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LETTERS

NORTH AMERICA.

LETTERS

NORTH AMERICA,

WRITTEN

Bunng a Eour

UNITED STATES AND CANADA.

By ADAM HODGSON.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR HURST, BOBINSON, & CO.
AND
A. CONSTABLE & CO. EDINBURGH.
1824.

ii CONTENTS.
LETTER XXX. PAGB
Canadar— Its Importance — Soil — Scenery— Climate— Advan
tages offered to Emigrants in the State of New York  55—63
LETTER XXXI.
Birkbeck's Settlement — Agricultural Profits low in America —
Inquiry whether the American Government are acting
wisely in giving such great encouragement to Domestic
Manufactures — Obvious Impolicy of the British Duty on
Foreign Wool — British Corn Laws — Effects of them apparent
in America — Family Picture  .--  64 — 77
LETTER XXXII.
Birkbeck — Error corrected — Ohio, its Advantages — Its In
ducements to Manufacturers — Value of Lands — Expense of
Living — Provisions — Labour, — Depreciation of Real Estate in
different -Parts of America — Ruinous Effects of the Bank
Mania — Slave-labour at Norfolk..  78—88
LETTER XXXIII,
Narrative resumed— Journey to Norfolk, in Virginia — Chesa-
. peake Bay — Extraordinary number and magnitude of the
Rivers which it receives — Aspect of its B.inks — Dismal
Swamp — Cypress Trees — Norfolk — Population — Hampton
Roads — Journey from Baltimore — York — Face of the
Country — Buildings — Germans — Stage Driver — Cheapness
of Labour — Creek Valley — Value of Estates — Susquehannah
-i-Lancaster — Birkbeck — Philadelphia  89  10
LETTER XXXIV.
Society of New York — Gay Parties in their Sleighs— Two very
agreeable Excursions in a. Sleigh*— Public Meeting for the
Prevention of Pauperism — Dutch Custom on New Year's
Day — Edinburgh Review — Newhaven — Yale College— Mr.
Silliman— Dr. Morse—Bishop Berkeley— Hartford^-Num-
ber of Passengers who landed at New York, from 1st March
*818, to llth December 181^  108  123

CONTENTS 111
LETTER XXXV.
I PAGE
Providence — Roger Williams — Society of\ Providence — Com. ,
merce — Manufactures — . Newport — Symptoms of Decay —
- Amusing Visit — General Aspect of the Island — The Spot
where Bishop Berkeley composed his Minute Philosopher —
New Bedford — Society — Martha's Vineyard  124 — 139
LETTER XXXVI.
Plymouth — Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers — Second Centenary
Anniversary — Taunton — Boston — Wedding — Effect of Ame
rican Manners on Servants — Newbury-Port — Road to Portland 140 — 1 58
LETTER XXXVII.
Inn at Portland — Motley Crowd of Young Legislators, and
singular Discussion on Courts of Judicature — Remarks on
the American Constitution in theory and practice — Federalist
. — Corrupt Influence of the General Government exercised in
the State of New Yoi-k — Reflections on the Duration of the
Union, and the Causes which may ultimately destroy the
Confederation  t  159 — 198
LETTER XXXVIII.
*
Boarding-house at Portland — Legislators — Governor of the
State of Maine — Particulars respecting this New State — Ride
in a Tandem Sleigh over the snow to Portsmouth— Supreme
Court — Newbury-Port  199—211
LETTER XXXIX.
State and Prospects of Religion in the United States  212 — 236
LETTER XL-
Unitarianism in the United States  237 — 246
LETTER XLI.
State of Morals in the United States  247—261

IV CONTENTS.
LETTER XLII. PAGE
Ride from Newbury-Port to Salem — Demeanour of Landlords
and Waiters in the United States — Two sides of the Picture
in America as in other Countries — Erroneous Views and Illi
beral Feelings, with respect to the United States, too common
in England — Traces of the Primitive Manners of the Puritans
in New England — Northampton — Hartford — Valley of the
Connecticut — Beauty of the American Elms — Extraordinary
Size of the Plane and Tulip Trees in America — Instances of
English Trees as large — Beauty of an American Forest in
Autumn — Examination of the common Opinion that the
Woods in America are destitute of Singing Birds— Extreme
Transparency of the American Atmosphere, ahd its effect on
Scenery — English Climate to be preferred — Rapid Vicissitudes
and-wide range of Variation in the Climate of North Ame
rica — Instances  ..  262 — 287
LETTER XLIII.
. Foreign Mission-School at Cornwall — Catherine Brown —
Bishop Berkeley's Plan for Civilizing the Indians  Encou
raging Prospects — Reflections on passing from New England
into the State of New York — Kaatskiu Mountains  Pough
keepsie  ,  ^  288—314
LETTER XLIV.
Wild and magnificent Scenery of the Highlands  Ride to New
York — Reflections on the eve of bidding adieu to America 315 — 320
Journal at Sea, &c  ,  323  347
Appendix  349—459

LETTERS, &c

lUtter XX&Jt-

Boston, — Sept. 1820.
We arrived here on the 5th instant, having
left Andover, about 20 miles distant, early in
the morning, and took up our abode at J — 's,
the principal boarding-house, where there is
a party of eighteen or twenty. Some of the
boarders are respectable families from the
southern States ; others, men of business from
various parts of Europe. We all assemble at
meals, and the house is pleasant and well con
ducted, although I am not yet reconciled to
the necessity ,of making my bed-chamber my
private sitting-room.
VOL. II. B

2 LETTERS FROM
My commercial and social engagements have,
however, left me little leisure ; for nothing can
exceed the hospitable attentions of the principal
families here; and the good humour and intelli
gence which pervade the society I have met
at their houses, renders it very agreeable. The
day but one after my arrival, I received a very-
favourable impression of Boston society, at a
large dinner party, consisting of many of my
southern friends, who were returning from
Ballston Springs, some of the Professors of
Harvard College, Cambridge, and many very
well-educated young men, who had travelled in
Europe for improvement. This impression
has heen confirmed by the more extended
observation I have since had the opportunity of
making in a round of visiting, during which
I have dined out nearly every day.
The Georgians and Carolinians, to whom the
"Bostonians have been performing the rites of
hospitality for some weeks, have added much
to the pleasure of our social intercourse ; but
they are now generally proceeding to New
York or Philadelphia, where they will remain
till the southern fevers abate, (poor Savannah is
in a dreadful state.) This interchange of civi
lities, and constant meeting at the Springs, is
gradually extinguishing sectional prejudices;

NORTH AMERICA. 3
and as the Canadians are beginning to enter the
circle, I hope it will abate something of the
disgraceful animosity of the colonies towards
their neighbours. I lately met Mr. Poletica,
the Russian Ambassador, with the Secretary of
Legation, at a party here ; but they returned
to Washington some days since.
Boston has often been compared with
Liverpool; and on this occasion, I was
much struck with the justice of the com
parison. You would be surprised to see
how strong a resemblance there is between
the two places, in the general aspect and furni
ture of the houses, in the domestic arrangements
and style of living, and in the manners, habits,
and character of the people.
There is much simplicity and frankness in
the manners of the young ladies ; and the inti
mate connection of their brothers, or relatives,
with the neighbouring college, seems, in many
instances, to have had a happy influence on their
literary taste. I have met with no blue stocking
ladies, although I am disposed to beheve that
a larger proportion understand a little of Latin
than with us. Some, I am told, are learning
Greek, but I give this merely as an on dit.
" I know not how the truth may be,
" I tell- the tale as 'twas told to me."

4 LETTERS FROM
Of the lighter accomplishments, dancing seems
to be the general favourite, and to be pur
sued with no ordinary zest. The number of
balls which are given would surprise you. I
have lately been at several large evening
parties, arising out of weddings, which always
seem to be going on in this country, as of
course they must, where the population doubles
itself in 20 or 25 years.
The country, in the neighbourhood of Boston,
is undulating and beautiful, and enriched with
a profusion. of wood and water. The fine bay,
studded with islands, forms an interesting object,
from many of the handsome country seats in
the neighbourhood. The weather generally has
been delightful, hke our finest autumnal wea
ther, with skies so clear, that we have occasion-
ally seen a planet from the Exchange, at 3
o'clock in the day. We have since had some
of our November rain and cloud ; but the sky
is now clear and frosty, and fires are universal.
A few days since, I visited the Waltham
cotton mills, and was much surprised to see the
degree of perfection they have obtained, both
in spinning and in weaving by power-looms.
They very obligingly showed, me their books,
and all the particulars with respect to speed,
waste, wages, expenses, and profit. The last

NORTH AMERICA. 5
has been such as to induce them greatly to
extend their works. I will give you all these
particulars when we meet. They will confirm
your impression, as they did mine, of the
rapidity with which America is advancing in
manufacturing skill. The general appearance
of the workmen and children was more orderly
and respectable than I have ever seen in
England, even in those mills in the country,
where the apprentices receive the most atten
tion. I have also visited Bunker's Hill and Nahant,
the latter the most celebrated promontory
between the St. Lawrence and the Gulf of
Mexico. A gentleman dined with us there,
who replied to my interrogations, whether he
had seen the sea-serpent, of which this neigh
bourhood is said to be the favourite haunt, that
he had had the misfortune to see it three days
before; that he really considered it a misfor
tune, as no one would believe him ; and he
could not, in sincerity, deny having seen it.*
Large and handsome houses are very much
* The American accounts of the sea-serpent, derive strong
confirmation from the well authenticated facts respecting the
extraordinary animal seen by the Rev. Mr. Maclean, among
the Hebrides in 1808, and that cast on shore on Red Orkneys,
in that year. — Wernerian Transact. Vol. I.

6 LETTERS FROM
in fashion in Boston, and this, perhaps, is the
most expensive taste of the Bostonians. But
the basis of expenditure here, as well as of
commerce, is real capital, represented by a sound
and undepreciated currency. y_ I must prefer the
commercial character of Boston to that of any
place I have yet seen in America, except,
perhaps, its neighbour Salem. This latter place,
you will recollect, as the scene of an edifying
exhibition of toleration on the part of those
non-conforming emigrants, who fled from their
country to obtain civil and religious liberty, and
then exercised it by burning reputed witches ;
but you will remember it with more
pleasure, as the place that generously offered
its warehouses, gratis, to the Boston merchants
during the revolutionary war. I visited it
with great interest. It is a singular little town
of astonishing wealth* and formerly had 60 or
70 ships in the East India trade, employed prin
cipally in carrying the produce of China and the
Eastern Archipelago to the various parts of
Europe. Indeed, many, if not most of the
large commercial fortunes, I have observed in
America, some of them almost without a
parallel in Europe, have been made in those
branches of the East India trade, which our
East India Company never engaged in, but

NORTH AMERICA. 7
from which their monopoly excludes British
subjects! I never met with merchants more
intelligent on commercialsubjects than at Salem,
or in more close connection with the most
remote foreign markets. We found them
very hospitable; but they are sometimes
taunted with a deficiency in this particular,
because they do not give five or six different
kinds of fine old Madeira, as is common here.
They have much leisure, good hterary insti
tutions, and the few whom I saw were very
well informed on general topics. Sir Humphrey
Davy's chemical discoveries were fertilizing
the rocky coast of Salem, and enlightening
the minds of its inhabitants. Their voyages,
they tokl me, were generally planned in their
in»urance->offices or coffee-rooms, where they
appeared to be doing nothing.
The other day, some friends took me to
Brighton* five miles distant, to the annual cattle
show and exhibition of domestic manufactures;
ofthe former I am no judge, and the array ofthe
latter, required.the aid of all my philanthropy to
suppress the rising apprehensions of an English
merchant. It would be difficult, to mention
any manufacture which was omitted* from a
tawdry rosy-eheeked, wax doll, to the most
substantial fabrics of woollen or cotton. The

8 LETTERS FROM
blue cloths, at eight dollars per yard, I found were
considerably better than could be imported at
the same price. They are said to retain their
colour much better than ours, perhaps from the
superior cheapness and. more plentiful use of
indigo here. The Waltham shirting at 26
cents, and sheetings at 37 cents per yard, bOre
away the palm as regarded cotton goods. Be
tween the exhibition and dinner, our party
went to see a new manufactory of lace, lately
established by General Sumner. It is on a
small scale^E We found there the Governor of
Massachusets, and the Governor of Ohio, both
of -whom dined with us afterwards at the anni-
versary;diriner, with upwards of 300 persons,
including most of the respectable people in the
neighbourhood. The Governor of Ohio told
me, that his errand was to see the state of
manufactures here, in order to introduce, them
on a larger scale than their present one, into
Ohio; he has been for many years concerned in
a cotton mill there, which, though indifferently
managed, has been profitable; but he expects
to see Ohio a great manufacturing state. The
mill seats are numerous ; subsistence very low,
Indian corn being considerably, below 20 cents
per bushel; and the expense of bringing cotton
from Mississippi less thart 1^ cents per lb.

NORTH AMERICA. 9
The dinner went off very well, but the 300
persons comprised a comparatively small pro
portion of what I should consider the yeomanry
of the country. In fact a New England farmer
would not readily consent to give 1\ doUars for
a dinner, and the privilege of hearing a string
of toasts in praise of agriculture, commerce,
and manufactures. We dined at half-past
two o'clock, and reached town at six.
To-day has been entirely spent in finishing
my social and commercial calls. I lately had
the pleasure of meeting, by appointment, the
venerable Dr. Worcester, the corresponding
secretary of the American Board of Foreign
Missions, as he passed through Boston ; he
appears to be sinking under his labours.
I have been glad to feel a httle settled after
wandering through such a succession of new
scenes and objects. This has been more easy
in Boston, than it would have been in any other
place in the United States, closely connected
as it is with the most interesting events and
characters of the American revolution, and
with the early and affecting history of the
learned and rehgious exiles, who left their
country for conscience sake. Almost every
street presents some spot or building of interest
or notoriety in the revolutionary war, and

10 LETTERS FROM
occasionally, though seldom, we meet with
one of the few- surviving actors in scenes and
events which are matter of history to- the
present generation.,
General Dearborn and Governor Brooks, are
the only revolutionary heroes whom I recollect
meeting in company at Boston.
In the Faneuil Hall, or Cradle of Liberty,
as it is called, I attended a public meeting on
the subject of prohibiting duties on foreign
manufactures. It was with strange and mingled
feelings, that I saw this intelligent portion of
a great, prosperous, and independent nation;
so lately an infant colony on a rooky shore,
with hostile Indians in their rear, proceeding
to discuss a question which assumed the posses
sion of resources, which other nations have
been centuries in attaining. While they were
coldly animadverting on the experience of Great
Britain* and deriving warnings from her ex^
ample, I often grew a little angry, and- felt
that they might have remembered that she was
their parent country, and that she still supplied
them with a large portion of the knowledge
whieh enabled them to avail themselves- of
their natural resources.
I have been much interested in; tracing little
peculiarities in the manners and institutions of

NORTH AMERICA. 11
the Bostonians, to the customs of their puri
tanic ancestors ; but I will not tire you with
these in a letter.
I am surprised by the proofs which are
presented to me of the learning of the " Pilgrim
Fathers," as they call the first settlers, and with
their active solicitude to found seminaries for
learning, while wanting almost the necessaries
of hfe. They must have been sadly disheart
ened at the first sight of the rocky shores of
New England. At Salem I saw the original
charters from Kings James and Charles. A few
weeks will close the second century, since the
arrival of the first settlers at Plymouth ; and
an oration will be pronounced on the rock
where they landed, to a large concourse of
people from different parts of New England.
One can hardly conceive a finer subject for an
orator, than the occasion will suggest.
I think I never mentioned, either that I saw
the Constitution, the Independence, and the
Java frigates, which are lying at Boston, or
that I dined one day in company with the son
of one of the pretended Indians, who poured
the odious tea out of the chests into the Bay.
New York, 2\st October. — We set off from
Boston in the stage, at four o'clock in the morn
ing of the 19th, and breakfasting on tne way,

12 LETTERS FROM
reached Providence, in Bhode Island, about one
o'clock. This is the seat of the earliest, and
most extensive, but now by no means the most
complete estabhshment of cotton manufactures
in this country, and contains many large and
handsome private houses. As I could not stay
a few hours without staying two or three days,
and as I had seen Waltham, I proceeded in the
mail to Norwich, about 80 miles from Boston,
where we arrived at seven o'clock in the
evening. The most agreeable companions in
the stage were one of the Theological Professors
of Andover, and an Episcopal clergyman, who
had travelled over Europe, and spent some time
at Oxford. Our conversation turned for a con
siderable time on the comparative authority and
validity of Episcopal and Presbyterian ordina
tion, and a good deal of real learning was dis
played on both sides.
The Americans have the advantage over us
in coolness and courtesy in argument, and
scarcely ever interrupt the speaker, a lesson of
politeness imbibed, perhaps, from the Indians,
who are most particular in this respect.
At Norwich we took the steam-boat, dropped
down the river to New London, where we
anchored till day-light, and then proceeded
about 50 miles to Newhaven, where we arrived

NORTH AMERICA. 13
in the evening, and were transhipped into an
other steam-boat, the Connecticut. The sun
was just setting, and the full moon rising in
a cloudless sky, as we left the beautiful bay of
Newhaven, and at four o'clock this morning we
found ourselves lying at the wharf of New
York, about 54 miles from Newhaven, and 230
from Boston, which we had left 48 hours before.
It is an easy and pleasant journey ; but there is
little interesting in the scenery, either in Bhode
Island, or that part of Connecticut through
which we passed. The appearance of Bhode
Island was rocky, desolate, and uncomfortable ;
and the people, I am told, are in a worse condi
tion than in any part of New England, with
respect to morals, education, and religion. —
Indeed, if the accounts stated to me by my
fellow-travellers be correct, it must be worse
than any other non-slave-holding State I have
yet seen. A great change was perceptible on
entering Connecticut, although the external
character of the country was similar for some
distance. Norwich was the birth-place of the
traitor Arnold,
The shores of Connecticut presented a pleas
ing variety of woodland and cultivation, as we
sailed through the Sound, and were animated
by numerous villages, with their still more

14 LETTERS FROM
numerous spires. We had a very large party
on board the steam-boat; and among others,
my friends the Episcopalian clergyman, and the
Professor, whom I mentioned in a former
part of this letter, and the Governor of Ohio.
The latter came on board in the night, and had
changed his dress a httle, so that I did not
immediately recognize him. When I did, he
apologized for not speaking first, but said the
manners of my countrymen were in general so
stiff, (he would gladly have said haughty,) that
he had been obliged to come to the determina
tion never to speak first, although always
pleased with an opportunity of conversing with
them. We then became very intimate, and I
found him an interesting and very intelligent
companion. He removed into Ohio in 1796,
when it was comparatively a wilderness. He
represented the State 12 years in the Senate, and
has been Governor four years. He has 20,000
acres of good land, and when I spoke to him at
Boston, had a cotton-mill ; but he has just heard
of its being burnt down.
I was amused last night by an illustration he
furnished of the levelling nature of republican
institutions. We were so large a party, that
we had to draw lots for births ; he drew in his
turn, and got a birth, but he found it pre-occu-

NORTH AMERICA. 15
pied when he wished to retire, and very good
naturedly took a cot on the floor, with some of
the less fortunate of us.
The Connecticut steam-boat is as much infe
rior (though highly celebrated) to the New
Swiftsure, on the St. Lawrence, in point of
accommodation and style, as a provincial inn to
a first-rate London hotel ; and as an Enghshman,
I felt flattered by the comparison. I have just
been to pay a morning call on my Charleston
acquaintance, Col  , who brings his family
every yearto spend the summer at their country
residence near New York ; they were preparing
for their return to Charleston ; and the young
ladies talked of their journey of 800 miles as if
itwas a ride from a country-seat in one of our
midland eounties to the metropolis.
I am staying at the Mechanic Hall, where I
find many Georgians and Carolinians, who are
3ttll deterred by the continued prevalence of
the *fever in the south from returning home.

16 LETTERS FROM

%tt\tx XXYfM.

Philadelphia, 31st October, 1820.
I wrote to you by the Hercules ; and have
since had the gratification of receiving, by the
Ann Maria, after a very short passage, your
letter of the 30th ult. with your " all well," of
the 6th instant, as well as  's letter of the
4th instant, which has reached me on thebanks
ofthe Delaware, 27 days after it was written in
Cheshire. We set out from New York on the 20th ;
and on getting into the boat to cross the bay,
I was glad to find my Salem friend, Mr.  ,
and the other two Massachusets' delegates to the
Convention, which is sitting here to oppose the
new tariff. He introduced me to all the party,
who had fortunately brought their ladies with
them. They filled one of the stages, which met
us on the other side of the bay ; but on reaching
Bristol, about 60 miles from New York, we all
went on board the same steam-boat, and arrived
at Philadelphia at seven o'clock, 96 miles, in 13
hours. — Fare, 22s. 6d. each.

NORTH AMERICA. 17
The boarding-house, where we proposed
Staying, being full, (the Bussian Minister and
his suite were of the party there,) I came to Mrs.
Carvers, in Fourth-street, a very pleasant house,
where I found Mr. and Mrs.  , and several
southern planters, who filled the boarding-houses
at present, being detained longer in the north
than usual, by the continued prevalence of fever
at home. Mr. B. is the Senator from  ,
whom I met frequently at Washington, in the
winter. They breakfast, dine, and drink tea,
with the rest of the boarders. This house
was formerly the residence of Mr. Dallas, the
Secretary of the Treasury, and is close to that
which was occupied by the late Dr. Bush. It
is extremely well conducted; the only defi
ciency being that of private sitting-rooms. To
a stranger, the system of boarding-houses is a
very convenient and agreeable one, as it gives
bim an excellent opportunity of seeing society,
and frequently the best society in the country.
An introduction is sometimes required for
admission ; and they are often kept by ladies
who have moved in very respectable circles. I
have lately spent one or two mornings very
agreeably, in visiting several country-seats in
the neighbourhood. Those on the Schuykill,
particularly, are very romantically situated, and
VOL. II. c

18 LETTERS FROM
are frequently furnished expensively and in
good taste. I dine out frequently. At several
large dinner paftieis, I have met many of
the most distinguished members of Congress.
On these occasions, the conversation has gene-
tally been earnest, if not animated, and always
directed to some topic of general interest. In an
evening, I often meet with agreeable society at
the house of Mr.  , where a lamp is lighted
several nights in the week, as a sort of telegraphic
signal that the family is at home. Mr. and
Mrs.  , are remarkable for their hospi
tality, and for their liberal and excellent
arrangements for entertaining Strangers. On
caUing there the other evening, on my way
home, I found a lady, who mentioned General
Washington giving her his portrait ; and I heard
a gentleman describe, from memory, the last
scene of the General's pubhc life, when he
resigned his office, and delivered his last speech
from the State-house, which was within 200
yards of us — the house in which the Declaration
of Independence was first proclaimed. He
repeated, what I have often been told, that much
as General Washington rode and walked
through the streets, during a residence of several
years in Philadelphia, he seldom passed a win
dow, without the party in the room rising to

NORTH AMERICA. 19
look at him, although they might have been in
his company the hour before.
Many of my friends here are Quakers ; and
at their houses I spend many agreeable hours.
At one of them I recognized an old friend,
in a representation of Warwick Castle, on some
beautiful china cups and saucers ; and on in
quiry, learnt that they had obtained a drawing of
this interesting castle, and sent it to China to be
painted. As a city, Philadelphia is quite unique,
and I admire it more and more every day.
Indeed, when in its very centre, you can scarcely
believe that you are in a city. The bustle of
business is confined to the new street nearest to
the Delaware ; and the rest of the city gives
you the idea of a genteel watering place.
The fine airy streets, one and a half to two
miles long, cross each other at right angles, and
at intervals, open into spacious squares, which are
frequently ornamented with handsome trees.
Those streets which run from east to west, are
called 1st, 2nd, 3rd, &c. while thpse from north
to south derive their names from trees, Ches
nut, Walnut, Spruce, Pine, Cedar, Mulberry,
&c. bearing some analogy to the name of the
State. The door-cases and steps are of white
marble : they are kept beautifully clean ; and
the effect is heightened by the substitution of

20 LETTERS FROM
white metal, in the place of brass, for the door-
plates and handles. There is, however, a still
ness, or rather a silence in the streets, which it
is difficult to reconcile with the idea of a large
city. They are as quiet 'as the streets of
Gloucester, or Hereford, but are relieved from
vacuity and dullness by a constant succession of
well-dressed, genteel-looking, and handsome
young ladies. I often think how William Penn
would be astonished, if he could take a glimpse
of his dear city Coaquonnoc, as the Indians
called the place where Philadelphia, with its
120,000 inhabitants, now stands. In 1683, he
writes, " Philadelphia, the expectation of those
who are concerned in the province, is at last
laid out. It is advanced, within less than a
year, to about 80 houses and cottages, such as
they are, where merchants and handicrafts are
following their vocation as fast as they can."
The other day I visited, by appointment, the
interesting and handsome Institutions of the
Orphans' Asylum,* and the Widows' Asylum,
both of which owe their origin and good

* A melancholy accident has since happened to the Orphans'
Asylum. It accidently caught fire in the night ; and of its
ninety-one little inmates, twenty-three unhappily perished in
the flames.

NORTH AMERICA. 21
management principally to the family of my
conductress. On my return, I called upon the
Beverend Dr. Morse, the American geogra
pher, at present employed by the Government
to visit the various nations of Indians, and to
point out the best mode of applying the sums
which have been appropriated by Congress for
their civilization. He had returned from a long
tour among the northern Indians, and proposes
next proceeding to the southward.
I have also visited the Penitentiary and
Hospital. The former is now totally destitute
of classification, though, perhaps, justly claiming
the honour of first exhibiting some of the most
important improvements in prison discipline. It
is melancholy to observe this declension, which is
to be attributed partly to the frequent change of
managers, according to the alternate predomi
nance of political parties ; but principally to
such an increase of population and crime, as
renders the former space wholly inadequate to
present wants. * A new prison is projected, on
* I extract the following from the Appendix to Mr.
Roscoe's interesting pamphlet, entitled " Additional Obser
vations on Penal Jurisprudence, and the Reformation of
Criminals :" —
" The following well drawn, but distressing portrait of the
once celebrated Penitentiary of Pennsylvania, has been fur-

22 LETTERS FROM
thepan-opticon principle, and furnished, I think,
with 700 private cells, is now near its comple-
nished by order of the Board of Inspectors, in answer to a
letter, addressed to them by the committee of the House of
Representatives; and as it expresses in detail the awful
situation of that Institution, in language more impressive
than your committee could present, it has been deemed expe
dient to give it entire :"¦— -
Extract ofthe letter alluded to in the preceding paragraph :
" It is nearly fifty years since its corner-stone was laid, long be
fore the genius of humanity had erased from our statute-books
those sanguinary edicts which had for so many years stained
their pages. Still, however, very many beneficial results
flowed from the system in the first few years succeeding
its adoption.
" The prison was well managed. Industry was encouraged
among the prisoners. Employment was abundant, and in
consequence of the number of criminals being small, classifi
cation, to a certain degree, was observed. The consequence
was, that the internal part of the building appeared to a
visitor rather like a well-regulated manufactory than a prison.
Instances of reformation, in the early period of this system,
occurred ; and among all the prisoners, order and good disci
pline were maintained.
" Hence Pennsylvania obtained a name among her sister
states as well as in Europe for her mild penal code, and her
well-regulated Penitentiary.
" But this fame was short-lived. The State has not kept
pace with the increase of her population, and its consequent
increased depravity : she has continued for thirty years past
to send hundreds to a prison, which, at the first, as it respects
that part of it appropriated to convicts, was not fitted for the
solitary confinement of fifty. With the rapid increase of pri
soners, there has, within a few years past, owing to the effects

NORTH AMERICA. 23
tion at Pittsburgh, in this State. The Hospital
is a noble institution, and admirably managed.
of the late war, and the difficulties of the times, been a con
siderable increase in the depravity and high daring of the
character of our prisoners ; to all which may be added the
want of sufficient employment."

24 LETTERS FROM

lletUt XXViM.

Philadelphia, Oct. 1820.
As I am now resting a little after my wan
derings, I am anxious to take the earliest oppor
tunity of complying with your wishes, and of
giving you the impressions I have received of
the American character in the course of my
route. I might, indeed, have done this at an
earlier period, but it would have been with less
satisfaction to myself. Indeed, I have occasion
aUy been led to doubt whether I have viewed
the subject with impartiality, either whUe
receiving the kind attentions which I have so
generaUy met with, or when exposed to the
inconveniences incident to traveUing in the
unsettled parts of the country. I have sometimes
been ashamed to find how much my opinions
were influenced for the moment by humour or
circumstances, and how necessary it was to
guard against forming ideas of a peculiar town
from the reception which I might happen to meet
with, or the circle into which I might acci-
dentaUy faU. I shall, in future, have little

NORTH AMERICA. 25
confidence in any general conclusions respecting
a country, founded on the experience of a single
traveller ; since, however candid may be his
representations, they must necessarUy be drawn
from a range of observation comparatively
limited ; and be tinctured, at least in some
degree, with his own mental peculiarities.
Having thus prepared you to receive my
statements with caution, I will give you my
impressions without reserve. If, in opposition
to their republican principles, we divide the
Americans into classes, the first class will com
prehend what are termed the Bevolutionary
Heroes, who hold a sort of patent of nobihty,
undisputed by the bitterest enemies to aristo
cracy. Their numbers, indeed, are few; but
they have too many peculiar features to be
embraced in the description of any other class
of their countrymen. Many of them were
educated in England ; and even those who
never travelled, had generally the advantage of
the best English society, either colonial or mili
tary. They were formed in the Enghsh school ;
were embued with English associations; and,
however active they were in resisting the en
croachments of the mother country, they are,
many of them at least, dehghted to trace their
descent to Enghsh families of rank, and to

26 LETTERS FKOM
boast of the pure English blood which flows in
their veins. In the families of these patricians,
in which I have spent many agreeable hours, I
met with nothing to remind me that I was not
in the society of that class of our weU-educated
country gentlemen, who occasionaUy visit the
metropolis, and mingle in fashionable or poli
tical life. The old gentlemen of this class are
indeed gentlemen of the old school; and the
young ladies are particularly agreeable, refined,
accomplished, inteUigent, and weU-bred.
The second class may include the leading poh
tical characters of the present day, the more
eminent lawyers, the well-educated merchants
and agriculturists, and the most respectable of
the -novi homines of every profession. It will
thus comprise the mass of the good society of
America; the first class, which comprehends
the best, being very hmited, sui generis, and
about to expire with the present generation.
The manners of this second class are less
polished than those of the Corresponding class
in England, and their education is neither so
regular nor so classical ; but their inteUects are
as actively exercised, and their information at
least as general, although less scientific and pro
found. The young ladies of this class are lively,
modest, and unreserved ; easy in their manners,

NORTH AMERICA. 27
and rather gay and social in their dispositions :
at the same time, they are very observant of
the rules of female propriety ; and if they ever
displease, it is rather from indifference than
from either bashfulness or effrontery. Their
appearance is generally genteel and agreeable ;
their figures are almost universally good ; and
they dress remarkably weU — in this city, indeed,
more to my taste than in almost any place I
recoUect ; for which they are indebted partly to
the short passages from Europe, which waft
across the Atlantic the latest fashions from
London and Paris ; partly to their accommo
dating tariff, which places within their reach the
beautiful Canton crapes, and aU the most elegant
materials for dress which American enterprise
can coUect in the four quarters of the globe ;
and partly to the simplicity of the Quaker cos
tume, which has had a happy and sensible
influence on the taste and habits of the commu
nity at large. Their tone of voice, which is
generaUy a httle shrill, and their mode of pro
nouncing a few particular words, are the peculi
arities of manner which I think would be most
remarked upon in the best society in England.
GeneraUy speaking, also, the style of female
education in America is less favourable to solid
acquirements than with us. The young ladies

28 LETTERS FROM
here go earlier into : society than in England,
and enter sooner into married life : they have
not, therefore, the same opportunities for ma
turing their taste, expanding their intellect, and
acquiring a rich store of weU-arranged and
digested knowledge, as those have who devote
to improvement the longer interval which
climate or custom has, with us, interposed be
tween the nursery and the drawing-room. In
the highest class, especially in Carolina, there
are many exceptions to this general remark;
and among the young ladies of Boston, there
appeared to me to be, if less of refinement than
in the Carolinians, yet a very agreeable union of
domestic habits and hterary taste, and great
kindness and simplicity of manners.
The third class may comprehend aU below
the second ; for in a country where some would
perhaps, resent even the idea of a second class,
this division is sufficiently minute. This class
wiU include the largest proportion of the Ame
rican population ; and it is distinguished from
the corresponding classes of my countrymen (the
little farmers, innkeepers, shopkeepers, clerks,
mechanics, servants, and labourers,) by greater
acuteness and intelligence, more regular habits
of reading, a wider range of ideas, and a greater
freedom from prejudices, provincialism, and

NORTH AMERICA. 29
vulgarity. It is distinguished, also, by greater
coldness of manner ; and this is the first of the
charges against the nation, generaUy, on which
I shall remark.
As respects the highest classes, I think this
charge is, in a great measure, unfounded ; their
reception of a stranger, at least, appearing to
me as frank and as warm as in England. To
that part of the population which I have
included in the third class, the charge attaches
with strict propriety, and in many cases their
coldness amounts to the English " cut direct."
At first, it incommoded me excessively, espe
cially in the women in the country, who showed
it the most ; and I have sometimes been dis
posed to ride on, not in the best temper, when,
arriving at an inn, after a long stage before
breakfast, and asking, very civUly, " Can we
have breakfast here ?" I have received a shriU
" I reckon so," from a cold female figure, that
went on in its employments, without deigning
to look at us, or to put any thing in motion to
verify its reckoning. In due time, however,
the bread was baked, the chicken kUled, and
both made their appearance, with their constant
companions, even in the wildest part of America,
ham, eggs, and coffee. The automaton then
took its place ; and if I had been an automaton

30 LETTERS FROM
also, the charm would have remained unbroken;
but I do not remember an instance in which the
figure did not converse with good humour
before I rose. Very often, however, our recep
tion was warm and friendly ; and the wife or
daughter who poured out my coffee, was frank,
well-bred, obliging, and conversable. The cold
ness of the men, also, I soon found to be confined
principally to their manner, and to indicate no
indisposition to be sociable and accommodating.
On the contrary, in a route of more than 7000
miles, of which I traveUed nearly 2000 on
horseback, and the rest in steam-boats and stages,
I have found the various classes as accommo
dating and obliging as in England ; sometimes,
I confess, I have thought more so. Some parts
of Georgia and the Carolinas might suggest a
slight qualification of this remark ; while East
Tennessee, and the valley of the Shenandoah*
might almost claim a warmer eulogium. In the
course of my route, I have met with only one
instance of personal rudeness, and that too
slight to be mentioned, except for the sake of
literal accuracy. My servant's impressions cor
respond with mine. On questioning him, at the
termination of our route, he said, " he thought
the Americans quite as ready to serve us and
one another as the English ; and that they were

NORTH AMERICA. 31
continually expressing their surprise to find
Enghshmen so civil. Now, our civility was
nothing more than would naturally be suggested
by a recollection of the institutions of the
country through which we were travelling, and a
general desire to be pleased with friendly inten
tions, however manifested. The coldness of
manner of the Americans, however, is a great
defect, and must prejudice traveUers till they
understand it a little.
With regard to the vanity which is charged
upon them : this foible is admitted by aU their
sensible men, who are disgusted with the extra
vagant pretensions maintained, in inflated lan
guage, in their public prints ; I have heard
some of them jocosely say, that they expect their
countrymen wiU soon begin to assert that they
are not only the most powerful and the most
learned, but the oldest nation in the world.
In good society, however, I have seldom wit
nessed this vanity in any remarkable degree,
and I really think I have seen more of it in the
Americans t have met with in England, thatt in
the Whole range of my observation, since I
landed in this country. When I have made the
Concessions, to which I thought the Americans
fairly entitled, I have not often observed a dis
position to push their claims too far ; but, ott

32 LETTERS FROM
the contrary, a readiness to suggest some point
of comparison in which Great Britain has obvi
ously the advantage. And, without attempting
to defend an acknowledged defect in their cha
racter, I must confess the Americans have some
excuse for their vanity. Descended (which of
us will dispute it ?) from most illustrious ances
tors, possessing a territory, perhaps, unequaUed
in extent and value, victorious in the infancy of
their history in a struggle for their . indepen
dence, and rising, with unprecedented rapidity,
in the scale of nations, they must be more than
mortal if they were not elated with their condi
tion ; and if sometimes they may appear to draw
too heavily on the future, and to regard America
rather as what she is to be, than what she is, I ,
must own that I never yet met with an
American who carried his views of her futurf
greatness so far as I should be disposed to do i:
she were my country, and if I could be satisfied
of the predominating influence of religious prin
ciple in her public councils.
As for the inquisitibeness of the Americans, I
do not think it has been at aU exaggerated.—
They certainly are, as they profess to be, a very
inquiring people ; and if we may sometimes be
disposed to dispute the claims of their love of
knowing to the character of a liberal curiosity,

NORTH AMERICA. 33
we must at least admit that they make a most
liberal use of every means in their power to
gratify it. I have seldom, however, had any
difficulty in repressing their home questions, if
I wished it, and without offending them ; but
I more frequently amused myself by putting
theni on the rack, civilly, and apparently un
consciously, eluding their inquiries for a time,
and then awakening their gratitude by such a
discovery of myself as I might choose to make.
Sometimes, a man would place himself at my
side in the wilderness, and ride for a mile or
two without the smallest communication be
tween us, except a slight nod of the head. He
would, then, perhaps, make some grave remark
on the weather, and if I assented, in a mono
syllable, he would stick to my side for another
mile or two, when he would commence his
attack. " I reckon, stranger, you do not belong'
to these parts?" — " No, sir; I am not a native of
Alabama." — " I guess you are from the north ?"
— "No, sir; I am not from the north." — "I guess
you found the roads mighty muddy, and the
creeks swimming. You are come a long way,
I guess ?" — " No, not so very far ; we have tra
velled a few hundred miles since we turned our
faces westward." — " I guess you have seen Mr.
 , or General  ?" (mentioning the names
VOL. II. r>

34 LETTERS FROM
of some well-known individuals in the middle
and southern states, who were to serve as guide-
posts to detect our route ;) but, " I have not
the pleasure of knowing any of them," or, " I
have the pleasure of knowing all," equally de
feated his purpose, but not his hopes. " I reckon,
stranger, you have had a good crop of cotton
this year?" — "I am told, sir, the crops have been
unusually abundant in Carolina and Georgia."
— " You grow tobacco, then, I guess ?" (to track
me to Virginia.) " No ; I do not grow tobacco."
Here a modest inquirer would give up in des
pair, and trust to the chapter of accidents to
develope my name and history ; but I generally
rewarded his modesty, and excited his gratitude;
by telling him I would torment him no longer.*
The courage of a thorough -bred Yankee*
would rise with his difficulties ; and after a
decent interval, he would resume : " I hope no
offence, sir; but you know we Yankees lose
nothing for want of asking. I guess, stranger,
you are from the old country ?" — " Well, my
friend, you have guessed right at last, and I am
sure you deserve something for your persever
ance ; and, now I suppose it wiU save us both
* In America, the term Yankee is applied to the natives
of New England only, and is generally used with an air of
pleasantry.

NORTH AMERICA. 35
trouble, if I proceed to the second part of the
story, and teU you where I am going. I am
going to New Orleans." — This is reaUy no exag
gerated picture : dialogues, not indeed in these
very words, but to this effect, occurred continu
ally, and some of them more minute and ex
tended than I can venture upon in a letter. I
ought, however, to say, that many questions
lose much of their familiarity when travelling
in the wilderness. " Where are you from ?"
and " whither are you bound ?" do not appear
impertinent interrogations at sea ; and often in
the western wilds I found myself making
inquiries, which I should have thought very
free and easy at home. And, indeed, why
should that be deemed a breach of good man
ners in North America, which in South America
is required by the rules of common politeness ?
" TheAbipones of Paraguay," says Dobrizhoffer,
" would think it quite contrary to the laws of
good-breeding were they to meet any one, and
not to ask him where he was going ; so that the
word miekaue? or miekauchite? * where are
you going ?' resounds in the streets."
The next American habit on which I wiU
remark, which always offended me extremely, is
the almost universal one of spitting, without
regard to time, place, or circumstances. You

36 LETTERS FROM
must excuse my alluding to such a topic ; but I
could not in candour omit it, since it is the most
offensive peculiarity in American manners.
Many, who are really gentlemen in other
respects, offend in this; and I regretted to
observe the practice even in the diplomatic
parties at Washington. Indeed, in the capitol
itself, the dignity of the Senate is let down by
this annoying habit. I was there the first session
after it was rebuUt, and as the magnificent and
beautiful haUs had been provided with splendid
carpets, some of the senators appeared at first a
little daunted; but after looking about in dis
tress, and disposing of their diluted tobacco at
first with timidity, and by stealth, they gathered
by degrees the courage common to corporate
bodies ; and before I left Washington had
relieved themselves pretty weU from the daz
zling brightness of the briUiant colours under
their feet ! It was mortifying to me, to observe
all this in an assembly, whose proceedings are
conducted with so much order and propriety,
ahd in chambers so truly beautiful as the Senate
and House of Bepresentatives— the latter the
most beautiful half I ever saw.*
* The following extracts will show that this practice is not
quite so peculiar to America, as many of my countrymen-
suppose. No precedent, however, can justify, in any degree,

NORTH AMERICA. 37
Another thing which has displeased me, is the
profusion and waste usually exhibited at meals.
Except in the very best society, the plate is
often loaded with a variety of .viands, and is
dismissed half emptied. An Englishman is
shocked at the liberal portions allotted to the
young ladies, till he finds they afford no measure
of the appetites of those to whom they are sent,
who appear to be as abstemious as his own fair
country-women. Still, this exhibition of waste
is always displeasing; and when viewed in
connexion with the sufferings of so many of the
population of our own country, is also distressing.
a habit so offensive, that it ought not to be tolerated a moment
in any society, which pretends to have advanced one step
towards civilization: —
" In the evening, we visited the Governor, (at Benger,)
and found an assembly, consisting of some of the principal
people of the city. The gentlemen were engaged playing
whist, with enormous tobacco-pipes of meerschaum in their
mouths, smoking in the presence of the women, and spitting
on the floor." — Dr. Clarke's Travels in Scandinavia.
" A German lady spits upon the floor of her apartment,
even when it is covered by an expensive carpet ; and many
attempt to justify such a breach of good manners by urging
that it is a practice tolerated even at Court.— Ibid.
" Some few things must be conceded to a Swede, and you
will make him your fast friend, and the most kind-hearted
and generous of men. He must be allowed to enter your
apartments unbidden and unknown, upon the moment of
your aifrival, without any form of introduction or ceremony ;
to seat himself at your table ; spit all over your floor ; fill

38 LETTERS FROM
But the necessaries of life are here produced in
abundance, and, with very few exceptions, are
within the reach of every one. I only recoUect
seeing three beggars since I landed.
After touching on these points, I do not feel
wiUing to conclude my letter without remind
ing you of the kindness and hospitality, the
good sense and intelligence, which I have every
where met with ; and of the frequent exhibition
of philanthropic and religious feehng which has
given a peculiar interest to many of the scenes
through which I have passed. The American
character, to be estimated correctly, must be
your chamber with tobacco-smoke; ask your name, your
rank, your profession, your age, your country, your cha
racter, your business, all your pursuits and future plans ;
where you have been, what you are doing, and whither you
are going; finally, what you think of Sweden. Having
answered all these questions, sometimes without his caring at
all about your replies, or attending to them, you will find
yourself upon even terms with him. His house, his horses,
his wine, &c. &c. and very often his purse also, are entirely
at your command."
" Some of the habits ofthe French women, says Matthews,
must be considered as shockingly offensive. What shall we
say of the spitting about the floor, which is the common prac
tice of women as well as men, at all times and seasons ; not
only in domestic life, but also upon the stage, in the characters
of heroes and heroines, even in high imperial tragedy." —
Diary of an Invalid.
The same offensive habit, I am told, very generally pre
vails in Spain and in Italy.

NORTH AMERICA. 39
regarded as a whole ; and as a whole, it has been
calumniated to a degree derogatory both to the
intelligence and the generosity of my country.
The Americans have been exasperated into un
friendly feelings by our real jealousy and appa
rent contempt; and their very sensibility to our
good opinion, which they cannot conceal, has
rendered the misrepresentations of our traveUers
and journahsts the more irritating. Americans
have often asked me if we do not in England
consider them a horde of savages ; and when
the question has been proposed to me by a fair
lady, in a handsome drawing-room, furnished
with every article of luxury which money could
procure in London or Paris, I found no diffi
culty in acquiescing in the conclusion which she
seemed to draw from a hasty glance around her,
that such an idea would not be quite just. On
such occasions, I have often thought how many
of my candid and hberal female friends would
blush, if they could be introduced for the even
ing, to find how erroneous were their previous
ideas of trans- Atlantic society. But it is when
joining in rehgious worship with exemplary and
eminent Christians, or witnessing the extent
and variety of their benevolent efforts, that I
most keenly feel the apathy with which, in
England, we are accustomed to regard our

40 LETTERS FROM
American brethren. I reaUy am not without
hopes, that it may yet become the fashion for
ladies of the two countries to exchange visits
across the Atlantic. Then, and perhaps not till
then, wUlmy country-women learn to do justice
to their Western sisters ; and leaving it to us,
their knights-errant, to maintain their own
superiority, as in duty bound, will begin to
think it possible, at least, that inteUigence,
refinement, and piety may combine, even on this
side of the Atlantic, to form characters justly
entitled to esteem and affection. The superci
lious disdain with which, in many circles, the
very idea of pohshed society in America is
rejected, would be suppressed by a more correct
estimate of American manners ; and prejudice
would be succeeded by candour and liberality.
Christian sympathy also would be awakened
towards those unknown distant friends, who,
sprung from the same stock, and speaking the
same language, profess also the same rehgion ;
and who, strangers and pilgrims on the earth,
like their European brethren and sisters, are
travelling a thorny road to that better country,
where Christians, of every nation, will be for
ever united in one common family.
My very sensibility to the unrivalled excel
lencies of my fair country-women makes me

NORTH AMERICA. 41
additionally solicitous that they, at least, should
be exempt from those unchristian prejudices,
which some of my countrymen appear to regard
as proofs of patriotism. The pleasure and exul
tation with which I have just been listening, in
a large party, to warm eulogiums on Mrs.
Hannah More and Mrs. Fry, and some other
of our illustrious females, have rendered me at
this moment peculiarly susceptible on this
point ; and you must excuse me if I write with
corresponding earnestness. The conversation
afterwards turned on the signs of the times in
both countries ; and on our rambles in Canada,
where many of the party had spent the summer.
It was very pleasant to compare our adventures
and impressions. Montreal and Quebec are so
much like old European towns, and differ so
widely from the airy, expanded cities of the
United States, that an American feels as far
from home, on his first arrival, in a Canadian
city, as I did in the forests on the Mississippi.
As he looks round him, he feels more and more
in a foreign land ; and the foreign language and
gentle manners of the native Canadians con
firm the impression. The pomp of monarchy,
even when dimly seen in the regalia of a viceroy :
the aristocratical distinctions apparent even in
a colony : the vestiges of the feudal system to

42 LETTERS FROM
be traced in the surrounding seignories ; the
nunneries, and the Cathohc churches, with their
vesper and matin bells ; the priests and friars
walking in the streets, and the boards of
plenary indulgence suspended from the waUs,
are aU calculated to recall impressions connected
rather with the old world, than with the newly
discovered continent, where man stiU shares his
divided empire with the beasts of the forest.
Here no gray tower meets the eye, to call back
the imagination to scenes and incidents of elder
times; no monastic edifices, to revive the memory
of ancient superstitions ; no regalia, transmitted
through a line of kings ; no feudal magnifi
cence ; no baronial splendour ; no sacred deposi
tories of the ashes of generations, who have
slept with their fathers during a thousand years:
all is new, fresh, and prospective ; and if the
mind will take a retrospective glance, it is but
to expatiate in the regions of fancy, or to lose
itself in the clouds which rest on the early his
tory of the aborigines. But I shall have tired
you.

NORTH AMERICA. 43

3L$tot XXiX*

Philadelphia, 6th Nov. 1820.
 Neither am I able to write to you as
fully as I could desire on the subject of emigra
tion to the United States, upon which you say
you should wish to hear what occurs to me. On
this difficult and interesting topic, I will enter
more particularly shortly ; and, in the mean
time, will send you the result of my observations
on the inducements which Canada appeared to
me to offer to English labourers and other per
sons of little or no property. Those observa
tions were necessarily both rapid and superfi
cial ; and my information is proportionably
scanty, although I endeavoured to seize every
opportunity of obtaining intelligence.
The lands which the Government is at present
distributing in Upper Canada lie parallel to the
St. Lawrence and the Lakes, and constitute a
range of townships in the rear of those already
granted. They are said to be no where above ten
or fifteen rmles distant from the old settlements.
Land offices are established in ten different dis
tricts, in order to save the emigrants the trouble

44 letters from
of going up to York; but their power is restricted
to grants of a hundred acres. When an emigrant
has chosen the township in which he wishes to
settle, and has complied with the necessary
formalities, he receives, by lot, a location-ticket
for a particular hundred acres, with a condition
that he is not to dispose of them for three years.
The title is nOt given till he has performed his
settling duties ; which are, to clear five acres
in each hundred, and the half of the road in
front. Now these certainly appear to be very
easy conditions on which to obtain the fee-
simple of a hundred acres : and the proposal
to emigrate must therefore be a tempting one
to a starving labourer or mechanic.
The real inducements, however, are so much
less than the apparent ones, that although
many would wisely emigrate even with a full
conviction of the difficulties they had to
encounter, I believe that, at present, there is
not one emigrant in five hundred who does
not feel bitterly disappointed on his arrival
at Quebec. Instead of finding himself, as
his confused ideas of geography had led him
to expect, on the very borders of his little
estate, he learns with astonishment that he is
still five hundred miles from his transatlantic
acres ; and, if he has no money in his pocket,

NORTH AMERICA. 45
he may probably have to encounter, in reach
ing them, more severe distress than he ever
felt at home. There is, indeed, much benevolent
feeling towards emigrants both at Quebec and
Montreal ; and societies have been formed in
each of these places, to afford them informa
tion and relief ; but the inhabitants are begin
ning to complain that the requisitions for this
purpose are becoming more burdensome than
even the English poor-rates. The steam-boat
companies are also hberal ; (indeed almost
every man of property feels a personal interest
in the encouragement of emigration;) but an
emigrant must be unusuaUy fortunate who
reaches the Land Office in Upper Canada,
without expending at least £5 after landing at
Quebec. The emigrants who accompanied us
in the steam-boat in which I ascended the
St. Lawrence, were some of those lately sent
out free of expense by our Government ; but
there was one, a smart shoemaker, not of that
number, who had been detained some weeks
at Quebec earning money to carry him up
the river.
When the emigrant arrives at the Land
Office of the district where he proposes to
settle, determined perhaps in his choice by the
hope that his lot will place him in the vicinity

46 LETTERS FROM
of an old acquaintance, he may probably have to
wait some weeks before the next distribution
takes place ; during which he must be support
ing himself at an expense increased by his
ignorance of the manners of the country. He
then learns, perhaps for the first time, that there
are certain fees to be paid at the different '
offices through which his papers must pass. I
have a list of these before me in which they
are stated to be, £ s. d.
For 100 acres  5 14 1
200 do  16 17 6
500 do  39 19 9
1000 do  ,... 78 10 2
I was, however, informed by several persons
from York, with whom I crossed Lake Ontario,
one of whom said he was in the habit of
transacting this business for the emigrants*
that, for a hundred acres, the fees were £13
10s. This I mentioned to the Sheriff and
several of the principal merchants at Montreal,
who did not dispute it ; one of them observing
only that he believed there had been cases in
which grants of 50 acres were made without
fees * It is much to be regretted that where
land is said to be gratuitously bestowed, any
* I believe grants of 50 acres are generally, or always, to
be obtained without fees.

NORTH AMERICA. 47
fees should be deemed necessary ; as the boon,
when accompanied with this demand, is calcu
lated to produce discontent rather than grati
tude, especiaUy where the emigrant finds that
his fees amount to one-half the sum at which
he could select and buy the same quantity of
land, without the delay attending the grant,
and unshackled with any conditions or clearing
dues. The surveyors receive their compensa
tion in land, and generally secure the most
valuable portions. When I was in Canada,
they would sell their best lots at one doUar
per acre ; while £13 10s, the fees on a hundred
acres, amount to more than half a dollar per
acre. I never met with any one person among
all those with whom I conversed on the subject,
who did not agree that, if a settler had but a
very little money, it would be much more to
his advantage to buy land, than to receive it
from Government.
Supposing the emigrant to be able to pay his
fees, he may stiU have the misfortune to find
that his allotment (for he can only choose
his township, not his estate,) is not worth
cultivating In this case he has to pay two
respectable persons for surveying and certifying
it to be irreclaimable ; and he is then permitted

48 NORTH AMERICA.
to take his chance in the next distribution.—
Generally speaking, I believe, he may expect
to find himself in his own forest from three to
six weeks after his arrival at the Land Office
in Upper Canada.
Even then his situation is most dreary,
especiaUy if he has no neighbour within a
reasonable distance, and has to purchase and
carry his provisions from a remote settlement.
But if he has no money to procure food; if
he has a wife and family to provide for,
without the forlorn hope of parish assistance ;
if he is a weaver or a spinner, accustomed
to warm rooms, and to employments little
calculated to impart either the mental or
physical qualifications essential to his very
support ; if he is, in fact, of a class to which
a large proportion of the poor emigrants from
Great Britain belong, I can hardly conceive
any thing more distressing than his sensations,
when, arriving on his new estate, with an axe
in his hand and all his worldly goods in his
waUet, he finds himself in the midst of a thick
forest, whose lofty trees' are to be displaced by
a labour almost Herculean, before he can erect
the most humble shelter, or cultivate the
smallest patch. And if at such a time he has

NORTH AMERICA. 49
further to anticipate the rigours of a long
Canadian winter, his situation must be deplor
able in the extreme.
Under such circumstances, the ordinary cir
cumstances I should imagine of the poorest
emigrants to Canada, I can conceive of no
resource, nor could I hear of any except that
of hiring themselves to some older settler, in
the hope of saving a trifle in or,der to be able,
in the course of time, to pay for clearing an acre
or two of their forest farm, or to buy provisions
whUe they attempt a task for which they are
little qualified. Sometimes a few wiU join,
and one-half hire themselves out to obtain
provisions for the other half while felling the
trees. If they surmount the difficulties of the
first year, they may expect at its termination
to be in possession of an adequate supply of
food for their families ; and with the prospect,
if they are industrious, of being independent
and progressively prosperous during the remain
der of their lives.
Those, however, who have money enough to
provide for their immediate wants, and to pay
the expense of clearing a moderate proportion
of their land, (possessing £100 to £200, or £500
for instance,) may, in a single year, be very
comfortably settled in a decent log-house with
VOL. II. E

50 LETTERS FROM
out-buildings, and with every prospect of a
liberal supply of all the substantial comforts of
a farm. Every year would add largely to their
abundance, and to their facilities for improving
and extending their estate; but they would
accumulate money slowly, unless they had,
as they probably would have, an occasional
foreign market for their grain besides the West
Indies. They may also derive some little profit
from pot and pearl ashes, which Mr. G  of
Montreal told me he received on consignment
from, Ohio, a distance of 800 miles, by way of
Lake Erie and Ontario. The situation of
Upper Canada is further said to be favourable
to the culture of hemp, notwithstanding the
failure hitherto of the most promising experi
ments. Grain, however, wfll be their staple com
modity ; and although the large body of settlers
who arrive annuaUy may afford a temporary
market, they will soon produce far more than
they consume, and under ordinary circumstances
wiU depress the prices very nearly to a level
with the cost of production. Indeed I heard
the farmers of Lower Canada complaining that
their markets were glutted with the produce of
the Upper Province.

NORTH AMERICA. 51
For several years the average price of wheat
in Upper Canada has been about five shiUings
for sixty pounds ; but on the American shores
of the Lake we found it at twenty-five to
thirty-three cents; and although its introduc
tion into Upper Canada is either prohibited or
shackled with heavy duties, it will, of course,
find its way into the province whenever the
price there is materially higher than at home. In
the Lower Province, when our ports are open,
they consume American grain, and export their
own ; as it is necessary their shipments should
be accompanied with certificates of Canadian
origin. Any interruption to the timber trade would
diminish the market for grain ; since a very
large body of consumers are found in the rafts
men, who collect and convey the timber from
the lakes and rivers to Quebec, and in the crews
of five or six hundred vessels who replenish some
part, at least, of their stores at that port. The
raftsmen are in a great measure the link of com
munication between the Montreal and Quebec
merchants, on the one hand, and the emigrants
and back-woodsmen, on the other — the channels
through which British manufactures flow into
the interior, and country produce to the coast.

52 LETTERS FROM
Although, therefore, I have a hst before me
of fourteen heads of families, with eighty-six
children, who, beginning the world with nothing
but their industry, have, in the course of fifteen
or twenty years in Canada, accumulated an
aggregate amount of property of £35,000,
about £2,500 each, I conceive, that a farmer
removing thither from Europe, for the purpose
of making money rapidly, would certainly he
disappointed. On the other hand, if his object
Were to prevent the diminution of what little
property he actually, possessed, and to secure
independence for himself, and a career of -pros
perous industry for his chUdren — to purchase,
by the sacrifice of the many comforts of an
old settled country, the advantages of a less
crowded population and a cheaper soil — to
withdraw from the burdens, without retiring
from the protection, of his native land, — and,
without assuming those obligations to another
government which might make him the enemy
of his own; — to settle, though in a distant colony,
among his countrymen and feUow-subjects,
within means of instruction for his children,
and opportunities of public worship for his
family ; — if these Were his objects, and he could
bring with him health, temperance, and industry,

NORTH AMERICA. 53
and one or two hundred pounds, I am- per
suaded that, in the ordinary course of things, he
would be remunerated a thousand-fold for his
privations. And, notwithstanding all I have said of the
difficulties of the early settler without money,
a young man of industry, enterprise, and agri
cultural habits, without family, or with the
means of leaving them for a year or two with
his own or his wife's friends, who should come
out to Canada, and hke his services till he could
have a log-house built, and two or three acres
cleared, would probably find himself, in the
prime of life, an independent farmer, on his own
estate, with abundance of the necessaries of
existence, and with prospects brightening as he
advanced towards the evening of his days.
But the sickly, the shiftless, the idle, the timid,
and the destitute, with large families, will, I
have no doubt, suffer far less in living from
hand to mouth in England, than in encounter
ing the difficulties of emigration to Canada.
The soil of Upper Canada is, generally,
extremely good ; and the climate, with the
exception of a long and severe winter, unobjec
tionable. To persons on the spot, possessed of
accurate local information, opportunities, I
have no doubt, occur of making advantageous

54 LETTERS FROM
investments of capital in land on speculation; but
the inducements to such projects will probably
be limited, and, to a certain degree, accidental,
whUe Government continue to grant lands
either gratuitously, , or as a reward for military
services. At present, some preposterous regu
lations exist with respect to the intercourse
between Upper and Lower Canada, and their
respective commercial relations with the United
States ; but these wiU faU to the ground* when
that more intimate union is established between
the provinces, which their interest demands and
wiU no doubt shortly secure,

NORTH AMERICA. 55

fUtte t XXX.

Philadelphia, 21st Nov. 1820,
My last letter conveyed to you pretty fully
the ideas which occurred to me, during my visit
to Canada, on the subject of emigration thither.
I think I did not overstate the privations which
emigrants must undergo; but I am persuaded
that, in spite of them aU, WhUe it continues
under the British Crown, it wiU be a happy
asylum for thousands, who wiU graduaUy
arrive, through various degrees of suffering
and disappointment, at comfort and indepen
dence. The facilities and intrinsic value of Canada —
the fertility of its soil — the beauty of its scenery,
and the salubrity of its climate, greatly sur
passed my previous ideas, and, as far as I had
an opportunity of judging, the ideas generally
entertained in England. Americans also appear
to me universaUy to return to Canada with far
higher ideas of its importance than they had
before conceived ; though I am strongly of
opinion, that, as an acquisition to the United

56 LETTERS FROM
States, neither the American government nor
people regard it as particularly desirable. How
far Great Britain is interested in retaining it,
has often been doubted ; but, without expres-
ing any opinion on this subject — rendered
more difficult and complicated by its connexion
with considerations of much importance to
Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the West
Indies, and its relation to the just claims and
expectations of the inhabitants — I could not
consent, I confess, without some sacrifice of feel
ing to the relinquishment of so fair a portion
of the globe ; a beautiful romantic country,
watered by a river, into which the tide flows
more than 400 miles ; which is navigable for 580
miles for ships of 500 tons burthen/ and which,
after a course of nearly 3000 miles, (the outlet
of inland seas, whose area is computed at
96,000,000 acres, or 150,000 square miles,)
expands, at its mouth, to the width of 90 mUes,
and discharges, according to the estimate of
American geographers, one-half more water
than the Mississippi.* After. being frequently
induced to cast a somewhat envious eye on the
fine unoccupied land of the south-western part
of the United States, I was delighted to find,
* See Darby, Dr. Dwight, and Dr. Morse.

NORTH AMERICA. 57
that we, also, had a spacious territory, and a
virgin soil, where milhons may, with common
industry, attain ease and competence.
The present situation of England had ren
dered the subject of emigration so interesting,
when I left home, that it has secured my
attention during every part of my route through
the United States ; but I was, perhaps, led to
endeavour to qualify myself to form more clear
and decided views of the various advantages
which different sections of the country respec
tively offer, by finding, soon after we com
menced- our journey, that my servant was
beginning to wonder how he and his wife would
like this side of the Atlantic. I did not at
all cheek the idea, but offered to assist him in
getting aU the information in our power ;
observing only, that I Would recommend him
to decide on nothing till he had been in Canada,
as I should think much better of him, if. he
preferred; with the same inducements, to settle
in a British colony than under a foreign govern
ment, — that if the United States, however,
presented greater inducements, I would give
him every assistance in setthng there. I also
advised him to make his inquiries as extensive
and minute as possible, in order that if, as I
thought ..probable enough, after familiarity for

58 LETTERS FROM
afew months with solitary log-huts and frontier
settlements, and the exertions and privations
attendant on clearing forests, and subduing a
wUderness, he should be satisfied that England,
after aU, was the best place for him, there might
be classes of his countrymen, to whom his
information would be important.
With these views we proceeded through the
most newly-settled districts in Georgia, Alabama,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia;
hving almost entirely among very recent emi
grants, sleeping with them in their log-huts,
erected in many cases the week before, and
through the sides and roofs of which the stars
twinkled upon us as we lay on the floor, with
a brilliancy enhanced by the extreme purity of
the atmosphere.
My conversation with these hardy pioneers
turned naturally on the peculiarities of their
situation, their past sacrifices, or present diffi
culties, and their prospective compensation;
and as I made it a rule, from which I deviated
only in one instance, to get rid before night of
any companions whom I might happen to have
picked up in the course of the day, I was
usuaUy enabled to make myself one of the
famUy, and by sitting down with, its members
at their meals, or over their fire, to draw them

NORTH AMERICA. 59
out, and render them very communicative.
By this plan, I not only escaped the effects
of the possible ill temper, or want of suavity,
of a travelling companion, under the little
trials of our novel accommodations ; but, by
creating less bustle in the famUy, I saw things
more in their ordinary state.
In our course through the above-mentioned
States, we met with only three or four cases in
which the emigrants regretted the change;
although the price which some of those in
Alabama had been obhged to pay for their
Indian corn the first year, (and which amounted,
in the case of one family, to six doUars per
bushel, and for one purchase eight,) had thrown
them back three or four years in their calcula
tions. AU these, however, were Slave-States ;
and I was glad to find that my servant consi
dered that a decided objection to settling in
them. Indeed, as no title could be obtained
but by purchase, there were no decided induce
ments to those who, like him, have only from
£80 to £100.
We found many famihes hving very com
fortably on land which they had taken posses
sion of, and had cleared, on the presumption
that some peculiarities in the situation would
prevent its being brought to sale for many

60 LETTERS FROM
years, and that they should obtain something
for their improvements, even if they should not
have realized sufficient in the mean time to
purchase a title to their occupation. It is very
unpopular to bid against these " Squatters"
They assume a yery independent attitude, and
from the produce of a single crop, it was common
for them, till the late depression of prices, to
obtain a fair remuneration for the labour em
ployed in making their improvements.
The first night we lay out in the woods in
Alabama, one of the points discussed by some
Carolinian emigrants, who came to our fire to
have a little chat before bed-time, was the eligi
bility of stopping on the road a year, to make
and sell a crop from the public lands in their
way, or of proceeding without delay to their
ulterior destination in the State of Mississippi.
They appeared pretty nearly decided on the
former plan.
The Southern States presenting, as it appeared
to me, no adequate inducement to indigent
English emigrants, I turned my especial atten
tion to the advantages offered in the western
part of the State of New York, where it has
been understood that many of those destined
for Canada finally settle, f found it impossible
to learn, with any precision, to what extent the

NORTH AMERICA. 61
tide of Canadian emigration is stiU diverted to
the State of New York ; but I am disposed to
believe, that fewer, in proportion, pass over into
the American limits than formerly. Neither
could I entirely satisfy myself as to the
inducements to do so, especially as the soU is not
superior in the State of New York ; and it is
not very uncommon for Americans to go over
into Canada to settle. I believe, however, that
the principal reasons are to be found in the
extreme activity of the agents of the Holland
Company and Sir WUliam Pulteney's estate,
(who are very solicitous to promote the rapid
settlement of their respective tracts,) and in the
aid which they afford the emigrant at his outset,
in letting him settle on their lands free of rent
for the first two or three years ; assisting him,
perhaps, in raising a httle cabin, or lending him
a little Indian corn.
These trifling services, especially to an emi
grant who has no money with which to pay his
fees in Canada, are not only very seducing in
prospect, but essentially contribute to lessen
the first and severest difficulties of a new settler.
Ultimately, however, I am disposed to think
they are disadvantageous in the majority of
instances ; the New York settler having to
begin to provide for rent and instalments,

62 LETTERS FROM
(which, even under the alleviated pressure of
his situation, it would require both self-denial
and good management to save,) at the very
time when the Canadian settler is emerging
from his greater difficulties, and deriving a
liberal subsistence for his family from his own
unburdened estate. I have been told, that very
few persons under the former system ultimately
maintain possession of their lands ; but that,
after supporting themselves and their families
in greater or less abundance, they are compelled
to abandon their improvements for arrears 'in
rent or instalments, and, joining the forlorn
hope on the frontiers, to repeat their laborious
and interminable efforts, to convert the wilder
ness into a fruitful field. In passing through
the State of New York, I heard a great deal of
the distress which at present exists from inabi
lity, on the part of the emigrants, to pay their
rents and instalments, and of the hard names
which the agents had to bear for proceeding to
extremities. Still, however, an active, prudent
man, would, under ordinary circumstances, suc
ceed under the system, and probably as rapidly
at least as in Canada; but it would require
greater self-denial to impose the necessary seve
rities on himself in New York, than to submit
to them when unavoidable in Canada. The

NORTH AMERICA. 63
general observations which I made concerning
the classes to whom emigration to Canada would
prove a real benefit, are equally applicable to
emigration to the United States ; but in a
future letter , I will endeavour to give you some
idea of what farmers, who bring with them a
few thousand, instead of a few hundred pounds,
may expect to do in different parts of the
United States. I wifl, at the same time, tell you
all I can learn respecting Mr. Birbeck's settle
ment. I had not intended to confine this letter to
such dry statistics ; but it is too late to begin
on any other subject- — My servant, I believe, is
disposed to think, that he is better at home than
in America ; except in his present capacity, in
a city where his wages might be ten pounds
per annum higher than in England, and where
his wife's services as a dress-maker, fine washer,
&c. would be productive.

