them men of acknowledged talent, and as free from religious enthusiasm and fanaticism as any individuals who ever lived, is far more than suflScient to show, that there is no just ground for condemning great religious meet- ings, now more common in the United States than in any other country, as inconsistent with the principles or the practice of the real professors of the Christian religion, and is far more than sufficient to shield the clergy of the United States, or such of them (espe- cially the Methodists, the followers of Mr. Whitfield,) as still maintain the doctrine of revivals, from the gibes of those, who, in utter ignorance of the doctrines of the Christian religion, have given circulation to in- sinuations respecting the tendency of many of those religious meetings, for which there is generally not the slightest foundation. All human institutions are liable to abuse ; and there is no greater reason to maintain, that, because immo- ralities may have taken place among the multitudes as- sembled at camp-meetings in the United States, that such meetings should be discontinued, than that the sacramental meetings in Scotland, at w^hich instances of impropriety of conduct have been said to occur, should be put down. I believe many clergymen of the United States also conceive, from the experience of the past, that more converts are to be expected from a great meeting last- ing several days, when the people are as much as pos- T 6 420 FIELD-PREACHING. sible abstracted from secular business, than from tlie ordinary services of the church. They refer, in order to prove the propriety of this sort of meeting, to the 15th chapter of St. Matthew, verses 30 and seq, where the multitude, consisting of 400, besides women and children, remained with Christ three days, — to the 8th chapter of St. Mark, verses 4 and seq, — and to the sermon from the mount, (in St. Matthew, chapters 5, 6, 7,) preached by Christ from the mountain to the multitudes. " It is to be recollected," (says Lord Byron, perhaps a singular authority to refer to on such a subject,) " that the most beautiful and impressive doctrines of the Divine Founder of Christianity were delivered, not in the temple, but on the mount; and that, weaving the question of devotion, and turning to human eloquence, the most effectual and splendid specimens were not pronounced wdthin walls. Demosthenes addressed the public and popular assemblies. Cicero spoke in the forum. That this added to their effect, on the mind of both orator and hearer, may be conceived, from the difference between what we read of the emotions then and there produced, and those we ourselves experience in the perusal in the closet." Lord Byron adds, " that, were the early and rapid progress of what is called Methodism to be attributed to any cause beyond the enthusiasm excited by vehe- ment faith and doctrines, (the truth or error of which he presumed neither to canvas nor to question,) he RULES OF CAMP-MEETING. 421 should venture to ascribe it to the practice of preaching in the fields, and the unstudied and extemporaneous effusions of its teachers." A contribution is at the camp-meetings made among the people, in order to defray the expense of the ground, and of the necessary police to preserve order. " The rules and orders for the government of the camp-meeting," printed on a card, were affixed to a great many of the trees on the neighbouring grounds. I tore off one of the cards, in order to preserve a copy of the rules, which follow. 1. Preaching, morning, afternoon, and evening, at the sound of the trumpet from the stand. " II. During the time of preaching from the stand, not more than one person is to remain in each tent, (except in cases of sickness,) but all are to repair to the stand, and come into the congregation. " III. No walking, talking, or smoking tobacco, or standing up while there are vacant seats, is to be al- lowed within the circle of the tents in the time of preaching; no standing or walking on the seats at any time. " IV. No cooking or preparing victuals, or setting or clearing of tables, during preaching from the stand, is to be allowed. This rule applies to those tents that keep boarders as well as others. " V. About ten o'clock in the evening the trumpet will be blown at the stand, when all who have lodgings on the ground must retire to rest, and all who have not will be required to leave the ground. 422 OYSTER BAY. " VI. The owners or occupants of each tent shall be responsible for these rules, and for any rude or im- proper conduct in their tents ; and on complaint the tent shall be subjected to be removed." These rules were most strictly observed, one person having been taken up on the evening before we arrived at the camp-ground merely for selling cyder. All sorts of liquor are prohibited, excepting tea and coffee. During the interval of worship, many of the people were walking about the adjoining grounds, — others were in their tents, where the head of the family, or some other person, was praying ; and in some of those tents manifestations were occasionally given by the groans and exclamations of the people. There was less of these exclamations during the sermon than I had expected; the greatest order continued during the whole period of its delivery. Two of the clergy- men had gowns and bands. When the afternoon service was concluded, we re- mounted our vehicle, in order to reach Oyster Bay, where we proposed spending the night, before sun- set. We stopped in our way at a small village, two or three miles from the camp-meeting, where, though not at regular hours, a good dinner was quickly pre- pared. Oyster Bay is about forty miles from New York, in Long Island Sound. The bay and village, which consist of straggling houses, are much resorted" to as a summer retreat, are very beautiful, and the situation thoroughly retired. The hotel at Oyster Bay is large, and was well filled on this occasion with BABYLON. 423 people returning" from the camp-meeting. We left it the next morning very early, (between four and five o'clock,) and ascertained that not a door had been shut during the whole night, nor even a window on the ground-floor. We crossed the country before breakfast, on the morning of our leaving Oyster Bay, to Babylon, a village on the Atlantic side of Long Island, about twenty miles off, chiefly through a A^ery wild country, consisting of thin soil overgrown with brush-wood, the chief inhabitants of which are wild deer, quails, and game, which are called here grouse and partridges, but which are very different from, and very inferior to the birds of the same description in Britain. This tract of country is about seventy miles long, and is greatly resorted to by the people of New York as shooting-ground. No one is prevented from sporting over it as he likes. The hotel at Babylon is deservedly famous for its breakfasts. We had the red sea trout in perfection ; and the shell-fish called clams admirably prepared. From hence we retraced our steps to New York, passing through the very pretty village of Jamaica, as well as the grounds recently occupied by Mr. Cobbett, which did not seem parti- cularly to require notice. Some time after I had attended this camp-meeting-, I happened to go part of the way in the steam-boat, with a great party of men of colour and their families, who were proceeding to a camp-meeting, under the charge of their own clergymen, who were men of colour. I never saw a happier set of people than they seemed to be; singing hymns in the boat, and re- 424 PINE-ORCHARD HOUSE. galing tliemselves with peaclies, of wliich they had tubsful. The Pine- Orchard House, in the midst of the Cats- kill mountains, and about 2500 feet above the Hudson, is one of the most delightful retreats during the very- hot weather at New York. An incorporated company was formed a few years ago, for the erection and main- tenance of a splendid hotel upon a level rock, a few acres in extent, near the top of the mountains, about twelve miles from the village of Catskill, which is situ- ated near the Hudson, upon its west bank, about 120 miles from New York. A friend accompanied me in one of the splendid steam-boats on the Hudson, the De Witt Clinton, when we agreed, on a very hot evening in New York, to try the climate of the mountains. The voyage was quite a fairy scene. There was an excel- lent band of music, and the evening was so serene and beautiful, that half the passengers to Albany did not go to bed. I had occasion to observe here, what I had noticed before, that it is much less usual in the United States than with us for the men to wear night-caps. The boat touched, at two o'clock a.m., at the landing-place, about half a mile from the village of Catskill, and on getting ashore we found, what I certainly did not expect, stages waiting to carry us to the village with- out any expense. There is at present a keen com- petition between two companies, who have abundance of carriages of all kinds for conveying travellers from Catskill to Pine-Orchard House ; and their agents, who are in waiting when the steamers from New York CATSKILL. 425 arrive, consider it is almost certain, that those persons will prefer the conveyances of that company to carry them to the mountain house, who have brought them from the landing-place to the village of Catskill. When we reached one of the Catskill hotels, conveyances were in waiting ready to take us on immediately to the moun- tain house; but we preferred having a sleep at Catskill, which we did not leave till the following morning after breakfast. Catskill is a thriving village, with a consi- derable number of people employed in manufactures. The situation is pleasant, and the view of the river and neighbouring mountains, which are 3000 or 4000 feet high, very fine. We had a choice of conveyances, and preferred an open barouche, which contained four per- sons. The last five miles of the road were extremely steep — so much so, that a carriage is generally four hours in going the twelve miles to the house, and only two hours in returning. The horses get half a pint of rum mixed in a little water at a half-way house on the hill. The fare from Catskill, in consequence of the competition, is at present only half a dollar for each per- son. We found when we got to the house an English landlord, (Mr. Webb,) and English waiters, who have more courteous, the Americans would say more obse- quious, manners, than are common at hotels in this country. We were at once sensible of the change of temperature, the thermometer being here below 70% while at New York it is above 80^ The house con- tains admirable public apartments, and cool comfort- able bed-rooms. Every thing is good, and the dinner 426 PINE-ORCHARD HOUSE. excellent. There seemed to me very little difference in the whole aiTangement within doors from that of the best houses at Harrowgate, excepting that much less wine was used at dinner, and very little after it, and that the tea and supper w^ere taken as one meal. There was no card playing, but there was music in the evening, and the inmates of the house seemed disposed to make themselves agreeable to each other. We were told in the evening that the view from the terrace in front of the house, which is twenty-five feet broad, was finer at sunrise than at any other time; but I was hardly prepared to expect, what was actually the case, that the whole company would have assembled on the terrace before five o'clock next morning to witness the sunrise, and to find that this was not unusual. For- tunately the morning was beautifully clear, so that we enjoyed in perfection the sublime prospect over the Hudson, and a tract of country as rich and fertile, and well cultivated, as any upon the eastern coast of America. In the vicinity of the Pine-Orchard House, there are delightful walks to the tops of the adjoining- hills, and drives through the mountains of considerable extent, so that I cannot conceive a place better fitted for the New York people to retire to during the violence of the heat. There is not, it is true, the delicious water of Saratoga Springs ; but there is here, on the other hand, a much cooler climate. The Kauterskill water- falls are not far from Pine-Orchard House, where the descent is not less than 260 feet, but the lack of water in the summer season is great. The scenery KAUTERSKILL FALLS. 427 on the banks of the stream is very romantic, and in- duces every one who visits the mountain house to take a peep of the Falls. The hills are very ge- nerally covered with the mountain-laurel, which is a species of pale rhododendron. On our way back to Catskill, a driver from Lanarkshire, in Scotland, took us down the hill. He told me, that cheapness of living alone induced him to remain in the country, — he found he could make a little money, and he only waited till it amounted to a certain sum, to enable him to return and marry in Scotland. He is a native of the village of Douglas Mill, and seemed to understand the whip well, which is very necessary on this road, for it is no easy matter to drive a coach and four on a narrow road, on a very rapid descent, with sharp turnings cut out of the side of the hill, and without any fence or protection on the exterior side. I did not know, until after I had been some time at the mountain house, that the landlord was an English- man, and was surprised at his asking me, when he heard me expressing my admiration of the prospect, whether I had ever been at the White Horse in Wiltshire, from which, he said, he thought the view was almost equally striking. The charge at this hotel is two dollars a-day. Mr. Webb has a circulating library. I returned from the mountain house in the North America steam-boat. Captain Benson, the obliging commander, carried the boat in the line the best calculated to show me the Highlands to advantage, and gave me a place on the 428 WEST POINT. platform beside the pilot. This is one of the most interesting scenes in the world. West Point, where the great military academy of the United States is situated, is on the west side of the river Hudson, about fifty miles from New York. I went there accompanied by a gentleman, who had promised to in- troduce me to Colonel Thayer, the superintendent of the military school. The " North America" steamer afforded us the means of conveyance. The boat was crowded with passengers,among whom were Dr. Hosack, the celebrated physician, and medical writer of New York, who has recently retired from practice, — of whose great kindness I shall always retain a grateful sense. I had been some time engaged in conversation with Dr. Hosack, to whom my only introduction was in the steam-boat, by Dr. Mitchell of New York, the well-known translator of Cuvier, to whom I had been presented five minutes jDreviously, when, in conse- quence of an answer from me to one of his inquiries, he discovered how nearly I was related to two de- ceased friends of his in Edinburgh, with whom he had been well acquainted at the time when he was prosecuting his studies at the University of Edin- burgh. As soon as he thus found out who I was, he anxiously pressed me to make his house my home as often as I liked, and even on this, the first occasion of my seeing him, he did not allow me to leave the steam-boat at West Point without offering to be my banker to any extent I might require, as I was (he WEST POINT. 429 said, in a foreign country, and miglit require assistance. I did not avail myself of this handsome and liberal offer, and various circumstances contributed to prevent me from partaking of Dr. Hosack's hospitality so fre- quently as he wished. But it is not the less incum- bent on me to record so gratifying an example of the more than good offices which American gentlemen uniformly take pleasure in performing for all foreigners who have anything like a claim of kindness on them. I presume my relatives in Scotland may have 'given the worthy Doctor some hints as to the plan of his medical studies when he was in Edinburgh, or may have pointed out to him a fit lodging, or had the plea- sure of his company at dinner half a dozen times or more ; and for this sort of civility shown him thirty or forty years ago, Dr. Hosack made the return I have mentioned. Dr. Hosack introduced me to Colonel Worth, who formerly had the military charge of the cadets at West Point, as well as to Captain Hitchcock, who now fills his place. A good deal of conversation took place re- specting our different modes of living, especially on the subject of the charges in the hotels in America being regulated at so much per day, so that every man could know the extent of his expenditure, and resort to a su- perior or inferior hotel, according to his finances, in- stead of having a charge made against him by an inn- keeper in England, over the amount of which the guest has no control. Dr. Mitchell told a story, — I remem- ber, — of his going to Windsor one evening to see the 430 HOTEL. castle. The waiter at one of the inns, I presume the best, asked him what he would have for supper, — mentioning, among other things, eels. The Doc- tor thought he would relish the eels as much as any- thing else, and accordingly ordered them ; but he be- held that part of his next day's bill with dismay, as it contained a charge for the eels, exclusive of all the other articles, of no less than ten shillings and sixpence sterling. A superb hotel has lately been erected near the landing-place, adjoining West Point Academy, where we found a party of sixty people, and an excellent dinner, and a particularly good dessert of fruit. The hotel-keeper is a New Jersey man, and seems to un- derstand his business almost as well as Mr. Webb. Very little wine was used, and the party were all out of the dining-room in less than an hour. Soon after dinner, we waited upon Colonel Thayer, who showed us every sort of attention, and would not allow us to accompany liim to visit the establishment until we had wine and cake. We had the pleasure of partaking of a most excellent breakfast with him next morning. The houses belonging to the establishment are plain and good, and nothing can be more beautiful than the parade, a handsome piece of level ground in the heart of the Highlands, at an elevation of about 200 feet above the Hudson river. The number of young men at the academy is about 250, educated at the expense of government, from the age of fourteen till twenty. This academy has MILITARY ACADEMY. 431 been established for about thirty years. The young men are educated in all the branches of military science as well as in the minutiae of tactics, comprehending the duties of a private soldier as well as those of the highest officer. They are required to encamp for six weeks every year, that they may be thoroughly instructed in all the details of a camp. Their dis- cipline is very strict. Officers for the United States army are generally obtained from this school. The Duke of Saxe Weimar has, in his late Travels in the United States, given a detailed account of the system pursued at this military school, which he lately visited, and which he approved so much and so entirely, that he was anxious, when he was in the United States, to obtain permission for one of his sons to be educated there. The Duke of Saxe Weimar's authority upon such a subject is entitled to great weight. He served at different periods of the French revolutionary war under Buonaparte and the Duke of Wellington, and was equally respected, as a brave and intelligent officer, by both. He is now, I believe, second in command of the King of Holland's army. The favourable opinion which the Duke has so imequivocally expressed of this military academy makes Colonel Thayer, who was himself educated here, the less alive to the strictures which have lately appeared on the management and discipline of the academy in Captain Hall's Travels ; but he complains, with great justice, of those strictures. Captain Hall having spent too short a time at West Point to be able to form an 432 WEST POINT, opinion of the management which he pursues. Colonel Thayer only saw Captain Hall for two or three hours one morning, when he seemed to be in a great hurry- to get away ; but he expressed to Colonel Thayer his approbation of every thing he did see, and mentioned his intention to return, that he might have an oppor- tunity to examine the whole establishment at leisure. What Colonel Thayer chiefly finds fault with is, Cap- tain HalFs statement, that the commandant had taken him over the establishment, and asked his opinion about several points, from which it might be inferred, that he (Colonel Thayer) had asked Captain Hall's opinion as to those points. This, Colonel Thayer most unequivocally says, is a mistake. He never asked Captain HalFs opinion on any point whatever connected with the establishment. Captain HalFs opinion must therefore have been asked by other per- sons whom he saw at the academy, and this he should have mentioned. Captain Hall expressed to Colonel Thayer generally his approbation of everything he saw, without any exception whatever. Captain Hall was for a long time afterwards at New York, but never re- peated his visit to the academy. Colonel Thayer waited upon him at New York, a day or two before Captain Hall embarked for Britain. He reminded Captain Hall of his intention to revisit the academy. This, Captain Hall said, was now out of his power ; but he again stated how much he had been pleased with all he had observed at West Point. The class-rooms and library are large and excellent MILITARY ACADEMY. 