The Project Gutenberg eBook of Six months in America, vol. 1 (of 2)
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: Six months in America, vol. 1 (of 2)
Author: Godfrey T. Vigne
Release date: May 22, 2026 [eBook #78724]
Language: English
Original publication: London: Whittaker, Treacher, & Co, 1832
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78724
Credits: Chris Miceli and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIX MONTHS IN AMERICA, VOL. 1 (OF 2) ***
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
Small caps in the text is denoted by UPPERCASE.
Superscript text is denoted by text preceded by a caret.
Example: C^o.
Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.
[Illustration:
G.T. Vigne delṭ
NIAGARA.
T.S. Engleheart.sculpṭ
]
SIX MONTHS
IN
AMERICA.
SIX MONTHS
IN
AMERICA.
BY
GODFREY T. VIGNE, ESQ.
OF LINCOLN’S INN, BARRISTER AT LAW.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
WHITTAKER, TREACHER, & CO.
AVE MARIA LANE.
1832.
LONDON:
Manning and Co., Printers, 4, London House Yard,
St. Pauls.
SIX MONTHS IN AMERICA.
READER,
I will not inflict upon you the penalty of preface or dedication, being
fully persuaded that you would care for neither; and therefore if
you are disposed to follow me to America, I will inform you at once,
that after having seen the greater part of Europe, I went on board
the packet, George Canning, on the 24th of March, 1831, and sailed
from Liverpool for New York, with my note-book, sketch-book, gun, and
fishing rod—alone, unbewifed and unbevehicled, as a man ought to
travel, and with the determination of being, as far as an Englishman
can be, unprejudiced; and of seeing all I could of the United States in
the space of about six months.
Having said this, I beg of you to remember that I do not profess to
tell you what may be seen in a year. I may be allowed to mention,
that the George Canning is one of the best of the twenty-six packets
that sail from Liverpool to different parts of North America. Every
possible comfort and every reasonable luxury is at the command of the
passenger; and, whether he be confined to his state-room from the
effects of sea-sickness, or indulging a most Atlantic appetite, and
quaffing champagne to the memory of Columbus, he cannot fail at the end
of his voyage to be loud in the praises of her excellent commander,
Captain Allyn. We saw an average number of young whales, but contrived
to miss the icebergs and the sea-serpent; and after an excellent
passage of twenty-three-days (the voyage from Liverpool, at this season
of the year, being scarcely ever less than thirty), we sailed through
the Narrows into the splendid bay of New York. The passage so named is
about three quarters of a mile in width, and defended by four or five
hundred pieces of cannon. The most prominent object is a diamond-shaped
fort, which appears to rise out of the water, and is called Fort La
Fayette, because it fired its first salute in honour of that General,
upon his arrival on the shores of America in 1824. The fort on the New
Jersey side, as if in opposition to its French-named antagonist, is
known by the very English name of Fort Tomkins.
On the Long Island beach is seen New Utrecht, a small sea-bathing
place, and celebrated as the spot where the British troops, under
the command of Sir Henry Clinton, were landed without opposition,
previously to their attack of New York in 1776. Numerous vessels of
different sizes that had been detained outside by contrary winds, were
working their way through the Narrows at the same time, and presented
a most animating spectacle. They were from all parts of the world; the
sun shone full upon their white sails; the broad bright pine-streak
reddened beneath his declining rays, and added a characteristic
elegance to the appearance of the American ships, which taken as a
class, are certainly handsomer than those of any other nation. That the
trim and figure of a British merchantman are usually inferior to those
of America, is owing to the circumstance of there being no tonnage-duty
in America; and therefore, their ships are constructed for the
carriage of a given number of tons with the greatest speed; but by the
British method of rating their ships, a merchantman can be constructed
so as to carry more than her legal tonnage without paying for it; of
which John Bull very properly takes advantage by swelling out his ships
as much as possible, so long as he can avoid the liability of being
charged at a higher rate.
We had scarcely entered the bay when the wind dropped; steam-boats
were plying in all directions, and one of them coming alongside, I
was glad to avail myself of her assistance, and arrived at New York
before sunset. Within two minutes after I had landed I found myself
in the Broadway, the principal street and promenade in the city. At
two o’clock on every fine day, all the fashion and too-gaily dressed
beauty of New York are to be seen there. It contains the finest shops,
and altogether has a very lively and city-like appearance, which,
nevertheless, suffers considerably on account of the houses being
mostly built of red brick. Its width, I should say, is about the same
as that of Oxford-street; in length it is, or rather will be when
finished, about three miles. The courts of justice hold their sittings
in the city-hall, a large and handsome building of Massachusetts white
marble and brown free-stone, which stands in the centre of what is
called the Park, a green open space on the side of the Broadway. The
prison, a gloomy-looking structure, is too conspicuous, and exceedingly
handy, being so near to it that a “ponte de ’i sospiri” might be thrown
across from one to the other with great effect. But it is not in the
contemplation of the most refined and magnificent works of art, that
the European traveller in the United States must expect to derive
his principal gratification. The public buildings in New York for
the different purposes of charity, education, and commerce, are very
numerous; but there are none that can lay claim to his particular
attention: in a few hours, with a little assistance from a cabriolet
or an omnibus, he might see all that is worth his notice in the city,
considered merely as a collection of buildings, containing 200,000
inhabitants. It is the extraordinary energy and urgency of commerce
that will chiefly attract his attention. The wharfs on the North
river are flanked by superb steam-boats, daily and hourly employed
in the conveyance of thousands; those on the East river, by double
and triple lines of the most beautiful merchantmen; while the three
streets which run successively parallel to them might be taken for
one enormous warehouse, the pavement being nearly blocked up with
merchandise from every country, and exhibiting a rattling and somewhat
dangerous confusion of carts and cranes, that is quite beyond a
“private gentleman’s belief,” till he has seen it. Although the actual
numerical tonnage of the trade of New York is four times less than that
of Liverpool, yet the appearance of bustle and business is far more
striking at New York: the reason is, that there is so much more retail
trade carried on in the latter city than in Liverpool, or any other
city in the world. Innumerable boats descend the North river, laden
with timber, or live and dead stock, and provisions for the markets of
New York, and carry back a petty and varied cargo of wearing apparel
and other necessaries that are wanted in the interior.
Although Philadelphia is a larger place, the balance of trade between
New York and that city is usually, if not always, in favour of New
York. Imported goods sold at Philadelphia, on account of the New York
merchants, are paid for in bills made payable at Philadelphia. The
banks at New York discount these bills, which as they become due are
satisfied on demand by payment in specie; so that there is a constant
flow of hard dollars from Philadelphia to New York.
In order to see the city in perfection, the North river must be
crossed, and a fine view is obtained from any of the rising grounds
on the opposite bank. But to include a distant view of the city and
the bay in the same drawing, I should recommend a station on Staten
Island, or on the opposite heights about Gowanus. On this head the
British public will soon be satisfied. Before I quitted America, I was
favoured with a sight of the most exact and admirable drawings to be
used as materials for the next view at the Colosseum in the Regent’s
Park, which I understood was to be that of New York and its environs.
It is singular that, as in London, they should all have been taken from
the top of St. Paul’s church. Unless I were anxious to write either an
almanack or a guide-book, I think I need not here say more about New
York; reserving for another place any remarks that apply generally to
one city as well as another. I will merely add, that I should strongly
recommend every one to visit the Museum before he commences a tour;
and that the city contains two excellent theatres, of which that in
the Park is the more fashionable: I heard the English version of the
“Cenerentola” performed in very good style: I was delighted with the
singing of our countrywoman. Mrs. Austin, and I laughed heartily at
the drolleries of Mr. Hackett, who is an unrivalled mimic of the
eccentricities of his countrymen. An Italian opera is confidently
expected by the next season. At present the first society in New
York, which is very good, is seldom to be seen at the theatre. In my
ignorance, I was very much astonished the first evening I went there,
at seeing a multitude of persons, who would have thought it a gross
mistake not to have been taken for gentlemen, sitting occasionally in
the front and almost always in the back seats of the dress circle,
with their hats on, in the presence of ladies, who were scattered in
different parts of the same box.
Now, New York, if not the most refined, is certainly, strictly
speaking, the most fashionable place in the Union, and it is not to be
wondered at, that foreigners who have just landed from Europe and who
very probably go to the theatre on the first evening of their arrival,
should thence imbibe strange and unjust ideas of the best American
manners. I have heard that common sense is the characteristic of the
Americans; and I think there is great truth in the remark; but I do not
like it when it is so _very_ common. These republican De Courcys are
very fond of wearing their hats: I never was at church in the United
States, without observing individuals (I do not say many), who would
evidently have been very sorry to have been thought guilty of any
impropriety, putting their hats on when the service was over, in the
very body of the church. These are no trifles when considered as part
of the national manners. But in the United States there is no standard
for manners: their political independence is oftentimes imperceptibly
identified with independence of behaviour that procures for individuals
an unfavourable opinion, of which the men and their minds are alike
unworthy.
It was the twenty-third of April, St. George’s day, when I left New
York to commence my tour; the members of the St. George’s Society were
going to dine together, and the huge banner of the saint was waving
from one of the upper windows of the City-hotel, as I emerged from
the gloomy recesses, in enormous establishments ycleped single-bedded
rooms, and proceeded to the wharf where the New Brunswick steamers are
to be found, and where it is coolly and most intelligibly intimated to
the traveller, in very large letters, that he can have “Transportation
to Philadelphia,” at a very trifling expense. These steam-boats are
necessarily very large; being frequently destined to carry three or
even four hundred passengers: they are constructed in the best manner
for obtaining the greatest proportionate space and a free circulation
of air. They may fairly be said to be three-deckers. The working-beam
is usually placed at a great height above the upper-deck, and the whole
of the engine is so much raised that no inconvenience arises from the
heat of the boilers. When one of these steamers is seen approaching
from a distance, the confusion of green and white galleries gives
it very much the appearance of a moving summer-house. The rapidity
with which we moved across the bay procured me a constant change of
scene: the banks were dotted with small villages, but I observed but
few gentlemen’s seats. At a distance, on the right, stands the town
of Newark, a considerable place, discernible by its white steeples.