64 BETTERS FROM

netter XXXh
Norfolk, Virginia, 12th Dec. 1820.
As engagements of various kinds begin to
thicken upon me previously to embarking, and
I have little chance of any opportunity of
writing to you as I wish, I must continue to
snatch little intervals as they present themselves,
and write to you as I can.
You are already in possession of our " per
sonal narrative" to a late date. I wiU now
continue my remarks, scanty and superficial as
I know they are, on the subject of emigration.
I do not recollect that I omitted any thing at
aU material which occurred tome during my
hasty progress through the country, with respect
to the inducements offered to the poorer classes,
who are anxious to obtain a little land, from
which they may derive a subsistence for their
families by personal exertion. On the more
difficult subject of the advantages which agri
culturists, with a capital of a few thousand
pounds, would derive from coming to this
country, I shaU enter with greater reluctance ;

NORTH AMERICA. 65
because it is one, in the minutiae of which I
feel still less at home, although I have taken
pains to obtain such information as would lead
me to conclusions on which I could rely. The
fact is, that of the more recent settlements,
(even of those less remote than Mr. Birkbeck's;)
little is known on the coast, and the accounts
which we receive from casual visitors are
usuaUy as vague and inaccurate as those derived
from persons interested, are exaggerated and
partial. Opinions, respecting aU the settlements,
it is easy enough to collect ; but facts, on which
to found opinions, entitled to any consideration,
it is extremely difficult to obtain.
I have met with two persons only who have
actually been at Mr. Birkbeck's settlement;
one in the course of the last summer, the other
less than eight weeks since. They both state,
that he has now a very comfortable house,
excellent fences, and from 60 to 80 acres of
Indian corn ; but that he has raised little or no
wheat, finding it more desirable, on the whole,
to purchase flour at Harmony, 18 miles distant.
I have not Mr. Birkbeck's book before me to
refer to, in order to see whether this is his
second or third year ; but, in either case, the
result differs so widely from his anticipations,
VOL. II. *¦

66 LETTERS FROM
as to render it difficult for him to elude the
charge of being a wild and sanguine speculator.
In one of his estimates, he states the follow
ing as the quantity qf produce which a settler
on 640 acres, may expect to raise in the first
three years : —
1st year, 100 acres of Indian corn.
2nd do. 100 ditto ditto.
100 ditto Wheat.
3rd do. 200 ditto Indian corn.
100 ditto Wheat.
He arrived in his new settlement not later,
I believe, at any rate, than in the year. 1817,
(yOu can refer to his book;*) and yet, in the
autumn of 1820, he has little or no wheat,
and only 60 or 80 acres of Indian corn,
though possessing, unquestionably, in his
skill and resources, more than the average
advantages of new settlers, and stimulated to
extraordinary exertions, by a regard to his
reputation. So much for quantity. With
respect to price, in his estimate of profit, he
takes wheat at 75, and Indian corn, at 40 cents
per bushel, I cannot hear of any actual sales
on the Wabash, to fix the prices on the spot ;
but in both Kentucky and Ohio, wheat is at
* I find, on referring, that Mr. Birkbeck's first letter from
his settlement in Illinois, is dated 22nd Nov. 1817

NORTH AMERICA. 67
25 to 33, and Indian corn at 12^ cents per
bushel : while the fact that he regards it as
more desirable to buy and transport flour 18
miles, than to raise it at home, furnishes a strong
presumption that he can derive httle profit
from its cultivation. The gentleman whom I
mentioned, as being there a few weeks since,
told me, that Mr. Birkbeck was preparing to
sow a httle wheat this winter ; but that he
regarded grazing as the most profitable object
of his future attention. Of the price of labour,
and of foreign articles of domestic economy, I
could obtain no satisfactory information. I
lately met a gentleman, who has been travelling
extensively through the western country. He
did not visit Mr. Birkbeck's settlement, but
saw two English families returning from it
sickly and debilitated; their inability to pre
serve their health there, being, as they aUeged,
their principal reason for leaving the colony.
He also met an English gentleman of property,
who had been to examine the place, with a
view of taking his famUy thither : he said, the
sight of it, and a conviction that it was
unhealthy, decided him at once to relinquish
the idea; that he considered the selection a
most unfortunate one for Mr. Birkbeck, and

68 LETTERS FROM ,
that the number of the colonists did not
exceed 200.
I have heard others speak rather favourably
of the healthiness of Mr. Birkbeck's particular
spot, to which his draining-fences wiU contri
bute ; but all represent IUinois in general as a
most unhealthy State, where the people, for the
most part, are palhd and emaciated, and exhibit
the languor and apathy which foUow frequent
or long-continued intermittent.
I became sadly too familiar with this melan
choly spectacle, on my south-western route ;*
scarcely one family in six, in extensive districts',
in the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana,
and Mississippi, being exempt from fever and
ague ; and many of them exhibiting tall young
men, of eighteen to thirty, moving feebly about
the house, completely unfitted for exertion,
after 15 or 18 months' residence, or rendered
indolent or inefficient for the rest of their lives.
In Georgia and Carohna, we were told, in a
jocular way, that it was not uncommon for a
person, who was invited to dinner on a parti
cular day, Wednesday for instance, to begin
reckoning " Monday — Tuesday — Wednesday
— No ; I cannot come to you on Wednesday,
for that is my fever day."-r-The two gentlemen

NORTH AMERICA. 69
who had visited Mr. Birkbeck, agreed in stating,
what has often been denied, that he has a well
of excellent water.
On the whole, I am disposed to think that
Mr. Birkbeck's sanguine anticipations have been
grievously disappointed, and would have been
proved by the result to have been extravagant,
independently of the recent changes in the
circumstances of the country. At the same
time, it is probable that even his present views
of his situation and prospects, moderated as
they must be by his past experience, embrace
advantages which, in his estimate, far outweigh
the privations and sacrifices attending his
removal hither, and lead him still to congratu
late himself warmly on his change of country.
And, indeed, in possession of all the substantial
comforts of physical life ; removed beyond the
sphere of those invidious comparisons which
would render him sensible to artificial wants ;
exempt from present anxieties, and with a
reasonable prospect of leaving every member of
his family independent and prosperous, his situ
ation, in a worldly point of view, may be a very
comfortable one. I am inchned, however, to
think, that independently of his ambition to
found a colony, and his apparent anxiety, while
in motion, to get as far as possible from his

70 LETTERS FROM
native country ; an anxiety for whieh true
English feeling finds it difficult to account ; he
might have invested his property in some of
the Atlantic States, with as much, or more,
advantage to the second or third generation of
his family, and with a far less sacrifice of present
comfort. Should his family, however, retain
any large quantity of land, a growing density
of population in the western country, and even
in Illinois, notwithstanding its present unhealth
iness, may render it a source of wealth in
future years.
In the ordinary course of things, without a
European market, agricultural profits in this
country must be extremely low ; among other
reasons, because so large a proportion of thb
population, compared with most other countries,
will be land-proprietors, and so small a propor
tion dependant on others for their agricultural
produce ; and because the great fertility of the
soil will leave an unusually large surplus, after
maintaining the labourers employed in its culti
vation. It appears to me, that the natural ten
dency of this state of things among an indus
trious and enterprising people, is to encourage
domestic manufactures ; I mean manufactures
really domestic — made in the family — the pro
duce of that labour, which higher agricultural

NORTH AMERICA. 71
profits would retain in the field, but which there
appears to be no inducement to employ in the cul
tivation of produce, which wiU sell for little or
nothing when raised. It is of little importance
to the small farmer, that foreign manufactures
are tolerably low, if his produce will neither
command them, nor money to buy them. He
can obtain his clothing in exchange for his
leisure hours ; but then it must be by employ
ing those hours in actually making his clothing,
and not through the intervention of agricultural
produce. I am surprised to find to how great
an extent this species - of manufactures is car
ried, and how rapidly the events of the last two
years have increased it. In some parts of the
State of New York, I was told the little farmers
could not make a living without it. In
Pennsylvania, it is, perhaps, stUl more general ;
some of the lower description of East India
-goods having almost entirely given place to a
domestic substitute actuaUy made in the family;
and the importations of Irish linens having been
most seriously checked by the greatly increased
cultivation and manufacture of flax in the
immediate vicinity of Philadelphia. In Virginia
and North Carolina, I had opportunities of
seeing these domestic manufactures as I passed
in the stage : and on my horseback-route, it was

72 LETTERS FROM
a constant source of surprise — to ijou, I may add,
.without danger of being suspected to be a
Badical, and of gratification ; for this combina
tion of agriculture and manufacture in the
same family appears, ito me to form a state of
society particularly calculated to produce a
happy, independent, and virtuous population.
If I mistake not, America will exhibit this com
bination in a greater degree than any nation
with which I am acquainted, unless the perma
nent removal of our corn laws should give a new
stimulus to her agricultural labour ; and even
then, the immensity pf her fertile territory
might enable her to supply our wants, without
checking her in any material degree in the
career I have anticipated for her.
Whether the American Government are pursu
ing a wise pohcy in urging her forward so rapidly
in that career, or whether they are not advancing
her prematurely, by extravagant protection, to a
state at which she would arrive, with more advan
tage, at a later period, in the natural course of
things, is a fair question for discussion, and one on
which her intelligent men are not entirely agreed.
Indeed, it is. a question on which the interests
of different states and individuals are so directly
opposed to each other, and with respect to
which any decision, however just, would

NORTH AMERICA. 73
necessarily involve so large a sacrifice of per
sonal and local advantage for the general good,
that few persons can bring to its consideration
an unbiassed mind. It is probable, that my
own opinion, as a British merchant, connected
with the American trade, may not be impartial;
but I confess that I have never yet heard the
advocates of the manufacturing system make
out a case sufficiently strong to justify the enor
mous protection they are desirous of securing
for their infant manufactures. If any particular
branch of manufacture, not essential to the
safety of America, require protecting duties on
foreign goods, of 40 or 50 per cent, in addition
to the expense of transportation ; is it not a fair
presumption that the time has not yet arrived
when it is desirable that that particular manu
facture should be established ? But if we persist
in refusing to admit her corn into Great Britain,
she must, of necessity, limit her import of our
manufactures ; for her consumption is bounded
by her means of payment, and by that alone.
Had our Government been sufficiently alive to
this consideration, they would surely have
paused before they crushed an incipient trade,
and dried up a new source of payment, by the
imposition of the duty of 6d per lb. on the
importation of raw wool. When the account

74 LETTERS FROM
of that duty reached America, the export ,
of raw wool instantly ceased ; and we received
instructions from our correspondents to pur
chase the coarse wool of South America, and
to lodge credits in Germany, Spain; and
Portugal, for the supply of the woollen manu
factures of the United States. These manufac
tures have now taken deep root ; and although
they were, in a great measure, planted by the
impolitic duty to which I have alluded, they
have now become too hardy and vigorous to
have their growth materially checked by its
repeal. The duty was stated in Parliament to
be an experiment ; but experiments, of this
description, are not made with impunity, as the
British manufacturers wiU know, to their cost,
if they are often repeated.
With respect to our corn laws, you will
readUy believe that my observations in this
country have only confirmed my conviction of
their impolicy. When I see the American
farmer expending twice the labour, in making
his clothing, which would be necessary to raise
the corn, for which he might obtain them from
the British manufacturer ; and the latter, giving
for his corn twice the quantity of his manufac
tures, which would be necessary, if he might
exchange them for the corn of the American

NORTH AMERICA. 75
farmer, I cannot but feel that the arguments
ought to be powerful indeed which justify the
prohibition of an interchange so mutually advan
tageous. These arguments have been placed
in very formidable array, by our candid,
enlightened, and benevolent countryman, Mr.
Malthus ; but in this case, I confess, I am led
to doubt the truth of the old proverb, that
second thoughts are best. The earlier opinions
which were entertained on this subject, by this
intrepid inquirer after truth, appear to me the
more correct, although I admit that there is
much weight in the considerations which have
induced him to change his sentiments. It has
always appeared to me, that the strongest
argument against the gradual repeal of our
corn laws, is, its tendency to alter the
relative proportions of our agricultural and
manufacturing population ; but in the present
situation of Great Britain, can this be avoided
without incurring still greater evils? And
would not the Irish population, whose interests,
so long and so deplorably neglected, wiU in
future, I trust, be allowed a more prominent
place than has hitherto been assigned them in
the discussion of any question of national policy
by which they may be affected— would not the
Irish population be most materiaUy benefited

76 LETTERS FROM
by such an extension of demand for our manu
factures, as would diffuse manufacturing estab
lishments over the sister island.
I am very sensible of the evils to which a
manufacturing population is exposed; but,
lamentable as they are, I confess, I think they
are not to be compared with those incidental to
a half-starved, lawless, and exasperated peasant
ry. Besides, I sincerely believe that the rapid
extension of moral and religious education will
ultimately eradicate many of the evils which
generally prevail, wherever manufactures have
collected the population into large masses.
Again, if the enlightened views which are
now diffused among the liberal part of the
mercantile community be adopted, as in time
they will be by the Government, it wiU be
found impossible to proceed far in that
enlightened system of commercial legislation,
which such views will prescribe, while the price
of our corn and labour is artificiaUy raised so
much beyond those of our competitors.
I rejoice in every approach towards a
perfectly free trade. I trust we shall never
stop tUl we have attained it. The gradual
removal of every impolitic and antiquated re
striction is no less becoming the rank which
Great Britain holds among commercial nations,

NORTH AMERICA. 77
than demanded by the exigencies of her situa
tion, and the spirit of the age ; but to attempt
to estabhsh a perfectly free trade, without an
alteration in our corn laws, is to attempt an
impossibility. But I did not intend to enter on these specu
lations. I have sometimes wished you could
see what a pretty family picture a mother and
two handsome daughters make ; (I suppose
you will say such a trio always make a pretty
family picture ;) the mother spinning, and keep
ing a daughter on each side most actively occu
pied in carding for her. In the hope that this
picture will play around your imagination, and
lead you to forget how dry a letter you have
been reading, I will conclude for the present,
especially as I am arriving at the end of my
paper. I intend, if I have time, that another
letter shaU accompany this.

78 LETTERS FROM

artter xxxfflt.

Norfolk, (Virginia,) 13th December, 1820.
The little digression into which I was insen
sibly led, in my letter of yesterday, prevented
me from completing my remarks on Mr. Birk
beck. I have already mentioned some of my
reasons for supposing that, in the ordinary
course of things, agricultural profits wiU be
generaUy low in this country. Nor am I
aware of any pecuharities in Birkbeck's situa
tion which would form an exception in his
favour, in this particular. It must not be
forgotten, that while the imminent danger of
flour turning sour at New Orleans, his prin
cipal market, is to be set against the advan
tages he may possess over the farmers in the
Atlantic States; in his competition with the
graziers of Ohio, his great distance from the
Atlantic cities, may more than counterbalance
the benefit of a readier access to extensive
prairies. At present, I am told, that the
expense of conveying flour from IUinois, and
selling it at New Orleans, would leave little
or nothing for the grower of the wheat ; and I

NORTH AMERICA. 79
have been assured, on the authority of several
persons who have passed through Kentucky
and Ohio, this autumn, that in many cases,
the farmers would not cut their wheat, but
turned their cattle into it ; and that in others,
the tenants would hardly accept of the land
lord's moiety of the produce which they had
stipulated to give him for rent.
Mr. Mellish, the traveUer and geographer,
whom I frequently saw in PhUadelphia, showed
me a letter from Mr. Birkbeck, in which he
says: "There is 'an error of some importance
in my Letters ; arid I wish that a correction
of it could accompany the pubhcation. In my
estimate of the expenses of cultivating these
prairies, I have not made sufficient allowance
of time for the innumerable delays whieh
attend a new establishment in a new country.
I would now add to the debtor side, a year of
preparation, which will, of course, make a
material deduction from the profits, at the
commencement of the undertaking."
On the whole, I am disposed to believe, that
experience may suggest to Mr Birkbeck some
mode of making money, though far more
slowly than he expected; and I think the
general estimate of the merits of his situation,
by the natural re-action of his exaggerated

80 LETTERS FROM
statements, is, at present, a little below the
truth. I should not be surprised, if a new and
extensive market were gradually opened to
the western farmers, among a population em
ployed or created by manufacturing establish
ments beyond the mountains. Wool may he
raised on the spot, with tolerable facility;
and I have already mentioned the low rate of
freight at which, in Ohio, they can obtain
cotton from Louisiana and Mississippi, in
exchange for wheat, which will scarcely grow
at all in those southern states.
As the Waltham factory, near Boston, can
sustain itself so well against foreign competi
tion, I do not know why cotton mills should
not flourish in Ohio, where mill-seats are
numerous and excellent, provisions low, labour
moderate, and the protection contemplated by
the duty on foreign articles increased by dis
tance from the coast. Hitherto, capital has
been wanted, commerce and land-speculations
absorbing aU that could be begged or bor
rowed ; but the India trade is at present dis
couraging, the land mania has partly subsided,
and money is readily to be had on good security
for five per cent.

NORTH AMERICA. 81
From what I hear of Ohio, I know of no
place where a young, enterprising, skilful
cotton-spinner, with from .£5000 to £15,000
capital, fond of farming, and exempt from
those delicate sensibilities which would make
his heart yearn towards the land of his nativity,
would pass his time more to his mind, or be
in a fairer way of realizing a large fortune.
To the mere farmer or agriculturist, also, I
should consider it an inviting State. I was
told by the late Governor of Ohio — one of the
earliest settlers in that State, and for many
years, one of its representatives in Congress,
a very active, intelligent man, with whom
I have already made you acquainted — that
unimproved land, of good quality, is to be
had for 1^ to 2 dollars per acre ; improved,
with a house and barn, and pretty good,
for 6, and the best in the country for 20
dollars. He considers, that farming capital, weU
managed by a practical hard-working farmer,
assisted by his family, produces six to nine per
cent, at the low prices of 12 J cents for Indian
corn, and 25 cents for wheat, and 15 to 20 per
cent, at 25 cents for Indian corn, and 50 cents
for wheat. I should imagine this was too high
a return to calculate upon where labourers were
to be hired, and the capital large; but he
VOL. II. G

82 LETTERS FROM
seemed to say it was not; and added, that
grazing would pay much better interest, the
cattle being sold to drovers from Philadelphia,
whom I remember meeting in the forests of
the Mississippi, with herds of cattle which they
had purchased from the Indians, 1000 or 1200
miles from their destined market.
I asked a very respectable and intelligent
resident in Ohio, how he would recommend an
Englishman, coming to settle in that state as
a farmer, to employ his £5000, supposing that
to be his capital. He said he would purchase
a farm and stock with £500, leave £2000 in
government or bank securities, bearing interest
to bring in a certain income, and the remaining
£2500 he would invest judiciously in land, to be
left to improve in value as a speculation. On this
last, he would venture to underwrite a profit
of 100 per cent, in 10 years, asking no other
premium than the excess above 100 per cent.
Many bargains are now daily offering. He
said, if a person vested £1000 in a farm and
stock, and in making his house comfortable,
£2000 in government securities, yielding six
per cent interest, and £2000 in land to lie idle,
improving in value; the six per cent, which
he might safely calculate on making from his
farm, besides maintaining his family on its
produce, added to the six per cent for his

NORTH AMERICA. 83
£2000, in money securities — together £180 —
would enable him to keep a carriage and two
horses, and three servants, and to enjoy many
of the comforts of hfe. This, too, I consider
highly coloured, after making every aUowance
for the difference between his estimate of com
forts and ours. His would probably exclude
wine, and tea, and coffee ; or at least his coffee
would probably be pale enough, when every
pound cost one or two bushels of wheat.
English ideas, also, as to clothes, even on a
peace establishment in the western wilds, and
still more as to education, would probably
differ widely from those of my informant.
The expense of a good boarding-school, or
" seminary," for boys or girls, (in this country
they have as few schools as shops, except Sun
day-schools, though as many seminaries and
academies as stores,) is £35 per annum, near
Chillicothe. He has some of his family at
school on these terms ; and I think he said
that at the female " seminary," Latin was
taught, if desired. In dress and manner he
is of about the same " grade," as the Americans
would say, as a respectable Yorkshire farmer,
possessing an estate of £600 or £800 per ann. ;
and lives, I should imagine, somewhat in the
same style, with a table, from his description,

84 LETTERS FROM
perhaps more profusely spread with domestic
produce — such as beef, mutton, venison,
turkies, game, and fruit, — and more re
stricted in foreign wine and colonial luxuries.
He spoke of going over to England to bring
two or three hundred people with him
to Ohio, " where he would make them so
happy ; " but his family attachments bind him
to home. Such men as the overlooker of your
mill, or others equally steady and experienced,
but more acute, would prosper well in Ohio,
under his auspices. They would be growing
rich, while the poor settler on land would be
only comfortable and independent ; a condition,
however, by no means to be despised, especially
when capable of suggesting such poetical ideas,
and such harmonious numbers as the following :
" 'Tis I can delve and plough, love,
" And you can spin and sew ;
" And we'll settle on the banks
" Of the pleasant Ohio."
The present is a most favourable season for
investing money in this country ; and a judi
cious capitalist, who would take time to look
about him, and watch opportunities, might lay
out his money to great advantage. The depre
ciation of real estate throughout the Union, is
perfectly astonishing ; and sales are occasionaUy

NORTH AMERICA. 85
forced, at sacrifices almost incredible. You
wiU have seen in the American newspapers,
the various proposals before Congress, and the
recommendation in the Beport of the Secretary
of the Treasury, for remitting part of the
price, and extending the time of payment to
those purchasers of the pubhc lands, whose
instalments are not yet paid up. This relief
wiU probably prevent the Alabama settlers
from executing the intentions, which, in my
letters from thence, I mentioned having been
so generally expressed to me, of relinquish
ing their purchases, and forfeiting the instal
ments already paid.
In Bichmond, where the disastrous results
of the bank mania have been pre-eminently
conspicuous, and where real estate has fallen
50 to 75 per cent, there having been several
instances in which property having been sold,
payable in three or four instalments, has, after
the payment of all the previous instalments,
been transferred to the seller to discharge the
last; it is estimated that more than one-half
of the city and its immediate vicinity, is mort
gaged to the banks.
In Baltimore, about one-third is similarly
situated ; and property there is only prevented
from exhibiting a depreciation, nearly equal to

86 LETTERS FROM
that of Bichmond, by the policy adopted hy
the banks of holdirig it, in the expectation that
its gradual advance will pay them a better
interest for their money, than could be obtained
from investments or discounts, if they were to
force a sale. A house and store were pointed
out to me in Baltimore, in the principal com
mercial street, which, about 1816, were let for
2000 doUars per annum, but are now let for
600 only. This is an extreme case ; but taking
the city generaUy, it would probably be correct
to estimate the decline in rents at from 40 to
50 per cent. Beal estate has fallen from 33
to 50 per cent ; the interruption to the inter
course between the United States and the West
Indies, having raised the calamities of this
town to a level with the general distress, in
which it might otherwise have participated
less deeply than some of its neighbours, from
having been visited less severely with those
worse than Egyptian plagues, bank discounts
of accommodation notes, renewable ad infinitum.
Labour, here, as in aU slave-states, falls
almost exclusively on the slaves ; and the por
terage of the town, the loading and discharging
of ships, &c. are performed by those who are
either hired out by their masters, by the week,
or allowed, on paying their masters a certain

NORTH AMERICA. 87
«um, generally about two doUars per week, to
find work for themselves, and retain the surplus.
Allowing for the different effects of a system
of this kind, and a system of free labour,
and fully aware how slowly, though certainly,
the price of labour foUows the price of pro
visions, I was surprised to find, that while
the latter has faUen two-thirds, the former
has declined less than a fourth. This is owing
partly to the circumstance ef the owners
of the coloured labourers being able to hold
out on any particular occasion, against an
attempt to reduce their wages; an attempt
which can seldom be effectuaUy resisted by
persons whose daily labour must obtain their
daily bread ; partly to conscientious scruples,
which deter many holders of hereditary or
domestic slaves from seUing them for the
southern market, and others from buying their
feUow-creatures, to hire them out at home like
cattle ; but principaUy to such an irregularity of
demand, as renders it impossible to adjust the
supply to its casual fluctuations, and induces
a necessity of including in the remuneration
for the hours employed, some compensation for
those lost in waiting for employment.
Slaves, who, in Norfolk, are now worth on an
average, 300 to 400 dollars each, receive from

88 LETTERS FROM
the merchant who engages their services, 75
cents per day, and their food. These are enor
mous wages, where turkies, weighing five or
six pounds, will sell for Is 9d sterling, and
wild ducks at 2s per couple; and where
flour is four dollars per barrel, Indian corn,
their favourite food, forty cents per bushel,
and beef and mutton five to eight cents per
pound. As sailors, their master can obtain for
the slaves 10 dollars per month ; and there
are many families in Norfolk, especially many
widows and orphans, whose property consists
entirely of hereditary slaves, whom they hire
out as the only means of obtaining an income,

NORTH AMERICA. 89

netter XX£J«

New York, 24th Dec. 1820.
I may now proceed with our personal narra
tive, with which I was unwilling to interrupt
my remarks on emigration. I left Philadelphia,
as I propose^ on the 7th, in the steam-boat,
and reached Newcastle, in the State of Delaware,
40 mUes down the river, about four o'clock,
when we were packed in stages, and driven
across the State, to Frenchtown, on the
Susquehanna. Here we went on board a very
handsome steam-boat, and at three o'clock in
the morning, were safely moored to the wharf
at Baltimore, 139 miles from Philadel1^' . On
the llth, we set out to Norfolk. We had a
fine sail down the Chesapeake Bay, and in ten
hours had completed more than 100 miles.
We accomplished the whole distance, 210 miles,
in 22 hours, including two hours in which we
came to anchor in the night, where the naviga
tion was difficult. This is rapid traveUing.
Indeed, I arrived here in less than a fortnight,
after leaving Philadelphia ; traveUing 780 miles,

QO LETTERS FROM
and spending five days and nights at Baltimore,
and two at Norfolk. There was nothing partir
cularly interesting in the few passengers on
board the steam-boat. Of our two females, one
was a lady from England, who perambulated
the deck, clasping in her arms a silken lap-dog,
on which she seemed to have fixed her affec?
tions ; the other, a pretty young woman, whose
infant child did not claim from the company
half as much attention as the fawning, fondled,
officious quadruped of our countrywoman.
I continued on deck the greater part both of
the day and night, unwilling to miss any of this
magnificent bay, from seven to twenty miles
wide, and more than 200 mUes long, from the
mouth of the Susquehanna to the sea, and
receiving in its bosom, I believe, a greater num
ber of extensive rivers than any bay in the
known world. It was a beautiful moonlight
night, with a most refreshing sea-breeze ; and
as 1 walked the deck alone at midnight, I almost
felt as if I was homeward-bound, and was bid
ding a final adieu, to the trans- Atlantic world,
In imagination, I ascended the rivers, which
supplied me with many interesting subjects of
reflection, although they have received no poet
ical licence to converse, like the Severn and the
Wye. And first, the Susquehanna, with all the

NORTH AMERICA. 91
interesting associations connected with its clas
sical waters, and aU the melancholy recollections
they suggest of Wyoming, Gertrude, Albert,
Waldegrave, and Outalissi ; then the Potowrnac,
which conducted me to Woodlawn, Mount
Vernon, and General Washington's tomb,
Washington, and the beautiful scenery at
Harper's Ferry, where, assisted by the Shenan
doah, it forces its way through the Blue Moun
tains ; then the Bappahannock, which I had
crossed at its faUs ; then York Biver ; but here
I was a httle crest-faUen ; for it was at York-
town, on this river, you will recollect, that Lord
CornwaUis, in 1781, was compelled to surrender
himself and his army, and with it the last hope
of success, in that ill-advised and unnatural
contest — not that I regretted the issue ; but it
is always humiliating to be defeated ; and on
this occasion, you will remember, he was obliged
to march out of the town with cased colours,
and shouldered arms — having refused to his
prisoner, General Lincoln, the honour of march
ing out of Charleston, with colours flying.
The next river was James' Biver, which was
the companion of our way, in the rich valley of
the Shenandoah, and our subsequent route to
Bichmond. It received, in its course, the
Appomatox, which we crossed at Petersburgh,

92 LETTERS FROM
and the Bivannah, which threatened to flow
over our horses' backs as we waded through it,
below Monticello, at the very spot where it
carried away Lieutenant Hall and his Jersey
waggon, after his visit to Mr. Jefferson. James'
Biver is from 20 to 30 miles wide at its mouth,
as I was told, and some of the other rivers from
10 to 15, or 20. As I contemplated our old
companions, which we had often forded near
their sources, in the summer, transformed into
magnificent rivers, which might carry the
British Navy on their bosoms, foaming with
rage, and agitated with expiring struggles, to
escape annihilation in this inland sea, I was
amused by tracing them to their humble origin,'
in the neighbourhood of the Blue Mountains,
where, tranquil and unambitious, they pursued
their silent course — -reflecting, from their unruf
fled surface, the pendant foliage, or barren
cliffs, or blessing with beauty and fertility the
lovely vallies through which they flowed.
We reached Norfolk at seven o'clock in the
morning ; and after breakfast, I went to call on
the friends whom I came to see, and at whose
house I afterwards met a pleasant party at
dinner. Norfolk is admirably situated as a
commercial town ; but the country round it, as
far as the eye can reach, and indeed for a great

NORTH AMERICA. 93
distance up the Chesapeake, as we observed in
sailing down, is one continued pine forest, on a
a flat sandy shore — a regular pine barren — such
as I described in my route to Charleston, and my
frequent allusion to which made you more tired
of them, I dare say, than I was ; for the novelty
of such scenery rendered them interesting to
me to the last. Norfolk, indeed, is within the
limits of what is caUed the Southern Forest,
which embraced the maritime ports of Virginia,
the two Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, and
consists principally of pine, cedar, and cypress.
Norfolk is within 12 miles of the celebrated
dismal swamp, which I wished exceedingly to
see ; but my time did not aUow me to gratify
my inclination. This swamp is said to cover
130,000 acres, and is for the most part covered
with cypress trees.
The cypress trees, which I saw in great per
fection in the swamps in the south, are very
majestic, but I think not nearly so beautiful as
the elms of New England. They are thus
described by Bartram : — " The Cupressus Disti
cha stands in the first order of North American
trees. Its majestic stature is surprising, and on
approaching it we are struck with a kind of awe
at beholding the stateliness of the trunk, lifting
its cumbrous top towards the skies, and casting

94 LETTERS FROM
a wide shade upon the ground, as a dark inter
vening cloud, which, for a time, excludes the
rays of the sun. The delicacy of its colour, and
the texture of its leaves, exceed every thing in
vegetation. It generaUy grows in the water,
or in low flat lands, near the banks of great rivers,
and lakes that are covered for a great part of
the year with two or three feet depth of water ;
and that part of the trunk which is subject to
be under water, and two or three, or five feet
higher up, is greatly enlarged by prodigious
buttresses, or pilasters, which, in full grown
trees, project out on every side to such a dis
tance, that several men might hide themselves
in the hoUows between. Every pilaster termi
nates under ground, in a very large, string,
serpentine root, which strikes off, and branches
every way just under the surface of the ground ;
and from these roots grow woody cones, called
cypress knees, four, five, or six inches high, and
from six to 24 inches in diameter at their bases.
The large ones are hoUow, and serve very well
for bee-hives ; a smaU space of the tree itself is
hollow, nearly as high as the buttresses. From
this place, the tree, as it were, takes another
beginning, forming a grand, straight column,
80 or 90 feet high. When the planters fell
these mighty trees, they raise a stage round

NORTH AMERICA. 95
them as high as to reach above the buttresses.;
on this stage, eight or ten negroes ascend with
their axes, and fall to work round its trunk. I
have seen trunks of these trees that would
measure eight, ten, or twelve feet in diameter,
for 40 or 50 feet straight shaft."
While at Norfolk, I felt as if I was quite in
a southern climate again. Indeed, I was within
25 miles of Carolina. It was a warm Carolinian
winter's day, although they had, a short time
previously, had snow 10 inches deep — a rare
occurrence. But it was the black population,
and the trees, caUed the Pride of India, which
reminded me of the South. The latter
are much valued by the inhabitants for their
shade ; but I have formed such an indissoluble
association between them and the yellow fever,
from finding them so generally forming avenues
in the streets of the southern towns, that I
have quite an antipathy to them, and their very
fragrance appears to me sickly. As for the
slave-population, the sight is never agreeable.
They are often, however, merry enough, and it
would have humbled such of our Bond-street
loungers, as aspire to the title, to hear, as I did,
a httle slave call his companion a dandy, because
he happened to have rather a smarter handker
chief round his neck than himself.

96 LETTERS FROM
We left Norfolk at nine o'clock, on the 14th.
It was a lovely morning, without a cloud in the
sky, or a ripple on the sea. We soon arrived
in Hampton Boads, where the view was en
livened by the white sails we saw in every
direction. Some in the distant horizon, just
vanishing from the sight, and some within hail.
We spoke one little sloop, out from the West
Indies 18 days. We soon afterwards passed the
Constitution, for London, and saw vessels of
every description, from the beautiful and bucca
neering Baltimore schooners, whose raking
masts, like the ears of a sly and vicious horse,
seemed to bode no good, to the swift little boats,
in which the forests of Virginia, like " Birnam
Wood," were hastening to Baltimore, in the
shape of fuel.
We went the first 1 7 miles in an hour and
twenty minutes, and proceeded rapidly, until
twelve o'clock, when a fog suddenly sur
rounding us, and our captain not daring to
proceed, we c^me most unwillingly to anchor,
where we remained till seven o'clock the next
morning. I have had so few disappointments
since I landed, that I tried to reconcile myself
easily to the delay, and sat down to read the
Federalist tiU tea, when I took up the Abbott,
which I had just received from England. It

NORTH AMERICA. 97
kept me up till two o'clock in the morning —
sitting by the stove, a,nd occasionally going on
deck to see whether the fog had dispersed. We
reached Baltimore early on the morning of the
16th; and I spent the day with some most
estimable friends, of whom I took my final
leave with sincere regret. On the 18th, we set
out at three o'clock in the morning, in an open
stage waggon, having decided to return to
Philadelphia through York and Lancaster,
instead of the old steam-boat route, as it would
occupy no more time. The morning was bitterly
cold ; and as the roads were a sheet of ice, and
our horses unprepared, we advanced only three
miles an hour, for several hours, when we
arrived at a German's, where we procured break
fast and fresh horses.
The face of the country, for the thirty miles
we traveUed in Maryland, presents, hke almost
every other part of that State which I have
seen, a beautiful specimen of hUl and dale, of
which from one-third to one-half is woodland,
young vigorous trees, of second growth, so nearly
of the same size, and so regularly disposed, that
they perpetuaUy suggest the idea that they
have been planted by the hand of man. I know
"no part of England which would give you a
precise idea of Maryland hiU and dale. —
VOL. II. H

98 LETTERS FROM
Sometimes, the scenery reminded me of the
forest lands near Loughborough ; but the undu
lations are bolder, and succeed each other in
interesting variety, as far as the horizon ; some
times, of Derbyshire — Ashbourne for instance ;
but the hiUs are less frequently broken by abrupt
and precipitous cliffs, and the dales not so often
contracted into deep romantic vallies. About 30
miles from Baltimore, we entered York county,
in the State of Pennsylvania. For the first few
miles, the houses were of hewn log and plaster,
like those of Maryland; afterwards of stone
and brick. As we advanced, the face of the
country, stiU beautiful, principally hUl and
dale, began to exhibit a much higher state of
cultivation, and the houses assumed a more com
fortable and prosperous appearance. We now
obtained a sight of the fine barns for which the
Germans are celebrated, and of which we had
heard much. The land was worth from 10 to
50 doUars per acre, in farms of from 50 to 200
acres, occupied almost exclusively by German
proprietors. The instances of land being rented
were rare; and in those cases the landlord
usuaUy received half the gross produce ftir rent.
I was told, (and although I do not vouch for
the entire accuracy of all the " on dits" I send
you ; on subjects hke this, I seldom give them,

north America. 99
unless I have had an opportunity of cross-
examination,) that the less opulent farmers in
this neighbourhood expend scarcely any money
in articles of consumption, either vesting their
property in land, or hoarding it in a safe place.
They are stated to make their own cotton and
wooUen clothes, their stockings, shirts, and sheet
ings ; exchanging wool with the hatter for hats,
leather with the tanner for shoes, substituting
rye for coffee, (now partially employed even in
some of the cities, where it "is sold in the shops,)
using no tea, and very little sugar, which httle
they procure in exchange for the produce of
their fine orchards. The best informed of them
teach their children in the evenings ; and some
times they agree to board a schoolmaster at their
houses gratuitously, and in succession, thus
enabling him to reduce his terms to a mere trifle.
They are said to be sociable, and very sensible
of the comfort and independence of their con
dition. Our driver on this part of the road, had
emigrated from Macclesfield, in Cheshire,
where he drove a chaise, and knew many of
our friends there. For some time he drove the
Lancaster mail from Preston. He eame out,
he said, in his " uniformal dress of an English
coachman," with a broad hat, long great coat,

100 LETTERS FROM
woollen-cord breeches, and jockey boots ; all
which he has discarded for an uncharacteristic,
shabby blue coat, black waistcoat, and blue
pantaloons. He procured employment in two
days ; and his gains have averaged, for the
last two years, 26 dollars per month, with part
of his board. I told him that I hoped, when
he made his bargain, he did not count upon
any money from the passengers ; he said*
" Oh no ! ' Please to remember the coachman,'
would not do here ;- it would be degrading to
ask ; although genteel people sometimes press
me to take something, which I db not refuse."
After this hint, I did not hesitate to follow
the natural impulse I felt to give an old Lan
caster driver a trifle, and some rum and water.
As he seemed a very decent, sensible man, I
asked him various questions, in such ' a way as
to give no particular direction to his answers,
and found his ideas of the country and people
were very similar to my own. To a question,
whether he found the Americans more or less
civil than the English, he replied, " I think
they are more accommodating and friendly,
and more ready to oblige either a stranger or
one another ; but, to be sure, they have always
been in the habit of helping a neighbour, and
have never known the depravity like of a

NORTH AMERICA. 101
condition which made them obhged to look to
themselves. I was surprised to see them so
friendly to every-body."
He quite agreed with me, that labourers,
generally speaking, have no reasonable prospect
of improving their condition, however uncom
fortable, by coming hither — I mean to the
Atlantic States ; in the Western country,
industry and self-denial will force their way.
Very superior merit; or singular good for
tune, may stiU raise some to independence
even here; but five out of ten may wander
about for weeks or months, in the agricultural
districts of Pennsylvania, without finding regular
employment, or the means of supporting them
selves by their labour. One of our passengers,
a respectable-looking man, said, that a friend
of his had been applied to by a good labourer
whose character he had long known, offering
to work tUl the spring, for his food, which
offer was declined. In the neighbourhood of
Philadelphia, I heard of some instances of less
skilful labourers making similar applications in
vain. About 3 o'clock we stopped to dine at York,
a town not unlike Loughborough, at a distance.
We were not expected ; and though there
were only two passengers who dined, the
landlord made many apologies for producing

102 LETTERS FROM
nothing but a beefsteak, veal cutlet, and tart, in
stead ofthe turkey, ham, and two or three joints
of meat usually seton the table,, even for a small
party. Immediately on leaving York, we entered
a beautiful and interesting valley, called " Creek
VaUey,-" where the land is said to be as good
as in almost any part of the United States.
On each side of the road were fine large fields,
in a high state of cultivation. ^ One of the pas
sengers, weU acquainted with the neighbour
hood, mentioned to me the value of the
several estates as we passed. The first, rather
more than three hundred acres in extent, (with
a house, and extensive barns and stabling,
which, together, cost about 10,000 doUars,)
were sold, two years since, at 260 dollars
per acre. It would, even now, bring 200,
the fatal effects of the paper-system having
been almost entirely averted from this district,
either by the prudence of the bank directors,
or, what is more likely, the inveterate habits
of the German farmers, which did not readily
become reconciled to a flimsy substitute for
gold. The next farm consisted of twenty-
five acres, with a new brick house, and a
decent frame-barn, the erection of which would
cost, my informant thought, more than 4000
dollars. A gentleman, whom he pointed out

NORTH AMERICA. 103
to me, had just offered 7000 doUars for the
whole, which were refused. The next farm
was one of 150 acres, with out-buildings, but
in high cultivation, and one-fifth woodland.
It had been sold the preceding week at 140
dollars per acre. In this weU-settled country
woodland is dearer than cleared land. The next
was a large estate, which a German had just sold
to his sons at 105 dollars per acre, that they
might give their sisters, as a marriage portion,
their equal share, as is usual with them. The
sons-in-law thought the sale too low. All these
estates are within 50 miles of Baltimore, which
the farmers consider their market, and speak of
as very near.
Ten miles from York we passed the beautiful
and classical Susquehanna, on a fine bridge, a
mile and a quarter long ; but the night was
closing in, and the clouds, which obscured the
moon, prevented our seeing distinctly the scenery
of this noble river. We had been frequently
gratified during the day, by the view of a dis
tinct chain of the Blue Mountains in the horizon.
We reached Lancaster, a fine old town, (aU
things are by comparison,) at nine o'clock, hav
ing been 18 hours in completing the 70 imles
from Baltimore. We left Lancaster at four
o'clock the next morning, and proceeded in the

104 LETTERS FROM
dark 14 miles to breakfast. To my great mor
tification, it was so cloudy and misty during a
great part of the day, that my view was circum
scribed. We still continued, however, to see
handsome barns, substantial houses, and beauti-
fuUy cultivated fields. From the time we left
Lancaster, we were on the great Pittsburgh
road, which leads to Philadelphia, through the
" Great Valley," as it is called ; the land is for
the most part excellent, yielding from 25 to
30 bushels of wheat, and ' 30 to 40 of Indian
corn, to the acre. The farmers, in the county
of Lancaster, unlike those of York, are, I was
told, deeply in debt ; the treacherous paper
system having been incautiously admitted.
The country through which we passed during
the day's ride, as far as we could see on each
side of the road, (the fog contracting our view
within narrow limits,) might be compared with
the richest part of England, reminding me some
times of Bibblesdale, sometimes of Warwick
shire, sometimes of Gloucestershire. The best
houses and barns are of stone, the largest houses
being generally taverns ; and the buildings on
the farms (which are from two to three or five
hundred acres in extent,) are, perhaps, worth from
4,000 to 20,000 doUars. There were few (till we
approached PhUadelphia scarcely any) that could

NORTH AMERICA. 105
be called gentlemen's houses, or which give one
the idea of being in the vicinity of educated,
or weU-bred society. One, between 30 and 40
miles from Philadelphia, exhibited traces of
taste and elegance in the front of the house and
garden : the out-buildings seemed complete and
extensive. My companion said, the whole ofthe
buildings might cost, with the house furnished,
7,000 doUars ; and 100 acres of land, in high
cultivation, in the vicinity, 5,000 dollars more.
Now, I think, with good management on the
farm, a family might hve comfortably, with
18,000 doUars in addition ; not with less than
that sum, nor with so httle, if there were board
ing-school expenses to pay, or any charges,
except those strictly domestic. Now, let us
suppose that Mr. Birkbeck had settled there : —
his fariiUy, except as regards society, would
scarcely have been conscious that they were
transplanted : he would have felt at home, in a
cultivated country, instead of a novice in the
prairies ; and his agricultural skiU might have
been profitably exerted in a congenial sphere :
30,000 doUars out of the 35,000, which he is said
to have brought with him, would have been dis
posed of in a form at least as convertible as at
present. I much doubt whether his whole
property, at the end of ten years, including the

106 LETTERS FROM
5,000 doUars left to accumulate with compound
interest, would not have been of more value than
it wiU now prove, and have commanded as many
cultivated and uncleared acres in Illinois, as he
wiU possess, at the expiration of that period. If
he should not be benefited, or be only partially
so, by the remissions of price proposed- by the
Government to be afforded to purchasers ef
public lands* (which will depend on the state of
his instalments,) or if his settlement continue
unpopular, he may actuaUy lose by his lands,
the reduction of three-quarter dollars per ann.
which Government conteriiplate in the price ef
-vacant land, of course reducing the value of
those he has entered. This, however, is. fa
^speculation for which I have no sufficient
-data; ibut I was led to think a httle on the
subject, on ^passing these fine Pennsylvania
farms. It appears to me, that the " aliquid
immensum infinitumque," which played round
the youthful imagination of Cicero, and con
ducted that celebrated orator into region&.of
truth; and beauty, had taken possession ofHhe
mind of Mr. Birkbeck, and led him, less courte
ously, into the prairies of Illinois, where I have
¦no doubt it has long since vanished, like an ignis-
fatuus, leaving him probably not a little mor-
oiofied athaving been begmled. by an.insi^ipus

NORTH AMERICA. 107
phantom, which beckoned him to fame and
fortune in the Western wUds.
We reached Philadelphia, 60 miles from
Lancaster, at four o'clock in the afternoon, and
found our party at the boarding-house increased
by the arrival of a gentleman and lady, and three
daughters? from Lexington, in Kentucky, who,
having hastily left a comfortable estate in the
vicinity of London, had become tired of the
Western wilderness, and had returned to the
Atlantic States, beginning to think that, to persons
in their easy circumstances, at least, there was
no place like Old England, after all.

108 LETTERS FROM

fUtte* XXXW.

New York, 1st January, 1821.
I had expected, ere this, to have-been within
a few days' sail of my native shores, but cir
cumstances, to which I have already adverted,
have induced me to postpone my return a few
weeks. I was at first disappointed, to find
that it would protract my absence from home,
but as it will give me an opportunity of seeing
more of the New England States, I probably
shall not ultimately regret it. I arrived here
on the 1st December, and took up my abode
at the Mechanic HaU. Our party at the com
mon table, which is always most handsomely
provided, is composed principaUy of two or
three manufacturers from Yorkshire or Lanca
shire, an English merchant or two, and a
captain of the British navy. We much miss
the Carolinians and Georgians, who, in the
summer and autumn, form so agreeable an
addition, in their way to and from Canada and
the Springs. I am not much in the hotel, how
ever, for New York is a most hospitable place.
The influx of strangers into this city, from all

NORTH AMERICA. 109
parts of the world, is perfectly astonishing, as
you will see by the statement which I shall
attach to this letter ; and the society, as might
naturally be expected, is very miscellaneous.
There is, however, as you will have seen from
the detail of my visits, which I have given you
in a former letter, some very good society, and
in many of the old famihes, whose names have
been rendered famUiar to you by Mrs. Grant,
there is much inteUigence and refinement. In
the mass of the mercantile community, however,
I am disposed to beheve, that there is less men
tal cultivation than in Boston, and less refine
ment than in Philadelphia.
The young ladies, who are fond of
the French style, are accused by the females
of PhUadelphia, of dressing in a more showy
and expensive manner, but with less taste
than themselves. I will not embroil myself
in this delicate dispute, but wiU merely
observe, that these gay, light-hearted, delicate,
pretty, young creatures, who seem to brave the
coldest weather, in light dresses, in their daily
promenade in Broadway, bent on amusement,
and without a care, exchange, I am told,
their Elysian dreams, for the cold realities of
life, without one parting sigh, and discharge,
with assiduity and affection, the duties of

110 LETTERS FROM
those domestic relations into which they enter
at so very early an age. Their gay appear
ance in the streets, the delicious breezes
from the beautiful bay, the purity bf the
atmosphere, and the serenity of the clear blue
sky, are aU calculated to give a stranger, a very
agreeable impression of New York, which is
confirmed by the air of industry and animation
which pervade it.
At present, the ground is covered with snow,
and aU is bright and beautiful after yesterday's
storm. Broadway exhibits the gayest scene
you can conceive. Painted sleighs, with scar
let cloth and buffalo skins, are dashing along
in aU directions, at a prodigious speed; some
with two horses abreast ; some harnessed as
tandems, and others with four in hand. Every
body seems to make the most of rthe snow
while it lasts, and night does not put an end
to the festivity. The horses have a string of
bells round their necks; and in these: fine
moon-light nights I hear them dashing away
long after midnight.
A few evenings since, I joined a merry
party, in an excursion of a few miles into the
country, where we drank tea at a friend's ,
house, and returned to New York about ,10
o'clock; meeting, as we approached the city,

NORTH AMERICA. Ill
many parties of ladies and gentlemen. The
next day, as I was passing down Broadway,
a party passed me, in a sleigh, who soon after
wards stopped and invited me to join them.
I found it was my agreeable friends  ,
 , who were going to their country-seat,

to take leave of some of the younger branches
of the family, who were setting out on an
expedition, in a sleigh, to another country-seat,
100 miles distant. I joined them gladly, and
we had a delightful ride of nine miles, along
the banks of the Hudson Biver ; whose pre
cipitous cliffs, covered with frozen snow, formed
a fine winter's scene. The young party had
preceded us about an hour, to prepare their
horses; and we found them practising their
four-in-hand before the door. After taking
a hasty meal together, we clad the ladies in
their furs, and fixed them in their open sleigh,
when they dashed off through the snow, intend
ing to cross the Hudson on the ice. — In some
of the streets in the town, the snow has drifted
extremely ; and you would have been ahiused
the ether night, to see me going from a dinner
party, in company with the Mayor, to the
City Hotel, where there was a public meeting
of the Society for Preventing Pauperism. It
was with the greatest difficulty we forced our

112 NORTH AMERICA.
sleigh ; sometimes over, and sometimes through
the snow, which was lying in waves, four or
five feet high. There was a pretty good meet
ing, but the report was less interesting than the
one I heard last year ; which, I believe, excited
some attention in England, and was republished
there. That, contained sound general views ;
while this year's Beport stated little, but what
the Committee had not done. I felt disposed
to quarrel with some of the speakers, who told
some unpleasant truths about pauperism in
England. One of them, to whom I was intro
duced, as an Englishman, observed, " he hoped
he had said nothing of my country that would
displease me." I replied, "that an English
man ought always to feel, that he can well afford
to hear some painful truths respecting his
country without being discomposed/
One of the speakers said, " that he challenged
the meeting to produce one city in Europe,
(England excepted,) of the same extent as New
York, where pauperism prevailed in the same
degree. There was not one; and when such
men as Boscoe, Chalmers, and Mackintosh,
gave their attention to the subject, surely the
inhabitants of New York would think it wor
thy of their consideration."

NORTH AMERICA. 113
I think I never told you that I had an oppor
tunity, on New Year's Day, of witnessing
and joining in the old Dutch custom of run
ning the round of complimentary caUs, imme
diately after church. We must literaUy run,
if we have a tolerably extensive acquaintance,
for we caU on every lady we know, and always
find her sitting up to receive company, as a mat
ter of course, with cake and wine on the table.
It is quite ridiculous to see crowds in the
streets, all urging their rapid course, as if they
were couriers on important business, and look
ing eagerly at their lists, to see that they make
no omissions. They stay only two or three
minutes at a place, sometimes not even sitting
down ; and in several instances, the lady of the
house told me, that she did not know the
parties who had just retired.
This custom, no doubt, had its origin in
good feeling, which prompted the expression
of the best wishes of the season ; and one of
its principal advantages is, that it affords per
sons an opportunity of keeping up an acquaint
ance, without involving more than a yearly
recognition, and of making advances after a
coolness without much sacrifice of feeling.
The various institutions of this city and its
vicinity, are so weU known to you, that I wiU
VOL. II. I

114 BETTERS FROM
not describe them. They are very numerous,
and some of them admirably conducted.* '
I propose setting out in the morning, to
Newhaven, on my excursion to New England,
after spending three weeks here very agree
ably, and forming several valuable and interest
ing acquaintances.
At the house of one of the most agreeable
of my new friends, I lately heard a discussion
on the merits of Mr. Jeffrey's admirable reply
to Mr. Walsh, in the Edinburgh Beview; It
appeared to be generaUy approved ; and some
of those eminent men, whose opinions were of
most value, expressed their warm approbation
of it. I have met some persons who do not
like it ; but it appears to me, to place the ques
tion so cleverly on its proper footing,, and to
exhibit such a fine specimen of dignified mode?
ration, that every candid and reasonable Ameri
can ought to be fuUy satisfied with it. As for
those lovers of superlatives, whose craving
appetites nothing wiU satisfy but imputed
* The particulars which I had noted, respecting the prisons
in the Northern States, are so much less recent, and on that
account as well as on others, so much less valuable and in
teresting, than those contained in Mr. Roscoe's pamphlet*
already alluded to, entitled "Additional Observations on Penal
Jurisprudence," that I must beg leave to refer to the work of
that enlightened and distinguished friend of humanity.

NORTH AMERICA. 115
perfection, their opinions are of little conse
quence to any but themselves.
During dinner, at the house I alluded to,
our host had a letter presented to him, which
he opened and read. As "soon as the servants
had retired, he told us that it was addressed to
one of the black servants, but he had broken
the seal without examining the direction.
Its contents were as foUow : — " Your company
is requested at my house, on the 27th instant, to
a ball and supper— 50 cents." I suppose the
poor fellow to whom it was addressed, and who
presented it to Mr.  , could not read. The
negroes always seem ready for a frolic, as it is
called. Providence, 30th Jan. 1821. — We left New
York as we proposed, on the 25th, and after
an extremely cold ride, arrived at Newhaven
late the same evening. The next morning,
early, I went to visit Dr. Morse, who had
kindly called upon me, at New York, to invite
me to stay some days with him. This I could
not have done, even if I had felt disposed to
trespass so far on his hospitahty ; but I was
much gratified by this opportunity of convers
ing with him for an hour or two.
On leaving Dr. Morse, I went to call on
Mr. SiUiman, the Professor of Chemistry and

116 LETTERS FROM
Mineralogy, at Yale CoUege, at Newhaven,
and the writer of Travels in England, and more
recently, in Canada. He was sitting .with his
wife, and gave me a most friendly reception:
Our conversation turned on Mr. Boscoe, whoni
he had seen in England ; on the dispositions of
England and America towards each other, &&
&c. After a short sit, and an engagement to.
visit the CoUege with him, in the afternoon,
and to drink tea with him, I returned to Dr.
Morse's to dinner ; when I was introduced to
the famUy. During dinner, and afterwards,
in the Doctor's study, I had a good deal of
conversation with him, on the subject of the
progress of Unitarianism in the United States ;
but the substance of this conversation I must
reserve for my letter to Mr. Silliman.
After dinner, Mr. Silliman called for me in his
sleigh to take me to the CoUege. While sitting
a minute or two, he and Dr. Morse compared
their thermometers. The one had been at
— 11°, and the other — 12°F; and Mr. S.
mentioned, that in one part of the town a ther
mometer had stood at — 16° F. He also said that
he did not know that such a degree of cold was
on record here. We heard that a child had
been frozen to death in bed the preceding night,
and that a passenger had been taken dead out

NORTH AMERICA. 117
of the stage some mUes distant. I observe, by
the newspaper, that at Springfield, not far from
here, the thermometer was at — 23°, and at
Northampton — 26° F.
It was intensely cold in the apartments of the
CoUege, as we went through them. Yale
College is the largest Collegiate Establishment
in the United States, except Cambridge,. whose
students are about equal in number. Every
thing connected with it seems to be on a most
respectable scale, and would astonish some of
our countrymen, who consider stores and dwell
ing-houses as the only buildings in America.
It was founded in 1700, and I could almost have
fancied myself at one of our Universities, While
in a lecture-room, hung with "paintings in the
old English costume ; and among which there
is one of George II. in his royal robes, and
another of Bishop Berkeley, with his feUow-
passengers, as large as life. You probably recol
lect the Bishop's ardent and generous efforts for
the promotion of literature on this side ofthe
Atlantic, where he spent some years in the pro
secution of his favourite design. On his return
home, he sent a valuable collection of books to
Yale College, which I saw in one division of the
hbrary, appropriated for their reception, under
the headof "Berkeley," and the "Dean's bounty,"

118 LETTERS FROM
(for he was then a Dean,) the produce of lands,
which, appropriated to the purpose, support
three Scholarships, which are bestowed on the
three best classical scholars of the year.
I felt much interested in contemplating an
University, which seems destined to have a large
share in forming the churches of the American
people.* We returned to Mr. Silliman's to tea, where
Dr. Morse and his two sons joined us. I found
that Dr. M. was engaged in drawing up a report
on the state of the Indians, to be submitted to
Congress. He had been selected by the Presi
dent to travel among the Indians with reference
to this object, in consequence of having been
long employed by a society in Scotland, in the
promotion of their benevolent designs among
some of the northern tribes. He has devoted a
very long and very active life to the interests of
literature and religion, in his infant country,
combining the attainments of a scholar; with
the apostolic zeal of a missionary,' and often
exchanging domestic endearments and: literary
ease for the perils of the wilderness, and the
privations of solitary journies in swamps ,and
* For a particular account of the Colleges of the United
States, see Duncan's Trayels ; also Appendix B.

NORTH AMERICA. 119
forests. When Mr. HaU's sermon on Infidelity
appeared, he printed an edition at his own
expense, although in very moderate circum
stances ; and has since endeavoured to introduce
among his countrymen a high standard of prac
tical excellence, by exhibiting to their view that
extraordinary combination of the lowly and the
splendid virtues of the Christian character,
which adorned the hfe, and has embalmed the
memory, of the late Mr. Beynolds, of Bristol.
Our conversation during tea was on general
topics ; and after tea, I had a long tete-a-t£te
with Dr. M. who has travelled a great deal, and
is very entertaining.
About nine o'clock, Mr. S. sent me home
in his sleigh, and the cold deterred me from
attempting to travel at night. The next morn
ing, it was quite warm, and at eight o'clock I
set out in the stage ; and passing through
Derham and Middleton, reached Hartford, 34
miles, at five o'clock in the evening. As we
entered the Connecticut Valley, and approached
Middleton, on the Connecticut river, about one-
third of a mile broad, the country became very
interesting, and some of the views magnificent.
The Valley is from 20 to 30 miles wide, and is
the same which you may remember me to have

120 LETTERS FROJf
crossed, 100 or 150 miles higher, to Hanover,
the day that I arrived at Concord, whence I
wrote to you in the summer.
Hartford is a pretty New England town,
beautifully situated. The principal street, as
usual, is very long, very wide, and fined with
two rows of American elms, whieh form a
handsome avenue. I travelled about for half
an hour after my arrival, and. then returned to
my inn, where the civility of the landlord
formed a strong and pleasing contrast to the
apathy of my Newhaven host. ' Indeed, it was
an excellent inn, perhaps the best, or nearly so,
that I have seen in America ; the chamber was
so neat and weU-furnished, that it reminded
me of home, and my little tea-tray, (for the
landlord' indulged me, and I indulged myself,
with my tea in my own room for once,) exhi
bited a degree of taste in the disposition of its
china, and cut-glass preserve dishes, which
would have astonished some of my countrymen,
if they could have seen them.
Here, as at Concord, I found two large hand
some volumes of Scott's Bible, in the mahogany
drawers. After tea, I wrote to  , and the
foUowing morning, (Sunday,) I attended the
EpiscopalChurch. Itwfis so lined with Christmas,

NORTH AMERICA. 121
either winding round the piUars, or hung
in festoons round the gallery, that it resem
bled a grove. The subject of the sermon was
an exposition, or vindication of the Liturgy,
and my heart warmed when I heard the minister
enumerate, among its claims to the affectionate
regard of the congregation, " the opportunity
which it afforded them of worshipping in the
very words in which saints had, for centuries,
breathed their devotions in the land of their
fathers, and of still offering their incense in the
same censer with their brethren in Britain, that
brighter star in the firmament of the Beforma-
tion." In the afternoon, I attended the Pres
byterian, or Scotch Calvinistic Church, when we
had an exceUent sermon. At the close of the
service, the minister announced that it was the
wish of many of the congregation, that the fol
lowing Friday should be set apart for prayer
and fasting ; and that it was expected it would be
observed by the members of the church. I felt
that I was among the descendants of the Puri
tanic exiles, (for such were many of them, rather
than emigrants,) and I could not but breathe
an earnest wish, that the spirit of an Eliott
might stiU linger in the land which preserved
these vestiges of more devotional times — The
Presbyterian church was larger and handsomer

122 LETTERS FROM
than Mr.  's chapel ; the Episcopalian on
a par with St.  ; and there was nothing to
distinguish the congregations from that of
either of them. At noon, I walked for an
hour, up the valley ; the soft air, and the sur
rounding scenery, in its winter garb, reminded
me strongly of some of our most beautiful
mUd winter days.
I find, in looking over my letter, that I have
said nothing of the town of Newhaven. It is the
prettiest town I have seen in this country, and I
do not remember one that I think prettier in
England. One of the churches has a Gothic
tower, which, from its reminding me so strongly
of home, both when I saw it from the bay, in
October, and during this visit, I think it
must be the only one I have seen in America ;
and as I cannot recoUect any other, I suppose
it is. — I left Hartford at 5 o'clock on Monday
morning, a lovely spring-like day, and arrived
here, (Providence, Bhode Island,) 70 miles
distant, at the same hour in the evening ; the
road being in exceUent order for sleighing.
The New York papers mention a fleet of
ships being off, so that I hope, on my arrival
in three or four days, at New Bedford, to
receive my letters.

NORTH AMERICA.

123

The foUowing is the statement that I pro
mised to attach to this letter ; it is copied from
a New York newspaper.

Thirty-five thousand five hundred and sixty passengers arrived
at the port of New York, from the 1st of March, 1818,
to the llth of December, 1819, as entered at the Mayor's
office.

Americans  16,628
English  7629
Irish  6067
French  930
Scotch  1492
Germans  499
Spanish  217
Hollanders  155
Italians  103

Swiss  372
Norwegians  3
Swedes  28
Portuguese  54
Africans  5
Prussians  48
Sardinians  3
Welshmen  590
Danes  97

124 LETTERS FROM

netter XXXV.
Providence, 31st Jan. 1821.
On the state of public affairs in England, I have
no heart to write, though I am sanguine enough
to feel considerable confidence in the present sta
bility and the future prosperity of my native
country, as- weU as in her permanent claims to the
attachment and veneration of every friend of
the human race ; but I sometimes feel humbled
among foreigners, engaged in the perpetual
discussion of the late lamentable proceedings in
Parliament, and at seeing the Queen at the head
of a column in every provincial paper. As
soon as we are known to be Englishmen, (and
we are soon recognized as such,) the first ques
tion at every pot-house is, " Well, and what
are you going to do with your Queen ?" — Even
the old widows, in the Asylum in Philadelphia*
took a private opportunity, while my conduc
tor's back was turned, to squeeze out of me all
the information they could on the subject/ I
grieve to think how the details of these proceedr
ings have penetrated into the remotest corners
of the Union. The fate of the Bill, however,

NORTH AMERICA. 125
has impressed the people of this country gene
raUy with a far more correct idea than they
formerly entertained of the degree of popular
hberty in England — a topic on which I have
almost uniformly found them extremely igno
rant. This place was founded by the celebrated
Boger WiUiams, and a few of his people, who
left Massachusetts " to seek their providences,"
as they caUed it, when their pastor was banished.
The life of this singular man throws much hght
on the history of the age and country in which
he lived — a history which should be deeply
studied by aU who wish to trace the inconsis
tencies of human character, and the anomalies
of the human mind. They wUl learn from the
contemplation of the principal actors in the
scenes which that history presents, how good
sense may sometimes consist with fanaticism,
generosity of sentiment, with party feeling,
practical liberality, with theoretical bigotry,
extended views of human improvement, and an
ardent desire to advance the general interests of
the human race, with occasional acts of intoler
ance and persecution, and a pertinacious adher
ence to the chilling tenets of a narrow creed.*
* " Roger Williams was a native of Wales, and emigrated
to New England, in 1630. He was then a young man, of

126 LETTERS FROM
My letter to — — left us safely arrived at
Providence. The following day I dined en
familie (a very unusual thing in America,) with
austere life and popular manners, full of readings skilled in
controversy, and gifted with a rapid, copious, and vehement
eloquence. The writers of those days represent him as being
full of turbhlent and singular opinions, ' and the whole
country,' saith the quaint Cotton Mather, ' was soon like
to be set on fire by the rapid motion of a wind-mill in the
head of this one man.' To his fervent zeal for liberty of
opinion, this singular man united an equal degree of tenacity
to every article of his own narrow creed; He objected to the
custom of returning thanks after meat, as, in some manner,
involving a corruption of primitive and pure worship; he
refused to join any of the churches in Boston, unless they
would first make a public and solemn declaration of their
repentance for having communed with the church of England;
and when his doctrines of religious liberty were condemned
by the clergy, he wrote to his own church at Salem, ' that
if they would not separate as well from the churches of Neto
England, as of Old, he would separate from them.'
" All his peculiar opinions, whether true or erroneous, were
alike offensive to his puritan brethren, and controversy soon
waxed warm. Some logicians, more tolerant or politic than
the rest, attempted to reconcile the disputants by a whimsical,
and not very intelligible sophism. They approved not, said
they, of persecuting men for conscience sake, but solely of
correcting them for sinning against conscience ; and so not
persecuting, but punishing heretics. Williams was not a
man who could be imposed upon by words, or intimidated by
threats ; and he accordingly persevered in inculcating his
doctrines publicly and vehemently. The clergy, after having
endeavoured in vain to shake him by argument and remon
strance, at last determined to call in the aid of the civil autho-

NORTH AMERICA. 127
Mr.  , and the succeeding one, with the
principal merchant, General  , who is, pro
bably, at this moment more extensively engaged
rity ; and the General Court, after due consideration of the
case, passed sentence of banishment upon him, or, as they
phrased it, ' ordered his removal out of the jurisdiction of
the Court.' Some of the men in power had determined that he
should be sent to England ; but, when they sent to take him,
they found that, with his usual spirit of resolute indepen
dence, he had already departed, no one knew whither, accom
panied by a few of his people, who, to use their own language,
had gone with their beloved pastor ' to seek their provi
dences.* When compelled to leave Massachusetts, after
some wanderings, he pitched his tent at a place, to which he
gave the name of Providence, and there became the founder
and legislator of the colony of Rhode Island. There he con
tinued to rule, sometimes as the governor, and always as the
guide and father of the settlement, for 48 years, employing
himself in acts of kindness to his former enemies, affording
relief to the distressed, and offering an asylum to the perse
cuted. " It should also be remembered, to the honour of Roger
Williams, that no one of the early colonists, without except
ing William Penn himself, equalled him in justice and bene
volence towards the Indians. He laboured incessantly, and
with much success, to enlighten and conciliate them ; and by
this means acquired a personal influence among them, which
he had frequently the enviable satisfaction of exerting in
behalf of those who had banished him. It is not the least
remarkable or characteristic incident of his varied life, that
within one year after his exile, and while he was yet hot with
controversy, and indignant at his wrongs, his first interference
with the affairs ofhis former colony was to protect its frontier
settlements from an Indian massacre."— Verplank's Discourses.