433 apartments. Colonel Thayer was so obliging, as not only to show us the public library, but his own private library, which contains many curious and valuable books. I have not seen in the United States a man of more gentlemanly manners and appearance than Colonel Thayer, nor one that is more thoroughly free from any thing like national prejudice in relation to his country. I had not read Captain HalFs remarks upon this esta- blishment with any attention when I went to West Point. If I had, I should not have been entitled to expect so kind a reception. I remember Colonel Thayer observing, that he hardly knew which of the two late English writers on America were the most to be blamed, — Captain Hall for his prejudices against the United States, or Miss Wright for lier's in their favour. The representations of neither were to be trusted. Kosciusko, a Pole, M'ho was in the American ser- vice during the revolution, afterwards resided in a romantic situation near West Point, and had a curious garden and water-fountain. A monument of white marble has been erected to his memory on a projecting point, forming an abrupt bend of the river. Tliere are a few other very interesting monuments in a beautiful situation, to the memory of two or three of the cadets who have died here, erected by their class-mates in testimony of their esteem. The situation of the West Point Academy is not only naturally one of the finest that can be conceived, but is very interesting, on account of the events with which it is connected. West Point, comprehending Fort VOL. I. u 434 FORT PUTNAM. Putnam, situated on the higli ground above it, was the most important military position upon the Hudson dur- ing the war of the revohition, and was absolutely ne- cessary for the defence of the passage of the Hudson and the Highlands. This post commanded the river and the opposite shore, as well as the other works upon both banks, and was indispensably requisite for the pro- tection of the greater part of the State of New York against sudden incursions from the enemy on the sea- coast, as well as for preserving a secure communication between New England and the United States. It was, therefore, during the first part of the war, well forti- fied under the direction of the most skilful engineers of the American and French armies, with an astonishing degree of expense and labour. It was called at that time the Gibraltar of North America. No wonder, then, that the treacherous attempt of the American general, Arnold, to deliver this post to the British in September 1780, created such a general alarm in this country. General Putnam, from whom Fort Putnam has its name, had originally planned that fortress on a natural platform of the rocks, very steep and inacces- sible on all sides, the whole of the works being on that point of the river, where, deviating from the usual directness of its course, it bends suddenly round a bold and lofty promontory. Fort Putnam, since the end of the revolutionary war, has been gradually dismantled, and is falling very fast to decay, but it is well worth seeing, presenting a sin- gular feature in American scenery, — the ruins of an old LONG BRANCH. 435 castle, — more to be looked for on the great European rivers than here. From its walls, which are easily ac- cessible, the view is most attractive, — not only of the river and the Highlands, and of the plain of West Point, (rendered gay by the military academy, and still more so when I saw it by the encampment of the cadets,) but also of a part of the finest country in the Eastern part of North America, the rich plains of Duchess and Orange counties, filled with villages, the property in all eases of those who occupy them. Here is a yeomanry, of whom the United States may well be proud. Long Branch, upon the coast of New Jersey, and quite exposed to the Atlantic Ocean, is the great sea- bathing place, as well for the people of New York as Philadelphia, and is easily accessible, first, by a steam- boat conveyance for thirty miles through a fine part of New York Bay towards Sandyhook. Stages are the conveyance for the last eight miles. On Sandyhook are the remains of a marble monu- ment, containing the following inscription : — " At Sandyhook lie interred the remains of the Honourable Douglas Hamilton Halliburton, son of Sholto Charles Earl of Morton, and Heir of the ancient family of Halli- burton of Pittcurr, in Scotland, who perished on this coast, with twelve more young gentlemen and one com- mon seaman, in the spirited discharge of duty, on the 30th or 31st of December 1783, born the 1 0th of Octo- ber 1763, — a youth, who, in contempt of hardship or danger, though possessed of an ample fortune, served u 2 436 SEA-BATHING. seven years In tlie British navy with a manly courage, and seemed to deserve a better fate. This plain monu- mental stone is erected by his unhappy mother, Katha- rine Countess Dowager of Morton, to his dear memory, and that of his unfortunate companions, James Cham- pion, lieutenant of marines; Alexander Johnstone, George Paddy, Robert Hay wood, midshipmen; Charles Gascoigne, Andrew Hamerton, William Scott, David Reddie, William Tomlinson, William Spry, John Chain, Robert Wood, young gentlemen ; George Towers, common seaman, cast away, all found dead and frozen, and buried in one grave." The hotels at Long Branch are very large, and in a fine airy situation, overlooking the ocean. The coast is extremely steep, and the oceanic swell often great; but the natives of the United States are said to prefer sea-bathing in the ocean to that in bays or rivers. Owing to the swell, females are often afraid to venture into the sea with a female bathing-woman, and on that account prefer the assistance of a man. This custom, which is very far from being general, has given rise to ill-founded stories of want of delicacy on the part of the American females. The fact is, I believe, exactly as I have stated it, and the parties always go into the water completely dressed. If this be wrong, what are we to say of the practice at Bath, which does not admit of the justification of necessity as it does at Long Branch, and at other bathing-places of the same description as Bath ? The quantity of vegetables grown for the New NEWARK — ORANGE SPRINGS. 437 York market on that part of New Jersey coast be- tween Shrewsbury and Long Branch, especially of cucumbers, beet-root, and French beans, is immense. The steam-boat in which I returned from Long Branch was loaded with them. On another excursion a friend accompanied me to Newark, which is considered one of the most beauti- ful villages in New Jersey, only ten miles from New York. It is interspersed with trees, and open pieces of fine green turf. The stage fare is only one shilling, upon one of the best roads in the country. We went on from Newark to the Orange Springs, a few miles from Newark, which are in a very pleasant situation, but the water is not found to possess those medicinal qualities for which it was at one period famed ; and the great hotel is now used as an academy. We dined at a neighbouring country hotel, where, without any previous warning, they gave us for dinner fish, roasted lamb, broiled chicken and ham, peas, sweet Indian corn boiled, potatoes, and apple-pie, with a bottle of very tolerable claret, all for a dollar and a-half for two persons. Schooley's Mountain, in New Jersey, about forty- five miles from New York, is another place of resort during the hot weather to the inhabitants of New York, as well as of Philadelphia, from which it is only twenty- five miles distant. It is not only situated in a cool and airy situation, but there are mineral springs in the neighbourhood of some value. I made a trip to it in u 3 438 BELMONT HALL. the montli of August, and was surprised to find so near New York the stage-drivers dine at table, both in going and returning. On the way, not very far from New York, I passed the property of Bishop Hobart of New York, which he lias lately much improved. He has planted a great many locust trees, which are the most useful and ornamental of the planted timber in this country, Belmont Hall is the chief house of public entertainment, and sufficiently reasonable in point of charges; but I think houses nearer the spring more convenient. The charge for boarding and lodging is five dollars per week. Belmont Hall itself is very agreeable as a residence, — it is well kept, and there are good baths. I lodged there for a night. The hill, or mountain, as it is called here, is 1200 feet high. There is a handsome well-situated church near it. The mineral spring is a rill issuing from a fissure on the perpendicular side of a rock, discharging about a gallon in two minutes and a half. Its taste, and the appearance of the water, show that it is a chalybeate, strongly characterized by astringency and ferruginous impregnations. The water has been found extremely useful in cases of gravel. The view in the neighbourhood of New York, which is the most easily accessible, is that from the Brooklyn Heights, on Long Island, the breadth of the steam- boat ferry there not being above half a mile. Though quite inferior to that from Staten Island, it is one of the most charming views, so near a town, of the town STEVENS FAMILY. 439 itself, of the bay and shipping, that can be conceived. On the other side of the city, the steam-boat ferry across the Hudson to Hoboken, enables the inhabitants of New York to leave the town, and get almost in a moment to retirement, and to shaded walks of very considerable extent. A very enterprising family, of the name of Stevens, who have extensive property at Hoboken, on that part of the New Jersey shore, have been at great pains to lay out a considerable part of it in pleasure-grounds and walks, for the use of the New York people, and those who live in the neigh- bourhood. This, too, is a profitable employment of the ground, owing to the great increase which it has produced in the number of persons crossing at the ferry, and the consequent increase of the ferry funds. The ferry belongs to the same family. While we remained in the neighbourhood of New York, the American steam-frigate Fulton, in conse- quence of an accidental explosion, was blown up at the Navy Yard, about three miles from the place where we were living, and occasioned such a shock as I shall never forget. She had been employed as a receiving- ship, and was moored within two hundred yards of the shore. At the time of the explosion, the officers were dining in the ward-room. There were nearly 100 per- sons on board, of whom about forty were killed or wounded. The accident happened by the gunner's going into the magazine to procure powder. This frigate was of the burthen of 2475 tons. She was u 4 440 POST-OFFICES. not completed until, I believe, after tlie war was over, and had only, as I understood, made one short voyage to the ocean, and back again. The 4tli of July occurred when we were living at Mount Vernon. This is the anniversary of the day on which the declaration of independence of the United States was proclaimed, and is the only day in the year which is entirely kept as a holiday. The militia are called out, — the people of colour have a procession, — and public dinners are the order of the day. Not one great dinner for those composing a select society, or belonging to a particular class, but dinners in various places for different corporations. Steam-boat navigation has enabled the government of late years prodigiously to increase the post-office establishment. There are now between 8000 and 9000 post-offices in the United States, all conducted upon the same principle, — that the State is to derive no revenue from them. Indeed, the general post-office establishment at Washington is supported by the go- vernment funds. The interior details of the New York Post-Office are excellent. The letters in New York are delivered from the post-office with great rapidity. As soon as a packet arrives from Europe, a fresh deli- very takes place. The letter-carriers receive a half- penny for each letter they deliver ; and, if they are steady, always make money. Several of them at pre- sent at New York are Scotchmen. They must all find seciu-ity to a considerable amount. The Canada packet arrived on the 18th January from Liverpool, FRANKLIN EATING-HOUSE. 441 bringing 2575 letters. The New York delivery, though some parts of the city are above three miles from the Post-Office, was completed in an hour and a quarter, after the letters w^ere received at the post- office. The Scotch are preferred to other foreigners in all public employments, on account of their sobriety ; the Swiss and Germans, as planters or landed pro- prietors ; but neither the English, nor especially the Irish, can withstand the demoralizing effects of cheap liquor, so well as the emigrants from the continent of Europe and the Scotch. Many of the Irish fall a sacri- fice to the use of spirits ; but still there is a great num- ber of them in the neighbourhood of New York and Philadelphia doing well and living soberly. The mere eating-houses at New York are numerous* Dinners are got at a very reasonable rate ; and mer- cantile men, whose dwelling-houses are distant from their places of business, very generally dine at those houses. Captain Hall mentions one eating-house which is, I believe, the best, kept by two Englishmen, Messrs. Brown and Clark of Maiden Lane, who, it is said, are making money very fast. They deserve to do so, for everything in the house is good and well-dressed. Their house is called the Franklin House. Captain Hall calls it the Plate-House, for what reason I know not, unless it be, that people sitting down to table call for a plate of whatever is wanted, and which is contained in the bills of the day. The house consists only of three public apartments, viz. the bar-room, a large coffee-room, with separate tables below stairs, and a dining-room above* u 5 442 TURTLE AND VENISON. Dinner is ready from twelve till five o'clock ; a list is exhibited on the wall of the articles ready each day . and there is abundance of those articles to be had at a moment's notice, whatever be the number of guests, who are every moment, as it w^ere, popping in and out. This is an immense establishment. The number of persons dining every day must be im- mensely greater than at the Trois Freres Provencaux of the Palais Royal. On going into the coffee-room, or dining-room, one of the waiters attends, and brings, almost in a twinkling, a plate of w^hatever is ordered. Captain Hall has made some great mistake in respect to the charge, which is very moderate. He would lead a stranger to suppose it to be three times as great as it is. I presume, he had wine, and omitted to notice it in the note of articles he ordered. The charge for a plate of fisli, with a plate of roasted turkey, a slice of ham, vegetables, potatoes, beans, &c. and plum-pudding, or peach, or apple pie, is exactly one shilling sterling; the price of a pint bottle of claret is one shilling sterling ; of a tumbler of beer or cider, both good of their kinds, one penny; — no payment w^iatever is ever made to waiters. Instead of turkey and ham, corned- beef, roast-beef, or roast-veal, may almost always be had. Turtle is very plentiful at New York, but not so well - dressed as in England, — at least not so well for English palates ; the price is one shilling and threepence for a large basin. Venison is very generally to be had, but almost always dry — only fit for soup. And soup is not BOOK-STORE NURSERY. 443 so mucli esteemed, nor so frequently met with, in the United States as in Britain. Roast-beef, beef-steaks, poultry, and pork, are the favourite articles of food here. A small tavern is kept in Nassau street, one of the leading streets in New York, by a Mrs. Mackay, an old Scotchwoman, where haggis and many other Scotch dishes are to be had: the sign-post being a half-length picture of Burns the poet, with two of his well-known lines inscribed : " The night drove on with songs and clatter, And aye the ale was growing better." In the same street is situated the store of Gould and Banks, law booksellers ; the sign-post of which is a half-length portrait of Judge Blackstone. In the neighbourhood of Mount Vernon there is a piece of public nursery-ground, with the superintend- ent of which we became acquainted from sometimes w^alking in it. We found his name was Wilson, a na- tive of Clackmannanshire, in Scotland, married to an Aberdeenshire woman. They have been here for many years, and are as happy as possible. They told us that they liked the country the longer the better. Mrs. Wil- son had been at home lately to see her relations, and spoke with regret of leaving them, living in the un- comfortable way they did, compared with the abund- ance she was enjoying. They have far better wages than at home, and far cheaper food ; and, though they have a family, are laying up a considerable sum yearly for their old age. An Irishman, who had lately come over, not yet eighteen years old, was w^orking in these grounds u 6 444 THUNDER-STORM. at the rate of ten dollars per month, besides board and washing. He told ns that, after paying for his clothes and any little expenses which he incurred, he was lay- ing up thirty-five out of every sixty dollars he received. There were several severe thunderstorms while we were in the neighbourhood of New York, very differ- ent in their appearance from those which occur in Britain, but not attended with more accidents. One of them in the middle of June was, however, very tre- mendous ; it occurred in the night, and the flashes of vivid lightning followed each other with so great ra- pidity, that the sky was altogether illuminated for a long period, and until a violent storm of wind, accom- panied with a deluge of rain, came on. The roaring of the thunder never ceased during the continuance of the storm. Several casualties occurred in New York ; some trees were torn up by the roots, the shipping was damaged, one vessel upset, and the crew drowned. There is more appearance of devastation occasioned by thunder-storms in the forests and woods of this country than anywhere else. Large portions of the forest are sometimes seen almost torn to pieces. Subsequently to this period, and when I was travel- ling in the southern States, I was again and again a wit- ness to very terrifying and magnificent thunder-storms, where I have seen the whole atmosphere illuminated by the never-ceasing balls of fire bursting from cloud to cloud, and the appearance every moment of forked flashes of lightning. Few nights during the summer, andbeginning of autumn in this country, occur, in which ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS. 445 lightning is not visible in some part of tlie horizon. Conductors or electrical rods are very universal in this country on all houses and public buildings, and it is said that no accident has happened where this precaution has been carefully attended to. I mention this, because I know doubts have lately been expressed by persons, whose opinions are entitled to weight, as to the pro- priety of erecting conductors, on the ground that the risk of attracting lightning is much increased by their presence, and that fatal consequences may ensue, if, in such circumstances, the conductors are not such, and in so complete order, as to convey the lightning to the earth. I have, however, heard of several in- stances in this country of buildings in exposed situa- tions, where there are no conductors, being destroyed by lightning. Similar buildings have been erected in the same situations provided with conductors, and no acci- dent whatever has taken place. I have also seen seve- ral buildings, the church of Bergen, in New Jersey, for example, which have been struck by lightning, but which remain uninjured, the conductors having conveyed it to the earth. Accidents occasioned by lightning at Charleston, in South Carolina, were much more fre- quent previous to the introduction of the electrical rod than now. During one thunder-storm, two churches, five ships, and five houses, were demolished ; but no similar casualty is said to have taken place since con- ductors became general. Whatever opinion may now be entertained as to the efficacy of electrical rods, it will not be affected by the 446 EPISCOPAL CHURCH. prejudices which were formerly entertained against the American nation. The abhorrence of George the Third to everything American was such, that, during the revolutionary war, he even ordered the conductors recommended by Dr. Franklin to be removed from Buckinofham House. While we were at Mount Vernon, there was no church near us but a chapel of the Episcopal persuasion, which we attended. There was less exertion on the part of the clergyman who oflBciated here, than in any other place of religious worship where I have been in the United States, and the consequence was precisely w^hat was to be expected, that, although the situation of the chapel was near New York, and in a thickly- peopled neighbourhood, there was a greater number of empty benches than I have observed anywhere else. In the month of August 1829, 1 was tempted by the description of a villa in Long Island Sound, near New Rochelle, at present kept as a boarding-house, to make a trip to it by the steam-boat, to discover whether it was a place that was likely to suit us. I went in the afternoon, and was amused to find, when we sat down to tea soon after I arrived, that the party, consistmg of eight persons besides myself, were all British. The landlord and landlady were lately from London, and the rest of the party consisted of the family of Mr. Mar- tin, a London gentleman, now settled at New York, w^ho had come upon the same errand as myself, in order to look at the boarding-house. I liked the place BOARDING-HOUSE. 