We passed Perth Amboy at the mouth of the Rariton river; the first
British settlement in New Jersey. The governor’s house, the picquet and
guard-house, can be seen from the river. The governor’s house resembles
a Gloucestershire spinning mill. I was landed at New Brunswick, where
I found conveyances awaiting the arrival of the steamer in order to
carry its passengers across the country to Bordentown. Notwithstanding
that this road is one of the principal thoroughfares between New
York and Philadelphia, yet I was fairly and quickly jolted into the
conviction that although it was probable I should travel over many that
were as bad, yet that I could not by any possibility find one that was
worse. Allowances are to be made for the roads I afterwards saw, in the
back settlements; but the condition of this one was really disgraceful.
There was a great deal of wood on every side; but it can hardly be
called forest, being what is here termed second-growth wood. A great
part of these lands had been cleared by the earlier settlers, but were
allowed to remain uncultivated, and to be overgrown whenever a soil
of greater fertility and sufficiently protected, was discovered in the
interior of the country.
Bordentown, is a small, but neat and pretty, village on the banks of
the Delaware. On the outskirts is a large and rather irregular brick
building at the extremity of a court-yard, which is flanked by stabling
and other outhouses, with extensive gardens and pleasure grounds
behind them, laid out a l’Anglais. This is the residence of the Count
Survilliers, better known, in England at least, as Joseph Buonaparte.
I was provided with an introduction to his Excellency, and paid him
a morning visit. His reception of me was exceedingly courteous. The
instant he appeared, I was most forcibly struck with the very strong
resemblance he bore to the later portraits of Napoleon. His person, I
should say, was rather larger; the expression of the eye was the same,
though more subdued; the same hair, the same shaped head, and the same
contour of feature generally, with a darker complexion, and a good
set of teeth. I should say, the principal difference was observable
in the mouth, which seemed more inclinable to the jocose than the
sanguinary. After some conversation, which was carried on in French,
and turned chiefly on the subject of European travel, his Excellency
showed me his pictures, which are numerous and interesting. He has
several fine Murillos, and a most beautiful Madonna by Vandyke. He has
many portraits of his own family; among these is one of Napoleon in
his coronation robes, and the well-known picture of the First Consul
on horseback, crossing the Alps. I felt an emotion which I will not
attempt to describe, when, as we passed round the room, he paused
before the latter picture, and drew my attention to it, remarking
that it was the original, by David. The cabinet of statues and
mosaics is also very fine, and the collection altogether by far the
best in America. His Excellency occasionally mixes in society both at
New York and Philadelphia, and talks without reserve of his former
situation, “Quand j’etais roi d’Espagne.” “Dans mes belles affaires,”
are occasionally introduced in his conversation. By his advice I
subsequently mounted the observatory in his grounds. Thence I enjoyed
a very fine view of the country on the opposite side of the Delaware,
whose broad and rapid stream was flowing beneath me; on the left, the
river seemed to lose itself among the distant woods of Pennsylvania; on
the right, at a distance of about six miles, is Trenton, made notorious
by the daring passage of the Delaware, and the subsequent defeat and
capture, of a body of Hessians, by General Washington, on the night
of the 25th of December, 1776, during a violent storm, and when the
danger of the revolutionists was at its crisis.
Bordentown is about twenty-six miles from Philadelphia. The next day I
proceeded to that city in a steam-boat, which stopped for passengers
at every considerable village on the well-wooded, but flat and
uninteresting, banks of the river. At length Philadelphia makes its
appearance, stretching for nearly three miles along the western side of
a bend or angle of the river. This view is certainly a fine one, but
it would be much improved by the appearance of a few more steeples or
lofty structures. From the water two or three only are visible above
this immense assemblage of red houses; and yet the city contains nine
episcopal churches, a great number of public buildings, and charitable
institutions without end.
Great attention is paid to the education of the poorer classes: the
constitution of Pennsylvania declaring, “That the legislature shall, as
soon as convenient, provide by law for the establishment of schools, in
such manner that the poor may be educated without expense.”
Philadelphia has been often described. The streets cross each other
at right angles: those running parallel with the river are numbered,
second, third, fourth, &c.; the others usually bear the name of some
fruit or tree. The word street is usually omitted: in describing the
way, a person would tell you that the place you were looking for was in
Walnut, below fifth; Sassafras, above second; Mulberry, between seventh
and eighth, &c. These streets run over a distance of two miles, from
the Delaware to the Schuyllkill river, which enters the Delaware about
nine miles to the south of Philadelphia. The Bank of Pennsylvania is a
small building, but elegantly designed from the Temple of the Muses,
on the Ilyssus, near Athens.
The new Mint of the United States was unfinished, but promised to be a
chaste and beautiful building, on a larger scale, from the same model.
On the 4th of July, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed,
and afterwards read from the steps of the State-house, where the state
courts of justice are now held. The room in which this took place had
been fitted up for La Fayette in 1824, as the most appropriate place
for levee tenure; but when I saw it, it was occupied by workmen, who
had instructions to replace every thing as it was when it acquired its
present reputation.
The Academy of Fine Arts much exceeded my expectations. Although the
most conspicuous pictures were those of American academicians, yet here
and there the eye was attracted by a Vandyke, a Rubens, a Guercino,
and a Salvator Rosa, or some good copies from them. There were a few
landscapes by Ruysdael, and a fine Murillo: the subject was the Roman
daughter. The productions from the English school, were portraits
of John H. Powell, Esq. by Sir Thomas Lawrence, of John Kemble by
Sir M. A. Shee, and another of Dugald Stuart by Sir H. Raeburn. Any
person conversant with the pictures of this latter artist, would have
recognised this, by the usual green colouring in the back-ground. There
were five admirable portraits by Mr. Stewart, the American artist, of
the Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. The
best full-length portrait of Washington is that in the Fauneuil Hall
at Boston; but as a half-length this is, I believe, considered the
original. They were all remarkable for their easy and unsophisticated
attitudes. Mr. Stewart has been dead about five years. Mr. Hardinge
has also very great merit as a portrait painter; but Mr. Sully has the
reputation of being the first in America. A portrait of Sir Thomas
Lawrence, by that gentleman, is a most successful imitation of the
style of the late president. He exhibited also an excellent full-length
portrait of General La Fayette; and Mr. Tuman, a scarcely inferior
artist, is at present employed in painting another, of Mr. Penn, which
will occupy a place beside the General in the Hall of Independence. I
also observed a composition-landscape, by Mr. Fisher, which had very
great merit. It was well remarked in the preface to the catalogue,
that so many of the pictures did not need indulgence, in comparison
with that which had heretofore been cheerfully, and with justice,
conceded to them. This was very true of a large proportion of them,
but some nevertheless, needed it not a little; and in fact had no
business there. It is a pity that the Americans do not take warning
by the constant outcry that for so many years has been justly raised
against the swarm of portraits that annually cluster on the walls of
Somerset-house. They might well devote more of their time and talent to
historical painting. With the exception of the “Sortie from Gibraltar,”
by Colonel Trumbull, and another very indifferent picture, there were,
I think, no historical pieces in the room appropriated to modern
events. The Americans cannot plead a want of subjects: the revolution
is not half illustrated; besides, they may depend upon it, portrait
painting is a very aristocratical thing after all, and should not be
generally encouraged, on that account. In running over the walls of a
modern exhibition-room, the eye is fatigued by its endeavours to avoid
an encounter with the features of individuals in a new character, to
which many of them never had the slightest pretensions, except upon
canvass.
The water-works on the Schuyllkill are probably the finest in the
world: they can scarcely be praised too highly for beauty of design,
simplicity of construction, and real usefulness. A dam, sixteen hundred
feet in length, is thrown across the river, by which the stream is
backed up for several miles, and an enormous water-power thus created.
The solid rock has been excavated, in order to obtain what is termed a
race; and by means of huge double-forcing pumps, worked by four immense
wheels, the water is thrown up into an ample reservoir, fifty-six
feet above the highest ground in the city. It is calculated that each
wheel and pump could raise one million two hundred and fifty thousand
gallons in twenty-four hours, if allowed to play without intermission.
The rising ground in the neighbourhood of the water-works affords
the best and nearest general view of the city. Thence I visited the
botanical gardens of Mr. Pratt, containing a very fine orangery and
a choice collection of exotics, and delightfully situated on the
east side of the Schuyllkill, which spreads out to a great extent
immediately beneath them, with banks wooded to the water’s edge. In a
very few years this fine scene is destined to be unnatured. By this
time a rail-road is commenced, which will run from Philadelphia to
Columbia, a distance of eighty-two miles: it will there join the great
Pennsylvanian canal, which has been finished nearly all the way from
the eastern side of the Alleghany mountains. In order to pass these, a
rail-road on inclined planes, will be constructed; by which the rich
mineral productions on the western slope of the mountains, consisting
chiefly of iron and bituminous coal of the finest quality, will be
quickly forwarded to Philadelphia in any quantity. The greatest height
of the Alleghany mountains in Pennsylvania, is thirteen hundred feet.
The rail-road I have mentioned, will pass at a short distance from the
water-works; and therefore, in all probability, no very long period
will elapse before the vicinity will become a coal-yard.
The porcelain manufactory is not far off. I was told that the material
was little inferior to that of Sevres, but I found the painting
indifferent. French China is still preferred, and superiority cannot
yet be expected in this department.
In my way back to the city, I visited the Penitentiary of Pennsylvania.