128 LETTERS FROM
in the China trade, than any other person in"
the country. He is said to be concerned in 20
ships round the Cape, and is the exclusive
owner of about 5000 tons, as I was informed,
in two different quarters. The  , of
Boston, who have, till lately, been the most
extensive China merchants, own 4000 tons, and
I believe 16,000 is the extent of the trade.
You will be aware, that details of this kind
must always be received with great caution;
and you wiU readily conceive, that it is with no
small mortification that I hear these American
merchants talk of sending their ships to
London and Liverpool, to take in goods or
specie, with which to purchase tea for the sup
ply of European ports, almost within sight of
our own shores. They often taunt me, by ask
ing me what our Government can possibly mean
by prohibiting us from engaging in a profitable
trade, which is open to them and to all the
world ; or where can be our boasted liberties*
while we tamely submit to the infraction of
our natural rights, to supply a monopoly as
absurd as it is unjust, and to humour the caprice
of a Company, who exclude their fellow-subjects
from a branch of commerce, which they do
not, pursue themselves, but leave to the enter
prize of foreigners, or commercial rivals. On

NORTH AMERICA. 129
such occasions, I can only reply, that both our
Government and People are growing- wiser, and
that if the charter of the East India Company
be renewed, when it next expires, I wiU allow
them to infer, that the people of England have
little influence in the administration of their
own affairs.
I had ordered a sleigh to come after dinner, to
take me to Pawtucket, four miles distant ; the
seat of the manufactures which have so long ren
dered Providence celebrated as a manufacturing
town. From the want of punctuality in the cook,
however, it was too dark, on my arrival there,
to see more than the outside of the mUls. The
viUage had something of the uninviting appear
ance of Stockport or Bolton. I returned in
time to drink tea at Mr.  -s. He told me,
that Slater, (an old workman of Sir Bichard
Arkwright,) who first introduced cotton-spin
ning into the United States, is still hving at
Pawtucket, though very old. He came over
about 1789, but did not succeed for three or
four years. He and his partners have made
a handsome fortune in the business, though
not very extensively engaged in it. The
number of spindles in the immediate neigh
bourhood of Providence, I was told, is from
100,000 to 130,000, and the annual consump-
VOL. II. K

130 LETTERS FROM.
tion of cotton about 15,000 bales, and increas
ing* — The accommodations at Providence are
miserable ; and I saw the town to great disad
vantage, the weather being very wet, and the
streets inundated with melted snow. The
small window-panes and narrow streets, gave it
more the appearance of a dirty manufacturing
town, than any I had before seen in America.
The next morning, 1st February, I set out
for Newport, and was disappointed to find that
General  , who had arranged to accom
pany me thither, (one of his ships having just
arrived,) was prevented by indisposition. Our
miserable stage was soon crowded with sea
faring people ; and although the driver tried to
force another upon us, urging that he was a
light man, the passengers guessed we were
stowed close enough, and we proceeded. The
* " There are now (1821) more than 100 cotton factories
in Rhode Island, and the adjacent parts of Connecticut and
Massachusetts, the business of which is transacted princi
pally at Providence : about 10 vessels are constantly employed
in the exportation of cotton goods." — Morse's Universal
Gazetteer. I took great pains with some of my commercial friends, to
ascertain the probable consumption of cotton in the manu
factories of the United States. Their statements varied from
30,000 to- 60,000 bales, of 300 pounds each. I am disposed
to believe, that it was then between 50,000 and 60,000, and
rapidly on the increase  See Appendix, C.

NORTH AMERICA. 131
torrents formed by the melting snow, which
had disappeared with uncommon rapidity, had
washed the road into gullies ; and we were often
obliged to get out and walk, having recourse,
on one occasion, to a team of oxen, to drag us
out of a snow-drift. Passing through Warren,
we reached Bristol, 16 miles from Providence,
at three o'clock, and dined there ; three or four
very pretty daughters of the landlord, from 10
to 15 years of age, waiting on us. Two miles
from Bristol, we reached the ferry, where we
made our way through the ice, more than a
mUe across, to the island on which Newport is
situated ; and which gives its name to Provi
dence Plantation, and indeed to the whole State.
It soon afterwards grew dark, and we had a
dangerous ride to Newport, where we arrived
safe at last, after many " alarms," and two or
three times bringing the vehicle to the ground
again, by hanging to windward, as the captains
termed it.
The inn where we stopped, (said to be the
best in the town,) was a perfect Wapping pot
house ; and the hostess, who sat at table with
us, the least agreeable woman in that capacity
whom- 1 have met with in the United States,
except the old woman, with a sharp visage, on
the other side of the Pedee, in Carohna, who

132 LETTERS FROM
-to*
is described with great accuracy by Lieutenant
Hall, and who gave us a greasy breakfast, on
our way to Charleston, charging us an acre
of land, or a doUar each for it.
The morning after my arrival at Newport,
I set out early, to make my commercial calls,
but finding these industrious New England-
men had returned home to breakfast, I strolled
about the town ; and a more desolate place I
'have seldom seen, or one which exhibited more
evident symptoms of decay. The wooden
houses had either never been painted, or had
lost their paint, and were going to ruin. A
decent house here and there, seemed to indi
cate, that some residents of respectability stiU
lingered behind; but the close habitations,
with their small windows, and the narrow,
dirty, and irregular streets, exhibited no trace
of the attractions which once rendered this a
summer resort for the planters from the South.
Those attractions are, perhaps, to be foijnd in
the beautiful bay and fine water scenery in the
vicinity. A frigate, it is said, can saU up the
river, within a few miles of Providence, 30
miles distant.
In the afternoon, I met  , who invited
me to go with him to a party, at the British
Consul's, who resides at Newport. I was

NORTH AMERICA. 133
astonished to find that a British Consul vege
tated there, and had hardly expected, that in
so desolate a place, I should be invited to a
party. I declined his offer, being engaged to
a commercial acquaintance to tea. ' On calhng
with him, however, to pay my respects, as
usual, to the official character of our Consul,
I found that the daughter of the gentleman
I was going to visit, had already engaged
me to accompany her thither ; having written
a note to say, she should bring a stranger, intro
duced to her father. After an early visit at
her father's, I sallied forth with her and her
sister, and a cousin, who, I was informed, was
the beUe of the town ; but who did not appear
to have stronger claims to distinction tiian my
fair conductress, a genteel, agreeable girl of 15
years of age. The streets were floating with
melting snow, and our lantern, as usual, be
gmled us into more puddles, than it preserved
us from.
On reaching the Consul's, my fair compa
nions went up stairs to refit, and I was shown
into the drawing-room, where I found a pha
lanx of 12 or 14 young ladies. A few young
men dropped in, in the course of the evening,
but I soon found, that, as usual, in declining
seaports, they were at a premium, and I had

134 LETTERS FROM
an excellent opportunity of ascertaining the
standard of female society there. You would
really have been surprised at the general appear
ance and manners of the young ladies — of the
young men I will say little. One of them,
joking my fair conductress on reading Dugald
Stewart, I was not a little pleased to find, in
the conversation which it gave me the oppor
tunity of pursuing, that she was just finishing
his Elements, and proceeding to Paley. On
observing that I was interested in learning that
she was acquainted with these honoured coun
trymen of mine, she said, " but you have not
been introduced to Miss  , on the other
side of the room ; she studies a great deal more
than any of us, and went to a quiet place in
the country, for three months this summer,
that she might not be interrupted." So you see,
they are not perfect savages, even in the ruins
of a New England sea-port. Mr. «-  had
been the Consul there for 18 years.
You wiU remember that we occupied the
town several years during the revolutionary
war, and some bloody battles were fought in
the neighbourhood ; where the remnants of
an old British fort are to be seen, One of
the churches in Newport is more than an
hundred years old ; quite a piece of antiquity

NORTH AMERICA. 135
in this New World ; and there is a windmiU-
tower, or something like it, which carries back
the imaginations of the natives to very distant
times, as their antiquarians have not yet dis
covered either its date or object.
I was very glad to leave Newport, of which,
in finer weather, and a cleaner inn, I should
probably have received a different impression.
As we now crossed the island by day-light,
I was surprised at its fertility. For 12 miles,
the fields on both sides of the road, were rich and
highly cultivated; and the sheep and cattle,
and stone-waUs, and the scarcity of trees, (for
the very firewood is brought from the main
land,) reminded me of some parts of Derby
shire, or the rocky districts of Yorshire; for
the whole island is rocky.
In this island the celebrated Bishop Berkeley
resided two years and a half, and composed his
Minute Philosopher. It has been said, indeed,
that the rural descriptions which frequently
occurred, were suggested by the beautiful land
scapes which lay before him while he was
writing.* The foUowing verses, which he
composed 50 years before the Declaration of
Independence, evinced the sanguine anticipation
* See Professor Smith, of Philadelphia, and Verplank's
Discourse before the Historical Society of New York.

136 LETTERS FROM
which had been formed by our illustrious coun
tryman, with regard to the future destiny of
America^ and whatever may be our opinion
of their correctness, as prophecies, or of the
period of their fulfilment, they cannot be read
without interest, as the poetical predictions; of
this great philosopher.
" There shall be sung another golden age,
" The rise of Empires and of Arts ;
" The good and great inspiring epic rage,
" The wisest heads apd noblest hearts;
" Not such as Europe breeds in hei; decay,
" Such as she bred when fresh and young,
" When heavenly flame did animate her clay,
" By future poets shall be sung.
" Westward the course of Empire takes its way,
" The four first acts already past,
" A fifth shall close the drama with the day,
" Time's noblest offspring is the last."
At the distance of 12 miles from Newport,
we waited for the Providence stage, in a
country tavern, kept by a Quaker lady; her
ten blooming children, from 3 to 25 years of
age, handsome and weU-dressed, and particu
larly respectable in their manners. I did not
expect to find such good manners in Bhode
Island, although it is as celebrated as Lancar
shire, (and justly celebrated,) for its blooming

NOBTH AMERICA. 137
beauties. I saw on the island, more of the
old English farmer, and met more Darbys and
Joans jogging away on their farm horses, than
in any other part of the United States. We
had a dark uncomfortable ride hither, where
we arrived late at night, on the 3d January, as
glad to reach the end of our journey as you
probably are.
The foUowing day was Sunday, and I at
tended the Presbyterian chapel in the morning,
and the Baptists in the afternoon, as there
was no Episcopal church. The appearance
of these places of worship, and of the congre
gation, corresponded much more nearly with
British ideas of New England, than any thing
I had previously seen. The former, simple and
plain, almost to parsimony; the latter, cold,
grave, and in a very homely dress. In the
smallest town in New England, where I had
spent my Sundays before, the churches and
congregations were, in appearance, pretty
much on a par with the average in England.
The preachers, too, in New Bedford, had more
of the nasal twang than I had generally met
with; indeed, so much as to be almost ludi
crous, at least, to those who connect English
associations with it.

138 LETTERS FROM
On the 5th and 6th, I delivered my letters
of introduction, and received and accepted'
Several invitations. The pleasantest house
that I visited was that of  , whom I had
met, with the agreeable females of his family,
in Canada. Our conversation turned princi
pally on the subject of missions among the
American Indians, and- of the dispositions,
which England and America ought to feel
towards each other. I endeavoured to convince
them that they were not sufficiently sensible of
their hereditary honours, nor of the degree
in which they were hourly indebted to Europe,
for many of the elements of their rapid pros
perity ; and I tried to induce them to imagine
what America would have been at this moment,
if left to her internal resources only, and cut
off from all intercourse with Europe, from the
date of her independence. One of the young
ladies, (they were extremely weU-educated,)
took part with me in the argument, and we
had a lively and agreeable evening. They
pressed me to stay to a large dinner-party the
foUowing day. The society of New Bedford
is very limited, and exhibits the plain homely
appearance we are accustomed to associate with
the idea of thrifty New Englanders! Some of
the families, indeed, live in handsome houses ;

NORTH AMERICA. 139
but the genteel, and indeed, gay style of the
young family I visited, forms a striking con
trast with all around them.
The town has risen almost entirely on the
whale fishery, which is stiU profitable, and in
which the little island of Nantucket has 70 ships
engaged* You know these are sometimes absent
for two or three years, and sail quite round the
globe, before they return. I could not see Nan
tucket from the New Bedford shore,but Martha's
Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands were dis
tinctly visible. I heard so much of these when
beating off the coast, on our passage out, that
they seemed hke old acquaintances. Indeed,
Nantucket shoal cost our captain and a Bri
tish naval officer a night's rest, and induced
us to peep out of our births while they were so
gravely examining their chart, and listening
to the seaman who was heaving the lead.
The severe winter has been keenly felt at
Nantucket, all intercourse with the main land
having been entirely suspended for four or five
weeks; and the supplies of wood, as weU as
of other comforts, having been thus cut off.
* See a very interesting account of the wreck of a whale
ship from Kentucky, in the Appendix, D.

140 LETTERS FROM

iutm xxxm.
Portland, State of Maine, 17th February, 1821.
At six o'clock, on the 7th, we took leave
of New Bedford, and set off in the stage for
Boston. It was a dark morning, with rain
and sleet, but not cold. The country seemed
laboriously cultivated, but very barren ; and
occasionally we skirted the native forests of
slanted pine and cedar. We breakfasted at
a poor house, where we met with civility;
but where the meagre fare, so little in the
American fashion,, evinced that we were either
on a road httle frequented, or in the track of
travellers who stiU retained some tincture of the
right thrifty economical habits of their New
England ancestors. I still observed, however, the
neat, clean dress, which distinguishes the chil
dren even of the poorest farmer in New Eng^
land; and indeed, generaUy throughout America^
Bags and a dirty squalid appearance wiU he
quite new to me on my return, as I have
scarcely seen an instance of them since I left
the Slave-States; and there, generally speaking,
only among the blacks.

NORTH AMERICA. 141
In the course of the morning, we passed
within 19 miles of Plymouth, where the Pil
grim Fathers landed about 200 years ago. The
second Centenary Anniversary was celebrated
there a few weeks since, and an immense con
course of people assembled. The following
are a few of the toasts which were given on that
occasion. " The character of Wilham Penn — like that
of an American autumn — mild — calm — bright
— abounding in good fruits."
" Old times — old folks — old records — and
Old Colony."
" Literature ; Antiquities of New England ;
Elliott's Indian Bible, writ with but one pen —
Newman's Concordance, compiled by the light
of pine knots."
" The Bock of Plymouth. May it be trod
den two thousand years hence, by as worthy
feet as leaped upon it two hundred years ago."
" Speed the arts, which speed the plough,
which speeds the keel which Jack built."
" The ancient haunts of the PUgrims ; tongues
in trees ; books in the running streams ; ser
mons in stones ; and good in every thing."
" The hospitahty of our Fathers — the best
first, and the best always."
There is an annual celebration, but to that,
I beheve, none make a point of going, except

142 LETTERS FROM
those in the vicinity ; while the close of the
century is rendered an interesting and solemn
occasion, by the assemblage of distinguished
characters from all parts of New England;
who unite in the offices of religion, and after
the delivery of an appropriate oration,* spend
* The following is an extract from the Oration spoken on this
occasion, by Mr. Webster, an eminent lawyer and Mem
ber of Congress. It is an oration which will bear a com
parison with the finest specimens of modern eloquence : —
" Different, indeed, most widely different, from all com
mon instances of emigration and plantation, were the condi
tion, the purposes, and the prospects of our Fathers, when
they established their infant colony upon this spot. They came
hither to a land from which they were never to return.
Hither they had brought, and here they were to fix their
hopes, their attachments, and their objects. Some natural
tears they shed, as they left the pleasant abode of their
fathers ; and some emotions they suppressed, when the white
cliffs of their native country, now seen for the last time, ,
grew dim to their sight. They were acting, however, upon
a resolution not to be changed. With whatever stifled
regrets, with whatever occasional hesitation, with whatever
appaling apprehensions, which might sometimes arise with
force to shake the firmest purpose, they had yet committed
themselves to heaven, and the elements ; and a thousand
leagues of water soon interposed, to separate them for ever
from the region which gave them birth. A new existence
awaited them here ; and when they saw these shores, rough,
cold, barbarous, and barren, as then they were, they beheld
their country. That mixed and strong feeling, which we
call love of country, and which is, in general, never ex
tinguished from the heart of man, grasped and embraced its
proper object here. Whatever constitutes country, except

NORTH AMERICA. 143
the evening in festivity. The rock on which
the Fathers landed, is now brought into the
the earth and the sun, all the moral causes of affection and
attachment, which operate upon the heart, they had brought
with them to their new abode. Here, were now their fami
lies and friends ; their homes, and their prosperity. Before
they reached the shore, they had establishments of a social
system ; and at a much earlier period had settled their forms
of religious worship. At the moment of their landing,
therefore, they possessed institutions of government, and
institutions of religion ; and friends and families, and social
and religious institutions, established by consent, founded
on choice and preference. How nearly do these fill up your
whole idea of country !
" The morning that beamed on the first night of their repose,
saw the Pilgrims already established in their country. There
were political institutions, and civil liberty, and religious
worship. Poetry has fancied nothing in the wandering of
heroes so distinct and characteristic. Here was man, indeed,
unprotected and unprovided for on the shore of a rude and
fearful wilderness ; but it was politic, intelligent, and educated
man. Every thing was civilized but the physical world.
Institutions, containing in substance all that ages had done
for human government, were established in a forest. Culti
vated mind was to act on uncultivated nature; and more
than all, a government and a country, were to commence, with
the very first foundations laid under the divine light of the
Christian Religion, Happy auspices of a happy futurity !
Who could wish that his country's existence had otherwise
begun ? Who would desire the power of going back to the
ages of fable ? Who would wish for an origin, obscured in
the darkness of antiquity ? Who would wish for other em
blazoning of his country's heraldry, or rather ornaments of
her genealogy, than to be able to say, that her first
existence was with intelligence ; her first breath, the inspira-

144 LETTERS FROM
middle of the town, at, Plymouth; and it is
proposed to erect a monument over it, in a
tions of liberty ; her first principle, the truth of divine
religion ?
" Local attachments and sympathies would, ere long; spring
up in the breasts of our ancestors, endearing to them the
place of their refuge. Wherever natural objects are assembled
with interesting scenes and high efforts, they obtain a hold on
human feeling, and demand from the heart a sort of recogni
tion and regard. This rock soon became hallowed in the
esteem of the Pilgrims, and these hills grateful to their sight.
Neither they nor their children were again to till the soil of
England, nor again to traverse the seas which surround her.
But there was a new seaj now open to their enterprize, and a
new soil, which -had not failed to respond gratefully to their
laborious industry, and which was already assuming a robe of
verdure. Hardly had they provided shelter for the living, ere
they were summoned to erect sepulchres for the dead.— The
ground had become sacred by enclosing the remains of some
of their companions and connexions. A parent, a child, a
husband, or^a wife, had gone the way of all flesh, and mingled
with the dust of New England. We naturally look with
strong emotions to the spot, though it be a wilderness, where
-the ashes of those we love repose. Where the heart has laid
down what it loved most, it is desirous of laying itself down.
No sculptured marble, no enduring monument, no honourable
inscription, no ever-burning taper that would drive away the
darkness of death, can soften our sense of the reality of mor
tality, and hallow to our feelings the ground which is to cover
us, like the consciousness that we shall sleep, dust to dust,
with the object of our affections.
" In a short time, other causes sprung up to bind the Pil
grims with new cords to their chosen land. Children were
born, and the hopes of future generations found this the land
of their nativity, and saw that they were bound to its fortunes.

NORTH AMERICA. 145
chamber of which may be deposited the original
records, charter, &c. all of which are preserved.
I will not attempt to communicate the reflections
which my proximity to this interesting spot ex
cited, as I rode musing along. Your own ima
gination, as in days of yore, will outstrip mine.
About noon, we passed through Taunton, a
nice httle town, with some excellent houses in
it ; and on reaching the . gap, on the Blue
HiUs, 15 miles from Boston, the view was
very extensive and beautiful. The afternoon
was brilliant, and I reaUy thought I had seldom
if ever (in the absence of fine mountains) seen
a more magnificent prospect than was pre
sented by the amphitheatre before us ; including
Boston, with its numerous spires and forests of
mastSj the bay, studded with islands, and a
rich undulating surface, bounded by an elevated
horizon, and adorned with more viUages and
steeples than were ever presented to my view
in the same space.
We reached Boston, 62 miles from New
Bedford, at six o'clock in the evening ; and at
 , my old habitation, I found the summer
They beheld their Fathers' graves around them ; and while
they read the memorials of their toils and labours, they
rejoiced in the inheritance which they found bequeathed to
them.'' VOL. II. L

146 LETTERS FROM
party almost dispersed, Among the fresh
boarders was an eminent Salem merchant,
who is here on duty as Senator of the State.
The next day I caUed on as many of my old
friends as a- three o'clock dinner would admit
of; and in the course of that and the following
morning, I had made either one or two engage
ments for each of the eight days I purposed
remaining in Boston, besides being obhged to
refuse many invitations. Of these visits I have
already sent you an account, and feel much
gratification in introducing you to; some of
the estimable friends in whose domestic circles
I have spent many very agreeable hours, J
am continuaUy surprised to find so large a
proportion of both sexes, who have: made
the tour of Europe. An ardent desire to
see the land of their fathers is, indeed, very
natural among a people so inteUigent and
weU-educated as the Bostonians, and hving, as
they do, surrounded by monuments of the revo
lution, which tore them frpm the parent country,
to the people of which they are far more nearly
assimUated in their character and habits, than
the inhabitants of any other city in the United
States, The style of living in the best circles
is rather expensive and luxurious for so pure a
democracy ; but there is a simplicity, frankness,

NORTH AMERICA. 147
liberality, inteUigence, and cultivation, which,
combined with their English taste and habits of
thinking, gives to the society of Boston an
agreeable " Je ne sais quoi," which distinguishes
itfrom that of any other city in the Union. There
are several public libraries ; but the only one
that I have visited is the Athenaeum, where there
is an excellent library, and a very large col
lection of the periodical works of Great Britain
and America. The number of the inhabitants
in Boston is about 40,000 ; its officers are annu-
aUy elected by the whole people ; and at the
pubhc meetings, which are frequently held on
different subjects, every individual has a right
to speak. The immediate government of the
town is confided to a certain number, who are
termed select-men, and correspond with our
courts of aldermen. The oldest house now
standing in Boston, and probably in the United
States, is one in Tremont-street, which was
built, about 150 years since by the celebrated
Sir Harry Vane.
I have not mentioned your old acquaintance,
James, much of late. He has been a great
treasure, indeed, and, infinitely to his credit, he
is returning to England about as good a servant
as he left it. At one period, he degenerated alittle,
when visions of American estates floated before

148 LETTERS FROM
his imagination ; but I desired him to sift the
apparent advantages offered to him by this coun
try to the bottom, and to embrace them if they
were solid ; and his excellent judgment, I think,
has decided that he is best at home. Occasion
ally, while the people at an inn were asking me
" when the gentleman, who was cleanihg the
horses, would come to his breakfast," I have
heard him talking about " the other man in the
parlour ;" but the delusion soon passed away,
and he is now, in every respect, I think, as atten
tive and respectful as when we landed in this
Bepublican country. In his fidelity I have
implicit confidence, and am become much
attached to him. It is difficult to travel in this
country with a servant without spoihng him,
In the stage-coaches he is probably at least
equal to many who are, for the time, on an equal
ity with his master ; and although he may not
have read Euclid, he is conversant with the
axiom, that " things which are equal to the
same thing, are equal to each other." In the
wUderness, too, it would be sulky and ungra
cious to ride aU day without some interchange
of thought, with a worthy intelligent servant,
excited and interested by objects as new to him
as to yourself. In the wUd parts of the country
the natives always wish to set a servant down at

North America. 149
the same table with hismaster, and both are thus
occasionally placed in an awkward situation.
My servant, however, was very dexterous in
avoiding dilemmas of this kind, and has been
very observant and inquisitive as we went along.
OccasionaUy, I think, he must have fallen
asleep as we rode slowly on horseback through
the forests, since he was several times dismount
ed by branches which hung over our path, and
once he was left, like Absalom, suspended in
the air. On setting out from Augusta, in
Georgia, he was a little humbled, by being
twice thrown into a splash of water by his
young horse, who, unaccustomed to carry pistols
and blankets, and unconscious of the long pil
grimage on which it was starting, capered so
gaily as to unseat him in the presence of a large
crowd, who had assembled to see us set out to
cross the wilderness, and who were attempting
to deter us, by assuring us it was impossible
we could cross the flooded streams. James's
accident rendered them more loud and confident
in their predictions.
On the llth, (Sunday,) I went in the morn
ing to hear Mr. Dwight, the son of Dr.
Dwight, well known in Europe as a theolo
gical writer, and as an eminent professor of
Yale CoUege. He gave us an excellent sermon

150 LETTERS FROM
on the practical disbelief of scriptural truth by
professed Christians.
In the afternoon, I went as usual, while in
Boston, to hear Dr. Jarvis, the writer of the
interesting discourse on the religion of the
Indians, which you may have seen reviewed in
the British Beview. He is a sensible, learned
young man, about thirty-three years of age,
and occupies a most important station in the
new Episcopal church, at Boston.
On the 14th, I dined with my agreeable
Canadian companions, and in the evening, filled
an official situation of no mean dignity and
importance — that of groomsman to a friend,
who had requested me, on my arrival in Boston,
to be one of his attendants, on the happy
occasion which he was anticipating. There were
three others, for here the number of grooms
men is usually from four to six ; and there are
always, I beheve, the same number of bride-
maids. We assembled at Mr.  's, the father
of the young lady, at half-past six o'clock, when
a family circle of about twenty gradually assem
bled ; and at seven o'clock the ceremony was per
formed in the drawing-room with considerable
solemnity. I was glad to find the bride-maids
very agreeable, and that the one, of whom I was
to have the especial charge, was very handsome.

NORTH AMERICA. 151
Our duties began immediately after tea, as it is
the strange custom in Boston to see company the
same evening ; and it is the office of the grooms
man to meet the ladies on the stairs, and conduct
them to the bride, who sits or stands at the end
of the drawing-room With her maidens to receive
all who are presented to her. We had the
honour of presenting to her nearly all the beauty
and fashion of Boston inthe course ofthe even
ing; and I have not very often seen more beauty
in one room. Sometimes, whUe marching up, an
unknown belle on my arm, and the insignia of
my office, a white rose on my breast, I was
almost thrown into an involuntary fit of
laughter, by thinking how you would be
amused if you could see me. Towards the
close of the evening, it was no easy matter to
work "our way through the assembled crowd.
About ten o'clock^ all had disappeared but the
.bridal party; and after a httle social supper;
prepared for the bride-maids and groomsmen,
we dispersed also ; ' and I had the pleasure of
escorting my fair friend home, in her covered
sleigh. It was a terrible snow-storm, and had
put the politeness of the evening visitors to a
severe test. The next day I was engaged to
dine at Mr.  , one of the pleasantest houses
in Boston, to meet some of the professors of

152 LETTERS FROM
Harwood College, Cambridge, and many others ;
but I found that every thing was to give way
to the duties of my office, and I therefore dined
with the bridal party, and an extensive family
circle. In the evening, we went to a large gay
party, where my duty was of a more agreeable
and less responsible kind than on the preceding
evening, consisting merely in entertaining the
bride-maid confided in the first instance, to
my particular charge ; (for as I was very weU
pleased with my lot, I did not inquire if it was
the custom to change,) and keeping, in some
degree, in the train of the bride. The party
separated about eleven o'clock, and after taking
leave of my fair companions, I lay down for an
hour or two ; took a cup of coffee at two o'clock,
and set off immediately afterwards in the stage
for this place. It was a beautiful moonlight
morning, and the ground was covered with the
fresh snow which had faUen the preceding day.
As I do not intend to get out of the coach, if I
can help it, as I pass through Boston on my
return, I considered myself as taking a final
leave of it ; and I could not but feel under great
obligations for the very kind attentions I received
there. I have already told you how much I was en
gaged, and had I continued there, my bridal con-

NORTH AMERICA. 153
nection would have left no intermission of visits
for two or three weeks, as a succession of parties
is inflicted on the bride, at which all the atten
dants are expected, I understood, ex-qfficio. I
was considered as rather deserting my post, in
leaving Boston so soon after the wedding ; but
I had pleaded the necessity before I undertook
my office.
My increasing acquaintance with the Ameri
can young ladies confirms me in the opinions I
sent you from Philadelphia, with respect to
their pleasing appearance, and the propriety and
agreeable frankness of their manners. I speak
of those in the cities ; for the manners of the
females in the country are generaUy cold. You
would be surprised, however, at the neat appear
ance and respectable manners of the females in
subordinate situations nearly all over America,
except, perhaps, somepoorer partsof the Carolinas
and Georgia. You would infer the necessity of
rather distant manners in the females in country
inns, as the daughters of the landlord wait upon
you ; and as they do not regard themselves as
menials, they have to secure respect, (and suc
ceed admirably,) by their modest and dignified
demeanour. I always think of you when I hear any thing
interesting about the Indians ; so I must tell

154 LETTERS FROM
you what I heard in Boston respecting the two
httle Osage captives, whom I saw at Brainerd,
as you wiU recollect. The Governor of Arkansaw
being authorized by the general Government to
adjust a difference between the Arkansaw
Cherokees and the Osages, to prevent a bloody
war, brought them to an agreement on the fol
lowing terms : — That the Arkansaw Cherokees
were to return to the Osages aU the prisoners
taken in a late war ; and the Osages were
to give up some men, who had murdered three
Cherokees. These poor little chUdren were among the
number of the former ; and the missionaries
were compelled to part with them, not, however,
without hopes of recovering them. When the
little girl heard of it, she ran and hid herself in
the forest, and was nine -miles from the mission-
house when discovered. She cried bitterly to
leave the family at Brainerd, and the parting
was quite a melancholy scene. As a mission is
now established among the Arkansaw Cherokees,
on the other side of the Mississippi, it is hoped
these little ones may ultimately be placed there.
I mentioned that it was a fine moonlight
morning yesterday, when we left Boston. We
went to Newbury Port to breakfast, 39 miles ;
and then crossing the Merrimack, (the river I

NORTH AMERICA. 155
mentioned; when at Concord,) we proceeded to
Portsmouth, where we crossed the Piscataqau.
So far, the snow had not been deep enough for
sleighs, but here the wheels of our stage were
exchanged for runners ; and proceeding through
Kennebe k over the Saco, we reached Portland,
120 miles from Boston, at half-past seven o'clock,
in 17 hours. The road runs near the sea aU the
way, and many of the adjoining fields are nearly
covered with immense rocks. The day became
very gloomy after breakfast, and the large
woods of pine, spruce, and cedar, irregular and
stunted, rather increased than diminished the
dreariness of this winter scene. The stunted
trees reminded me of the plains we occasionally
saw in the South western States, and indeed in
many other parts of America, covered with
dwarf oaks two or three feet high. *
* These plains are thus described, and accounted for by
Dr. Dwight : —
" The origin of the peculiar appearance of these grounds
is probably this. The Indians annually, and sometimes
oftener, burned such parts of the North American forests as
they found sufficiently dry. In every such case, the fuel
consists chiefly of the fallen leaves, which are rarely dry
enough for an extensive combustion, except on uplands ; and
on these only when covered with a dry soil. Of this nature
were always the oak and yellow-pine grounds ;- which were,
therefore, usually subjected to an annual conflagration. The
beech and maple grounds were commonly' too wet to be

156 LETTERS FROM
The road and coaches between Boston and
Portland, afford facilities for travelling, more
burned. Hence on these grounds the vegetable mould is from
six inches to a foot in depth ; having been rarely or never
consumed by fire ; while on the oak and pine grounds it often
does not exceed an inch. That this is the effect of fire only,
and not of any diversity in the nature of the trees, is evident
from the fact, that in moist soils, where the fire cannot pene
trate, the mould is as deep on the oak as on the maple grounds.
This mould is combustible, and by an intense fire is wholly
consumed. " The object of these conflagrations was to produce fresh
and sweet pasture, for the purpose of alluring the deer to the
spots on which they had been kindled. Immediately after
the fires, a species of grass springs up, sometimes called fire-
grass, because it usually succeeds a conflagration. Whether
it is a peculiar species of grass, I am unable to say ; not hav
ing seen it since the days of childhood. Either from its
nature, or from the efficacy of the fire, it is remarkably sweet,
and eagerly sought by deer. All the underwood is at the
same time consumed, so that these animals are easily disco
vered at considerable distances ; a thing impracticable where
the forests have not been burned. You will remember, that
to supply himself with timber for a wigwam, and with wood
for fuel, was the only use, which an Indian could make of a
forest ; and that the earth furnished him with nothing but a
place for his residence, his garden, and his game. While,
therefore, he destroyed both the forest and the soil, he con
verted them to the most profitable uses for himself.
" When these grounds had been often burned, they were of
course covered with grass. The seeds and nuts, whence future
trees would have germinated, were extensively destroyed by ,
successive fires. Few trees, therefore, could spring for want
of seeds, and fewer still, because the surface was covered with
grass ; for wherever that vegetable has gained possession of

NORTH AMERICA. 157
nearly resembhng our own than any in America,
and the sleigh saved us an hour, although we
the soil, forest trees will never spring. The small number
scattered over these plains grew on spots, which were less
ravaged by the fire because they were moist, or because they
were less covered with leaves.
" Thus, in time, these plains were disforested to the degree
in which we now see them, and were gradually converted into
pasture grounds. It ought to be observed, that they were in
all probability burnt over for ages after they were disfor
ested ; I presume down to a very late period. In a dry season
of autumn, the grass would furnish ample fuel for this purpose.
" That this is the true cause of the singular appearance of
these plains can scarcely be doubted, when the following facts
are compared :
" That the Indians customarily burned, every year, such
parts of the forests as were sufficiently dry to admit, of confla
gration. " That these were the only grounds, which, except in rare
cases, could be successfully burned.
" That, wherever they have been for a considerable length
of time free from fires, the young trees are now springing up
in great numbers, and will soon change these open grounds
into forests, if left to the course of nature. Such, particularly,
is the fact on the fir.st of these plains, near the Genesee river ;
and still more strikingly in Bloomfield and Charleston, where
. the fires have been longer intermitted.
" That in various places the marks of the fire are now
visible "on the trunks of the remaining trees, particularly near
the ground. These marks I suppose to have been impressed
at a comparatively late period, and by fires kindled in the

" That on the borders of these very plains, trees, of exactly
the same species, are now growing in great numbers, and in
the usual regular succession, of all ages and sizes, within the

158 Letters from
had lost nearly as much time by interruptions
from the snow, whUe on wheels.
nearest neighbourhood of those on the plains ; and that this
diversity, perfectly explicable on this supposition,, is inexpli
cable on any other. s ¦ <
" That there can be no account given, why the vegetable
mould should be so thinly spread over these plains, .except
that it has been continually consumed by fire ; since it exists
inthe usual quantity, in the forests, composed of the same
trees, ¦ on moister ground,, bordering these plains on every
side. " And that all the phenomena are, if I mistake not, ex
plained by the cause alleged." — Dwight's Travels.

NORTH AMERICA. 159

ftettn xxxvm.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 19th Feb. 1821.
My last letter mentioned our safe arrival at
Portland, which we found so full, that it was
with great difficulty we could secure a lodging.
The house in which we obtained beds at last,
was a second-rate tavern, filled with second, or
rather fifth or sixth-rate legislators, who had
left their appropriate callings in the field, the
shop, or the laboratory, for the more splendid
but not less arduous duties of legislation; Not
indeed, that they appeared to think them
arduous, or to suppose that there was much
mystery in the affair. Not one of our own
Badicals could pronounce with more self-com
placent familiarity on those difficult questions
of law or government which the wisest states
men and philosophers have approached with
diffidence, and decided upon with hesitation.
In the public room into which I was shown,. I
found three or four of them sitting, who, from
their appearance, I supposed to be smaU farmers;
and there was nothing in the professional titles

160 LETTERS FROM
which I soon heard echoed about, such as colonel,
major, doctor, &c. to remove the idea. They
were discussing the propriety of abolishing the
Court of Common Pleas, and throwing all the
business into the Supreme Court; some of
them conceiving that a supreme and subordi
nate court savoured too much of aristocracy,
and that by diminishing the number of courts,
they should diminish the number of trials, and
clip the profits of the lawyers, who are at present
in rather bad odour in the young State of
Maine. One of them, (I think it was the
colonel,) took the opposite side of the question.
" For his part," he said, • " he did not hke to
throw great criminal cases and petty suits into
one hopper ; and that, as far as his information
went-, history presented fio instance of it." His
opponent replied, that " was no reason at aU
why they should not do as they pleased." He
rejoined, that he thought it was ; for though
they were an independent state at last, he did
not see why they should set themselves up as
wiser than all the other states : and that, though
httle causes ought to be settled with as much
correctness as great ones, he, for one, should
oppose their being thrown into one hopper !
Other questions were decided with equal pro-?
fundity ; and if the young man, who was sent

NORTH AMERICA. 161
into a European cabinet to learn with how httle
wisdom the world is governed, were still ahve,
and required a second lesson, I would recom
mend him to the " Portland tavern," in the
State of Maine, " during the sitting of the
legislature." In this same State of Maine, I
feel a particular interest, from having been
present at the discussion at Washington on the
subject of her admission into the Union, and
from her name being intimately associated with
the important decision on the Missouri question;
and I grieve to see her in the hand of such
young practitioners. If such men form the
majority of her legislature, it must be "per
varios casus per tot discrimina rerum," that she
attains political eminence, if she ever attain it.
To a traveller, there is" something extremely
grotesque in the aspect of the legislatures in
the newly formed States, whose legislators must
at first be of a very motley character : especially
if the population be so scanty, or of such a cast
as to supply few men of hberal education. A
friend told me, that at Cory don, the metropolis
of Indiana, he attended the sitting of the legis
lature, when a member rose to propose the
removal of the seat of government to some other
place, on the plea that the board and lodging
at Corydon was extravagant — 18s per week — .
VOL. II. M

162 LETTERS FROM
and the fare bad. The representative from
Corydon replied sharply, and told him that he
got better living in that place than he ever
got at home, and that if he would be satisfied
with such food as he was accustomed to when at
home, the tavern-keeper would maintain him
for half price. This important discussion con
tinued so long that it was adjourned tiU the fol
lowing day.
Such exhibitions are, surely, a very legitimate
source of amusement ; but then they should
not lead us, as they too frequently do, to fix our
attention upon them exclusively — to regard them
as the rule, not as the exceptions — as the ordi
nary and prominent features of American
Bepublicanism, rather than as accidental excres
cences in the extremities, which are soon out
grown and disappear. They should be viewed
also in connection with »the more dignified pro
ceedings, the maturer counsels, and the higher
order of talent to be found in the legislatures
of many of the older States ; and in connection ,
with the practical results of the free institutions
of America, as evinced by her past and present
prosperity. Not that these results are of an
unmixed character. It is not given to humanity,
to enjoy either natural or political good without
alloy ; and some evils, I think, I have observed

NORTH AMERICA. 163
to flow from the American form of government,
which I will notice here.
One of these is the introduction into the State
Legislatures of members obviously incompetent
to the task of legislation. Natural sagacity
alone is not sufficient, even if that were always
to be found. Many of the topics, which of
necessity frequently occupy the attention, even
of the State Legislatures, demand a degree of
information and habits of research very foreign
indeed to the pursuits of a large proportion of
the members. The consequence is, that igno
rance, a spirit of opposition, an impatience, even
of intellectual superiority, and a desire to appear
to their constituents to be doing something, fre
quently defeat the most important and judicious
measures of the enlightened minority ; whUe
that minority is diminished by an unwillingness
on the part of the members of the community,
who are best qualified for the station, to enter
the hst with noisy demagogues, whose declama
tions too often drown the voice of truth. It is
particularly unfortunate, that the most difficult
questions — those which arise in forming or
establishing their constitution, and arranging
the judiciary — are among the first which pre
sent themselves to the consideration of the
legislatures of newly-erected States, when it is

164 LETTERS FROM
reasonable to expect a more than ordinary pro
portion of raw and ignorant legislators, and a
deficiency of practical skill, even in the wisest.
It really excites a smile, to imagine the legisla
ture of Indiana, after settling the question whe
ther they should remove the seat of government
to some town where the tavern-keeper would
charge them 13s 6d, instead of 18s per week
for their board, turning to the graver and more
appropriate subjects of legislation, — inquiring
what proportion of democracy they should
infuse into their constitution, and what coUa-
teral effects would result from each of the
various modes of accomplishing their purpose—-
what should be the number and nature of their
courts of justice, whether they should be estab
hshed on the principle of concurrent or appehate
jurisdiction, whether their judges should be
removable at pleasure, their salary be hahle to
diminution, and numberless other intricate ques
tions. It is a happy circumstance for the newly*
erected States, that they may always have access
to the more matured systems of their neigh
bours, and that the effects of their own errors
are confined to themselves. Indeed, I think it
is not one of the least advantages of the Confe
deration, that it admits of a course of experi-

NORTH AMERICA. 165
ments in legislation, in each of the particular
States, without the slightest danger of inter
rupting the movements of the general machine,
and enables all, at the hazard only of their indi
vidual inconvenience, to contribute their quota
of pohtical experience to the common stock.
Another of the evils to which I referred, as
flowing, perhaps of necessity, from the democra
tical institutions of America, is the subserviency
to popular opinion which they appear to entaU
on the legislative and executive officers. I had
no idea of the degree in which popularity was
made a primary and avowed object of pursuit
here ; nor of the extensive sacrifices of personal
independence which are made at her shrine. In
this free government, many of the senators
and representatives are far less the servants than
the slaves of their constituents ; and they must
be fond, indeed, of public honours and official
stations, who are willing to buy them at such
a price. Talents, indeed, like those of Mr. Lowndes,
when combined with his disinterestedness and
patriotism, too unequivocal to be even suspect
ed, will command popularity ; and a man, like
Mr. Calhoun, may vote in the teeth of his con
stituents, and instead of being dismissed, as is
common in such cases, may fix himself in their

166 LETTERS FROM'
estimation more firmly than ever, by a manly
appeal to their convictions, and make them
ashamed that they wished him to espouse the
opposite side ; but there are few men hke Mr.
Lowndes in any country, and not a great many
Calhouns; and common men, if they would
attain popularity, must make it their pursuit.
I have seen nothing to lead me to suppose, that
the influence of such a pursuit on individual
character is at all more ennobling or elevating
on the western than on the eastern shores of the
Atlantic, or to convince me that public spirit
and patriotism are the natural and necessary
results of republican institutions.
But, independently of the injurious moral
effects of an insatiable appetite for popularity
in the individual, a constant reference to popu
lar favour imposes very inconvenient trammels
on the representative, in the discharge of his
legislative duties. He is too apt to consider
himself as addressing his constituents,- rather
than the legislative assembly ; and to think less
Of the effect his speech is likely to produce in
favour of his argument, in the capitol, than in
favour of himself at home, As an incentive
to activity, this may have a good effect ; but ,
the efforts to which it prompts, especially in
the way of oratorical flourishes, do not always

NORTH AMERICA. 167
produce advantages to the public, commensu
rate with the care and trouble, " the anxious
days and sleepless nights," they may have cost
the individual. I was informed, that it is
common for the new members, to make great
exertion soon after the meeting of Congress,
to send home a speech to their constituents, in
the National Intelligencer; and then, if they
find that the geniusof eloquence has not favoured
them, they perhaps remain silent during the
rest of the session, But this is hardly safe ;
for a silent representative is seldom a popular
one. A friend informed me, that in passing
through Pennsylvania, a Pennsylvanian, speak
ing to him of a member of Congress, said,
" He won't get in again, I guess ; for we never
see no speech of his in the papers, and we
can't have a man that says nothing for his pay."
But, after aU, I think it impossible ¦ for an
unprejudiced stranger to visit the beautiful
Senate-chamber and House of Bepresentatives
in the Capitol, at Washington, without being
struck with the intelligence and practical skiU
of Congress ; the regularity of their proceed
ings ; their ready, perspicuous, forcible busi
ness-like style of eloquence ; and, with some
exceptions, their habitual courtesy and atten
tion to the feelings of opponents. He would

168 LETTERS FROM
sometimes witness, in American oratory, the
freshness of youth, the fervour of boundless
anticipation, and that consciousness of personal
identity with the glory and prosperity of his
country, which a popular government infuses
into the meanest citizen ; but he would sel
dom be dazzled with confiscations of cultivated
genius, or electrified with bursts of impas
sioned feeling, and would seek in vain, in the
American Congress, for that indefinable but
irresistible charm, which classical associations,
the refinements of polished society, and a his
tory rich, in all that is iUustrious and vene
rable, imparts to the eloquence of a British
Parliament.* I do not know whether you have studied the
American Constitution deeply, but you will
probably be glad of an opportunity of tracing
some of its more prominent features. I will,
therefore, make some extracts for you, from a
little pubhcation, which I have already quoted,
entitled, " Letters from Washington." Though
exhibiting, in my opinion, internal evidence
of being an American production, it professes
to be written by an Englishman ; and a parallel
* The speeches of Mr. Webster ought perhaps to suggest
some qualification of this general remark.

NORTH AMERICA. 169
is occasionally drawn between the constitutions
of the two countries.
"The American confederacy is constituted
by the union of many states ; each in itself
separately considered sovereign and indepen
dent, and having its own executive, legislative,
judiciary, local constitution and laws. These
states are divided into congressional districts,
which are each entitled to one representative;
and every state, whatever be its size or popu
lation, can send two senators to the national
legislature. The powers, not delegated to the
United States, by the constitution, are reserved
to the states respectively, or to the people.
Bepresentatives and direct taxes are appor
tioned among the -states, according to the census
taken every ten years. The number of electors
of President of the United States, is, in each
state, equal to the number of senators and
representatives to which such state is entitled
in Congress. The citizens of one state, have
all the privileges of the citizens of the several
states. No new state can be created in another,
nor formed by the union of two or more states,
or part of states, without the consent of the
legislatures of such states. Each state is enti
tled to the protection of the United States,
against foreign invasion or domestic violence ;

170 LETTERS FROM
no amendment to the federal constitution can
be vahd, unless sanctioned and ratified by the
legislatures of at least three-fourths of the
several states ; two-thirds of whom, upon appli
cation to Congress, can caU a convention to
propose amendments, which, when ratified as
above, become a part of the constitution. Such
are the features of this instrument, in relation
to the different states that constitute the Ame
rican confederacy. You will perceive, that it
is not only a social, but a federal compact." ' In
its foundation it is federal, not national or
social; the sources from which the ordinary
powers of the government are drawn, are partly
federal, and partly national ; in the operation
of these powers, it is national, not federal; in
the extent of them, it is federal, not national ;
and finally, in the authoritative mode of in
troducing amendments, it is neither whoUy
federal nor national.'* "In short, it is a written
compact, by which power is created, and obedi
ence enacted. The senators and representatives
chosen from the different states, assemble at
Washington, the seat of the general govern
ment, at least once in every year, and compose
the. Congress of the United States, which, as I
have before observed, consists of two houses, the
* Federalist.

NORTH AMERICA. 171
Senate and House of Bepresentatives. Each
house makes its own rules, chooses its 'own
officers, except the vice-president, who is elected
like the president of the United States ; deter
mines election returns and qualifications of its
own members, and keeps a journal of its own
proceedings. The House of Bepresentatives
originates all impeachments, and the Senate
tries them. In Congress the legislative autho
rity, or as Blackstone calls it, the sovereignty,*
is lodged. To this body, the constitution has
given these powers, which you will see defined
in the 1st article and 8th section of the copy of
the instrument I send you.
" It will be seen, from an examination of the
powers above-mentioned, that they are all neces
sary and proper to give vigour to the federal
compact. In some instances, however, these
powers have been restrained, and these restraints
have been ascertained by experience, to be
highly salutary and beneficial. I shall briefly
run them over for your better information. It
is provided, that all taxes, duties, imposts, and
excises, shall be uniform, and no preference
* In this cpuntry the sovereign power is retained by the
people. In each state the government is distributed into two
branches, internal and external ; the former is confided to the
state government, the latter to the federal.

172 LETTERS FROM
shall be given to one state over another. That
the writ of habeas corpus shaU not be suspended,
except in times of invasion or rebeUion ; that
no bill of attainder shaU be passed, and no
direct tax laid, but in proportion to the census
of the inhabitants of the different states ; that
no money shall be drawn from the national
treasury, but in consequence of appropriations ;
that no title of nobility shall be granted; and
that no person holding any office of trust or
profit, shaU accept of any office, title, or emolu
ment from any foreign prince, king, or state,
without the consent of Congress. In relation
to the states individually, the powers with
drawn from them by the federal constitution,
are these : —
' Sec. 10. — That no state shaU enter into any
treaty, alliance, or confederation : grant letters
of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit
bills of credit ; make any thing but gold and
silver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass
any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law
impairing the obligation of contracts ; or grant
any title of nobUity.'
'No state shall, without the consent of Con
gress, lay any impost, or duties on imports or
exports, except what may be absolutely neces
sary for executing its inspection laws : and the

NORTH AMERICA. 173
nett produce of all duties and imposts laid by
any state on imports or exports, shall be for
the use of the treasury of the United States ;
and all such laws shaU be subject to the revision
and controul of Congress. No state shall, with
out the consent of Congress, lay any duty on
tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war, in time
of peace, enter into any agreement or compact
with another state, or with a foreign power, or
engage in war, unless actuaUy invaded, or in
such imminent danger as wiU not admit of
delay.' " In order to prevent an undue exercise of
power in the general government, which might
tend to affect the rights of the states or those
of citizens, it is declared that treason shall con
sist only in levying war against the United
States, or adhering to their enemies, giving
them aid and comfort ; that no person shaU be
convicted of treason, but on the testimony of
two witnesses, or on confession in open court ;
that no attainder of treason shaU work corrup
tion of blood or forfeiture, except during life ;
that no law respecting the establishment of
rehgion, or prohibiting its free exercise, can be
made ; and that the liberty of speech and the
press, the right of the people to assemble to
petition Government for a redress of grievances,

174 .LETTERS FROM
and their right to bear arms, cannot be abridged
or infringed. To prevent oppression, it is pro
vided that no soldiers shall be quartered in any
house in time of peace, without the consent of
the owner ; and to secure the citizen from unrea
sonable search, it is declared, that no warrants
shaU issue, but upon probable cause, supported
by oath or affirmation. It is also provided,
that no person shaU be held to answer for
any capital or infamous offence, except in the
land and sea service, unless in presentment or
indictment of a grand jury, nor answer for the
same offence twice; that in all criminal and
civil suits, above twenty dollars, he shall have
the right of jury trial ; that he shall not, in
any criminal case, be compelled to be a witness
against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty,
or property, without due process of law. In
criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy
the right of a speedy and public trial by jury
of the district in which the crime was com
mitted ; to be confronted 'with the witnesses
against him; to have compulsory process for
witnesses in his favour, and the assistance of
counsel; and finaUy, that excessive bail shall
not be imposed,; nor cruel and unusual punish
ments inflicted. You will easily discover, and
it must always be understood, that the powers

NORTH AMERICA.

175

not expressly delegated, are reserved to the
states and the people. All constructive or
assumed powers are considered as dangerous
to the liberties of the citizen, and fatal to the
rights and the union of the states.
" With a view, then, that you may the more
perfectly understand the nature of this consti
tution, I wiU briefly exhibit the points in which
the British and American Governments differ.

IN ENGLAND.
1st, The king possesses
imperial dignity.

2nd, This imperial dig
nity is hereditary and
perpetual.
3d, The king has the
sole power of mak
ing war and peace,
and of forming trea
ties with foreign
powers.
4th, The king alone can
levy troops, buUd
fortresses, and equip
fleets.

IN AMERICA.
There is no king, the
president acts as the
chief magistrate of
the nation only.
The presidency lasts
only four years.
The president can do
neither without the
consent of congress.

The president has no
such power: this is
vested in congress.

176

LETTERS FROM

IN ENGLAND.
5th, He is the source of
alljudicial power and
the head of all the
tribunals of the na
tion.
6th, He is the fountain
of all honour, office,
and privilege, can
create peers and dis
tribute titles and
dignities.
7th, He is at the head
of the national
church, and has su
preme control over
it.
8th, He is the superin
tendent of com
merce ; regulates the
weights and mea
sures, and can alone
coin money, and give
currency to foreign
coin.

IN AMERICA.
The executive has only
the appointment of
judges with the con
sent of the senate,
and is unconnected
with the judiciary.
The president has no
such power. There
are no titles, and he
can only appoint to
office by and with
the consent of the
senate.
There is no established
church.

The president has no
such power.

NORTH AMERICA.

177

IN ENGLAND.
9th, He is the univer
sal proprietor of the
kingdom.
10th, The king's person
is sacred and invio
late — he is account
able to no human
power, and can do
no wrong.

llth, Our legislature
contains a house of
lords ; 300 nobles,
whose seats, honours
and privileges are
hereditary.

IN AMERICA.
The president has no
thing to do with the
property of the Uni
ted States.
The president is no
thing more than an
individual ; is amen
able like all civil offi
cers, and considered
as capable of doing
wrong as any other
citizen.
There are no nobles,
and both houses of
congress are elected.

" I presume it wiU be unnecessary to adduce
more points of difference to Ulustrate the nature
of the American Government; these are, I
think, sufficient to convince you of the entire
democratic tendency of the constitution of the
United States, and of the error under which
you have laboured, in believing that but few
differences, and those immaterial and unim-
VOL. II. N

178 LETTERS FROM
portant, existed between our Government and
this. We have, indeed, in common, the habeas
corpus, and the trial by jury, the great bulwarks
of civil liberty ; but in almost every other par
ticular they disagree.
" The first branch of the American Govern
ment, I shall consider is the executive.' The
President is chosen by electors in the different
States composing the Union, who are equal in
number to the representatives in Congress. His
period of service is four years ; but to qualify
him for this station, he must be a native citizen
of the United States, and at least thirty-five
years of age at the time of election. This elec
tion is conducted in a manner much less com
plicated than that of the Doge of Venice and
Genoa, which you may perceive by a glance at
the constitution I send you. The President's
title, says M. De La Croiz, n'est ni celui de roi,
ni celui de due ; ce n'est ni un monarque, ni unchef,
c'est un President. His power is, I think, rather
too much hmited and controlled for a vigorous
and energetic government. No danger, indeed,
can result to the liberty of the people from, this
power ; but much procrastination and delay, in
periods of extreme emergency, may flow from
the circumscribed nature ofhis authority ; liable
to impeachment and dismissal from office for

NORTH AMERICA. 179
the commission of treason and other high crimes
and misdemeanours, he may do much good, but
he can do no essential wrong. The powers he
derives from the constitution, are, in fact, mere
duties, which, by a little metaphysical refine
ment, may be so attenuated and enlarged as to
embrace almost every thing, and to afford a field
for the most subtle and endless speculation.-^
The influence and patronage of the executive
are, however, still very considerable ; but I do
not think they wiU ever be dangerous. His
powers I will briefly enumerate, that you may
see the affinity between the British and Ame
rican executives. The President is ex officio
commander-in-chief of the army and navy of
the United States, and of the mihtia of the dif
ferent States, when called into service ; but this
caU can only be made by Congress, and the
States respectively have the power of appointing
the officers ofthe militia. Hehas the power to re
prieve and pardon all offences against the United
States, except in cases of impeachment. Theking,
on the contrary, pardons in aU cases whatever.
The President has the power to make treaties ;
but it must be by and with the advice and
consent of the senate, and the concurrence of
two-thirds present ; and these treaties become
part of the supreme law of the land. The

180 Betters from
power I have just mentioned, is involved in
some difficulty and embarrassment. The
treaty-making power which is here vested
in the executive and Senate, is uncontrolled.
The senators not being considered as civil
officers, are not, as in England, liable to im
peachment. Should the President and Senate
therefore conspire to make a treaty dishonour
able to the nation, and to overstep the hmits
of their authority, I see no constitutional possi
bility of obviating the evil, or of punishing
the culprits. The President may, indeed, be
impeached, but his judges are the very men
who have united with him in committing the
offence, and they cannot but be improper
judges. In addition, it may be necessary to
observe, that many cases will occur, in which
the constitutional powers of the House of Re
presentatives are involved. Let us suppose, for
example, that a treaty of alliance is entered
into with a foreign power, in which supplies
of money and munitions of war are to be
furnished by the United States. These cannot
be constitutionally appropriated, but by the
concurrence of the popular branch of the
national legislature; and yet, this treaty must
be binding, without the consent or even the
knowledge of that branch. Such are the diffi-

NORTH AMERICA. 181
culties and absurdities of this part of the con
stitution. The President's next power which
gives him, as I have already stated, such ex
tensive influence and patronage, is that of
nominating, and with the consent of the .Sepate,
appointing ambassadors, ministers, consuls,
judges, and aU other officers of the United
States, whose appointments are authorized by
law. He also commissions these -officers, and
in some cases, has the sole appointment, and
fills up all vacancies that may occur during the
recess. Under this head, much discussion has
taken place. As the constitution provides, that
aU civU officers of the United States shaU be
removed on impeachment and conviction of
treason, bribery, and other high crimes and
misdemeanours, it has been contended, that the
President has not the power of dismissing from
office ; but the question is now settled, and I
believe it is generally conceded, that the power
of creating in this case, necessarily implies the
power of destroying, which you wiU perceive
is a metaphysical deduction resulting from the
abstract nature of the case. The President
can convene both houses of Congress upon any
extraordinary occasion, and adjourn them, if
any disagreement about the period of adjourn
ment should arise between them. In relation

182 LETTERS FROM
to his duties, he is bound to give to Congress,
from time to time, information of the: state of
the Union, and recommend such measures as
he may think conducive to the public interest
—he must also see that the laws be faithfully
executed ; and the oath which he is obliged to
take before he enters upon the duties of his
high and important station, compels him to
" preserve, protect, and defend the constitution
of the United States." The last power which
I shaU mention, is of a legislative character,
and constitutes him, sub-modo, a branch of that
department. No bill, resolution, vote, or order
of Congress can take effect, until it be pre
sented to him for his approbation ; if this be
given, the measure is final, if not, it is sent
back with his reasons, and the subject is further
considered; if, after this, two-thirds of both
houses still adhere, the measure, notwithstand
ing his disapprobation, is adopted. Unlike the
King, who can do no wrong, the President is
considered a fallible being, and capable of the
commission of crimes of no ordinary magni
tude. He is, therefore, made liable to impeach
ment, like all other civil officers of the United
States, and, upon conviction, can be dismissed
from office, Through the medium of elections,
the American executive is amenable to the

NORTH AMERICA. 183
people, by whom he is indirectly chosen, and
this responsibility not only checks and restrains
him, but aU those to whom power has been
delegated, within proper limits; such is the
executive branch of the American government.
The constitution has been founded on the
theory; that aU power necessarily emanates from
the people." —
" The second branch of this Government, is
the legislature ; this consists of a Senate and
House of Bepresentatives ; the members of the
latter are chosen every two years, by the people ;
and those of the former, every six years, by
the legislatures of the different states. It is in
this branch that the American Government
differs from the republics of ancient and modern
times ; it is this which makes it not a pure,
but a representative democracy ; and it is this
which gives it such a decided superiority over
all the governments in the world. Experience
has demonstrated the impracticability of assem
bling a numerous coUection of people, to frame
laws, and their incompetency, when assembled,
of judicious deliberation, and prompt and un
biassed decision. The passions of illiterate and
unthinking men, are easUy roused into action,
and inflamed to madness ; artful and designing
demagogues are too apt to take advantage of

184 LETTERS FROM
ttiose imbecilities of our nature, and to convert
them to the basest of purposes. —
" The American Legislature differs from the
British Parliament, inasmuch as the one is
circumscribed in its powers, and the otheris
omnipotent. The representatives of Congress
are elected, as I have already observed, every
second year, by the people of each state ; these
representatives, with the Senate, possess the
whole powers of legislation * One house of
representatives alone, would be worse than
pure democracy ; another has therefore been
wisely introduced, which consists of two mem
bers from each State, who are elected for six
years, by the State Legislatures, and of whom
one-third go out every two years. The Senate
acts as a check upon the House of Bepresenta
tives, and by their wisdom and age, controul
the impetuosity of popular feeling, which might
otherwise overflow, to the injury of the coun
try. The House of Bepresentatives, on the
other hand, checks the aristocratic tendency of
the Senate ; and the executive serves as a coun-
* "It is Worthy of remark, however," says an American
judge, very correctly, " that in Congress the whole legiskr
tive power of the United States is not vested ; an important
part of that power was exercised by the people themselves,
when they ordained and established the constitution."

NORTH AMERICA. 185
terpoise to both. The qualifications of repre
sentatives are very simple, lt is only required
that they should be citizens of the United
States, and have attained the age of twenty-
five ; the moment their period of service expires,
they are again, unless re-elected, reduced to
the rank and condition of citizens. If they
should have acted in opposition to the wishes
and interests of their constituents, while per
forming the functions of legislation, the people
possess the remedy, and can exercise it without
endangering the peace and harmony of society ;
the offending member is dropt, and his place
supplied by another more worthy of confidence.
This consciousness of responsibility on the part
of the representatives, operates as a perpetual
guarantee to the people, and protects and secures
them in the enjoyment of their political and
civil liberties." — r
" The judicial power of the United States is
vested in one supreme court, and other inferior
tribunals, which have jurisdiction in all cases
of law, equity, and fact. The judges hold their
office during good behaviour, and are absolutely
independent of the other co-ordinate branches
of government; the judicial power is co-exten
sive with the legislature, and the decision of the
supreme court on the constitution and laws of

186 LETTERS FROM
the Union, is final; this court has original juris
diction in all cases affecting ambassadors, pubhc
ministers, and consuls, and those in which a
State shall be a party. In aU other cases speci
fied in the constitution, they have appeUate juris
diction, both as to law and fact. The indepen
dence of the judiciary is essential to the perfec
tion of the American Government, and equaUy
necessary with representation to the security
of the people's rights. Were this branch not
independent, the consequences might be such
as to excite the most serious alarm, and to
render the constitution a mere instrument of
tyranny; it is this department, hteraUy, that
carries the laws which the legislative authority
has enacted, into operation — those laws, I mean,
which concern the interests of individuals, and
are of the highest importance to the peace and
happiness of society. The judiciary stands as
a check to the march of legislative omnipo
tence, and keeps that branch of the Government
within the bounds of the constitution. Should
Congress pass a law inconsistent with the spirit
of this instrument, the judiciary interposes its
authority, and sets it aside. — Should the Ame
rican judges transcend their authority, the
remedy is again at hand — they may be im
peached, tried, and dismissed from office ; but

NORTH AMERICA. 187
lest this department should become too power
ful, and in order to prevent such a possibility,
the wisdom of the framers of the constitution
has interposed a barrier in the trial by jury.
For this inestimable privilege, the Americans
are indebted to their English ancestors, who
have transmitted to them this mode of trial,
which so happily limits the judicial authority,
and renders it dreadful to none but the guilty."
" In the desultory observations I have had
the honour to submit to you on this subject, I
have not included the grand jury, which I con
ceive to be an essential improvement in the
judiciary system of a free state. The more
obstacles that are cast in the way of accusation,
the greater wiU be the people's security. The
grand jury, selected as it is, out of the most
respectable body of citizens, interposes a shield
between the accused and the accuser ; and the
innocent are thus protected from the infamy and
disgrace of public accusation. — It wiU appear,
from a careful examination of the instrument
which we have been considering, that the courts
of each state composing the Union, have cog
nizance of all crimes committed within the
territorial limits of the state ; and that, conse
quently, the federal courts have no jurisdiction,
but in those cases which are specified in the

188 LETTERS FROM
constitution, and for which the laws of the
United States have made adequate provision.
It has been asserted, by one of the judges of
the supreme court, and I think his opinion may
be depended upon, as incontrovertible, that the
United States, as a federal government, have
no common law, and consequently no indictment
can be maintained in their courts, for offences
merely at common law. ' The United States,'
says De Lolme, ' must possess the law them
selves, before they can communicate it to their
judicial agents. Now the United States did
not bring it with them from England ; the con
stitution does not create it, and no act of Con
gress has assumed it,' "
I am ashamed to see how long an extract I
have sent you ; if, however, you would wish
to understand the American Constitution tho
roughly, I would most strongly recommend you
to read the Federalist, a collection of papers
written by Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Madison, and
Mr. Jay.
This work, so honourable to its authors, both
as writers and politicians, exhibiting a profound
knowledge of the human mind> and an intimate
acquaintance with the great principles of law
and government; replete with illustrations,
drawn from that rich mine of pohtical

NORTH AMERICA. 189
experience, the history of Ancient and Modern
Europe, characterized throughout by an ele
vated tone of patriotic sentiment, and political
integrity, wUl be handed down to the latest
posterity, an irrefragable proof that they are
indebted to very superior minds for that system
of harmony and beauty, which has been elicited
from the chaos of the revolution. It will show
you in what difficulties the framers of the
American constitution were involved — what
objects they had to effect ; what dangers to
avoid ; what prejudices to dispel ; what appre
hensions to aUay ; what jealousies to assuage ;
what hostUity to disarm ; what discordant prin
ciples to harmonize ; what opposite interests to
unite ; what conflicting claims to settle— how
arduous was their task to induce individuals
to concede a due portion of their natural rights ;
and the State legislatures to part with an ade
quate measure of their authority; to give to
the Federal Head sufficient vigour for the
discharge of its functions, without power to
encroach on the privileges of individual States;
to distinguish between those legislative and
judicial arrangements which ought to rest with
the local administrations, and those which the
public good required to be referred to the
general Congress.