447 so much, that we removed thither while the weather was still very warm, on the 28th of August. The house was the property of Mr. Weyman, an American gentleman of considerable landed property, who resided in a cottage in the neighbourhood, and had put an Englishman in the house, which was large, to manage it as a boarding-house. It is situated on a lawn overlooking part of the indented shores of Long Island. The public table was very pleasant ; the ma- nagers of the house were very agreeable people ; and at first the only boarders besides ourselves were a South American, and a French gentleman, both mer- chants. Mr. and Mrs. Weyman occasionally dined with us; and though the party sometimes increased in number during the first month that we remained here, the whole arrangements more resembled those of a private gentleman's house, than those of a hotel or boarding-house. The servants were all persons of colour. Among them was a man of colour and his wife ; and though they had the incumbrance of a child a year or two old with them, they received twenty dollars a month, besides board and washing. This boarding-house was situated within a mile of the clean and neat-looking village of New Rochelle, which is beautifully approached on both sides through rows of handsome poplar trees. There are various meeting- houses here, but only two large churches ; one of the Episcopal persuasion, which was very well filled, and the other of the Presbyterian, at which Mr. Stebbings, a very sensible well-informed young man, officiated. 448 ANECDOTE. We generally attended divine service at his churcli during the period that we remained in the neigh- bourhood. On one occasion a singular circumstance happened. Mr. Stebbings had gone from home, intending to return on a Sunday morning. He was unavoidably detained ; and the person who promised to officiate for him failed to appear, in consequence of the morning being very stormy. The congregation assembled, — a pause ensued. At length Dr. Smith, one of the elders, a very respectable physician, whose acquaintance I remember with pleasure, rose, and said, that they ought not to separate without discharging those religious duties which had led them to assemble on the first day of the week, and should do what they could to improve their time. He then gave out a psalm from his own seat, without going into the pulpit. Afterwards he prayed at great length. In the meantime, he had sent home one of his daughters for a volume of sermons, one of which he read. A second psalm, given out by him, was sung ; and the service was concluded by a prayer from Mr. Lister, a farmer in the neighbourhood, another of the elders; — the whole without any fuss or exertion. There certainly is an appearance of absence of hypocrisy about the people, which is quite startling to Euro- peans, but which is obviously owing to the perfect freedom of their institutions, and to that degree of equality which unquestionably exists. It seems ab- surd to them to think of assuming a different character from that which really belongs to them. SUNDAY SCHOOLS. 449 The number of carriages at the church door?;, espe- cially at the doors of the Episcopal meeting*, which the wealthier people attend, is very great. There were Sunday schools both in the Episcopal chapel and in the Presbyterian church. Dr. Smith's daughters took the principal charge of that belonging to this church. While we remained at New Rochelle, a confirmation took place at the Episcopal chapel, at which Bishop Hobart (since deceased) officiated. He preached from the text, " Many are called, but few are chosen." The church was much crowded on this occasion. The service was performed in a very impressive manner. 450 EXCURSION TO THE HUDSON. CHAPTER XVIII. Excursion to both Sides of the Hudson — Duffie's Hackney Coach— Tarrytown — Major Andre's Capture — Details — His Execution — Ge- neral Washington's Wish to save him — Account of Serjeant Champe's Expedition — Major Lee's Memoirs — Sir Charles Asgill's Danger and Escape — Details — Sing-Sing Prison — Mr. Roscoe's Views — Dinner at Sing-Sing — Macleod's Hotel — Supper — Mr. Conklin's Orchard— Cider-Making — Charge at the Hotel — Verplank's Point — Visit to it — Mr. Verplank at Work at his Agricultural Operations — Peeks- hill — Philipston — Colonel Robinson's House occupied by General Arnold — Arnold's Treachery — His Residence in England — Contempt with which he was treated — Mansion-House at Fishkill— Passage through the Fishkill Mountains — Poughkeepsie — Opinion of Dr. Mitchell and the Geologists as to the Existence of a great Lake above the Highlands — Hyde Park — Its Beauties — Dr. Hosack's Terrace — Supper at Rhinebeck — Meagre Furnishing of Bed-Rooms — Cold Weather — Garret Cuck's Hotel — Breakfast — Manners of the People compared with British Manners — George WoodhuU — Miss H. — Captain Hall's Opinion as to Want of Loyalty on the part of the Americans — Tea Parties — Kindness of the Americans to the British — Admitted by Captain Hall — Want of Gratitude on the Part of the British for American Hospitality — British Exclusives— Washington Irving on the Peculiarities of his Countrymen — Prepossessions un- favourable to the Americans since the Revolution — Loss of the Ame- rican Colonies, a severe Humiliation to Great Britain — Diflference between Rebellion and Revolution — No Ambassador sent to America after the Revolution — Mr. Adams sent by the Americans in 1785— His Account of his Interview with George the Third — Mr. Adams EXCURSION TO THE HUDSON. 451 recalled in 1787, no Ambassador having been sent from Britain-— Mr. Hammond sent in 1791 — Mr. Jefferson's Reception of Him— Contempt of the United States shown by the British — Mr. Jefferson's Letter — Church at Rhinebeck — City of Hudson — Bryan's Hotel — Circuit Court at Hudson — Breakfast at Kinderhook — Beauty of the Village — Richardson's Hotel — View of Albany — Hotel at Troy- Population — Circuit Court — Assistant Judges — Jurisdiction of Ma- gistrates of Boroughs in Scotland — Assistance of Lawyers — Circuit Court adjourned at one o'clock to dine — Troy — Schools — Mr. Par- ker, Bookseller — Inquiries as to Mr. Brougham — Mount Ida- View — Farmer from Scotland. September and October, 1829. About the end of September, I put in execution a plan which I had long wished to accomplish, by visit- ing both sides of the Hudson by land. Steam convey- ance is far too rapid to allow even the beauties of the scene, which are capable of being seen from the river, to make a due, or sufficiently permanent impression ; and it does not afford the opportunities requiredTor fisit- ing those parts of the country on each side of the river, which are the most remarkable, or the most interesting. It is only possible to get acquainted with the many at- tractions which the varied outline and diversified coun- try on each side of the Hudson presents, by travelling leisurely by land. As soon, therefore, as the weather in the autumn became sufficiently cool, I set about preparing for our expedition. The hacks, or hackney- coaches of New York, are admirably suited for such an expedition as this. They are light, some of them not above 1100 pounds weight, the roof being supported upon a metal frame. Curtains are let down in a mo- 452 MAJOR Andre's capture. jnent in case of rain, or for protection from the sun. The horses are generally active and good, and the drivers Irishmen, or men of colour. I contracted with an Irishman, Hugh Duffie, who was proprietor of his own equipage, he paying the whole expense for him- self and his horses. His charge was very reasonable, and he was perfectly satisfied with payment at the rate stipulated when the journey was over. I can safely recommend him to future travellers. Our conveyance took us up at New Rochelle, and carried us through the county of West Chester, on the east side of the Hudson to Tarrytown, near which we were shown the spot where the unfortunate Major Andre was taken. The details of his tragical fate are too well known to require that they should be circumstantially recorded here. He was adjutant-general of the British army at New York, and had undertaken to have a personal interview with the traitor. General Arnold, within the American lines, in order to make arrangements for the surrender of the important post of West Point, v/hich Arnold commanded, to the British. On his returning from the meeting, he was arrested by three Americans patrolling between the outposts of the armies. Andre alarmed, instead of producing the passport which Ar- nold had given him, under the fictitious name of John Anderson, asked the men where they belonged to, and on their replying " to below," meaning to New York, " So do I," said Andre, "I am a British officer." This answer sealed his fate. " You belong to our enemies, then," was the rejoinder, "and we arrest you EXECUTION OF MAJOR ANDRe'. 453 in the name of the American Congress." Then, and not till then, Andre produced Arnokl's pass, saying-, " Am I then among my American friends ?" By this time, however, the ill-concealed anxiety of Major Andre, and his first fatal admission, had excited so great suspicion, that his captors did not consider the pass to be genuine, and proceeded to search him. The important papers respecting the delivery of the post having been found in his possession, Andre offered his watch, afterwards a thousand guineas, and, last of all, a draft on Sir Henry Clinton, the com- mander-in-chief, for ten thousand guineas, he to re- main a hostage wdth two of the party, imtil one of them could ride to the British quarters and return with the money. All his offers were rejected, and he was delivered by his captors into the hands of the American commanding officer, to whom he admitted himself to be the adjutant-general of the British army. He was immediately conducted to West Point, and thence to head-quarters, at Tappan, where, upon the 29th of September, he was brought before a board of fourteen general officers, among whom was La Fay- ette, who found that he ought to be considered as a spy, and to suffer death. The sentence was put in execution on the 2nd of October, 1780. Great exertions were made to save Andre, who was a general favourite with the army, and an amiable and brave man ; and General Washington has been much blamed for allowing the law to take its course. But it does not seem, looking back to the circumstances 454 MAJOR ANDRE. in whicli Washington was then placed, that he had any alternative. Previous to this period, various American officers had been put to death by the British for being found within the British lines. One of them. Captain Hale, of Connecticut, offered himself as a volunteer for the hazardous service of obtaining the best information respecting the British army on Long Island, after Washington's retreat to New York. In attempting to return, after executing his instructions, he was appre- hended, and carried before Sir William Howe, to whom he acknowledged who he was. Sir William Howe at once, without resorting to a court, gave an order to have him executed next morning, which was accord- ingly done. In such circumstances, it would have been looked on as an acknowledgment of weakness on the part of the American commander-in-chief, if he had shown any hesitation in a case so perfectly plain as that of Andre ; but it became known, long after Andre's death, that General Washington had been most anxious to save him. First of all, he at once offered to the British general to save him, upon his delivering up Ge- neral Arnold. Tliis offer being rejected, he made an attempt to get Arnold into his power by stratagem, de- termined, if it succeeded, to save the life of Major An- dre. He communicated his views to a single confiden- tial officer. Major Lee, commanding a corps of cavalry^ Having sent for Lee, he told him that his object was to have Arnold brought off from New York, where he then was, that he might, by getting him, save Andre. He made this communication (he said) in the expecta- SERJEANT CHAMPe's EXPEDITION. 455 tion tliat Lee had in liis corps individuals capable and willing to undertake so hazardous an enterprise. Ac- cordingly Serjeant Champe was the person fixed upon, a man of tried courage and inflexible perseverance. Champe having at length agreed to make the attempt, set off as soon as the necessary instructions were pre- pared, — and, after encountering dangers of no ordi- nary kind, reached New York. Every arrangement for the abduction was completed, when Arnold was ordered to remove his quarters to another part of the town, and it became impossible to carry the design into execution. General Washington presented Champe with his discharge from farther service, on account of the zeal he had shown to execute the difficult duty which he had intrusted to him. Major Lee has, in his Memoirs, given most interest- ing details relative to Champ e's mission. Andre was the author of a satirical poem, which he published at New York, called the Cow Chase, wi'itten on the failure of an expedition undertaken by the Ame- rican General Wayne, for the purpose of collecting cattle. Part of the satire was directed against General Washington, but it was chiefly aimed at Wayne, whose entire baggage, he asserted, was taken, containing " The Congress dollars, and his prog, His military speeches : His corn-stalk whisky for his grog, Black stockings and blue breeches.'* He concludes by observing that it is not safe for him to proceed further, 456 SIR C. ASGILL, " Lest the same warrior drover Wayne Should catch — and hang the poet." Major Andre was actually delivered over to tlie division of the American army under the command of Wayne. General Washington, a year or two afterwards, had almost felt himself obliged to resort to a measure even more heart-rending than acquiescing in the death of Andre. In the spring of 1782, Lippincott, a British officer, had caused Captain Huddy of the American militia, against whom no crime was alleged, but that of being in arms against the British, to be executed without the formality of a trial. General Washington having in vain demanded that Lippincott should be delivered up to pay the forfeit of his crime, an order was issued, directing the American officers commanding at Lan- caster, where the British prisoners w^ere confined, to select by lot a captain to be sent to the main army, that he might there, by his death, atone for the murder of Captain Huddy. The lot fell upon Sir Charles Asgill, who was immediately brought to head- quarters, and his person strictly secured. In the meantime, however. General Washington had ordered a most .strict examination of the circumstances attending the death of Captain Huddy, when it turned out that Lippincott had acted under the orders of a superior authority. General Washington immediately com- municated this information to Congress, who lost no time in ordering the release of the prisoner. SING-SING PRISON. 457 Sing-Sing, about thirty-two miles from New York, was our dining-place on the clay we left New Rochelle. Here is placed the other great state-prison of New York. It is still in an unfinished state, and most of the convicts are employed on the building itself, in hewing stones, or in masonry of other kinds. Their work is valued, arid in that way it is found that their employment is as profitable as at Auburn. The prison is about 480 feet in length. I called at a bookseller's store to obtain a copy of the last report to the legisla- ture respecting the Auburn prison. He expressed his regret that he had not one in his possession, because he perceived that I was from Britain ; but finding, on inquiry, that I proposed to go to Albany, he said I should have no difficulty in procuring a copy from the secretary of state there. He told me of a correspond- ence that had passed between himself and Mr. Roscoe, of Liverpool, on the subject of prison discipline, in which he had explained to Mr. Roscoe his views of the superiority of the Auburn system over that of soli- tary confinement. We proceeded in the evening to a second-rate hotel, near the village of Croton, kept by civil people of the name of Macleod. Supper consisted of coffee and toast, cold beef, bread home-baked, and preserved peach-pie. After supper, Mrs. Macleod, who had in the mean time dressed herself neatly, expressed a wish to bring in her children, a son and two daughters, to see us, as we were strangers, and her children were, she thought, too shy. We found them well-educated children, the VOL. I. X 58 MR. CONKLIN's orchard. eldest daughter possessing a great deal of knowledge in geography. The Van Courtland estate in this neighbourhood is of far greater extent than most estates in this country, above eight miles in one line. One of the largest orchards in this country is in the vicinity of this place, belonging to Mr. Conklin. It consists of forty acres. All the trees are raised by himself from the seed and grafted. He sells his Newton pippins and Russell pippins, and manufactures the remainder of his apples into cyder. The cyder-mill is eighty feet long, arid there are two cellars of equal length. The barrel of cyder contains from twenty-eight to thirty-two gal- lons ; the price of each barrel is from three to seven dollars, according to the quality. Pasture grass is let at from four to five dollars an acre, w^hich seems a high price, when a horse is grazed at a dollar and a-lialf. I had some Malaga and water at this tayern in the evening. The landlord told me that the Malaga cost him eight shillings a gallon. Next morning we had an excellent breakfast of colfee, eggs, toast and butter, and beef-steak; the whole charge for lodging, supper, and breakfast for my wife and myself, being 5^. 9d, sterling. The rides are very beautiful from Macleod's hotel to the entrance to Verplank's Point, a promon- tory projecting into the Hudson, at the entrance to the Highlands. I had seen from the steam-boat what a delightful looking place it was, and resolved to attempt to have a peep at its beauties, although we had to leave the public road, and to drive two miles MR. VERPLANk's house. 