This is the most extensive building in the United States. The front
is 670 feet in length—very handsome, and bearing a baronial and gloomy
appearance, in the style of our old English castles. Its area is a
square, with a tower at each angle of the prison wall. It is intended
that eight corridors should radiate from an observatory in the centre
of the area, but only three are in use at present. These contain the
cells, and command a free circulation of air, and a plentiful supply
of water. The only punishment adopted, is solitary confinement.
This Penitentiary is too young an establishment to afford a perfect
confidence in the opinions of those who are favourable to its system.
The reports of the inspectors are, however, extremely encouraging.
The first and present warder (Mr. Samuel R. Wood) was only appointed
in June 1829. This gentleman, who is well known as a kind of second
Howard in his way, has visited many of the principal prisons in
Europe; and now finds employment for his talents and his humanity
in, I believe, his native city. Every crime committed in the state
of Pennsylvania, on this side of the Alleghany mountains, that is
punishable by imprisonment at all for the space of one year or more, is
to be expiated by solitary confinement within this Penitentiary. That
at Pittsburg, on the Ohio, receives those whose crimes are committed
on the western side of the Alleghany. Every prisoner is allowed to
work at his trade; or if he have none, or one that he cannot follow
in his cell, he is allowed to choose one, and is instructed by one
of the overseers, who are all masters of different trades. Mr. Wood,
in his last report, gives it as his opinion, that a prisoner who
has two years or upwards to remain in prison, can, in his solitary
cell, earn sufficient to clear all his expenses from his admission
till his discharge. The Philadelphia system differs from that at
Sing-sing, in the state of New York. At Sing-sing, the prisoners are
brought out to work together, but are not allowed to speak to each
other. At Philadelphia they never work together; and from the time
of his admission, one prisoner never sees, or speaks with, another.
My English ideas were not a little startled at first, when I found
that high treason is expiable by solitary confinement for not less
than three, nor more than six years; and that the punishment for the
second offence was solitary confinement for ten years. Treason against
the state of Pennsylvania is here alluded to. By the articles of the
constitution, treason against the United States shall consist only in
levying war against them; or in adhering to their enemies, giving them
aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on
the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession
in open court. Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of
treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood or
forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted. Treason
against the United States is a capital offence. Murder, in the second
degree, that is, murder committed in a sudden quarrel, but without
malice prepense, is punished by solitary confinement at labour for
three, and not more than six years; for the second offence, for a
period not exceeding ten years. The punishment for burglary is solitary
confinement for not less than two, nor more than ten years; for the
second offence, for a period not exceeding fifteen years. For robbery,
or being accessory thereto before the fact, the period is for not less
than one, nor more than seven years; for the second offence, for a
period not exceeding twelve years. Mayhem, kidnapping, horsestealing,
perjury, &c. are all punished by solitary confinement for different
periods. Almost every species of forgery, or aiding, abetting, or
commanding the perpetration of a forgery, whether it be of the coin
of the state, or have reference to the sale, utterance, or delivery,
or having in possession the metallic plate used in the forging of
any note of any bank incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania; or
forging, defacing, corrupting, or embezzling any charters, gifts,
grants, bonds, bills, wills, conveyances, or contracts; or defacing,
or falsifying any enrolment, registry, or record; or forging any
entry of the acknowledgment, certificate, or endorsement, whereby the
freehold or inheritance of any person or persons may be charged; or of
counterfeiting the hand or seal of another with intent to defraud; or
the privy or great seal of the state of Pennsylvania, is punished with
solitary confinement for a period of not less than one, nor more than
seven years; and for the second offence, for a period not exceeding ten
years. It is expected that few offenders will run the risk of solitary
confinement for a second time.
When first received, the prisoner is left alone, and it seldom happens
that he does not ask for a Bible, and work, after the lapse of a
few hours. A Bible and a few other religious books are allowed him.
In a few days the withdrawal of his employment is felt, and adopted
as a punishment, with the most obstinate and hardened. The chaplain
occasionally visits the prisoners, and on Sundays he takes a station
whence the words of prayer and exhortation can be heard by every
prisoner in his cell, as they echo along the vaulted roof of the
corridor.
If any punishment can be said to be dignified, that of solitary
confinement has a claim to that epithet. Justice to society is nobly
done, not only in the removal of the prisoner in the first instance,
but, secondly, by enabling him to return, as it were, to the world,
a wiser and a better man. The end of solitary confinement is the
reformation of the criminal, by obliging him to think who never thought
before. If reflection can be awakened, and conscience can obtain a
hearing, its advantages will be readily acknowledged. The prisoner is
forced to commune with his own soul: the all-powerful voice of ridicule
is absent and unheard; remorse is not stifled, and penitence is not
put to flight, by the sneers of a dissolute companion: with no one to
admire, and applaud his resolution to be “game”—to submit, is the only
alternative.
In England the system could not, generally, I think, succeed. The
effect of solitary confinement might be the same on the moral character
of the prisoner, but unless something like a permanent means of getting
a livelihood be secured to him, after his removal from the prison, the
principal and best object of the punishment would not be obtained.
This would be extremely difficult in a country of small extent, with
a superabundant population, and a supply of labour far exceeding
the demand. The regenerated offender might, perhaps, contrive to
avoid observation; but if necessity compelled him to labour for his
subsistence, it is probable that he would not find employment; and the
necessary consequence would be, that all his good resolutions would
vanish at the approach of want.
No country is so well adapted for the experiment as the United States
of America. Enterprise is abroad in every direction, and labour is
well paid. When the period of confinement is at an end, the criminal
may wander to any corner of that vast continent,—and go where he will,
the wages of industry are always at his command. He is in little fear
of being recognised by his fellow-prisoners, because no prisoner is
allowed to see another. His former associates in crime are dispersed,
or in prison, or in the grave; and the hope that attended him in his
cell is realised, by the facility of gaining a new character, and
friends who are ignorant of his crime. It should be added to this
notice of the Penitentiary, that every cell opens into a small paved
court-yard, in which the prisoner can take exercise; and that the
system has not been found prejudicial to health of mind or body, as had
been anticipated.
I visited the Museum at Philadelphia, which is said to be the best
in the United States. It contains a skeleton of the mammoth; a fine
collection of Indian curiosities and American animals: the most
extraordinary of these is, perhaps, a specimen of the gigantic raya
or ray, or devil-fish, measuring twelve feet in length, by fifteen in
breadth; and weighing more than 2000 lbs. In the gallery are arranged a
number of portraits, chiefly of distinguished Americans, which are said
to be admirable likenesses; but certainly not valuable as paintings.
I was much better pleased altogether with the museum belonging to the
Academy of Natural Sciences. It is much smaller than the other, but far
more scientifically arranged.
The Dock-yard at Philadelphia contained, when I visited it, a sixty-gun
frigate, nearly finished; and the Pennsylvania, a four decker, with
a round stern, also in an unfinished state, and destined to carry
one hundred and forty-four guns. This enormous vessel is two hundred
and twenty feet in length, and fifty-eight across the main-beam.
Her timbers seemed light, in proportion to her immense size; they
certainly do not appear to be thicker than those of an ordinary British
seventy-four. The great strength of the knees, however, are said to
compensate for the apparent weakness of her other timbers. There were
no workmen employed upon her, and saltpetre was strewed over her
wherever it would lie. She is larger than the old Santissima Trinidad,
destroyed at Trafalgar; but not so large as a Turkish ship of the line,
launched, I believe, since the battle of Navarino. All the guns of the
Pennsylvania will be thirty-two-pound carronades on the spar-deck, and
long guns on the others. Her anchor weighs more than 11,000 lbs. With
such a tremendous weight of metal, it is probable that she would not be
able to stand the wear and tear of the long blockades in which many of
our ships were employed during the war.
The timber of the live-oak, so called from its being an evergreen, is
supposed to be imperishable. This tree grows almost exclusively in the
Southern States; but is annually becoming more scarce and valuable, as
the extreme slowness of its growth cannot keep pace with the demand:
the Americans will probably find themselves obliged to plant it, before
another quarter of a century has elapsed.
The following treatment of the different kinds of timber used in the
American navy is recommended in the report of the Secretary of the Navy
for 1829. Live-oak should be immersed for twelve months in water, then
taken up and placed under cover to protect it against sun, rain, and
high winds. Its immersion is recommended by the fact that it renders
it less liable to split. White-oak which is inferior to the British
white, or navy-oak, should be docked about eighteen months in fresh,
or two years in salt water; then taken up and sawed into such sizes
as may be required, then placed under cover for about two or three
years. Yellow pine should be docked about twelve months; then taken up,
sawed, and covered for two years. Mast timber should be immersed and
covered in mud till wanted for use. All timber ought to be cut when
the greatest portion of sap is in circulation, at some time from the
first of November to the end of February; it should then be immersed in
water, and never taken out but early in the spring: and it was given as
an opinion, that if all timber underwent this process, the ships might
last double the time they otherwise would.
I went to both the principal theatres, but did not think that either
they or the performances were as good as at New York. I saw Mr.
Cooper, the famed American actor, in some old play, of which I forget
the name. His voice is extremely good: I remember that I thought him
dignified, but rather stiff, without however being the least awkward in
his acting. I also saw young Burke, as Doctor Pangloss. His acting I
thought admirable, and most humourous; and his violin playing is quite
extraordinary for his age. His tragedy is very little inferior to his
comedy.
* * * * *
The United States’ bank at Philadelphia is a beautiful building, being
a copy from the Parthenon, with such alterations as were absolutely
indispensable in order to render it fit for purposes of business. It
has no side columns; but the portico is a splendid specimen of the
Doric. The Ionic pillars in the interior, were brought from Italy.