190 LETTERS FROM
For a commentary on the American Consti
tution, I must refer you to her past history and
present prosperity. Not that I impute her
advancement altogether to her constitution.
No nation was ever blest by nature and fortune
with such rich materials of national prosperity;
and bad, indeed, must have been the Govern
ment, and despicable the population, which had
not flourished under such advantages.
But her advancement in wealth and prosper
ity has been too uniform to be ascribed to
accident. Prosperous gales, and favourable
currents, have certainly increased her velocity;
but for her steady progress ever since the
Bevolution, she is mainly indebted to the
admirable internal machinery, which propels
her in her course.
That the framers of the constitution have not
succeeded in preventing the occasional exercise,
on the part of the general Government, of
undue influence in the affairs of the individual
States, is evident from a document, which lies
before me, in a New York newspaper, of last
month. It is a message from De Witt Chnton,
the Governor of the State of New York, to the
Legislature of the State, complaining of the
interference of the officers of Government, to
prevent his election. I wiU make a few extracts

NORTH AMERICA. 191
from it.* With the high rank of Governor
Clinton, as a scholar and statesman, and with
his indefatigable and successful efforts to pro-
* " That many of the officers of the United States have
for a number of years acted very improperly, by interfering
in the elections of this State, must be known to every
man in the community who has had an opportunity for infor
mation, and whose mind is not steeled by prejudice against
the admission of truth. It is well known, that in this State,
the National administration has for some years selected, in
almost every case of any importance, its officers in opposition
to the State administration ; and this undoubtedly operates
as an encouragement to organized and disciplined hostility.
It is a virtual instruction to its officers to oppose ; and it is
an invitation to all who are desirous of the patronage of the
general Government, to embark in the opposition. The
interference of the officers of the general Government in state
politics, in 1798, was, at that period, a subject of general and
well-founded complaint. In the interval between my first
election and entrance into office, I took the liberty of apprising
Mr. Monroe, the President of the United States, of the obtru
sive intermeddling of the officers of the general Government
in our state politics, and of my earnest hope that, under his
administration, this system, so justly and so generally repro
bated, would be no longer tolerated. In discharging this
duty to the Republic, I entertained every wish to promote
the most amicable relations between the General and State
Administration ; and I can truly declare, that no act of hos
tility has been, in any shape, manifested or encouraged, on the
part of the authorities of this State.
" The documents which I have now the honour to transmit
to you, do not extend beyond the last general election, and
the agitations preceding and accompanying it. At the very
period when the officers of the United States, who have
behaved so reprehensibly, ought to have conducted themselves
with the greatest delicacy ; when a legislature was to be

1Q2 LETTERS FROM
mote the interests of the State of New York,
you are weU acquainted.
The message was accompanied with an im
mense mass of documents and certificates, to
substantiate the charges it contained.
chosen that was to appoint the electors of President; and
when the second officer of the United States was a candidate
for the office of Governor, all the influence of their offices
was put in requisition, and brought into activity. Although
deprived of the right of being chosen, yet, if in the exercise
of the right of choosing, they are permitted, by the power of
office, to influence' elections, what security have the people
for a pure Legislature — for an independent Congress, or for
an incorrupt College of electors.
" The Navy-yard is situate in Brooklyn, King's county,
and contains about 40 acres. Large sums of money have
besn expended there in building and repairing ships of war,
^iii an extensive establishment is maintained in that place.
The documents, herewith transmitted, will show, that under
the principal direction of Mr. Decatur, the naval store-keeper,
the blacksmiths, caulkers, carpenters, labourers, and other
persons in the public employ at the Navy-yard, were brought i
up to vote ; that he was assisted in his operations by other
officers of that establishment ; and that improper attempts,
were made, in a variety of shapes, to operate on the electors.
The whole presents a scene of undue influence and extraneous
intrusion, revolting to every friend of Republican Govern
ment. " The patronage of the Custom-house in New York is
immense. There are no printed documents which disclose
the number and compensation of the officers employed in that
establishment. I can, therefore, only state, as a matter of
estimate, that the patronage of that establishment approxi
mates to 200,000 dollars annually. The surveyor ofthe port,
Mr. Joseph G. Swift, has the immediate direction of the

NORTH AMERICA. 193
Were such disputes to become common, they
might sow the seeds of civil discord, and prove
fatal to the very existence of the Confederation.
inspectors and other subordinate officers of the Customs ; and
although he has not the power of displacement, yet they are
in such a state of dependance, that their personal comfort must
directly, and their official existence indirectly, depend on his
volition. In order that there might be no doubt of his deter
mination to interfere in the State election, he reported, as a
member of a committee to a public meeting in King's county,
the resolution marked N. When the situation, connection,
and political principles of this officer of the United States are
considered, there can be no doubt, but that he had previously
ascertained the sense of his political superior, and that he was
instructed to act accordingly. In pursuance of this example,
the two inspectors of the customs at Staten Island, interfered
in the most improper manner in the election.
" The law, regulating the compensation of the inspectors
of the customs, authorizes the allowance of three dollars a
day, for the days that they are actually employed. These
documents prove, that seven of those officers were employed in
electioneering ; and I presume it will not be denied, that each
individual received three dollairs a day from the public treasury
when so engaged.
" The conduct of the Judge of the United States of the
northern district of this State, is daily before the eyes of the
legislature. The marshals have acted in coincidence with the
general current of extraneous influence ; and in their selections
of deputies to take the census, they have, as far as I can
learn, studiously excluded all those applicants that were
friendly to the State administration. The conduct of Mr.
Robert Tillotson, one of the dictrict attornies, and nephew of
the President of the United States, is glanced at in the paper
marked X. ; and that of Mr. Jacob Sutherland, the other
district attorney, and nephew of the Secretary of the Navy,
VOL. II. O

194 LETTERS FROM
It is a common idea in England, that the
perpetuity of the Union is already endangered
by its extent. I am not disposed to think that
its present magnitude need excite any appre-

is mentioned in the paper marked Y. There are three news
papers employed by the Government for publishing the laws
of the Union, in this State ; and these consisted of the Argus,
National Advocate, and Ontario Messenger, until within
a few weeks, when the business was taken from the last paper,
and committed to the Times, in Batavia, a gazette of recent
date, of comparatively limited circulation, and hostile to the
State administration.
" There are, I believe, 674 Postmasters in this State ; and I
should estimate the aggregate patronage of the department, in
the State at large, at 100,000 dollars annually. During the able
and impartial administration of the predecessor of the present
Postmaster-General, these offices were conferred without any
reference to State politics. Attempts have been made, at
different times, to cause the removal of Postmasters, friendly
to the State administration, and I am sorry to say, that in
several instances they have succeeded.
" It is, I conceive, impossible to resist the unfavourable
conclusions which must be drawn from the body of testimony
now submitted to you, making full allowances for exaggera
tion or error, for the influence of prejudice, and the operation
of improper motives. And admitting that a considerable
portion of the allegations may be successfully refuted, yet still
there will remain a sufficient number of strong and established
facts, to prove a concert of exertions on the part of the officers
of the national Government ; in the Navy-yard, the Custom
house, the General Post-office, and in the Judicial, and some
other institutions of that Government operating in our local
elections : and which demonstrates the existence of an organ
ized and disciplined corps, and the obtrusion of extraneous

NORTH AMERICA. 195
hensions for its safety ; and the accession of a
new State does not necessarily expose it to
additional hazard. Such an accession may, and
does, in many cases, increase the security of the
influence for the purpose of promoting the aspirations of
ambition — of securing the possession of authority, or of break
ing down the power of the State, by the encouragement of
intestine divisions : and this is a case, in which the maxim —
He orders ihe commission qf a crime mho does not forbid it
when it is in his power — may be justly and emphatically
applied. The least intimation from the proper quarter, would
have effectually prevented these notorious and alarming evils.
" A Government of influence and corruption, is the worst
possible shape which a republican Government can assume ;
because, under the forms of freedom, it combines the essence
of tyranny. And although I am far from saying, that this is
now the case, yet the first attempts to give a wrong direction
to the authority of Government, ought to be resisted. Slavery
is ever preceded by sleep. And the liberties of free States
are more frequently prostrated by fraud, than by force. In
the intelligence and patriotism of the body of our fellow-
citizens, we may, I trust, rely for the preservation of our free
Government. And with an anxious desire to merit their good
opinion, by a faithful and independent discharge of my import
ant duties, and with an entire disregard of any hostility which
may arise from any quarter, in consequence of my pursuing
this course, I submit this communication to the representatives
of the. people, fully persuaded that when the personal animo
sities and political agitations of the times are buried in oblivion,
I shall be considered by impartial posterity, as having endea
voured to deserve well of the Republic, by my conduot on this
. occasion.
" DE WITT CLINTON.
" Albany, V}th January, 1821."

196 LETTERS FROM
Confederation, by effecting a more accurate
balance of conflicting interests.
That in the revolutions of time^theTnterests
of different parts of theUnion may be so opposed
to each other, that sound pohcy may dictate a
separation, or that individual States or Terri
tories may secede, in disgust or irritation, as
the territory of Missouri threatened to do, is
by no means an improbable event; but I
confess, that I see no reason why, in the ordi
nary course of things, this grand Confederation
might not continue for ages.
And grieved, indeed, should I be to antici
pate its early dissolution. It is destined, I trust,
to exhibit to the world at large a grand and
successful experiment in legislation. It is
destined also, I sincerely believe, to awaken
such of the European nations as stiU groan
under the yoke of despotism to a consciousness
of their physical strength, and the exertion of
their moral energies, and to reveal to their
infatuated monarchs the destruction which
awaits them if they persist in an obstinate
adherence to the pohtical maxims of a darker
age. I do not know how far my opinions may he
influenced by prejudice, but I confess I have
not yet learned to prefer the republican insti-

NORTH AMERICA. 197
tutions of America to the British Constitution ;
nor do I believe that the mass of the commu
nity in America enjoy practically a greater
security of person or property than in Great
Britain. Indeed, from what I learned of the
composition of juries in the wilder parts of
America, I am persuaded that throughout ex
tensive portions of the United States, neither
person nor property are as secure as in Great
Britain ; but I must reserve details on this
subject tiU we meet.

198 LETTERS FROM

iLctm xxxmm.

Newbury Port, 21st Feb. 1821.
I removed from the tavern at Portland to a
respectable boarding-house, where - 1 found,
among other persons, the Governor ofthe State,
the Speaker of the House of Bepresentatives^
and eight or ten of the most respectable mem
bers. There was a common table at which all
ordinarily assembled, and a common sitting-
room, where they seemed to pass their leisure
in reading the newspapers and smoking segars.
For the very first time, since my arrival in
America, I had actually at this boarding-house
a parlour to myself, which arose from the cir
cumstance of its being, in the first instance,
designed for my bed-room. It was a luxury,
indeed, to feel alone, and likely to remain so,
without shutting myself up in my bed-chamber,
in which I have lived for the last year, when
not in society, or on the road. My hopes of
retirement in my parlour, however, were soon
shaken, for the landlord brought a gentleman
to me, who, after conversing a few minutes,

NORTH AMERICA. 199
said he was come to take me into the dining-
room, to introduce me to the company. He
was a young lawyer, gentlemanly in his man
ners ; and I found afterwards, had been educated
at Harvard CoUege, Cambridge. As we sat
down to dinner, at one o'clock, he introduced
me to most of the gentlemen by name, and
among others, to the Secretary of the State.
The rest of the company, although I doubt not
inteUigent and acute, I certainly should not (at
least on my first arrival in America,) have
guessed to be a body of legislators. The land
lady presided, with Mrs.  , the wife of the
speaker, on her right ; and the landlord sat down
towards the close of dinner, after having waited
on his guests, and assisted the waiters till all the
company were helped. He was very civil, and
came into my room half-a-dozen times, in the
course of the evening, to look at my fire, and
see if I wanted any thing An English land
lord could not have been more respectful and
attentive. In the course of the evening, the
young lawyer also paid me a second visit,
with real good nature, bringing in a friend,
" lest I should be lonely." I give you these
httle incidents to show the habits of the country.
As they found me busy writing, however, they
stopped only half an hour, and retired, saying

200 LETTERS FROM
they would not interrupt me, but would attend
me to any church in the morning to which I
liked to go. v
In the morning, accordingly, the young law
yer accompanied me to the Episcopal church,
where a young minister preached on the impor
tance of contending for the faith once delivered
to the saints ; a subject suggested by the acti
vity of Unitarian efforts, and by an act then
before the legislature, which it was supposed
would operate unfavourably on the interests of
religion. The church was profusely adorned
with festoons of " Christmas ;" and on one side
of the pulpit was neatly printed, in large letters
of spruce fir, " Unto us a Child is born ;" on the
other, " Unto us a Son is given." The congre
gation was respectable in numbers and appear
ance. In the afternoon, we went to the Cal
vinistic Congregationalist church, (places of
worship, of all denominations, are here called
churches,) where we found a congregation still
more numerous. An elderly minister gave us
a logical, metaphysical, scriptural sermon, on
" the immutability of God." On my return
home, among my landlord's books, I found
Scott's Bible, Burder's Village Sermons, Baxter's
Saint's Best, Watts' Hymn Book, and Saurin's
Sermons. I added to them the Dairyman's

NORTH AMERICA. 201
Daughter, a favourite travelling companion of
mine ; since, independently of the deep interest
of its simple tale, and its exquisite and touching
picture of rustic piety, it places so distinctly
before me the viUage. spires, the rustic cottages,
and the sequestered lanes of my native country,
and the hoary locks and venerable figures of her
aged peasants. IthinkI told you how delightedl
was at finding this little tract in a shop at Mobile,
in that land of darkness, the shores of the Gulf
of Mexico.
While in Portland, I found the snow in many
places two feet deep for a great distance, and
perhaps 14 inches deep where it was the thin
nest. I counted 22 sleighs at the church door
on Sunday. I saw the town under unfavour
able circumstances ; but it had a very respectable
appearance, many of the houses being large and
handsome, with extensive courts before the
doors, ornamented with shrubs and grass-plots.
The bay, and the adjacent . scenery, are very
picturesque. I have omitted to teU you, that the young
lawyer begged to introduce me to the Governor
and his lady, whose sitting-room was next to
mine. I found Mr. K — , a sensible, gentlemanly
plain man. I should imagine that he had talent,
activity, and perseverance, and would not

202 LETTERS FROM
slumber at his post. He has ordered the new
State to be explored in different directions, and
is procuring accurate surveys of many parts of
it. He is a farmer and a merchant, and has had
ten, ships discharging timber in Liverpool at one
time. His political principles are opposed to
those of his brother, Mr. B. K  , who you
know is a federalist ; and who, as a statesman,
has not more than one or two superiors, if any,
in the United States. The Governor conversed
a good deal about New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia, whose proceedings are naturaUy viewed
with a good deal of interest in the adjoining
State of Maine. I understand that the road
along the Kennebec Biver/ and the Chaudiere,
to Quebec, is so far completed as to be passable,
and that the distance from Portland to Quebec,
by that route, is only 270 miles. I have no
doubt it will soon be the fashion to return to
the United States by this road from Quebec,after
completing the summer tour to " The Springs,"
Niagara, and Canada. It was by the side of
the Kennebec, you wiU recoUect, when the whole
of that country was a wilderness, that the traitor
Arnold led his troops to Quebec,
There is now ,a large settlement, and very
good society, both at Bath and Hallowell,
near the Kennebec. At the latter, Mr. V  ,

NORTH AMERICA. 203
an old settler, and ci-devant member of Parha
ment, and, I believe, several other English
gentlemen, reside. If I had had time, and the
road had been passable, I wished to have gone
to Hallowell, 60 miles from Portland, as there
is a good deal of business done there, and I had
letters to the principal people.
In this new State of Maine, I feel an increasr
ing interest. When I landed in America,
httle more than a year ago, she was only a dis
trict attached to Massachusetts, although as
large as Massachusetts, and the four other New
England States taken together. I was in the
capitol, during the debate on her admission,
which was unexpectedly impeded by a ruse-de-
guerre of the southern planters. It happened
that the applications for admission from Maine
and from Missouri were referred to the same
Committee; and the southern interest prevailing
in that Committee, they united the two appli
cations in one report, in which they recom
mended that Maine and Missouri be admitted
into the Union. By this means, they endea
voured to neutralize the votes of those eastern
members, who were solicitous for the admission
of Maine, but inveterately opposed to the admis
sion of Missouri, tiU that provision of her consti
tution, permitting slavery within her territories.

204 LETTERS FROM
should be expunged. With the result of that
debate, which almost rent asunder the Confede
ration, you are already acquainted, and you are
aware that Maine attained the rank of an
independent State in 1820.
We left Portland at five o'cfock in the morn
ing, on the 19th. The roads were so blocked
up with snow, that the mail and passengers
were obliged to be carried in an open sleigh. ..
It was very cold, the thermometer, I should
think, not being above zero ; but the moon
shone so brightly on the new fallen snow, that
we should have been sorry to have missed this
beautiful winter-scene, by being cooped up in
a close carriage. We reached Saco, 15 miles,
to breakfast, when it was determined to despatch
us in two sleighs, our unicorn equipage being
found inconvenient in the snow-drifts, from
having two horses abreast. My servant and I
were put into a tandem sleigh, about as large as
a parlour coal-box, or a little larger, the driver
standing up to drive. Our two companions
followed with one horse in a similar sleigh ; and
away we went over the snow-drifts, the music
of our bells resembling a concert of Jews'-harps.
Sometimes the bells of our companion suddenly
ceased, or literally " dropt," for, on looking
behind, we often found that their horse had

NORTH AMERICA. 205
partially disappeared, — his chin resting on a
snow-drift, and his countenance exhibiting a
most piteous expression of helplessness. At
other times our horses fell through, and it was
with great difficulty we extricated them ; the
snow being sufficiently frozen to be of a very
inconvenient consistence, although not always
hard enough to carry us rapidly on its surface.
Our horses were sometimes prostrate three or
four times in twenty yards. Once we were
obliged to be cut out, and at another time to
have more than twenty men and several oxen
to clear our way, the drifts on the road being
from six to twelve feet deep. As we had excel-
ent drivers, however, who drove with great rapid
ity where the road would admit of it, we reached
Portsmouth, sixty miles from Portland, at four
o'clock — eleven hours — after an amusing and
agreeable, and in some degree, adventurous
ride. The cold morning was succeeded, as is
often the case in this fickle climate, by a beau
tiful warm day ; and although the road, except
in the vicinity of the pine hills, is rather level,
the fir groves and large masses of rock, often
combine with the open sea, which is almost
constantly in sight, to form rather interesting
views. The country is tolerably weU settled,
and we passed through several httle towns,

206 LETTERS FROM
but the houses being less frequently painted
than in other parts of New England, have
neither the same neat nor flourishing aspect.
The people, however, seem every-where busy
and robust.
Portsmouth is a noble harbour on the Pisca
taqua, which is so deep that the vessels discharge
along the wharf; and so rapid, that even in
this winter, the severest which has been known
in America for at least forty years, its naviga
tion has never been interrupted. A navy yard
is estabhshed near the town, where " the Con
gress" and other ships of war were built, and
where they are now building a seventy-four
gun frigate. As the best boarding-house in
Portsmouth was full, we went to the stage inn,
rather a dirty scrambling tavern ; where I
found at breakfast the next morning, amid a
motley group, one of the judges and several
lawyers. The supreme. cOurt was to be opened
early in the morning, and as it was before
my hours of commercial calls, I attended to
hear the jury sworn in, and the judge's charge.
Both the grand and petty jury, in the appear
ance of which I could discern no difference,
seemed to be composed of respectable yeomanry,
of about the same rank as our farmers of £S00
to £500 per annum. They listened With great

NORTH AMERICA. 207
attention while the judge read (not spoke,
which took greatly from its effect,) a plain sen
sible charge, much to the point. The aspect
of the court in general pleased me, from the
homely suitable appearance of those of whom
it was composed ; home-spun clothes, with
large buttons and long waists, waistcoats with
the old triangular indenture or pointed flaps,
and hats with good broad respectable brims ;
the absence, in fact, of all affectation of fashion,
or awkward attempts at city spruceness. This
has pleased me particularly throughout New
England, and forms a contrast with the style
of dress which meets the eye generally in pass
ing along the road on the sea-board of the
middle and southern States, where blue coats,
black waistcoats, and blue pantaloons, produce
a monotony far less agreeable and picturesque,
than a variety of dress adapted, or apparently
adapted, to the various employments of the
wearers. I had httle opportunity of seeing the society
of Portsmouth, as my stay was so short, that
I preferred drinking tea en familie, with a re
spectable merchant to whom I was introduced,
to joining a large evening party of 50 or 60, to
which I was invited. At his house, I was
quite in a family party ; his rosy children drink-

208 LETTERS FROM
ing their large basins of mUk at the tea-table.
He was an agreeable cultivated man, and in the
course of our conversation, he gave me an
account of the Gulf of the Green Mountains, in
Vermont, where we were benighted in the au
tumn, which led me to suppose we had really
been in some danger. He said, " that on one side
of the road, for a great distance, there was a pre
cipice at least 50 feet deep, and that nothing
would induce himtoattempt the passage atnight,
although well acquainted with it." From his
description of its sublimity, he made me regret
extremely that I did not pass it in the day.
One of my young Canadian female companions,
now settled in Philadelphia, was raised, as they
say here in Portsmouth, and agreeably to my
promise, I called on her father, but I had no
time to accept his civilities. Her manners and
those of some other ladies from Portsmouth,
convinced me that I should have found some
pleasant society if I had remained there a few
days. I set off, however, early this morning,
and reached this place this afternoon. Towards
sunset (or sun-down, as it is always called in
this country,) I walked down to the mouth of
the Merrimack, and had a noble view of the
open sea. The roads in this part of the coun
try are excellent, and.;the finger-posts are so

NORTH AMERICA. 209
like ours, pointing to Salisbury, Ipswich, &c.
that it was easy to imagine myself in the south
of England. In most towns in New England,
the houses generally stand alone, in a court or
garden, with lofty trees in their immediate
vicinity. The inn was a large brick house, in
which I had a spacious and well-furnished bed
room. I rose very early the next morning, and
spent half an hour in a churchyard in the neigh
bourhood, in the hope of seeing the sun rise
clear out of the Atlantic, a few hours after he
had risen on you all in the East ; but a little
invidious cliff intervened. The ocean, how
ever, was beautiful ; and this quiet churchyard,
on a foreign shore, gave rise to many solemn
and very interesting reflections.
After breakfast I delivered my letters, but
the only gentleman whom I was likely to visit,
was engaged to attend the funeral of a neigh
bour and his wife, who were, that afternoon,
to be deposited in the same grave. Their his
tory was really affecting, as I afterwards read
it in the newspapers. He was formerly a
Methodist minister, in England, but had, for
some years, been settled as a merchant, at New
bury Port, where he was much respected for
his piety and benevolence. In coming from
England, their vessel was struck with some
large masses of floating ice, and before the pas-
VOL. II. p

210 LETTERS FROM
sengers were aware of their danger, the crew,
and I believe the captain, had deserted her, and
put off in the long-boat. As death seemed inevit
able, he went down into the cabin, that he and
his wife might die in each other's arms. She
said she " was resigned, if death was inevitable^
but that her mother would be so distressed to
hear of the accident, or never to hear of them
again, that she wished he would make one
attempt to save them." He went on deck, and
found the second boat, got it alongside, and
at last succeeded in getting his wife and some
other passengers into it. They were then en
tangled in the ice, and 300 miles from shore,
but the hand in which they trusted, preserved
them from going down together into a watery
grave. They have since been the instruments
of much good in their neighbourhood, and
as they were " lovely and pleasant in their lives,
so in death they were not divided." They died
the same day, and I saw them carried in the
same hearse, to the same grave, attended by
a very large concourse of people.
The 22nd was Washington's birth-day, which,
in the principal cities, generaUy gives rise to
public dinners and balls. Here the afternoon
seemed to be made a holiday, and the young
men and women turned out in great numbers,
very weU-dressed.

NORTH AMERICA. 211

VLttUX XXXiX.

Salem, Feb. 1821.
A longer residence in the principal cities of
the United States, and a more intimate acquaint
ance with their inhabitants, have given me a
better opportunity than I had previously
enjoyed, of forming the estimate you request
from me of the present state of rehgion and
morals on this side of the Atlantic. You must,
however, make great aUowance for errors in so
difficult and delicate an undertaking, and will
receive with peculiar caution, on such a subject,
any general conclusions deduced from the obser
vations of an individual traveller. You may,
however, consider the favourable representations
which I made, in a letter from Boston last
autumn, with respect to opportunities of public
worship, and the prevalence of evangelical
preaching, as applicable to aU the principal towns
and cities from Portland to Savannah.
But churches are not religion ; nor are the
ministrations of a pastor an unerring criterion
of the piety of his hearers. In a country,

212 LETTERS FROM
however, in which contributions to places of
public worship are, for the most part, voluntary,
a liberal dissemination of sacred edifices is a very
favourable symptom ; while a large number of
faithful ministers, and the frequent occurrence
of extensive congregations listening attentively
to unwelcome truths from pastors appointed by
their own election, and dependant on them for
support, afford something more than a .vague
presumption of the existence of no inconsider
able degree of vital piety in the community. -
My favourable impressions were strengthened
as I proceeded, by noticing the attention gene
rally paid on the Atlantic coast to the external
observance of the Sabbath ; by meeting conti
nuaUy with Bibles, and other religious books, in
the steam-boats and houses of entertainment ;
and by witnessing the efforts so frequently
apparent for the diffusion of religious truth.
Theological institutions for the education of
ministers, extensive, weU-endowed, and respect
able, often arrest the attention of the traveller
as he passes along the road ; whUe a very little
intercourse with society convinces him that
associations of a more private nature, for pre
paring indigent young men for missionary
services, together with Bible Societies, Mission-

NORTH AMERICA. 213
ary Societies, and Sunday School and Tract
Societies, are liberally scattered.
I felt neither disposed nor caUed upon to
deprive myself of the pleasure I derived from
these favourable indications, by reflecting that
they were no accurate measure of the degree in
which personal religion prevails. I was quite
aware, that in many cases, and especially where
there is no establishment, churches are some
times multiphed by the very dissensionsof a con
gregation ; that a proportion of. the active effort
engaged in the promotion of religious objects, is
often very httle connected with Christian princi
ple ; and that respect for external forms may sur
vive the extinction of a devotional ispirit. But
at the same time, I felt persuaded, that although
a love of popularity may enrol the worldly in
the list of contributors to religious societies, .or
engage them as public advocates in a sacred
cause, still that diligent performance of the
routine of official duties, and those self-denying
and persevering efforts, to which religious
societies are usuaUy indebted both for their
origin and prosperity, imply, in most cases, the
existence of a higher principle, and spring from
a purer source.
My subsequent experience has convinced me
that I was not incorrect in the persuasion in

214 LETTERS FROM
which I indulged myself as I passed along, that
I was always in- the vicinity of some, at least,
who were united in Christian sympathy with
the whole church-militant on earth, and were
travelling to a better country, amidst the hopes
and fears, the trials and consolations, which
chequer the lot, and form the character of the
Christian in every quarter of the globe. Some
times, in the course of my route, as you wiU have
observed in my letters, some little incident
would give peculiar force to this persuasidh, or
the surrounding scenery impart to it a particular
interest. At Boston I had the pleasure, as I have
already mentioned, of an interview with the
venerable Dr. Worcester, * and received much
* He soon afterwards sailed for New Orleans, partly in
the hope of repairing his shattered constitution, in a southern
climate, and partly in order to visit the missionary settlements
of Elliot and Brainerd, in the prosperity of which he was
deeply interested. He arrived safe in the Mississippi ; and
after surmounting, with much pain and weariness, the fatigues
and perils of the wilderness, with which his frail frame seemed
ill qualified to conflict, he reached Brainerd on the 25th May,
feeble and exhausted. " He was able to attend to no busi
ness, and to speak but little. In few words, he addressed the
members of the church, and some of the congregation. After
that, though much exhausted, he expressed a particular desire
that the children of the school, according to their request,
should come in. < I want,' he said, feebly, and with tears,

NORTH AMERICA. 215
interesting inteUigence from the Missionary
Board, and its exceUent treasurer, Mr. Evarts.
There I found an association of young men,
who have set apart a portion of their income
for the establishment of a missionary press at
Jerusalem ; and there I heard of a society of
young ladies, who meet together once a week,
and devote the proceeds of their evening's sew
ing, or other work, to some charitable purpose,
and of another society of young labouring
men, each of whom devotes a given number
of hours each week to the cultivation of a
particular field, the produce of which is sent
' I want to see all my dear children, (the Indians,) and to
take them by the hand.' They were then called in, and he
took each of them by the hand, as they passed by his dying
bed. Having all passed round in procession, they stood and
sung a hymn. He was affected to tears most of the time. He
then, in the most affectionate manner, addressed them, which,
in return, melted them to tears  , 
There, on the 7th of June, in the morning, — at that conse
crated spot in the wilderness, dearer far to him, than any city
or mansion on earth, this servant of the church, worn out with
fatigue, and exhausted with sickness, lifted .up his eyes
towards heaven, and, with a delightful smile upon his counte
nance, fell asleep."— -Wood's Sermon on the death of Dr. Wor
cester. As Dr. Worcester was a man of more than common endow
ments, both natural and acquired, it may be interesting to see
in what light he viewed, in the near prospect of death, his
zealous exertions in the cause of missions. In a letter, written,
I believe, on his passage to New Orleans, he says, " What
the end is to be, is not yet ta be read. It may be the final

216 LETTERS FROM
as their joint subscription to the Board of
Missions. There also I had the gratification of
seeing Henry Martyn in an American dress,
going forth in the character of a departed saint,
to advance in the West, the cause in which he
himself feU so early and lamented a sacrifice in
the East ; to fan, in the very scenes where his
beloved Henry Brainerd had laboured, the mis
sionary zeal which that eminent man had
kindled; and to animate every succeeding
American missionary by an affecting proof, that
a ray of fervent piety, though emanating from
the solitudes of an American forest, may pene-
exit from all earthly scenes, and the dropping of this slender
tabernacle, though far away from its kindred dust, yet in the
place, whether in the sea, or upon the land, appointed by
sovereign goodness for its rest till the rising day. — It may Toe
the accomplishment of something for life and immortality to
the wanderers of the wilderness, or dwellers in the dark
places of the earth, by an instrumentality so feeble, as to
make it manifest — that the excellency of the power must have
been of God.. — One thing is settled in my mind, and that is,
a full and delightful conviction, that the cause cf Emissions has
never held too high a place in my estimation, or engaged too
large a share of my attention. It transcends, immeasurably
transcends, the highest estimation of every created mind.
And what is the sacrifice of health, what the sacrifice of life,
to such a cause? Be the event what it may — recovered
health, or e.arly deaths— I never can regret what I have done
in this work, — but only that I have done so little, and with a
heart so torpid."

NORTH AMERICA. 217
trate even the cloisters of Cambridge, and revive
a fainting bosom in the deserts of Persia, or
Hindostan. While visiting a friend in New York, I was
informed that it was in the adjoining room that
the agents of the African Colonization Society,
and their supporters, assembled for prayer the
night previous to the sailing of the first expedi
tion, of whose melancholy fate we had just
received the intelligence.
In Philadelphia, the Sunday after my arrival,
I heard our excellent Liturgy, for the first time,
on these western shores ; and the impression it
was calculated to make on my mind was deep
ened by the circumstance of its being sacrament
Sunday, and by the stillness and decorum which
pervaded the city to a degree that I had never
witnessed, even in England. Here I was also
much gratified by meeting with Bishop White,
nearly ninety years of age, one of the bishops who
went over to England after the Bevolution, to
be consecrated, in order that "episcopal authority
might be transmitted to the latest generations
of America, through the legitimate channel in
which it had flowed since the laying on of
Apostolic hands." Our excellent Granville
Sharp, and his active efforts in this cause, came
forcibly to my recollection.

218 LETTERS FROM
While drinking tea with a friend in Baltimore,
one of the females of the family came in, who, I
learnt, had been attending an adult-school, in
which there were 180 Negroes. She told me
there were 600 Negroes in the Sunday-schools
in the city ; and that they had lately formed
themselves into a Bible Association, and been
received into connection with the Baltimore
Bible Society. At the same place, a letter was
shown to me just received from the black
person, on whom the management of the expe
dition of the Colonization Society devolved, on
the White agents falling a sacrifice to the
dreadful mortality with which the settlers were
visited. On a desert shore, deprived by death
of the White conductors, to whom he and his
companions looked for protection — depressed by
the successive deaths of his black friends, and
harassed by the delays, irregularities, and suspi
cious conduct of the native chiefs — he writes in
a strain of fortitude and piety, deserving of
imitation. " But, thank God," he says, " though
cut off from my friends, and relations, and
family, and the comforts of civilized life, our
people dropping off daily, myself labouring
under great bodily weakness, and an important
charge lying upon me, I can truly say, that I
rejoice that I came to Africa. O, that what few

NORTH AMERICA. 219
days I am spared in this world, it may be
to do good." And yet this person, I was
told, was once an American slave.
When visiting General Washington's tomb,
in his favourite retreat at Mount Vernon, on the
banks of the Potowmac, my black attendant
informed me, that the domestics, about thirty,
I believe, in number, and principally slaves,
assembled morning and evening for family
worship, at which the Hon. B. W  , the
present occupier of Mount Vernon, and a Judge
of the Supreme Court, presides.
In the seclusion of the forests of the
Mississippi; I have seen a solitary planter take
down a number of Dr. Adam Clarke's Bible, and
inquire, with great interest, if I could tell him
any particulars of so good a man : his wife
listening attentively, and pronouncing a eulo
gium, which would have made the Doctor
blush. *
* Dr. Clarke's is the favourite Commentary in the southern
and western, and Mr. Scott's in the northern and eastern
States. " Besides these English editions, amounting to at least
12,000 copies, I have received from an American bookseller
of respectability, the particulars of eight editions, printed
within the territories of the United States, at Philadelphia,
New York, Boston, and Hartford, from the year 1808 to 1819,
amounting to 25,250 copies ; besides an edition of the Sacred
Text only, with my father's references, contents of chapters,
and introduction to the several books of Scripture. ' The

220 LETTERS FROM
But it was at the missionary settlements at
Elliot and Brainerd, that my feelings were most
strongly excited. Never shall I forget my
sensations the two nights I passed in Mr.
Kingsbury's little room, which was kindly and
courteously assigned to me during my stay.
A log-cabin, detached from the other wooden
buildings, in the middle of a boundless forest,
in an Indian country, consecrated, if I may be
allowed the expression, by standing on mission
ary ground, and by forming at once the dormi
tory and the sanctuary of a " man of God ;" it
seemed to be, indeed, the prophet's chamber,
with " the bed and the table, and the stool, and
the candlestick." It contained, also, a httle
book-case, with a valuable selection of pious
books, periodical, biographical, and devotional;
comprising many an old acquaintance, which I
was glad to meet in this foreign land, and which
enable Mr. Kingsbury, in his few moments of
leisure, to converse with many, who have long
since joined the "spirits of just men made per-
retail price of all the English copies, taking their number
as above stated, (which I believe to be short of the truth,)
would, I find, amount to the sum of £67,600 ; that of the
American copies, to £132,300; making together £199,000.
Probably no theological work can be pointed out, which pro
duced, by its sale, during the author's life-time, an equal
sum." — Scott's Life.

NORTH AMERICA. 221
feet," or to sympathize with his feUow-labourers
in Otaheite, Africa, or Hindostan.
The preceding particulars wiU convince you
that some indications of genuine, influential,
religious principle occur, even to the rapid
traveller, in almost every part of the United
States. During my residence in Boston, New
York, PhUadelphia, Baltimore, and Charleston,
I have seen that there is in each of them an
extensive society of exemplary Christians ; and
I have had the pleasure of forming an acquaint
ance with many whose virtues I would gladly
emulate, and whose characters are an ornament
to their profession.
But you will wish to know in what degree
vital piety prevails in the community, and I
regret that I cannot tell you more explicitly ;
the subject does not admit of precision. The
extent in which religion prevails here is known
only to the Searcher of hearts ; but there is the
strongest reason to believe, that it is very consi
derable. Indeed, I am disposed to think, that a
cursory traveUer, visiting England and America,
without prejudice, and with equal opportunities
of observation, would draw a more favourable
inference, with respect to the state of religion
in the Atlantic cities of the eastern and middle
States of the latter, than in the towns or cities

222 LETTERS FROM
of the former. Whether a long residence in
the respective places, would not lead to some
change in his opinions, or at least hold them in
suspense, I am at a loss to decide ; but I believe
it would. I confine my supposition to the Atlantic
cities, because the benighted shores of the Gulf
of Mexico, and many portions of the western
wilds, possess few features in common with our
favoured country, and should rather be com
pared with our colonial possessions in the East
or West Indies. Indeed, I might include exten
sive districts in the back parts of many of the
Atlantic States, where population is thinly scat
tered, and opportunities of public worship-occur
only once or twice a month. In some of these,
I thought I observed great coldness in religious
concerns ; the unfrequent return of pubhc
ordinances rendering the inhabitants rather less
than more willing to avaU themselves of them
when offered. I felt more disappointed in such
districts, than in the frontier settlements. In
the latter, some spiritual as well as temporal
privations are naturally to be expected ; though
I thought their inhabitants often exhibited
greater solicitude for schools and. churches than
those of the former. In fact, the new settlers
from the Atlantic States have, in many cases,

NORTH AMERICA. 223
participated in the advantages of that general
revival of religion which promises to be the
characteristic of modern times ; and before their
zeal has had time to cool in solitude and sepa
ration, it has often secured a provision for those
religious ordinances by which it may be che
rished and sustained. But the back parts of
Pennsylvania and Virginia were settled in less
auspicious days ; and we must not be surprised
if the flame of piety, burning less brightly at
that time, even on the coast, should grow pale
and sickly when removed into an atmosphere
which ministered little to its support.
In a rehgious point of view, the dispersion of
the population by emigration to the western
country, assumes a very serious aspect ; and
there are intelligent men in this country, who
regard it with the most gloomy forebodings.*
* The following observations on this subject, from the pen
of Dr. Jarvis, of Boston, deserve the most serious attention.
Alluding to the provision of the Federal Constitution for the
toleration, but not the support of Christianity^ he observes : —
" This single measure has altered the whole aspect of affairs.
The constitution of the general government immediately be
came a model for the constitutions of the several States. Thus
a force was created, which sapped the foundations of all
establishments : and though the religious institutions of Mas
sachusetts and Connecticut have been seated deep in the
habits and affections of the people, yet the constantly accu
mulating power of this formidable lever has, at length, heaved
them from their base. It is now left to men, as individuals,

224 LETTERS FROM
It must frequently happen, that the new set
tlers, within the ordinary range of a minister's
to associate for the purpose of public worship, as they would
associate for any object merely of private and wordly interest.
In our cities, and other large places, this may be done.
Enough may be found already united in sentiment, to unite
in the formation of' a Christian congregation. But, when
you look beyond them, and contemplate the small 'villages
and hamlets, the population of which is thinly scattered over
an area of many miles, you behold the same divisions rendinw
society into shreds and patches, various in texture, and form,
and colouring. The few of each religious denomination can
not agree to worship together, and are unable, from the
smallness of their number, to support separate places of wor
ship. The consequence is, that they are left destitute of the
means of religion. The sanctity of the Lord's-day is either
violated by an attention to worldly concerns, or is observed
in a manner worse than the violation, by being made the
occasion of idleness and vice. In this part of our country,
(the State of Massachusetts,) religion was supported by law,
until it became the habit of the community ; and, therefore,
it still continues to act with the force of an establishment,
as a wheel continues to turn, after the force apphed to it is
stopped. Yet, even here, we are beginning to feel the evils
arising from division, and to feel them severely. Your
parishes are crumbling into ruins. Party is arranged against
party. To settle a minister becomes impracticable; or, if
two or more are settled, the scanty pittance, given to them
for their support, obliges them to escape from the horrors of
poverty, by removal."
^ " If it be so here, what must it be in our newly settled ter
ritories, where religion has no nursing fathers or nursing
mothers ? One clergyman, it is said, is necessary for a, thou
sand souls. Beit so; but when it is remembered, that this
thousand may be composed of five or six different denomina-
tions, it will be seen at once how the divisions of the Christian

NORTH AMERICA. 225
exertions are too few and too poor to main
tain a single pastor, still less to maintain one
community, by increasing its wants, increase the difficulty
of supplying them. Can it be a matter of surprise, that, in
the midst of all that life and energy, which are exhibited in
our new settlements, the goodly plant of Christianity should
have taken no root, and is withering and dying for want of
nourishment ? The sound of the axe may ring through the
forest ; the plough may pierce the sod, which had been before
undisturbed for centuries, excepting by the hunter's tread ;
the streams may be pent up in their narrow bed, and powers
not their own, given them, to turn the mill-wheel, and afford
nourishment and protection to man ; villages and towns, and
cities, may spring up and flourish : but while the smoke is
seen to curl from many a domestic hearth, where, alas ! are
the altars ? — where is the village spire, pointing to heaven,
and telling to the distant traveller, that he is approaching
the abode of Christian, as well as of civilized man ? My
brethren, the divisions, the hapless divisions, of this little
community, weaken their strength, and deprive them of all
the means of grace. Their children remain unbaptized and
uninstructed. The incense of prayer never ascends from the
altar of their hearts. The walls of the sanctuary never
reverberate with their praises. The memorial of their
Redeemer's love never touches their lips. The oblation of
charity is never offered by their hand. In the first genera
tion, religion wears itself away by a gradual decline ; in the
second, it can hardly be said to have existed. As our popu
lation increases, therefore, the prospect is shrouded by a more
portentous gloom : and there is great danger, that, with all
the exertions which the pious and benevolent can make,
we shall become a nation of heathens, and not of Christians."
— Jarvis' s Sermon, pp. 9 — 11. — See an interesting article in
the British Review of February, 1824, on " American Epis
copacy," in which there are many valuable particulars respect-
VOL. II. Q

226 LETTERS FROM
for each of the five or six different sects into
which they may be divided* It is in cases of
ing the State of religion, and of the Protestant Episcopal
Churchin the American Union.
* The following extract from the interesting "Appeal on be
half of the Diocese of Ohio," will illustrate this remark. The
Bishop of this Diocese, the Right Rev. Philander. Chase, the
only Bishop beyond the Alleghany Mountains, is now in this
country ; a man of primitive manners, who has exhibited in
the various difficulties; labours, and privations, with which
he has had to contend, a spirit of charity and devotion wor
thy of Apostolic times.
" Some idea may be formed of the overwhelming labour,
connected with an infant diocese, in such a country as that
of the Western Territory of the States, by the following
fact, quoted by the Editors of the British Critic, for May
1822, from the Journal of the Convention : —
" ' Bishop Chase travelled in the course of the year 1820,
on horseback, which is the only way of visiting the infant
settlements of that country, a distance of twelve hundred
and seventy-one miles, and performed divine service and
preached eighty-two times, besides attending the sick, the
dying, and the afflicted.'
"Very justly do these writers add, in reference to such
Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church of America, that
they " — ' have succeeded, not only to the office of the Apostles,
but also to their labours and privations.'
" The principal passages quoted by the Editors, from the
Bishop's Address, here follow : —
" ' The map of Ohio will show you the extentaf our charge.
Our extreme parishes, as those of Cincinnati and Asatabula,
are distant, each from the other, rising of three hundred
miles. In other directions, their distance is not much less.'
"On this vast surface, our settlements are thirdy scat-

NORTH AMERICA. 227
this description, that I have been most forcibly
struck with the injurious consequences of the
tered, and, among these settlements, are mingled the mem
bers of our primitive church. Having emigrated from places
where the pleasant things of our Zion were freely and in
abundance ministered, they remember their past enjoyments
as hungry persons think on their former feasts of plenty. In
this situation they sit, like the captive Israelites, by the
muddy waters of the -Euphrates' stream, waiting, with sighs
and tears, for redemption to the church of God; for. that
blessed time, when the word and sacraments can, with any
thing like constancy, be ministered among them.'
" ' Besides innumerable individuals dispersed throughout
our State, there are forty-eight places containing our little
flocks, mostly in circumstances similar to the above. These
I have hitherto visited once a year. I have witnessed their
joy at meeting, and their grief at parting. Their passionate
inquiries, prompted by their love of Zion, and especially by
the danger of the rising generations being enticed every day
from h$r order and beauty, into the paths of sin and infidel
ity ; their passionate inquiries for some prospects, of relief,
in the enjoyment of faithful missionaries, almost every where
repeated, have sunk deep into my heart, and caused my tears
to mingle with theirs.'
" ' Our parishes and places of holding divine service, are
mostly distant from e^ch other, from fifteen to sixty miles ;,
$jid the amount of parochial services is hardly so much as
five clergymen to support them all. Though these are faith
ful, I fear, beyond their strength, yet, what are they among
so many congregations, and at such distances ? To keep,
frfijn ecclesiastical extinction, the little flopks already formed,
they have, in many instances, encompassed so great a field
of duty, that, before they have finished their circuit, their
former labours are no more seen ; their fences against error
are thrown down, the weeds of sin are grown, and their

22& LETTERS FROM
want of a legal provision for ministers of
religion; but I believe the deficiency is also
seriously felt in many of the old States.
The example of the United States has often
been cited, both by the opponents and advocates
of church establishments, in confirmation of
their respective opinions. I think, however,
that both parties are premature, and that many
years must elapse before the result of the expe
riment can be ascertained. Indeed, so long as
America participates freely in the advantages of
the ecclesiastical estabhshment of Great Britain ;
so long as she has ready access to the writings
of British Divines, and the valuable fund of

whole ground is laid waste. Too often have I witnessed this
with mine own eyes ; too often have I seen the lambs of the
fold devoured, because a shepherd was too far distant to hear
their cries. What must be my feelings under such circum-
' stances, the beatings of your own bosoms, as yon read this,
can best express.' ,
" ' In doing the duty above alluded to, I have found the
labours of a missionary inseparable from those of the Episco-^
pate; and, to a person of my age, this assemblage of
fatigue is more than can be borne. Incessant speaking in
private, as well as in public, in teaching the rudiments of'
Christianity to the young, in explaining and defending the
first principles of our religion to the ignorant opposer, ,have
already much impaired my voice and my general health ; and
should this state of things continue, to all human view, my
strength will soon be brought down, in my journey, and my
days will be shortened."'

NORTH AMERICA. 229
theological learning, which has been accumu
lating for centuries ; so long as she can refer to
the Liturgy of the Church of England, as a
record of those fundamental doctrines in which
most of her rehgious sects were once agreed,
as a landmark by which to trace any deviation
from their primitive faith, she can no more be
adduced as conclusive evidence, that rehgious
establishments are inexpedient, than the exist
ence of Quakers, in the midst of other com
munities, can be appealed to as a satisfactory
proof of the possibility of their existing as
independent nations, without exercising the
right of self-defence. I by no means, how
ever, mean to deny, that the degree in which
religion flourishes in America, without a legal
provision for its support, furnishes a presump',
tion, that establishments are not so necessary as
some of their advocates contend.
GeneraUy speaking, it has appeared to me,
that the style of preaching in this country is
more Calvinistic than in England, and that there
is also less opposition to the peculiar doctrines
of the gospel among men of the world. It is
owing partly to this circumstance, that an
attention to religion involves less of that miti
gated persecution of modern days, which per
sons of piety must often encounter with us,

230 LETTERS FROM
in the regrets or remonstrances of opposing
friends, or the ridicule or distance of sneering
companions. A religious profession might, there
fore, be supposed to be more common; and,
perhaps, may be so ; a state of neutrality or indif
ference certainly is.
Whatever may be the actual state of religion
in this country, I am quite satisfied that it is
on the advance. There may be local exceptions;
but my inquiries and observations in everypartof
my route have led me to a confident conclusion
as to the general fact. * Many of the societies for
* In confirmation of this opinion, I am happy to adduce
the respectable, authority of the Rev. Wm. Ward, of Seram-
pore, who, after a long residence in India, visited England
and the Continent of Europe, and was travelling in America at
the same time as myself. In a letter, dated London, April,
1821, (about two months later than the date of the preceding
letter,) he observes, " The number of religious institutions in
America exceeds, if possible, those of England. BiBle,
Missionary, Tract, and Sunday-school societies, are very
numerous. The American Bible Society is a noble institu
tion, doing great good. The Orphan Asylum at New York
has been favoured with such remarkable instances of the
Divine care, as to remind one very strongly of the institution
of Professor Frank, in Germany.
" But there are some institutions existing in America, which
I have not heard of in other countries, At Boston, and in
other places, a missionary for the town and neighbourhood is
maintained and employed : his work is to carry the gospel to
the poor ; to preach in cellars, in garrets, and amongst those
who, by their poverty, or their peculiar circumstances, or their

NORTH AMERICA. 231
the promotion of religion, are of recent origin ;
but they are graduaUy diffusing themselves over
disinclination, are excluded from the public means of grace.
I met two or three of these interesting missionaries. Socie
ties of ladies exist for assisting poor Christian students, by
purchasing cloth, and making them clothes. Other ladies are
united to work together one day. in a week, fortnight, or
month, devotipg the produce of their sewing, &c. toi some good
object. One ofthe party reads for the edification of the rest.
Societies of girls, and separate ones for boys, are numerous:
these have meetings, and devote a quarter, or a half, or a
whole dollar a year each, to some Christian object. In the
church under the care of the Rev. Mr. Payson, of Portland, a
number of married females have associated, under a solemn
engagement, that the survivors will, as much as possible, seek
the spiritual good of the children, from whom any mother, in
this association, may be removed by. death.
" The different denominations in this country come together
in delightful harmony, and co-operate without being ob
structed by those impediments which exist in other countries.
The Sunday-school Union, ¦ in New York, exhibits a noble
specimen of the true Christian feeling; and the Union
flourishes accordingly.
" In short, I found more places of worship in the large towns
of America, than in similar towns in Britain ; and much
genuine piety among the Presbyterians, the Congregational
ists, the Evangelical Episcopalians, the Methodists, and the
Baptists ; and, as far as my journeying extended, I observed
a cheering exhibition of Christian progress. As in England,
all denominations of real Christians are increasing ; and all
are growing better. The revivals in different sections of the
Union, are greater than ever. I have made special inquiry
into the nature of these revivals, and find, that the far
greater portion of those who commence a religious professsion

LETTERS FROM
the Union, and the sympathy which was first
kindled by commiseration for the Otaheitan or
Hindoo, instead of being exhausted on distant
objects, seems to derive fervour from its very
expansion, and is now visiting the hut of the
Aborigines, the log-cabin ofthe backwoods-man,
and the habitation of the careless and unin-
structed neighbour. In New Orleans, in March,
1815, there was not a Bible to be found, either
to be sold, or gratuitously distributed ; and the
only Protestant place of worship was in an
upper room belonging to an individual. Now,
a Louisianian Bible Society is in regular
Operation, and the inhabitants have a hand
some Episcopal and Presbyterian Church. The
Sabbath is still dfeadfuUy and generally pro
faned there ; but it is religiously observed by
many, the influence of whose example is daUy
extending. At the boarding-house where I

under these impressions, continue till death to adorn the
doctrine of divine influence. — Christian missions, too, begin
to be more and more popular, and the duty of the church to
identify them as an integral part of its institutions, begins
to be more generally felt and acknowledged in this highly-
favoured country."
Duncan remarks, " No one of reflection and candour can
fail to be convinced, that truth and righteousness, do, to a
very important extent, prevail ; and that those principles are
in a state of increasing progress, and develope much."

NORTH AMERICA. 233
lodged, were several naval and mihtary, as weU
as mercantile gentlemen ; and I remember an
officer who had been driUing his rifle corps
one Sunday, remarking on the strong repre
sentations which the Presbyterians had been
making to him on the subject. He defended
the practice by those arguments of expediency
which have been worn threadbare by the com
manders of our volunteer corps. A few years
since, no remonstrance would have been haz
arded ; or if hazarded, the summary argument
of a pistol, would probably have sUenced the
interference. I wiU reserve, till we meet, all details respect
ing the comparative numbers of the different
religious denominations, as well as with regard
to the constitution and present condition of the
American Episcopal church. As a member,
and minister of the Church of England, 1 know
you will rejoice sincerely to learn, that the
Episcopal Church of America is flourishing and
increasing, as there is every reason to believe, in
numbers and in piety* It is, however, with the
* " The preceding facts and statements will give our rea
ders a tolerably accurate view of the present state of the
Protestant Episcopal Church in the American Union. Her
future prospects are flattering, and the labours of her exem
plary clergy are unremitting. In most of the dioceses, (we

234 LETTERS FROM
deepest regret, that I observe in the diocese
of New York, no small portion of that intolerant
and exclusive spirit which appears to identify
Christianity with episcopacy, and to look with
a cold or jealous eye on the diffusion of religious
truth, and the advancement of religious prin
ciple, if not accompanied with the extension of
the discipline, the authority, or the interests of
a particular church. Attached, from conviction
and principle, to the Church of England, it has
been with shame and grief that I have heard
the examples of some of her dignitaries occa
sionally adduced to justify a spirit so httle
accordant with her Catholic principles, and so
much at variance, as it appears to me, with the
spirit and principles of the gospel.

believe we might say 'in all) the clergy are ex officio mission
aries, in addition to their stated pastoral duties. Sunday-
schools are attached, we believe, to almost every church..
Most, if not all, of the dioceses have likewise their separate
missionary societies, as well as societies for the promotion of
Christian knowledge, by distributing Bibles, prayer-books,
homilies, tracts, &c. Besides these, there has been organ
ized " A Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society" of the
whole church, which is in correspondence with the Societies
in London for propagating the gospel in foreign parts, and for
promoting Christian knowledge ; and also with the ¦ Church
Missionary Society, which, in 1821, granted £200 sterling in
aid of its important objects." — British Review.

NORTH AMERICA. 235
If, indeed, the Church of England were
not calumniated, by being cited in support of
a sectarian and exclusive spirit ; if she required
from her adherents such a superstitious vene
ration for a particular form of church govern
ment as would suppress every generous sym
pathy with those of a different communion;
if she could refuse to extend the right hand of
fellowship and cordiahty to all who are labour
ing to communicate by unexceptionable means,
the light of Christian truth to those who are
" sitting in darkness and the shadow of death," —
she would merit little indeed of that attach
ment and respect, with which I hope I shaU
never cease to regard her.
I am, happy, however, to say, that there are
many Episcopalians in New York, of a more
liberal spirit than that on which I have animad
verted, and that the body of Episcopalians are
distinguished by meritorious exertions, within
the pale of their own church. *
* For many interesting particulars on this subject, I beg to
refer to Duncan's Travels, which contain more valuable infor
mation respecting the United States than any work which I
have seen. The reader will find in these Travels many im
portant details, which, having no idea whatever of publishing, I
omitted to collect, and many particulars which I have sup
pressed, on finding that Mr. Duncan had already laid them

236 LETTERS FROM
before the public. I have not the pleasure of being acquainted
with Mr. D. ; but I am gratified by the opportunity of bear
ing testimony, as far as my opportunities of observation have
enabled me, to. the general accuracy of a work, which I trust
will be extensively circulated.

NORTH AMERICA. 237

UttUV x&.

Salem, 24th February, 1821.
In my last I gave you, what I think you
would consider an encouraging picture of the
present state, and still more so of the future
prospects of religion in this country. I did
not, however, reply to your inquiries respecting
Unitarianism, of the extension of which you
appear to be already aware. From all I can
learn, it appears that Unitarian opinions have
been entertained in New England for fifty years
at least, and perhaps much longer. Generally
speaking, however, they were not very openly
avowed, tiU much more recently ; some of those
who held them concealing their sentiments,
because they were unpopular, — others, because
they felt indifferent about them, — and others,
more reflecting and philosophical, because they
conceived that their extension would be most
effectually promoted at that particular time by
reserve and caution. The first Unitarian con
gregation, formed in America, was established
in the King's Chapel soon after the Bevolution.

238 LETTERS FROM
This was the chapel in which the Governor
worshipped ; but becoming afterwards private
property, and the majority changing their senti
ments, they expunged from the church prayers
all allusion to Trinitarian doctrines, and openly
renounced the Trinity. The minority of course
retired. In 1792, an Unitarian congregation
was formed at Portland, in the district of Maine;
and another at Saco, a small town, 20 miles
further to the south. Both these congrega
tions soon expired ; but I found,, when at
Portland last Sunday, that another congregation
was established there, and that the legislature
of the newly-elected State Of Maine, who were
then sitting, were debating on a bill, which
would have a tendency, (if, indeed, it were not
one of its immediate objects,) to favour, the
extension of Unitarian sentiments. The sermon
of the minister of the Episcopal church, which
I attended, was on the duty of contending fppr
the " faith once delivered to the saints," and
had a specific reference to this bill. As Unita
rian sentiments became more general, they Ayere
gradually avowed , with less reserve ; yet the
pulpits of many ministers, who were supposed
to have imbibed them, gave no evidence of the
fact, except that of omissions. This at length
brought upon them the charge of insincerity from

NORTH AMERICA. 239
their more orthodox brethren. The imputation
was repelled with warmth ; and the public were
left in great doubt as to the precise sentiments
of many of their pastors. Dr. Morse, who had
been the most prominent of those who publicly
manifested their regret at the defection of their
brethren from the common faith, was accused
of misrepresentation ; and the most candid felt
it almost impossible to arrive at the real state of
things. At this time, Dr. Morse happened to
meet with Mr. Belsham's Life of Lindesay, in
which he found his own representations borne
out by letters and documents, transmitted from
Boston by the Unitarians themselves. These
he strung together, in the form of a pamphlet,
under the title of " American Unitarianism ; or
a brief History of the progress and present state
of the Unitarian Churches in America ; com
piled from documents and information, commu
nicated by the Bev. James Freeman, D. D. and
WUham Wells, jun. Esq. of Boston, and from
other Unitarian Gentlemen, in this country.
By the Bev. T. Belsham, Essex-street, London.
Extracted from, &c. &c." This pamphlet was
eagerly read, and produced a great sensation.
It disclosed the actual state of things, brought
the question to issue, and ranged in opposite
ranks those advocates of conflicting sentiments

240 LETTERS FROM
who had hitherto been confusedly intermingled.
A paper controversy has since been carried on
at intervals, as particular circumstances, or occa
sional excitement prompted ; and both parties,
as usual, claim the victory. In the mean time*
however, Unitarianism has advanced; but
although it is evident that it prevails to
a considerable extent, Dr. Morse assured me
that he did not believe it was gaining ground
at prfesent. If the number of its advocates
seems to have augmented during the last year
or two, he was disposed to ascribe the apparent
increase rather to a more open avowal of their
sentiments by many who were Unitarians before,
than to a more general conviction of the truth
of Unitarianism. Of the present numbers of the
Unitarians, I can give you no idea. There are
comparatively few, except in New England;
and very few there, except in the towns on the
coast. In Boston, I believe, there are seven or
eight congregations of Unitarians, of different
shades. In Baltimore, a splendid and costly
Unitarian chapel was lately finished. In
Philadelphia, there is a small Unitarian place
of worship. In New York, a new Unitarian
chapel, or what the orthodox consider as
such, was opened, while I was there, by

NORTH AMERICA. 241
Mr. Everett,* from Cambridge, (Massachusetts.)
I was told it was numerously attended ; but that
it was generaUy rather frowned upon. As, how
ever, those whom I heard mention it, were
among its strongest opponents, I know not how
far the latter statement might be correct. The
chapel was opened on a Week-day; and the
minister was said not to dwell at all on doctrinal.
points. The following Sunday, I heard from
 , a powerful discourse, with reference to
this new chapel, in which he spoke of the pro
gress of infidelity, at different periods, in the
United States. In the course of his sermon, he
made some ill-timed aUusions, which could not be
mistaken, to. the imputed scepticism of distin
guished pohtical characters ; and there was an
occasional asperity of language, which no differ
ence of sentiment, even on those points, which
we deem fundamental, can ever justify.
* Mr. Everett, well known in America and many parts of
England, was, till lately, the Editor of the North American
Review. This work, so creditable to the learning, talents,
and spirit of its conductors, is acquiring, I am happy to find,
an extensive circulation in England. ¦ Some of its papers, no
doubt, possess only a local interest, but it embraces, in its
plan, every topic connected with the welfare of the human
race, and is distinguished, as far as I have seen, by a spirit
of moderation, candour, and liberality. I hope the time is
not far distant, when it will be found in our Book Societies
and Reading Rooms as commonly as the Edinburgh and the
Quarterly Reviews.
VOL. II. R

242 LETTERS FROM
But Boston is the head-quarters of Unitarian
ism ; and many of the Unitarians there are so
amiable, and so intelligent, — possess so much
practical kindness, and so many social virtues,
as to exert a natural and powerful influence in
favour of their opinions, and to shame many
a narrow-minded, indolent professor of what
.we consider a purer faith ; — a faith which too
many of us are apt to forget it is our duty to
illustrate, as well as to maintain, — and to
exhibit not merely as a dry system of restraint
and prohibition, but as a source of the most
generous incentives to excellence, in all that
is " lovely, and of good report."
There are many things in the situation of the
respectable classes of society in Boston, which
are calculated to promote the extension of
Unitarianism. In the first place, the strong traces
which stiU remain of those habits of order and
morality which their religious forefathers left
as a rich inheritance to the population of New
England,— habits intrinsically valuable, and en
titling their possessors to esteem, but rather apt,
perhaps, to lull asleep any suspicion of error in
the creed with which they are found connected.
2ndly, A consciousness of literary superiority to
the rest of the Union ; an undue appreciation
of talent in the estimate of character ; and

NORTH AMERICA. 243
an association (from which, as far as it is ex
clusive, I of course dissent) between hberahty
and Unitarianism — all strengthened, if not
produced, by proximity to the most cele
brated university in the United States, where
the principal professors are Unitarians, and the
system, though ostensibly neutral, is Unitarian
also. — 3dly, A state of worldly ease and com
fort, in which the necessity of religious consola
tions is apt to be less strongly felt, and their
foundation to be investigated with less trem
bling solicitude than under poverty and afflic
tion. Impressed as I am with a firm belief of the
truth and importance of those doctrines which
are denied by the Unitarians, I am gratified by
the persuasion, that the tendency of the preced
ing circumstances will be fully counteracted
by the fervent piety, the evident spiritual-
mindedness, the obvious interest in religion,
which characterize many who are opposed to
Unitarian sentiments. In fact, so naturally
does a high degree of religious sensibility appear
to result from sound and deep views of religious
truth, that opinions, which are seldom found in
connection with devotional fervour, seem to
want one very important credential of their
correctness. Many of the orthodox to whom

244 LETTERS FROM
I allude, are not only pious but learned, of irre
proachable moral character, and acknowledged
liberality, and distinguished by the activity and
energy of their benevolent exertions. Among
them are to be found the most strenuous sup
porters of Bible Societies, Missionary Societies,
and Sunday-schools. Indeed, the Americaii
Missionary Society, you are aware, had its
origin in this part of the country, where it still
maintains its head-quarters, in the very focus of
Unitarianism. AU this is the more important;
as New England is as the " Officina Gentium"
of America, and while she is destined to supply
much of the population of the New States, she
wiU, of course, impress her own features strongly
on their character.
With respect to the ministers, — Mr. Dwight
among the Congregationalists, and Dr. Jarvis
among the Episcopalians, occupy stations of
pecuhar importance, and seem hkely to effect
much. The former is the son of Dr. Dwight,
the late eminent professor of Yale CoUege, and
is apparently of respectable talents and great
activity. The latter is the son of Bishop Jarvis;
and, I am disposed to beheve, the most learned,
and, as respects most of the duties of his respon
sible office, the most accomplished, Episcopal
clergyman in America. He has a high standing

NORTH AMERICA. 245
in society, possesses great personal respectabil
ity, and was appointed some months since to
the new and handsome Episcopal church in the
most fashionable part of Boston. Many of the
most respectable inhabitants of Boston have
joined his congregation — not a few from Unita
rian societies. — Many families are divided in
their religious sentiments ; some of the mem
bers attending Episcopal, others, the Unitarian
churches. Of the Unitarian Ministers, I be
lieve Dr. Channing, who is much beloved and
respected, stands at the head.
The most important feature in the history
of the present state of Unitarianism in this
country, is the strong hold it has obtained in
Harvard coUege, near Boston ; the most
extensive, and, in a literary point of view, the
most respectable college in the Union ; in which
alsO a large proportion of the younger members
of the most opulent families in the different
States, receive their education. Many parents
are prevented, by religious considerations, from
sending their children thither ; but the objec
tion has less influence than you would expect
among those who are opposed to Unitarian sen
timents. This, and perhaps Transylvania uni
versity at Lexington, are happily the only
colleges under the influence of Unitarian senti-

246 LETTERS FROM
ments. Yale College, Princeton, Columbia, and
all the others that I am acquainted with, are
opposed to them; but the noble Theological
Institution at Andover, liberaUy endowed,
formed for the express purpose of raising up
able champions to contend earnestly for the
faith at home, and accomplished and devoted
missionaries to diffuse it abroad, blessed with
learned and pious professors ardently engaged
in their official duties, is hkely to prove the
strongest barrier to the progress of Unitarian
sentiments. — In one delightful assurance how
ever, all parties may happily concur — that
truth, on whatever side it hes, will ultimately
prevail, for this assurance is founded on the
infaUible promises of Him who has predicted
its universal dissemination. — I am glad I have
done. It is a painful office to remark on
what appear to be the doctrinal errors of others,
when conscious of so many practical errors,
and of the probability, at least, of many
doctrinal errors of our own. But I could not
refuse your request ; and 1 know that you cor-
diaUy concur in the conviction, that no extent
of apprehended error, however great on the one
s'jde, can justify a breach of charity, however
small, on the other,

NORTH AMERICA. 247

lUttltt X&E

Salem, 26th February, 1821.
In my letter of the 24th, I had no room to
advert to the state of morals and manners in
the United States ; and as these were among
the topics on which you requested information,
I avail myself of a little leisure to-night, to
comply with your wishes. I must, however,
remind you, that I do not pretend to give
an accurate picture of American morals, (a task
to which I feel myself incompetent, although
I purposely deferred writing on the subject,
till on the eve of embarking,) but merely to
send you the observations of a solitary traveUer
— the impressions I have received in passing
rather hastily over this extensive country.
If I were writing to a less judicious friend,
I would also remind him, that I do not feel
myself responsible for any general conclusions
he may draw from particular facts, or bound
to reconcile the discordant inferences he may
deduce from my statements. I am answerable
for the facts only ; and if they sometimes leave
you in an unsatisfactory state of suspense, from

248 LETTERS FROM
which you are strongly tempted to relieve
yourself by jumping to a Conclusion, I can
only assure you, that I am often in the same
predicament, and would gladly reheve us both
by some bouncing assertions, if I could do it
with sincerity; but there have been bounces
enough on the subject of America already.
The state of morals differs so much in differ
ent parts of America, that no general description
would be applicable to the whole. Indeed, one
might almost as well attempt to include in any
general description, the various countries of
Europe, as the United States of America ; for
although a uniform system of, government
produces many prominent features of a com
mon character, in all the members of this
great confederation, yet the wide range of
climate, embraced within its extensive limits,
the great variety of habits, objects, and feelings,
and especially of political and religious senti
ments, which prevailed among the first settlers
of the different States ; the diversified pursuits
and occupations of the present inhabitants;
the admission or proscription of slavery; and a
thousand other circumstances, have contributed
to estabhsh the most marked distinctions, and
often to present the most striking contrasts
between the several sections of the Union. All

NORTH AMERICA. 249
this must render any general account of Ame
rican morals a little prohx and perplexed. I
wUl rely, therefore, on your indulgence, and
commence with what has long been considered
a crying sin throughout the Union — intemper
ance. The habitual use of ardent spirits is, indeed,
very general. Even in the Eastern States it
is not uncommon ; but in the Middle, and stiU
more, in the Southern States, it prevails to a
lamentable extent. Under the denominations
of antifogmatics, mint julep, and gin sling,
copious libations are poured out on the altars
of Bacchus, by votaries who often commence
their sacrifices at an early hour in the morning,
and renew them at intervals during the day ;
and yet I have not seen six instances of brutal
intoxication since I landed in America, — nor,
except among the poor corrupted frontier
Indians, twenty cases in which I had reason to
believe the faculties were in any degree dis
ordered.* The decanters of brandy which are
placed on the dinner tables at the inns, for the
* From what I have since heard from my servant and
others, who had better opportunities of judging of this point
than myself, I anj disposed to think that the general inference
which would be drawn from this statement, would be some
what too favourable.