459 into the grounds of the private proprietor. When we had got two-thirds of the way or more, we arrived at a point from which the road took two courses, one diverging to the right, and the other to the left. We were puzzled which of the lines to follow, and drove on to the adjoining field, where we saw several people at work, carrying out manure in waggons and spreading it. I made the carriage stop at the first waggon, which was drawn by oxen, and asked the driver if we were on the road to the house. The person driving the waggon replied, " This, sir, is not the road to my house ; but I perceive you are strangers, and you are very welcome to go this way." This reply, of course, led to explanations between us ; and when Mr. Ver- plank found that we were strangers, wishing to see the beauties of his place, he showed us every sort of attention, and desired us to drive on to the lawn in front of the -house, which was not usually allowed. The house is good and large, and the office-houses appeared to us particularly so. There are no less than twenty of them, all separate from each other, to prevent communication by fire, as we supposed, and all very neatly painted; but the great attraction of the place consists in the views of the river, and various points projecting into it, and of the Highlands from differeiit points of the truly beautiful lawn in front of the house. Mr. Verplank told us that he had been living in the southern parts of the United States, and had only suc- ceeded his father about a year ago, and was now busy, as we saw, in putting his inheritance in good order. The estate, which belongs to Mr. Verplank, is of con- x2 460 PEEKSHILL. siderable size on both sides of the river, and he is also in possession of a large fortune in money, and is ob- viously a gentleman in manners and by education. He made no allusion whatever to the employment in which we found him engaged, and he showed good taste in abstaining to do so ; for, although it is not a general practice, as I understand, for gentlemen in Mr. Verplank's situation in this part of the United States, in which I mean to comprehend the populous parts of New York State, Pennsylvania, and New England, to be themselves actively employed in agri- cultural operations, I mean actually to work with their farm servants, nothing is more common in the United States, taken as a whole, particularly in the newly cultivated parts of Pennsylvania, and New York States, and in almost all the western country, than for the proprietors to v/ork in the field, and at the same occupation, as their servants. In the western country, on the Ohio and Mississippi, more lately peopled, the proprietors and their servants almost always eat toge- ther. Of course I allude to farmers or planters living in the country, and not to persons of that description living in the large towns. We got on to Peeksliill, on the banks of the river, to dinner; and for three shillings w^e had an excellent dinner quickly prepared, with brandy and water. In the parlours of all these inns there is a small library. Here we saw the Pilgrim's Progress, Smith on Typhus, Byron's Works, and two English Prayer Books. The road from hence to Philipston is hilly and rough, but very interesting, from its passing through the Highlands. PHILIPSTON. 461 We did not arrive till nearly seven o'clock at Philip- ston, which, though only fourteen miles from Peekshill, was a heavy stage for the horses, and occupied us three hours and three quarters. There are many orchards here, with a considerable number of quince trees. Some of the apples on the trees are so red, that they almost appear to be the production of a tropical climate. We had for supper coffee, bread and butter, grape and peach jelly, and cheese, the charge for which and for lodging was three shillings sterling. We found next morning, that, if we had wished to be accommo- dated in a more splendid hotel, we should have gone on a mile further to Horseborough's house. In this neighbourliood,and in a most romantic situation on this side of the river, is the house occupied by General Arnold, — then belonging to Colonel Robinson, a loyal- ist, — at the time when he attempted to deliver up West Point to the British ; and here Arnold first received the information of Andre's capture. He lost not a mo- ment in proceeding down the river in an eight-oared barge, to join a British sloop-of-war, in which he fortu- nately escaped to New York. He received 10,000/. from the British, and the same rank in their service which he had held from his countrymen, against whom he acted during: the remainder of the war. After — the war he resided in England ; but he was treated at various times in a way not very likely to lead others to imitate his treasonable conduct. On one occasion, the present Lord Lauderdale, who perceived Arnold on the right hand of George the Third, and x3 462 GENERAL ARNOLD. near liis person, when his Majesty addressed Parlia- ment, declared, on his return to the Commons, that, however ^acious the language which he had heard from the throne, his indignation could not but be excited at beholding, as he had done, his Majesty supported by a traitor. Lord Surrey, afterwards Duke of Norfolk, rising to speak in the House of Commons, and perceiv- ing Arnold in the gallery, sat down with precipitation, exclaiming, "I will not speak w^hile that man," pointing to him, ''is in the house." General Arnold was with the king at another time, when Lord Balcarras, w^ho had fought under General Burgoyne in the Saratoga campaign, was presented. The king introduced them. " What, Sire?" said the earl, drawing up his form and retreating, " the traitor Arnold ?" The consequence was a challenge from Arnold. They met, and it was arranged that the parties should fire by signal. Arnold fired, and Lord Balcarras, turning on his heel, was walk- ing away, when Arnold exclaimed, " Why don't you fire, my lord?" — "Sir," said Lord Balcarras, looking over his shoulder, " I leave you to the executioner." Next morning we proceeded to Fishskill, which is about sixty miles from New York, to breakfast, passing through many fine farms, and on an excellent road. The mansion-house at Fishkill is a capital hotel. The family and boarders had breakfasted before we got there; but one of the best breakfasts I ever saw was very soon set before us. The walks and drives in this neighbourhood on the hills are fine; and the house being large and well kept, affords great temptation to FISHKILL MOUNTAINS. 463 strangers to pass some time here in a qniet cool situa- tion. We fomicl one family from New York, who had made this house their head-quarters for some time. Baker's Livy, Dwight's Theology, and Nicholson's Encyclopaedia, are among the books on the table. The passage through the Fishkill Mountains is one of the most interesting parts of the Hudson ; and the heights in the neighbourhood of Fishkill present the most varying and romantic views of the river, some- times appearing in detached lakes, and from other points as a large sheet of water covered with numerous boats and shipping. The town of Newburg, and the villages and high grounds on the opposite side of the river, enliven the prospect. Many of the passes are narrow, and remind a traveller of defiles of the same kind in the Highlands of Scotland. The mountains of Scotland are far more magnificent, for there is no elevation here above 1500 or 1600 feet in height; but there is no such river in the Highlands of Scot- land as the Hudson. There is limestone in this neigh- bourhood, but the hills are generally mica-slate. The country from Fishkill to Poughkeepsie abounds with fine farms, which, I was told, might be worth about forty dollars an acre wherever the buildings attached to the land are tolerably good. To those who would purchase land already cleared, with a view to profit, I would rather recommend the banks of the Hudson, within from thirty to fifty miles of New York, where the farmers have succeeded in establishing steam- boats, in order to carry their produce daily to that city- X 4 464 POUGHKEEPSIE. Poiiglikeepsle is the capital of Duchess County, and a considerable place. Swift's Hotel, where we dined, is as handsomely furnished as any country hotel I have seen anywhere. A piano-forte is in the parlour. The Catskill Mountains are noble-bounding objects from Poughkeepsie, and look more picturesque here than anywhere ; and although we are in the midst of a very fertile and rich territory, the Catskill Mountains on the one hand, and the Fishkill Mountains to the southward, w^ould almost induce a belief that we were still in the Highlands. The geologists of this country, with Dr. Mitchell of New York at their head, have no doubt that the Hud- son did not always find its way to the sea through the Highlands of the Hudson, or the Fishkill Mountains. These mountains, composed chiefly of granite and gneiss, about sixteen miles broad, seem formerly to have dammed up a lake high enough to cover a prodigious tract of country, extending to the foot of the Catskill Mountains on the one hand, and to the Falls of the Mo- hawk on the other ; but by some convulsion of nature, or the abrasion of a cataract, the mountain chain had been broken, and their waters have found their way to New York Bay. The drive from Poughkeepsie to Hyde Park and to Rhinebeck, passes through a rich undulating country, the ground on the banks of the river commanding as pleasing views as can be imagin- ed. There is a greater number of country seats than I have seen anywhere, apart from the great towns, upon this line of country. They belong to Mr. Broome, Mr. LIVINGSTONE FAMILY. 465 Holebrooke, Dr. Allen, Mr. Macrea, Dr. Hosack, Mr. Wilks, Judge Pendleton, and Messrs. Livingstone, ori- ginally from Scotland, who have a great territory here. The family of Livingstone is not only remarkable for the prodigious extent of territory they enjoy on the Hudson, but for having given birth to many eminent men, the chief of whom are the late Chancellor Liv- ingstone of New York State, American minister to France when Buonaparte was First Consul, and the great supporter of Fulton ; and Mr. Livingstone of Louisiana, the author of the Louisiana Code of Laws, (now, in 1832, secretary of state to general Jackson.) Robert, the first proprietor of the Livingstone manors on the Hudson, was the son of the Rev. John Living- stone, minister of Ancrum in Scotland, where he was born, 13tli December, 1658, who was descended from the celebrated Mr. Livingstone, whose preaching at the Kirk of Shotts was attended with the astonishing effects recorded by Fleming and others. Dr. Hosack's terrace is the finest that I have seen on the river, and possesses views, ending with the Catskill mountains in the distance, that can hardly be surpassed. A great number of workmen are at present employed in extensive improvements upon the grounds, and the enlargement of the mansion-house. The evening was cold when we arrived at Jacob's Hotel at Rhinebeck, and we therefore ordered a fire. They brought us, as usual, very good coffee, home- made bread, some hot meat, butter, preserves, &c. We had concluded our repast, when the w^aiter came in and X 5 466 BED-ROOM FURNISHING. laid the clotli for one person, in the corner of the room, and set upon it a new edition of the very same articles which we had had, for our driver. I presume this was done on account of tlie room being rendered more comfortable by the fire we were enjoying. The driver is a very modest person, and made his exit as soon as he had finished his meal. We have not hitherto, dur- ing the whole of our journey, seen any thing like a poor man's house, or beggar, or any one who did not seem to be well clothed and fed. As few people are walking on the public road as in other parts of this country : all are on horseback, or in their dearborns, or other carriages. One of the greatest annoyances in travelling arises from the bed-rooms being almost universally meagrely furnished. A bed, without cur- tains, even where requisite, and with far too narrow bed-clothes, a couple of chairs, with a basin-stand, a small table, and a small looking-glass, form the sum total of what is thought necessary for a bed-room. A sufficient number of basins and of other things is hardly ever provided, unless they be particularly desired. Though this house is small, there is a considerable library in it, chiefly relating to religion, law, and grammar. The w^aiters at all the houses where we have been, excepting at Fishkill and Poughkeepsie, were females, white women, and uniformly obliging, although they would not have accepted a shilling had it been offered; but at Fishkill, there was a little boy of colour, w^ho, as usual, was looking out for his fee. Both Rhinebeck and Poughkeepsie, originally peopled AMERICAN MANNERS. 467 by tlie Dutch, still very much resemble Dutch towns. Rhinebeck is upon a fine plain, at a considerable height above the Hudson, from which it is about two miles distant. We left Rhinebeck early in the morning, with the thermometer at 45^, and went on to a small hotel about a mile beyond Redliook, about eleven miles, to break- fast, for which we were quite ready when we got there. We knocked at the door, but no one answered. At length the master of the house. Garret Cucks, ap- peared. His family had breakfasted, and his son and daughter were teaching at a Sunday-school, a quarter of a mile ofl". He would go for them, and quickly get all we required. He was as good as his word. A blazing fire was soon made, and as comfortable a break- fast produced as we had enjoyed during the whole course of our journey. Eight eggs were set down for two persons, and preserves of peach and pear. The family remarked us admiring their apples in the orchard before we left them, and offered us as many as we could carry away. We accepted of a few, but enough for our use during our journey. The kindness and hos- pitality of the Americans are quite unostentatious. I 'WTite, however, of the mass of the people, and without reference to the small number of the people, who consider themselves the great in this country. An invitation to dinner is generally given in such words as these : " I will be pleased to see you at two o'clock." Frequently no change whatever is made in the dinner, supposing you to accept. Your friend knows that X 6 468 AMERICAN MANNERS. there is always abundance of good food upon his table- That degree of attention is shown to you which a Stranger meets with everywhere, in seeing that his plate be filled in the first instance with what he likes, but no pressing or entreaty are used to make him eat or drink more than he inclines. If wine is produced, it is left to him to partake of it or not as he chooses. There is hardly ever any talk about the dinner, or the quality of the wine, which you are not provoked to drink by being told how many years it has been in your friend's cellar, or to what vintage it belongs. It is much more probable that, even amongst the richest classes, excluding always a few who form small coteries in the great towns, or who have been much in England, you will hear little conversation, and that relating more to their professional pursuits, their gains, and their dollars, and their political situations, than to the food they are eating, or the wine they are drinkinof. lam very far, however, from doubting the sincerity of the hospitality of the people of this country, as some travellers have done, although formal invitations may not be so generally given as with us. While, however, I am on the contrary persuaded that invitations are seldom given when there is not a real wish that the invited should accept them, I must at the same time confess, that I like the style of entertaining friends to which I have been accustomed, and which prevails in Britain, better than in the United States. I prefer the warmth of manner with which (whether apparent or AMERICAN MANNERS. 469 real,) a British landlord exerts himself to induce his guests to partake liberally of the good things both eatable and drinkable, which he has prepared for them, by agreeable conversation, and by descanting on the feeding of his beef, or the age of his mutton, or the excellence of his wine, to the merely passive, perhaps, indifferent looking manner, as it seems to us, of the Americans. In Britain, even at a public table, those sitting next to each other attend to each other's wants, and recommend to them anything which is within their reach, which they think particularly good ; and I do not see that the conviviality of the party is not at least as much enjoyed when the conversation relates to the quality of the provisions, their cookery, and the excel- lence of the wine, — subjects which are level to the capacity of all, — as when it relates to the investment of cotton, or the repeal of the tariff, — subjects in which those addressed may take little or no interest. It would be easy to multiply instances to show how much the desire of making money constantly engrosses the thoughts of all, both young and old, in this country. One example occurs to me at present of a little boy, eight years old, George, the son of Mr. WoodhuU, at Mount Vernon, where we resided. He used frequently to amuse himself by coming into our room, and we en- couraged him, as he was a smart fine boy. We often talked to him jocularly of his accompanying us, when we returned to Britain, and he seemed to have some inclination to do so. At last he asked me, " But what would you give me if I were to go with you to Bri- 470 AMERICAN MANNERS. tain ?" I replied, " Five dollars a month." He did not lose a moment in leaving us to get information, whether five dollars a month were sufficient wages at his time of life. When he came back he was in an ecstasy of joy. He laid himself on his back, and kicked up his heels, telling us it was a good offer, and he would accept it; " but," said he, " I must have my board ;" this was conceded : " then," said he, " I must have my washing too." To this demand we demurred, to try the effect of it upon the boy, but he was quite firm, — every body in this country had board and wash- ing, besides their wages, and he would not engage to go anywhere unless they were promised. Attachment to their country, and to its institutions are as firmly fixed in the minds of the young as of the old in this country. A young lady, of the same age as George Woodhull, (Miss S. H.) was very frequently with us while we were at Mount Vernon. In some branches of know- ledge she was very far advanced for her age. On one occasion she showed a great desire that we should tell her every particular we knew respecting the splendour of the equipages in London; especially the state- coaches of His Majesty, the Lord Mayor, &c. She heard us patiently to an end, and then she exclaimed energetically, " It makes me sick to hear all this, — ^ive me a free country, and none of your pageantry." Captain Hall is nowhere more completely mistaken, than in charging the people of the United States with want of loyalty. What is loyalty, but attachment to the government and institutions of the country of one's TEA-PARTIES. 471 birth ? Loyalty in Britain does not mean attachment to George the Third, or William the Fourth, to the individual, but to the kingly office, as one branch of the government. Tea-parties, which are very common in the United States, in some measure make up for what I look upon as the more rational and comfortable conversational dinner of the middling, the best classes of society in Bri- tain. Where those tea-parties take place by invitation, the table is liberally covered, and with a greater number of articles than usual, such as a profusion of cakes of va- rious kinds, and preserves. Animal food, too, of some description or other, is almost always produced, — and. after the tea or supper is finished, wine of various kinds, nuts, fruit, &c. are placed on the sideboard, or handed round. There is, perhaps, a little more room for con- versation at such parties than at British routes; but still I conceive the rational interchange of sentiment which takes place at English dinners, to be, generally speak- ing, wanting in the meal which is called by the same name in the United States. Let it not, however, be supposed, that I mean to insinuate that at any dinner, public or private, either a stranger or native has any reason to expect an uncivil answer to any conversation which he may address to any one sitting at table ; but it is so universally the custom in the most populous parts of the United States, to leave the table immedi- ately after dinner, to smoke a cigar, and afterwards to return to professional business ; that the people gene- rally seem to me to be least inclined for convivial con- 472 KINDNESS OF AMERICANS. versation at tlie very time when we, with better taste as I think, enjoy it most. I am bound, however, to add, after seeing much more of the United States than I had done when I was making these remarks, that I have been at many tea-parties in various parts of the country, where, sitting over our wine after tea, we had the enjoyment of agreeable and instructive conversa- tion for quite as long a time as should ever be devoted to it either in the Old or New World. I am also bound to add, what I myself had opportunities to ob- serve, both in my own case and that of other persons whom 1 knew, that there is the very greatest desire on the part of the people of this country, of all classes, to show kindness and attention, and to give special proofs of hospitality to persons from Britain, who may have had it in their power to show attentions to them, or their friends and relations in England. There is no description of persons in this country who would not act in this manner. Can as much be said for all classes in the British islands ? I am afraid, notwithstanding that heartiness of manner which dis- tinguishes the British so much more than the people of the United States, and which is so agreeable to strangers, that this is a test to which it may not be prudent to subject the former. All our writers on the United States, even the last of them. Captain Hall, admit, that wherever they had introductions, they were treated with kindness and civility, — in many places overloaded and overpowered with attentions. I have no doubt that such attentions INGRATITUDE OF BRITISH. 