The present United States’ bank, was incorporated by Act of Congress
on the 10th of April, 1816, and is chartered till the 3d of March,
1836. It paid a bonus to Government of 1,500,000 dollars. Its capital
is 35,000,000 dollars, divided into 350,000 shares of 100 dollars
each; 70,000 shares were subscribed by government, which therefore
became a proprietor of one fifth. After a thorough investigation of
the right of Congress to pass an act of incorporation, this bank was
first called into existence in the year 1791, when General Washington
was president; and its charter expired in the year 1811. The two
opposing parties of Federalist and Democrat had in effect began to
show themselves, though not exactly by those names, in 1787. In 1790,
Mr. Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury, made his celebrated report
on the state of the public debts contracted during the revolutionary
war. He proposed that the debts of the continental Congress and those
incurred by the States individually, should be funded by the general
government, and that the interest should be paid by taxes on articles
of luxury and on ardent spirits. This, it was thought, would give too
much power to the Federal government, in opposition to the rights
of the States separately considered; and it was on account of their
conflicting opinions respecting this federal measure, that the two
parties who supported or opposed the new constitution, first acquired
the names of Federalist and Democrat. Their first differences under
these appellations, were on the bank question, which afterwards
became, and is now to a certain extent, a test of political principle.
Its establishment had been opposed on constitutional grounds by Mr.
Jefferson and Mr. Madison; by the former in the executive cabinet,
and by the latter in congress, and both distinguished Democrats. It
was asserted that congress had no power to create corporations. The
Federalist was in favour of a liberal construction of the articles of
the constitution, and an extension of the powers thereby vested in
the federal assembly or congress of the United States, in opposition
to what are termed state rights, or powers claimed separately by the
states in their individual capacity. The federalist was said to be
friendly to Great Britain, and to be indifferent to the principles of
the French revolution. He was in favour of the Alien law, by which the
president was enabled to compel suspected foreigners to leave the
country; and of the Sedition law, which provided for the prosecution
and punishment of false and malicious accusations against the president
and members of congress. In fact, these measures were passed by
congress during the administration of John Adams, who succeeded General
Washington, and was the second and last of the federal party elected to
the office of president. The democrat regarded the principles of the
federalist as far too aristocratical for the atmosphere of America.
He was a strict interpreter of the articles of the constitution, and
kept a careful watch, lest the federal government, in its united
capacity, should usurp any powers which he considered as the rights and
privileges of individual states. Under the overwhelming influence of
the democrat principles, which have been on the increase more and more
from the first year of Mr. Jefferson’s presidency, the federalist party
have experienced a great decrease in number, and their principles have
lost much of their rigidity. In fact, the two parties may be said to be
nearly extinct, even in name; the terms Federalist and Democrat being
rarely mentioned now.
The federalist was always the enemy of universal suffrage. He was for
imposing a substantial qualification on every voter; on the principle
that property, and not persons, should be represented. In Pennsylvania
for instance, the right of suffrage is possessed by every freeman of
the age of twenty-one years, who has resided in the state for two years
next preceding, and who within that time, has paid a state or county
tax, assessed at least six months before the election: and a poll tax
of fifty cents per annum, confers this right upon individuals who are
not in circumstances to pay any other. That corruption to a great
extent is generated by this system, is admitted on all hands; it is
obviously a matter of course that it should be so. Even in democratic
America there are to be found thousands who readily acknowledge the
real causes of their prosperity to be identified with those that have
prevented this system from figuring in its real colours; and who
freely admit that it proceeds from a comparative exemption from taxes;
an unbounded extent of country; an admirable spirit of enterprise; a
population not too large, and a consequent abundance of employment—not
from the existence of a peculiar political system.
But to return to the subject of the United States’ bank. When Mr.
Jefferson and the democrats came into power, the renewal of the bank
charter was discussed as a party question. At this period excitement
was at its height; and the federalists made themselves so conspicuous
by their indiscriminating opposition to those measures of commercial
restriction adopted by the democrats in power, against Great Britain,
in compliance with the policy of the new French government, that they
were considered by a large proportion of the American nation, as
the apologists for the conduct of a country already regarded in the
light of a public enemy. Yet such was the general opinion of the good
that had been diffused throughout the Union by the bank, that the
question of the renewal of its charter, was only lost by the casting
vote of the president of the senate, and by one vote in the house of
representatives. In less than three years after the expiration of the
charter in 1811, the war with Great Britain having taken place in the
mean time, the finances were in a state of incredible embarrassment;
and the re-establishment of the United States’ bank recommended by Mr.
Dallas, who was then secretary to the treasury, received the sanction
of Mr. Madison; and the measure passed both branches of congress during
the ascendency of that very party which was previously opposed to it.
In consequence of the non-renewal of the bank charter, bank credit
to the amount of 15,000,000 of dollars was withdrawn from the public
service, and a number of local banks immediately sprang up.
Freed from the salutary control of the United States’ bank, they
commenced a system of imprudent trading, and excessive issues, which
speedily disordered the currency of the country; and notwithstanding
all her resources, and all her patriotism, in the last year of the
last war, the United States were on the eve of bankruptcy, solely for
the want of some national institution that would have assisted the
exigences of government, and supported a circulating medium of general
credit throughout the Union. The loss of the United States during
the three years when there was no bank, was estimated at not less
than 46,000,000 of dollars, sustained exclusively by want of a sound
currency and an efficient system of finance.
The United States’ bank has established branch banks at twenty-two of
the principal commercial cities of the Union. When it was first opened
there were, as we have seen, but two parties in the country, both
acting from motives purely patriotic. The number is now increased, and
interest is not now, as it was then, left out of the question. The bank
charter does not expire till 1836; but the sentiments of the president
on the subject of its renewal, which so deeply involves the commercial
happiness of the Union, cannot but be speculated upon with peculiar
interest, even at this distance of time.
It is said that General Jackson is unfavourable to its renewal. In
his message of 1830 he expressed an opinion, that the bank had failed
in the great end of establishing an uniform and sound currency. This
is supposed to have reference merely to the circumstance of the
bank, not in all cases redeeming the bills issued by any one of its
branches indiscriminately at all the others. But it would be an obvious
injustice to oblige the bank to any such measure: the attempt would be
quite incompatible with its existence; as it is evident, that if the
exchange were unfavourable in one State, and favourable in another,
the flow of notes from the State where it is unfavourable, would
soon suspend or contract all the operations of the bank; and the very
evil of an inequality of the currency, which the establishment was
designed to remedy, would be increased by a vain attempt to perform
impossibilities. I need not, however, pursue this subject further;
but will only add, that all reasoning and experience seem to favour a
belief in the advantages which the banking establishment has conferred
on the country. It is, besides, in possession of a considerable surplus
fund, after deducting seven per cent., which will enable it to meet
any contingences that may arise. In lieu of the United States’ bank,
an establishment to be termed a national bank, founded on the credit
of the government and its revenues, has been proposed by General
Jackson and others. Five hundred agents are employed at the present
moment in transacting the affairs of the United States’ bank; but the
enormous increase of patronage which would accrue to the government
by the establishment of the proposed National bank, would be nothing
in comparison with the power that would be vested in it, from its
having under its control the dispensation of bank accommodations to
the amount of at least 50,000,000 of dollars. When these consequences
are considered, it is difficult to conceive how such a plan could find
support among the subjects of a government professing to be thoroughly
democratical.
The society of Philadelphia is, taken all together, the best in the
United States. The gay season is during the winter months. Balls and
concerts are then frequent and well attended: in this respect I was
unfortunate, as I was in that city in May—but I was partly recompensed
for my loss, by the promenade in Washington Square, which, although
shady enough, and prettily laid out, is not what the most fashionable
promenade in Philadelphia ought to be;—and I could not but remark, that
the display of beauty and elegance to be seen there about six o’clock
on the afternoon of a fine day, was most richly deserving of a better
place of parade. I cannot in conscience assert that, as far as it went,
I thought it equal, and yet I am scarcely willing to pronounce it
inferior, to the splendid cortège of Kensington gardens.
* * * * *
I had come to the conclusion that I should not be able to descend the
Mississippi to New Orleans. By the time that I should arrive there,
the extreme heats of an American summer would have been prevailing
in that very unhealthy climate, and a stranger is almost certain to
be attacked by fever and ague. The voyage down the river occupies
five or six days; the voyage up the river is not performed in less
than ten or twelve; and I was consoled by learning that the voyage is
exceedingly tedious, as the low banks offer no variety of scenery for
many days—so much so, that upon rising in the morning, a person might
almost be persuaded he had not moved from that part of the river where
he had been the previous evening. I therefore determined to make a
tour through part of Pennsylvania: I had heard much of the beauty of
the scenery, of the trout fishing, and “all that,” and accordingly
having engaged a place in the coach to Harrisburg, the capital of the
State, I started by it, at the nondescript hour of two in the morning,
and arrived at Harrisburg the same evening. The road lay through a
well-cultivated, but not particularly interesting country; at least
I did not think so, for it rained in torrents the whole morning; and
although I was inside the coach, one arm was completely wet through,
in consequence of the oilskin panels being but loosely fastened. The
great heat of summer renders it necessary that the conveyances should
be as airy as possible; the panels, which are made either of leather
or oilskin, are rolled up in dry weather; but the “gentleman in the
corner” sometimes comes off very badly on a cold or rainy day. In
addition to this, it must be remembered that the American coaches
usually carry nine inside, and do not afford too much liberty to the
legs. The three passengers who sit in the middle, lean their shoulders
against a broad leather strap, which passes across the coach; and as
this occasionally gets unhooked in passing over a forest road, their
heads are instantly thrown in contact with the stomachs of those who
are behind them.
The most considerable place we passed was Reading, which has much the
appearance of a second-rate country town in England. Viewed from the
Sunbury road, by which I returned to it in my way back to Philadelphia,
its situation, in a fine surrounding country, appears to much greater
advantage. We passed no other place of note but Lebanon; in the
vicinity of which is to be found some of the finest arable land in
Pennsylvania. Harrisburg is delightfully situated on the Susquehanna.