250 LETTERS FROM
guests to help themselves, without additional
charge, I have never seen used but with mode
ration; and, on the whole, I would say decidedly,
that, taking America generally, from Maine
to Louisiana, (you know that I have seen
few of the Western States,) the sin of intox
ication, prevails less extensively there, than
in England — that, whatever may be the
injury to the constitution, from the common
use of spirits, instead of malt liquor, there is
less derangement of the faculties, less waste of
time, and perhaps of money ; and far less
misery entailed on suffering . families from in
temperate drinking, in tfiis country, than in
our own. There is, indeed, a far more dreadful
squandering of time in bar-rooms, in many
parts of America ; but it is in cigar-smoking,
and is not generally attended with pinching
effects, on a deserted wife, or hungry children.
Drams are taken, as it were, " en passant"
sohtary, and in a parenthesis ; not in a social cir
cle, round a blazing fire, where I, in fancy, at this
moment, see John BuU, sitting in an old arm
chair, a three-legged deal table before him, his
heart expanding as his bosom warms, one hand
on the knee of his next neighbour, or patting
him on the back, the other pushing round the
common tankard, the bond of good feUowship,

NORTH AMERICA. 251
which, after a few more circuits, will too pro
bably convert this exhibition of rude enjoy
ment, into a melancholy scene of intoxication.
In the higher classes, there is great modera
tion in the pleasures of the table, in the Eastern
and Middle States at least ; and, as far as my
experience goes, in the highest circles in the
South. In Boston, New York, and Philadelphia,
even large parties seldom dine later than three
o'clock, (there are some exceptions,) and they
usually disperse, after taking two or three
glasses of wine. What may be the case at the
parties of dissipated young men, or at public
dinners, (whether there is a Madeira guage
for republicanism, as we measure loyalty by
Port,) I do not know. At an agricultural
dinner, at which I was present, where there
were, I believe, nearly 200 persons in the com
pany, there was the greatest order and modera
tion ; and all rose to return home in about an
hour after dinner.
With regard to some other immoralities, if
they exist in the same degree as with us, which
I am disposed, from the prevalence of early
marriages, to question, it is under the shade
of secrecy ; for the cities, except New Orleans,
present nothing of the disgusting effrontery
and unblushing profligacy, which the streets of

LETTERS FROM
our large towns exhibit after dark ; and in the
country, as you may have observed in my
letters, the female manners are distinguished by
a very remarkable degree of propriety. Indeed,
I hardly know any thing which has struck me
more in America, than the respectable demean-
our of the females of aU ranks of life, and the
evident attention in the domestic economy, even
of taverns or inns, to exclude them from situar
tions in which they might be exposed to insult
In New Orleans, indeed, the picture is almost
totally, reversed. It must not be forgotten,
however, that New Orleans is still, in many
respects, rather a French or Spanish, than an
American city ; and that it is improving just
in proportion as it becomes American. The
French inhabitants have stiU an ascendancy in
the councUs of the city ; and the effect is no
less conspicuous in the dirty streets and tainted
air, than in its moral poUution. Before long,
I trust, its streets will be cleansed by conduits
from the Mississippi, for which it is admirably
situated ; and its moral atmosphere purified by
the benign influence of true rehgion, which
the Christians in the Eastern States, with their
accustomed activity, are exerting themselves to
extend.

NORTH AMERICA. 253
Pilfering, house-breaking, highway robbery,
and murder, are far less common here than
with us ; the last three, indeed, are very un
common, although I have heard of the mail
being robbed at least twice, since I have been
here, and once (in the wUd parts of the country,
where it is carried on a horse,) with murder,
and aggravated circumstances of cruelty. Duel
ling, except in the Eastern States, is more
common, and far more barbarous and fatal.
The bribery of subordinate custom-house
officers, so disgracefuUy common in England,
(not, indeed, to defraud the revenue, but to
obtain despatch,) is very rare here. I have
been informed, by active respectable merchants
in New York and PhUadelphia, that they never
knew an instance, and should be extremely
surprised to hear of one ; that in the only case
in which they had known of a bribe being
offered, the officer considered himself insulted,
and knocked the offender down. In Boston,
I omitted to inquire on this subject; but in
any point of morals, there is every reason to
infer, that it stands at least as high as New
York and PhUadelphia.
- To what extent smuggling, slave-trading,
and privateering, under Spanish colours, are
carried on, I found it difficult to learn ; since

254 LETTERS FROM
these practices, though by no means uncom
mon, are considered as disreputable as with us,
and shun the light. The instances of breaches
of trust, in responsible situations, (especially in
banks,) of which I have heard in the last twelve
months, are disgracefully numerous. This, I
attribute principaUy to the wretched system of
the insolvent laws in this country, and the
laxity of morals in pecuniary matters, which
they are calculated to produce. For the par
ticulars of this system, so repugnant to the
general intelligence and morality of the country,
I refer you to your commercial friends. It
is a perfect anomaly, and cannot long exist.
Indeed, the Bankrupt BiU has already passed
the Senate ; and although other business may
interrupt its progress through the House of
Bepresentatives, it must, in some form or
another, ere long, become a law, and supersede
a system, over which, were I an American, I
should never cease to mourn, deprecating it as
calculated most seriously to injure the reputa
tion of my country, and fatally to depress her
moral tone.
Such a thing as an equal division of the assets
of the estate of an insolvent among his creditors,
I have never known, nor heard of; while in the
majority of instances of insolvency, which have

NORTH AMERICA. 255
fallen under my observation, the insolvent has
assumed and exercised the power of paying
some creditors in full, and leaving others with
out a single farthing. An extensive merchant,
of high standing in the community, who had
been unfortunate, showed me a list which he
had made out, of his creditors, of whom a
certain number were to be paid in full, and the
remainder to take their chance. (Some of the
latter, I know, have never received a shiUing.)
On my remonstrating with him on the iniquity
of such a system, he said, that abstractedly, perr
haps, it could not be defended ; but that he
should not be considered a fair trader, and cer
tainly could not expect any support from his
countrymen, if he pursued any other ; that
when the Americans lent each other money, or
endorsed each other's notes, there was often a
secret understanding, that the lender should, by
some means or other, be secured from loss, in
case of accident to the borrower. He attempted
to draw some subtle distinctions between one
kind of debt and Another ; but I observed the
practical distinction was between those who
were likely to be serviceable to him in future,
and those who were not, whether Americans
or foreigners. British merchants who were in
the habit of consigning goods to America,

256 LETTERS FROM
were to be paid in full. British merchants, on the
other hand, who had lent him money for years,
by honouring his drafts, were to be left to
their fate. Some of these, who were large
creditors, have been ultimately excluded from
aU participation in the estate, although the
debt was acknowledged, and the property to
be divided very- extensive.
The frauds and subterfuges, in cases of insol
vency, exceed anything I could have conceived ;
and as long as America continues this system,
she must not be surprised to find her defi
ciencies blazoned forth, and exaggerated by
foreigners, who have, probably, known her
only in her commercial character. But it is
not foreigners alone who would agree in the
correctness of these representations. The pre
ceding remarks have been assented to, when
ever I have made them in their presence,
by the most respectable merchants on all the
principal Exchanges in America;* and the
* The following extract .from the J&w York Statesman,"
will put the correctness of my representations on this subject
beyond dispute : — " Washington, December 13, 1823.
". MEMORIAL OF THE NEW YORK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
" Without a general bankrupt law, all
the' creditors of a merchant who fails, have not an equal
chance of receiving a dividend of his estate. When a

NORTH AMERICA. 257
American writer, Verplank, by no means deficient
in devoted attachment to his country, makes the
foUowing observations, in a very eloquent and
learned discourse, before the Historical Society
of New York, in 1818. Alluding to the uncon
querable spirit of the Dutch, whose peculiar
manners and customs, he thinks, diave been
described with a broad and clumsy sexaggeration
" by the proud and melancholy Islanders," (the
British,) he adds, " during the same period, Hol
land had served the cause of freedom and reason,
in another and much more effectual manner, by
breaking down the old aristocratic contempt for
the mercantile character; and -her merchants,
while they amazed the world by an exhibition
ofthe wonderful effects of capital anderedit,
directed by sagacity and enterprise, and opera
ting on a vaster scale than had ever before been
seen, shamed the poor prejudices of their age
merchant's ^affairs become emharrassed in any of our commer
cial cities, (the practice is so uniform that it has become a
perfect system) he assigns all his property in the the first place
to pay his confidential friends, who have lent their names and
their money, and thus given him a false credit which has been
the means of imposing on others ; or he has already assigned,
as security for usurious loans' from some of the harpies which
infest all our cities, every thing which he has of any value,
and his honest creditors get nothing. The truth of .this has
been felt, and will be acknowledged by almost every commer
cial man in the United States."
VOL. II. S

258 LETTERS FROM
Out of countenance, by a high-minded and punc
tilious honesty, before which, the more lax com
mercial morality of their degenerate descendants
in this country should stand rebuked:."
Having stated these particulars, which can
dour would not allow me to suppress, it is
peculiarly gratifying to me to add, that I have
the pleasure of being acquainted, in all the com
mercial cities, with merchants, distinguished by
as strict a regard to integrity, as high' a sense of
honour, as any I know in England, and in whose
principles 1 should be equaUy ready to place
unlimited confidence; They, I trust, wiU redeem
the character of their country, and never rest
till they have effected such alterations in its
commercial code, as may tend to render the
body of their countrymen as honourable as
themselves. Lotteries and horse-racing are not uncommon
here : the latter is most prevalent in the southern
States, where private race-courses are frequent.
Gambling, in the middle States, I should ima
gine, from all I saw, is about as common as in
England : it is fajr more so as you proceed to
the southward, and dreadfuUy prevalent in New
Orleans, where a license to authorise gambling-
houses is sold either by the city or the state
authorities, I forgot to inquire which ; though

NORTH AMERICA. 259
in the one case it would throw the blame on the
French, in the other, on the Americans. The
licenser is reported to reahze a large income
from this iniquitous traffic ; and the Kentucky
boats, which, for above a mile, line the shores
of the Mississippi, are said, on Sundays, to form
a hne of gambhng-shops. Tl*ese, with the
open theatres, and the week-day work, which is
going on at the wharfs, to, perhaps, one-third of
its ordinary extent, present a Sunday-evening
prospect you would be grieved to witness.
Indelicate and profane language is less com
mon in the Eastern States than with us, perhaps
equaUy prevalent in the Middle, and far
more so in the southern Atlantic States ; but it
prevaUs to an awful degree on the shores -of
the Gulf of Mexico. These, indeed, are em
phatically, in a moral sense, the benighted
regions of America ; and yet their natural aspect
is bright and beautiful. Often, when at New
Orleans, walking out at sunrise, on the banks of
the Mississippi, which, a few hours before, had
been parched and cracked by yesterday's meri
dian fervour, but were then saturated with the
heavy dews which, at that season, fell nightly
like "showers on the mown grass," I have thought
that I had never before seen so much to delight
the eye, regale the senses, or kindle the imagin-

260 LETTERS FROM
ation ; — orange groves, with their golden fruit
and fresh green leaves ; hundreds of cattle half
hid in the deep wet clover, which grows wild
and luxuriant on the rich alluvion ; the sugar
and cotton plantations on the opposite bank,
and the forest behind them, stretching to the
boundless prairies of the Attacapas and Ope-
lousas ; above all, the noble Mississippi flowing
majestically to the sea, and carrying the imagin
ation thousands of miles up its current, to its
distant source. I have before aUuded to the
beauties of the close of day, in a climate so
delicious, at that hour, and the succeeding ones,
when the vault of heaven has a deeper blue
than with us. '
" Where milder moons dispense serener light,
" And brighter beauties decorate the night.'"
And yet, when I think of the moral pollution
which pervades New Orleans, and the yeUow
fever which annually depopulates it, or of the
intermittents and slavery which infest its vici
nities, the rocky shores of New England have a
thousand times more charms for me. There, I
see, on every side, a hardy, robust, industrious
enterprising population ; better fed, better
clothed, better educated, than I ever saw before,
and more intelligent, and at least as moral as

NORTH AMERICA. 261
the corresponding classes even of our own
countrymen. There, instead of a succession of
slave-plantations, which, by furnishing their
own supplies, or deriving them in large quan
tities from a distance, prevent that interchange
which gives rise to numerous villages and
towns, I find myself surrounded by handsome
thriving country towns ; and I have already
told you how extremely beautiful a New
England town is, with its white frame-houses
and Venetian blinds, its httle courts, its planted
squares, its fine wide streets, or rather ave
nues, and especially its numerous spires. From
one spot, I have counted more than 25 spires ;
and yet I have been asked, in England, if
there were any churches, or places of worship,
in America.

262 LETTERS FROM

&etux »HE.

Hartford, Connecticut, 1st March, 1821.
On the 23d, I left Newburyport for Salem,
25 miles distant, where we arrived at noon.
The surface of the ground was generaUy well
cultivated; but I often observed immense
rocks, in the fields, evincing that the country
immediately on the coast was more indebted to
man than to nature for any appearance of fertility
it might exhibit. Indeed, I think a great part
of the road between Newburyport and Boston
presents a more rocky region than I ever before
saw in a state of cultivation ; but every thing
seems to yield to the proverbial perseverance of
New England. I have seen a New Englander
clearing what appeared to me a barren rock, for
the sake of the narrow strips of soU in the cre
vices; and I could not help thinking, with
what a smile of contempt a Mississippi or
Alabama planter would recall such a scene to
his recollection, while standing with folded
arms over his slaves as they hoed his rich allu
vion. But both his contempt and pity would

NOR.TH AMERJCA. 268
be sadly misplaced. The loose gray stone waUs,
instead of the zigzag rail fences so common
throughout the United States, south of Bhode
Island or New York, and the spreading trees
standing singly in the fields, (for, except on the
roadside, we have long been accustomed to see
them either grouped, as in our plantations, with
no power to expand, or losing their individual
character in the .depth of forests)- — recalled my
thoughts to Yorkshire or Derbyshire. Before
we reached Salem, we passed through Ipswich,
venerable in this country for its age ; for it was
settled in 1632, twelve years after the landing of
the: Pilgrim Fathers.
From Salem, I, rode to Marblehead, to see
some old friends. They gave me a warm recep
tion, and their welcome had in it much of Scotch
cordiality. I think that it is Sterne, who says
he pities the man who can travel from Dan to
Beersheba, and say it is aU barren. I much
pity his ill fortune, who can travel, from Maine
to Georgia, and say the Americans, men and
women, :bave no hearts. He wiU, indeed, in
taverns and bar-rooms meet with many whose
manners are calculated to give him that impres
sion ; but a little acquaintance with American
society must show him that it is an erroneous
one. Indeed, I dehberately think that a cursory

264 LETTERS FROM
traveller must be struck with the evidence of
more good nature^ and a greater spirit of accom
modation in the stages here, than with us, and
certainly of more uniform and marked respect
to female travellers, though often under the
most cold and forbidding manners. This I was
not prepared to expect ; and often, in making
these favourable representations, I have to cross-
examine myself, and ask, " Are these things
reaUy so?" Sometimes, where the case is doubt
ful, I bring my opinions to a severer test. I
wait till the next time that I find myself in
circumstances not particularly calculated to
excite good humour; and if, when sitting in a
bar-room, while they are lighting a fire in hiy
chamber, (and I never sit there longer, though
it is often the only sitting-room,) enveloped in
cigar-smoke, and watching my companions pour
down their throats the liquid flame that is to
consume their vitals ; if, when received on
sufferance by a frigid landlord, who seems
afraid to degrade himself by being civil, (a case
which has happened, though you will have seen
from my letters, not very frequently;*) or if,

* " Much has been said by former travellers of the fami
liarity and rudeness of the American people. I will not
attempt to . contradict their assertions, but for myself I must

NORTH AMERICA. 265
when more than usually annoyed, (for it is a
daily and grievous annoyance,) by the very
declare, in justice to the American character, that I expe
rienced the utmost civility, and even politeness, from the
inhabitants in every part of the country through which I
travelled. The coachmen were civil, and the tavern-keepers
attentive ; wherever I had occasion to mix with the country
people, I never met with the least rudeness or shadow of
impertinence on any occasion ; on the contrary, they were
civil and obliging." —
" At the taverns and farm-houses, where we rested on the
road, we found the people extremely civil and attentive. We
were treated with as much respect as if we had been at
our own houses ; and the landlord, his wife, and daughters,
waited on us in the most obliging manner. I do not mention
this as a solitary instance, it was general at every house
where we stopped; neither have I drawn my conclusions
merely from the reception I met with at taverns, and other
places of public resort, but from my observations upon the
people in general, with whom I had frequent opportunities of
mixing, whether they belonged to the highest or the lowest
orders of the community." — Lambert's Travels.
" I have travelled near 10,000 miles in the United States,
and I never met with the least incivility or affront. I feel
myself bound by gratitude and a regard to truth, to speak of
their hospitality." — Bradbury.
" In our journey from Baltimore to Illinois, if we asked
the road, we received the best information in the power of
the person, of whom we inquired, to give us. The custom
house officers behaved with great civility; the tavern-keepers
were very civil, but not so polite as in England ; in short,
we met with as good treatment as we should in a tour through
England ; but the manners of the Americans are more rough
than those of Englishmen." — Woods, 1822.

266 LETTERS FROM
general and most disgusting habit of spitting,
without regard to time, place, or circumstance ;
" We were very well and very civilly treated in one of
them, (one of the taverns at -Rochester,) but, indeed, I have
never yet'met with any incivility, though, occasionally,' with
that sort of indifference, which foreigners, accustomed to the
obsequiousness of European service," sometimes mistake for
it." — Frances Wright.
" Much that has been written on the incivilities to which
a stranger is exposed here, is destitute of truth. Generally
speaking, a traveller will meet with respectful treatment, if
his own manners are not rude. The imperative tone which
empty-pated coxcombs are prone to assume at home, would
be resented here most indignantly; but if you request,- instead
of ordering, you will rarely receive an uncivil reply. The
country innkeeper is not . unfrequently a man of some- conse
quence in. the neighbourhood, either from his property, ' or
from holding, some official situation, and if you enter into
conversation with him, you will often discover, that under a
plain exterior is concealed a great deal of shrewdness and
infbrrhation. Sometimes, the landlord's daughter pours out
tea or coffee at a side-table ; but she always maintains a dig
nified deportment, and is respectfully treated by her guests.
The females of tvery class whom T have seen employed in
American inns, have "been in all cases perfectly correct in their
manners, nor did I ever see any rudeness' offered to' them.
In waiters, stage-drivers, and the other retainers of the road,
you will find little of the obsequidushess which, iscommon
at home; they generally, indeed, speak to you more, on fhe
footing of equality than inferiority ; I have once or twicp
had uncivil answers, hut not more frequently,- 1 think, than
at home."— Duncan's Travels.
" The usual reception the traveller finds ; at the" inns, is
that of cold civility ; but the landlord and the waiter; though
not obsequious, are generally sufficiently attentive. — I suspect

NORTH AMERICA. , 267
if at such times I find my faith in my favourable
sentiments unshaken, I feel convinced of' their
correctness, and place them, as Mr. Cecil placed
his tried characters, upon the shelf. But if fresh
circumstances should arise to excite a suspicion
that, after aU, my impressions are erroneous, I
wait till provoked by malicious misrepresen
tations of the state of things in my own country,
or by iU-natured remarks on acknowledged de
fects in her institutions ; and if I stiU feel bound
by sincerity and candour to make my former
admissions, I seldom suffer myself again to call
them in question.
With respect to America, indeed, as weU as
every Other country, there are two sides of the
picture, but unhappily many of our traveUers
have seen, or at least exhibited only one, and
that those travellers who have complained of the rudeness of
the Americans, must have demeaned themselves in an arro
gant, or otherwise unpleasant manner.; for the instances of
rudeness that I met with were so rare, and those of civility
so general, that the former must, in all fairness, be regarded
as exceptions to the general rule. — Civility may certainly be
a constituent in the behaviour of one who knows not how to
be polite ; but when civility is shown by little acts of kind
ness, which are prompted by a desire to please, and is united
to suavity, it would be unjust to deny that it is entitled to be
called politeness. This is the description of American polite
ness which is most generally visible." — A Summary View of
America, by an Englishman.

268 LETTERS FROM
that too often the most unfavourable side. I
have met with no travels in America which do
not contain much that is true, but many,
which in consequence of important omissions,
produce an impression which is entirely false.
That I have escaped the rocks on which other
traveUers have split, I have not the presump
tion even to hope. I am well aware, that my
impressions must often have been modified by
accident or prejudice ; but, such as they are,
I have communicated them to you without
reserve. You will have perceived, that they
are of a mixed character, and from the pre
ceding letters, materials may, no doubt, be
drawn in support of their opposite statements,
both by the calumniators and the papegyrists
of the United States.
It has not been without sincere regret, that
I have observed the erroneous opinions which
prevail in England, with respect to America.
With a decided preference to the manners
and institutions, and form of government of
my own country, (a preference only confirmed
by opportunities of comparison,) it has been
impossible not to perceive, that the ideas abov©
aUuded to, are in many respects, as unjust to the
United States, as they are discreditable to Great
Britain. To what cause we are to attribute the

NORTH AMERICA. 269
ignorance and prejudice of my enlightened and
generous country, on almost every topic con
nected with America, I will not stop to in
quire. The subject is a very interesting one,
but it would lead to a discussion too long for a
letter *
I should, however, do great injustice to my
own feelings, if I did not assure you, that, in
the course of a journey of nearly 8000 miles,
in which I passed through the States of
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachu
setts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North and
South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana,
* I am happy in the persuasion that juster ideas of America,
and a better tone of feeling towards her begin to prevail, and
I believe that I am violating no principle, either of candour
"or charity, in expressing my warm indignation at the attempts
which are sometimes made on both sides of the water, to fos
ter sentiments of animosity between two countries, which
are urged by the most powerful considerations of natural con
nection and political advantage, to cherish the most intimate
relations which can subsist between independent states.
They will have much to answer for, who commit a crime of
so deep a dye, who indulge their malignity under whatever
pretext, and with whatever views, at such a dreadful ex
pense of possible consequences. I have heard an intelligent
American observe, " Had Mr. Wilberforce, or any other
citizen of the world, who would have given a fair account of
us, visited this country before the late war, that war would
infallibly have been prevented."

270 LETTERS FROM
Mississippi, and Tennessee, and mixed ex
tensively with society, I received impressions
of America and its inhabitants, very different
from those which prevail among a large portion
of my countrymen, or which are to be derived
from some of our books of Travels or Beviews.
I would, however, appeal to the candour of
nay countrymen, whether, if those representa
tions were true, which, in many cases, are most
erroneous, the tone and temper with which
the subject of America is sometimes discussed
among us, are either courteous or liberal —
whether they are calculated to elicit or to
obscure the truth, to extinguish or to inflame
animosity — whether they are becoming the
dignity of a great, or the magnanimity of a
generous nation — whether they are consistent
with Christian principles — and whether they
are calculated, in their result, to confirm or to
invalidate that combination of the benevolent
efforts of the two countries, so favourable to the
best interests of the human race ?
Marblehead, the second town in the common
wealth before the revolution, is now compara
tively " the top of a rock, a place for the spread
ing of nets in the midst of the sea." It is
from this place principally, that the Newfound
land fishery is carried on. The trade, however,

NORTH AMERICA. 271
has latterly been very unproductive ; and I saw
the fishing craft, which was now drawn on shore,
very generally advertised for sale or charter.
• On the 27th, I dined with an old friend at
Salem. Our conversation turned a good deal
on the remaining traces of the primitive man
ners of the PUgrim Fathers. One of these I
found, was the substitution of a thanksgiving
day in November, instead of Christmas-day,
and the renunciation of so heretic a dish as
mince-pies, as .connected with that day, and
associated with ecclesiastic institutions which
the Puritans held in abhorrence. Christmas-
day, however, is now observed more and more
generally every year, and mince-pies we find
in every tavern. Another Puritanic custom
(which I was informed, stiU hngers in Boston
Klso,) is the commencement of the Christian
Sabbath on Saturday evening, and its termination
on Sunday evening, at five or six o'clock, (" the
evening and the morning were the first day.")
My friend told me, that in a very strict family
in Connecticut in which he was brought up,
(a clergyman's family,) Saturday evening was
observed with the greatest strictness and rigid
ity, and Sunday also tiU after tep, when the
orthodox lady invariably brought out her
knitting.

272 LETTERS FROM
We reached Boston at 10 o'clock at night,
and lay on two chairs at the stage-house till
two, when we set off for Northampton, 100
miles distant, where we arrived at 10 o'clock in
the evening, after passing through Worcester
and Leicester. The following day we set out
for Hartford. The part of the vaUey of Con
necticut through which we passed, is generally
admitted to be one of the finest portions of the
cultivated regions of America, and the pano
ramic views from some of the eminences, will,
I hope, be one day rendered more familiar to
British imaginations, either by the pencil or the
pen. Of the beauty of the valley, I cannot convey
to you a more lively impression than by telling
you that it reminded me forcibly of Lons
dale, with all its features expanded in due pro
portion ; its length being nearly 400 miles, and
its breadth varying from 5 to 45 miles. With
the exception of Lonsdale, it is by far the
most beautiful valley I have ever seen. We
rode a great part of the day on the very brink
of the river, which appeared to be from a
third to half a mile broad, and the banks of
which, exhibit some of the finest specimens
of what are termed intervals,* that are to be
* " This word, in its appropriate meaning, denotes lands,
formed by a long-continued and gradual alluvion of a

NORTH AMERICA. 273
found in America. Intervals are synonimous
with flats or river bottoms; the Americans
having restored the word to its original appli
cation to space instead of time.* The ground
was covered with snow ; but the day was
bright, and every twig was enclosed in a
sparkling icicle. On this day's route we saw
some of the finest American elms we have
observed in the country. They are very dif-
river. Such lands are universally formed by rivers, conveying
slime, wherever sufficient space is furnished for their reception ;
and where falls, straights, points of land, or any other causes,
check the current. On the contrary, wherever the current is
uniform, the water at all times pure, or the banks high, suf
ficiently near to each other, and sufficiently firm merely
to yield a passage for the stream, intervals are not, and can
not be formed." — Dwight's Travels.
* " It has been remarked by several writers, that the Latin
word intervallum, was evidently borrowed from the appro
priate phraseology of a camp; inter vallos spatium, — the
space between the stakes or palisades, which strengthened
the rampart. None of them, however, has taken any notice
of the insensible transitions by which it came successively to
be employed in a more enlarged sense ; first, to express a
limited portion of longitudinal extension in general; and
afterwards limited portions of time as well as of space. " Ut
" quoniam intervallo locorum disjuncti sumus, per literas
" tecum quam saepissime colloquar." The same word has
passed into our language ; and it is not a little remarkable,
that it is now so exclusively appropriated to time, that to speak
of the interval between two places, would be censured as a
mode of expression not agreeable to common use." — Dugald
Stewart.
VOL. II. T

274 LETTERS FROM
ferent from ours, far more lofty and expanded ;
and every branch is like a separate tree. I think
I almost give them the preference over either
the live oaks or magnolias of the Carolinas, or
the tulip trees or sycamores of the western
country. The timber on the Atlantic coast,
with the exception of the pine, does not
generally exceed ours in size ; at which I was
much disappointed at our first arrival ; but as
you proceed westward, it improves in magni
tude, till it reaches the stupendous size of those
tulip or sycamore trees, at the sight of which
we have often stopped our horses almost in
stinctively, and sat lost in astonishment. The
younger Michaux member of the society of
natural history of Paris, who visited America,
in 1802, under the auspices of Chaptal, Minis
ter of the Interior, mentions a plane tree in the
State of Ohio, which measured 47 feet in cir
cumference. He also mentions as a striking
fact, that he had observed in the United States,
a hundred and thirty seven trees, which rise
above the height of thirty feet, whereof ninety-
five are employed in the arts ; but that France,
on the contrary, which might be considered a
pretty fair representation of the same range of
temperature, produced no more than thirty-seven
trees of that size ; and that of these, only seven

NORTH AMERICA. 275
were employed in civil or marine architecture.
His description of the large plane tree, is as fol
lows: — " Thirty-six miles before reaching Mari
etta, we stopped with a person who lives on the
right bank ; at about fifty paces from his house
he showed us a plane tree, Platanus occidentalis,
of which the trunk was swelled to a prodigious
size, at a height of two feet ; we measured it four
feet above the surface of the ground, and found
it to be forty-seven feet in circumference. It
appeared to keep the same dimensions at the
height of fifteen or twenty feet ; then it divided
into several branches of a proportional thick
ness. No external appearance led to a belief
that the tree was hollow ; and, I examined this
as much as I could by striking it with a large
stick in several places. Our host offered, if we
would pass the day with him, to show us others
as large, in different parts of the wood, two or
three miles from the river. This fact supports
an observation made by my father, when he
traveUed in this country, tending to prove that
the tulip and plane trees, of all the trees of
North America, are those which attain to the
greatest diameter." The elder Michaux observes,
" Fifteen miles above the river Muskingum,
on a small island of the Ohio, is a plane tree,
- Platanus occidentalis, the circumference of

276 LETTERS FROM
which, at five feet from the earth, where the
stem is uniform, is 40 feet 4 inches, which is
about 13 feet in diameter. Twenty years
before my journey. General Washington had
measured the same tree, and found it nearly of
the same dimensions. I have also measured plane
trees, in Kentucky, but never found them
exceed 15 or 16 feet in circumference. This
tree grows in humid places. Next to the
plane, the largest tree of North America is
the tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipifera, called
by the Americans of the western country,
poplar. Its circumference is sometimes 15, 16,
and even 18 feet."*

* Catesby, in his History of North Carolina, states, that there
are some trees of this description, (Liriodendron tulipifera,)
in America, which are thirty feet in circumference, and Mr.
Marshall describes them as 70 or 80 feet high — Miller's Dic
tionary, arranged by T. Martyn, B. D. F. R. S. Regius Pro
fessor qf Botany in the University of Cambridge.
I have heard of several instances of the tulip tree attain
ing the height of 100 feet.
" Mt. Bartram mentions some gigantic black oaks, in North
America, many of which measured 8, 9, 10 and 11 feet in
diameter, (or 25 to 34 feet in circumference,) five feet above
the ground, ascending perfectly straight, with a gradual taper,
40 or 50 feet to the limbs." — Martyn's Dictionary.'
Dr. Dwight mentions a white or Weymouth pine (Pinus
Strobus,) of an enormous height, near Meredith, in the State
of No-w York. " The hill which limits the northern prospect,
is covered with a magnificent growth of white pines, one of

NORTH AMERICA. 277
How often have I wished for you in the
autumn, to show you an American forest, in
its coat of many colours ! I do not exactly
know the reason (it is stated to be the early
which having fallen down, was measured by Mr. Law, and
was found to be 247 feet in length." — Dwight's Travels.
This approaches nearer than any tree I have heard of, to
the height of the Norfolk Island Pine, f Araucaria Excelsa.)
A highly respectable botanist informed me, that he had
met with two gentlemen, who had, at different times, mea
sured trees of this description in Norfolk Island. The
longest measured by the one was 270, and by the other 275
feet ; but both persons expressed their conviction, that they
had seen these trees in the wood 300 feet high.
The Bombax, I believe, does not reach this height, although
it attains a great size, in both the East and West Indies.
In Columbus's first voyage, it is stated, that a canoe was
seen in the island of Cuba, formed of one of these trees,
which would contain 150 men.
" The account which Monsieur Adanson gives of the
trees he saw at Senegal and other parts of Africa, (ihe Adan-
sonia) in regard to the size of them,-is amazing ; he measured
several from 65 to 78 feet in circumference, but their height
was not extraordinary. The trunks were from 12 to 15 feet
high, before, they divided into many horizontal branches which
touched the ground at their extremities. These were from
45 to 55 feet long, and were so large, that each branch was
equal to a monstrous tree. — Martyn's Dictionary.
The following particulars will shew that our own island has
produced many trees, nearly as large in girth as those whose
size is considered as very remarkable, even in North America.
The American trees, however, are far more stately, though
less picturesque, than the trees in Great Britain, and from
the peculiar freedom of their bark from moss or impurity,
they have a particularly healthy and vigorous appearance.

278 LETTERS FROM
occurrence of frost;) but the foliage here
seems to assume its variegated autumnal
appearance before the leaves begin to fall,
and the beautiful tints and meUow hues, far
Mr. Marsham mentions a witch elm, by Bradley church,
in Suffolk, which, in 1754, at five feet high, measured 25 feet
5^ inches round, and in 1767, 26 feet 3 inches.
Mr. Cook mentions a witch elm felled in Sir Walter
Bagot's park, in Staffordshire, which lay 40 yards in length,
and was at the stool, 17 feet in diameter, (or more than 51
feet in circumference.) The whole was estimated at 97 tons.
In the St. James's Chronicle, No. 5038, it is said, that an
oak tree, felled a few days before, at Morley, in Cheshire,
produced upwards of 1000 measurable feet of timber.
Its girt was 14 yards, or more than 42 feet. „ Its existence
can be traced back for 800 years.
In Holt forest, in Hampshire, near Bentley, not far from
Farnham, in Surrey, an oak, in 1759, girted 34 feet; at 7
feet from the ground.
An oak, at Cawthorpe, near Wetherby, in Yorkshire, within
three feet of the surface, measured 16 yards, or more than 45
feet in girt, and close to the ground, 26 yards, or more
than 78 feet. Its height in 1776, was 85 feet. Mr. Mar-
sham says, that in 1768, at four feet, it girted 46 feet 6
inches, and at six feet, 32 feet 1 inch.
Of the Boddington oak, between Cheltenham and Tewkes
bury, Mr. Marshall says, at three feet, it measured 42 feet,
and at its smallest dimensions, namely, from five to six feet
high, it is 36 feet.
In Torwood, in the county of Stirling, stand the ruins of
an oak supposed to be the largest tree that ever grew in Scot
land. It is now hollow, but from remains, it is evident, that
the diameter of the trunk could not be less than 11 or 12
feet, (or the circumference above 30 feet.)
These very old oaks, (800 to 1000 years old,) have generally

NORTH AMERICA. 279
deeper and more diversified than ours, often
blended harmoniously on the same tree, or con
trasted with the deepest green of a kindred
branch, appear too healthy and vigorous to
be precursors of dissolution, or symptoms of
decay. The bright yellow of the walnut, the
scarlet of the maple, the fresh green of the
short stems, at 6, 8, 10, or 12 feet high, throwing out large
horizontal arms. The oak, however, will acquire a great
length of stem, but then it rarely swells to any considerable
girt. Mr. Marsham, indeed, mentions one in the Earl of Powis's
park, near Ludlow, which in 1757; measured at five feet
high, 16 feet 3 inches, and which, ran quite straight and clear
of arms, near or full 60 feet.
At Betchworth Castle, in Surrey, there are not fewer than ^0
or 80 chesnut trees measuring from 12 to 18, or 20 feet in girt.
At Wimley, near Hitchin Priory, in Hertfordshire, a ches
nut, in 1789, girted somewhat more than 14 yards, or up
wards of 42 feet, at five feet above the ground.
The most remarkable of these trees in England, is that
at Tortworth, the seat of Lord Ducie, in Gloucestershire ;
even in the year 1150, says Bradley, it was styled the great or
old chesnut tree of Tortworth. It forms the boundary of the
manor, and is probably 1000 years old, at least. It girted
50 feet, at six feet above the ground, about the year 1720. It
divided at the crown into three limbs, one of which then
measured 28^ feet in girt, five feet above the crown.
The famous Castagno de Cento Cavalli, on Mount Etna, as
measured by Mr. Brydone, in 1770, is 204 feet in circum
ference. Some, however, have doubted if this be really one
tree. Brydone says, it had the appearance of five distinct
trees, but he was assured the space was once filled with solid
timber, and that there was no bark in the inside.

280 LETTERS FROM
laurel, and the sombre brown of the cedar, are
often the most prominent colours ; but these
are mingled with a variety of others more soft
and delicate, which melt imperceptibly into
each other, and throw a rich and luxuriant
beauty over the gorgeous forest.
With respect to the silence of the American
woods, from the absence of feathered warblers,
I must beg leave to dissent, in some degree,
from the opinions I have often heard expressed.
In the northern States, the groves are certainly
less musical than in Great Britain ; but in the
southern forests, I have often stopped my horse
at day-break and sunset, to listen to strains, at
least as enchanting as I have ever heard in my
native island ; and these have sometimes been
continued for hours together as we rode along.
Becollecting at the time the general opinion on
this subject, I have several times ascertained
the impressions of my English servant, who was
brought up in the country, and I found that
his sentiments corresponded entirely with my
Own. I have not the opportunity of referring
to WUson's exceUent work, on the Ornithology
of the United States ; but I have a strong im
pression, that he makes a similar remark.
I have already said so much of the extreme
clearness and transparency of the atmosphere

NORTH AMERICA. 281
in this country, that I dare scarcely allude to it
again to tell you how much it adds to the
beauty of the natural scenery. Indeed, a com
mon landscape is often rendered beautiful by
the extreme distinctness with which every out
line is defined, or the vivid colouring with
which, at sunset, the air itself seems suffused.
Compared with an English atmosphere, in its
effect on scenery, it always reminded me of
the difference between plate and common glass.
I do not know whether the purity of the atmos
phere does not add still more to the beauty of
a moonlight scene. A winter moonlight night
in America, when the ground is covered with
snow, is reaUy like enchantment.
I am not, however, enamoured of the climate;*
or at least, I have dehberately decided in favour
* The following remarks from Volney, on the climate of
North America, are so interesting that I will not apologize
for the length of the extract : —
" If we compare the United States with the countries of
the eastern hemisphere, under parallel latitudes, we shall find
that the southern districts of the former, Georgia and the
Carolinas, correspond with the kingdom of Morocco, and the
whole northern coast of Africa. — The same lines traverse Syria,
the central provinces of Persia, Thibet, and the heart of
China ; and nearly the same parallel strikes Savannah, Tripoli,
Alexandria, Gaza, Bosra, Ispahan, Lahor, and Nankin. The
northern States, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, corres
pond with southern France, middle Italy, European Turkey,
the Euxine and Caspian Seas, and the plains of Tartary.

282 LETTERS FROM
of our own, — -the vicissitudes here being very
sudden, and the extremes formidable ; but
there are (and very frequently,) days so beau
tiful, that I feel as if I would pay almost any
The same line very nearly touches Boston, Barcelona, Ajaccio,
Rome, Constantinople, and Derbend. Such extensive limits
indicate a great variety of climate, and, in truth, the United
States displays all the extremes of the countries just enu
merated —
" Yet, it is not strictly true, that the temperature of
a country is necessarily regulated by the latitude. On the
contrary, it seems to be modified by, and sometimes wholly
to depend upon, various circumstances of the surface. — In the
northern parts of New England, between 42° and 43°, by
observations made at Salem, near Boston, during seven years,
by Mr. Edward Holyoke, and compared with 20 years of
observation made at Manheim, it appears, that the tempera
ture of Salem is higher in summer, and lower in winter than
that of many cities of Europe. The difference will appear in
the following table : —

LAT.

LOWEST.

HIGHEST.

VAR.

Rome

41° 53'

32

86

54

Marseilles

43° 17'

23

88i

65i

Padua

45° 22'

9*

971

87!

Salem

42" 35'

12 below 0 102f

114f

" We may observe, in this table, the difference throughout
the year is 114| degrees, while this difference at Rome is
only 54 degrees, at Marseilles 65, and at Padua 87-
" Generally, in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and
Massachusetts, countries situated between 22° and 45°, paral
lels corresponding with the south of France, and the north of
Spain, the earth is covered every winter, with snow for three
or four months, so as to make the use of sleds and sleighs
universal. The thermometer, generally, in winter, between

NORTH AMERICA. 283
price for the enjoyment they bring. When at
Montreal,m August, wehad the thermometer one
day at 99°, and in Boston, in September, at five
o'clock in the evening, at 93 or 94° ; it having
32 and 10 degrees, sometimes descends so low as 5, 1, and
even 8 below 0. Mr. Belknap, the historian of New Hamp
shire, has observed it, at Portsmouth, north of Salem, at 18
degrees below 0 ; and S. Williams, the historian of Vermont,
at 26 degrees below 0, at Rutland, at the foot of the Green
Mountains. " A little farther north, namely, in Canada, at 46", and
47° latitude, which corresponds with the middle of France,
the snow begins to fall in November, and continues on the
ground till the end of April, a period of six months, from
four to six feet deep, with a clear and dry air. At Quebec,
the mercury usually descends to 13 and 22 degrees below 0 ;
nay, the mercury was known, in 1790, to freeze, which
implies a still greater descent. Now, such an instance seldom
or never occurs in Europe, in latitudes below that of Stockholm
and Petersburg, which are situated at 60°. 
" In Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire, the heats are
equally intense, from their commencement at the summer
solstice. For forty or fifty days together, the, mercury is
frequently observed to exceed 77 degrees, and sometimes rises
to 86 and 90. Few years pass at Salem without its rising to
99 and 100 degrees, which is the temperature of the Persian
Gulf, and the coasts of Arabia. This temperature reigns in
many other parts of New England. At Rutland, S. Williams
has seen the mercury at 93 degrees. What is more surprising,
at Quebec, and on the shores of Hudson's Bay, in the latitude
of 59°, they suffer, for twenty or thirty days, a heat of from
95 to 99 degrees, which is the more injurious, as the consti
tution is unprepared for it, and since it is accompanied either
by a dead calm, oi: by a warm, humid, suffocating wind from
the south. Since the winter's cold is equal to 35 and 40, and

284 LETTERS FROM
risen 17 degrees in nine hours. At New Haven,
in Connecticut, when I was there during the
last month, the thermometer was — 12°; at
Springfield — 23° ; and at Northampton — 26QF.
even at Prince of Wales's Fort, to 51 degrees below 0, it
follows, that the annual variation is from 130 to 135 degrees
of Fahrenheit.
" In the middle States, which are those southward of New
York, throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland,'
the winters are shorter, and the snow less abundant and
more transient. They rarely last longer than fifteen or twenty
days, but the heats are not less fierce and violent. They
become settled about the middle of June, and prevail, with
little remission, for six or seven weeks. Towards the end of
October, they begin to decline.
" At Philadelphia, in the latitude of 39° 55', and corres
ponding, in this respect, with Madrid, Valencia, and Naples,
the mercury sinks, every winter, tb 14 and 9, and, in some
seasons, to 5 and 1. —
" In the year 1788, on the 4th and 5th of February, the
mercury sunk, in one night, from 27 to 4 below 0, and the
river was frozen fast in the evening of next day. 1764, De
cember 31st, between the hours of ten at night and eight in
the morning, it froze sufficiently hard to bear passengers. In
this sudden metamorphosis, from liquid to solid, " I hate
observed," says Dr. Rush, a fume or vapour rise from the
surface, in so dense a column, that the people collected in
admiring crowds to behold it.
" At the summer solstice, and even for twenty days after
it, the heats are so intense, at Philadelphia, that the streets
are deserted from noon till five o'clock. The thermometer
often rises to 88 degrees. There are instances of its ascent to
95 and 99. In the course of the day, it will sometimes rise
from 65 and 70, to 80 and 85, a variation of 15 and 20 degrees.
What renders this heat particularly irksome, is the almost

NORTH AMERICA. 285
In the Carolinas and Georgia, a variation ^f 20
degrees in 24 hours is common. In Charleston,
on the 17th March, 1819, the thermometer feU
33°, in 12 hours ; in 1751, 46° in 16 hours.
absolute repose of the air, particularly for three hours after
noon, and the moisture that loads the atmosphere. From this
detail, it appears, that the compass of the annual variation is
from 95 to 105 degrees.
" Dr. Rush was the first who noticed the analogy subsist
ing between the climate of Pekin and that of Philadelphia ;
and a close examination will enable us to discover a striking
similitude between the climate of North America and
that of Northern China and Eastern Tartary.
" In the southern States, Virginia, Carolina, and Georgia,
the - duration and intensity of the cold declines in the same
proportion as the latitude. The parallel of Potowmack, or
more exactly that of the Patapsco, forms, in this respect, a
distinguishing line. The dominion of snow is bounded here,
and he who travels southward, may notice the sleigh before
every farmer's door, till he descends the steeps, at the foot of
which rolls the Patapsco, after which he will see that vehicle
no more.
" In the interior of the country, towards the Blue Ridge,
the snows prevail somewhat beyond this limit, on account of
the greater elevation of the surface. This quarter, neverthe
less, is exposed to severe frosts, for forty days, ensuing the
winter solstice. At Norfolk, on the 4th February, 1798,
there fell, in one night, five feet of snow. Even at Charleston,
in the latitude of 30°, which answers to that of Morocco, the
mercury sunk to 23 degrees, according to Liancourt, and the
earth was frozen for a depth of two inches, in one night.
" Along the coast, below the Potowmac, from a month
before the solstice, the heat is so violent, that, for four months
together, the mercury rises, in the afternoon, notwithstanding
the sea-breeze, to 83 and 86 degrees. At Savannah, it reaches

286 LETTERS FROM
At the same season of the year, the heat,
in different latitudes of this, continent, varies
to a great extent. In February last, while we
were oppressed with heat amidst the orange-
102 and 106 degrees, a much higher temperature than is
known in Egypt, where the medium is 88 degrees in the
shade ; and even this temperature is there moderated by a
constant breeze, and a pure dry air. Henry Ellis observed
the mercury, at Savannah, at 100 degrees. He complains
that, for several nights together, it never sunk below 96. In
his cellars it stood at 80, and under his arm at 96 degrees.
Dr. Ramsay, who made his observations at Charleston, has
seen it rise to 95 degrees, only once in five years. But
Charleston, situated at the mouth of a small river, shaken by
the tide, enjoys the sea-breeze, and passes for a cool place,
among the people of the country, who make it their asylum
in summer.
" It follows, that, in the southern States, the annual vari
ation is from 70 to 75 degrees, and the reader has doubtless
observed, that these variations decrease as we go southward.
Thus, it amounts to 135 degrees near Hudson's Bay, to 110
in Massachusetts, and to 100 in Pennsylvania. It sinks to
80 degrees in Carolina. Advancing near the tropics, the
annual variation, in most places, exceeds not 45 and 50 degrees.
At Martinique, Porto Rico, and other windward isles, the
temperature, moderated by the sea-breeze, mounts no higher
than 95, nor sinks below 55, a difference of 40 degrees. On
the ridge of hills, near Caraccas, at 10° north latitude, a
height of more than 7000 feet above the sea, the mercury is
stationary between 55 and 80 degrees. At Surinam, near
the sea-shore, it vibrates between 88 and 93 degrees. The
traveller going from these latitudes northward, in summer,
finds the heat oppressive and irksome, exactly in proportion
to his progress in this direction ; and as to myself, I greatly
prefer the temperature of Cairo to that of Philadelphia. It

NORTH AMERICA. 287
groves of Charleston, and eating green peas
grown in the open air, they were sleighing
in the streets of Philadelphia, and the maU
from New York was stopped two or three
days by snow. On the 6th February, in the
preceding year, the thermometer was — 33° at
Montreal, and +67° at Savannah, a difference
of exactly 100° of temperature in less than
14° of latitude.
is true, that, as we go towards the mountains, the heat, though
still fervent, becomes more supportable, and as we approach
their summits, we meet with an atmosphere lighter, purer,
and more elastic. In general, however, in what are called
the temperate zones, especially in low and humid regions,
the temperature is more unpleasant than in what are called
the hot countries. Within the limits of the torrid zone, the
temperature is more equable than in the contiguous regions,
and far more favourable to health, and to vital energy, if the
air were less saturated with exhalations from animal and
. vegetable putrescence ; and if strangers, especially those from
Europe, did not carry with them their voracious attachment to
gross meats and inflammatory liquors."— Volney.

288 , LETTERS FROM

yLttux x\wm.

New York, 7th March, 1821.
We left Hartford in Connecticut, on the 2nd
of March, 1821, in the Albany stage or sleigh,
to visit the Missionary School at Cornwall;
and at the distance of about six miles, crossed
what is called " the Mountain," from the sum
mit of which we had a charming view of the
Connecticut valley on the one side, and of
another extensive and very beautiful valley on
the other. The descent into it was very steep;
and soon after we had crossed the high land,
which forms its opposite boundary, we passed
through some very romantic glens, in one of
which New Hartford is situated. Here we
dined; and as the road to Cornwall now branched
off from the Albany road, we were obhged to
obtain a private sleigh. It was an open one ;
and although the day was extremely cold, we
were not sorry to have nothing to interrupt
our view. The country became dreary and
uninteresting as we approached Goshen; but

NORTH AMERICA. 289
on drawing near to Cornwall, about sunset, we
had some beautiful mountain scenery, very
similar to some of the mountain scenery in
Tennessee, near Brainerd. In one respect,
indeed, there was a striking contrast. In both
cases, the hiUs were clothed with wood ; but
the vallies, . which in Tennessee were hidden
under a sombre mantle of unbroken forest,
were here enhvened with the appearance of
cultivation, and animated with aU the cheering
indications of civilized life.
As we descended into the little valley in
which the Mission School is situated, the dis
tant mountains were fading from our view ;
but we had just daylight enough to see the
steeple of the church, and the very few houses
which seemed to compose this little village, or
rather this httle detached part of a httle village.
The snow contributed to prolong our twUight,
and assisted us in discerning, about a quarter
of a mile before, we reached the school, a retired
burying-ground, with many upright slabs of
white marble, over, which the evening star,
the only one which had yet appeared, was
shedding its mild light. Here, as we afterwards
learned, lay the remains of the lamented Henry
Obookiah, a pupil of peculiar promise, from
the Sandwich Islands. His companions, Hopoo,
vol. ii. - v •

290 LETTERS FROM
Tennooe, and Honooree, returned some months
since, to their native island, with the mission
which was sent thither. Tamoree, king of
Atooi, in a letter to his son at Cornwall, had
expressed himself very desirous that mission
aries should be provided, and great expecta
tions are excited of the success of the mission.
Being informed that a Mr.  , though
not keeping a regular inn, sometimes received
those who visited the school, I apphed; to
him, in preference to taking up my quarters
at a very uninviting tavern. I soon obtained
admittance into a neat httle chamber, where
I sat up till a late hour, indulging the very
interesting reflections naturally excited hy my
situation, in a deep retired romantic vaUey,
where so many heathen youths were coUected
from different parts of the world, to be in
structed in the principles of the Christian
religion, and qualified, as far as human effort
could qualify them, to diffuse the light of the
Gospel over the benighted lands of their,
nativity. I thought of the nights which I had
passed at the missionary settlements of Elliot
and Brainerd, in the southern forest, where!
heard this school mentioned with deep interest.
Indeed, some of the Indian children at those
distant settlements, had brothers or sisters here,

NORTH AMERICA. 291
with whom they maintained a constant and
affectionate correspondence. I saw some of
their letters, written with great feeling and
simplicity, in which they were encouraging
each other in their Christian course, and dwell
ing on the importance of improving their pre
sent advantages, in order to be prepared to
become blessings to their native tribes, by
introducing civUization and Christianity among
those sons of the forest.*
* For many interesting particulars respecting the present
state of the Indian tribes, see Dr. Morse's valuable Report
to the Secretary at War of the United States; on Indian
Affairs. See also, Appendix F, in which are several extracts which
I have made from that Report, as it has not been republished
in this country.
See also the very interesting publications of Mr. Hunter,
from whose benevolent and intelligent exertions, the happiest
result may be anticipated.
In a letter, dated 5th June, 1822, which I had the pleasure
of receiving from the late Mr. Lowndes, whom I have so
frequently mentioned in the preceding letters, he observes,
" I am afraid that you give us credit which we do not deserve,
when you suppose that we are familiarly acquainted with the
present state of our Indian tribes. Our ignorance is extra
ordinary and voluntary, and from our own fault, incurable.
I have received information of most interesting memoirs,
written by men who had spent their lives among them, being
deposited among the public archives at Washington. I have
inquired for them, but have learned, that though they were
permitted tp be deposited there, from courtesy, so little value
had been attached to them, that they had been taken out and

292 LETTERS FROM
I rose early, and at six o'clock, ' when the bell
rang, went to the school to prayers. A chap
ter in the New Testament was first read, each
pupU, or rather several of them, taking a verse
in succession ; afterwards, David Brown, alias
Awik, (a half-bred Cherokee,) the brother of
Catherine Brown, whose name you often see
in the missionary reports, led the devotions of
the assembly ; they then aU dispersed to their
own rooms.
You will perhaps remember my mentioning
Catherine Brown, in my account of Brainerd ;
it was a great disappointment to me not
to see her there, as I had heard much of
her interesting character. She left Brainerd,
I believe, the very morning I arrived, to
take the superintendence of a new missionary
settlement, established near Creek Path,
determined to devote her hfe to the im
provement of the social, moral, and religious
condition of her Indian sisters.*
lost, nobody knowing when, or by whom. The effect of the
character and condition of our Indian Tribes, even upon the
present state of society in America, has always appeared to
me a subject of most interesting investigation."
* I lately observed the following particulars in two Ame
rican newspapers, which accidentally fell into my hands.
" Some time since, the Tennessee papers informed us, that
a young Choctaw Indian, attending an English school at
Nashville, delivered an eloquent oration in the language of

NORTH AMERICA. 293
I have obtained a list of the native names of
the scholars for you ; but, in the mean time,
must tell you, that there were, among others,
one Malay, one Otaheitan, two Mowhees, two
his nation. It was an extemporaneous performance, and was
spoken of as a handsome* specimen of Indian oratory.
" On Friday evening last, the eitizens of this town were
also gratified with a very novel and interesting exhibition of
the oratorical powers of one of the children of the forest.
We" allude to the address of Mr. David Brown, a young
Cherokee Indian, and brother of the celebrated Catherine
Brown. He was educated at the Mission School at Cornwall,
(Connecticut,) where he has been residing between three and
four years. Having embraced' Christianity, he has qualified
himself to act as a missionary among his own countrymen,
and to impart to them civil and religious instruction. His
complexion is lighter than most Indians ; his features are
regular, and rather handsome than otherwise, and the expres
sion of his countenance indicates great :vivacity and intelli
gence. In his address, which -was delivered in a very appro
priate, manly, and energetic style, he gave some account of
himself and family, who were among the first of the Indians
converted to Christianity — spoke in eloquent and glowing
language of the happy state of his countrymen, previous to
the discovery of the continent, and drew an affecting picture
of their subsequent decline, and almost utter extinction —
gave a brief account of their religion, manners, and customs,
and powerfully combated the prevalent opinion, that civil
ization and Christianity cannot be introduced among them—
spoke of the blessed effects which have already flowed from
missions, declared that missionaries of the cross had beeri,
and still would be, received with open arms by his countrymen,
and concluded with a very pathetic appeal to the Christian
feelings and sympathies of his audience.
* An Americanism.

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Owyhees, one New Zealander, eight Cherokee
Indians, two Choctaws, three Muh-he-con-nuks,
one Oneida, one Tuscarora, and two Coughne-
wagas. Three of them, Awik, (David Brown,)
" We were much astonished at the intimate acquaintance
with our language which he .evinced, and believe- we speak
the sentiments of all who, heard him, when we say, ' that
very few young men could have written an address, in every
particular so unexceptionable.' The friends of missions had
before them a living and intelligent witness, that ,the.y had not
laboured and prayed in vain ; and the enemies of missions
must have felt, that by the blessing of Almighty God, some
thing tnay be done, by a Christian people, , to enlighten ahd
save the savages of the wilderness. It was a most interesting
and gratifying scene ; and we shall remember the time when
we listened with admiration and delight, to a chaste and
eloquent address, in our own language, , from the lips of an
Indian of North America." — Newburyport Herald.
" On the 18th July died, at the residence of Dr. Campbell,
Miss Catherine Brown, of the Cherokee nation. The Chris
tian community at large, will deplore the loss of this interest
ing female — but the dispensation will be more severely felt
by the little church at Creek Path, ' of which she was a dis
tinguished member. This intelligent and pious young lady,
furnished additional proof of the powerful influence of Chris
tianity in refining the mind, improving the taste, and fortify
ing the heart against the seductive snares of the world, and
the fear of death. A few years ago, she was immured in all
the darkness of the savage state; her mind was ahke a
stranger either to intellectual or moral improvement. The
approach of the missionaries to the land of her forefathers,
was to her a happy era. Catherine was among the first of
their pupils. She applied herself with diligence, and soon
made very respectable attainments in learning. From these
heralds of the cross, she first heard of that Saviour who soon

NORTH AMERICA. 295
a Cherokee, Kub-le-ga-riah, (Elias Boudinot,) a
Cherokee, and Irepoah, an Owhyhee, afterwards
paid me a visit in my room, and sat with me
half an hour. They could aU speak English, and
Irepoah told me he had seen my country, having
lain a week off the Isle of Wight, in the vessel
in which he was carried to China and Amster
dam, on his way hither. The principal of the
school said that Kub-le-ga-nah had gone
through a course of history, geography, and
surveying, had read some books of Virgil, and
was then engaged in studying Enfield's phUo-
sophy, over which, indeed, I afterwards found
him, when I visited the school. I also saw his
trigonometrical copy-books. I had a letter of
opened her heart to attend to things that pertained to her
salvation. From this period she became a devoted Christian ;
she interested herself deeply for the salvation of her poor
benighted friends ; nor were her labours in vain. She was
made the honoured instrument of bringing a number of them
to a knowledge of the truth. Her course was short, but
brilliant. Attacked with a pulmonary complaint, she wasted
away rapidly, and in a few months, was so far reduced,
as to preclude all hopes of her recovery. As a last resort
she was removed, for the sake of medical aid, from her
father's residence, to Dr. CampheU's, of Limestone county.
Under the hospitable roof of this gentleman, she received
every attention her situation required. By this removal,
her life, no doubt, was prolonged ; but no skill of the phy
sician, nor the kind attentions of Christian friends, could
prevail against the decree of Heaven." — Alabama Repub.

296 LETTERS FROM
introduction to the Bev. Mr» Dagget, the
principal, who is devoting the remainder of
his life to the school. He called on me at eight
o'clock, and I afterwards found him at the
school, where I heard some of the pupils ex
amined. He showed me a large sheet of paper,
on which were written the names of twenty
or thirty common objects in English; and
opposite to them the corresponding names in
the different languages of all the pupils who
had ever been at the school. On coming away;
he gave me a copy ofthe 19th Psalm, in the lan
guage of the Muh-he-con-nuk, or Stockbridge
tribe of Indians.*
It would be difficult to conceive a more
interesting sight than was presented by this
school; and you will anticipate my reflections
on bidding it a final adieu. It was opened in
the spring of 1817, and the following is the
object stated in the constitution :— ".The edu
cation, in America, of heathen youth, in such
a manner, as, with subsequent professional
instruction, will qualify them to become useful
missionaries, physicians, schoolmasters, or inter
preters; and to communicate to the heathen
nations, such knowledge in agriculture and the
arts, as may prove the means of promoting
* See Appendix G.

NORTH AMERICA. 297
Christianity and civilization." Is not this a
truly noble object ? An institution very similar
to this, was contemplated by Bishop Berkeley.
Chandler, in his Life of President Johnson,
states, that " it was part of Berkeley's plan, in
establishing the University, which he projected
on so liberal a scale, to train up a competent
number of young Indians in succession, to be
employed as missionaries among the various
tribes of Indians bordering upon our settle
ments. It appeared to be a matter of very
material consequence, that persons should be
employed in this service, who were acquainted
with the languages necessary to be used ; and
he had also a strong persuasion, that such mis
sionaries would be much better received by the
savages, than those of European extraction.
These Indian lads were to be procured from
the different tribes, in the fairest manner, and
to be fed, clothed, and instructed, at the ex
pense of the institution."
After what I have seen at the institution at
ComwaU, and at the settlements among the
Indians, in the southern forests, I anticipate
the most important results from the vigorous
and judicious exertions which are now directed
to their civilization. The idea, that they are
doomed, in the order of nature, to be swept

298 LETTERS FROM
from the face of the earth, wiU no longer, I
trust, be suffered to paralize the efforts of the
benevolent. It is high time that we should
cease to search for excuses for our indolence,
in those dark pages of Providence, in which
their destiny is written in characters too mys
terious for human skill to decypher ; and that
we should turn our eyes to the obvious duties
and imperative obligations which arise from the
peculiarity of our relative situations. It is
enough for us to know that they have been
injured by us, and that we can still make them
some reparation ; that, as hunters, ; they must
perish, from the scarcity ofthe deer and buffaloes
which have fled the approach of civilization ;
but that we have it in our power to teach
them to become agriculturists ; that they are
ignorant, and we can give them knowledge;
barbarous, and we can teach them the arts of
civilization ; heathens, and we can extend to
them the blessings of Christianity. — Their situ
ation, as possessors of land within the hmits
of the United States, is a very peculiar one ;
and the validity of their title to lands they
do not occupy, involves some very important
and perplexing considerations.* I heard some
of the Indians declare, they would part with
* See Appendix fr.

NORTH AMERICA. 299
no more of their land* unless General Jackson
should be sent with a superior force to compel
them ; that he professed, on such occasions, to
purchase, but that if they evinced any reluctance
to sell, he told them, that their land he would
have, by one means or another, and at last,
gave them one, or perhaps two cents per acre,
while the Government resold it for two dollars
per acre ; that they were sure their great father
at Washington, did not authorize such cruelty
and extortion.
My hostess was the grand-daughter of the
former pastor of the viUage; and the family
seemed much interested with Mr. Legh Bich-
* In a late American newspaper, I observed the follow
ing remarks : — " The Savannah Georgian, of the 20th instant,
contains the proceedings of the chiefs of the Cherokee nation
of Indians, in relation to the provisions made by the United
States, for holding a treaty with them for the purpose of
extinguishing their titles to lands within the chartered
limits claimed by the State of Georgia, The commis
sioners who made the attempt to effect a negociation last
winter, were unable to obtain an interview, and returned
unsuccessful. The Cherokees, in their document, drawn up
in council, state, ' that it was declared unanimously, to hold
no treaties with commissioners, and never, hereafter, to dis
pose of one foot of ground, as they have not more than suffi
cient for their nation and their posterity.' On any other sub
ject, they express a desire to meet the United States' commis
sioners, with friendship and cordiality, to keep bright the
chain of peace which binds the Cherokee nation with the
government of the United States."