473 would meet with a due return from tlie great bulk of the people in Britain, — but would this happen univer- sally in London, or generally in the aristocratic so- ciety of the British islands ? Not universally, I sus- pect. Many instances, unfortunately for our national character, have occurred of individuals of some rank in Britain who have visited the United States, and received gratefully the civilities of the Americans, who have not even thought it necessary to leave their cards for those to whom they were so much obliged, when they have come to London and called for their former acquaintances. The Americans should, how- ever, be aware, that, whenever this happens, the indi- viduals to blame belong to that select class of the aris- tocracy who think that the public consists only of two classes — themselves and the mob — with whom they have nothing in common. If they were to associate with a Parvenu^ or with an American, unless under very peculiar circumstances, they must infallibly lose cast, and be shyed by the leaders of that society, who lay themselves more open to the derision of their countrymen than any other. They might be rejected or sent to Coventry at Almack's, or at some of the leading clubs in the British metropolis, — and they therefore rather subject themselves to those feelings which their ingratitude must produce, than banish themselves from the society in which they have been brought up, and to which they have become so much accustomed, that they cannot live out of it. Washington Irving has detailed the peculiarities of his countrymen with his usual skill and correctness : — 474 PECULIARITIES OF AMERICANS. ^' The national character (he writes) is yet in a state of fermentation. It may have its frothiness and sedi- ment, but its ingredients are sound and wholesome : It has already given proofs of powerful and generous qualities, and the whole promises to settle down into something substantially excellent. But the causes which are operating to strengthen and ennoble it, and its daily indications of admirable properties, are all lost upon purblind observers, who are only affected by the little asperities incident to its present situa- tion. They are capable of judging only of the sur- face of things; of those matters whicli come in con- tact with their private interests and personal gratifi- cations. They miss some of the snug conveniences and petty comforts whicli belong to an old, highly- finished, and over-populous state of society ; where the ranks of useful labour are crowded, and many earn a painful and servile subsistence, by studying the very caprices of appetite and self-indulgence. These minor comforts, however, are all-important in the estimation of narrow minds ; which either do not perceive or will not acknowledge, that they are more than counter- balanced among us by great and generally diffused blessings. All the wTiters of England united, if we could for a moment suppose their great minds stooping to so tmworthy a combination, could not conceal our rapidly growing importance and matchless prosperity. They could not conceal that these are owing, not merely to physical and local, but also to moral causes : — to the political liberty, — the general diffusion of knowledge, — PREPOSSESSIONS. 475 the prevalence of sound, moral, and religious princi- ples, which give force and sustained energy to the character of a people ; and which, in fact, have been the acknowledged and wonderful supporters of their own national power and glory." It is impossible to deny that prepossessions unfa- vourable to the Americans have been entertained too universally in this country ever since the period of the revolution, — and it is not then to be w^ondered at, that the people of the United States, who have already, in the course of half a century, become one of the most powerful, enterprising, and rapidly increasing nations that has ever existed, should not at once be able to divest themselves of the feelings which our mean, shabby, treatment of them is calculated to pro- duce, — but a great deal is to be said for both parties. The Americans should not forget that the loss of the Colonies was a severe humiliation to the pride of Great Britain. And that, for some time at least, the British, who had for many years been taught to view them as rebels, must necessarily have considered the revolution as a rebellion. ** That treason never prospers, what's the reason ? Why, when it prospers, none dare call it treason." Success alone justified the means by which the American, as well as the British, revolutions were effected. Truly, as Lord Byron wTites, " Had Buonaparte won at Waterloo, It had been firmness, now 'tis pertinacity. Must the event decide between the two?" 476 AMERICAN MINISTER While, however, it is easy to account for the popu- lar prejudices which existed in Britain for some time after the revolution, no apology can be made for the long-continued and uniformly absurd and childish con- duct (exceptingon one solitary occasion,) ofthecourtand the British government, towards such a nation as this. After the peace of 1783, neither an ambassador nor envoy was sent by the British government to America. A year or two elapsed before the government of the United States resolved to waive the difficulty created by this slight on the part of the British government. In the year 1785, they despatched Mr. John Adams, who had been again and again in Europe on various missions, and who certainly was one of the most re- spectable citizens of the United States, as minister-ple- nipotentiary, to represent the United States at the Court of Saint James's. The account which Mr. Adams sent to the American secretary of state, of his first meeting with George the Third, is so very interesting, that, al- though it has already appeared in other publications, I think it right to insert it. What passed at this meeting was very creditable to both parties. The King's answer was extremely well judged ; and it is only to be re- gretted that this was the only occasion upon which, for a very long period, any civility was shown to the go- vernment of the United States, or to its representatives. Mr. Adams' account of the meeting is in these terms : — " During my interview with the Marquis of Car- marthen, he told me it was customary for every foreign minister, at his first presentation to the King, to make INTRODUCED AT COURT. 477 his Majesty some compliments conformable to the spirit of his credentials ; and when Sir Clement Cottrel Dormer, the master of ceremonies, came to inform me that he should accompany me to the secretary of state, and to the court, he said, that every foreign minister whom he had attended to the Queen, had always made an harangue to her Majesty; and he understood, though he had not been present, that they always ha- rangued the King. On Tuesday evening the Baron de Lynden (Dutch Ambassador) called upon me ; and he said he came from the Baron de Nolkin (Swedish Envoy,) and had been conversing upon the singular situation I was in ; and they agreed in opinion, that it was indispensable that I should make a speech, and that it should be as complimentary as possible. All this was parallel to the advice lately given by the Count de Yergennes to Mr. Jefferson. So that, finding it w^as a custom established at both these great courts, that this court and the foreign ministers expected it, I thought I could not avoid it, although my first thought and inclination had been, to deliver my credentials si- lently, and retire. At one, on Wednesday, the 1st of June, the master of ceremonies called at my house, and went with me to the secretary of state's office, in Cleve- land Row, where the Marquis of Carmarthen received me, and introduced me to Mr. Frazier, his under se- cretary, who had been, as his lordship said, uninterrupt- edly in that office, through all the changes in admi- nistration, for thirty years, having first been appoint- ed by the Earl of Holderuess. After a short conver- 478 AMERICAN MINISTER sation upon the subject of importing my effects from Holland and France, free of duty, wliicli Mr. Frazier himself introduced. Lord Carmarthen invited me to go with him in his coach to court. When we arrived in the anti-chamber, the ceiUde-hcevf of Saint James's, the master of the ceremonies met me, and attended me, while the secretary of state went to take the commands of the King*. While I stood in this place, where it seems all ministers stand on such occasions, always at- tended by the master of ceremonies, the room very full of courtiers, as well as the next room, which is the King's bed-chamber, you may well suppose that I was the focus of all eyes. " I was relieved, however, from the embarrassment of it by the Swedish and Dutch ministers, who came to me, and entertained me in a very agreeable conver- sation during the whole time. Some other gentlemen, whom I had seen before, came to make their compli- ments too, until the Marquis of Carmarthen returned, and desired me to go with him to his Majesty. I went with his Lordship through the levee-room into the King's closet ; the door was shut, and I was left with his Majesty and the secretary of state alone. I made the three reverences, one at the door, another about half-way, and the third before the presence, according to the usage established at this and all the northern courts of Europe, and then addressed myself to his Majesty in the following words : — " ' Sir, the United States have appointed me their minister plenipotentiary to your Majesty ; and have di- INTRODUCED AT COURT. 479 rectedme to deliver to your Majesty this letter, which contains the evidence of it. It is in obedience to their express commands, that I have the honour to assure your Majesty of their unanimous disposition and desire to cultivate the most friendly and liberal intercourse between your Majesty's subjects and their citizens; and of their best wishes for your Majesty's health, and for that of your royal family. " ' The appointment of a minister from the United States to your Majesty's court will form an epoch in the history of England and America. I think myself more fortunate than all my fellow-citizens, in having* the distinguished honour to be the first to stand in your Majesty's royal presence, in a diplomatic cha- racter; and I shall esteem myself the happiest of men, if I can be instrumental in recommending my country more and more to your Majesty's royal benevolence, and of restoring an entire esteem, confidence, and af- fection ; or, in better words, ' the old good-nature, and the old good-humour,' between people who, though separated by an ocean, and under different govern- ments, have the same language, a similar religion, and kindred blood. I beg your Majesty's permission to add, that, although I have sometimes before been en- trusted by my country, it was never, in my whole life, in a manner so agreeable to myself.' " The King listened to every wmd I said, with dig- nity it is true, but with an apparent emotion. Whether it was the nature of the interview, or whether it was my visible agitation, for I felt more than I did or could 480 FIRST RECEPTION AT COURT. express that touched him, I cannot say, but he was much affected, and answered me with more tremor than I had spoken with, and said : — ^' ' Sir, the circumstances of this audience are so very extraordinary, the language you have now held is so extremely proper, and the feelings you have disco- vered so justly adapted to the occasion, that I must say, that I not only receivie with pleasure the assurances of the friendly disposition of the people of the United States, but that I am very glad the choice has fallen upon you to be their minister. I wish you. Sir, to believe, and that it may be understood in America, that I have done nothing in the late contest but what I thought myself indispensably bound to do, by the duty which I owed to my people. I will be frank with you. I was the last to conform to the separation ; but the separation having been made, and having become in- evitable, I have always said, as I say now, that I would be the first to meet the friendship of the United States as an independent power. The moment I see such sentiments and language as yours prevail, and a dispo- sition to give this country the preference, that moment, I shall say, let the circumstances of language, religion, and blood, have their natural and full effect.' " I dare not say that these were the King's precise words: and it is even possible that I may have, in some particular, mistaken his meaning; for although his pronunciation is as distinct as I ever heard, he hesitated sometimes between his periods, and between the members of the same period. He was, indeed, much MR. Hammond's reception. 481 affected, and I was not less so ; and, therefore, I cannot be certain that I was so attentive, heard so clearly, and understood so perfectly, as to be confident of all his words or sense ; this I do say, that the foregoing is his Majesty's meaning, as I then understood it, and his own words, as nearly as I can recollect." No further attention of any kind was shown to Mr. Adams, and the government of Great Britain did not think fit to make any return of civility to the govern- ment of the United States, bv sendinof an ambassador or an envoy to that country. Mr. JeflFerson, who^was ambassador from the United States to the French court, paid a visit to Great Britain early in the year 1786, and went to the levee. He writes, that "on his presentation to the King and Queen, at their levees, it was impossible for anything to be more ungracious, than their notice of Mr. Adams and himself." At this time, Mr. Pitt was at the head of aifairs, and Lord Carmarthen was still foreign minister. Early in 1787, Mr.- Adams was, at his own request, recalled, on the express ground, that no diplomatic character should be kept at a court which kept none with the United States. At length, after an interval of more than four years, the British government, in the autumn of the year 1791, sent Mr. Hammond, as minister plenipotentiary to the American government, who lost no time in dispatching Mr. Pinckney, in the same capacity to the court of St. James's. Nothing could be more courteous, considering what had previously passed, than the reception which Mr. VOL. I. Y 482 MR. Hammond's reception. Jefferson, then secretary of state, gave to Mr. Ham- mond, as the following note, from Mr. Jefferson to Mr. Hammond, written immediately on the latter's arrival^ will evince. Mr. Jefferson has the honour of pre- senting his compliments to Mr. Hammond, and ex- presses his regret that he happened to be from home when he waited on him on Monday. Being informed by Mr. Bard, that Mr. Hammond is charged with a public mission to the government of the United States, relative to which some previous explanation might be proper, Mr. Jefferson has the honour to assure Mr» Hammond he shall be ready to receive any communi- cations, and enter into explanations, either formally or informally, as Mr. Hammond shall choose, at any time suitable to him. He recollects with pleasure his ac- quaintance with Mr. Hammond at Paris, and shall be liappy in any opportunity of rendering him such oflBces and attentions, as may be acceptable to him." In many of Mr. Jefferson's letters at subsequent periods, there are passages, showing the acuteness of the feelings entertained in the United States, on account of the national contempt of their country, which too often appeared on the part of the British government. Thus, in January, 1811, he writes to Mr. Law, brother of the late Lord Ellenborough, who has long been set- tled at Washington, in these terms : — " Your sincere attachment to this country, as well as to your own native one, was never doubted by me, and in that per- suasion I felt myself free to express to you my genuine sentiments with respect to England. No man was NATIONAL CONTEMPT. 483 more sensible tlian myself of the just value of the friendship of that country. There are between us so many of those circumstances which naturally produce and cement kind dispositions, that, if they could have forgiven our resistance to their usurpations, our con- nections might have been durable, and have insured duration to both our governments. I wished, there- fore, a cordial friendship with them. And I spared no occasion of manifesting this in our correspondence and intercourse with them, not disguising, however, my desire of friendship with their enemy also. During the administration of Mr. Addington, I thought I dis- covered some friendly symptoms on the part of that government, at least we received some marks of re- spect from the administration, and some of regret at the wrongs we were suffering from their country. So, also, during the short interval of Mr. Fox's power. But every other administration since our revolution has been equally wanton in their injuries and insults, and has manifested equal hatred and aversion. With respect to myself, I saw great reason to believe their ministers were weak enough to credit the newspaper trash, about a supposed personal enmity in myself towards England. This wretched party imputation was beneath the notice of wise men. Eno;land never did me a personal injury, other than in open w^ar ; and for numerous individuals there, I have great esteem and friendship, and I must have had a mind far below the duties of my station, to have felt either national partialities or antipathies, in conducting the affairs confided to me. My aflfections were first for my own Y 2 484 MR. Jefferson's letter. country, and then generally for all mankind. The feelings of their king, too, fundamentally averse to us, have added another motive for unfriendliness in his ministers." On another occasion, Mr. Jefferson writes so late as the year 1815. " What nourishment and support would not England receive from an hundred millions of in- dustrious descendants, whom some of her people now born will live to see here ? What their energies are she has lately tried. And wliat has she not to fear from an hundred millions of such men, if she continues her maniac course of hatred and hostility to them ? I hope in God she will change. There is not a nation on the globe with whom I have more earnestly wished a friendly intercourse on equal conditions. On no others would I hold out the arm of friendship to any." Before leaving the house of Mr. Cucks we had the pleasure of seeing him and his family set off in their own carriage, drawn by a couple of horses, for the church at Rhinebeck, although hardly a mile distant ; and the coldness of the day would have led us very much to prefer a walk for such a distance, to a ride in an open carriage ; but custom regulates everything, and no one w^alks in this country. We proceeded on our journey soon after Mr. Cucks took his departure, expecting to reach the city of Hud- son in time for the afternoon assembling of the church. But the service had been some time commenced before w e arrived. Hudson is a very considerable place, and its situation, on a promontory which projects boldly Bryan's hotel. 