It was here for the first time I saw that beautiful river; in breadth
about three quarters of a mile. Its clear and shallow stream is not
really slow, but at a little distance it appears as tranquil and
unruffled as the surface of a lake. Immediately opposite to Harrisburg
is an island, from either side of which a long wooden bridge is
thrown to the opposite bank of the river. Harrisburg is the capital
of Pennsylvania, and is a thriving, neat and pretty-looking town,
containing about four thousand inhabitants. The House of Assembly, or
Capitol, as it is always called in America, is built on an eminence.
The sittings of the senate and house of representatives of Pennsylvania
were held first at Philadelphia, then at Lancaster, and subsequently
for nearly the last twenty years at Harrisburg, which, from its central
situation, has been found much more convenient. The chamber where the
representatives hold their sittings is very large, with separate desks
for every two or three members, disposed in a semicircle, in the same
manner as in the French chamber of deputies. The chair in which the
Speaker sits was filled by the celebrated patriot John Hancock, when
he presided in the assembly, by the members of which the declaration
of independence was signed in the state-house at Philadelphia. The
senate and representatives had just finished their sittings, after
having passed only two hundred and sixty-seven Acts. I saw a list
of them. They chiefly related to internal improvements; and many of
them made honourable provision for old soldiers, or the widows and
families of old soldiers, who had served in the revolutionary war. An
experiment, which would have been deemed serious in an older country,
was on the eve of trial: an Act had been passed for levying a tax on
personal property throughout the state. The bulk of the taxes had
hitherto been paid by the land owners, and a new assessment made once
every three years. The annual tax is at the rate of one, two, or three
dollars the acre, according to the value of the land. The owner of
personal property only, however, enjoyed an immunity, of which the
present measure was intended to divest him, by making him pay a tax of
one dollar in a thousand. Every individual will be obliged to swear
to the amount of his personal property; and should he be supposed to
swear falsely, an officer will be empowered to compel the production
of any deed, bond, note, or bill, or of any writing being evidence of
a debt owing to him. However, the general opinion seemed to be, that
the graceless impost would be acquiesced in as one of fairness and
necessity. On account of the enterprise of canals, railroads, and other
improvements, the state debt of Pennsylvania is larger than that of any
other of the Union, amounting to 14,463,161 dollars,—the debt of New
York amounting to nearly 9,000,000 dollars. The individual State debts
are very likely to be increased rather than diminished, in the end;
but as no State debt has in any instance been increased except for the
purposes of internal improvements, the augmentation of the debt will
but add eventually to the prosperity and wealth of the State. Suppose
any state, New York for instance, were to borrow 4,000,000 dollars for
some public work, as a canal or rail-road, at a fixed rate of interest,
and that the capital borrowed were to be reimbursable in the year 1850.
Such a rate of tonnage would be levied on the canal or railroad as
would, after payment of the interest, leave a sinking fund available
for the redemption of the capital borrowed, and the State would be
left in possession of a large tract of country rendered productive
and valuable on account of the additional facility afforded for the
carriage of produce to market. Once only since the formation of the
constitution, and during the presidency of John Adams, has a direct
and general property-tax been imposed by the federal government in time
of peace.
The view from the dome of the capitol at Harrisburg is very fine;
but a much better is obtained from the summit of a hill about a mile
behind the town, although, perhaps, the town itself is not seen to
such advantage. A great part of the surrounding country is very well
cultivated; corn-fields, pasture, and woodlands, are distributed over
hill and hollow; and occasionally here and there is perceived a small
farm-house, of a neater and more English appearance than any I had yet
seen. On every side the landscape is terminated as usual by a boundless
forest. The Susquehanna seems to lose itself through a gap in the Blue
Mountains; and throughout the whole of its course, which is visible for
a great distance, its banks and beautiful islands are clothed with the
richest foliage to the water’s edge. I proceeded along the north bank
of the river towards Duncan’s Island, and after a ride of eight or nine
miles, I arrived at the gap I have just mentioned. Its scenery forcibly
reminded me of the Rhine at Drachenfells. The abrupt and lofty hill
on the left is not surmounted by a “castled crag,” but it overhangs,
perhaps, a nobler river, whose banks are covered with the forest trees
of America, instead of being formally scarped for the culture of vines,
trimmed like gooseberry bushes. At a short distance from the gap, the
river is crossed by an enormous wooden bridge of eight arches, which is
very nearly half a mile in length. The bridges in America are usually
of wood, of admirable construction, neatly painted, and covered over
like many of the bridges in Switzerland. The piers are of stone of
great size, and buttressed towards the stream. This bridge is the
largest of the kind I have seen any where.
In the garden of the inn, or tavern, as it is usually called, is an
Indian tumulus, about fifteen feet in height, hemispherical in shape,
and evidently once much higher. These tumuli are to be seen in various
parts of Pennsylvania, and in fact, in all parts of America; often two
are found at no great distance from one another. At Liverpool, in that
state, are two of them, about three quarters of a mile apart; but one
had been ploughed over by the Gothic proprietor of the soil. At first
it is not difficult to infer from this, that a great battle had taken
place in the vicinity, and that each party had adopted this place for
the burial of the dead,—that universally, and eternally distinguishing
characteristic between mankind and those of the brute creation that
make the nearest approaches to humanity. Where, however, they are found
singly, the researches of Mr. Jefferson and of others, induce us to
believe that they were heaped together upon other occasions. In one
which he opened, Mr. Jefferson conjectures that there might be as many
as a thousand skeletons; and appearances indicated that it had derived
its origin and enlargement from a custom of collecting the bones of the
dead on the spot at different times. They were deposited in layers, but
in the utmost confusion of relative position; the bones of the most
distant parts of the body being crowded together. Those of infants and
half-grown persons were found among them. These tumuli are sometimes
composed of earth, and sometimes of loose stones, like the cairn and
carnedd of Scotland and Wales.
The conjecture, that they were either raised over the dead in battle,
or in accordance with the custom supposed by Mr. Jefferson, is the more
probable, on account of the bones being always found in quantities.
The European tumuli, of whatever age or nation, have either been
heaped up over the ashes of some distinguished person, or are found to
contain but a few coffins, of rough-hewn and loose stone. In America,
I believe, none are supposed to cover the remains of one person only,
deeply buried as in Europe, under the superincumbent mass; but in the
tumuli of America the external coating of earth will easily crumble
away when disturbed, and will frequently discover the bones at a
trifling depth beneath the surface. Arrows and other implements of
war are frequently found amongst them. The formation of these tumuli
is no where understood to be a modern custom. The Indians have a
feeling of reverence for them, and use them as land marks; but the
most aged are unable to furnish any clue to the discovery of their
antiquity. The knowledge of their own ancestors is confined to three
or four generations, and nothing certain is known of the aborigines
who formed these tumuli. Humboldt himself, in his “New Spain,” after
a learned dissertation on the subject, is obliged to admit that
“the general question of the first origin of the inhabitants of the
continent, is beyond the limits prescribed to history, and is not
perhaps even a philosophical question.” There can be no doubt that
they were a distinct race, and more civilised than the wild Indians of
the present day, whose Asiatic origin is also a subject of dispute.
Humboldt believes that the analogy between the languages of Tartary and
those of the new Continent extends to a very small number of words.
He adds, that the want of wheat, oats, barley, rye, and of all those
nutritive gramina which go under the name of cereal, seems to prove
that if Asiatic tribes passed into America, they must have descended
from pastoral people. We see in the old continent, that the cultivation
of cereal gramina, and the use of milk were introduced as far back as
we have any historical records. The inhabitants of the new continent,
cultivated no other gramina than maize. They fed on no species of milk,
though the lamas alpacas, and in the north of Mexico and Canada, two
kinds of indigenous oxen, would have afforded them milk in abundance.
These are striking contrasts between the Mongol and American race.
However, in the Transactions of the Literary and Historical Society
of Quebec, there has lately been published a “Catalogue of a few
(ninety-six) remarkable instances, which induce a belief of the Asiatic
origin of the North American Indians. By Major Mercer, R. A.” These
I recommend, as they are very interesting. Robertson says that “the
Esquimaux Indians, are the only people in America who, in their aspect
and character, bear any resemblance to the Northern Europeans.” They
differ from all the other Indian tribes in their language, disposition,
and habits of life. He thence infers the probability of their having
originally passed over from the North-west of Europe, and adds, “that
among all the other inhabitants of America, there is such a striking
similitude in the form of their bodies, and the qualities of their
minds, that notwithstanding the diversities occasioned by the influence
of climate, or unequal progress of improvement, we must pronounce
them to be descended from one source—the north east of Asia.” It may
be here added, that Cuvier, when speaking of the mouflon of the Blue
Mountains, informs us, that it is the only quadruped of any size, the
discovery of which is entirely modern, and gives it as his opinion,
that perhaps it is only a Siberian goat that has crossed the ice.
* * * * *
The junction of the Susquehanna and Juniata rivers, takes place at
Duncan’s Island. The latter is a much smaller river, varying from one
to two hundred yards in breadth. In some places its thickly forested
banks rise to a great height above the gloomy-looking stream, whose
dark placidity is occasionally disturbed by small rapids, or falls,
as they are termed, though they hardly deserve the name. I observed a
sunken raft, and one solitary fish-hawk (osprey). The road continues
along the side of the Juniata for several miles; it then leaves it,
and conducts the traveller to Lewistown. I observed nothing remarkable
in this place. Its situation, however, is picturesque, as it is
surrounded with abrupt hills and rising grounds of different elevation,
with plenty of forest, as usual. The distance from Lewistown to a
place called Brown’s Mills, is not more than five miles. Here I found
an excellent country inn, kept by an Irishman, and a most delicious
trouting stream, running rapidly through the woods, and emerging close
to the inn. It is wadeable in every part, and swarms with trout, some
of them weighing more than three pounds. Those killed with a fly, do
not average more than half a pound in weight; but it is no uncommon
occurrence to kill five or six dozen in two or three hours. When I was
there, and in fact during the whole time I passed in Pennsylvania,
the season was early, and the weather cold and unfavourable, so that I
killed but very few fish. A severe walk of twenty-five miles through
the forest, and across a range of hills known by the name of the
Seven Mountains, brought me to Belfont; a large and thriving town,
conspicuous from being placed on a hill in the midst of a very pretty
country. Close to Belfont are three full mountain streams, or creeks,
as they are called in America. Spring creek in particular, contains
an enormous quantity of trout, of about the same size as those at
Brown’s Mills; but the weather was still unfavourable, and it was all
in vain that I waded down the stream for nearly four miles. I took
but seven or eight moderate-sized fish. The red hackle is considered
the best general fly. The other streams are known by the names of the
Bald Eagle, and Logan’s creek. The former takes its name from a bald
eagle’s nest, that was annually built in the vicinity, or, which is
more probable, from a tribe of Indians so called, who resided there.