300 LETTERS FROM
mond's " Little Jane," which I left with them.
It was a great pleasure to me to read it in this
little valley, with all the associations with whieh
it seemed so well to harmonize. We left Corn
wall at ten o'clock, on the 3d, in an open sleigh.
Our road, for three or four miles, lay through
a natural grove of hemlock spruce, (Pinus
Canadensis,) and cedar, which hung over
our path, and whose matted boughs and dark
green leaves, formed a fine contrast with the
new faUen snow, which rested upon them in
masses, or fell through, and gave a softer appear
ance to the frozen surface over which we
travelled. A rapid brook, which we sometimes
heard below, dashing over the rocks, and to
the brink of which the road occasionaUy de
scended, improved the scene.
Soon after crossing the Housatonnuc, we
ascended a mountain, from which we took our
last view of this consecrated spot, whose scenery,
I reflected, would "be carried to almost every
part of the world, in the breasts of the young
missionaries, associated, in many instances, with
interesting recollections of early piety, and of
vows, which, made in the first fervour of their
devotion to the sacred cause in which they
were engaged, would often be recalled in far dis
tant scenes to sustain their fainting spirits, or

NORTH AMERICA. 301
re-animate their slackened efforts, in the me
ridian or evening of their days.
When we descended the mountain on the
other side, we were gratified by a long suc
cession of scenery, which reminded me more
of the high moor-lands of our own country,
than any thing we had lately seen. The little
vallies which lay between them, were very
level and richly cultivated, and the small farm
houses had more of the cottage and less of the
parlour style in their appearance, than is usual
in New England — perhaps I ought to say,
more of the kitchen style, for the picturesque
cottage of Old England is seen here as seldom
as the miserable hovel or crumbling mud cabin.
Soon after passing Sharon, we entered the
State of New York ; and it was not without
regret that I bade adieu to New England,
where I had found so much to please and to
interest me.
I first entered New England, in the State of
Vermont, which I crossed in the autumn, and
with which I was much delighted; and the
favourable impressions I received have been
confirmed by more extended observation. It
has been particularly gratifying to me, to per
ceive, that all that is most interesting and
valuable in New England is derived,, not from

302 LETTERS FROM
any peculiar natural advantages, for in these she
is far surpassed by almost all the rest of the
United States, but from those blessings of
education, which will soon, I trust, pervade the
globe. Indeed, the number of schools which
we observed as we passed along the roads in
New England, and the neat appearance and
respectable civU manners of the children going
or returning with their little books under their
arms, were very pleasing.
Mr. Webster was quite correct in his remark
on this subject, in his eloquent oration, at the
second centenary of the landing of the Pilgrim
Fathers on the Plymouth Bock. " Although,"
said he, " the representatives of the kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland listened to a gentle
man of distinguished character, (Mr. Brougham,)
with astonishment and delight, when detailing
his plan of national education, we hear no prin
ciples with which we ourselves have not been
familiar from youth : we see nothing in the plan
but an approach to that system which has been
established in New England for more than a
century and a half. It is said, that in England
not more than one child in fifteen possesses the
means of being taught to read and write : in
Wales, one in twenty ; in France, until lately,
when some improvement was made, not

NORTH AMERICA. 303
more than one in thirty-five. Now, it is
hardly too strong to say, that in New England
every child possesses such means. ' That which
is elsewhere left to chance or charity, we secure
by law. For the purpose of public instruction,
we hold every man subject to taxation in pro
portion to his property ; and we look not to
the question, whether he himself have or have
not chUdren, to be benefited by the education
for which he pays. We regard it as a wise and
liberal system of policy, by which property, and
hfe, and the peace of society, are secured. We
seek to prevent, in some measure, the extension
of the penal code, by inspiring a salutary and
conservative principle of virtue and of know
ledge at an early age. We hope for a security
beyond the law, and above the law, in the pre
valence of enlightened and weU-principled moral
sentiment. We hope to continue and prolong
the time when, in the viUages or farm-houses of
New England, there may be undisturbed sleep
within unbarred doors. And knowing that our
Government rests directly in the pubhc will,
that we may preserve it, we endeavour to give
a safe and proper direction to that pubhc wiU."
AU this is to be ascribed to. the peculiar character
of the first settlers of New England. It has
been weU observed, "The scattered settlements

304 LETTERS FKOM
along the shores of Massachusetts and Connec
ticut, which, in the map of the now extensive
empire of America, can hardly be made visible,
were not' inhabited, as is often the case in a new
colony, by men of forlorn prospects and. ruined
character, or by desperate expeUed outcasts,
but by gentlemen and yeomen of England, who,:
in a period of stern rehgious dissent, went into
a voluntary distant exile, to preserve what they
considered the truth."
" These solitary villages, hardly indenting the
vast forest that overshadowed the continent
where labour and frugality never relaxed their
cares, where every thing luxurious withered
before the energy of body and mind, maintained
by the daUy encounter of hardship and danger ;
in these lone villages, there were to be found,
as teachers and leaders of the flock, men who
united aU the learning of the schools to the
piety and zeal of the confessors and martyrs.
These men, who had been bred in the antique
cloisters of Oxford and Cambridge, with habits
and views that ordinarily lead to timid appre
hensions of every thing new, and a reluctant
change of locality, cheerfully came to what was
then called the new, and might almost be con
sidered another world, — and here exhorted their
feUow-pilgrims to constancy. Sometimes, their

NORTH AMERICA. 305
discourse was held in the deep shades of
moss-grown forests, whose gloom and interlaced
boughs first suggested that Gothic architecture,
beneath wrh0se pointed arches, where they had
studied and prayed, the parti-coloured windows
shed a tinged light ; scenes, which the. gleams
of sunshine, penetrating the deep foliage, and
flickering on the variegated turf below, might
have recalled to their memory."
" A conviction of the importance of public
instruction,-' says Mr. Webster, " was one of
the earliest sentiments of our ancestors. No
lawgiver of ancient or modern times has
expressed more just opinions, or adopted wiser
measures, than the early records of the Colony
of Plymouth show to have prevailed here.
Assembled on this very spot, 153 years ago, the
legislature of this Colony declared, ' Foras
much as the maintenance of good hterature
doth much tend to the advancement of the
weal and flourishing state of Societies and
Bepubhcs, this Court doth, .therefore, order,
that in whatever township in this Government,
consisting of fifty families, or upwards, any
meet man shaU be obtained to teach a grammar-
school, such township shall allow, at least, 12
pounds, to be raised by rate, on all the inhabi
tants.' "
VOL. II. X

306 LETTERS FROM
To the superior advantages of education trans
mitted by their forefathers to the inhabitants
of the Eastern States, as, weU as to the poverty
of their soil, is to be ascribed that spirit of
emigration which pervades New England.-—
You remember how beautifully the connection
between superior intelligence in the population
of a comparatively poor country, and a spirit
of adventure and emigration, are pourtrayed
by Dr. Currie, in his remarks on the Scottish
peasant. With respect to the agriculture . of New
England, I have not had an opportunity of
acquiring much precise information. I was sur
prised to find, that even here the farmers had
fallen into the error, so common in the south,
of keeping too much land in tillage, and in
disproportion to their means. The produce of
wheat and Indian corn varies of course so mate
rially in different parts of the country, that it
is impossible to state what may be considered an
average produce. I frequently hear of farms
yielding 25 to 30 bushels of wheat per acre, and
40 to 60 bushels of Indian corn. In the south,
(in Alabama, for example,) you wiU, perhaps;
recollect instances which I mentioned, of 100
bushels of Indian corn per acre being obtained
from the rich, fresh, and newly-cleared lands.

NORTH AMERICA. 307
Tf*ese, however, were extreme cases.* But to
return to my narrative. —
A little circumstance which I will mention,
will show you the difference between the state
of manners in Connecticut and that part of the
State of New York on which we had just
* " It is an eTror that generally prevails under the tropics,
to consider grain as plants which degenerate in advancing
towards the equator, and to believe, that the harvests are
more abundant in the northern climates. Since calculations
have been made, on the progress of agriculture in the differ
ent zones, and the temperature under the influence of which
corn will flourish ; it has been found, that, beyond the latitude
of 45", the produce of wheat is no where so considerable, as
on the northern coasts of Africa, and on the table-lands of
New Grenada, Peru, and Mexico. Without comparing the
mean temperature of the season, which embraces the cycle
of vegetation of corn, we find, for three months of summer in
the north of Europe, from 15° to 19°, in Barbary and in
Egypt, from 27° to 29" within the tropics. 
" The fine harvests of Egypt, and of the kingdom of Algiers,
those of the vallies of Aragua, and the interior of the island
•of Cuba, -sufficiently prove, that the augmentation of heat
-is not prejudicial to the harvest of wheat and other alimentary
grain, unless it is attended with an excess of drought or
moisture. To this circumstance, no doubt, we must attri
bute the apparent* anomalies, that are sometimes observed
between the tropics, in the inferior limit of corn. — We are
astonished to see the east of the Havannah ; in the famous
district of Quatro Villas, this limit descends almost to the
level of the ocean ; while to the west of the Havannah, on
the slope of the mountains of Mexico and Xalapa, at six
hundred and seventy-seven toises of height, the luxury of
vegetation is such, that wheat does not form ears. — —

308 LETTERS FROM
entered. The snow had so far disappeared from
many parts of the road, that after toiling along
in the mud, and availing ourselves of every
little patch of snow on the road-side, we were
obliged to part with our sleigh and obtain a
Jersey waggon. While they were preparing
this little vehicle, I went into the house of
the person who undertook to convey us,
and, in speaking about his coming home the
same night, (it was Saturday,) or making an
allowance for his staying at Poughkeepsie the
, following day, his wife said, " Oh, people don't
think so much about the Sabbath here. In
Connecticut, where I was raised, they take
any body up that travels on Sunday ; but here
we're in a loose township, where people think
little about religion — I was not brought up so."
Now, in that part of Connecticut where I hired
" The environs of La Vittoria present a very remarkable
aspect with regard to agriculture. The height of the cul
tivated ground is from two hundred and seventy to three
hundred toises above the level of the ocean ; - and yet we
there find fields of corn mingled with plantations of sugar-
canes, coffee, and plaintains. Excepting the interior of the
island of Cuba, we scarcely find any where in the equi
noctial regions, European corn cultivated in large quantities,
in so low a region. The fine fields of wheat in Mexico, are at
between six hundred and twelve hundred toises of absolute
elevation ; and it is rare to see them descend to four hundred
toises." — Humboldt's Travels.

NORTH AMERICA. 309
the sleigh, it was considered quite a matter of
course " to tarry on the Sabbath," as they
termed it, and to include it in their calculation
of expenses.
The owner and driver of the Jersey waggon
was of German extraction, though a " native born"
American, and was very conversable. He told
me, that his father and his brother had remained
after the late war, in Upper Canada, where they
found the land excellent,* and that he would
go there too, but his " woman's father" was
* The following observations of Drl Dwight respecting the
quality of new lands in North America, deserve serious atten
tion : —
" 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 forests have
been undisturbed by fire, they have accumulated, 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 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, con
verted 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 observation has extended, is not often
done, those on which it abounds will be of course over-rated.
On the contrary, where it does not abound, the quality of the
soil will, in a comparative view, be under-rated. Hence, all

3]0 LETTERS FROM
loth to lose his daughter; that he resigned
a commission he held in the American army
on finding his company ordered to the
Canadian frontiers, as it seemed unnatural to
maple lands, which, from their moisture, are incapable of
being burnt, are considered as more fertile than they ulti
mately 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 inhabitants, 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 western States,
have been, and still are, uniformly valued beyond their real
worth. When the tract on the Green Mountains in Massa
chusetts was first settled, the same luxuriant fertility was
attributed to it, which has since characterized 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 Connecticut, and thence to those in Vermont,
on the western side of the Green Mountains. From these
regions, the paradise has travelled to the western parts 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 Louisiana. The accounts given
of all these countries, successively, were extensively true, but
the conclusions which were deduced from them were, in a
great measure, erroneous. So long as this mould remains,

NORTH AMERICA. 311
fight against his neighbours, and still more
against his own kin. We stopped towards night,
to feed our horses at a place caUed Pleasant
Valley, where there was a larger circle than
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 dissipated.
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 capable of being rendered,
by skilful cultivation, regularly 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
discussion. 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 Creator,
to answer the immediate calls of the first settlers. These are
of course few and poor, are embarrassed by many wants and
difficulties; and need their time and labour, to build their
houses, barns, and enclosures, as well as to procure} with
extreme inconvenience, 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 produces, 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

312 LETTERS FROM
usual sitting round the fire, and fewer persons
standing about the bar, which I attributed to
our being in a German neighbourhood. They
were talking about " a caucus" which had been
held, or was going to be held, for the appoint
ment of some petty officer. ' I will explain this
proceeding to you when we meet. We have
long been familiar with it, as a preliminary
movement in the election of President ; but I
was not aware, when I left England, that it
extended to the election of very subordinate
officers. It was starlight for two hours before
we reached Poughkeepsie, where I met with a
very frigid reception from a very surly landlord,
who seemed to suppose he was conferring a
favour, by aUowing me to cross his threshold.
I obtained a comfortable little room, however,
and saw my frosty friend only once while I staid,
I rose early next morning, and found, to my
satisfaction, that my window looked over the
noble Hudson to the high land on the opposite
side ; and, on going out, I found myself, as
I expected, in sight of some of the finest
labour of man materially, is to do him an injury. One of the
prime blessings of temperate climates is this : that they yield
amply to skilful labour, and without it yield little or nothing.
Where suph i? the fact, energy and effort will follow, and all
their inestimable consequences. Where countries are radi
cally barren, man wilhdeSpair." '

NORTH AMERICA. 313
mountains in North America. These are the
Kaatskill, the fine northern range, in which,
according to Volney, are to be found the
sources of the Delaware. They are the
most picturesque range that I have seen
in America, (except, perhaps, one range in
Virginia, from the valley of the Shenandoah,
and I do not know that I ought to except that.)
Their rounded summits and towering peaks
give them a strong resemblance to our moun
tain scenery, and form a striking contrast to the
unbroken continuity and horizontal outline of
the American mountains generally, and espe
cially of the Alleghany. They are not higher
than the fine range of the Lake Mountains,
which we see from Lancaster Castle, nor, I
think, either more beautiful or sublime ; but it
is difficult to compare objects, where the one is
present to the eye, the other only to the imagi
nation. It was a very fine morning, and the
sun threw a rich red tinge over their snowy
steeps when he rose. To the south, the FishkiU
Mountains, which are also very remarkable ones,
were distinctly visible ; and in the vicinity of
this fine scenery — by many persons considered
the finest in North America — I had arranged
to pass my last Sabbath on these western shores.
To how many interesting reflections, prospec-

314 LETTERS FROM
five and retrospective, that single consideration
gave rise, I must leave you to imagine^
In the Episcopal Church, a little plain build
ing, we had a good sermon from the words,
" AU things are yours," &c. and in the after
noon, in the Baptist Meeting, on a kindred
subject from the text, " All things work toge
ther for good to them that love God, that are
the called according to his purpose."
We had a glorious sunset behind the distant
mountains, and as the sun went down I
appeared to take leave of America ; for I an
ticipated little time either to think or feel
during the ensuing week of preparation. :

NORTH AMERICA. 315

netux xmv.
New York, 7th March, 1821.
We left Poughkeepsie at four o'clock the
next morning in the stage. This is principally
a Dutch town, as is very evident in the con
struction of the buildings, and the figures of
the men and women ; the former of smaller,
the latter of ampler, dimensions than are com
mon in America. The ride to New York, 80
miles, is one of the most striking in this country.
In the space of 20 miles, through and over
what are caUed the Highlands, or the FishkiU
Mountains, I saw more of Nature's ruins than
in my whole hfe before :
" Craggs, knolls, and mounds, confusedly hurl'd,
" The fragments of an earlier world."
Many of the smaller defiles resembled the Tros-
sachs, but were far wilder. I will, however,
attempt no description. I will only say, that
for two . days I was revelling in magnificent
scenery, and adding largely to those chambers
of imagery, from which I hope, during life, to

316 LETTERS FROM
be able to summon at pleasure the most sublime
and beautiful forms of nature.
I had a very fine view of the passage which
the Hudson has forced for itself through the
FishkiU Mountains. We were within a short
distance of the Hudson during a great part of
the day ; frequently on its banks ; and as the
day was bright, and I sat by the coachman till
it was dark, I saw the country to great advan
tage. I had before sailed through the High
lands by moonlight, on my way to Canada. We
reached New York after midnight, (this morn
ing ;) and I am now writing my last letter to
England in the house where I slept the night
we landed, sixteen months since. I can hardly
believe, that only sixteen months have elapsed
since I first hailed these western shores. —
Every week, indeed, has ghded rapidly away ;
but the new sources of interest which have
opened to me on every side, and the various
scenes, through which I have passed, have
supplied such a rapid succession of ideas and
feelings, as to give to the intervening period
an apparent extension far beyond its real limits.
In little more than a year, I have visited Upper
and Lo^er Canada, and traversed the United
States from their northern to their southern
extremity, comprehending, in my route, the

NORTH AMERICA. 317
States of Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts,
Bhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Penn
sylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North
and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisi
ana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. I have crossed
the AUeghany in Tennessee, the Blue Bidge in
Virginia, and the Green Mountains in Vermont.
I have sailed on those inland seas, and traversed
those boundless forests, which are associated
with our earliest conceptions of this Western
world. I have seen the St. Lawrence precipi
tate its mighty torrent down the FaUs of
Niagara, reflect from its calm expanse the
frowning battlements of Quebec, arid then flow
majesticaUy to the wintry shores of Labrador ;
and the Mississippi,* rising in the same table
land as the St. Lawrence, rolling its turbid
waters for 3000 miles to the orange-groves of
Louisiana, and, at last, falling into the Gulf of
Mexico, under nearly the same latitude as the
Nile. I have conversed with the pohshed
circles of the Atlantic cities ; the forlorn emi
grant in the wUderness; the Negro on the
plantation ; and the Indian in his native forest.
Ih successive intervals of space, I have traced
society through those various stages which, in
* For a particular account of the sources of the Mississippi,
see Appendix H.

318 LETTERS FROM
most countries, are exhibited only in successive
periods of time. I have seen the roving hunter
acquiring the habits of the herdsman ; the pas
toral state merging into the agricultural, and
the agricultural into the manufacturing and
commercial. I am now on the eve of embarking for the
old world Need I add, that I shaU return, if
I am spared, with undiminished affection for
the friends I have left behind ; with unshaken
fidelity and attachment to the land of my
nativity ; and, if possible, with a deeper sense
than ever of the glory and privilege of having
been born " a British," as the interpreter of my
Indian hunters would say. Indeed, you need
not fear that my country will possess too few
attractions for me, whUe she produces so many
male and female worthies. Wbo would renounce
the honour of being the compatriot of her living
ornaments, to say nothing of her long line of
illustrious dead? But even her woods, her rivers,
and her mountains, have not lost one charm by
comparison. Our woods and rivers will appear
more diminutive, perhaps, than before, but not
less picturesque ; and Ingleborough and Lons
dale, Coniston FeUs and our Lake scenery, are
surpassed in beauty by nothing which I have
seen. You must not be surprised, however, if I

NORTH AMERICA. 319
feel a strong emotion, on bidding a last adieu
to these western shores ; to a country where I
have passed so many happy hours ; where I
have found so much to stimulate and gratify
curiosity; and where I have experienced a
degree of attention which I never can forget.
In the interest which I must ever feel in the
destinies of this favoured land, in her European,
her African, and her Aboriginal* population,
I seem as if I were endowed with a new sense.
I see in the Americans, a people who are to
show to generations yet unborn, what British
energy can accomplish, when unfettered by the
artificial arrangements of less enlightened times,
and the clumsy machinery of the old compli
cated system of commercial pohcy ; when com
bining with the elastic vigour, of renovated
youth, the experience of a long and spirited
career of prosperity and glory ; and when
bringing to the boundless regions of a new
world, fair and fresh from the hand of its
Creator, the inteUectual treasures which have
been accumulating for centuries in the old.
It is in this light that I wish to regard
America ; as a scion from the old British oak —
not as a rival, whose growing greatness is to
* For some remarks on the Aboriginal population of North
America, see Appendix I.

820 LETTERS FROM
excite jealousy and apprehension, but as the
vigorous child of an illustrious parent, whose
future glory may reflect lustre on the distin
guished family from which she sprang, and
who should be solicitous to prove herself wor
thy of her high descent. May her future
career evince both her title and her sensibility
to her hereditary honours. May the child
forget the supposed severity of the parent, and
the parent the alleged obstinacy of the child ;
and while, as two independent nations, they
emulate each other in glorious deeds, may they
combine their commanding influence to pro
mote the best interest of the human race !

JOURNAL, &c.

JOURNAL AT SEA, &c.

Ship ALBION, 10th March, half -past 10 o'clock, a.m.
10th March. — At 10 o'clock went on board the steam
boat Connecticut, and found a large party of our friends.
They accompanied us about twenty miles, to Sandy
Hook, where we reached the Albion, ¦wrbich had dropt
down in the night. It was the very spot where we
dropped anchor on our arrival in the Western World,
sixteen months before, and brought strongly to my
recollection, my feelings at that time, when about to
land a stranger on a foreign shore. Our friends have
just taken leave of us, with three cheers, and the large
steam-boat, which moved gracefully from us, is now fast
disappearing towards the Narrows.
4 o'clock. — The passengers are beginning to survey each
other a little. They consist of the Chief Justice of
Bermuda, Lord K-*  , two American physicians, and
several English, French, and American merchants, in all
nineteen, besides three children and a lady, who have
not yet appeared on deck. — Have just been talking

324 JOURNAL
with Judge E  , whose impressions, with respect to
America, correspond with mine.
We have just passed the Radius, bound to London.
• The morning was, very fine, and the day beautiful; it
is now rather rough.
llth, Sunday. — At one o'clock, the Chief Justice
read the Church Prayers, and one of Blair's Sermons
on Public Worship ; many of us are beginning to feel
se£t-sick. Distance run since twelve o'clock yesterday,
181 miles.
12th. — Dull weather — rather rough — many of us
unwell. The lightning, last night, led us to suppose we
were in the Gulf Stream, * but it seems we were
wrong, A little bird is in the rigging, though we are
300 miles from land. — Our two cabin boys have never
been at sea before, and are suffering terribly. — Distance
run, 173 miles.
13th.— A beautiful morning — after breakfast a large
reading party on deck ; the wind moderate in the morn
ing, improving towards night — it is now (midnight)
carrying us eight and a half knots an hour. — The moon
is shining sweetly on the waves, and the air is so soft.
and fresh, I hardly like to retire. — Saw some sea-gulls
to-day. Distance run, 72 miles ; long. 66°, lat. 39° 18'.
14th. — Wet, and rather wild — the wind fair — all
driven to the cabin, where some are reading, some
writing — the invalids disordered. — Distance 184 miles.
15th. — -Last night we had a severe gale, and were
obliged to take in all our sail, except the foresail — rose
thiamorning, sore all over with the rolling of the vessel —
and so ill with sickness and head-ache that I could
• See Appendix A.

AT SEA. 325
not open a book, or look up — the sea rough and un
pleasant. In the course of the day saw some bottle-nose
whales. — 223 miles.
16th. — Am again able to read on deck, but cannot
stay in my state-room, nor take any meals below. — 183
miles. 17th.— Fine calm day -- the invalids better. We
beheve we have now left the Gulf Stream, in which it is
supposed we have been during the last two days. — Saw
a ship on the horizon, but indistinctly ; it is the first we
have seen since we left New York, this day week. This
evening, have been walking with the Chief Justice, on
deck ; he tells me the cause of visiting England is, that
— - ' ¦", the. Governor, has. suspended him and two
more of the Executive Council, for differing from him
in opinion. The courts, during his absence, are closed,
the lawyers refusing to plead, except before professional
men. — 115 miles.
18th, Sunday. — So violent a storm, that we can have
no service on board.. Still we have an opportunity of
seeing the " works of the Lord, and his wonders in the
deep." Tbe waves are mountains high — sometimes
crested with foam— --sometimes curling and pouring down
a torrent of green water, like the heavy mass in the
middle of the Falls of Niagara. Our rails have been
under water a great part of the day ; and those of us
who staid on deck, have been lashed to the side. The
wind has been constantly heavy, and sometimes has
come up in squalls, which drove us at a tremendous
rate, though we had only our foresail set, and the
mizen-top-gallant yards were brought on deck. The
waves seemed to rise on every side, as if they

326 JOURNAL
were going to form into a cone, and close in upon us —
sometimes to let us down into an abyss, from which it
seemed impossible we should ever rise. — Distance 201
miles. 19th. — During the night the wind has been completely
round the compass. — It is now fair, (10 o'clock, a. m.)
the day dry, but cloudy ; the wind cold ; while yester
day it was quite warm, though so violent ; in both cases
from the south. — 173 miles. — The weather seemed to
intimate that we were within the influence of the Banks
of Newfoundland, and an observation confirmed the
idea. — The captain thought we were a little to the south
of them, but the mate supposed, from the colour of the
water, that we were passing over the edge. While the
rest were at dinner, he and I tried the temperature of the
water, which, on the Banks, is almost always at 34°. In
the air it was 48'; but on letting it into the water, it
sunk at once to 34°.
20th. — The wind very high, and the ship, for some
time, driven more rapidly than the captain remembers
on any former occasion. — This morning, 12 a. m. we
have a fine north-west wind. — 10 o'clock, p. m. we have
now a violent gale— one of our sails has just been carried
away. — 251 miles.
" Our path is on the mountain wave." The storm has
driven my companions to their births,, and gives my
table sometimes an horizontal, sometimes almost a perpen
dicular position ; and sometimes suspends both it and
me, at an angle of 45°. At seven o'clock this
evening, it was a fine star-light night; and in less
than an hour, we were all in confusion, with a sudden
blast of the equinoctial gale, which has shivered one of
our sails, and is now roaring around us, as in some of

AT SEA. 327
the terrible nights on shore, when we pity the poor
fellows who are exposed to the boisterous seas. We
have, however, got all our sails down, except one, and
now feel snug, as the sailors call it, although the wind is
driving us along at a tremendous rate, and tossing us
about as if our ship was a feather. But I have great
confidence in the excellence of our vessel, and the skill
of our captain ; though in some of our critical moments
these would be broken reeds, if we did not repose on
Him who " stilleth the raging of the seas." When
plunging into the abysses from which it would seem
impossible our bark should ever rise, I often think of
the lines, — " And when in dreadful whirls we hung,
" High on th' impending wave,
" I knew thou wert not slow to hear,
" Nor impotent to save."
12 o'clock, p. m. — I have just been on deck — the gale is
moderating — the lightning has ceased — and some stars
are again appearing. — I cannot help smiling when I
look around me; exactly opposite is Lord K  ,
fast asleep in his birth; behind, Captain  , of
the British Navy — the other passengers all in their
births, but less accustomed to the sea, awake and rest
less, and alarmed, and knocked about till they are sore
— my servant and the steward stretched on beds on the
cabin floor — while I am writing by a handsome glass
lamp, which seems more fit for a drawing-room than a
cabin, and as if the slightest breeze would shiver
it to pieces ; but it is so hung, that it remains safe in
all the tossing of the vessel. — It is again just midnight.

32& JOURNAL
21st. — We have all passed a terrible night, and the
captain says he seldom remembers the vessel rolling so
much. The swell ofthe sea combines with the particular
state of the wind to cause it. To-day it is cold, and most
uncomfortable. — 183 miles.
22nd. — A fine day — we still make rapid progress.-^
The Chief Justice of Bermuda has been giving me some
particulars about the Island. — Sunday-schools are in
creasing, especially among the blacks. — 228 miles. —
Long. 38°— lat. 43°.
It is again midnight ; but as we have 19 passen
gers, and as I cannot write in my state-room, I avail
myself of a quiet moment, which can only occur when all
"are in bed, to write my journal,
" Noting, ere they fade away,
" The little lines of yesterday."
There is, however, little variety to note : the account of
one day's routine will almost serve for all. — At 7 o'clock
the bell rings to call up the passengers, who make
their appearance at all hours from six to nine o'clock,
when the bell rings for breakfast. When those who
are up leave the deck, where they have been inquiring
how fast we have gone during the night — which way the
wind is — what are our prospects for that day, &c. fee-
Breakfast usually consists of coffee, chocolate, and tea,
veal cutlet, or beef-steaks, sausages, &c. and hot
bread and butter; and when our poor cow, in the
long-boat on deck, has been bountiful, we are indulged
with milk or cream, but the frequent storms inter
fere with her bounty, and her supplies, when most
generous, are often intercepted, as it is proper they should
be, by some children who are on board. After break-

AT SEA. 329
fast, we usually go on deck with or without books, and
muffled up in great coats, our vessel being too generally
on her side during this stormy passage, to admit of exer
cise. — About eleven o'clock, those who are troubled with
ennui, go down for a glass of wine and bitters. At
twelve o'clock they descend again for lunch, and call for
it, if not ready, with an impatience and impetuosity
which would indicate the efficiency of the bitters in
creating an appetite. Lunch consists of cold meat,
cheese, biscuits, seed-cake, Port and Madeira wine, cider,
ale, porter, &c. and about two-thirds of the passengers
usually attend. Those who begin to be tired of them
selves by one o'clock, then " turn in," as they call it, or
get into their births and try to sleep ; the rest talk or
read on the deck, or in the cabin till four o'clock, when
dinner is announced. By the solicitude which is expressed
for this hour, you would imagine that breakfasts and
luncheons were omitted at sea. The dinners would really
be considered as excellent on shore. They usually con
sist of soup, one or two roasted turkies, ducks and fowls,
poultry-pies, and beef, or mutton, with hot tarts, or
puddings, which last, on Sundays, are always plum-
puddings. There is then a dessert of apples, almonds
and raisins, hickory-nuts, figs, prunes, &c. ; and as the
wines are found by the ship, I assure you they are not
spared. There are generally three or four who stick to
the bottle till seven o'clock, and then come on deck to
smoke a cigar, while the table is preparing for tea, which
is announced by a bell at eight o'clock. After tea, there
is usually one party at whist, and another at chess or
backgammon, the rest read in the cabin, or walk on
deck. At nine, many of the passengers take a glass of

330 JOURNAL
hot whiskey-punch, and some " turn in ;" others go on
deck, and walk till eleven, when they come down, and
take a last (or last but one,) glass of brandy and water ;
and thus, with the aid of the four meals, and two or three
subsidiary morsels, and half a dozen glasses of spirits,
ends the day. — Some, however, are as abstemious as on
shore, (others, against their will, much more so,) and
we have three or four on board, who, amidst all
the interruptions incident to a rough passage, and close
quarters with 19 or 20 passengers, contrive to get five or
six hours of steady reading, and three or four of agree
able conversation ; but much time is almost necessarily
lost at sea, except it be employed in reflection, which
there is much to excite, or in learning patience. With
regard to lessons of patience, perhaps, the captain has the
best chance ; for we are all perpetually asking him ques
tions, which it is impossible for him to answer. — " Captain,
which way is the wind going to be to-morrow?" — " Cap
tain, how far shall we have run by twelve o'clock to-night?"
" Captain, how long will this wind hold ?" — " Captain, shall
we meet the James Monroe coming out of Liverpool ? —
Captain, you said last night it looked easterly-like, and
here's the wind blowing west, as steady as it can blow," &c.
— Towards night, we all have our patience exercised, by
pathetic soliloquies, and the exhibition of petty miseries
we cannot relieve : " Oh, I wish I was in Liverpool."
— " Well, I'll never cross the Atlantic again, I can tell
you." — " It's very odd that medical men, whose business
it is, can give us no cure for sea-sickness. — Captain,
have you nothing on board that will stay on one's
stomach ? — -I have tried every thing at regular meals,
and the steward has cooked me a great many things, but

AT SEA. 831
I can get nothing to do." — " Why, sir, we've arrow-root
and sago, and the steward will make you any kind of
gruels or soups that you fancy." — " Oh, I've tried all
those, and they are all alike. I am as sick as ever. — I
wish the ship would not roll so. — Do'nt you think,
if you lowered the topsails she would roll less ?" — " No ;
I do'nt think she would, sir, and, at all events, she would
not go so quick." — " Why, I am sure she is not going
five knots an hour." — " Yes, sir, she is going nine."—
" I'll bet you ten dollars she^ not going more than
seven."^" YeS, sir; we have just hove the log, and she's
going nine."
23d. — Still a fair wind — an unfortunate row last
night among some of the gay young passengers ; but it
was suppressed by the cool determination and gentle
manly conduct of the captain- — 256 miles.
24th.— «We find we have sailed 1535 miles since this
day week.
25th, Sunday. — Had service on board, at which many
ofthe sailors attended, with far more apparent seriousness
than some of the passengers.— So wet, that we were all
confined below. The sermon read by Judge E  was
one of Blair's. " Our times are in his hand." To-day,
in the church prayers, we prayed for his Majesty King
George — last Sunday, for the President of the United
States. — At nine o'clock, a severe gale came on, and we
were obliged to take down every sail — 184 miles.
26th. — A fair wind, but less brisk ; at twelve o'clock,
we calculated that we were 520 miles from Cape Clear. —
At night, passed a brig, bound to Europe, but did not
speak her. — Have seen several sea-gulls during the last
two days, sometimes swimming — 184 miles.

332 JOURNAL
27th. — An unpleasant day — confined below by inces
sant rain — 222 miles.
28th. — Last night we had a violent gale — the most se
vere one we have had yet. One of the men was left insen
sible in the rigging, by a blow from a rope, which was
snapped by the wind. The captain said the rope was
calculated to hold many tons, and consisted of 700
strands, one of which two of us endeavoured in vain to
break. — To-day, we have had an observation of the sun,
and to-night have been finding our exact position on the
chart. We expect to get soundings to-morrow, and go
to bed in high spirits. — I still think we shall arrive on
Saturday, 31st inst— 157 miles.
29th, 10 o'clock, a. m. — This morning, at five o'clock,
we got soundings — 80 fathoms deep, and in the course of
a few hours, we expect to see the south-west coast of
Ireland. The water has changed its colour from deep
indigo to blue green, and has assumed the general:
appearance which it has when seen from land. We have
a fine north-west wind ; and it is the finest day we have
experienced since we left New York.
" Amid the war of sea and sky,
" Top and top-gallant hoisted high,
" Full spread and crowded every sail,
" The gallant Albion braves the gale."
Falconer's Shipwreck.
10 o'clock at night. — We have been delighted all after
noon in tracing the Irish coast, which we first saw about
one o'clock. — Cape Clear came first in sight, and then a
mountainous tract of country. In the course of the
afternoon, we have seen Kinsale light-house and the
entrance into Cork harbour. We are now opposite

AT SEA. 333
Dungarvon, expecting to see Waterford Hght in an hour.
We have already passed the mouth of the Bristol Channel.
— It is a beautiful star-light night, and the fine air from
the Irish coast regales us with the smell of the turf, to
my senses more delightful just now than the cinnamon of
Ceylon, or the spices of " Araby the blest." — I almost
fancy I smell the oatcakes. — Passed a brig to-day, with
troops for Malta, the Christiana transport. Since we
have been in the Channel, Captain WiUiams has been
unwilling to converse with the passengers, or even to
smoke a cigar, and has scarcely ever left the deck, his
attention being entirely absorbed by his official duties.
He is an excellent sailor, vigilant, cool, and intrepid, and
his good humour seems inexhaustible — 153| miles.
30th.— Sat up till near one o'clock this morning, and
rose at three o'clock to see Tuskar light — went to bed
again, and on rising to breakfast found we were oppo
site the Wicklow mountains, which were covered with
snow. We have had a fine view of Holyhead this even
ing and have enjoyed the smooth sea, after our tempes
tuous tossings. It is now rough again, and we have just
(eight o'clock, p. m.) got a pilot on board.
31st. — Once more on my native land, after a passage
of 21 days.

It is with melancholy feelings that I refer the reader
to the following most affecting letters, for an account of
the calamitous fate which befel the Albion the following
year, when my lamented friend, Captain Williams, and
nearly all his passengers and crew, experienced the horrors
of a watery grave, near the Old Head of Kinsale : —

334 JOURNAL
SHIPWRECK OF THE ALBION PACKET.
We have to record a melancholy event, in the loss of
the packet ship Albion, from New York to Liverpool.
This fine vessel sailed from New York on the 1st instant,
with a crew of 24 men, and about 28 passengers. Oil
the 22nd instant, she was entirely lost on the coast of
Ireland, off Garretstown, near the Old Point of Kinsala
Only two passengers, and seven of the crew were saved.
All the particulars of this melancholy shipwreck, which
have been received in town up to the hour that we are
writing, are contained in two letters, published in the
Mercury yesterday, and which we give beneath :
" Kinsale, 4>th Month, 22, 1822.
" On my arrival in this place, early this morning, I
was informed of the melancholy fate of the ship Albion,
Captain Williams, one of the line of packet ships from
New York to your port. She was cast away before day
light this morning, to the westward of the Old Head, near
a place called Garretstown, and I grieve to sav, poor
Captain Williams is no more. There were 22 passengers
on board, in the cabin, 15 men and seven women, all of
whom have met a watery grave, with the exception of
one young man from Boston, I understand ; and he is
so exhausted, he could not give the names of the others,
or any particulars : seven of the crew are saved, one of
the mates, and six men. I am informed that there was
a considerable sum in specie on board ; part of the deck
only floated ashore., <vJLast flight was very tempestuous ;
and, it seems, the. ship lost her masts about ten o^clock,

AT SEA. 335
carrying a press of sail off the land, wind S. S. E. which
was the cause of the misfortune ; it was about three
o'clock this morning that she struck on a ledge of rocks,
and went to pieces. I understand a few bales of cotton
have come ashore. It is my intention to go to the spot,
and render any service in my power to the unfortunate
survivors ; and if any thing particular comes to my
knowledge, relative to this truly awful and melancholy
catastrophe, I shall drop you a line.
" In haste, your sincere friend,
" JACOB MARK."

" Garretstown, 22nd April, 1822.
" Honoured Sir, — At some time before four o'clock
this morning, I was informed that a ship was cast on the
rocks at the bottom of your dairy farms, to which place
I immediately repaired ; and at about the centre of the
two farms, found a vessel on the rocks, under a very
high cliff. At this time, as it blew a dreadful gale, with
3pring-tide and approaching high water, the sea nan
mountains high ; however, I descended with some men
as far down the cliff as the dashing of the sea would
permit us to go with safety, and there had the horrid
spectacle of viewing five dead bodies stretched on the
deck, and four other fellow-creatures distractedly calling
for assistance, which we were unable to afford them, as
certain death would have attended the attempt to render
them any. Of those in this perilous situation, one was
a female, whom, though it was impossible, from the
wind and the roaring of the sea, to hear her, yet from
her gestures, and the stretching out of her hands, we

336 JOURNAL
judged to be calling and imploring for our assistance.
At this time, the greater part of the vessel lay on a rock,
and part of the stern, where this poor woman lay, pro
jected over a narrow creek, that divides this rock from
another. Here the sea ran over her with the greatest
fury, yet she kept a firm hold, which it much astonished
me that she could do ; but we soon perceived that the
vessel was broke across, where she" projected over
the rock, and after many waves dashing agamst her,
this part of the vessel rolled into the waves, and we
had the heart-rending scene of seeing tli3 woman perish.
The three men lay towards the stern of the vessel, one
of whom stuck to a mast, which, projected towards the
cliff, to whom, after many attempts, we succeeded in
throwing a rope, and brought him safe ashore. Another
we also saved ; but the constant dashing of the waves
put an end to the sufferings of the others. This vessel
proves to be the Albion, of New York, packet, Captain
Williams, which place she left on the 1st instant for
Liverpool, with a cargo of cotton, raw turpentine, rice,
&(!?. and with about 28 passengers. Her crew consisted
of 24 ; and of the whole, there have been saved only
nine, making the sufferers amount to 43. Out of the
passengers there have been saved but two. The bodies
of five men and two women have been picked up. After
doing every thing possible for these, poor creatures, I
exerted myself, with Mr. Gibbons, in saving the private
property of the poor sailors and passengers, and succeeded
in saving some of their trunks. I have brought four of
these poor creatures here. Mr. Gibbons has taken three,
and two more remain at the dairymen's houses, from
^whence they were too weak to be removed. Captain

AT SEA, 337
Williams is among the sufferers. As I know your feel
ings towards those thus situated, I have taken the liberty
of preparing some thin boards, to make coffins for these
seven. She is now completely gone to pieces. She was,
I think, as fine a vessel of her description as could be
seen. My situation does hot allow me to say more at
present, as I was never more fatigued, and remain,
" Honoured Sir,
" Your ever grateful and faithful servant,
(Signed) « JOHN PURCELL."

Further Particulars of the Loss of the Albion Packet.
" Kinsale, 4th Month, 26, 1822.
" On my arrival here on the 22nd, I wrote you a hasty
letter, apprising you of the melancholy fate of the ship
Albion. I went over the fatal spot, and I cannot
describe the scene that presented itself to my view, nor
am I disposed to dwell on the heart-rending scene. I
shall be. as brief as possible. Henry Cammyer, the first
mate, is saved, and six of the crew. The whole com
pany on board, including passengers, amounted to fifty-
four, of whom forty-five perished, and nine are saved.
The log-book being lost, the mate could not give me a
Hst of the passengers; but, from memory, he has given
me the names of eighteen, which are annexed. As the
bodies that were found, lay on the shore, the mate pointed
out to me their respective names, which were put on
paper and placed on each body ; and I gave directions
that the graves should be numbered, and a list made
VOL. II. Z

338 JOURNAL
out, which I expected to get this day, by which it can
be easily ascertained where each body lies in the grave
yard. A clergyman attended the melancholy procession.
This may be some consolation to the afflicted relatives
of the dead. Very little of the wreck remains, and the
country people are carrying it off in all directions, in
small pieces.. I have desired the remnant to be put up
to auction and sold. — Yours, truly,
"JACOB MARK."

Copy of a Letter to the Owners of the Albion, giving an
account of what happened to the Ship previous to her
being driven on the rocks. " Kinsale, (Ireland,) 27th April, 1822.
" Gentlemen, — I have taken the liberty to perform
the unpleasant task, of giving you the particulars of the
melancholy shipwreck of your ship Albion, commanded
by my esteemed friend, J. Williams. After leaving
New York, on the 1st, they had a fine passage until the
21st ; then, being off this coast, they experienced a tre
mendous gale of wind from the S. S. E. The ship was
hove to, under a close-reefed main-topsail, and fore and
main trysail, until about forty minutes past eight o'clock,
p. m. she shipped a sea, which knocked her on her beam-
ends, swept her decks, and her mainmast went by the
board. She righted ; and they found they had lost one
cabin passenger, (a Mr. Converse of Troy,) and five of
the crew ; and their three axes, they had previously pre-

AT SEA. 339
pared in case of necessity, were lost, which left them
without the means of clearing the wreck. The cabin
had filled to leeward, and every thing fetched away ;
and a number of the passengers very much injured.
Captain Williams made every exertion to encourage the
crew to clear the wreck ; but it could not be done, and
she drifted in shore until about midnight, when they
made the Light of the Old Head of Kinsale. The gale
continuing, attended with a heavy sea, their situation was
now seen by Captain Williams ; but he kept constantly
encouraging all on board, and exerting himself in every
manner to save the ship, until about four oVlock in the
morning of the 22nd. All hopes were taken away as
the day dawned ; they found the ship near the surf,
which was breaking against the cliffs, which are 150 feet
high, nearly perpendicular. Capt. Williams then informed
the passengers of the situation of the ship, and that no
exertions could possibly save her, and in five minutes she
struck ; and but nine, out of the whole number,
survive ; one of which is Mr. Everhart, of Chester
County, Pennsylvania, cabin passenger, and the only
one of the cabin passengers that was saved. The
ship went on shore in Courtmasherry Bay, about three
miles to the westward of the Light of the Old Head of
Kinsale, and in a few minutes went to pieces. The
ship and cargo will not nett one dollar. One box of
gold has been found and recovered, and that is all that
ever will be. There were many persons upon the cliffs,
witnessing the melancholy sight, about 200 feet distant
from the ship, but could not render them any assistance.
A few of the bodies have been found, but the body of

340 JOURNAL
Captain Williams is yet missing ; if it be found, it will
be buried in a suitable manner." *

(From the Cork Southern Reporter of Saturday.)
« The Albion, whose loss at Garretstown-bay, we first
mentioned in our paper of Tuesday, was one of the finest
class of ships between Liverpool and New York, and
was 500 tons burthen. We have since learned some fur-.
ther particulars, by which it appears that her loss was at
tended with circumstances of a peculiarly afflicting nature.
She had lived out the tremendous gale of the entire day on
Sunday, and Captain Williams consoled his passengers,
at eight o'clock in the evening, with the hope of being
able to reach Liverpool on the day but one after, which
cheering expectation induced almost all the passengers,
particularly the females^ to retire to rest. In some short
time, however, a violent squall came on, which, in a
moment, carried away the masts., and there being no
possibility of disengaging them from the rigging, they
so encumbered the hull, that she became unmanageable,
and drifted at the mercy of the waves, till the Light
house at the Old Head was discovered, the wreck still
nearing in^ when the captain told the sad news to the
passengers, that there was no longer any hope ; and soon
after she struck From thenceforward all was distress
and confusion. The vessel soon went to pieces, and of
* The body of Captain Williams was never found. When last seen he
was struggling in the water, with a round bag of cotton, which revolved as
he, endeavoured to lay hold of it. He sunk twice, and then springing out
of the water as high as his, waist, and uttering a dreadful shriek, he sunk
a third time, to rise no more.

AT SEA. 341
the crew and passengers, only six of the former, and one
of the latter, were saved. The mate is among the pre
served, and that preservation was almost miraculous.
He was thrown on a cliff by a wave, and had succeeded
in climbing to the top of it, when another took him off.
He was thrown back again, and was more fortunate ;
but his appearance bespeaks the sufferings he endured,
from the beating of his body against the rocks ; he is
dreadfully bruised. The number of passengers, we
beheve, was 25. Of these, as we have already stated,
one only was saved ; a gentleman of Boston, who traded
with Liverpool. He had arrived at New York, almost as
the Albion was on the point of sailing, and had not
time to get bills for a large sum in specie which he
had. It was, therefore, shipped and lost. Several of the
bodies have been washed ashore ; and Jacob Mark, Esq.
the American consul at this port, having repaired to the
scene where the wreck took place, on learning the melan
choly intelligence, has done every thing befitting his
situation, and a man of humanity, under the circum
stances. He has provided coffins for the bodies, and
caused them to be interred with their respective names
affixed, having first had the mate to point them out, in
order that, if the families of any of them should wish
hereafter to have the bodies removed, they may be
enabled to do so. Mr. Mark's conduct is, in every respect,
most praiseworthy, and he has taken measures for the
protection of every thing that has been washed ashore,
as well as for securing any thing that may yet be reco
vered. Among the property already found is a box of
specie ; and among the bodies washed ashore is that of
a French lady : she was extremely beautiful : when first

342 JOURNAL
discovered by some respectable persons, it was entirely
naked. It is mentioned to us as a fact, which we think
ought to be mentioned, that a country boy, who saw the
body, took off his outside coat and covered it ; and it is
related of others of the country people, that they also
took off their warm clothing, and put them on the unfor
tunate and nearly half-perished part of the crew that
escaped. While there are so many to censure and con
demn their crimes, let them, at least, have justice ren
dered to their good qualities. It is distressing to be
obhged to add to this melancholy event, that, on Wed
nesday, a boat from Courtmasherry, belonging, we learn,
to a person of the name of Kingston, in which were eight
men, in endeavouring to save a piece of the wreck, was
upset, and of the eight, seven were drowned."

AT SEA.

343

The following particulars respecting the New York
Packets, which afford such admirable facilities to persons
who wish to cross the Atlantic, and which are so credit
able to the enterprize and public spirit of those who
originally established, and still conduct them, will, I am
persuaded, be read with interest. These Packets have
served to render a voyage across the Atlantic little more
formidable than across the Irish Channel. As these
vessels are owned in New York, by the term outwards,
is intended the voyage from New York to Liverpool,
and by the term homewards, the voyage from Liverpool
to New York. The passages are reckoned from city
to city — not from land to land : —
OLD LINE OF NEW YORK AND LIVERPOOL PACKETS.
1818. LIVERPOOL TO NEW YORK.
Average Passage of Days
Ship Amity, Stanton  39
Courier, Bowne  44
Pacific, Williams  46

NEW YORK TO LIVERPOOL.
Average Passage of Days.
Ship Amity, Stanton  22
Courier, Bowne  22
Pacific, Williams  23
Jas. Monroe, Watkinson, 27

Average outwards in 1818  23

Jas. Monroe, Watkinson, 46
Average homewards in 1818... 44

1819
NEW YORK TO LIVERPOOL.
Average Passage of Days.
Ship Courier, Bowne  21
Albion, Williams  22
Pacific, Rogers  25
Amity, Maxwell  28
Jas. Monroe, Watkinson, 28

Average outwards in 1819  25

LIVERPOOL TO NEW YORK.
Average Passage of Days.
Ship Amity, Maxwell  28
Albion, Williams  35
Jas. Monroe, Watkinson, 38
Courier, Bowne  43
Pacific, Rogers  61

Average homewards in 1819 ..

38

The Pacific made only tyne voyage in 1819.

344

JOURNAL

1820.

NEW YORK TO LIVERPOOL.
Average Passage of Days.
Ship Nestor, Stanton  19
Albion, Williams  21
Jas. Monroe, Watkinson, 21
Amity, Maxwell  24
Courier, Eldridge  26
Average outwards in 1820  22

LIVERPOOL TO NEW YORK.
Average Passage of Days.
Ship Nestor, Stanton  29
Albion, Williams  32
Jas. Monroe, Watkinson, 36
Courier, Eldridge  39
Amity, Maxwell  44
Average homewards in 1820 ... 37

Tlte Nestor mode only oris voyage in 1820.

1821.

NEW YORK TO LIVERPOOL.
Average Passage of Days.
Ship James Monroe, Rogers ... 21
Albion, WiUiams  23
Amity, Maxwell  27
Nestor, Macy  29
Average outwards in 1821  25

LIVERPOOL TO NEW YORK.
Average Passage of Days.
Ship James Monroe, Rogers ... 35
Albion, Williams  41
Nestor, Macy  41
Amity, Maxwell  43

Average homewards in 1821

40

1822.

NEW YORK TO LIVERPOOL.
Average Passage of Days.
Ship W. Thompson, Thompson, 19
Amity, Maxwell  21
Columbia, Rogers  21
NewYork, Maxwell  22
James Cropper, Marshall... 23
James Monroe, Marshall... 24
Nestor, Macy  25
Orbit, Macy  ,  33
Aversige outwards in 1822  23

LIVERPOOL TO NEW YORK.
Average Passage of Days.
Ship James Monroe, MarshaU... 31
James Cropper, Marshall, 35
New York, Maxwell ... 39
Columbia, Rogers  40
W. Thompson, Thompson, 41
Nestor, Macy  50
Amity, Maxwell  '52
Orbit, Macy  52
Average homewards in 1822 ... 41

The Orbit made only one voyage in 1822.

AT SEA.

345

1823.

NEW YORK TO LIVERPOOL.
Average Passage of • Days.
Ship Canada, Macy  19
NewYork, Maxwell  20
James Cropper, Marshall, 21
James Monroe, Marshall, 21
Columbia, Rogers  22
Wm. Thompson, Crocker, 22
Amity, Maxwell  24
Nestor, Lee  25
Orbit, Tinckham  33
Average outwards in 1823  23

LIVERPOOL TO NEW YORK.
Average Passage of Days.
Ship Columbia, Rogers  32
Amity, Maxwell  32
Canada, Macy  36
Nestor, Lee  37
James Cropper, Marshall, 39
NewYork, Maxwell  40
Wm. Thompson, Crocker, 43
Orbit, Tinckham  43
James Monroe, Marshall, 43
Average homewards in 1823... 39

The James Monroe made only one voyage in 1823.

Average of the whole outwards in 6 years..
Do.  do. homewards do 

Days.
... 23
... 40

Shortest passage outwards, by the ship New York, G. Maxwell, in
December, 1823  15|
Longest passage outwards, by the ship Nestor, Macy, in December,
1820  37

Shortest passage homewards, by the ship Amity, G. Maxwell, in
April, 1819  ,  .'.  22
Longest passage homewards, by the ship Amity, S. Maxwell, in
December, 1822  65

All the passages outwards of the Canada, have averaged  19

Do.Do. Do.
Do.Do. Do. Do.
Do. Do. Do. Do.

do.

NewYork  21

do  Columbia  21
do  Albion  22
do  James Cropper  22
do  William Thompson  22
do  Courier  23
do  ,  Pacific  23
do  , Amity  24
do  James Monroe  24
do  Nestor  26
. do  Orbit  33

346

JOURNAL

All the passages homewards of the Albion, have averaged

Days.

Do.
Do.
Do.Do.Do.Do.
Do. Do.
Do.Do.Do.

do  Canada  36
do  Columbia  36
do  James Cropper  37
do  James Monroe  38
do  Amity  39

do.
do.do.
do. do.do.

NewYork  40
William Thompson  42
Courier  42
Nestor  43
Orbit  46
Pacific  50

THE PASSAGES IN THE DIFFERENT MONTHS, HAVE AVERAGED
AS FOLLOWS:—

OUTWARDS. Days.
In January  23
February  24
March  21
April  24
May  23
June  25
July  23
August  21
September ,  25
October  24
November  21
December  26

HOMEWARDS. Days.
In January  44
February  49
March  37
April  '31
May  36
June  39
July  40
August  37
September  34
October  39
November .  37
December  48

THE SEPARATE PASSAGES WERE AS FOLLOWS:
OUTWARDS.

Passages. Days.
1 ...of ...15|
of... 17
of... 18
Of... 19,
of ... 20

Passages.

Days.

Passages.

Days.

Pa35sages. Days.

13 ...of

... 21

11 ...of

.. 26

2 ... of ... 33

11 ;:.of

.. 22

3 ...of

..27

1 ...of ...34

9 ...of

.. 23

3 ...of

.. 28

1 ...of ...35

3 ...of

.. 24

1 ...of

... 29

1 ..,of ... 36

7 ... of

.. 25 .

2 ... of

.. 32

1 ...of ...37

AT
SEA.
HOMEWARDS.
assa
ges.
Days. |
Passages.
Days.
Passages.
Days.
1 .
.of
.. 22
2 .. of
.. 33
4 ...of
.. 42
2 .
.of
.. 23
7 ... of
. 34
4 ...of
.. 43
1 .
.of
.. 25
2 ...of
:. 35
2 ... of
.. 44
3 .
.of
..27
2 ...of
.. 36
3 ... of
... 45
1 .
.of
... 28
.7 -.of
...37
2 ...of
... 46
5 .
.of
... 29
3. ..of
...38
4 ...of
... 48
1 .
..of
... 30
6 ...of
... 39
1 ... of
... 49
3 .
..of
... 31
6 ...of
... 40
1 ...of
... 50
3.
..of
... 32
5 . .of
...41
2 ...of
... 51
347
ges.
Days
of .
.. 52
of .
.. 53
of .
.. 54
of .
.. 55
of .
.. 56
of
.57
of
.. 59
of
.61
of
.. 65
APPENDIX.

APPENDIX.

A.
GULF-STREAM.
" The influence of the tropical wind is not confined
to the air only. Blowing over a space of 3000 miles,
this wind heaps up water in the Gulf of Mexico. To
what height this kind of inundation raises the expanse of
the Gulf above its natural level, we are furnished with no
means of judging. The Spanish Government has some
times thought of connecting the two seas by a canal, at
Darien ; but it has not caused the respective levels to be
ascertained. I can, however, assert, that the level of this
Gulf is several feet higher than that of the Gulf of Hon
duras and the Carribbean Sea, and still higher than that
of the South Sea. It is obvious, however, that whatever
be this height, the fluid must somewhere subside to the
same level ; but this cannot be by the reflux of the waters
ofthe Gulf through the Channel of Yucatan and Cuba,
because this is adverse to the current of air and water,
which forms this very redundance. It must then relieve
itself by issuing through the Channel of the Bahama
Islands. After coasting the shores of Mexico, Louisiana,

352 APPENDIX.
and Florida, it turns the southern point of the peninsula,
under shelter of Cuba, and the sand banks of Bahama,
which ward off the refluence of the ocean on the East,
and repel the trade-wind. The celerity of the Gulf-
stream is a proof universally known of the height of
the fountain, in the Gulf of Mexico. After passing
through this channel into the ocean, its identity is still
preserved by a course of four or five miles an hour, and
likewise by its colour and temperature, which is from
10 to 22 degrees hotter than the contiguous water. This
remarkable stream coasts the whole of the United Stated,
varying in its breadth, which, at a medium, is 45 or 50
miles. Its force is not destroyed, nor its peculiar pro
perties lost, till it reaches Newfoundland, where it diffuses
itself suddenly in the direction of north-east.
" The Gulf-stream first attracted the attention of Sir
Francis Drake, at the end pf the sixteenth centuryj who
conjectured its true cause ; but its most remarkable
property,: the warmth of its temperature,, escaped his
notice. This was not observed till lffiG, when Dr.
Blagden, experimenting, on the temperature of the ocean
at different depths, was struck by this peculiarity. He
found the thermometer in the latitude of 31° North, off
Cape Fear, when plunged into the sea, stand at 7%
degrees. Presently it rose to 78, and continued so many
leagues, when it suddenly sunk again to 69 and 67
Here they approached the coast, the water became green,
and they got soundings,
" This discovery attracted much attention in England,
which was much augmented by the observations of Dr.
Franklin, the next year, on his passage fo Europe. Mr.
Jonathan Williams, his companion on. that voyage* pnr-

APPENDIX. 353
sued this subject still further, and after repeated experi
ments, laid the foundation for the following conclusions :
" 1. The Gulf-stream pursues a settled and distinct
course from Florida to Newfoundland.
" 2. It conforms to the direction ofthe American coast
at a distance, varying with the state of the wind, but
generally of 23 leagues.
" 3. As it advances, its force lessens^ and its breadth
increases. " 4. It has hollowed out a very deep channel in the
bed of the ocean, for in it you can reach no bottom
with a very long line.
" 5. It wears away the south-eastern shore of the
United States, though opposed by the rocks of Hatteras,
which turn it a point and a half towards the east, and
which it will, at some future time, overwhelm and destroy.
The sandy isles of Bahama, the banks along the American
coast, and the shoals of Nantucket, appear to be merely
heaped up by this current. I am, indeed, tempted to
affirm, that the banks of Newfoundland merely constitute
a bar at the mouth of this vast shoreless river.
" 6. On each side, it forms eddies or counter-currents,
which, aided by the depositions of the rivers, form the
muddy stratum, or deposit, termed soundings.
"7- 
" 8. When the colour of the water changes from the
sky-blue of the ocean, or the olive-green of soundings,
into a deep indigo green, you are in the Gulf-stream.
Examined in a glass, it is colourless as that of the sea
between the tropics, and is more saline than the rest of
the Atlantic.
vol. n. 2 a

354 APPENDIX.,
" 9. A great plenty of floating weeds denotes your
near approach to this current.
" 10. The incumbent air is warmer than in the neigh
bourhood. The ke, which may chance to cleave to a
vessel on entering it, immediately melts. You find
yourself drowsy, and the space between decks becomes
unpleasantly hot. Some facts will give distinct ideas of
this high temperature.
" In December, 1789, Mr. Jonathan Williams, sailed
from the Chesapeake, noted that, in the waters of the
sea, the mercury stood,
1. In soundings  47 deg. .
2. Approaching the stream  60 „
3. In the stream  70 j'
4. In the stream near Newfoundland 66 „
5. At Newfoundland out of the stream 54 „
6. Beyond the bank, in the open sea 60 „
7- Approaching the English coast ... 48 „
Captain Billing, on a voyage to Por
tugal, June, found near the Ame
rican coast, and within soundings 61 „
In the Gulf-stream  77 ?»
Now there appears here a difference of 15 degrees accord
ing to Mr. Williams, who examined it in winter. The
difference is equal to 10 degrees, so that the difference,
as might be expected, is less in summer than in winter.
" These observations have led to another important
discovery. " After numerous trials, it is found that the tempera
ture of the water varies with the depth, being colder as
it is shallower. In July, 1791, Captain Billing likewise
observed, that three days before he came in sight of

APPENDIX. 355
Portugal, the mercury sunk, in a few hours, from 65 to
60 degrees, and this variation coincided exactly with the
line where the ocean became fathomable. Mr. Williams
likewise observed, during another voyage in Novem
ber, that on approaching the English coast the
mercury fell from 53 to 48 degrees, and both these
gentlemen remarked that the sudden sinking of the
mercury indicates a shoal beneath. This effect arises
from the bottom of the sea being colder than the water
above it, or because evaporation, which always cools, has
a more perceptible influence in shallow than in deep
water." — Volney.
" From the bank of Newfoundland, or from the 52nd
degree of longitude to the Azores, the Gulf-stream con
tinues its course towards the east, and the east south-east.
The waters still preserve a part of the impulsion they
have received, near a thousand leagues distant, in the
Straits of Florida, between the Isle of Cuba and the
shores of Tortoise Island. This distance is double the
length of the river of the Amazons, from Jaen, or the
Straits of Manseriche to Grand-Para On the meridian
of the isles of Corvo and Flores, the most western of the
group of the Azores, the breadth of the current is 160
leagues. When vessels, on their return from South
America to Europe, endeavour to make these two islands
to rectify their longitude, they constantly perceive the
motion of the waters to the south-east. At the 33rd
degree of latitude, the equinoctial current of the tropics
is in the near vicinity of the Gulf-stream. In this part
of the ocean, we may, in a single day, pass from waters
that flow towards the west, into those which run to the
south-east, or east south-east.

356 APPENDIX. 3
" From the Azores, the current of Florida turns towards
the Straits of Gibraltar, the Isle of Madeira, and the
group of the Canary Islands. The opening of the Pillars
of Hercules has no doubt accelerated the motion of the
waters towards the east^ We may, in this point of view,
assert that the strait by which the Mediterranean com
municates with the Atlantic, produces its effects at a
great distance ; but it is probable also, that, without the
existence of this strait, the vessels which sail to Teneriffe
would be driven to the south-east by a cause which we
must seek on the coasts of the New World. Every
motion is the cause of another motion in the vast basin
of the seas, as well as in the aerial ocean. Pursuing the
currents to their most distant sources, and reflecting on
their variable celerity, sometimes decreasing, as between
the Gulf of Florida and the Bank of Newfoundland ; at
other times augmenting, as in the neighbourhood of the
Straits of Gibraltar, and near the Canary Islands, we
cannot doubt but the same cause which drives the waters
to make the circuitous sweep of the Gulf of Mexico,
agitates them also near the Isle of Madeira.
" It is to the south of the island that we can follow the
current, in its direction to the south-east and south south
east towards the coast of Africa, between Cape Cantin
and Cape Bojador. In these latitudes, a vessel is carried
on the coast, at the time when it is thought at a
great distance, if the reckoning be not corrected. Were
the motion of the waters caused by the opening of the
Straits of Gibraltar, why, on the south of these Straits,
should it not follow an opposite direction ?
" On the contrary, in the 25th and 26th degrees of lati
tude, the current flows at first directly to the south, and

APPENDIX. 357
then to the south-west, Cape Blanc, which, after Cape
Verd, is the most salient promontory, seems to have an
influence on this direction ; and it is on this parallel that
the waters, of which we have followed the course from
the coast of Honduras to those of Africa, mix with the
great current of the tropics, to begin their tour from east
to west. We have already observed, that several hun
dred leagues to the west of the Canary Islands, the
motion, which is peculiar to the equinoctial waters, is
felt in the temperate zone, from the 28th and 29th degree
of northern latitude ; but on the meridian of the island
of Ferro, the vessels reach the south, as far as the tropic
of Cancer, before they find themselves, by their reckon
ing, to the east of their true position.
(i I have indicated also the latitude, in which the motion
of the waters is not constantly perceived ; for in the same
manner as the northern limit of the current of the tropics
and that of the trade-winds, vary according to the seasons,
the Gulf-stream also changes its place and direction.
These changes become very perceptible from the 30th
degree of latitude, as far as the great bank of Newfound
land, and are observed even between the 40th degree of
longitude, west of Paris, and the meridian of the Azores.
" The variable winds of the temperate zone, and the
melting of the ice of the northern pole, whence, in the
months of July and August, a great quantity of fresh
water flows towards the south, may be considered as the
principal causes which modify, in these high latitudes,
the force and direction of the Gulf-stream. A short time
before my arrival at Teneriff, the sea had left in the road
of St. Croix a trunk of a Cedrela odorata covered with
bark. This American tree vegetates exclusively under

358 APPENDIX.
the tropics, or in the' neighbouring regions. It had, no
doubt, been torh up on the coast of the Continent, or
of that of Honduras. The nature of the wood, and the
lichens which covered its bark, were evident proofs that
this trunk did not belong to these submarine forests,
which ancient revolutions of the globe have deposited in
lands transported from the polar regions. If the Cedrela,
instead of having been thrown on the strand of Teneriff,
had been carried further south, it would probably have
made the whole tour of the Atlantic, and returned to its
native soil with the general current of the tropics. This
conjecture is supported by a fact of more ancient date,
recorded in the general history of the Canaries, by the
Abbe Viera. In 177^5 a small vessel, laden with corn,
and bound from the island of Lancerotte to. Santa Cruz,
in Teneriff, was driven to sea, while none of the crew
were on board. The motion of the waters from east to
west, carried it to America, where it went on shore at
La Guayra, near Caraccas.
" Whilst the art of navigation was yet in its infancy,
the Gulf-stream furnished the genius of Christopher
Columbus, with certain indications of the existence of
western regions. Two corpses, the features of which
indicated a race of unknown men, were thrown on the
coast of the Azores, towards the end of the fifteenth
century. Nearly at the same period, the brother-in-law
of Columbus, Pedro Correa, Governor of Porto Santo,
found on the strand of this island, pieces of bamboo of
an extraordinary size, brought thither by the western
current. These corpses and the bamboos, attracted the
attention of the Genoese navigator, who conjectured that
both came from a continent situate towards the west ; we

APPENDIX. 359
know, at present, that on the torrid zone, the trade-
winds and the current of the tropics are in opposition to
every motion of the waves, in the direction of the earth's
rotation. " The productions of the New World cannot reach the
Old, but by the very high latitudes, and in following
the direction of the current of Florida. The fruit of
several trees of the Antilles, are often thrown on the '
isles of Ferro and Gomera. Before the discovery of
America, the Canadians considered these fruits as coming
from the Enchanted Isle of St. Borondon ; which, ac
cording to the reveries of the pilots, and certain legends,
was placed towards the west, in an unknown part of
the ocean, buried, as was supposed, in eternal fogs.
" My chief view in tracing a sketch of the current of
the Atlantic, is to prove, that the motion of the waters
towards the south-east, from Cape St. Vincent to the Canary
Islands, is the effect of the general motion which the
surface of the ocean feels at its western extremity. We
shall give but a very succinct account of the arm of the
Gulf-stream, which, in the 45th and 50th deg. of lat. runs
from the south-west to the north-east, towards the coasts
of Europe. This partial current becomes very strong,
when the winds have continued to blow a long time from
the west ; and hke that which flows along the isles of
Ferro and Gomera, deposits every year, on the western
coasts of Ireland and Norway, the fruits of trees, which
belong to the torrid zone of America. On the shores
of the Hebrides, we collect seeds of mimosa scandens,
of dolichos urens, of guilandina bonduc, and several
other plants of Jamaica, the isle of Cuba, and of the

360 APPENDIX.
neighbouring continent. The current carries thither,
also, barrels of French wine, well preserved, the remains
of the cargoes of vessels wrecked on the West Indian
seas. To these examples of the distant migration of the
vegetable world, others, no less striking, may be added.
The wreck of an English vessel, the Tilbury, burnt
near Jamaica, was found on the coast of Scotland. On
these same coasts, various kinds of tortoises are some
times found, that inhabit the waters of the Antilles.
When the western winds are of long duration, a current
is formed in the high latitudes, which runs directly
towards the east-south-east, from the coasts of Greenland
and Labrador, as far as the north of Scotland. Wallace
relates, that twice in 1682 and 1684, American savages,
of the race of the Esquimaux, driven out to sea in their
leathern canoes, during a storm, and left to the guidance
of the currents, reached the Orcades. The last example
is so much the more worthy of attention, as it proves,
at the same time, how, at a period when the art of
navigation was yet in its infancy, the motion of the
waters of the ocean would contribute to disseminate the
different races of men over the face of the globe,'". —
Humboldt s Travels.