485 into the Hudson, very beautiful. From tlie peninsula, the river on both sides, and its shores, and the village of Athens on the opposite side, form a beautiful landscape. The banks of the Hudson River, in general, are pre- cipitous, and of very thin soil ; but on both sides, there are broken valleys, and upon the intervals between these the towns along the river are placed. Hudson is an example of this. A high hill, the north abut- ment of one of the ridges, rises immediately to the southward of a swamp on the south side of the town. It is a place of considerable trade ; the population about 5000 or 6000. We lodged at Bryan's Hotel. The general dinner was over before we arrived, but we soon had everything we required set before us by two female waiters, who amused us by both of them remaining in the room seated while we enjoyed our repast. For so small a party, we had never previously seen more than one. This is an excellent hotel; but there was more noise in the rooms near that which we occupied during a great part of the night than we had ever experienced in this country. People, in general, go early to bed and get up early in this country ; and there is perfect quietness during the night. These rooms were filled with lawyers on the circuit, who, in this as in all other countries, acquire confidence, from the nature, I presume, of the professional duties im- posed upon them, become more assuming, attach greater importance to their opinions, and give them- selves greater airs, than any other description of pro- fessional persons. Next morning, we breakfasted at y3 486 KINDERHOOK. Kinderhook, which stands upon the alluvial banks of the creek or river of Kinderhook, about twelve miles above Hudson. This village, in point of beauty, al- most rivals the villages of New England ; the breadth of the road, the fineness of the trees, the clean newly- painted houses, and the neat little gardens, in which they are enclosed, reminded us of Northampton, Wor- cester, Dedham, &c. The situation is in a rich dis- trict of country ; the breakfast, too, was so good, and the landlady and her daughter, at Lewis's Hotel, so obliging, that we viewed every thing en couleur de rose. At dinner we were equally well off at Richardson's Hotel, fourteen miles further on. There is one splen- did point in this road opposite to Albany, from which the view of Albany itself, of the river, and of the beau- ties of the Hudson far beyond, is most magnificent. In the evening, after passing through a great part of the Van Ransellaer estate, on the banks of the Hudson, opposite to Albany, we reached the hotel of Mr. Piatt Titus, at Troy, a considerable city, — the greatest erected upon the alluvial banks of the Hudson, — in fact, it is not above eightor ten feet above the level of high water-mark about six miles above Albany. The population has in- creased from 3000 or 4000 in 1810, to 1 1,000 or 12,000 at the present time. The hotel here is well kept; and, for the first time since we left New York, we found bells in the house, — which are a positive annoyance to those for some time unaccustomed to their noise. There are also male waiters, white Americans, here. The Circuit Court is at present at Troy; and some of those CIRCUIT COURT. 487 engaged in tlie business, judges, clerks, lawyers, &e, are in the house. Breakfast at half-past seven ; dinner at one. I had no conversation with any of the lawyers at breakfast ; but in the course of the forenoon I looked into the court. Three judges were upon the bench; and a proof was taking in presence of a jury respecting a mill-dam. As soon as I was observed in the interior of the court, though merely as a stranger, one of the clerks, or other officers of the court, beckoned to me, and then rose and insisted I should have a seat close to the table. He explained to me the particulars of the case, which were not sufficiently interesting to detain me long. The court-house here is old, and ill-fitted up ; but a new court-house is now in progress of being erected. According to the constitution of these courts, the presiding judge is a lawyer; and he is assisted by two persons in the neighbourhood, not selected on ac- count of their knowledge in law, but because they are reckoned shrewd, sensible, upright men, by their fellow- citizens in their vicinity. This part of the judicial con- stitution of some of the American States has been much objected to by persons from England, who have visited this country ; but as almost all questions are decided by a jury, and as these associated judges only interfere w^hen they conceive the lawyer judge to be obviously wrong in the way he is preparing a cause, or charging a jury, I doubt whether they can do any harm. In Scotland, the chief magistrates of boroughs, many of them men of no education, have a very extensive juris- diction within the district of the borough. This is ob* Y 4 488 TROY. vioiisly wrong ; but the remedy which Inis been pro- vided ill Edinburgh, and some of the large towns, is, that lawyers, one or more, shall assist the chief magis- trates, — although the sentences are pronounced and signed by the chief magistrate, who in general acts without the interposition of a jury. If this anomaly in the legal practice of Scotland had been known to Captain Hall, he would not, probably, have considered the association of intelligent men with the lawyer judges in the United States, as so perfectly ridiculous and absurd as he has stated it to be. Be it observed, too, that in America the lawyer judge is assisted by his fellow-citizens ; in Scotland, the citizen is assisted by the lawyers. The court adjourned for an hour at one dclock^ to give all concerned an opportunity to dine. The dinner at our hotel was a very good one, and agreeable in every respect, but its usual brevity. Some of the gentlemen of the long robe had wine, and insisted on my wife and me partaking with them, which certainly is not according to the every-day custom of the country. Troy is a very regular town, well shaded with trees; and, ill point of natural scenery, is not surpassed by any of the cities or villages on the Hudson. The sloop na- vigation up the river terminates at Troy. The schools and academies at Troy are very numerous. The female seminary, at the head of which is ]Mrs. Willard, who has written a popular history of the United States, is reckoned one of the best in the country. I was in he book-store of Mr. Parker, which is nearly opposite BOOK-STORE. 489 the hotel. He is the agent of Messrs. Carvill, the chief booksellers of New York, for the sale of the Library of Useful Knowledge. He tells me that Messrs. Carvill sell about 10,000 copies of it. Mr. Parker is, I have no doubt, a zealous agent ; for, after making inquiries of me respecting Mr. Brougham, on discovering that I was British, he pronounced his Dis- course for the Society for Diffusing Useful Knowledge to be the best paper he ever read, excepting always the Bible. Adjoining to Troy on one side, and very near the river, is a hill, 400 feet high, called Mount Ida, from which there is a noble view of the city, of the river, and neighbouring country. From this hill a good deal of land, covered with pine and cedar, is to be seen. Such land was formerly considered in this country sterile ; but this is now found to be a mistake. With tolerable management and manure, it yields abundant crops. This is abundantly proved in the neighbourhood of Kinderhook, where there is now a great tract of fertile land, which was lately covered with pine. About half-way up the hill called Mount Ida, we found a fence, and did not choose to invade it without permission. We therefore called at a cottage close to it, and found it occupied by a Scotch family, who had lately come to this country, and seem very happy. The name of the husband is William Craig, from Lochwin- noch in Renfrewshire. His wife's name was Robertson. They arrived in the month of May, 1828. Craig was, w^ithin a few days after his arrival, engaged by the pro- 490 COHOES FALLS. prietor of Mount Ida as superintendent of his farm, at 170 dollars a-year, besides a good house, the constant keeping of a cow, vegetables, and potatoes. The pro- prietor was so much pleased with his management, that, before the crop 1829 was put into the ground, he insisted on Craig's becoming tenant of it, Craig giving the proprietor the usual share of the produce, and the proprietor obliging himself, that if, according to this arrangement, Craig had not 170 dollars a-y ear, besides the other articles before mentioned, he would make up the sum to that amount. Property is very valuable at Troy. A tenement, sixty-five feet by twenty-five feet, was pointed out to me as having been lately sold for 4000 dollars. Lan- singburgh is about three miles higher up than Troy on the river. We crossed the river here on a very large wooden bridge, and proceeded to see the Cohoes Falls on the Mohawk, w^hicli are in the neighbourhood. They are of considerable breadth, and the descent is about seventy feet. We also visited the point of junction of the Erie and Champlain canals. The number of boats constantly passing presents a picture of great ac- tivity and exertion. There are seven locks upon the canal within the space of three quarters of a mile. RETURN FROM TROY. 491 CHAPTER XIX. Return from Troy to New York — Macadamized Road from Troy to Albany — Cruttenden's Hotel at Albany — Albany, cheap Place- Report as to Auburn Prison obtained from Printer — From Albany to New Baltimore — Epitaphs in Burying-Ground there — Late Hours of the Landlord — Views on the Road to Athens — Village of Catskill — Wax Candles — Rate of Boarding here — Saugerties — Falls of Water — Manufactures — Kingston — Rutzen's Hotel — General Vaugh- an's Destruction of Kingston — Situation of Kingston above the Hudson — Dr. Young's Hotel— Dillon's Store — His Wine — Newburg Hotel kept by Belknap — Fine Views — Road enters the Highlands- Coffey's Hotel — Mr. Sloat's Hotel — His Family — Service in the Cavalry — His Landed Property — Villages of Paterson and Newark — Return to New Rochelle — Change of Temperature — Illness — Passage Boat from New York to Middleton — Residence at the Stage- House at New Rochelle — Female Servant there — Small Gig, called a Sulky- New Rochelle peopled by French Refugees — Charge for Boarding — Itinerant Lecturer on Astronomy — Hannah, the Maid-Servant's Visit to her Relations — The Lecturer's Treatment of a Man of Colour — Thomas Paine's Plantation near New Rochelle — His Pamphlet, Common Sense" — His Tomb — Methodist Meeting-House opposite to it — Invitation to Dinner — Hotel- Keeper's Gig in a bad Day — Walk from New Rochelle to Mr. Hunter's. Island — Mr. Hunter's House and Grounds — Joseph Buonaparte's Desire to acquire them— Y 6 492 MACADAMIZED ROAD. Mr. Hunter's Civility — His Pictures — The Language of the Ame- ricans. September, October, November, and December, 1829. From Troy we began to retrace our steps to New York by the west side of the Hudson, proceeding this afternoon to Cruttenden's hotel at Albany for the night. A company incorporated by the legislature are at present engaged in Macadamizing the road from Albany to Troy, upon the west side of the river. There are about six miles of this road, which is quite level, and of great breadtli, with a very handsome foot-path. The workmen employed are chiefly Irish. The fomidation of the road is well exe- cuted, but the stones are not broken so small as Mr. Macadam requires, of which I advertised some of the workmen on the road. The stock of this road com- pany is at present a favourite speculation in this neigh- bourhood. We found very comfortable accommodation at Mr. Cruttenden's hotel, near the State-House at Albany, and as good tea and supper as we had seen anywhere. Mr. Cruttenden came in in the course of the evening, a frank, John Bull-looking personage, very fond of Scotch songs and of Burns' poetry. He represents the prices of all sorts of provisions at Albany as very cheap. A goose sometimes to be had for a shilling sterling, and a turkey for two shillings. I was asked at BURYING-GROUND. 493 Mr. Cruttenden's hotel, for the first time in the United States, whether we preferred to sleep on a mattrass or featlier bed. I called at the secretary of state's office here, in order to obtain a copy of the last report respecting the Auburn Prison, but was told that all the copies had been given away, and that my only chance of obtaining a copy was at the state-printer's office in the lower part of the city. Thither I accordingly went. The printer doubted whether he had more than one copy to keep, and he rummaged everywhere without success. I told him this was very provoking for me, who had got the previous reports, and wished to have the last re- port put up with them, that I might carry them toge- ther to Britain. My last remark put things at once to rights. The printer could not think of allowing me to go home without the paper ; and he absolutely de- prived himself of the only copy he had, in order to complete my set. I stupidly neglected to mark the name of this very obliging person. We left Albany in the forenoon ; and after a drive, great part of which was over a rough road, we reached New Baltimore, about twenty miles from Albany, to dinner. On our route we enjoyed a particularly fine view of Albany, about five miles from the city. While dinner was preparing at New Baltimore, we stepped into a small bit of burying-ground, in an in- teresting situation, on a knoll in the neighbourhood, containing several inscriptions, of which the following are two : — 494 MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS. " My years and months they were but few, And perfect health I never knew ; In this cold grave my body rests, — My soul doth dwell among the blest." " This monument to the memory of Mr. Vander- see, who died aged thirty-five years." Another is, " In memory of Washington and La Fayette, tv\dn-ehildren of George and Ann Ely, who died November 10, 1825, aged four and five days. " Take these little lambs, he said, And lay them on my breast ; Protection they shall find in me, And be for ever blest." At New Baltimore we were at the hotel of Guest. The river was still and placid. We had a very nice dinner, but the landlord did not make his appearance until about the time when we were going away. He made an apology, saying, that there had been company in his house the evening before, and tliat he had been obliged to sit up with them till twelve o'clock. This seemed to have deranged him. The fact is, that in this country, people are generally in bed before ten. The views from New Baltimore, along the river side all the way to Athens, are as fine as any we have seen, especially near Haighfs house at Athens, from which the prospect, with the setting sun illuminating the city of Hudson, was peculiarly charming. We reached the village of Catskill in the evening, and took up our abode at Cresswell's, one of the very best hotels in this country. The bar-keeper, who seem- SAUGERTIES MANUFACTURES. 495 ed to attend to all the details, is a German. The land- lord, who has been in the house for thirty years, is almost as jolly-looking a person as Mr. Cruttenden. Both at Albany and here wax candles were provided without any extra charge. There was a degree of attention to our wants which I have hardly seen any- where else. The sitting-room was large and well furnished. We had our meals, although we were alone, in the dining-room, as is always the case in this coun- try. At this house, boarding for strangers was five dollars per week, and for permanent boarders three dollars. The provisions of every kind excellent. Coffee as good as any I ever saw, except in France. The flies have been very troublesome during the last four or five weeks. It is necessary to put a cloth over any provisions on the table, sugar, butter, &c. It was on the morning of the first of October that we went from Catskill to Saugerties, a distance of twelve miles, — the thermometer again as low as 45^ The road is badly cut on the side of a hill, but the coun- try very beautiful. There are considerable falls of water, of which great use is made by a Mr. Barcklay, of New York, who is said to have laid out, within the last half-dozen years, 300,000 or 400,000 dollars in iron-works, cotton-works, paper-mills, and a paint- manufactory. Eighty tons of iron are frequently made weekly. At the paper-manufactory, 150 girls get two dollars a-week each, and are boarded for one dollar each. From hence, we went on twelve miles to King- ston, or ^sopus, a clean-looking village, situated in a fertile and beautiful plain above the river. We lodged 496 KINGSTON. at a German's of the name of Rutzen, where we had quite a luxurious repast of veal cutlets and mushrooms, broiled chicken, and vegetables, and were so favourably- impressed as to the management of the house, that we were afterwards surprised to be asked by the chamber- maid, whether the sheets on the bed, as they had only- been slept in by very genteel people, would do for us. We sent for the landlady, who seemed greatly shocked when she heard the question that had been put. The chamber-maid, she said, had only lately come to the house, and she immediately set everything to rights. She is a Frenchwoman. The custom in all the Ame- rican hotels is, for the traveller, on entering the hotel, to give the names of himself and his party to the bar- keeper, who shows them the bed-chambers they are to occupy. The inhabitants of Kingston were amongst the first opposers of the British dominion in North America, and the village fell into the hands of the British Ge- neral, Vaughan, who was on his way to join General Burgoyne, at the time when he heard of the disastrous situation of Burgoyne's army. He very wantonly, in October 1777, in retaliation, burnt this village to the ground. We searched in vain for an inscription which, we were told, was upon the end of the village church, recording the particulars of this very unjustifiable act. The elevation of the plain on which the village is built is about 300 feet above the Hudson. The situation is retired, and the village has as much the air of comfort and repose as any place we have seen. Leaving Kingston on the morning of the 2nd, we DR. young's hotel. 497 came on to a stopping-place, composed of a few liam- lets, in a wild country, at a place called Sliungum, twenty-two miles from Kingston. The hotel here is kept by Dr. Young, who is the physician, hotel-keeper, and post-master of the place. The doctor was from home; but Mrs. Young, who is a good-looking, ma- naging person, of Dutch extraction, soon got us mutton- chops, potatoes, pumpkin pie, preserved pears, &c. for w^hich she charged us only a shilling each. I was sur- prised, w^hile I was sitting at dinner, to be sent for to a neighbom-ing store. I found it was occupied by Thomas Dillon, a young man from the north of Ire- land, who is settled here, and doing well. He had learnt from our Irish charioteer, as I take for granted, that we were from Britain, and had sent for me, as he could not leave his store, where there was no one but himself, to insist that, as there was no wine in the hotel, I should accept of some from him. I accordingly carried to the hotel some Madeira and Malaga, for which he woidd accept no payment whatever ; and had the pleasure of drinking a glass of wine w^ith him in his store, to the health of the emancipated Catholics of Ireland, of whom he was one. Newburgli hotel was our resting-place for that night. The house kept by Belknap, the most disagreeable, as it turned out, of any we have entered on our journey. The people seemed to be quite above their business, and inattentive to every hint we gave. I had particu- larly requested that we should be placed in a quiet part of the house, which is a large one, on account of 498 NEWBURG. temporary indisposition, — but the room in wliicli we were placed was in such a situation, that every person who arrived from the steam-boats during the night passed the door. Sleep was therefore out of the ques- tion. The servants seemed to have the control of the house, and every part of the management appeared to US alike defective. I let the landlord know, before we came away, what I thought of the treatment we had experienced, and he then became very civil, and anxious to remove the impression it had made upon me ; but it would be unfair not to mention that this was the only occasion during this journey on which we had any reason to find fault either with the hotel-keepers or their servants. The high grounds about Newburg present many very fine points of view towards the river, and its shores on both sides, and especially of the passage of the river through the Highlands. The ac- clivity from the water is very abrupt within the town itself, so that the houses seem to be built on terraces on the side of the hill. From Newburg the road passes along the edge of the river for about five miles, and it is impossi- ble to figure a more calm and peaceful scene. Then the road enters the Highlands, and winds among beautiful valleys and rich hills. After a drive of twenty-one miles, we stopped to dine at the hotel of J. Coffey, at which, though of the second class, we had an excellent mutton-chop for dinner. The plates and stone-ware were from England, ornamented with American devices. This is very common. There COUNTRY HOTEL, 499 were several handsome books in the parlour of this house, especially a fine edition of RoUin, in quarto. A few miles further on, we stopped at the hotel of Mr. Sloat for the night. This is one of the most com- fortable of the country hotels which we have yet seen in this country, quiet and retired, not unlike an English parsonage-house on a small scale. The proprietor of this house, which has long been used as a hotel, has very valuable landed property surrounding it, but al- though he still gives accommodation to passengers, he does not allow the stage to stop at it, so that it is quite as free from bustle as a private house. Mr. Sloat him- self is of Dutch extraction, and speaks Dutch as well as English, which is the case with most of the Dutch farmers on both sides of the Hudson. He is married to a lady of Polish extraction. When we reached the house, Mr. Sloat had just come in from a drill of the militia light-horse cavalry. His dress is very much like the Windsor uniform, in which, being a handsome man, with a good horse and well accoutred, he had more of the military air than most gentlemen connected with the army in this country whom I have seen. Service in the militia light-horse for fifteen years, exempts from militia service altogether. The whole expense of uni- form and equipments is borne by the individuals, but they are seldom in training for more than three days in the year. Mr. Sloat has about 1400 acres of land, great part of which is well cleared. His grandfather was the original proprietor. Wood-land is here very valuable, on account of the iron-fomidery and cottoa w^orks in the neighboiurhood. ]Mr. Sloat has lately sold 500 sloat's hotel. 