At the head waters of the other creek, is still seen the place of
residence of the celebrated Mingo chief, Logan,—whose eloquent message
to Lord Dunmore, is too well known to need insertion here. Many of the
aged inhabitants of Belfont still remember him. His fate resembled
that of Demosthenes and Cicero: he perished for his eloquence. An old
officer of the United States army, who, soon after the close of the
revolutionary war, was ordered to make surveys of the country watered
by the Alleghany river, informed me that Logan’s nephew, a remarkably
fine young Indian, dined with him one day in his tent, and that he
asked him what became of Logan. I killed him, was the reply. Why did
you kill him?—The nation ordered it. For what reason?—He was too great
a man to live: he talked so well, that although the whole nation had
intended to put any plan in execution, yet, if Logan did not approve
of it, he would soon gain a majority in favour of his opinions. Was
he not then generally in the right?—Often; but his influence divided
the nation too much. Why did they choose you to put him to death? If
any one else had done it, I would certainly have killed him: I, who am
his nephew, shall inherit his greatness. Will they not then kill you
also?—Yes: and when I become as great a man as Logan (laying his hand
on his breast with dignity), I shall be content to die! He added, that
he shot him near the Alleghany river. When informed of the resolution
of the council of his nation, Logan stopped his horse, drew himself up
in an attitude of great dignity, and received the fatal ball without a
murmur.
From Belfont I proceeded on foot over the mountains to Philipsburg,
on the western slope of the Alleghany ridge. The distance was about
twenty-eight miles. After walking for several hours along the side of
the Bald Eagle creek, I arrived at the foot of the Alleghanies. They
are composed of sandstone, and are more extensive than any in the
States on this side of the Rocky Mountains, though their height is
inconsiderable. The most elevated part of the ridge in Pennsylvania
does not, as I have said before, exceed 1300 feet; but at the other
peak, in Virginia, it rises to 3950 feet above the level of the great
western rivers, being two or three hundred feet higher than Ben
Lomond. The High Peak on the Rocky Mountains is the highest mountain
in the United States, and attains an elevation of 12,500 feet. Mount
Washington, the highest of the White Mountains, is 6234 feet in
height; Mansfield, in Vermont, the most lofty of the Green Mountains,
is somewhat higher than Ben Nevis in Scotland, as it rises to 4279
feet. I ascended the Alleghany by a good road, that wound gradually up
the side of the mountain, and after a walk of about three hours and a
half, I was in full contemplation of the most extensive forest view I
had ever yet beheld. I have seen many of the dark and impenetrable pine
forests in the north of Europe, where the mountains are far higher, and
the scenery proportionably grander, but I never remember a forest so
interminable as that I am speaking of. One small patch of cultivation
was perceivable in a very distant valley, called, I believe, Penn’s
Valley. The vast thickets of Norway, Sweden, and Russia, are chiefly
of pine trees, and are grand and gloomy enough, but sometimes tiresome
from their monotony. Nature has painted them with her usual ability;
but the colouring she has employed may be compared to that of a
drawing in Indian ink, equally creditable to the artist, but not so
pleasing to the eye as a many-tinted picture. There are plenty of pines
on the Alleghany, but there is also an immense assemblage of other
trees. A lady informed me, that being desirous of sending to England
specimens of the different woods of this part of the country, she
collected fifty-two without any difficulty; but there are many more
than these. The principal material of the American navy is, as I have
before noticed, afforded by the live-oak, so called from its being
an evergreen, and from its elasticity, extreme durability, and other
generous properties. The leaf of this tree resembles the ilex of Spain
and England, but is rather larger, and more pointed. It is not found in
Pennsylvania—growing in the southern States chiefly, in Georgia and
the Carolinas, whence it is conveyed to the different dock-yards of the
Union.
There are here, nevertheless, more than thirty varieties of the
oak, each bearing a distinct fruit: of these, the white-oak, which
is inferior in quality but comes the nearest to the navy-oak of
Great Britain; the red-oak, the black, and the rock, or scrub-oak,
are the most common. The other trees of the forest, are usually the
Spanish-chestnut (two varieties)—the horse-chestnut is not indigenous
in America, but thrives well; I saw one at the Manor near Baltimore—the
hickory (two varieties); the black-walnut; the American-poplar, or
tulip-tree, the pride of the American forest, and growing frequently to
an enormous size; yellow, white, spruce, and hemlock pines—the larch
is not found, or is rarely to be met with, in the United States: I
have not seen them in the Canadas—bass-wood, or common English-lime;
sugar-maple, white maple, red and white elm, willow, sassafras, black
and yellow birch, ash, gum-tree, beech, iron-wood, mulberry, dog-wood,
rhododendron in great quantities, kalmea, latifolia, hazel, red and
white cedar, clematis, virginiana, indigo, and a great variety of ferns
and wild vines.
In the autumn, or fall, as it is universally and prettily termed in
America, the forest view is excessively beautiful, in consequence of
the brilliant assemblage of colours exhibited by the diversity of
foliage collected together. My eye roved over a constant succession
of mountain and valley, and hill and hollow, all alike clothed in the
glorious forest garb, whilst the more distant tints became bluer and
bluer, till they faded away at the farthest verge of the horizon.
The Indian had long been driven or bought out from this part of the
country; but the rocks and thickets of the forest beneath me had
doubtless concealed many an ambush, and witnessed many a carnage. They
had responded to the sharp twang of the rifle, and re-echoed the more
terrific war-whoop; but during the time that I remained on the top of
the mountain, all around me was as silent as the place was solitary,
with the exception of the occasional stroke from the peaceful axe of
the back-woodsman, that resounded from a glade about a mile from the
spot where I had sat down to rest myself.
I soon afterwards passed the Moshanan Creek, in which an expert
fisherman on a favourable day can kill any quantity of trout he
pleases. Beside the bridge, is a small and solitary tavern, kept by an
Englishman from Gloucestershire. With him resides an old man named
Joseph Earl, a complete specimen of the real backwoodsman; just such
a character as Leatherstocking, in Mr. Cooper’s novel. He will take
his rifle and his knapsack, and frequently absent himself for weeks
at a time in search of game. If he kill a deer, he will carry off
the skin, and hang up the venison in a secure place, and from his
intimate acquaintance with the mountains, and every settler who lives
in them, no long time elapses before he can command any assistance
he may require. The principal tenants of the forest are the cougar
or painter (panther), as it is very improperly termed; the bear, the
wolf, the lynx (called the cat-a-mount), the wild cat, the marmot,
the racoon, the opossum, and red and grey foxes. The deer, which in
some places is very abundant, is the cervus virginianus, a species
unknown in Europe, of a size between the red and common fallow deer,
with a small palmated horn. Beside this there are but two species of
deer found in the eastern States, the moose deer, or great Siberian
elk, and the American elk, four of which were exhibited in London
some years ago under the coined name of wapiti, and which have bred
very well in England. Other kinds of deer, and goats, and sheep, and
an antelope from the Rocky Mountains, are exhibited in the Zoological
museum. The reindeer is found in the colder latitudes of Lower Canada,
where it exists in large herds. A species of stag of gigantic size,
with enormous horns, which Humboldt considers as a distinct species,
is very common in the forests and plains of New California. He thinks
it probable that the horns which were displayed by Montezuma to the
companions of Cortez, as objects of curiosity on account of their
immense size, belonged to this animal. A species of the same genus
as the European chevreuil, or roebuck, is also found in Canada and
some of the States. It is larger, and longer eared than the European
animal. Of the cervus virginianus, or common deer of America, a single
hunter will sometimes kill two or three in a day; but will more often
go without a shot, as they are very wild, and their sense of smelling
exceedingly acute. A still day is unfavourable; a windy day is the
best, as the sportsman can then come very near them on the windward
side. The cougar is their greatest enemy, but is luckily not very
common. A few years ago an American gentleman who had taken up his
shooting-quarters at the tavern I have just mentioned, wounded a deer,
and tracked it by the blood. On coming up with it, he observed a cougar
on the animal; he fired, and had the satisfaction to see it drop dead.
When he approached, he saw another, that had crouched behind the body
of the deer. He disabled him, and killed him with the third shot. As he
was returning, he killed another deer, and brought all the four skins
with him to the tavern. The old Englishman shewed me the scalp of a
deer that had been killed during the last season: a cougar was in full
pursuit of him; and the deer took to the water close by the tavern.
The cougar sprang on him in the water, but made off when he saw one of
the old man’s sons approaching with a rifle, from which the poor deer
received his death-wound immediately afterwards. I found that there was
a penalty of five dollars for killing a deer at this season of the year.
The winged game of these forests are—the wild turkey, which being
pursued with avidity by the sportsman, is becoming more scarce every
day: it is larger than the tame turkey, and its plumage closely
resembles that of the dark-coloured domesticated bird, but is rather
more brilliant; the pheasant, which is a species of wood-grouse; the
partridge, which should rather be termed a quail, but which is, in
fact, as I have hereafter noticed, neither one nor the other; the
woodcock, snipe, pigeons, and wild fowl, in great abundance.