B,
COLLEGES,
" Tijebe are half a million of scholars at the public
schools throughout the United States, and more than
three thousand students at the colleges which confer
degrees. There are twelve hundred students at the
medical schools, five hundred at the theological semina
ries, and more than a thousand students of law. There

APPENDIX. 361
are about ten thousand physicians, and upwards of six
thousand lawyers. There are about nine thousand
places of worship, and about five thousand clergymen.
.About four thousand and four hundred patents have
been taken out for new and useful inventions, discoveries,
and improvements in the arts. Between two and three
millions of dollars' worth of books are annually pub
lished in the United States. A thousand newspapers
are published. There are more than one hundred
steam-boats, comprising more than fourteen thousand
tons, navigating the Mississippi. The vessels of the
United States, by sea, perform their voyages, on an
average, in one-third less time than the Enghsh. There
are five thousand post-offices, and eighty thousand miles
of post-roads, and twelve thousand miles of turnpike
roads. There are three thousand legislators. There
are two hundred printed volumes of law reports." —
IngersalVs Discourse. C.
" The following particulars will show what proportion
of our importation of Cotton, is received from the United
States, as well as the rapid increase of the total impor
tation of this important article into Great Britain : —
IMPORTATION OF COTTON INTO GREAT BRITAIN FOR THE LAST
FIVE YEARS :
From 1819. 1820. 1821. 1822. 1823.
N. America ... 204,831 ... 301,928 ... 301,795 ... 329,163 ... 449,255
S. America ... 125,230 ... 179,673 ... 121,085 . . 144,140 ... 148,475
E. Indies  185,121 ... 57,909 ... 30,471 ... 18,656 ... 38,417
W. Indies,&c. 30,603 ... 32,221 ... 38,296 ... 41,637 - 32,537
Total import... 545,785 ... 571,731 ... 491,647 ... 533,596 ... 668,684

362 APPENDIX.
GENERAL IMPORTATION INTO GREAT BRITAIN FROM 1813 TO 1823.
Liverpool. London. Glasgow. Other Parts. Totals.
1813  141,300  69,500  31,700.  7040  249,530
1814  182,600  77*300  26,400  1200  287,500
1815  270,400  68,400  29,800  450  369,000
1816  377,450  63,300  28,800  550  370,000
1817  314,181  118,500  43,600  730  477,011
1818  425,363  192,190  48,785  6700  673,038
1819  366,421  135,173  43,275  1026 ...... 545,895
1820  458,693  74,735  36,848  1380 ...... 571,656
1821  413,171  42,270  35,038  1093  491,572
1822  453,903  36,697  41,654  782  533j036
1823  578,395  53,987  36,046    668,428

D.
SOME PARTICULARS OF THE LOSS OF A NANTUCKET
WHALE-SHIP.
" The ship Essex, commanded by Captain George
Polland, junior, was fitted out at Nantucket, and sailed
on the 12th day of August, 1819, for the Pacific Ocean,
on a whaling voyage. Of this ship I was first mate. —
On the 20th November, (in lat. 0" 40', S. long. 119° 0',
W.) I observed a very large spermaceti whale, as well
as I could judge, about eighty-five feet in length ; he
broke water about twenty rods off our weather bow,
and was lying quietly, with his head in a direction for
the ship. He spouted two or three times, and then dis
appeared. In less than two or three seconds he came
up again, about the length of the ship off, and made
directly for us, at the rate of about three knots. The
ship was then going with about the same velocity. His

APPENDIX. 303
appearance and attitude gave us at first no alarm ; but
while I stood watching his movements, and observing
him but a ship's length off, coming down for us with
great celerity, I involuntarily ordered the boy at the
helm to put it hard up ; intending to sheer off, and
avoid him. The words were scarcely out of my mouth,
before he came down upon us with full speed, and struck
the ship with his head, just forward of the fore-chains ;
he gave us such an appalling and tremendous jar, as
nearly threw us all on our faces. The ship brought up as
suddenly and violently as if she had struck a rock, and
trembled, for a few seconds, like a leaf. We looked at
each other with perfect "amazement, deprived almost of
the power of speech. Many minutes elapsed before we
were able to realize the dreadful accident ; during which
time, he passed under the ship, grazing her keel as he
went along, came up alongside of her, to leeward, and
lay on the top of the water, (apparently stunned with
the violence of the blow,) for the space of a minute ; he
then suddenly started off, in a direction to leeward.
After a few moments' reflection, and recovering, in some
measure, from the sudden consternation that had seized
us, I of course concluded that he had stove a hole in the
ship, and that it would be necessary to set the pumps
going.' Accordingly they were rigged, but had not
been in operation more than one minute, before I per
ceived the head of the ship to be gradually settling down
in the water ; I then ordered the signal to be set for the
other boats, which scarcely had I despatched, before I
again discovered the whale, apparently in convulsions,
on the top of the water, about one hundred rods to
leeward. He was enveloped in the foam of the sea,

364 APPENDIX.
that his continual and violent thrashing about in the.
water had created around him-, and I could distinctly
see him smite his jaws together, as if distracted with
rage and fury. ' He remained a short time in this situa
tion, and then started off with great velocity, across the
bows of the shirj, to windward. By this time, the ship
had settled down a considerable distance in the water,
and I gave her up as lost. I, however, ordered the
pumps to be kept constantly going, and endeavoured to
collect my thoughts for the occasion. I turned to the
boats, two of which we then had with the ship, with an
intention of clearing them away, and getting all things
ready to embark in them, if there should be no other
resource left ; and while my attention was thus engaged
for a moment, I was aroused with the cry of a man at
the hatchway, ' Here he is ; he is making for us again.1
I turned round, and saw him about one hundred rods
directly aJiead of us, coming down, apparently, with
twice his ordinary speed : and to me, at that moment,
it appeared with tenfold fury and vengeance in his aspect.
The surf flew in all directions about him, and his course
towards us was marked by a white foam of a rod in
width, which he made with the continual violent thrash
ing of his tail ; his head was about half out of water,
and in that way he came upon, and again struck the
ship. I was in hopes, when I descried him making for
us, that by a dexterous movement, of putting the ship
away immediately, I should be able to cross the line of
his approach, before he could get up to us, and thus
avoid, what I knew, if he should strike us again, would
prove our inevitable destruction. I bawled out to the
helmsman, ' Hard up ! ' but she had not fallen off more

APPENDIX. 365
than a point, before we took the second shock. I should
judge the speed of the ship to have been at this time,
about three knots, and that of the whale about six.. He
struck her to windward, directly under the cat-head,
and completely stove in her bows. He passed under the
ship again, went off to leeward, and we saw no more of
him. Our situation at this juncture, can be more readily
imagined than described. — Not a moment, however, was
to be lost, in endeavouring to provide for the extremity
to which it was now certain we were reduced. We were
more than a thousand miles from the nearest land, and
with nothing but a light open boat, as the resource of
safety for myself and companions. I ordered the men
to cease pumping, and every one to provide for himself;
seizing a hatchet at the same time, I cut away the lash
ings of the spare boat, which lay bottom up, across two
spars, directly over the quarter deck, and cried out to
those near me, to take her as she came down. They
did so accordingly, and bore her on their shoulders, as
far as the waist of the ship. The steward had, in the
mean time, gone down into the cabin twice, and saved
two quadrants, two practical navigators, and the captain's
trunk and mine ; all which were hastily thrown into the
boat, as she lay on the deck, with the two compasses,
which I snatched from the binnacle. He attempted to
descend again ; but the water by this time had rushed in,
and he returned, without being able to effect his purpose.
By the time we had got the boat to the waist, the ship
had filled with water, and was going down on her beam-
ends ; we shoved our boat as quickly as possible from
the plank-shear into the water, all hands jumping in her
at the same time, and launched off clear of the ship.

366 APPENDIX.
We were scarcely two boats' lengths distant from her,
when she fell over to windward, and settled down in the
water. " Amazement and despair now wholly took possession
of us. We contemplated the frightful situation Jhe
ship lay in, and thought, with horror, upon the sudden
and dreadful calamity that had overtaken, us. We
looked upon each other, as if to gather some consolatory
sensation from an interchange of sentiments, but every
countenance was marked with the paleness of despair,
Not a word was spoken for several minutes by any of us ;
all appeared to be bound in a spell of stupid consterna
tion ; and from the time we were first attacked by fhe
whale, to the period of the fall of the ship, and of our
leaving her in the boat, more than ten minutes could not
certainly have elapsed .' " 
. . After spending two days in a state of dreadful despon
dency and indecision, and obtaining from the vessel, which
was floating a wreck on the water, and would, in all pro
bability, soon go to pieces, nautical instruments and pro*
visions, they bade a melancholy adieu to her, casting
many a lingering and sorrowful look behind. There
were in all 20 men, six of whom were blacks ; and they
had three whale-boats, of all descriptions of boats, the
weakest and most fragile, and possessing but one advan
tage, that of lightness and buoyancy — an inestimable
advantage, however, in the present case. Nothing can
be conceived more appalling than the situation of the
crew. They were a thousand miles from the Marquesas,
the nearest land ; and destruction seemed inevitable,
unless they should be picked up by some vessel. After
balancing the various advantages and hazards of different

APPENDIX. 367
courses, the issue of their deliberations was, to shape
their course by the wind to the southward, fall in with
the variable winds, and then endeavour to get eastward
to the coast of Chili or Peru. Their journal, from this
time, (the 22nd Nov. to the 20th Dec.) cannot be read
without the most intense interest — an interest equalled
only, perhaps, by that excited by the perusal of the
narrative of Captain Franklin, whose dangers and suffer
ings did not probably surpass those of our navigators.
On the 20th December, Mr. Chase, the writer of the
narrative, and the first mate of the vessel, observes,
" This was a day of great happiness and joy. After
having experienced one of the most distressing nights in
the whole catalogue of our sufferings, we awoke to a
morning of comparative luxury and pleasure. About
seven o'clock, while we were sitting dispirited, silent, and
dejected, in our boats, one of our companions suddenly
and loudly called out, ' There is land !' We were all
aroused in an instant, as if electrified, and casting our
eyes to leeward, there, indeed, was the blessed vision
before us, ' as plain and palpable' as could be wished for,
A new and extraordinary impulse now took possession of
us. We shook off the lethargy of our senses, and seemed
to take another and a fresh existence. One or two of
my companions, whose lagging spirits, and worn-out
frames had begun to inspire them with an utter indiffer
ence to their fate, now immediately brightened up, and
manifested a surprising alacrity and earnestness to gain,
without delay, the much wished-for shore. It appeared
at first a low, white, beach, and lay like a basking para
dise before our longing eyes. It was discovered nearly
at the same time by the other boats, and a general burst

368 APPENDIX.
of joy and congratulation now passed between us. It is
not within the scope of human calculation, by a mere
listener to the story, to divine what the feelings of our
hearts were on this occasion. Alternate expectation, fear,
gratitude, surprise, and exultation, each swayed our
minds, and quickened our exertions. We ran down for
it, and at eleven o'clock, a. m. we were within a quarter
of a mile of the shore. It was an island, to all appear
ance, as nearly as we could determine it, about six miles
long, and three broad ; with a very high, rugged shore,
and surrounded by rocks ; the sides of the mountains
were bare, but on the tops it looked fresh and green with
vegetation. Upon examining pur navigators, we found
it was Ducie's Island, lying in latitude 24° 40' S. longi
tude 124° 40' W. A short moment sufficed for reflection,
and we made immediate arrangements to land. None
of us knew whether the island was inhabited or not, nor
what it afforded, if any thing ; if inhabited, it was uncer
tain whether by beasts or savages ; and a momentary
suspense was created, by the dangers which might pos,
sibly arise by proceeding without due preparation and'
care. Hunger and thirst, however, soon determined us,
and having taken the musket and pistols, I, with three
others, effected a landing upon some sunken rocks, and
waded thence to the shore. Upon arriving at the beach,
it was necessary to take a little breath, and we laid down
for a few minutes to rest our weak bodies, before we could
proceed. Let the reader judge, if he can, what must
have been our feelings now ! Bereft of all comfortable
hopes of life, for the space of thirty days of terrible suffer
ing ; our bodies wasted to mere skeletons, by hunger and
thirst, and death itself staring us in the face; to be

APPENDIX, 369
suddenly and unexpectedly conducted to a rich banquet
of food and drink, which, subsequently, we enjoyed for
a few days, to our full satisfaction ; and he will have but a
faint idea of the happiness that here fell to our lot. We
now, after a few minutes, separated^ and went different
directions in search of water ; the want of which had
been our principal privation, and called for immediate
relief. I had not proceeded far in my excursion, before
J discovered a fish, about a foot and a half in length,
swimming along in the water, close to the shore. I com
menced an attack upon him with the breach of my gun,
and struck him, I beheve, once, and he ran under a
small rock, that lay near the shore,from whence I took
him, with the aid of my ramrod, and brought him upon
the beach, and immediately fell to eating. My compa
nions soon joined in the repast, and in less than ten
minutes, the whole was consumed, bones, and skin, and
scales, and all. With full stomaehs, we imagined we
could now attempt the mountains, where, if in any part
of the island, we considered water would be most proba
bly obtained. I accordingly clambered, with excessive
labour, suffering, and pain, up amongst the bushes, roots,
and underwood, of one of the crags, looking in all direo
tions in vain, for every appearance of water that might
present itself. There was no indication of the least
moisture to be found, within the distance to which I
had ascended, although my strength did not enable me
to get higher than about twenty feet. I was sitting
down at the height that I had attained, to gather a little
breath, and ruminating upon the fruitlessness of my
search, and the consequent evils and continuation of
suffering that it necessarily implied, when I perceived
vol. 11. 2 B

370 APPENDIX.
that the tide had risen considerably since our landing,
and threatened to cut off our retreat to the rocks, by
which alone we should be able to regain our boats. I
therefore, determined to proceed again to the shore, and
inform tbe captain and the rest, of our want of success
in procuring water, and consult upon the propriety of
remaining at the island any longer. I never, for one
moment, lost sight of the main chance, which, I con
ceived, we still had, of either getting to the coast; or
of meeting with some vessel at sea ; and felt, that every
minute's detention, without some equivalent object; was
lessening those chances, by a consumption of the means
of our support. When I had got down, one of my com
panions informed me, that he had found a place in a
rock, some distance off, from which the water exuded in
small drops, at intervals of about five minutes; that he had,
by applying his lips to the rock, obtained a few of them,
which only served to whet his appetite, and from which
nothing like the least satisfaction had proceeded. I imme
diately resolved, in my own mind, upon this information,
to advise remaining until morning, to endeavour to make
a more thorough search the next day ; and, with our
hatchets, to pick away the rock which had been disco
vered, with the view of increasing, if possible, the run of
the water. We all repaired again to our boats, and
there found, that the captain had the same impressions,
as to the propriety of our delay until morning. We there
fore landed; and having hauled our boats up on the
beach, laid down in them that night, free from all the
anx)eties of watching and labour, and amid all oUr suf
ferings, gave ourselves up to an unreserved ibrgetfulness
and peace of mind, that seemed so well to accord with

APPENDIX. 371
the pleasing anticipations that this day had brought
forth. It was but a short space, however, until the
morning broke upon us ; and sense, and feeling, and
gnawing hunger, and the raging fever of thirst, then
redoubled my wishes and efforts to explore the island
again. We had obtained, that night, a few crabs, by
traversing the shore a considerable distance, and a few
very small fish ; but waited until the next day, for the
labours of which, we considered a night of refreshing
and Undisturbed repose would better qualify us.
December 21st. — We had still reserved our common
allowance, but it was entirely inadequate for the purpose
of supplying the raging demands of the palate ; and such
an excessive and cruel thirst was created, as almost to
deprive us of the power of speech. The lips became
cracked and swollen, and a sort of glutinous saliva col
lected in the mouth, disagreeable to the taste, and
intolerable beyond expression. Our bodies had wasted
away, to almost skin and bone, and possessed so little
strength, as often to require each .other's assistance in
performing some of its weakest functions. Relief, we
now felt, must come soon, or nature would sink. The
most perfect discipline was still maintained, in respect
to our provisions; and it now became our whole
object, if we should not be able to replenish our subsist
ence from the island, to obtain, by some means or other,
a sufficient refreshment to enable us to prosecute our
voyage. Our search for Water accordingly again commenced
with the morning ; each of us took a different direc
tion, and prosecuted the examination of every place
where there was the least indication of it; the small

372 APPENDIX.
leaves of the shrubbery, affording a temporary alle
viation, by being chewed in the mouth, and but for
the peculiarly bitter taste which those of the island pos
sessed, would have been an extremely grateful substitute.
In the course of our rambles, too, along the sides of the
mountain, we would now and then meet with tropic
birds, of a beautiful figure and plumage, occupying
small holes in the sides of it, from which we plucked
them without the least difficulty. Upon our approach
ing them, they made no attempts to fly, nor did they
appear to notice us at all. These birds served us for
a fine repast; numbers of which were caught in the
course of the day, cooked by fires which we made on
the shore, and eaten with the utmost avidity. We
found, also, a plant, in taste not unlike the pepper-grass,
growing in considerable abundance in the crevices of the
rocks, and which proved to us a very agreeable food, by
being chewed with the meat of the birds. These, with
birds' nests, some of them full of young, and others of eggs,
a few of which we found in the course of the day, served
us for food, and supplied the place of our bread ; from
the use of which, during our stay here, we had restricted
ourselves. But water, the great object of all our anxie-,
ties and exertions, was no where to be found, and we began
to despair of meeting with it on the island. Our state of
extreme weakness, and many of us without shoes or any
covering for the feet, prevented us from exploring any
great distance ; lest by some sudden faintness, or over
exertion, we should not be able to return, and at night
be exposed to attacks of wild beasts, which might inhabit
the island, and be alike incapable of resistance, as beyond
the reach of the feeble assistance that otherwise could be

APPENDIX. 373
afforded to each. The whole day was thus consumed
in picking up whatever had the least shape or quality of
sustenance, and another night of misery was before us,
to be passed without a. drop of water to cool our parch
ing tongues. In this state of affairs, we could not recon
cile it to ourselves to remain longer at this place ; a day,
an hour, lost to us unnecessarily here, might cost us our
preservation. A drop of the water we then had in our
possession, might prove, in the last stages of our debility,
the very cordial of life. I addressed the substance of
these few reflections to the captain, who agreed with me
in opinion, upon the necessity of taking some decisive
steps in our present dilemma. After some considerable
conversation on this subject, it was finally concluded,
to spend the succeeding day in the further search for
water, and if none should be found, to quit the island
the morning after.
December 22nd. — We had been employed during the
last night, in various occupations, according to the feel
ings Or the wants of the men ; some continued to wander
about the shore, and to short distances in the mountains,
still seeking for food and water ; others hung about the
beach, near the edge of the sea, endeavouring to take
the little fish that came about them. Some slept, insen
sible to every feehng but rest ; while others spent the
night in talking of their situation, and reasoning upon
the probabilities of their deliverance. The dawn of day
aroused us again to labour, and each of us pursued his
own inclination, as to the course taken, over the island
after water. My principal hope was founded upon my
success in picking the rocks where the moisture had been
discovered the day before, and thither I hastened, as

374 APPENDIX.
soon as my strength would enable me to get there. It
was about a quarter of a mile from what I may call our
encampment ; and with two men, who had accompanied
me, I commenced my labours with a hatchet .and an
old chisel. The rock proved to be soft, and in a
very short time I had obtained a very considerable hole,
but, alas ! without the least wished for effect, I watched
it for some little time, with great anxiety, hoping, that
as I increased the depth of the hole, the water would
presently flow ; but all my hopes and efforts were
unavailing, and at last I desisted from further labour,
and sat down, nearly in utter despair. As I turned my
eyes towards the beach, I saw some of the men in the
act of carrying a keg along from the boats, with, I
thought, an extraordinary spirit and activity ; and the
idea suddenly darted across my mind, that they had
found water, and were taking a keg to fill it, I quitted
my seat in a moment, made the best of my way towards
them, with a palpitating heart, and before I came up
with them, they gave me the cheering news, that they
had found a spring of water, I felt, at that moment, as
if I could have fallen down and thanked God for this
signal act of his mercy. The sensation that I expe
rienced, was, indeed, strange, and such as I shajl never
forget. At one instant I felt an almost choking excess
of joy ; and at the next, I wanted the relief of a flood of
tears. When I arrived at the spot, whither I had has
tened as fast as my weak leg§ would carry me, I fojmd my
companions had all taken their fill ; and, with an extreme
degree of forbearance, I then satisfied myselfj by drink
ing in small quantities, and at intervals of two or three
minutes .apart. Many had, notwithstanding the remon-

APPENDIX. 375
strances of prudence, and, in some cases, force, laid
down, and thoughtlessly swallowed large quantities of
it, until they could drink no more. The effect of this
was, however, neither so sudden nor so bad as we had
imagined ; it only served to make them a little stupid
and indolent for the remainder of the day.
" December 23d. — -We procured our water daily, when
the tide would leave the shore ; but on the evening of the
25th, found, that a fruitless search for nourishment, had
not repaid us for the labours of a whole day. There was
no one thing on the island upon which we could in the
least degree rely, except the pepper-grass, and of that
the supply was precarious, and not much relished with
out some other food. Our situation here, therefore, now
became worse than it would have been iu our boats on
the ocean ; because, in the latter case, we should be still
making some progress towards the land, while our pro
visions lasted, and the chance of falling in with some
vessel be considerably increased. It was certain, that we
ought not to remain here, unless upon the strongest
assurances, in our own minds, of sufficient sustenance,
and that, too, in regular supplies, that njight be depended
upon. After much conversation amongst us on this sub
ject, and again examining our navigators, it was finally
concluded, to set sail for Easter Island, which we found
to be E.S.E. from us, in lat. 27° 9' S, long. 109° 34' W.
All we knew of this island, was, that it existed as laid
down in the books ; but of its extent, productions, or
inhabitants, if any, we were entirely ignorant ; at any
rate, it was nearer, by 850 miles to the coast, and could
not be worse in its productions, than the one we were
about leaving.

376 APPENDIX.
" The 26th December was wholly employed im prepare
tions for our departure ; our boats were hauled down to
the vicinity of the spring, and our casks, and every thing
else that Would cohtaift it, filled with water."
Three of the men determined to remain behind, and
before the rest of the party sailed, " the captain wrote
lettets, to be left on the island, giving information of the
fate of the ship, and that of our own ; and stating, that we
had set out to reach Easter Island, with further particu
lars, intended to give notice^should our fellow-sufferers die «
there, and the place be ever visited by any vessel,) of
our misfortunes. These letters were put in a tin case,
enclosed in a small wooden box, and nailed to a tree, on
the west side of the island, near our landing-place. We
had observed, some days previously, the name of a ship,
« The Elizabeth,' cut out in the bark erf tins tree, which
rendered it indubitable, that one of that name had once
touched here. There was, however, no date to it, or
any thing else, by wMch any further particulars could be
made out."
On the 27th December they set sail. "On the 12th
January," the narrator observes, "when the morning
dawned, in vain did we look over every part of the
ocean for our companions ; they were gone ! and we saw
-no more of them afterwards. It was folly to repine at
the circumstance ; it could neither be remedied, nor could
sorrow secure their return ; but it was impossible to pre
vent ourselves feehng aU the poignancy and bitterness
that characterizes the separation of men who have long
suffered in each other's company, and whose interests
and feelings fate had so closely linked together. By our
observation, we separated in lat. 32° 16', S. long. 112" 20'

APPENDIX. 377
W. For many days after this accident, our progress was
attended with dull and melancholy reflections. We had
lost the cheering of each other's faces, that, which strange
as it is, we so much required in both our mental and
bodily distresses. The 14th January proved another
very squally and rainy day. We had now been nineteen
days from the island, and had only made a distance of
about 900 miles ; necessity began to whisper us, that a
still further reduction of our allowance must take place,
or we must abandon altogether the hopes of reaching
the land, and rely wholly on the chance of being taken
up by a vessel. But how to reduce the daily quantity
of food, with any regard to life itself, Was a question of
the utmost consequence. Upon our first leaving the
wreck, the demands of the stomach had been circum
scribed to the smallest possible compass ; and subse
quently, before reaching the island, a diminution had
taken place, of nearly one-balf ; and it was now, from
a reasonable calculation, become necessary even to cur
tail that at least one-half; which must, in a short time,
reduce us to mere skeletons again. We had a full allow
ance of water, but it only served to contribute to our
debility ; our bodies deriving but the scanty support
whioh an ounce and a half ©f bread for each man afforded.
It required a great effort to bring matters to this dread
ful alternative, either to feed our bodies and our hopes
a little longer, or in the agonies of hunger, to seize upon
and devour our provisions, rand coolly await the approach
of death. " We were, as yet, just able 'to -ntove about in our
boats, and slowly perform the necessary labours apper
taining to her ; but we were fast waiting away with the

378 APPENDIX.
relaxing effects of the water, and we daily almost perished
under the torrid rays of a meridian sun ; to escape
which, we would he down in the bottom of the boat,
cover ourselves over with the sails, and abandon her to
the mercy of the waves. Upon attempting to rise again,
the blood would rush into the head, and an intoxicating
blindness come over Us, almost to occasion our suddenly
falling down again. A slight interest was still kept up
in our minds, by the distant hopes of yet meeting with
the other boats, but it was never realized."
Before the 20th, they had lost two of their number.
" On that day," Mr. Chase observes, " when I perceived
this morning, that it was calm, my fortitude almost
forsook me. I thought, to suffer another scorching day,
like the last we had experienced, would close, before
night, the scene of our miseries ; and I felt many a
despairing moment that day, that had well nigh proved
fatal. It required an effort to look calmly forward, and
contemplate what was yet in store for us, beyond what I
felt I was capable of making; and what it was that
buoyed me above all the terrors which surrounded us,
God alone knows. Our ounce and a half of bread,
which was to serve us all day, was, in some cases,
greedily devoured, as if life was to continue but another
moment ; and at other times, it was hoarded up, and
eaten crumb by crumb, at regular intervals during the
day, as if it was to last us for ever. To add to our
calamities, biles began to break out upon us, and our
imaginations shortly became as diseased as our bodies.
I laid down at night, to catch a few moments of oblivious'
sleep, and immediately my starving fancy was at work.
I dreamt of being placed near a splendid and rich repast,

APPENDIX. 379
where there was every thing that the most dainty appe
tite could desire ; and of contemplating the moment in
which we were to commence to eat, with enraptured
feelings of delight ; and just as I was about to partake
of it, I suddenly awoke to the cold realities of my miser
able situation. Nothing could have oppressed me so
much. It set such a, longing frenzy for victuals in my
mind, that I felt as if I could have wished the dream to
continue for ever, that I never might have awoke from
it. I cast a sort of vacant stare about the boat, until my
eyes rested upon a bit of tough cow hide, which was fas
tened to one of the oars ; I eagerly seized and com
menced to chew it, but there was no substance in it, and
it only served to fatigue my weak jaws, and add to my
bodily pains."
The 29th and 30th of January, the .wind continued
west, and we made considerable progress until the 31st,
when it again came a-head, and prostrated all our hopes.
On the 1st of February, it changed again to the west
ward, and on the 2nd and 3d blew to the eastward ; and
we had it light and variable until the 8th of February.
Our sufferings were now drawing to a close ; a terrible
death appeared shortly to await us; hunger became
violent and outrageous, and we prepared for a speedy
release from our troubles ; our speech and reason were
both considerably inipaired, and we were reduced to be,
at this time, certainly the most helpless and wretched of
the whole human race, Isaac Cole, one of our crew, had,
the day before this, in a fit of despair, thrown himself
down in the boat, and was determined there calmly to
wait for death. It was obvious that he had no chance ;
all was dark, he said, in his mind, not a single ray qf

380 APPENDIX.
hope was left for him to dwell upon ; and it was folly and
madness to be struggling against what appeared so
palpably to be our fixed and settled destiny. I remon
strated with him as effectually as the weakness both of
my body and understanding would allow Of ; and what I
said, appeared for a moment to have a considerable effect.
He made a powerful and sudden effort, half rose up,
crawled forward, and hoisted the jib, and firmly and
loudly cried that he would pot give up ; that he would
live as long as the rest of us — but, alas ! this effort was
but the hectic fever of the moment, and he shortly again
relapsed into a state of melancholy and despair. This
day his reason was attacked, and he became, about nine
o'clock in the morning, a most miserable spectacle of
madness : he spoke incoherently about every thing, call
ing loudly for a napkin and water, and then lying stu
pidly and senselessly down in the boat again, would close
his hollow eyes, as if in death. About ten o'clock, we
suddenly perceived that he became speechless; we got
him, as well as we were able, upon a board, placed on
one of the seats of the boat, and covering him up with
some old clothes, left him to his fate. He lay in the
greatest pain and apparent misery, groaning piteously ,
until four o'clock, when he died, in the most horrid and
frightful convulsions I ever witnessed. We kept his
corpse all night ; and in the morning my two companions
began, as of course, to make preparations to dispose of it
in the sea ; when, after reflecting on the subject all night,
I addressed them on the painful subject of keeping the
body for food ! ! Our provisions could not possibly last
us beyond three days, within which time, it was not, in
any degree, probable that we should find relief from our

APPENDIX. 381
present sufferings, and that hunger would, at last, drive
us to the necessity of casting lots. It was, without any
objection, agreed to ; and we set to work, as fast as we
were able, to prepare it, so as to prevent its spoiling.
We separated his limbs from his body, and cut all the
flesh from the bones ; after which, we opened the body,
took out the heart, and then closed it again — sewed it
up as decently as we could, and committed it to the sea.
We now first commenced to satisfy the immediate crav
ings of nature from the heart, which we eagerly devoured,.
and then eat sparingly of a few pieces of the flesh ; after
which, we hung up the remainder, cut in thin strips
about the boat, to dry in the sun. We made a fire, and
roasted some of it, to serve us during the next day. In
this manner did we dispose of our fellow-sufferer ; the
painful recollection of which, brings to mind at this
moment, some of the most disagreeable and revolting
ideas that it is capable of conceiving. We knew not
then, to whose lot it would fall next, either to die or be
shot, and eaten like the poor wretch we had just dis
patched. Humanity must shudder, at the dreadful
recital. I have no language to paint the anguish of our
souls in this dreadful ddemma. The next morning, the
10th of February, we found that the flesh had become
tainted, and had turned of a greenish colour, upon which
we concluded to make a fire and cook it at once, to pre
vent its becoming so putrid as not to be eaten at all. We
accordingly did so, and by that means preserved it for
six or seven , days longer ; our bread, during the time,
remained untouched ; as that would not be liable to spoil,
we placed it carefully aside for the last moments of our
trial. About three o'clock this afternoon, a strong breeze

382 APPENDIX.
set in from the north-west, and we made very good pro
gress, considering that we were compelled to steer the
boat by management of the sails alone : this wind conti- -
nued until the 13th, when it changed again a-head. We
contrived to keep soul and body together by sparingly
partaking of our flesh, cut up in small pieces, and eaten
with salt water. By the 14th, our bodies became so far
recruited, as to enable us to make a few attempts at
guiding our boat again with the oar ; by each taking his
turn, we managed to effect it, and to make a tolerable
good course. On the 15th, our flesh was all consumed,
and we were driven to the last morsel of bread, consisting
of two cakes ; our limbs had for the last two days swelled
very much, and now began to pain us most excessively.
We were still, as near as we could judge, 300 miles from
the land, and but three days of our allowance on hand.
The hope of a continuation of the wind, which came out
at west this morning, was the only comfort and solace
that remained to us : so strong had our desires at last
reached in this respect, that a high fever had set in, in
our veins, and a longing that nothing but its continua
tion could satisfy. Matters were now with us at their
height ; all hope was cast upon the breeze ; and we
tremblingly and fearfully awaited its progress, and the
dreadful development of our destiny. On the 16th, at
night, full of the horrible reflections of our situation, and
panting with weakness, I laid down to sleep, almost
indifferent whether I should ever see the light again. I
had not lain long, before I dreamt I saw a ship at some
distance off from us, and strained every nerve to get to
her, but could not. I awoke, almost overpowered with
the frenzy I had caught in my slumbers, and stung with

APPENDIX. 383
the cruelties of a diseased "and disappointed imagination.
On the 17th, in the afternoon, a heavy cloud appeared to
be settling down in an east by north direction from us,
which, in my view, indicated the vicinity of some land,
which I took for the island of Massafuera. I concluded
it could be no other ; and immediately, upon this reflec
tion, the life-blood began to flow again briskly in my '
veins. I told my companions that I was well convinced
it was land, and if so, in all probability we should reach
it before two days more. My words appeared to comfort
them much ; and by repeated assurances of the favour
able appearance of things, their spirits acquired even a
degree of elasticity that was truly astonishing. The
dark features of our distress began now to diminish a
little, and the countenance, even amid the gloomy bodings
of our hard lot, to assume a much fresher hue. We
directed our course for the cloud, and our progress that
night was extremely good.
" At about seven o'clock the next morning, while I
was lying asleep, my companion, who was steering, sud
denly and loudly called out, " There's a sail !" I know
not what was the first movement I made, upon hearing
such an unexpected cry : the earliest of my recollections
are, that immediately I stood up, gazing in a state of
abstraction and ecstacy, upon the blessed vision of a vessel
about seven miles off from us ; she was standing in the
same direction with us, and the only sensation I felt at
the moment was, that of a violent and unaccountable
impulse to fly directly towards her. I do not believe it
is possible to form a just conception of the pure, strong
feelings, and the unmingled emotions of joy and gratitude,
that took possession of my mind on this occasion. — Upon

384 APPENDIX.
observing us, she shortened s&il, and allowed us to come
up to her. The captain hailed us, and asked who we
were. I told him we were from a wreck,, and heeded
out immediately for us to come alongside the ship. I
made an effort to assist myself along to the side,
for the purpose of getting up; but strength failed
me altogether, and I found it impossible to move
a step further without help. We must have formed
at that moment, in the eyes of the captain and his
crew, a most deplorable and affecting picture of suffering
and misery. Our cadaverous countenances, sunken eyes,
and bones just starting through the skin, with the ragged
remnants of clothes stuck about our sun-burnt bodies,
must have produced an appearance to him affecting and
revolting in the highest degree. The sailors commenced
to remove us from our boat,, and we were taken to the
cabin, and comfortably provided for in every respect.
In a few minutes we were permitted to taste of a httle
thin food,, made from tapioca, and in a few days, with
prudent management, we were considerably recruited.
This vessel proved to be the brig Indian, Captain Wit
liam Crozier, of London ; to whom we are indebted for
every polite, friendly, and attentive disposition towards
us, that can possibly characterize a man of humanity and
feeling. We were taken up in latitude 33° 45' S. ; longi
tude 81° 03' W. At twelve o'clock this day we saw the
island of Massafuera, and on the 25th of February, we
arrived at Valparaiso in utter distress, and poverty. Our
wants were promptly relieved there.
" The Captain and the- survivors of his boat's crew were
taken up by the American whale-ship, the Dauphin,
Captain Zimri Coffin, of Nantucket, and arrived at

APPENDIX. 385
Valparaiso on the 17th of March following. He was
taken up in latitude 37° S. off the island of St. Mary.
The third boat got separated from him on the 28th of
January, and has not been heard of since. 
" The Captain relates, that after being separated, as
herein-before stated, they continued to make what pro
gress they could towards the island of Juan Fernandez,
as was agreed upon; but contrary winds, and the
extreme debility of the crew, prevailed against then-
united exertions. He was, with us, equally surprised
and concerned at the separation that took place between
us ; but continued on his course, almost confident of
meeting with us again. On the 14th, the whole stock of
provisions, belonging to the second mate's boat, was
entirely exhausted ; and on the 25th, the black man,
Lawson Thomas, died, and was eaten by his surviving
companions. On the 21st, the captain and his crew were
in the like dreadful situation with respect to "their provi
sions ; and on the 23d, another coloured man, Charles
Shorter, died out of the same boat, and his body was
shared for food between the crews of both boats. On
the 27th, another, Isaac Shepherd, (a black man,) died
in the third boat ; and on the 28th, another black,
named Samuel Reed, died out of the captain's boat.
The bodies of these men constituted their only food
while it lasted ; and on the 29th, owing to the darkness
of the night, and want of sufficient power to manage
their boats, those of the captain and second- mate sepa
rated, in latitude 35° S. longitude 100° W. On the 1st
of February, having consumed the last morsel, the cap
tain and the three other men that remained with him,
were reduced to the necessity of casting lots. It fell
vol. 11. 2 c

386 APPENDIX.
upon Owen Coffin to die, who, with great fortitude and
i*esignation, submitted to his fate. They drew lots to
see who should shoot him. He placed himself firmly to
receive his death, and was immediately shot by Charles
Ramsdale, whose hard fortune it was to become his
executioner. On the llth, Brazilla Ray died ; and on
these two bodies, the captain and Charles Ramsdale, the
only two that were then left, subsisted until the morning
of the 23d, when they fell in with the ship Dauphin, as
before stated, and were snatched from impending destruc
tion. Every assistance and attentive humanity was
bestowed upon them by Captain Coffin, to whom Captain
Pollard acknowledged every grateful obligation. Upon
making known the fact, that three of our companions
had been left at Ducies Island, to the Captain of the
United States frigate Constellation, which lay at Valpa
raiso when we arrived, he said he should immediately
take measures to have them taken off.
" On the llth June following, I arrived at Nantucket
in the whale-ship the Eagle, Captain William H. Coffin.
My family had received the most distressing account of
our shipwreck, and had given me up for lost. My unex
pected appearance was welcomed with the most grateful
obligations and acknowledgments to a beneficent Creator,
who had guided me through darkness, trouble, and death,
once more to the bosom of my country and friends."
The preceding account is extracted from a little narra
tive, entitled " Narrative of the most extraordinary and
distressing shipwreck of the whale-ship, Essex, of Nan
tucket ; which was attacked and finally destroyed by a
large spermaceti whale, in the Pacific Ocean ; with an
account of the unparalleled sufferings of the captain and

APPENDIX. 387
crew, during a space of ninety-three days at sea, in open
boats, in the years 1819 and 1820.— By Owen Chase, of
Nantucket, first-mate of said vessel."
The accuracy of the narrative, I have reason to believe
to be unquestionable. The father of one of the sufferers
who died, was engaged to dine with me when the account
reached Liverpool, and was prevented by the melancholy
intelligence.

E
A very interesting life of Brainerd was published in
1822, at Newhaven, in Connecticut, by Sereno Edward
Dwight.

EXTRACTS from a REPORT concerning INDIAN
AFFAIRS, addressed to the American Secretary of
War, by Dr. Morse, and laid before Congress.
(circular.)
" Sir,
Department of War, 3d September, 1819.
" In order to render the sum of ten thousand dollars,
annually appropriated at the last session of Congress for
the civilization of the Indians, as extensively beneficial as
possible, the President is of opinion, that it ought to be
apphed in co-operation with the exertions of benevolent
associations, or individuals, who may choose to devote
their time or means to effect the object contemplated by
the Act of Congress. But it will be indispensable, in
order to apply any portion of the sum appropriated in

388 A1^1*01^
the manner proposed, that the plan of education, in addi
tion to reading, writing, and arithmetic, should, in the
instruction of the boys, extend to the practical knowledge
of the mode of agriculture, and of such of the mechanic
arts as are suited to the condition of the Indians ; and in
that of the girls, to spinning, weaving, and sewing. It
is also indispensable, that the establishment should be
fixed within the limits of those Indian nations who border
on our settlements. Such associations, or individuals,
who are already actually engaged in educating the
Indians, and who may desire the co-operation of the
Government, will report to the Department of War, to
be laid before the President, the location of the institu
tions under their superintendence ; their funds ; the
number and kind of teachers ; the number of youths, of
both sexes ; the objects which are actually embraced in
their plan of education ; and the extent of the aid which
they require; and such institutions as are formed, hut
have not gone into actual operation, will report the extent
of their funds ; the places at which they intend fo make
their establishments ; the whole number of youths, of
both sexes, which they intend to educate ; the number
and kind of teachers to be employed ; the plan of educa
tion adopted ; and the extent of the aid required.
" This information will be necessary, to enable the
President to determine whether the appropriation of
Congress ought to be applied in co-operation with the
institutions which may request it, and to make a just
distribution ofthe sum appropriated
In proportion to the means of the Government, co
operation will be extended to such institutions as may

APPENDIX. 389
be approved, as well in erecting necessary buildings, as
in their current expenses. — I have the honour to be,
" Your most obedient servant,
(Signed) "J. C. CALHOUN."

" The following regulations, in addition to those
prescribed in the Circular of the 3d of September, 1819,
have been adopted, with the approbation of the President
of the United States, to govern the future distribution of
the sum appropriated by Congress for the civilization of
the Indians, among individuals or societies who have
estabhshed, or contemplate establishing, schools for the
education of Indian children, in conformity to the
above-mentioned Circular, and who desire the co-operation
of the Government.
" The position selected for the establishment, a plan
of the buddings contemplated, with an estimate of the
costs, to be submitted to the Secretary of War, to be N
laid before the President.
" Government will, if it has the means, and approves
of the arrangement, pay two-thirds of the expense of
erecting the necessary buildings.
" No part of the money to be advanced until after the
buildings are commenced ; and one-fourth to be reserved
until they are completed. The payment to be made on
the certificate of the Agent of Indian affairs, for the tribe
or nation in which the establishment is located, as to the
facts of the commencement and completion of the build-

390 APPENDIX.
" The President of the United States will contribute
out of the annual appropriation, to each institution which
may be approved of by him, a sum proportionate to the
number of pupils belonging to each, regard being had to
the necessary expense of the estabhshment, and the
degree of success which has attended it.
" No advance to be made except for the buildings, till
the school is in actual operation ; of which fact, and the
number of pupils belonging to it, the certificate of the
superintendent or person havmg the chief control of the
institution, will be sufficient evidence.
" A report will be annually made for each establish
ment, on the 1st of October, of the number and names of
the teachers and other persons belonging to it ; the num
ber of students ; the number which have completed their
course and left the institution, since the first day of
October of the preceding year ; the number entered, the
amount of disbursements for the same period, and the
value and description of property on hand : which report
will be certified by the superintendent or person having
the principal control of the establishment.
" It is considered to be the duty of all persons who
may be employed, or attached to any institution, not
only to set a good example of sobriety, industry, and
honesty, but, as far as practicable, to impress on the
minds of the Indians, the friendly and benevolent views
of the Government towards them, and the advantage to
them in yielding to the policy of Government, and co
operating with it in such measures as it may deem neces
sary for their civilization and happiness. A contrary
course of conduct cannot fail to incur the displeasure
of Government, as it is impossible that the object which

APPENDIX. 391
it has in view can be effected, and peace be habitually
preserved, if the distrust of the Indians, as to its benevo
lent views, should be excited. (Signed) " J. C. CALHOUN."
Department of War, 29th Feb. 1820.

" Sir, " Department of War, 7th Feb. 1820.
" I have laid before the President your proposition, to
make a visit of observation and inspection to the various
Indian Tribes in our immediate neighbourhood, in order
to acquire a more accurate knowledge of their actual
condition, and to devise the most suitable plan to advance
their civilization and happiness. The President approves
of the proposed arrangement, and has directed me to
allow you the sum of 500 dollars towards the expense of
your contemplated journey ; and he further authorizes
me to state to you, that should your actual expense exceed
that sum, that the excess will be allowed you, provided
the state of the appropriation for the Indian Department
will, at the end of the year, justify the allowance.
" It is desirable that you should make your visit to
the Northern Tribes the next spring and summer, and to
the Southern, the next autumn and winter, as it is the
wish of the Department to have your report as early as
practicable, in order to avail itself of it in the future
application of the fund for the civilization of the Indians.
" I inclose a general letter of introduction to the super
intendents and agents for Indian affairs, with a Ijst of
their names and residences, who will afford you all the
information and facilities in their power.

392 APPENDIX.
" Your attention will be directed to ascertain the actual
condition of the various tribes, which you may visit, in a
religious, moral, and pohtical point of view, and your
report to the Department, which you will make, at
such times as will be convenient, will comprehend all
such facts, with your reflections on them, as will go to
illustrate this interesting subject. You will particularly
ascertain, as far as practicable, the number of the various
tribes which you may visit, and those adjacent ; the
extent of territory, with the nature of the soil, and climate
of the country occupied by them ; their mode of life,
customs, laws, and political institutions; and the cha
racter and disposition of their most influential men. You
will also particularly report on the number of schools,
their position, the number and character of the teachers, '
the number of scholars of each sex, the plan of education,
with the degree of success which appears to attend the
respective schools, and the disposition which appears to
exist in the tribes, and with their chief men, to promote
among them education and civilization. You will also
report your opinion as to the improvements which may
be made, and the new establishments, to promote the
object of the Government in civilizing the Indians, which
can be advantageously formed.
" The moral condition of the Indians will necessarily
be very dependant on the character of the trade with
them, and a subject so important will, of course, claim
your attention. You will report such facts, as may come
within your knowledge, as will go to show the state of
the trade with them, and the character of the traders,
and will suggest such improvements in the present system
of Indian trade, as, in your opinion, will render it better

APPENDIX. 393
calculated to secure peace between them and us, and will
contribute more efficiently to advance their moral con
dition. " You are so fully apprized of the views of the President
in your intended visit to the Indian Tribes, that a farther
enumeration ofthe objects, which are thought interesting,
is deemed unnecessary ; satisfied, as I am, that your
zeal and intelligence will permit nothing to escape your
observation, which may be useful to be known to the
Government. " After you have collected your materials,- you will
digest the whole into one body, and present it in such
form, and accompany it with such reflections and sugges
tions, as you may deem necessary to accomplish the inter
esting objects, which it is intended to promote by your
tour. — I have the honour to be,
" Your obedient servant,
(Signed) " J. C. CALHOUN."
Rev. J. Morse, D.D. now in Washington.

394 appendix.
Dumber of indians within the limits of the
united states.
Indians in New England  2,247
NewYork  5,184
Ohio  2,407
Michigan and N. W. Territories  28,380
Illinois and Indiana  17,006
Southern States East of the Mississippi  65, 122
West of Mississippi and North of Missouri  33,150
Between Missouri and Red River  101,070
West ofthe Rocky Mountains  171,209
Between Red River and Rio del Norte  45,370
470,000^
RF.MARKS.
" The average proportion of Warriors to the whole number of Souls, is
about 1 to 5. In some tribes it is more, in others less. In the tribes
dwelling among white people, the proportion is about 1 to 3. The num.
ber of men and women in the Cherokee nation is nearly equal. In the
Menominee and Winnebago tribes, the women are a third more than the
men. The number of children is much greater in proportion to the whole
number of souls, in the two tribes last named, than in tribes mingled with
white people.
"In Indian countries where fish constitutes an article of food, the number
in each family is about six ; in other tribes, where this article is wanting,
the average number in a family is about five.
"In eight years the Winnebagoes increased, according to the account
given by respectable Traders among them, from 3,500 to 5,800.
PROPORTION OF WARRIORS TO THE WHOLE NUMBER.
WARRIORS. WHOLE NO. PROPORTION.
Indians South of Red River ... 13,229 46,370 about 3J
Winnebagoes  900 5,800 6J
Menominees  600 3,900 64
Indians in Ohio  753 2,257 3
Missouri  7,560 30,000 4
On the West side of the Rocky Mountains  6

APPENDIX. 395
" It is gratifying to know, that the Government have in
-their possession, and at their disposal, the most ample
means, with the blessing of God upon them, to procure
for the Indians all the privileges and enjoyments, which
distinguish and elevate us among the nations of the
earth : and so singular is the fact, these very means have
been furnished to our Government, by the people for
whose benefit we ask to have them employed. The
Table which accompanies this Report, compiled from
official documents, shows, that more than two hundred
millions of acres of some of the best lands in our country,
have been purchased, after our manner, and at our own
prices, of the Indian tribes. Of these lands, previously
to October, 1819, there had been sold by the Govern
ment about eighteen and a half millions acres, for more
than forty-four millions of dollars. The remainder of
these lands, if sold at the same rate, and the sums paid
to the Indians for them deducted, would yield to the
Government a net profit of more than five hundred
millions of dollars ! ! With this statement before
him^ founded on official documents, will any man hazard
his reputation as an honest, fair, and just man, by saying,
" We have no funds to give for civilizing the Indians f"
INDIAN TITLES.
" The following opinion was given by an eminent
Lawyer, in a case stated to him relative to the nature
of Indian titles to their lands : —
" The case stated must be examined and considered
with reference to certain estabhshed principles,- the ori
ginal foundation of which is now no longer open to
inquiry. The European settlers of this country, claimed

396 APPENDIX.
to have a right to appropriate it to themselves, and the
mildest and least exceptionable form in which they exer
cised that right, was to treat the aboriginal inhabitants
as entitled to a limited or qualified property, a right to
occupy and enjoy, under certain modifications, but with
no power to convey, nor, indeed, to do any other acts of
ownership. The right of soil, or the absolute property;
and the jurisdiction over it, were, in the mean time,
deemed to belong to the Sovereign, or Strte, under whose
authority the discovery and settlement were made, and to
the Grantees of such Sovereign or State. The interest
in the soil carried with it the right to buy off, or other
wise remove, the incumbrance, which right, as respected
the Sovereign or State, was, of course, full and absolute,
but as respected individuals, was subject to such restric
tions as might be thought fit to be imposed, either by
general legislation, or by terms annexed to the respective
grants. " It resulted, necessarily, from this view of the sub
ject, and I presume it may be considered as a general
principle adopted and acted upon, if not uniformly, at
least very extensively, in the British colonies and posses
sions in North America, that no title could be derived to
individuals, merely by purchase from the Indians. A
title to the soil could not be acquired, because, according
to the theory adopted, the soil was not theirs ; and a
title could not be acquired to the occupation and enjoy
ment, because these were regarded as personal privileges,
or rather privileges of the nation or tribe in possession,
and were not permitted to be transferred.
At the revolution, the rights of territory and juris
diction, which belonged to the foreign Sovereign, and

^ APPENDIX, 397
such sovereign rights as had been granted by him to
individuals or bodies, became vested in the States of the
Union, within whose limits the territory lay.
" Individual rights, previously vested, were, on the
contrary, respected and preserved ; or, (as was, perhaps,
the case in some instances,) where they were seemingly
blended with certain sovereign powers, or powers too
extensive to be held by individuals, were made the subject
of an equitable commutation.
" Among the rights which thus became vested in the
States, was the sovereign authority over the lands inha
bited by the Indians within their bounds, and not yet
become the subject of individual ownership or claim. It
comprehended the right of soil, the jurisdiction, and the
exclusive authority to purchase, or otherwise extinguish
the qualified property of the Indians. This right was
transferable to individuals, in the manner the State might
deem best, and when so transferred was commonly called
a right of pre-emption. The transfer, or grant, in what
ever form, was usually accompanied with a condition,
either expressed or understood, which required for the
validity of the purchase from the Indians, that it should
be made under the authority and with the sanction of
some person or persons appointed by the State ; and as
these purchases were made from the tribe, or nation, and
not from individuals, they have most commonly been
made by treaty.
i( The right of preemption, then, when granted to an
individual, was a right to the soil, subject only to the
occupation by the Indians, and to become absolute, so
as to entitle him to possession, when that should be extin-

398 APPENDIX.
guished. It is clear, that such a grant would create a
vested interest, in the individual, which could not right
fully be divested or impaired, without his own consent,
or by such acts of legislation as are competent to effect
any other vested interest.
" These general views are, in some measure, applicable
to all the questions proposed, and I beheve them to be
in coincidence with the opinion expressed by the Supreme
Court of the United States, in the case of Fletcher v. Peck
(6 Cranch 87. 141—2.)
i{ I am of opinion, that  (naming an Indian
tribe,) did not acquire any legal right in the lands pur
chased by them from the (here naming another Indian
tribe,) and of course that no legal title can be acquired
by purchase from them. The tribe who sold had no
power to sell. The constitution of the State of (  )
expressly prohibits a sale, and the general principles
before adverted to, which no doubt were in the view of
those who framed the constitution, lead to the same result.
Regarding the sales as merely void, as a nullity, produc
ing no legal consequences, it cannot, I think, be consi
dered as working a forfeiture,11 &c.
VatteW Opinion on Indian Titles.
"Vattels1 opinion on this subject, is, that a nation, merely
by taking possession of a country, acquires, by this act,
a title to " no more than it is able to people or culti
vate.11 — " The law of nations only acknowledges the
property and sovereignty of a nation over uninhabited
countries, of which they shall really, and, in fact, take
possession, in which they shall form settlements, or of

APPENDIX. 399
which they shall make actual use." " A nation may
lawfully take possession of a part of a vast country, in
which are found none but erratic nations, incapable, by
the smallness of their numbers, to people the whole.11 —
" The earth belongs to the human race in general, and
was designed to furnish it with subsistence : if each
nation had resolved, from the beginning, to appropriate
to itself a vast country, that the people might live only
by hunting, fishing, and wild fruits, our globe would not
be sufficient to maintain a tenth part of its present inha
bitants. People have not, then, deviated from the views
of nature in confining the Indians within narrow limits.
However, we cannot help praising the moderation of the
English Puritans, the first settlers in New England;
who, notwithstanding their being furnished with a charter
from their sovereign, purchased of the Indians the land
they resolved to cultivate. This laudable example was
followed by Mr. William Penn, who planted the colony
of Quakers in Pennsylvania.11
Opinion of Hon. J. Q. Adam, Esq. on Indian Titles.
" There are moralists, who have questioned the right
of the Europeans to intrude upon the possessions of the
aboriginals in any case, and under any limitations what
soever. But have they maturely considered the whole
subject ? The Indian right of possession itself stands,
with regard to the greatest part of the country, upon a
questionable foundation. Their cultivated fields ; their
constructed habitations ; a space of ample sufficiency for
their subsistence, and whatever they had annexed to
themselves by personal labour, was undoubtedly, by

400 APPENDIX.
the laws of nature, theirs, But what is the right of a
huntsman to the forest of a thousand miles over, which
he has accidentally ranged in quest of prey ? Shall the
liberal bounties of Providence to the race of man be
monopolized by one of ten thousand for whom they were
created? Shall the exuberant bosom of the common
mother, amply adequate to the nourishment of milhons,
be claimed exclusively by a few hundreds of her offspring?
Shall the lordly savage not only disdain the virtues and
enjoyments of civilization himself, but shall he control
the civilization of a world ? Shall he forbid the wilderness
to blossom hke the rose ? Shall he forbid the oaks of
lhe forest to fall before the axe of industry, and rise
again, transformed into the habitations of ease and ele
gance ? Shall he doom an immense region of the globe
to perpetual desolation, and to hear the howlings of the
tiger and the wolf, silence for ever the voice of human
gladness ? Shall the fields and the vallies, which a bene
ficent God has framed to teem with the life of innumer
able multitudes, be condemned to everlasting barrenness ?
Shall the mighty rivers, poured out by the hands of
nature, as channels of communication between numerous
nations, roll their waters in sullen silence, and eternal
solitude to the deep ? Have hundreds of commodious
harbours, a thousand leagues of coast, and a boundless
ocean, been spread in the front of this land, and shall
every purpose of utdity to which they could apply, be
prohibited by the tenant of the woods .?11

APPENDIX. 401
Indian Titles. — J. Q. Adams'" Plea, before the Supreme
Court of the United States.
" What. is the Indian Title ? It is mere occupancy
for the purpose of hunting. It is not like our tenures ;
they have no idea of a title to the soil itself. It is overrun
by them, rather than inhabited. It is not a true and
legal possession. Vattel, b. 1. § 81 p. 37- and § 209, b. 2.
p. 96. Montesquieu, b. 18. c. 12. Smith's Wealth of
Nations, b. 5. c. 1. It is a right not to be transferred,
but extinguished. It is a right regulated by treaties,
not by deeds of conveyance. It depends upon the law
of nations, not upon municipal right.11 — Fletcher v. Peck
Cranch. Vol. 6. p. 121.
Decision of the S. Court of the United States, on the
subject of Indian Titles.
" The majority of the Court is of opinion, that the
nature of the Indian Title, which is certainly to be
respected by all Courts, untd it be legitimately extin
guished, Is not such as to be absolutely repugnant to
seisin in fee on the part of the State.1' — ibid 143.
" See also the opinions on this subject, of the Commis
sioners at the Treaty of Ghent. — Amer. State Papers —
1812 to 1815. Vol. 9. p. 389 to 425.
" The recognition of a boundary,11 say the American
Commissioners, " gives up to the nation in whose behalf
it was made, all the Indian tribes and countries within
that boundary. It was on this principle that the under
signed have confidently relied on the Treaty of 1783,
which fixed and recognized the boundaries of the United
VOL. II. 2 D

402 APPENDIX.
States, without making any reservation respecting the
Indian tribes.11 — ibid. p. 424.

Constitution and Officers of a Society for promoting the
general welfare of the Indian Tribes in the United
States, PREAMBLE.
" Whereas the public attention has been recently
awakened, and turned with peculiar interest, to the civil
ization of the Indian Tribes within the United States,
and it has hence become necessary to investigate the
history, character, and actual condition of these tribes.
And whereas the labour of a full, extensive, and accurate
survey of this wide-spread and interesting field, is too
great for individual effort : Therefore, for the purpose
of combining the wisdom, the talents, and active energies
of men of information, qualified and inclined to engage
in this benevolent work, and directing them to the aid
and support of those, whose office requires that they take
the lead in accomplishing it, a Society has been formed
and organized under the following
CONSTITUTION.
" 1. The name of this Association shall be, ' The
American Society for promoting the civilization and
general improvement of the Indian Tribes within the
United States.1 "
" 2. The special objects of this Society . shall be, to
secure for these tribes instruction in all branches of know
ledge, suited to their capacities and condition ; and for

APPENDIX. 403
this purpose, to ascertain the character and strength of
their moral and intellectual powers, and their dispositions
to receive instruction : to examine into their origin, his
tory, memorials, antiquities, traditions, governments,
customs, manners, laws, languages, and religions ; into
their diseases, remedies,' and manner of applying them ;
— also, into the efforts which have been already made for
meliorating their condition, and the results of those
efforts, and where they have faded, the causes of failure :
to ascertain the number and names of the tribes, their
places of residence, the .extent, soil, and climate, of their
respective territories, the stations where education fami
lies may be most advantageously located, and to suggest
whatever means may be employed for their improvement.
Other objects of the Society shall be, to obtain a know
ledge of the geography, mineralogy, geology, natural
history, &c. of the Indian country.; to collect specimens
in all these branches of science, for .the purpose of form
ing a Cabinet for the use of the Government of the
United States : Also, to select suitable spots in the Indian
country, for making experimental farms in the immediate
view of Indians, on which to cultivate the different kinds
of grains, grasses, trees, plants, roots, and other garden
vegetables, adapted to the various soils and climates of
the aforesaid country ; to introduce the best breeds of
domestic animals, and feathered fowls. And generally,
to do all other things, which such a Society can do, to
accomplish its grand object, the Civilization of the
Indians."

404 APPENDIX.
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY.
PATRONS. * * *
Hon. John Adams,
Hon. Thomas Jefferson,
Hon. James Madison,
Late successive Presidents of the United States.
president.
The Vice-President of the United States, ex-officip.
VICE-PRESIDENTS, ex-officio.
The Hon. The Secretary of State,
The Hon. The Secretary of the Treasury,
The Hon The Secretary of War,
The Hon. The Secretary of the Navy,
The Hon. The Judges of the Supreme Court of the
United States, t
Their Excellencies, the Governors of the several
States and Territories, comprised in the National
Union,

The Education of Indian Females, and Intermarriages
between Indians and White people.
" I connect these subjects, because, in contemplating the
latter, the former should be kept in view. While Indians

APPENDIX. 405
remain in their present state, the minds of civilized people
must revolt at the idea of intermarrying with them. It
is natural, and decent, that it should be so. Intermar
riages, however, in the present state of the Indians, or
that which amounts to the same thing, have taken place
to a great extent, and this, too, by many men of respec
table talents and standing in society. * More than half
the Cherokee nation, a large part of the Choctaws and
Chickasaws, and I may add, indeed, of all other tribes
with whom the whites have had intercourse, are of mixed
blood. The offspring of this intercourse, a numerous
body, are of promising talents and appearance. Their
complexion is nearly that of the white population. They
require only education, and the enjoyment of our privi
leges, to make them a valuable portion of our citizens.
Let this education, then, be given them, particularly to
the female Indians.
" It is essential to the success of the project of the
Government, that the female character among our native
tribes, be raised from its present degraded state, to its
proper rank and influence. This should be a primary
object With the instructors of Indians. By educating
female children, they will become prepared, in turn, to
educate their own children, to manage their domestic
" ' ' Mons. Peniere, an exile from France during her revolution, a man
6f genius and information, who resided four years among the Indians, a
careful and intelligent observer of their character, speaks thus, on the
subject of intermarriages. * Encourage marriages between the whites
and Indians. The second generation resulting from those alliances, would
be totally white and beautiful. The Indians, in general, are better shaped,
and more robust, than the whites ; and their birth is as pure and noble as
ours.'" — M.S. Memoir on ihe Civilization of the Indians.

406 APPENDIX.
concerns with intelligence and propriety, and in this way,
they will gradually attain their proper standing and
influence in society. Many examples exist, to show that
all this is practicable. Thus educated, and the marriage
institution, in its purity, introduced, the principal obsta
cles to intermarriage with them would be removed. Let
the Indians, therefore, be taught all branches of know
ledge pertaining to civilized man ; then let intermarriage
with them become general, and the end which the
Government has in view will be completely attained.
They would then be literally of one blood with us, be
merged in the nation, and saved from extinction."

Important Suggestions on the Organisation of
Education Families.
"The following is extracted from an address to the Edu
cation Families among the Choctaws, from the Rev. Dr.
Worcester, while at Mayhew, among the Choctaws, in
the spring of 1821, shortly before his lamented death :
" Husbandry is a secular business in common life.
But here husbandry is to be considered in a different
hght. The missionary farm should be regarded as the
farm of the Lord ; and those who labour here, are to
labour as for Him, every day, and every hour. All, who
are thus employed, are as really his servants as the
missionary. And they should show cheerfulness in this
labour ; as much so, as if they were labouring for them
selves.11

APPENDIX. 407
" The department of husbandry is an important one,
as a means of supporting the mission. In this respect it
must become a great resource. The missions must depend
much upon it. The children aj-e to be educated in read
ing and writing, and all the arts of civilized life, on mis-*
sionary ground. They are not taught at home. Every
thing is to be learned here. They are both to be
instructed and inured to labour. They must be made
acquainted with husbandry and the labours of the field.
This is a leading object.11

" The following incident will show in what light the
school at Eliot is viewed by the natives : — ' A half-breed
Choctaw, whose name is M'Curtin, had five children at
school, and sent a sixth. The school was then full, and
the sixth could not be ' received. The missionaries had
repeatedly been obhged to decline receiving children.
On the return of his child, the father fell into a passion,
sent for his other five chddren, and took them from the
school. Not long afterwards, the father being absent, an
uncle of the chddren, called Captain Cole, hearing that
Mr. Kingsbury was at Eliot, repaired thither with a peti
tion, that the chUdren might be received again. It is a
custom of the Choctaws, that an uncle is a sort of guar-
diah to children, even during the life of the father.1 "
The following is a copy of Captain Cole^ petition : —
" A-be-ate-up-in-bogue, June 6, 1821.
" Friend and Brother,
" I reflect that my nephews and nieces have been
taken from your care, and the loss of education gives me

408 APPENDIX.
a great dissatisfaction of mind. I wish to return the
boys to your care again. Your sanction to my request
will give me much pleasure. The girls, I leave that to
your own breast, whether you wish to call them to your
care once more.
" When they were taken from you, it gave me dissa
tisfaction of mind ; but I gave way to the father, as I
thought it my duty.
" Should you be willing to take them, you will please
to answer me by the first opportunity, and you will oblige
" Your Friend and Brother, ROBERT COLE."
" We, the undersigned, humbly, request that Mr.
Kingsbury should sanction Captain Cole^ request, and
receive his nephews in the school again, as we feel sorry
for his nephews — the loss of their education, which ap
pears much to affect him.
Captain Levi Perry, his x mark
Tus-cam-i-ub-by, _ x
Tag-le-on-tub-by, x
A-no-a-ga, x
Hi-a-ca-gey, x
Na-ho-le-ilb-by, x
Che-co-au-chub-by, x
Neth-la-hom-a^chub-by, x ¦ *
" What can more clearly show the value, which the
natives set on education, than the fact, that nine chiefs
of a large district, should unite in a humble request, that
children, who had- been rashly taken away, might be
restored again to the school ? The missionaries agreed
to receive the children again ; but they had not returned

APPENDIX. 409
at the last intelligence. Captain Cole is the chief speaker
ofthe district, in which he resides, and may succeed
Puck-sha-nub-bee in the government of that district.11

" In Council, Oostinaleh, April 18, 1810.
" 1. Be it known this day, That the various clans
or tribes which compose the Cherokee Nation, have unan
imously passed an act of oblivion for all lives for which
they have been indebted one to the other, and have mu
tually agreed, that after this evening the aforesaid act
shall become binding upon every clan or tribe thereof.
" 2. The aforesaid clans or tribes have also agreed,
that if, in future, any life should be lost without malice
intended, the innocent aggressor shall not be accounted
guilty ; and should it. so happen, that a brother, forget
ting his .natural affections, should raise his hands in anger
and kill his brother, he shall be accounted guilty of
murder, and suffer accordingly.
" By order of the seven clans,
TURTLE AT HOME,
Speaker for the Council.
BLACK FOX,
PATH KILLER,
TOOCHALAR,
KEACHATALOO, BOAT,CHULEOA.
Charles Hicks, Secretary of the Council."

410 APPENDIX.
"A Letter from John Ross, Esq. Post ¦master, a Cherokee
Chief,* to David Brown, a Cherokee Youth at Corn
wall School.
" Mr. D. Brown,
Rossville, Cherokee Nation, July 13th, 1822.
" Dear Sir, — You^s of the 10th of June last, came to
hand a few days since. It gives me pleasure to hear that
you enjoy good health, as well as those of your Cherokee
friends there ; but I feel sorry to hear that Mr. John
Ridge has not recovered from the disease with which he
has been so long afflicted ; but as it cannot be efficacious
for man to say unto him, ' Take up thy bed and walk ;'
therefore his situation can only be confided to Him, who
hath the healing power.
" The pamphlet, containing the letter of Mr. Lewis to
a friend of Congress, on Indian civilization, which the
Rev. Mr. Westbrook had the goodness to send me, has
been received ; for which you will please to return him
my sincere thanks. To reflect seriously on the con
dition of the Indian Tribes, inhabiting the continent of
* I believe J. Ross is only a half-breed Indian. Where this is the case,
it ought always to he stated, as there is an apparent want of sincerity,
in drawing inferences from the productions of a half-breed as to the capa
city of improvement possessed by Indians in general. I believe firmly,
that the Indians are capable of civilization ; but I do not think that the
attainments of those who have derived their birth and education from a
white parent is a proof of it. At all events, the reader, should not be led
to suppose that he is reading the production of a full-blooded Indian, while
he is, in fact, reading the production of a half-breed. I particularly
recommend this suggestion to the editors of some of the American
periodical publications, many of whom, though incapable of intentionally
misleading the public in the slightest degree, may have inadvertently
fallen into the error to which I have alluded.