200 acres of wood-land, which he had bought from the States ill 1801, for fifty cents, per acre, at an immense advance. He keeps three pairs of horses, and two pairs of oxen. We were greatly pleased with the whole family, who were well-informed, and agreeable in con- versation, and as anxious to get information respecting British customs and manners, as we were to become acquainted with theirs, and to see their domestic eco- nomy. We were, therefore, very glad to find, that we were, according to the custom of the house, to live in the family rooms with the family. Mr. Sloat's eldest daugh- ter is a very pretty girl of eighteen. She remained chatting with us after the rest of her family had retired, and, afterwards, when she saw my wife to her bed- room, it did not occur to her, in her guileless nature, to be necessary that she too should withdraw ; on the contrary, she would have thought that she was guilty of a want of courtesy, if she had not returned to bear me company, until the time had come for my leaving the parlour. I am thoroughly persuaded that the young women of her rank in life of the United States are quite equal to those of Great Britain in education, and undoubtedly their manners are far more unem- barrassed and artless. On the 4th of October, we returned to New York, passing through the manu- facturing villages of Paterson and Newark, the last being one of the most beautiful villages in the neighbourhood of New York. We dined at Pater- son; and, happening to be there at the time of the public dinner at Rogers' Hotel, we dined at the table d'hote^ before we proceeded to the New York CHANGE OF TEMPERATURE. 501 hotel ill Greenwich Street, where we had a scene with the landhxdy before we could get a parlour, and a cheer- ful fire in a very cold evening*. Captain Hall had, she said, treated the American people so, that she had no desire to see any visiters from Britain in her house. The entire expense of our excursion, which lasted ten days, amounted to ninety-eight dollars, including the whole charges for our hack and driver. On the day following that on which we arrived at New" York, we returned to the boarding-house near Rochelle, wdiere I was confined to the house for above a fortnight, in consequence of an attack of inflamma- tion in my eyes, occasioned by a rapid change of cli- mate on the 6th October, when there was a variation from heat to cold of no less than 35"^ in twelve hours. I mentioned this change of temperature afterwards to Mr. Pike, the well-known optician of Wall Street, New York, who made very light of it, telling me, that not long since he had observed a variation of about 40° of Fahrenheit in the course of an hour in a hot day in the month of August. I was attended during my illness by a medical prac- titioner from New" Rochelle, distant about a mile, whose charge against me for attendance and medicine, includ- ing bleeding and blistering, w^as exactly eight dollars for eight visits. As soon as I was able to travel, I went to New York, on account of some letters I expected, and had occasion to accompany a mercantile gentle- man on board one of the New York sailing sloops, w^hich performs the duties of a passage-boat from New York 502 NEW ROCHELLE. to Middleton, a distance of twenty-five miles. The fitting up of tins vessel is very superior to anything of the kind I have seen, quite a palace compared with the accommodation in the cabins of the sailing boats in the Frith of Forth ; the beds were numerous and excellent, but such a number of females soon came on board, that it became obvious the gentlemen must shift for themselves. We found soon after our return to our boarding- house at New Rochelle, that it was intended to shut it up for the winter, and were puzzled whether to return to New York, or to remain some time longer in the country, the American autumn, as before noticed, ge- nerally consisting of fine weather. We decided on the latter alternative, and agreed to remain for some time at the stage-house in the village of New Rochelle, kept by a New Englander of the name of Weed. We re- mained at his house from the 23d of October till the beginning of December. Mr. Weed's house was kept very much in the style of a country inn in Scotland; and we, therefore, made our bargain to have our meals in private. Mrs. Weed was an active person in the house, and she had a very smart female servant, Hannah, an American, from a neighbouring village. She again was assisted by a man of colour, who was lame, to clean shoes, put on fires, and do all the dirty work ; and I have seldom seen a female servant who was at all times more ready and more active, except when her mistress allowed her a holiday, or a respite for a few hours. The business of the house was very considerable, and there were frequently guests who stayed all night. LODGING AND BOARD. 503 Parties of people from New York, the distance from which was about twenty miles, often came out to try the speed of their horses in their gigs, or in a descrip- tion of carriage, which is very generally used by medi- cal men in the United States, called a sulky, a small gig capable of containing only one person. Yet the whole business of the house within doors was conducted by Mrs. Weed, who had a young family, and by one fe- male servant, assisted by a lame man of colour. There were every day separate meals for the family and the boarders, consisting of many of the merchants and tradesmen of the village, as well as for ourselves. New Rochelle was originally peopled by French re- fugees after the revocation of the Edict of Nantz, and the names of the people are still very generally French, such as Petit, Badeau, Bonet, Gallaudet, Renaud, Le Compte, Le Fevre, &c. but the manners of the mother country have entirely left them ; whereas the Dutch and Germans retain a great deal of their origi- nal manners, and generally understand the language of their forefathers. Our weekly charge for lodging and board was four dollars and a half each, and we had everything good of its kind, tea, coffee, sugar, &c. Home-baked bread, fish, or poultry, every day, and beef-steak, broiled chicken, or roast meat, or roast turkey, or goose ; wild fowl very abundant, especially wild ducks, the price of which was frequently as low as a shilling for three. I happened to be at New York on the 30th October^ 504 CAUCUS MEETING. and embraced th^ opportunity of being present at a very numerously attended caucus meeting, held in the Great Masonic Hall in the Broadway. This meeting had been got up rather presumptuously, as it appeared to most people, by a coterie of the British, who ac- knowledged Miss Wright as their leader. Mr. Robert Dale Owen, the eldest son of the well-known Mr. Owen, one of the number, had himself elected secre- tary ; and it was arranged that Mr. Jennings, another of them, should be orator. The meeting called itself that of the working men ; and their object was to have working-men, or mecha- nics, elected to the legislature. Mr. Jennings addressed the meeting in terms of complaint respecting the aristocratical tendency of the American constitution, — the unequal division of pro- perty and power which it sanctioned, — the want of general education, — the bad effects of monopolies and State banks, and licensed auctions; and the justice and propriety of all in the land having equal food and cloth- ing. He therefore advocated the necessity of electing representatives who w^ould pledge themselves to support a total change of system; and who, instead of eloquence, should possess enough of honesty to lead them to do all in their power to obtain such alterations as would produce an equal division of property of all kinds, and a national system of education open to all, as well as protection from all privileged classes. The whole of this address was mere common-place; — not a new idea started. Mr. Comstock, a cyder-merchant, followed ITINERANT LECTURER. 305 Mr. Jennings ; but the meeting would not hear any more trash of this kind, and separated without adopting any resolutions. To this proceeding I was a witness ; but next day a notice appeared in the newspaper from Mr. Dale Owen, the secretary, containing resolutions, recommending a list of certain persons as representa- tives, agreed to at this meeting. While we were at New Rochelle, Mr. Dennys, an itinerant lecturer on astronomy and the popular branches of natural philosophy, became an inmate of the house. He issued a prospectus for a course of lectures ; and the charge not being great, one shilling sterling per lecture, we procured tickets. We told Han- nah, on the first evening of the course, not to prepare tea for us until we returned from the lecture. The lec- ture-room was, we found, tolerably well filled ; and Mr. Dennys explained his subject with considerable clear- ness. He very properly abstained from all attempts to illustrate those parts of his subject which the great ma- jority of his audience, composed of boys at the acade- mies, and females, could not have comprehended. When we returned from the first lecture, we found that tea, which we had desired to be delayed till our return, was not prepared ; but in a very short time Hannah, in her holiday dress, appeared, expressing her regret that we should have had to wait a little while for her ; but she had been attending the lecture, with the permission of her mistress, Mr. Dennys having made her a present of tickets for the course. Many of the people came VOL. I. z 506 FEMALE SERVANT. two or three miles in their waggons or dearborns to be present at these lectures; and I really believe, from what I heard, that there were few people in the village who had not attended a course of them at some time or other, and who were not tolerably well ac- quainted with the history of the solar system. Mr. Dennys travels with his wife in his own carriage, con- veying an orrery of his own construction, a magic lanthorn, &c. Hannah at one time left us for a few days to see her relations in the neighbouring State. When she was equipped for her journey, she opened our door before stepping into the stage, to say, " Good bye, goodbye, — rU have you both in my mind's eye till I return." When she came back, she took my wife in her arms and kissed her, saying, " I can't help kissing you, for I am so happy to see you again." A fact like this proves, to a certain extent, the equality that prevails : but I do not mean to infer, that a servant would gene- rally consider herself on so familiar a footing. A strange incident, as it appeared to us, happened at the beginning of one of Mr. Dennys' lectures. A man of colour, perfectly well apparelled, entered the room, and was coming forward with a view to hear the lecture, which had commenced. Mr. Dennys, ad- dressing him, told him to go out, saying, " We want no people of colour here ; they are very well in their own way, but we don't mean to make them astrono- mers." The poor fellow was obliged to comply. After the lecture, I ventured to remonstrate with Mr. Dennys 10 THOMAS PAINE. 507 upon the gross impropriety of his conduct; but his answer was quite satisfactory, as far as he was con- cerned, — the fact being, as he stated, that he had no alternative. The people connected with the schools, and his audience generally, would have left the room had he allowed a man of colour to remain. Nothing can be more disgraceful to the people of the United States, nor more inconsistent with their professed principles of equality, than their treatment of the free people of colour. They constantly subject them to in- dignities of every kind, and refuse altogether to eat or drink with them. If you have black servants and white servants in the same house, they never, upon any oc- casion, eat together ; and this circumstance very often obliges people to have servants of colour altogether. Not far from New Rochelle is the property which the American government presented to Thomas Paine after his return to the United States, sub- sequent to the French revolution. The author of Common Sense — a pamphlet of no ordinary ability, and which contributed essentially to make the people of the United States of one mind at the period of the declaration of independence — was well entitled to this mark of gratitude from Congress. We frequently passed his tomb on the road-side, inclosed within a bit of circular stone wall. The surface of the interior looks very much as if Mr. Cobbett had actually car- ried off his bones; for it is in an uneven and dis- ordered state, though now producing very beautiful wild flowers. It happens strangely, that, on the part z 2 508 THOMAS PAINE. of the high road immediately opposite to this burying- ground, tliere is a Methodist meeting-house. The first time that we passed the burying-ground, on the 27th October, we went within the inclosure to look at it. When we came out of it again, we were accosted by Mr. Bonnel, a neighbouring proprietor, who had been out with his gun. He presumed, from his having seen us make so close an inspection of the burying-ground, that we were admirers of Mr. Paine's religious senti- ments, for he immediately spoke of them, and told us that he rather inclined to approve of them himself. He afterwards asked us to dine with him, which, however, it was not in our power to do. Paine was first known by the celebrated song which he composed after Wolfe's fall before Quebec, begin- ning, " In a mouldering cave, where the wretched re- treat," &c. ; but it was not until about the year 1775 or 1776 that he became celebrated. It does not ap- pear that he ever received more than 5000 dollars in money from Congress, and 500Z. from the State of Pennsylvania. Congress also presented him with the land near New Rochelle, the confiscated estate of Frederick Davoe, a loyalist, consisting of above 300 acres of well-cultivated soil, with a good stone house. He was seventy-two years old when he died, on the 8th June, 1809. It is a singular fact, that a person of the same name, Thomas Paine, to whom a prize was adjudged, about the beginning of this century, for writing a prologue at the opening of the Boston Theatre, afterwards ob- hunter's island. 509 tained an act of the legislature of ^Massachusetts, au- thorizing him to change his name to Robert Treat Paine, " because he was unwilling any longer to bear that of a certain noted infidel, and reviler of religion." While the weather continued fine, and when the roads were good, we took very long walks. When the roads were wet, owing to much rain having fallen, Mr. Weed insisted on our driving out in one of his open carriages free of expense ; and he always sent it to church with us when it rained, or w^hen the road was wet. One of the finest walks at New Rochelle, is along the shore to Hunter's Island, situated at a distance of two or three miles, close to the shore, to which it is joined by a bridge. There is a great variety of ground in this island, which consists of about 300 acres, and is well laid out in meadow-land and wood, handsomely disposed. The house is in a beau- tiful situation, commanding fine views of the lawn, and of the indented shores of Long Island, and the frith or sound dividing it from Hunter's Island. The house is a large stone building, of heavy architecture, but con- taining a great deal of good accommodation. The office-houses and garden are good, and in good order. In short, this is not only a fine country-seat, in the English sense of the word, but a place well worth a visit, on account of its peculiar and attractive beauties. Mr. Hunter is a man of large fortune in various parts of the State. I was told that 30,000 acres of the Cats- kill mountains belong to him. Joseph Buonaparte has been frequently here. Before he made his pur- z 3 510 MR. hunter's pictures. chase on the Delaware, he was very anxious, as I was told, to obtain Hunter's Island ; and showed his good taste, if I am correctly informed, by offering a very large price for it. It is in all respects superior to the acquisition he afterwards made on the Delaware. But Mr. Hunter was quite right to decline, on any terms, parting with such a gem as this. The second time that I went to this island to enjoy its scenery, we were accompanied by a friend from New York. Mr. Hunter had by this time heard of our being in the neighbourhood, and, having noticed us when going away, he followed, and begged us to return to his house and take some refreshment. It was getting late in the evening, and we were therefore obliged to decline his hospitality ; but we promised to take an early opportunity of paying him a visit, which we accordingly did on the 16th November. Mr. Hun- ter was long a member of Congress, — seems a very gentlemanly person, of mild manners, — very anxious that a good understanding should subsist between the people of the United States and of England, and re- grets much the views which Captain Hall has given of North America. He expressed great approbation of the system of farming practised by several Scotch farmers whom he knew in various parts of this neigh- bourhood, especially by a Judge Somerville. Mr. Hunter has lately had a large collection of paintings made for him in Italy by, I think he said, his brother, at present in that country. Among those which I saw, were some of considerable merit by Poussin, Watteau, LANGUAGE OF AMERICANS. 511 &c. ; but, as a whole, his gallery does not take a very high rank. A choice collection by the best masters only, even on a much smaller scale, might have no inconsiderable effect in forming the taste of the people in this part of the United States — far more than the acquisition of so large a number of pictures of the middling class. Chaste works of art are much wanting in the United States. Few persons comparatively are yet acquainted with them. The collections of paintings, and of works of art in the large towns, show great want of information and skill. I have never been able to discover either here, or in other parts of the United States where we have yet been, any ground for an observation which has been again and again made by British writers, viz. that it is difficult to understand the language which the Ameri- cans use, and that an American does not at once under- stand what an Englishman says. On the contrary, I think it much more difficult, in travelling in Britain, to comprehend the various dialects that are used by the lower classes in different parts of the country. Even in London, the language is very different in the city and at the west end of the town. The style of speak- ing is very much the same all over this country. The only variation seems to consist in the different signifi- cation which is given to a few words in America, such as the following : — A lady calling on us when there were some melons on the table, we asked her, as soon as the servant brought a plate, to partake. She was z 4 512 LANGUAGE OF AMERICANS. in a hurry, and took up a little bit in her hand, saying, allow me to take it " friendly," — meaning unceremo- niously. Of such words as this there is a considerable number, but there is generally no difficulty in finding out the sense in which they are used. ROCHELLE TO HOBOKEN. 