The largest snakes found in these forests, are the rattle-snake,
the copper-head, or moccasin-snake, so called from its yellow
colour, resembling that of the moccasin, or Indian sandal; and the
black-snake. The latter grows to the length of seven or eight feet,
and even longer. It moves with great rapidity, is a species of the
boa-constrictor, and its habits and manner of taking its prey are
similar to those of that tremendous reptile. The bite is not poisonous.
The copper-head is a very dangerous snake, as it gives no warning
like the rattle-snake. Its name is its description, as far as it goes.
Its length is about three feet. The rattle-snake is too well known
to need much description: it invariably raises its tail and rattles
before it strikes, so that, in general, it can be easily avoided. The
Indians consider this as proof of its noble nature, and accordingly
they never destroy it, believing that it has something divine in it.
A large rattle-snake would measure four feet in length, perhaps, or a
little more, but is very thick in proportion. When about to attack,
it suddenly coils itself, with the tail raised, and rattling in the
middle of the coil, and can strike from nearly its whole length. It is
a very spirited animal; and from its moving but slowly out of the way,
is destroyed with little difficulty. Much has been said of the extreme
danger of its bite, and of the number of persons bitten; but like the
accidents from canine madness in England, they are far more often heard
of than met with. It is most probable that a person would die, unless
immediately assisted,—or have at all events a very narrow escape,
if bitten on any part of the body that happened to be naked; but if
struck through his clothes, so great a proportion of poison is by them
absorbed, or prevented from coming in contact with the blood, that the
bite, if taken in time, is not dangerous.
It is a well known and singular fact, that the body of a person
bitten, will sometimes change whilst under the influence of the
poison, to the colour of the snake that bit him. The plant called the
rattle-snake weed (bidens frondosa) is a remedy used by the Indians,
and sometimes, I was credibly informed, with great effect. The leaves
and root are boiled in milk and used as a poultice; the milk is also
taken internally. In Mr. Pratt’s botanical garden at Philadelphia, I
saw a specimen of another plant which is also considered efficacious
(polygela senaga) called by the French “l’herbe a serpente a
sonnettes.” It grows in damp and shady parts of the woods, to a height
of about two feet; has a small pointed leaf, and a single fusiform
root, resembling a piece of stick-liquorice. I was, however, assured by
a physician of eminence at Philadelphia, that the only remedy he had
never known to fail, was the speedy application of a cupping glass to
the wound, and a large tea spoonful of ammonia in a wine glass filled
with water, administered every hour till the symptoms took a favourable
turn. It is well known that hogs soon destroy every snake in the woods
around a settlement. They eat them, and are seldom known to suffer
from the bite, owing, it is said, to the quantity of fat in their
system. Almost every wild animal is their enemy; small birds will often
peck at them, although at the same time credence is certainly to be
given to the stories of fascination or terror by which small animals,
such as squirrels and birds, are sometimes rendered unable to escape
from them. Deer will crush them to death, by jumping on them with all
their four feet brought close together. I was frequently told that
rattle-snakes were common here and there; but still I never saw one:
the fact is, that they generally lie concealed. A person travelling
in the woods, will sometimes come suddenly upon fifty or a hundred
of them basking on the rocks. They all retire as the cold weather
approaches, and lie torpid during the whole winter; so that a sportsman
is in no danger from them. A French gentleman, who a year or two ago
was shooting grouse very early in the season, on the mountains in New
Jersey, was suddenly struck near his hip by a rattle-snake of the
largest size; thanks to his loose fustain trowsers, the fangs did not
touch him; the brute could not extricate itself, and hung upon him till
stunned by repeated blows from his gun.
* * * * *
Philipsburg is rapidly increasing, under the advantages of English
superintendence: it contains about eight hundred inhabitants in the
town and environs. It is almost exclusively the property of one
English gentleman, who is master of nearly 70,000 acres in that part
of the country. While I partook of his hospitality, I was agreeably
surprised by the circle of English society, which I found collected
under his roof. Several English have made Philipsburg their place of
residence. Its advantages consist in a remarkably healthy situation on
the western slope of the Alleghanies, where the descent is so gradual
as to be hardly perceptible; an easy and constant communication with
Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh on the Ohio; excellent trout-fishing, and
shooting in the forest; a very cheap market (a sheep or deer can be
bought for a dollar), and excellent medical advice. Uncleared land may
be purchased at one, two, or three dollars an acre.
The large beaver dams in this neighbourhood afford the finest pasture
imaginable. They run for several miles along the side of the Moshanan
Creek. What is now called a beaver dam, is not merely the fence or
dam which that industrious animal had thrown across the stream, but
the whole meadow over which the water was spread in consequence of
its being arrested in its course. The beaver was held sacred by the
Indians, and their habitations were probably undisturbed for centuries.
The stream, when checked in its career by the dam which those
extraordinary animals had constructed, found its level, of course, in
every nook to which it could gain access; and tree and shrub rotted
away with so much moisture. As the beaver was destroyed, or driven out
by the progress of civilization, the dams gave way, and the stream soon
returned to its former channel, and the bottom of the pond or dam is
converted into a fine meadow, exceedingly valuable for the purposes of
the grazier. A person may travel through the forest for many miles,
and will suddenly emerge upon a green open space, with scarcely a
tree or shrub upon it, although at the same time it be surrounded by
a leafy wall of the loftiest forest trees. An English gentleman had
just commenced a farm on one of these dams, and I rode about six miles
through the woods to visit him. The place had much the appearance of an
English park, which deer and other wild animals would frequently cross,
and sometimes within rifle-shot from his window. It was more than a
mile in length, with the shape and appearance of a billiard table.
At Philipsburg, and in the neighbourhood, are several iron works. I
visited a curious screw manufactory there: the machine for heading the
screws was invented on the spot, and probably there is not such another
to be found any where. It turned out about sixty screws in a minute,
and finished them off with a neatness that would excite the surprise
even of a mechanist.
I have before mentioned that Philadelphia will shortly be connected
with the Ohio river, by means of the Columbia rail-road, from which
the great Pennsylvania canal will soon be finished to the foot of the
Alleghany mountains, where it will be joined by another rail-road,
which will pass the mountains, and communicate with Pittsburg. Another
rail-road will, most probably, be constructed, so as to intersect
the same canal a little above Huntingdon. It will come from the
bituminous coal district, which lies about Philipsburg and Clearfield
county, and is spread over a great extent of ground on the western
slope of the Alleghany. Plenty of stone or anthracite coal is to be
found in many parts of Pennsylvania, and in vast quantities; but the
bituminous coal used in the transatlantic cities is supplied either
from Liverpool, from Nova Scotia, or from Virginia. The particles
of the Virginia coal, however, are too much divided, and it more
resembles the coal used by a blacksmith, than the Newcastle coal.
I have understood that bituminous coal has been lately discovered,
although in very small quantities, in Pennsylvania, on the eastern
side of the mountain. The anthracite coal throws out a very powerful
heat, but is very troublesome and unmanageable, requiring a long time
before it will kindle properly; burning without flame or smoke, and
creating an unpleasant and rather unhealthy dryness in the atmosphere
of a room. An experiment had been successfully tried in New York, by
which the anthracite coal had been rendered subservient to the purposes
of the steam-engine. It was contrived that a stream of hydrogen-gas,
generated by part of the engine, should flow constantly over the
burning coal, so that a powerful flame was thus fed under the boiler.
But in all cases where a manageable fire is required, the bituminous
coal is far preferable. By means of the Philipsburg rail-road, the
whole country will be supplied with this valuable mineral, at a very
moderate expense, from the inexhaustible stores on the western slope
of the Alleghany. The necessity of making cheaper iron is becoming
daily more imperative in the United States. For this end, to say
nothing of the carriage of timber, the Philipsburg rail-road will be
very advantageous, as it will bring down the coal to be converted into
coke, to be used in the smelting furnaces; and it will pass through
the midst of the Juniata iron district, where more than twenty forges
and furnaces already exist in full activity; and whose increasing
importance calls for a more adequate and expeditious mode of conveyance
than it at present commands. The whole country will be much benefited;
and independently of the real and lasting advantages to be gained by
the construction of the Philipsburg rail-road, an early attention to
the plan, from the proper quarter, will be but justice to the exertions
of a gentleman, who, with his brothers before him, has devoted time
and capital to the enterprise, and has called into existence a highly
respectable community, and the most thriving and useful settlement in
the back woods of Pennsylvania.
[Illustration:
G.T. Vigne delṭ
T. S. Engleheart, sculpṭ
NORTHUMBERLAND, ON THE SUSQUEHANNA, PENNSYLVANIA.
_Published by Whittaker & C^o. April 10, 1832._]
* * * * *
I left Philipsburg, and returned to Belfont, whence I took the
road to Northumberland. In about six hours I again came in sight
of the Susquehanna, flowing through an extensive valley, with its
lofty southern bank robed to the very summit by a covert so thickly
interwoven as to be absolutely impassable. I proceeded down the side
of the river till I arrived at the ferry at Dunnsburg. Here I met
with a piece of singular incivility and impudence. The insolent young
Charon allowed me to place my luggage in his leaky bark; but as I was
proceeding to take my seat, he “calkilated,” with the most disagreeable
twang (at least, I thought so) that I had yet heard, “that I must pay
him a fip (five-penny bit) before I put my foot into his boat.” It was
all in vain that I pointed to my portmanteau, intimating that it would
be “assets” for the payment of my passage to the other side. Nothing
would satisfy him but my fip beforehand; and I was obliged to pay it.
It appeared that some stage-passengers had gone off without paying, and
he did not wish to be cheated a second time. The guard who arrived with
the mail, was so enraged at his conduct, that he actually took out one
of the horses, crammed him through the river, and arrived safely on
the other side with the letter-bags.