APPENDIX. 411
America, and to review the miserable fate which has
befallen and swept into wretchedness and oblivion the
numerous Tribes that once inhabited the country border
ing on the Atlantic, is enough to make the remnant of
those Tribes, who are now encompassed by the white
population, shudder. Yet I cannot believe that the
Indians are doomed to perish in wretchedness, from gene
ration to generation, as they are approached by the white
population, until they shall be annihilated from the face
of the earth. Surely there are motives and feelings daily
engendering, in the minds and hearts of the citizens of
the United States, which have never been heretofore
pursued, or even felt, by them towards the aborigines of
this vast continent. The small experiment made by the
exertions of benevolent societies, through their faithful
missionaries, has awakened the American people to a
sense of what might be done to better the condition of
the Indian race. Under such circumstances, when the
Indians are themselves seen to manifest a, thirst to reach
after the blessings and happiness derivable from civilized
life, I cannot believe that the United States Government
will still continue to pursue the lukewarm system of
policy, in her relations with the Indians, as has hitherto
been adopted, to effect the purpose of removing nation
after nation of them from the lands of their fathers into
the remote wilderness, where their encroachments on the
hunting grounds of other Tribes has been attended with
the unhappy consequences of quarrels, wars, and blood
shed. — Has not this been the result of the removal of
part of our own nation to the Arkansaw ? Yes ! the
uplifted tomahawk is now wielding, and the scalping-
knife is unsheathed between the Arkansaws, Cherokees,

412 APPENDIX.
and the Osages, for the horrid destruction of eatch other.
Let the American people look to the prominent causes
which have led to these unhappy consequences, and they
will not fail to see it, in the system of policy pursued by
their Government towards those wretched and oppressed
people, in removing them from the lands of their inhe
ritance, where the boHes of their ancestors have moul
dered into* dust for ages. I repeat, when all these
circumstances are combined, and taken into serious consi
deration, I hope and trust that the general Government
will abandon that pohcy, and adopt a system of amelio
ration, under which those remnants of Tribes may flourish,
and become happy. As respects our own nation here; I
could willingly say, that in case the United States deem
it inexpedient to apply a part of her treasure towards
promoting our civilization, &c. and would but let uS
remain . in the peaceable and quiet possession of our
country, that our oWn exertions, together with those of
our benevolent missionaries and friends, Would, in time,
testify to the world, that Indians are endowed with men
tal capacity fully adequate to receive the highest branches
of temporal and spiritual improvements, under the influ
ences of civilized life. The subject embraces too exten
sive a field for reflection, to be discussed in a hasty letter}
you will excuse me for wandering therein, as far as 1
have done.
" I have no news of moment to communicate. — I was
at your fathers house when your brother's funeral ser
mon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Potter. — Tender my
best respects to our Cherokee friends at Cornwall.
" Your's affectionately, " JNO. ROSS."

APPENDIX.

413

G

Translation of part of the \Qth Psalm into the Muh-
he-con-nuk language, done at the Cornwall School,
under the superintendence of the Rev. John Ser
jeant, Missionary.

1. Neen woh-we-koi-wau-con-
nun wih-tom-mon-nau-woh neh
week-chau - nauq - tho- wau - con
Poh - torn - now- waus ; don neh
pau - muh-hom-mau-we-noi-eke
wpon-nooth-ne-kaun wnih-tau-
nuh-kau-wau-con. 2. Woh - kom - maun aup - to-
naun, don tpooh-quon wau-wiht-
no-waun nooh-tom-mau-wau-con.
3. Stoh nit-hoh aup-to-nau-wau-
con een-huh un-neekh-tho-wau-
con neh au-ton-nih stoh ptow-
wau-mooq. 4. Wtoh-pih-haun-woh pkoch-
chih au-so-khaun mau-weh pau-
paumTi hkey-eke, donneen wtaup-
to-nau-con-no-waun pau-chih
wihqTi h-key-eke. Whuk-kau-
wauk wtuh-tow-waun we-ke-neet
neen ke-soo-khun.

1. The heavens de
clare the glory of God ;
and the firmament
sheweth his handy
work.

2. Day unto day
uttereth speech, and
night unto night shew
eth knowledge.
3. There is no
speech nor language,
where their voice is
not heard.
4. Their line is gone
out through all the
earth, and their words
to the end of the
world. In them hath
he set a tabernacle for
the sun.

414 APPENDIX. H
SOURCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
" Cassina Lake, the source of the Mississippi, is situated
17 degrees north of the Balize, on the Gulf of Mexico,
and 2978 miles, pursuing the course of the river. Esti
mating the distance to Lake La Beche, its extreme north
western inlet at 60 miles, which I conclude to be within
bounds, we have a result of 3038 miles, as the entire
length of this wonderful river, which extends over the'
surface of the earth, in a direct line, more than half the
distance from the Arctic Circle to the Equator. It is
also deserving of remark, that its source hes in a region
of almost continual winter, while it enters the ocean under
the latitude of perpetual verdure. Originating in a
region of lakes, upon the table land, which throw their
waters north into Hudson's Bay, south into the Gulf of
Mexico, and east into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it pur
sues its course to the falls of Peckagama, a distance of
230 miles, through a low prairie, covered with wild rice,
rushes, sword-grass, and other aquatic plants.
" During this distance, it is extremely devious as to
course and width, sometimes expanding into small lakes,
at others narrowing into a channel of about 80 feet. It
is about 60 feet wide on its exit from Red Cedar, or
Cassina Lake, with an average depth of two feet.
"At the falls of Peckagama, the first rock stratum, and
the first wooded island is seen. Here the river has a fall
of 20 feet, and from this to the falls of St. Anthony, a
distance of 685 miles, exhibits its second characteristic
division. At the head of the falls of Peckagama, the
prairies entirely cease, and below a forest of elm, maple,
birch, oak, and ash, overshadows the stream.

APPENDIX. 415
" At the falls of St. Anthony, the river has a perpen
dicular pitch of 40 feet, and from this to its junction
with the Missouri, a distance of 843 miles, it is bounded
by limestone bluffs, which attain various elevations from
one to four hundred feet, and present a succession of the
most sublime and picturesque views. This forms the
third characteristic change of the Mississippi. The
river prairies cease, and rocky bluffs commence precisely
at the falls of St. Anthony.
" The fourth change in the physical aspect of this river
is at the junction of the Missouri, and this is a total
and complete one, the character of the Mississippi being
entirely lost in that of the Missouri. The latter is, in
fact, much the largest stream of the two, and carries
its characteristic appearances into the ocean. The
waters of the Mississippi at its confluence with the
Missouri, are moderately clear, and of a greenish hue ;
the Missouri is turbid and opake, of a greyish-white
colour, and during its floods, which happen twice a
year, communicates, almost instantaneously, to the
combined stream its .predominating qualities. The
distance from the mouth of the Missouri to the Gulf
of Mexico, is 1220 miles. This part ofthe river is more
particularly characterized by snags and sawyers, falling-
in banks and islands, sand-bars and mud-banks, and a
channel which is shifted by every flood, and of such
extreme velocity, that it was formerly thought it could
not be navigated by vessels propelled with sails. The
width of the river opposite Str L°uis is one mile ; it is
somewhat less at New Orleans, and still less at its
embochure. A bar at its mouth prevents ships drawing
more than 18 feet water from entering." — Schoolcraft.

416 APPENDIX.

I.

Remarks on the Vestiges of ancient Civilization, which
are found in North America, and on the Traces .of
an Asiatic Origin, exhibited by the Present Race of
Indians. In the following pages I have collected some particu
lars on the subject of the vestiges of ancient civilize
tion in different parts of North America, and of the
traces of an Asiatic origin which are to be found among
the present race of Indians. I had proposed to digest
and compress the substance of the large extracts which
I have made, and which are principally from the Archae-
ologia Americana, Dr. Dwigh^s Travels, the Ameri
can Journal of Science and Art, vol. vii. No. 1, Dr.
Jarvis^ admirable Discourse on the Rehgion of the
Indians, Humboldt, and Dr. Clarke. I am, however,
unwilling on so interesting a subject, and in a case in
which imagination is so apt to exert an undue influence,
to deprive the reader of the opportunity of forming some
estimate of the credibility of these statements, by examin
ing the internal evidence of their authenticity. I am
also, aware that on a subject of this nature, a general
outline is far less convincing and impressive, than par
ticular descriptions and minute details.
The first class of Antiquities which I shall notice,
comprizes the works which appear to have been erected
chiefly for military purposes.
" On the south side of Ontario," says Mr. Attwater,
in a Paper pubhshed in the Archaeologia Americana,

APPENDIX. 417
"one not far from Black River, is the furthest in a
north-eastern direction on this continent. One on the
Chenango River, at Oxford, in the State of New York,
is the furthest south, on the eastern side of the Allegha
nies. In travelling towards Lake Erie, in a western
direction from the works above-mentioned, a few small
works are occasionally found, especially in the Gennessee
country ; but they are few and small, untd we arrive at
the mouth of Cataraugus Creek, a water of Lake Erie,
in Cataraugus county, in the State of New York, where
Governor Clinton, in his Memoir, &c. says, c A line of
forts commences, extending south upwards of fifty miles,
and not more than four or five miles apart.1 There is
said to be another hne of them, parallel to these, which
generally contains a few acres of ground only, whose
walls are only a few feet in height. At Salem, in Ash
tabula county, there is one on a hill, which merits a few
words, though it is a small one compared with others
further south. The work at Salem, is on a hill, near
Coneaught River, if my information be correct, and is
about three miles from Lake Erie. It is round, having
two parallel circular walls, and a ditch between them.
Through these walls, leading into the inclosure, are a
gateway and a road, exactly like a modern turnpike,
descending down the hdl to the stream, by such a gra
dual slope, that a team with a waggon might easily
either ascend or descend it ; and there is no other place
by which these works could be approached, without con
siderable difficulty. Within the bounds of this ancient
enclosure, the trees which grew there were such as
denote the richest soil in this country, while those grow
ing outside of these ruins, were such as denote the poorest.
VOL. II. 2 E

418 APPENDIX.
" Proceeding still to the southward, the ancient works
become more and more numerous, and more intricate,
and of greater size; denoting the increase of their
authors,, in number, strength, and a better acquaintance
with the art of constructing them. At length we reach
the interesting ones on two branches of the Licking,
near Newark, in Licking county, Ohio, which, on many
accounts, are quite as remarkable as any others in North
America, or perhaps, in any part of the world. South
wardly from the great works on the Licking, four or
five miles in a north-western direction from Somerset, is
an ancient work of stone. Proceeding down the Mus
kingum, to its mouth, at Marietta, are some of the most
extraordinary ancient works, any where to be found." -
" From near Lower Sandusky, I am not informed of
any worthy of notice, that is, ' Forts,' until we arrive at
Circleville, 26 miles south of Columbus. These are
situated not far from the junction of Hargus's Creek
with the latter river, which is on the east side of the
river, and south side of the creek. Where the wall of the
square fort has been manufactured into brick, the work
men found some ashes, calcined stones, sticks, and a
little vegetable mould, all of which must have been taken
up from the surface of the surrounding plain. As the
square fort is a perfect square, so the gateways or open
ings are at equal distances from each other, and on a
right line parallel with the wall. The walls of this work
vary a few degrees from north and south, east and west ;
but not more than the needle varies, and not a few sur
veyors have, from this circumstance, been impressed with
the belief that the authors of these works were acquainted
with astronomy. What surprised me, on measuring these

APPENDIX. 419
forts, was the exact manner in which they had laid down
their circle and square, so that after every effort, by the
most careful survey, to detect some error in their mea
surement, we found that it was impossible, and that the
measurement was much more correct than it would have
been, in all probability, had the present inhabitants
undertaken to construct such a work. Let those consider
this circumstance, who affect to believe these antiquities
were raised by the ancestors of the present race of Indians.
"These works have been examined by the first military
men now living in the United States, and they have uni
formly declared their opinion to be, that they were mili
tary works of defence.
" On Paint Creek Ohio, where probably was once an
ancient city of great extent, are some works,* in some
respects exceeding all others. The nearest of these are
situated about 11, and the furthest 15 miles, westwardly,
from the town of Chillicothe. Descending the Scioto to
its mouth, at Portsmouth, we find an ancient work, which,
I doubt not, was a military one of defence, situated on
theKentucky shore,nearly oppositethe town of Alexandria.
The importance of this place, it seems, was duly appre
ciated by the people, who, in " olden time11 resided here.
To their attachment to this part of the country, as well
as the great population which must have been here, are
we indebted for the striking and numerous traces of a
once flourishing settlement.
" The ancient works on the little Miami river have been
* It is stated by Mr. Nuttall, who visited Aost of the Ancient remains,
described in these pages, that some of the works on Paint Creek are vitri
fied every ten yards.

420 APPENDIX.
much noticed by those who have travelled on the road
which crosses them ; and^several partial accounts of them
have already been published. But as some farther notice
of these extraordinary remains of antiquity may be here
expected, the accompanying engraving is given. — (See
Plate I.) Ancient Tumuli.
" There is another species of ancient works in this coun
try which deserves our notice. They are conical mounds,
either of earth or stones, which were intended for many
sacred and important purposes. —
" They are of various altitudes and dimensions, some
being only four or five feet in height, and ten or twelve
feet in diameter at their base ; whilst others, as we travel
to the south, rise to the height of 80 and 90 feet, and
cover many acres of ground.1'
" They are generally, where completed, in the form of a
cone. Those in the north part of Ohio are inferior in
size, and fewer in number, than those along the river.
These mounds are believed to exist, from the rocky
mountains in the west, to the Alleghanies in the east ;
from the southern shore of Lake Erie to the Mexican
Gulf, and though few and small in the north, numerous
and lofty in the south, yet exhibit proofs of a common
origin. I shall begin with the tumuli on the Muskingum,
which are not very numerous, nor comparatively inter
esting, until we descend to Morgan County, where are
some on the head waters of Jonathan's Creek, whose
bases are formed of well-burnt bricks, between four and

Copied /rom anEnyraving in theArchceologia. Amen

George Smith, Eriniar.

APPENDIX. 421
five inches square. There were found lying on the bricks
charcoal, .cinders, and pieces of calcined human bones.
Above them, the mound was composed of earth, showing
that the dead had been burned, in the manner of several
eastern nations, and the mound raised afterwards.
"Descending the Muskingum to its mouth, we arrive at
the celebrated works of Marietta, already noticed, but
not fully described. It is with great pleasure, that I
here avail myself of a communication from Dr. S. P.
Hildreth, of Marietta :
" ' In removing the earth, which composed an ancient
mound in one of the streets of Marietta, on the margin
of the plain, near the fortifications, several curious articles
were discovered the latter part of June, (1819.) They
appear to have been buried with the body of the person,
to whose memory this mound was erected.
" ' Lying immediately over, or on the forehead of the
body, were found three large circular bosses, or orna
ments for a sword-belt, or a buckler ; they are composed
of copper, overlaid with a thick plate of silver. The
fronts of them are slightly convex, with a depression,
like a cup, in the centre, and measure two inches and
a quarter across the face of each. On the back, op
posite the depressed portion, is a copper rivet or nail,
around which are two separate plates, by which they were
fastened to the leather. Two small pieces ofthe leather
were found lying between the plates of one of the bosses;
they resemble the skin of an old mummy, and seem to
have been preserved by the salts of the copper. The
plates of copper are nearly reduced to an oxyde, or rust.
The silver looks quite black, but is not much corroded,
and on rubbing, it becomes quite brilliant. Two of these

422 APPENDIX.
are yet entire ; the third one is so much wasted, 'that it
dropped in pieces on removing it from the earth. Around
the rivet of one of them is a small quantity of flax or
hemp, in a tolerable state of preservation. Near the side
of the body was found a plate of silver, which appears to
have been the upper part of a sword-scabbard ; it is six
inches in length, and two inches in breadth, and weighs
one ounce ; it has no ornaments or figures, but has three
longitudinal ridges, which probably correspond with
edges, or ridges, of the sword ; it seems to have been
fastened to the scabbard by three or four rivets, the holes
of which yet remain in the silver.
" ' Two or three broken pieces of a copper tube were
also found, filled with iron rust. These pieces, from their
appearance, composed the lower end of the scabbard,
near the point of the sword. No sign of the sword itself
was discovered, except the appearance of rust above-
mentioned. " ' Near the feet was found a piece of copper, weighing
three ounces. From its shape, it appears to have been
used as a plumb, or for an ornament, as near one of the
ends is a circular crease, or groove, for tying a thread ;
it is round, two inches and a half in length, one inch in
diameter at the centre, and half an inch at each end. It
is composed of small pieces of native copper, pounded
together ; and in the cracks between the pieces are stuck
several pieces of silver ; one nearly the size of a four-
penny piece, or half a dime. This copper ornament was
covered with a coat of green rust, and is considerably
corroded, A piece of red ochre, or paint, and a piece of
iron ore, which has the appearance of having been par-

APPENDIX. 423
tially vitrified, or melted, were also found. The ore is
about the specific gravity of pure iron.
" ' The body of the person here buried, was laid on
the surface of the earth, with his face upward, and his
feet pointing to the north-east, and head to the south
west. From the appearance of several pieces of char
coal, and bits pf partially burnt fossil coal, and the black
colour of the earth, it would seem that the funeral obse
quies had been celebrated by fire ; and while the ashes
were yet hot and smoking, a circle of thin flat stones had
been laid around and over the body. The circular cover
ing is about eight feet in diameter, and the stones yet
look black, as if stained by fire and smoke. This circle
of stones seems to have been the nucleus on which the
mound was formed, as immediately over them is heaped
the common earth of the adjacent plain, composed of a
clayey sand and coarse gravel. This mound must ori
ginally have been about ten feet high, and 30 feet in
diameter at its base. At the time of opening it, the
height was six feet, and diameter between 30 and 40. It
has every appearance of being as old as any in the neigh
bourhood, and was, at the first settlement of Marietta,
covered with large trees, the remains of whose roots were
yet apparent in digging away the earth. It also seems
to have been made»for this single personage, as the
remains of one skeleton only were discovered. The boxes
were much decayed, and many of them crumbled to dust
on exposure to the air. From the length of some of them,
it is supposed the person was about six feet in height.
" ' Nothing unusual wasdistiovered in their form, except
that that of the skull were uncommonly thick. The
situation of the mound on high ground, near the margin

424 APPENDIX.
of the plain, and the porous quality of the earth, are
admirably calculated to preserve any perishable substance
from the certain decay which would attend it in many
other situations. To these circumstances, is attributed
the tolerable state of preservation in which several of the
articles above described were found, after laying in the
earth for several centuries. We say centuries, from the
fact, that trees were found growing on those ancient
works, whose ages were ascertained to amount to between
400 and 500 years each, by counting the concentric
circles in the stumps after the trees were cut down ; and
on the ground, besides them, were other trees in a state
of decay, that appeared to have fallen from old age. Of
what language, or of what nation were this mighty race,
that once inhabited the territory watered by the Ohio,
remains yet a mystery, too great for the most learned to
unravel. " ' But from what we have seen of their works, they
must have had some acquaintance with the arts and
sciences. They have left us perfect specimens of circles,
squares, octagons, and parallel hnes, on a grand and
noble scale. And unless it can be proved that they had
intercourse with Asia or Europe, we now see that they
possessed the art of working in metals.11 '
" I have also been told from gofed authority, that an
ornament, composed of very pure gold, something similar
to those found here, was discovered a few years since in
Ross County, near Chillicothe, lying in the palm of a
skeleton's hand, in a small mound. This curiosity, I am
told, is in the Museum at Philadelphia.11 —
" As we still descend the Scioto, through a most fertile
region of country, mounds, and other ancient works

APPENDIX. 425
frequently appear, until we arrive at Circleville, 26 miles
south of Columbus, where are to be seen some of the
most interesting antiquities anywhere to be found.
" The works have been noticed, but the mounds remain
to be described. Of these, there were several which the
ruthless hand of man is destroying. Near the centre of
the round fort, was a tumulus of earth, about ten feet in
height, and several rods in diameter at its base. On its
eastern side, and extending six rods from it, was a semi
circular pavement, composed of pebbles, such as are
now found in the bed of the Scioto river, from whence
they appear to have been brought.
" The summit of this tumulus was nearly 30 feet in
diameter, and there was a raised way to it, leading from
the east, like a modern turnpike. The summit was level.
The outline of the semicircular pavement and the walk is
still discernible. — The earth composing this mound was en
tirely removed several years since. The writer was pre
sent at its removal, and carefully 'examined the contents.
" It contained,
" 1. Two human skeletons, lying on what had been the
original surface of the earth.
"2. A great quantity of arrow heads, some of which
were so large, as to induce a belief that they were used
for spear-heads.
" 3. The handle either of a small sword or a large knife,
made of an elk's hOrn ; around the end where the blade
had been inserted, was a ferule of silver, which, though
black, was not much injured by time. Though the
handle showed the hole where the blade had been inserted,
yet no iron was found, but an oxyde remained, of similar
shape and size.

426 APPENDIX.
" 4. Charcoal and wood ashes, on which these articles
lay, which were surrounded by several bricks, very well
burnt. The skeleton appeared to have been burnt in a
large and very hot fire, which had almost consumed the
bones of the deceased. This skeleton was deposited a
little to the south of the centre of the tumulus ; and,
about 20 feet to the north of it, was another, with which
were, 1 "5. A large mirror, about three feet in length, one
foot and a half in breadth, and one inch and a half in
thickness. This mirror was of isinglass, (mica membra-
nacea,) and on it,
" 6. A plate of iron, which had become an oxyde ; but
before it was disturbed by the spade, resembled a plate
of cast iron. The mirror answered the purpose very
well for which it was intended. This skeleton had also
been burned like the former; and lay on charcoal and a
considerable quantity of wood ashes. A part of the mir
ror is in my possession, as well as a piece of a brick,
taken from the spot at the time.
" The knife, or sword handle, was sent to Mr. Peak's
museum, at Philadelphia.
" To the south-west of this tumulus, about forty rods
from it, is another, more than ninety feet in height.
It stands on a large hill, which appears to be artificial.
This must have been the common cemetery, as it con
tains an immense number of human skeletons, of all
sizes and ages.
" The skeletons are laid horizontally, with their heads
generally towards the centre, and the feet towards the
outside of the tumulus. A considerable part of this
work still stands uninjured, except by time. In it have

APPENDIX. 427
been found, besides these skeletons, stone axes and
knives, and several ornaments, with holes through them,
by means of which, with a cord passing through these
perforations, they could be worn by their owners.—
"Five miles and a half from Chillicothe, on Paint Creek,
are some very interesting works of antiquity. The area
of the largest enclosure contains about one hundred and
ten acres. On the north-east and west side of it, is a
wall, with an entrenchment, or ditch, on its outside. It
is generally twelve feet from the bottom to the summit
of the wall, which is of earth. The ditch is about
twenty feet wide, and the base of the wall the same.
There is no ditch on the side next the river. The small
work, on the east side, contains sixteen acres, and the
walls are hke those of the larger work, but there is no
ditch. The largest circular work, which consists of a
wall and ditch, like those already described, is a sacred
enclosure, including within it six mounds, which have
been used as cemeteries. — The immense labour, and the
numerous cemeteries filled with human bones, denote a
vast population near this spot in ancient times. —
" The ' Big Grave,1 as it is called, stands about half
way between the two creeks, (near Wheehng) and about
one-fourth of a mile from the river. It is certainly one
of the most august monuments of remote antiquity any
where to be found. Its circumference, at the base, is
three hundred yards ; its diameter, of course, one hun
dred. Its altitude, from measurement, is ninety feet ;
and its diameter, at the summit, is forty-five feet. The
centre, at the summit, appears to have sunk several feet,
so as to form a small kind of amphitheatre. The rim

428 APPENDIX.
enclosing this amphitheatre, is seven or eight feet in
thickness. " This lofty and venerable tumulus has been so far
opened, as to ascertain that it contains many thousands
of human skeletons, but no farther.'1 —
"Following the river Ohio downwards, the mounds
appear on both sides, erected uniformly on the highest
alluvions along that stream. - Those at Marietta, Ports
mouth, and Cincinnati, are noticed elsewhere. Their
numbers increase all the way to the Mississippi, on which
river they assume the largest size. Not having surveyed
them, we shall use the description of Mr. Brackenridge,
who has devoted great attention to them. With his
discriminating powers of mind, the public are acquainted.
" ' These tumuli, as well as the fortifications, are to be
found at the junction of all the rivers, along the Missis
sippi, in the most eligible positions for towns, and in the
most extensive bodies of fertile land. Their number
exceeds, perhaps, three thousand ; the smallest not less
than twenty feet in height, aud one hundred in diameter,
at the base. Their great number, and the astonishing
size of some of them, may be regarded as furnishing,
with other circumstances,- evidences of their antiquity.
I have been sometimes induced to think, that, at the
period when these were constructed, there was a popu
lation as numerous as that which once animated the
borders of the Nile, or of the Euphrates, or of Mexico.
. The most numerous, as well as the most considerable of
these remains, are found precisely in those parts of the
country where the traces of a numerous population might
3 be looked for, viz. from the mouth of the Ohio, on the
east side of the river, to the Illinois river, and on the

APPENDIX. 429
west side from the St. Francis to the Missouri. I am
perfectly satisfied that cities, similar to those of ancient
Mexico, of several hundred thousand souls, have existed
in this country.1 "
" Nearly opposite St. Louis, there are traces of two
such cities, in the distance of five miles. They are
situated on the Cahokia, which crosses the American
bottom opposite St. Louis. One of the mounds is eight
hundred yards in circumference at the base, (the exact
size of the pyramid of Asychis,) and one hundred feet
in height. Mr. Brackenridge noticed a mound at New
Madrid, of three hundred and fifty feet in diameter at
the base. Other large ones are at the following places,
viz. at St. Louis, one with two stages, another with three ;
at the mouth of the Missouri ; at the mouth of Cahokia
river, in two groups ; twenty miles below, two groups
also, but the mounds of a smaller size ; on the bank of a
lake formerly the bed of the river, at the mouth of
Marameck, St. Genevieve ; one near Washington,
Mississippi State, of one hundred and forty-six feet in
height ; at Baton Rouge, and on the Bayou Manshac ;
one of the mounds near the lake is composed chiefly of
shells. The inhabitants have taken away great quantities
of them for lime.
" The mound on Black River, has two stages and a
group around. At each of the above places, there are
groups of mounds, and there was probably once a city.
Mr. Brackenridge thinks, that the largest city belonging
to this people, was situated between the Ohio, Missis
sippi, Missouri, and Illinois. On the plains between the
Arkansaw and St. Francis, there are several very large
mounds. Thus, it will be seen, that these remains, which

430 APPENDIX.
were so few and small along the northern lakes, are more
and more numerous as we travel in a south-western
direction, until we reach the Mississippi, where they are
lofty and magnificent. Those works similar to the
teocalli of Mexico, by the Spaniards called ' Adora-
torios,1 are not found north of the mound at Circleville,
on the Scioto ; or at least I have seen none of them.
They are very common and lofty it seems on the Missis
sippi River. An observing eye can easily mark, in these
works, the progress of their authors, from the lakes to
the valley of the Mississippi ; thence to the Gulf of
Mexico, and round it, through Texas, into New Mexico,
and into South America. Their increased numbers as
they proceeded, are evident ; while the articles found in
and near these works, show, also, the progressive im
provement of the arts among those who erected them.
Places of Diversion.
By places of diversion, we mean not those with
which mounds are connected; the latter evidently
were intended for the celebration of solemn games,
instituted in honour of the dead. The works we
speak of under this head, are either round, like the small
one, a short distance north of the square fort at Circle
ville, or they consist of two long parallel roads,, resem
bling, in almost all respects, two turnpike roads. 3 The
circular ones, though frequently, nay generally, found
in the vicinity of a great population in those days, con
sist of earth, raised but a few feet, by the aid of art,
like a modern turnpike-road, two rods or more in width,
though sometimes less than one, being the highest in the

APPENDIX. 431
centre, and gradually descending towards the outside.
This road is perfectly smoothed by art. In the centre,
the earth has a gentle and regular rise. The oblong
figure annexed, Plate 2, is a representation of a great
number of similar works, in various parts of this country.
There are three such works between Circleville and Chd-
licothe, through which the present road passes.
" If ^hese works were not places of diversion, I cannot
surmise for what purpose they were raised by their
authors. They were of no use as places of defence.
If intended for worship, or the celebration of games,
near the tombs of their ancestors or chieftains, why are
they not connected with the mounds, instead of being
uniformly placed at a distance from them ? The num
ber of such works, in various parts of the country,
especially on the Scioto, Ohio, Kenhawa, Big Sandy
Rivers, &c. is considerable. They are so similar in
structure, appearance, and situation, that the inference I
draw from these circumstances, is, that they were raised
for similar purposes. Some persons have not faded to
call them ' roads ; ' but if so, why are they always un
connected with other works? and why are they con
structed either circular or in two long parallel hnes, and
these again connected at the ends ?"*
Dr. Clarke, in describing the country between St.
Petersburgh and Moscow, remarks, " Conical mounds
of earthen tumuli occur very frequently.1' Again,
"Throughout the whole of this country, (between Woero-
nitz and Paulovsky,) are seen dispersed over immense
plains, mounds of earth, covered with a fine turf, the
* Attwater.  Arclueologia Americana.

432 APPENDIX,
sepulchres of the ancient world, common to almost every
habitable country. — They seem to mark the progress of
population, in . the first ages after the dispersion, rising
wherever the posterity of Noah came. Whether under
the form of a mound in Scandinavia and Russia, a barrow
in England, a cairn in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, or
those heaps which the modern Greeks and Turks call
Tepe ; lastly, in the more artificial shape of a pyramid in
Egypt, they have universally the same origin. They
present the simplest and sublimest monuments which any
generation could raise over the bodies of their progeni
tors ; calculated- for almost endless duration, and speak
ing a language more impressive than the most studied
epitaph upon Parian marble.1"
Mr. Attwater, remarking on Dr. Clarke1s description
of some of the mounds in Russia, observes, " Who ever
described with more accuracy, that species of mounds of
earth in Ohio, which were used as cemeteries. Unless we
knew to the contrary, who of us, in Ohio, would ever
suspect that Dr. Clarke was not describing with fidelity
our Western mounds ?"
Those more artificial gigantic structures in the Old
World, which .served as temples as well as tombs, appear
to be common to both hemispheres. It is observed by
Humboldt, "When we consider in the same point of
view, the pyramidical monuments of Egypt, of Asia,
and of the New Continent, we see, that though their
form is alike, their destination is altogether different.
The group of pyramids at Ghiza, and at Sakhara, in
Egypt ; the triangular pyramid of the Queen of the
Scythians, Zarina, which was a stadium high, and three
in circumference, and which was decorated with a colossal ¦

APPENDIX. 433
figure ; the fourteen "Etruscan pyramids, which are said
to have been enclosed in the labyrinth of King Por-
senna, at Clusium, were reared to serve as the sepulchres
of the illustrious dead. Nothing is more natural to men,
than to commemorate the spot where rest the ashes of
those whose memory they cherish; whether it be, as
in the infancy of the race, by simple mounds of earth,
or in later periods, by the towering height of the'tumulus.
Those of the Chinese and of Thibet, have only a few
metres of elevation. Farther to the west, the dimensions
increase ; the tumulus of the king Aiyattes, father of
Croesus, in Lydia, was six stadia ; and that of Ninus
was more than ten stadia in diameter. In the north of
Europe, the sepulchres of the Scandinavian king, Gor-
mus, and the queen Daneboda, covered with mounds of
earth, are three hundred metres broad, and more than
thirty high. We meet with these tumuli in both hemis
pheres; in Virginia and in Canada, as well as in Peru, where
numerous galleries, built with stone,, and communicating
with each other by shafts, fill up the interior of the
huacas, or artificial hills. In Asia, these rustic monu
ments have been decorated wifh the refinements of
eastern luxury, while their primitive forms have been
preserved. The tombs of Pergamus are cones of earth,
raised on a circular wall, which seems to have been
encased with marble."
" The Teocallis, or Mexican pyramids, were, at once,
temples and tombs. We have already observed, that
the plain, on which were budt the houses of the Sun and
of the Moon, at Teotihuaca, is called the Path of the
Dead ; but the essential and principal part of a Teocalli,
/was the chapel, the naos at the top of the edifice. In
VOL. II. 2 F

434 APPENDIX.
the infancy of civilization, high places were chosen by
the people, to offer sacrifices to the gods. The first
1 altars, the first temples, were erected on mountains ; and
when these mountains were isolated, the worshippers
delighted in the toil of shaping them into regular forms,
cutting them by stories, and making stairs to reach the
summit more easily. Both continents afford numerous
examples of these hills divided into terraces, and sup
ported by walls of brick or stone. The Teocallis appear
to me to be merely artificial hills, raised in the midst of
a plain, and intended to serve as a basis to the altars.
What more sublime and awful, than a sacrifice that is
offered in the sight of an assembled nation ! The pagods
of Indostan have- nothing in common with the Mex
ican temples. That of Tanjore, of which Mr. Daniell
has given beautiful drawings, is a tower with several
stories, but the altar is not at the top of the monument."
" The pyramid of Bel was, at once, the temple and
tomb of this god. Strabo does not speak of this monu
ment as a temple, he simply calls it the tomb of Belus.
In Arcadia, the tumulus x^*, which contained the ashes
of Calisto, bore on its top a temple of Diana. Pausa
nias describes it as a cone, made by the hands of men,
and long covered with vegetation. This is a very
remarkable monument, in which the temple is only an
incidental decoration ; it serves, if we may use the
expression, as an intermediary step between the pyramids
of Sakhara, and the Mexican Teocallis."
In the American Journal of Science and Arts, I
lately met with a paper on the Celtic Antiquities of
America, in which the author, Mr. Finch, attempts to
show, that examples of the fine species of monuments

APPENDIX. 435
which the Scythians erected in different parts of the
world* are to be found in America. These different
monuments are, 1. Cromlechs; 2, Stones of memorial
or sacrifice ; 3d, Circles of memorial ; 4th, Rocking-
stones ; 5th, Tumuli, or Barrows. The following ex
tracts comprize some ofthe examples which he has adduced
in support of his opinion.
" 1st. Cromlechs. — On my arrival in this country, I
thought I had left the land of Celts and Druids far
behind me ; and great was my astonishment, on a perusal
of Sdliman's Philosophical Journal, when I read, in the
second volume, page 200, the description of a most noble
cromlech ; although the writer, the Rev. Elias Corne
lius, is evidently not aware of the valuable relic of
antiquity which he has described. It is mentioned by
that gentlemen, on account of a geological fact supposed
to be connected with it ; the highest stone is of granite,
and the pillars which support it are of primitive lime
stone, which is, therefore, supposed to be of equal age
with the granite above ; but, in fact, it is a magnificent
cromlech, and the most ancient and venerable monument
which America possesses ; and establishes a common
origin between the Aborigines, who erected this monu
ment, and the nations who erected similar cromlechs in
other parts of the world."
" It is thus described : ' In the town of North Salem,
¦ and State of New York, is a rock, which, from the sin
gularity of its position, has long attracted the notice of
those who live in its vicinity ; and being near the public
road, seldom escapes the notice of the passing traveller
Although weighing many tons, its breadth being ten
.feet, and greatest circumference forty feet, it stands

436 APPENDIX.
elevated in different parts, from two to five feet above
the earth, resting its whole weight upon the apices of
seven small conical pillars. Six of these, with then-
bases either united or contiguous, spring up like an
irregular group of teeth, and constitute the support of
one end of the rock. The remaining pillar supports the
other end, and stands at the lowest part of the surface
over which the rock is elevated.1
" ' Notwithstanding the form of the rock is very irregu
lar, and its surface uneven, its whole weight is so nicely
adjusted upon these seven small points, that no external
force ,yet applied, has been sufficient to give it even a
tremulous motion. There is no mountain or other eleva
tion near it, from which the rock could have been
thrown.1 "
" 2nd. Stones of Memorial or Sacrifice. — Mr. Kendall,
who travelled in the northern parts of the United States,
seems to have had a very correct idea of the value of
these monuments, in a historical point of view ; and
mentions some of those which occur in Massachusetts.
He says, ' In different parts of the woods, are six or
seven masses of stone, on which the few Indians who
still hover around their ancient possessions, make offer
ings; and, on this account, the name is given them, of
Sacrifice Rocks. Two of these are on the side; of the
road, leading from Plymouth to Sandwich ; one of them
is six feet high, the Other four, and they are ten or
twelve feet in length. They differ in nothing as to
their figure, from the masses of granite and other rocks
which are scattered over the surface of tbe surrounding
country. All that distinguishes them, are the crowns of
oak and pine branches which they bear ; of which some
are fresh, others are fading, and the rest decayed.1 "

APPENDIX. 437
" Captain Smith, in his description of Virginia, relates,
' That the Indians had certain altar-stones, which
they call Pawcorances; these stand apart from their
temples, some by their houses, others in their woods
and wildernesses. As you travel by them, they will
tell you the cause of their erection, wherein they in
struct their children, as their best records of antiquity,
and sacrifices are offered upon these stones, when they
return from the Wars, from hunting, and upon many
other occasions.1 "
" Charlevoix mentions the worship of rocks as one of
the superstitions of the Northern Indians.
" In Messrs. Lewis and Clarke's Travels, there are
noticed several of these rocks.
" Stone-Idol Creek, on the Missouri, derives its name
from three rude stones, which the Ricaras, a tribe of
Indians, worship. Whenever they pass by, they stop
to make some offering of dress, in order to propitiate
these sacred deities. On the bank of the Chissetaw
Creek, is a rock, which is held in great veneration by the
neighbouring savages, and is visited by parties who go
to consult it as to their own and nation's destinies.
" The fate of the Mandan tribes depends upon the
oracular responses of another sacred rock, whose com
mands are believed and obeyed with the most implicit
confidence. Every spring, and on some occasions during
the summer, a deputation from the savages 'visits the
sacred spot, where there is a large porous stone, twenty
feet in circumference.
" In Major Long's Tour to the Rocky Mountains, it
is stated, ' That the Minnitaree Indians worship the
Me-mo-ho-pa, a large, naked, and insulated rock, in the

438 APPENDIX.
midst of a small prairie, about two days1 journey from
the village of that nation. In shape it resembles the
steep roof of a house, and the Minnitarees resort to it
for the purpose of propitiating their Great Spirit, by
presents, fasting, and lamentation, which they continue
for the space of three or five days.1"
" Under this class of Indian monuments, may be
arranged the Figured Rock, at Dighton, in the State of
Massachusetts, which has been described in various pub
lications ; also, the sculptured rocks that occur in many
parts of the American continent, at Tiverton, Rutland,
Newport, Scaticook, Brattleborough, Ohio, &c.
" Acosta relates, ' That amongst the ancient Mexicans,
worship was paid to rocks or large stones, and that in
the highways they found great heaps of them, which
had been offered to the gods ; , but he adds, ' that in
his time, this superstition of worshipping great stones,
had altogether ceased.1
" Gomara, in his Account of Peru, mentions the same
practice as still continued amongst the old inhabitants in
that country.
" Thus, in the various regions of America, the natives
had carefully preserved the stones of memorial and
sacrifice, in the use of which they had been instructed
by their Celtic ancestors, and which, in some instances,
may have been the individual monuments erected by
the people.
" 3rd. Circles of Memorial were the next monuments
erected by the ancient Celtae ; they consist of nine,
twelve, or more rude stones, placed so as to form a circle,
and were generally placed on an eminence. There
appear to be at least three of these sacred circles in

APPENDIX. 439
America. I have been informed of one by Dr. E.
James, the scientific tourist to the Rocky Mountains.
It is situated upon a high hill, one mile from the town
of Hudson, in the State of New York, and attracted his
notice many years ago, on account of the remarkable
size of the stones, and their position.
" In Mackenzie's Tour from Quebec to the Pacific
Ocean, there is noticed a circle of stones, artificially laid
on a high rock, upon the banks of the River Winnipigon,
which discharges itself into a lake of the same name.
The Indians are accustomed to crown this circle of
stones with wreaths of herbage, and with branches ; for
this reason, the carrying-place which passes it, has
received the appellation of Le Portage de Bonnet.
" Tradition sometimes conveys along the stream of
time, a name attached to these stone monuments, which
informs us of their use. In Erin's bright green isle,
which was a famous resort of the Druids, these stone
circles, placed upon an eminence, are called in the Irish
language, Carrick Brauda ; and in Wales, similar struc
tures have retained the name, Cerrig Brudyn, to the
present time ; the appellation is the same in both coun-
countries, and means Astronomers' Circles. And thus,
in ages long since past, perhaps at the same instant of
time, though under different skies, the Druids of Eng
land, and the priests of Cuzco, the astronomers of Ireland,
Hudson, and Winnipigon, seated upon the lofty hills,
and surrounded by their sacred circles of stone, were
calculating the progress of the seasons, the revolutions
of the planets, and the eclipses of the sun, by the same
formula which their ancestors had first practised in the
eeritral plains of Asia.

440 APPENDIX.
" 4th. Rocking-stones are memorials raised by the same
people, and the same race of men, who elevated the
cromlechs ; they consist of an enormous stone, so equally
poised upon its base, that a very small force is sufficient
to move it ; sometimes even the touch of a finger, will
cause it to vibrate.
" There are several of these memorials of a former race,
in the United States of America, but of the origin of the
whole of them we cannot be certain, . until an accurate
account is published, of their size, appearance, and situa
tion ; and it would be desirable if they were illustrated
by correct drawings. In the State of New York, there
are probably three or more. Professor Green has
described one, in the American Journal of Science, vol,
v. page 252. It is situated near the top of a high hill,
near the village of Peekskill, in Putnam county ; the
moveable stone is thirty-one feet in circumference ; the
rock is of granite, but the mica, contained in it being
schistose, gives it some resemblance to gneiss ; and it is
supported by a base of the same material. This rocking-
stone can be moved by the hand, although six men, with
iron bars, were unable to throw it off its pedestal.
" There is also a rocking-stone in Orange county,
State of New York, of which no account has yet been
published. " In the State of Massachusetts, I have heard of some
near Boston, between Lynn and Salem, but do not vouch
for the accuracy of the statement, until they undergo a
careful examination.
" There is one at Roxburgh, near Boston, described in
the Journal of Science, edited in that city.
" A small rocking-stone occurs at Ashburnham, in the
same State.

APPENDIX. 441
" In New Hampshire there are two ; one at Andover,
weighing fifteen or twenty tons, and the other at Dur
ham. This was, a short time since, a very splendid
rocking-stone, weighing between fifty and sixty tons,
and so exactly poised, that the wind would move it, and
its vibrations could be plainly seen at some distance ; the
rock is forty-five feet in circumference, and seven in
thickness. " 5th. Tumuli or Barrows."" — These have been
already described.
Many other remains of antiquity might be noticed, if
my limits would permit ; but I must confine myself to
a few of the most interesting ones. Among these, I
cannot but regard the hearths and fire-places which are
occasionally brought to light, on the banks of the Ohio,
four to six feet below the surface. The trees which at the
settlement of the country by the present inhabitants, grew
on the spot beneath which these chimnies and fire-places
are buried, are stated by Mr. Attwater, to have been as
large as any in the surrounding forest ; and to indicate,
that a long period, perhaps a thousand years, may have
elapsed since the hearths were deserted. The mummies
discovered in the nitrous caves of Kentucky, enveloped
in coverings of linen cloth, and a net-work of more
artificial structure, in which are fixed the feathers of
different descriptions of birds, similar to the manufacture
common in the South Sea Islands, appear to be remnants
of an earlier race than the present Indians.
It is also stated by Mr. Attwater, that the skeletons found
in the mounds in Ohio " never belonged to a people like
our Indians. The latter are a tall, rather slender, straight-
limbed people : the former were short and thick. They

442 APPENDIX.
were rarely above five feet high, and few, indeed, were
six. Their foreheads were low, cheek-bones rather high,
Their faces were very short and broad, their eyes were
very large, and they had broad chins."

"Drawings of Ornaments and Domestic Utensits„taken
from Mounds, chiefly by Caleb Attwater, and most of
them in his possession.
" All these drawings are three-fifths each way as large
as the article they represent.

" A stone ornament, supposed to have been worn on
the breast, suspended by a string round the Wearer's
neck."

APPENDIX.
A Stone Axe.

413

3. A small Axe of granite. 5. A curious stone Axe,
at granite. 7. A beautiful Rock Crystal, supposed to
nave been worn as an ornament."

444

APPENDIX.

" In addition to what is already said, under the descrip
tions of mounds, we will here add, that" on the Cany fork
of Cumberland river, a vessel was found in an ancient
work, about four feet below the surface, a drawing of
which is here given. It is believed to be an exact
likeness."

" The object itself may be thus described. It consists
of three heads, joined together at the back part of them,
near the. top, by a stem or handle, which rises above the
heads about three inches. This stem is hollow, six inches
in circumference at the top, increasing in size as it de
scends. These heads are all of the same dimensions,
being about four inches from the top to the chin. The

APPENDIX. 445
face at the eyes is three inches broad, decreasing in
breadth all the way to the chin. All the strong marks
of the Tartar countenance are distinctly preserved, and
expressed with so much skdl, that even a modern artist
might be proud of the performance. The countenances
are all different each from the other, and denote an old
person and two younger ones.
" The face of the eldest is painted around the eyes with
yellow, shaded with a streak of the same colour, begin
ning from the top of the ear, running in a semicircular
form to the ear on the other side of the head. Another
painted hne begins at the lower part of the eye, and runs
down before each ear about one inch. — (See figure 1.)
" The second represents a person of a grave counte
nance, much younger than the preceding one, painted very
differently, and pf a different colour. — A streak of red
dish brown surrounds each eye. — Another line of the
same colour, beginning at the top of one ear, passes
under the chin, and ends at the top of the other ear.
The ears also are slightly tinged with the same colour. —
(See figure 2.)
" The third, in its characteristical features, resembles
the others, representing one of the Tartar family. The
whole of the face is slightly tinged with vermilion, or
some paint resembling it. Each cheek has a spot on it,
of the size of a quarter of a dollar, brightly tinged with
the same paint. On the chin is a similar spot. One cir
cumstance worthy of remark, is, that though these colours
must have been exposed to the damp earth for many cen
turies, they have, notwithstanding, preserved every shade
in all its brilliancy. — (See figure 3.)"

446 APPENDIX.
" This ' Triune vessel' stands upon three necks, which
are about an inch and a half in length. The whole is
composed of a fine clay, of a light umber colour, which
has been rendered hard by the action of fire. The heads
are hollow, and the vessel contains about one quart.
" Does it not represent the three chief gods of India,
Brahma, Vishnoo, and Siva ? Let the reader look at the
plate representing this vessel, and consult the ' Asiatic
Researches,1 by Sir William Jones ; let him also read
Buchanan's " Star in the East," and the accounts there
found of the idolatry of the Hindoos ; and unless his
mind is formed differently from mine, he will see in this
idol, one proof at least, that the people who raised our
ancient works, were idolaters ; and, that some of them
worshipped gods resembling the three principal deities of
India What tends to strengthen this inference, is, that
nine murex shells, the same as described by Sir William
Jones, in ' Asiatic Researches,' and by Symes, in his
' Embassy to Ava,1 have been found within 20 miles of
Lexington, Kentucky, in an ancient work. Their com
ponent parts remain unchanged, and they were every
way in an excellent state of preservation. These shells,
so rare in India, are highly esteemed and consecrated to
their god Mahadeva, whose character is the same with
the Neptune of Greece and Rome. This shell, among
the Hindoos, is the musical instrument of their Tritons.
These shells, found near Lexington, are in the museum
of Mr. John D. Clifford, of that place, a very worthy
gentleman. The foot of the Siamese god, Gaudma or
Boodh, is represented by a sculpture, in Ava, of six feet
in length, and the toes are carved, each to represent a

APPENDIX. , 447
shell of the murex. These shells have been found in
many mounds which have been opened in every part of
this country ; and this is a proof that a considerable value
was set upon them by their owners."
" That the people who erected our ancient works were
idolaters, is inferred also from the age of the world in
which they lived; from the certainty which history,
sacred and profane, affords, that all other nations were
idolaters at the same time ; that all people, except the
Jews, who buried their dead in tumuli, were idolaters.
" Many of the most intelligent persons, who have
examined our antiquities with care, have expressed a
belief that the sun was worshipped by this people. With
out pretending to decide on a subject so intricate, and
where there is no positive proof of the fact ; and without
even expressing an opinion myself, the circumstances on
which others have founded such an opinion shall be
briefly stated.
" Wherever there is a walk hke a road up to any large
mound, elevated, circular, or square work, where the
situation of the ground will admit of it, such works are
uniformly on the east side, as at Circlevdle. Mounds are
generally^so situated, as to afford a good view of the
rising sun. Hundreds might be mentioned as examples.
Where mounds are encircled with walls and ditches, if
there is a ^gateway, it is almost uniformly towards the
east. Where persons belonging to this people were
buried in caves, as they sometimes were, the mouth of
the cave is towards the east ; wherever we find a pave
ment in a semicircular form, partly enclosing a mound,
it is always on the east side. When persons were buried

4^8 APPENDIX.
in graves, as they often were, * these graves were east
and west. I suspect that our custom of burying the
dead in the same way was derived from one common
origin;, in the same manner that our burying grounds,
always being near churches, and sometimes under them,
is derived from the primitiye custom of interring the
dead either near or in the ancient tumuli, which were
used ' as altars, on which temples were, in later ages,
erected.11 But the potter's ware is the most remarkable and inter
esting of the manufactures of the race, whose vestiges we
are tracing.
" On the surface of the earth,1' says Mr. Attwater,
" or very near it, a rude kind of ware, made of sand,
stone, and clay composition, near Lake Erie ; of lay, on
the northern waters of the Scioto ; of clay and shells in
composition, on the Ohio and Mississippi, is frequently
found, belonging to a recent era, and manufactured even
by the present race of Indians. None of this ware is
glazed, and its workmanship is rude. But at the bottom
of mounds, or near the head of some distinguished per
sonage, vessels are found, in some instances equal to any
now manufactured in any part of the world. These are
not always made of the same materials. Two covers of
vessels were found in a stone mound in Ross County, in
this , State, very ingeniously wrought by the artist, and
* Many wonderful tales have been related of a race of pigmies, whose
burying grounds have been discovered in the west. A little more atten
tion would have cleared up the mystery. The legs below the knee-joint
were turned under the body, which made the graves very short, though
the skeletons are as large as those found in our mounds They were a
short but very thick-set people.

APPENDIX. 449
highly polished. These were made of a calcareous
breccia ; fragments of which were examined by Professor
Silliman, of Yale College, Conneoticut. These covers
resembled almost exactly, and were quite equal to vessels
of that material manufactured in Italy at the present
time." - I have made the more copious extracts from the works,
to which I have referred, both because they are American
publications, which have not, I believe, been reprinted in
Europe, and because it is only by a large induction of
particular facts, that any satisfactory conclusion can be
drawn respecting a population, on the obscurity of whose
infancy, history has not shed her light, and on which
tradition has cast but a faint and feeble gleam.
There are, indeed, few subjects of speculative
inquiry more attractive and interesting than those which
-respect the Aborigines of a vast Continent; but, at the same
time, there are few on which the judgment is more likely
to be biassed by a latent reference to a favourite theory,
or the imagination more in danger of being captivated by
analogies, which, having their foundation in the nature of
inan and similarity of situation, do not afford those
proofs of intercourse or connection, which are furnished
by a coincidence in distant countries, in opinions or
usages of art arbitrary or conventional character.
It is not my intention to attempt to ascertain the precise
origin of that interesting people, whose vestiges we have
been contemplating; to determine from which, (if from
any,) ofthe ancient nations with whose names we are ac
quainted, they derived their extraction ; at what age of the
world they first trod the shores of what we denominate the
vol. ii. 2g

450 APPENDIX.
New Worlds or how many generations have elapsed since
they mingled their ashes with its dust ; whether they
preceded the immediate ancestors of the present race of
Indians, or succeeded and drove them to remoter forests
by the force of numbers or superior skill. These invests,
gations, interesting as they are, and destined, perhaps, to be
elucidated by the future researches of our trans-Atlantic
friends, it is not my design to prosecute. But from the
facts which. I have adduced, the following inferences may
be drawn, I conceive, without violating the sobriety and
caution with which inquiries of this nature should ever
be pursued :— *-
That part of North America was once inhabited by
a race, probably differing from the present Indians in
physical conformation^ and certainly superior to them in
civilization and knowledge of the arts.
That the progress of this race was from North to
South, and that they left traces of a more dense popula^
tion, and a gradual improvement in the arts as they
advanced from the State of Ohio towards the Gulf of
Mexico. That some of these monuments of antiquity, afford
a strong presumption of intercourse or connection with
the old world, and seem to indicate the probability of an
Asiatic origin.
I wiU now proceed to inquire what, proofs or indica
tions of Asiatic extraction are exhibited by the present
race of Indians, premising that the opinion entertained by
Dr. Boudinot, in his " Star in the West,11 that they are
Hebrews, the descendants of the Ten Tribes, appears to
be refuted by a reference to the Indian languages. It is
now generally believed, that, exclusive of the Esquimaux,

APPENDIX. 451
these may all be resolved into three primitive languages,
the Iroquois, the Lenape, and the Floridian. But, as
it is observed by Dr. Jarvis, in his excellent discourse on
the tehgion of the Indians, " These three languages are
primitive ; that is to say, are so distinct as to have no
perceivable affinity. All, therefore, cannot be derived
from the Hebrew ; for it is a contradiction in terms, to
speak of three languages radically different, as derived
from a common source. Which, then, we may well ask,
is to be selected as the posterity of the Israelites : the
Iroquois, the Lenape, or the southern Indians ?
" Besides, there is one striking peculiarity in the con
struction of American languages, which has no counter
part in the Hebrew. Instead of the ordinary division of
genders, they divide into the animate and inanimate. It
is impossible to conceive that any nation, in whatever
circumstances they might be placed, could depart, in so
remarkable a manner, from the idioms of their native
language." But if we cannot assign to the Indians a Hebrew
origin, we shall probably find strong reason to beheve
that they are of Asiatic extraction.
In the first place, their appearance is in favour of this
opinion.—" The features of Little Turtle," says Volney,
" bore a strong resemblance to those of some Chinese
Tartars, who had been brought to Philadelphia by Van
Braam, the Dutch Ambassador to Pekin. This likeness
between the Indians and Tartars has struck all who have
seen them both; but, perhaps, some have too hastily
inferred that the former are originally from Asia. I
have said that the Indians resemble the Asiatic Tartars;
but some exceptions must be made, for the Esquimaux

452 APPENDIX.
of the North, and the grey-eyed race, near Nootka
Sound, are each a distinct race, with no Tartarian fea-
tures. The Tartar face only belongs to those who people
the middle and southern regions, and who form a vast
majority. At Vincennes and Detroit, I met with faces
that reminded me of Bedouins and Egyptian fellahs. In
the hue of their skin, quahty of hair, and many other
circumstances, they were alike."
Dr, Dwight observes, in his Travels, recently pub
lished, " The figure, complexion, dress, manners, cus
toms, and canoes of the natives on both Continents are
the same. Mr. Smibert, a respectable European painter,
who came to New England with the celebrated Bishop
Berkeley, in the year 1732, saw some Indians at Newport,
and informed Dr. Stiles, afterwards President of Yale
College, that their countenances, in all the features, were
remarkably copies of some Tartars, whpse faces he had,
taken at Naples for the King of the Two Sicilies. The
opinion of a respectable painter, on a subject of this
kind, will not, I suppose, be questioned,
" The tribes of both Continents pull out their beards,
march in a single file, bnjy their dead in the same man
ner," &c. &c.
Dr. Mitchell, in a paper in the Medical Repository,
remarks, " His Excellency M. Genet, late Minister,
Plenipotentiary, from France to the United States, is well
acquainted with the faces, hues, and figures of our
Indians and of the Asiatic Tartars ; and is perfectly
satisfied of their mutual resemblance. Mons. Cazeaux,
Consul of France to New York, has drawn the same
conclusion, from a careful examination-i>f the native man
of North America and Northern Asia.

APPENDIX. 453
« Within a few months I examined, over and over again,
seven or eight Chinese sailors, who had assisted in navi
gating a ship from Macao to New York. The thinness
of their beards, the bay complexion, the black lank hair,
the aspect of the eyes, the contour of the face, and, in
short, the general external character, induced every per
son who observed them, to remark, how nearly they
resembled the Mohegans and Oneidas of New York.
" Sidi Mellimelli, the Tunisian Envoy to the United
States, in 1804, entertained the same opinion, on be
holding the Cherokees, Osages, and Miamees,- assembled
at the city of Washington, during his residence there.
Their Tartar physiognomy struck him in a moment."
Basil Hall, who had visited the Indian seas, observes
of the people of Acapulco, in his very interesting account
ofthe South- West Coast of America, " The appearance of
the country people at Acapulco differed from that of the
South Americans ; their features and colour partake
somewhat of the Malay character ; their foreheads are
broad and square ; their eyes small and not deep-seated ;
their cheek-bones prominent : and their heads covered
with black straight hair ; their stature about the medium
standard; their frame compact, and well made."
Dr. Dwight remarks, that the traditions of all the
American nations, so far as they are known, uniformly
declare, that their ancestors came from the West. " Par
ticularly this is asserted by the Mohekaneews, the Iro
quois, and the Mexican nations. An Indian historian,
ofthe Mohekaneews, dehvers it as the tradition of their
ancestors, that they came in the direction of west by
north from another country; that they passed over the

454 APPENDIX.
great waters, where this country and that are nearly con
nected ; and that they originally lived by the side of the
Ocean, whence they derived their name, which signifies
great waters continually in motion, or continually ebbing
and flowing,"
Mr. Heckewelder states, that the Lenape have a tra
dition amongst them, of their ancestors having come from
the westward, and taking possession of the whole country
from the Missouri to the Atlantic, after driving away or
destroying the original inhabitants of the land, whom
they termed Allegewi. In this migration and contest,1 '
which endured for a series of years, the Mengwe, or Iro
quois, kept pace with them, moving in a parallel, but
more northerly hne, and finally settling on the banks
of the St. Lawrence, and the great Lakes, from whence
it flows. The Lenape being more numerous, peopled not
only the greater part of the country at present occupied
by the United States, but also sent detachments to the
northward, as far as the banks of the River Mississippi,
and the shores of Hudson's Bay. The principal of their
northern tribes are now known under the names of the
Salteurs or Chippeways, and Crees. *
This tradition of the Lenape corresponds, in a remark
able measure, with the position, of the monuments of
antiquity j already, noticed, so rare in that part, of the
Continent, to which these tribes are said to be driven, and
so numerous in those parts occupied by their conquerors.
The religious opinions and customs of the North Ame
rican Indians, are similar to those which we might expect
• See Franklin's Narrative.

APPENDIX. 455
in the descendants of Noah, cut off from the rest ofthe
world ; and they exhibit traces of the revelations com
municated to the Patriarchs, debased by many of those
corruptions of polytheism and idolatry, which all nations
exhibited, in a greater or less degree, before the promul
gation of Christianity.
The existence of a Supreme Being, the Creator and
Preserver of mankind, and the belief of a future state
of rewards and punishments, are common to all the
Indian tribes yet discovered. With respect to the
first of these, Dr. Jarvis very strikingly observes, 
" Thus, in the vast extent of country, from Hudson's
Bay to the West Indies, including nations whose lan
guages are radically different ; nations unconnected with,
and unknown to each other, the greatest uniformity of
belief prevads, with regard to the Supreme Being ; and
the greatest harmony in their system of polytheism.
After this view, it is impossible not to remark, that there
is a smaller departure from the original religion among
the Indians of America, than among the more civilized
nations of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The idea of the
Divine Unity is much more perfectly preserved; the
subordinate divinities are kept at a much more immea
surable distance from the Great Spirit ; and, above all,
there has been no attempt among them, to degrade to
the likeness of men, the invisible and incomprehensible
Creator of the universe. In fact, theirs is, exactly, that
milder form of idolatry, which ' prevailed every where
from the days of Abraham, his single family excepted ; '
and which, after the death of that patriarch and of his
son Isaac, infected, from time to time, even the chosen
family itself."

456 APPENDIX.
• But the connection of the religion of the Indians with
the patriarchal religion, is still more strikingly illustrated
by the almost universal practice of sacrifices, and the
institution of a priesthood. The existence .of both is
mentioned in the most explicit terms, by almost every
traveller among the Indians.
Charlevoix among the Hurons, Iroquois, . and Algon-
kins; Mackenzie among the Knisteneaux; Loskiel among
the Lenape or Delawares ; Adair among the Creeks,
Katabahs, Cherokees, and Choctaws, &c. &c.
Is it not impossible to account for an institution so
repugnant to our natural feelings, as . the sacrifice of an
innocent animal for the offences of men, on any. other sup
position than that of its divine appqintment ? And is not
the prevalence of this custom among the Indians, a strong
indication of some intercourse or connection with the.
Patriarchs or their descendants.
The Jugglers or Conjurers, also, (so common among the
Indians,) who profess, by the performance of miracles, to
cure diseases, inflict punishments, procure rain, and to fore
tel future events, seem to afford some trace of a tradition
ary acquaintance with the prophetic office of Scripture.
In the missionary settlement of Brainerd, in the Che
rokee nation, I was told that the nation had a sort of
city of refuge, into which the murderer might flee, and
where he might remain with, impunity. As I had no
opportunity of verifying this information, by a close
examination into the nature of ,the refuge thus adverted
to, or of confirming it by the testimony of independent
witnesses, it did not make much impression upon me,
until I met with the following passage in Bradbury's
Travels in the Missouri : —

APPENDIX. . 457
" I aim not acquainted with any customs peculiar to
this nation, (the Aricaras,) save that of having a sacred
lodge in the centre of the largest village. This is called
the Medicine Lodge ; and in one particular, corresponds
with the Sanctuary of the Jews, as no blood is on any
account whatsoever to be spilled within it, not even that.
of an enemy ; nor is any one, having taken refuge there,
to be forced from it. This lodge is also the general place
of deposit, for such things as they devote to the Father
of Life ! "
It has been suggested to me, by a friend,* whose
name confers great weight on any opinion which is
sanctioned by his authority, that the Green Cora
Festival of the Indians, and our May Dance, are rem
nants of the Eastern worship of Baal, Bel, Adonis, or
the Sun. He observes, " The peasantry in the remote
parts of Scotland, still celebrate the Feast of Baal, by
kindling' fires on the eve of that day, which they call
beltane, without being aware of the heathen origin of the
custom, which would certainly shock my pious country
men. I have seen the lulls in the Orkneys blazing with an
hundred fires on such an occasion, which, if my memory
serves right, is in May or June."
The pole which I saw in the Indian town of Co-se-ta,
round which the Green Corn Dance was held, exactly
resembled our May-pole ; and I could not read Pennant's
account of the celebration of Beltane, without being
* Dr. Traill, of Liverpool, to whom I am indebted for several valua
ble suggestions, especially on subjects of Natural History, of which I
have availed myself in the preceding pages. I am gratified by this oppor
tunity of expressing my sense of the deep obligations, which, in common
with' my townsmen, I feel to Dr.- Traill; for his generous, persevering,
and efficient elforts to improve the literary taste, and elevate the intel
lectual character of the community in which he resides.
VOL. II. 2 H '

458 APPENDIX.
forcibly reminded of the description which I received
of the Green Corn Dance in the Creek Nation of the
Indians. I cannot better conclude these remarks, which have
swelled to an extent which I little anticipated, than by
another extract from the excellent Discourse of Dr.
Jarvis. : —
" We have seen, that, hke all other nations unblessed
with the hght of Christianity, the Indians are idolaters ;-
but their idolatry is of the mildest character, and has
departed less than among any other people, from the
form of primeval truth. Their belief in a future state
is clear and distinct, debased only by those corporeal
associations which proceed from the constitutional opera-
tions of our nature, and from which even Christians,
therefore, are not totally exempt. They retain among
them, the great principle of expiation for sin, without
which* all rehgion would be unavailing. And they
acknowledge, in all the common occurrences of life, and
even in their very superstitions, the over-ruling power of
Divine Providence, to which they are accustomed to look
up with an implicit confidence, which might often put to
shame the disciples of a purer faith."
" I have now finished the view which I proposed to
take of the religion of the Indians. I am sensible that it
is very imperfect, but enough has been said, I hope, to
show the analogy which it bears to the religion of the
Patriarchal ages; and its wonderful uniformity^ when
considered as prevailing among nations so remote and
unconnected." " It has already been observed, however, that their
religion can afford no clue, by which to trace them to

APPENDIX. 459
any particular nation of the Old World. On a subject so
obscure as the origin of nations, there is great danger of
expatiating in conjectures. In fact, the view here taken,
in some measure cuts off these conjectures, by tracing the
Aborigines. of America, to a higher source than has been
usually assigned to them. If the opinion I have advanced,
be true;, it will, I think, appear rational to beheve, that
the Indians are a primitive people; that, like the Chinese,
they must have been amongst the earliest emigrants of
the descendants of Noah ; that, like that singular nation,
they advanced So far beyond the circle of human society,
as to become entirely separated from all other men ; and
that, in this way, they preserved a more distinct and
.homogeneous character, than is to be found in any
other portion of the globe. Whether they came imme
diately to the Western continent, or whether they arrived
here by gradual progression, can never be ascertained ;
and is, in fact, an inquiry of httle moment. It is pro
bable, however, that, hke the Northern hordes who
descended upon Europe, and who constituted the basis of
its present population, their numbers were great ; and
that, from one vast reservoir, they flowed onward, in
successive surges, wave impelling wave, till they had
covered the whole extent of this vast continent. At
least, this hypothesis may account for the uniform cha
racter of their religion ; and for the singular fact which
has lately been Ulustrated, by a learned Member of the
American Philosophical Society, that their languages form
a separate class in human speech; and that, in their
plans of thought, the same system extends from the
coasts of Labrador to the extremity of Cape Horn."

THE END.

LIVERPOOL:
PRINTED BY GEORGE SMrTH, FR£NCH*S-BUILDINGS»
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ERRATA TO VOL II.
Page 5, Note, for Red Orkneys, read The Orkneys
6, line 5, for must, read much. ,
19, line 14, dele new.
24, line 18, for peculiar, read particular.
30, line 26, dele before he.
55, line 18, for to, read from
72, line 6, for particularly, read peculiarly.
91, line 27, for received, read receives.
94, line H>» for string, read strong.
96, line 27, for Abbott, read Abbot.
116, line 17, for letter to Mr. Silliman, read letter to 
118, line 8, for churches, read characters.
120, line 8, for travelled, read rambled.
122, line 16, dek it.
127, line 34, for discourses, read discourse.
136, line 22, for lady : her, read lady, and
139, Note,/or Kentucky, read Nantucket
140, Une 7, for slanted, read stunted
142, line 24, for appaling, read appalling.
143, line 13, dele period after preferment, and substitute a comma.
it n for your, read our.
155, line 2, for Piscataqau, read Piscataqua
a line 6, c omitted.
189, line 2, insert and after Europe.
306, line 11, for peasant, read peasantry.
396, line 9, for strte, read state.
431, line 11, i reversed.

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