513 CHAPTER XX. Removal from New Roclielle to Mr. Van Boskerck's Boarding-House at Hoboken— Situation — Colonel Stevens' Property at Hoboken, formerly Mr. Byard's Estate — Great Undertakings of Colonel Stevens' Family — Steam-Boats, Stages, &c. — Patent for the Invention of Shell-Bombs — Hoboken Ferry — Twin Steam-Boat tried without Success— Super- intendents of the Ferry — Sum paid for Ferry — Wharfage at New York — The Extent of Wharf for Hudson River Steam-Boats — Salaries to Master and Crew of Ferry Steam-Boats — Salary to Porter — Beauty of Walks at Hoboken — Mr. Van Boskerck's Family — Gentlemea go to Market at New York — They frequently carry Home their Purchases — Shoe -black's Dinner at New York — Mr. Taylor, Dutch Congregational Minister at Bergen — Character of Americans of Dutch Extraction — Clergymen preach in Dutch Language — Mr. Sobriski — His Property— His Manners — Clergymen of New York — Their Ortho- dox Doctrines — No Connection of Clergy with the State — No Grounds for the Charge of Fanaticism against the People of United States generally — Mr. Cone — Mr. Power — Interval between Morning and Evening Service — Grace said at Hoboken Boarding-House — Women employed in making Men's Clothes — Mr. Rov/e's Establishment — His Clothing-store at New Orleans — Custom of Visiting on New Year's Day— Seed Cakes— Mildness of Winter, 1829-30— Filling of Ice- Houses — Mr. Scott, from Somersetshire, Overseer of Farms in New Jersey — His Mode of living — Watering of New York Streets in January, 1830. From December, 1829, to January, 1830. In the middle of December, we removed fi-om New Rochelle to Mr. Van Boskerck's boarding-liouse at z 5 514 HOBOKEN. Hoboken on the opposite side of the Hudson from New York, from which it is distant about a mile and a-half, by steam-boat, which passes every quarter of an hour, from sunrise till after sunset. The situation is most convenient, in a charming spot in the country, with delightful walks at our door, and it is in our power at any time to be in the heart of New York in twenty minutes. The village of Hoboken, at one end of which Mr. Boskerck's house is placed, is on the New Jersey shore, and is part of the extensive property of Colonel Stevens, a gentleman above eighty years old, who has three miles of fine coast adjoining to it. This was the principal part of the estate, and the residence of Mr. Byard, an Ame- rican loyalist, whose property being confiscated, the greater part was bought by Colonel Stevens at a very low rate, at the end of the revolutionary war. The Colonel and his family, consisting of four sons, are all engaged in great undertakings connected with steam navigation. They are proprietors of the " North America" steam-boat, and three others of the same class, which ply between New York and Albany upon the Hudson. They have steam-boats in New York Bay, and on the Delaware, carrying on an intercourse between New York and Philadelphia ; and they are proprietors of the stages required for the land part of the communication between New York, Bruns- wick, and Trenton. They also have steam-boats and stages to Newark, about nine miles from New York, The road from Newark to New York is made through STEAM-VESSELS. 515 a swamp, and is one of the best roads in this country. The distance being short, Messrs. Stevens have put on it a stage coach in the English form, with six horses. The accommodation without and within is sufficient for thirty persons. They are proprietors of the great steam- boat ferry between Hoboken and two points in the very centre of New York, at the bottom of Barclay Street and Canal Street. Their steam-vessels are all built by themselves at their dock at Hoboken, where they employ an immense number of workmen. Mr. Robert Stevens is an engineer of the first eminence in this country. He holds a patent for the invention of shell bombs, for which he is, and has been, well paid by the government. The ferry station at Hoboken is about eight minutes' walk from our boarding-house. The distance across the ferry is a mile and a half, and the boats, four in number, generally make the passage in ten minutes, or very little more. The Twin steam- boat was tried here some years ago ; but although the situation is very much sheltered and land-locked, it was found that she did not answer when the water was at all agitated, and she was, therefore, aban- doned. One of the boats, of thirty-eight horse power, carries 100 cattle, or twenty waggons and horses on the deck, which is altogether level. The engine is enclosed, and on deck: all the boats are coppered. The passengers in stages or carriages of any kind never get out of them in crossing the ferry. The superintendents at the different ferry stations receive the fare, threepence sterling in summer, and sixpence z6 516 STEAM-BOAT WHARFS. in winter, before the passengers enter the boat, — but there is also a general superintendent to oversee the whole concern. The present general superintendent, Mr. John Van Boskerck, the eldest son of our worthy host, formerly an experienced navigator, is a most active, intelligent person, and manages it admirably. The sums received at the ferry stations are said to amount to nearly 100,000 dollars a year. Messrs. Stevens pay the New York corporation 2300 dollars annually for the necessary wharfage on the New York side of the river. Without this wharfage, they could not carry on the ferry from their own side. This state of matters puts it in the power of the corporation to insist upon the establishment of a proper code of regulations as to the times of the crossings of the boats, and in other respects, during the whole year. The management and regula- tion of this ferry are, in all respects, superior to that of any ferry in Britain, with which I am acquainted. One of the wharfs for Messrs. Stevens' Hudson River steam-boats is 280 feet long, and thirty-five broad. The masters of the ferry-boats have 700 dol- lars a year each. The crew, including the engineer, have, on an average, 350 dollars a year. The porter at Hoboken (an Irishman,) has a dollar a day, for 365 days in the year, for keeping the pier clean, and giving assistance to the passengers landing, and especially for assisting them on coming ashore, and attending to their baggage. There are small WALKS \T HOBOKEN. 517 stores in the boats, for selling liquor, fruit, confection- ery, &c. — places of about eight feet by six in size. The store-keepers pay 200 dollars a year, in each boat, for the privilege of selling these articles. Colonel Stevens and part of his family reside in a beautiful villa, about half a mile from Hoboken, situated upon a plateau of fine level ground overhanging the river. They have laid out their property adjoining the river, for above two miles, in public walks, which the inha- bitants of New York, who come over in prodigious numbers, enjoy very much. In this way the value of the ferry is greatly increased, as well as the rent of a hotel belonging to Colonel Stevens at Hoboken, which is at present let at 2000 dollars a year. The walks are shaded with beautiful willow trees and other orna- mental wood. In winter, few of the inhabitants think of crossing the ferry on purpose for the walks, and we, of course, Jiave them very much to ourselves. The case is very much the same with the boarding-house. It is large, and every apartment is filled during the summer, but at this season there is only one gentle- man living in it besides ourselves. It is quite re- moved out of the village, and adjoins Colonel Stevens' grounds. It was bought for 2500 dollars, although the rent, which might easily have been continued, was 350 dollars. This fact shows the value of capital in the country. The family to whom the house belongs, and who occupy it, are of Dutch extraction. They were loyalists during the war of the revolution, but are now converted into zealous republicans. The 518 MARKETING. family consists of Mr. and Mrs. Van Boskerck, a very fine couple, between sixty and seventy years old, and two maiden daughters, who manage the business, ex- cept in the marketing department, which leads Mr. Van Boskerck to New York twice or thrice a week. It is much more the fashion at New York for gentle- men to go to market than ladies, and they very fre- quently carry home their purchase, especially if it be poultry, in their own hands. I have again and again met a man of considerable property carrying home a turkey in his hand. I afterwards heard at Richmond of Chief Justice Marshall, the head of the law courts of this country, frequently carrying his dinner from market. He is a native of Richmond, and resides there when his court is not sitting. There is only one regular servant in this house during the winter season, a married woman of colour ; but there is a full esta- blishment of servants in the summer months. The whole arrangements of the house and the provisions are excellent. Brandy and water, and capital beer, or rather ale, are regularly upon the dining-table. The charge for boarding is five and a-half dollars a week. We were treated in this boarding-house quite as members of the family, and in the whole course of our travels, here and elsewhere, I never met with worthier or kinder people. Not long after we came to Hoboken, I engaged to dine with a friend at a boarding-house in New York, and finding, after I had crossed the ferry, that it was necessary for me to have the dust wiped off my shoes, MR. SOBRISKI. 519 I went into a shoe-black's apartment for that purpose, and there I found him and his wife, both persons of colour, (No. 32, Lennard Street,) at dinner, consisting of one of the fattest roast geese I had ever seen, with potatoes, and apple-pie. After we came to Hoboken, we frequently went on Sunday to the Dutch Congregational Church of Mr. Taylor at Bergen, about two miles from Hoboken. Mr. Taylor is an excellent preacher, and his congre- gation very respectable, both in point of numbers and appearance. There was nothing peculiar in the mode of worship, except that before the commencement of the service the commandments were read by the clerk or precentor. No people are more respected for honesty and up- rightness of character than the Americans of Dutch extraction ; but they are not reckoned so enterprising as the other classes of the inhabitants. There are in- dividuals in this country even now, who can hardly speak a word of English ; and Mr. Taylor, and all the clergymen of the Dutch congregations in this neigh- bourhood, preach, at certain times, in the Dutch lan- guage. There is quite a preponderating number of Dutch on that part of the coast of New Jersey oppo- site to New York. I had several opportunities of seeing, at Mr. Van Boskerck's house, an old gentleman of seventy-five, Mr. Sobriski, who, though he knows a little English, is so fond of his native language, the Dutch, that he will hardly condescend to speak in English. He is proprietor of 500 or 600 acres of 520 AMERICAN CLERGY. very fine land, which produces most beautiful apples, of which I again and again partook. This gentleman, although at an advanced period of life, and in the easiest circumstances possible, engages in no trans- action which can seriously affect his property, and cares as much as he ever did for preserving his character as a prudent saving man in money matters. He never trusts a bank. He cannot avoid receiving bank-notes in payment for the produce of his lands, but he loses no time in exchanging them for silver, either with his neighbours, or at the bank. He is, I think, the only person I met in the United States who preferred walking on foot to riding in a carriage or on horse- back, on account of the expense. Sometimes, when the day was particularly fine, we went to New York to church, and heard several of the clergymen whose names are known to the public, Mr. Berrian, of the Episcopal Church; Dr. Wainwright, Dr. Spring, Dr. Snodgrass, and Mr. Mason, of the Pres- byterian; Dr. Macleod, of the Reformed Presbyterian ; Mr. Cone and Mr. Maclay, of the Baptist; Mr. Power, of the Roman Catholic ; and I was also twice at Me- thodist meetings, without, I find, having noted the names of the clergymen. There seemed to me no- where any essential difference in the forms of worship between this country and Great Britain. The doctrine preached seemed to me more Calvinistic or orthodox, and the clergy not more zealous, certainly, than very many clergymen in all parts of the British islands ; but as a body, far more zealous and earnest, and de- AMERICAN CLERGY. 521 voting far more of their time to their religious duties than the clergy in Great Britain, especially than the regular clergy. It is impossible not in some degree to ascribe their greater devotedness to their profession, to their being unconnected with the state, and to their dependence for their provision upon their fellow-men. Cases do sometimes occur, where that dependence subjects clergymen in the United States to arbitrary measures on the part of their congregation; but, as far as I could learn, such cases are not of frequent occurrence, — certainly not to be compared in number with those which every day take place in Britain, where the clergyman maintains his situation as pastor of a con- gregation after he has proved himself totally unfit for the charge. I am throughly persuaded that there is not the slightest foundation for thinking, that in the populous part of the United States, the people ar^ more liable to the charge of fanaticism, or religious enthusiasm, than in Britain. I suspect that those who have given currency to such a notion, although they may have been accustomed to attend church regu- larly when at home, had never been in the habit of attending the churches of the various dissenting sects in Britain, and have formed their notion of a church upon the model to w^hich long custom has habituated them. It would be invidious to make any comparison of the talents of such of the New York clergy as I heard preach. I can very truly say, that one and all of them seemed to be possessed of respectable abilities 522 TAILORESSES. and acquirements. Mr. Cone's was the most crowded of all the churches of New York where we were present. Indeed, it was the only church in the United States in which I had any difficulty in finding a seat at once ; but the tide of Mr. Cone's popularity was so great when I heard him, that the regular sitters were in some degree tenacious of their rights. Mr. Cone was formerly an actor ; and he escaped, provi- dentially, the conflagration of the Richmond Theatre, when a vast number of lives were lost, some years ago. He is certainly an eloquent person. Mr. Power is an Irishman. The sermon which I heard him preach was for a public charity ; and, equally good in matter and manner, impressively and eloquently delivered. There is a much longer interval between the morn- ing and afternoon service at church in New York and Philadelphia, and all over that part of the country where I have been, than in Scotland. The afternoon service does not generally commence until three o'clock ; and the people universally, or almost univer- sally, dine before it. I have already mentioned, that, in travelling through the country, grace was never said, even before dinner, at the public table ; but here, at a private boarding- house, it was regularly said, both before breakfast and before dinner; and, what was quite new to us, both the landlord and landlady, Mr. and Mrs. Van Boskerck, repeated the words together. The people generally are Dutch Congregationalists. At New York females are far more employed than NEW year's day. 523 persons of the other sex in making men's clothes. Women are not allowed to workout of doors, and work within doors must be found for them. There is never any want of work for men as labourers, or as trades- men. I was acquainted with one gentleman, Mr. Rowe, at New York, who has a great establishment at New Orleans, and, on account of the higher rate of wages at the latter, he constantly employs at New York six or eight men to cut out clothes, and 200 or 300 tailoresses to make them up, all for the New Orleans market. New-year's day, 1830, took place while we were at Hoboken. It was a fine clear day. We therefore passed over to Long Island to the Brooklyn Heights, to see the packets from England and other ports, which depart on the first day of each month, making sail in the Bay. I never witnessed a more animated scene. On our return through New York we were surprised to ob- serve the streets more crowded than at any former pe- riod; and afterwards found, that it is usual for people of all descriptions to call at each other's houses, were it but for a moment, on the first day of the year. Cold meat, cake, confectionery, and wdnes, are laid out upon a table, that all who call may partake ; and it seems the general understanding, that such a one's friends who do not call upon him on the first day of the year, are not very anxious to continue his acquaint- ance. There must be limitations to the rule, but I never could get them well explained ; there is no doubt that the practice, as I have stated it, is very general. The confectioners make great seed-cakes at Christmas 524 ICE-HOUSES. and new year. They are thought such curiosities that advertisements are issued, and people go to see them on the day before they are cut. One of them at Pahner's, the confectioner's in Broadway, weighed 1500 pounds. The winter of 1829-30 continued free from severe frost until after the middle of January, 1830. Soon afterwards, the thermometer fell a few degrees below the freezing point ; then all hands were set to work in order to have the ice-houses filled with ice, which is so indispensable in a warm climate. The ice-house attached to the boarding-house where we were living contains thirty tons of ice; and, as no ice is admitted into an ice-house which is not perfectly clean and clear, so that a lump of it may be put into a glass of water, as much care is necessary in selecting ice perfectly pure from the ponds, as in packing it in the ice- house. The people were all alert and employed. Messrs. Stevens have immense depots of ice, both here and at Albany, for their steam-boats on the Hudson river. In crossing the ferry, I became acquainted with Mr. Scott, overseer of a farm near New Durham, about five miles from Hoboken. He was in the habit of taking cattle for his master to New York. He told us that he considered himself very lucky in coming to this coun- try. He was unable to pay his passage until two years after he arrived from England, eight years ago. As soon as he discharged that debt, he married a young woman from the same country, (Somersetshire) who had DRY SEASON. 525 come out unmarried. He asked us to come and visit his house, and see how comfortable they were, which we accordingly did, and found everything as he had represented. This family have the necessaries of life in abundance, and are laying up a considerable sum every year, how much he did not mention, neither did he mention his wages exactly. Mr. Scott told us that they had plenty of animal food every day, — three cows kept for them, three swine, and a garden. They have three children, and complained of no annoyance but what arises from the heat of the weather. Their So- mersetshire dialect made their language more unintel- ligible to us than that of any other persons we had seen in the United States. The month of January, 1830, was remarkable for dry weather, to so great a degree, that the streets of New York, especially Broadway, were regularly watered every day. The dust could hardly be kept down. At length, about the twenty-fifth day of the month, the frost became intense, and the communica- tions from New York to Philadelphia and to Albany, by water, were stopped. END OF VOL. I. London: GILBERT & RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. John's squars.