Within a mile or two of Dunnsburg, are some Indian tumuli; but I did
not stop to see them. I travelled onward through a most delightful
country, abounding in black-oak; the bark of which is sent down the
river, and shipped off in great quantities for England, where it is
used in dying. I enjoyed a very fine view from the hill over which the
road passes near Moncey; but I afterwards saw the same prospect to
much greater advantage, from Northumberland. This place contains about
two thousand inhabitants, and is most delightfully situated on the
neck of land that separates the northern and western branches of the
Susquehanna. The celebrated Dr. Priestley spent the latter years of his
life in this place. He died about twenty-five years ago. I was assured
by an old and intimate friend of his, who was with him but a few
minutes before he died, that there was great foundation for a prevalent
belief, that for some months previously to his death, he changed his
opinions in favour of the divinity of Christ.
Good land, in a state of cultivation, is worth twenty, thirty, forty,
or even a hundred dollars the acre, in this part of the country. The
average profits of land amount to twelve and a half per cent. Thirty
bushels of wheat is a good crop. The wages of the married labourer are
fifteen dollars a month (the United States dollar is equal to 4_s._
6_d._). Single men, who board at the house of their employer, receive
but ten. Wherever I made inquiry, I found the rate of labourers’ wages
to be much the same throughout the States.
I crossed the western branch of the Susquehanna by a new and handsome
wooden bridge, built as usual on stone piers. Its length was 1316 feet,
and it cost 70,000 dollars. I then immediately ascended the heights
on the other side. From them I had a full view of both branches of
this “shining river,” an appellation which none deserves better than
the Susquehanna. I preferred the scenery around Moncey to that in
the direction of Wyoming. The sun was declining behind the precipice
on which I stood, which was thrown more and more into shade, as the
red rays glanced through the pines on its summit, and swept downward
into the broad and beautiful valley beneath me. The windings of the
river were visible to a great distance. Although considerably larger,
it strongly reminded me of the Thames seen from Richmond-hill. Its
tranquil lake-like stream meandered through the country, encircling
several islands: at one time gliding in silence through the forest,
or emerging to roll its waters over a rich and extensive meadow, it
freshened every thing in its course; and when it had fully performed
the task of ornament and usefulness allotted to it by nature, it seemed
to lose itself through a gap in the Blue Mountains, from which in
reality it issued.
Beautiful as it is, yet, were this England, I could not help thinking,
how different would be the appearance of the country! I am gazing on
a view, as splendid as any one of the same character I ever beheld in
any land,—I see before me a noble river, winding its way through an
exquisite landscape, of hill and dale, and wood and verdure, abounding
in every resource that could make a country life agreeable; but it is
in vain that my disappointed eye roves over the scene, and rests on the
most magnificent situations for park and palace: where, thought I, are
the “stately homes of England?”—where is the marble-fronted hall, and
the village church beside it, with its spire pointing to the heavens?
The powerless genius of embellishment wanders disconsolate along the
beautiful banks of the Susquehanna, and bitterly complains that he is
fettered by the spirit of democracy.
I am far from meaning to infer in the above passage, that there is
any lack of churches in the United States. On the contrary, they are
numerous. As an Englishman, I am here speaking merely with reference to
situation, and the association of ideas excited in my mind.
The Americans, in general, are not fond of comparisons between England
and their own country, except in cases where the balance is in their
favour; but still, I have often observed that there is no subject
of conversation more gladly discussed by an American gentleman, and
more particularly by those who have country houses of their own,
than the splendour of the seats of our nobility and gentry, and the
perfection of society which is enjoyed at them. There is nothing in
England so apt to elicit from them a remark of honest regret, as their
knowledge of the very remote probability, I may almost add, the utter
hopelessness, of their ever being able to boast of seats and villas
at all equal to those on this side of the Atlantic, so long as the
present form of government exists in full force. Who would build a
really splendid mansion, which, after his death, will probably either
become a ruin, or be sold, and converted into an hospital? or who would
clear and beautify a park of any extent, to be divided and ploughed
up by his needy successors? I have seen country houses in America,
whose delightful situation, and gentlemanly appearance, (although it
must be allowed, they often look their best at a distance), only serve
to render the prospect of division the more melancholy. I have been
kindly received at many of them: I have usually noticed a due attention
to comfort and elegance, and invariably, to kindness and hospitality;
but I have not been able to avoid a remark, that there did not appear
to be much difference in the size of the houses, or the extent of the
grounds, as if there existed a general and mournful acknowledgment,
that a just medium was to be observed between the expense incurred with
reference to present enjoyment, and the probability of an ultimate loss
of capital, when the future was regarded. I could name a few, but very
few, exceptions.
Whatever the Americans may think of their institutions in other
respects, there are many sensible Americans—and I have met with
them—who will acknowledge the inefficacy of these to counteract
the disadvantages, not to say miseries, sometimes arising from
the non-existence of the law of primogeniture. The object is, to
exclude the preponderance of wealth, because it tends to generate
an aristocracy of political power. The non-existence of the law of
primogeniture is, I think, with great deference, but lamely defended
by Chancellor Kent, in his admirable Commentaries on American Law,
and which, by the way, are most richly deserving of a place in every
library, if it be merely on account of the learned dissertations
on the history of every republic of note that has ever existed. He
quotes Adam Smith in support of his opinions; the Marquess Garnier,
his French translator; and the Baron de Stael Holstein,—and although
he acknowledges the attendant evils, yet he says it would be an error
to suppose that they have been already felt. But surely there are
some which he does not contemplate in his work; but which must be
acknowledged to have a miserable effect upon the state of society. A
sale, not unattended with sacrifice, takes place at the decease of
nearly every person who dies in possession of landed property. This
is followed by a minute division of the proceeds amongst the next of
kin. As to the law of dower, it is much the same as that of England
generally; but where the sale has been made, the produce is considered
as real estate so far, and the widow receives an annuity from one
third in lieu of her dower. This does not effect the distribution of
the remainder, which is divided as in England. It often happens, that
the share of each person, if young, is just enough to purchase his
destruction.
Very frequently, but in some States more than others, its most
prominent application is detected by the effects of a vicious
indulgence in ardent spirits, principally among the second and
lower classes. Drunkenness still prevails to an alarming extent,
notwithstanding the benign presence of the temperate societies. I
have heard the most melancholy and appalling accounts of its ravages
in private life; and in one place I was informed of its disgusting
influence over judicial morality. The root of the evil is in the
expectations which are formed: it is the certainty of actual possession
of property at a future time, accompanied by ignorance as to its
amount, that so often cherishes in the children the most dissolute
habits of idleness, with all their attendant evils. Supposing both
of them in the same easy circumstances as country gentlemen, and
fathers of families, how different must of necessity be the sentiments
of an American and an Englishman, when they survey their respective
fire sides! Both see around them their wives and children, in the
possession of affluence and comfort, and happy in the enjoyment of
each other’s society. But in the event of his death, how gloomy may be
the picture drawn by the one, in opposition to that contemplated by
the other! A divided estate and a dispersed family, present themselves
to the mind of the American; or perhaps a small part of them living
together, but unable to command any share of the luxuries, and not many
of the comforts they enjoy during his lifetime, in consequence of a
secession of property by marriage, or decrease of it from dissipation.
The Englishman feels a debt of gratitude to the constitution of his
country: in the event of his death, his house, in the possession of
his eldest son, will be a home for his widow and a place of meeting
for his children. His younger sons have been brought up under the idea
that they are to be the architects of their own fortunes, and such a
doctrine has not rendered them unhappy, because it has enforced the
virtue of contentment. The law of primogeniture perpetuates, through
the eldest son, a species of parental affection and authority; and
where there is a title to descend, there is a further inducement to
the eldest son to emulate the virtues or the actions of an illustrious
father; or, if that father has brought disgrace upon a distinguished
name or sullied the escutcheon of a distinguished family (which, be
it added, is sometimes the case), the son may be naturally desirous
of wiping away the stain, and of giving the benefit of his example
to society, by his imitation of the character of a nobler ancestor.
There is yet a further deficiency of inducement to exertion existing
in the American, and in every other democracy. In England, a young man
in the enjoyment of a sufficient income, and who is consequently not
obliged to labour at any profession with a view to its increase, yet
with the possibility of obtaining a title, will exert his abilities to
the utmost; but in America, the stimulus of titled distinction being
unknown, it must often happen that the finest talents are doomed to
remain unemployed.
I crossed the north branch of the Susquehanna, and passed on to the
town of Sunbury, on the bank of the main river, and about two miles
distant from Northumberland. Sunbury is a very pretty country town,
with a delightful promenade along the side of the river. In all parts
of the vicinity there are some beautiful prospects: near it, a very
large dam has been thrown across the stream, where, by the junction of
its two branches, it spreads out, and forms a basin three quarters of a
mile across. I observed some fishermen hauling their nets, and went up
to them. They had taken some cat-fish, and several salmon. The cat-fish
has obtained its name from its appearance: its head, which is out of
all proportion to its body, is large and round, with the addition of
two worm-like appendages projecting beneath the eyes, like the whiskers
of a cat. It is altogether a dark, ugly-looking fish; but is eatable,
with a flavour something like that of an eel, but inferior. In the
larger western rivers it sometimes attains a weight of eighty or one
hundred pounds. The fish improperly called the salmon, in no respects
resembles the real salmon of Great Britain. It has none of the
peculiarities of the salmo genus; and does not rise at a fly. In figure
it is not remarkable; in colour it is more similar to the pike than to
any fish I am acquainted with. The weight of those usually taken, is
about a pound; but some of them are larger. A fly-fisher would have but
moderate sport on the Susquehanna; but he might kill a great variety
of fish, if he condescended to use a bait, and might occasionally
take a large trout with a minnow. The river contains pike and eels,
of immense size; trout, not numerous; rock-fish, cat-fish, suckers,
common and silver perch—a beautiful fish; and a very small species of
lamprey, that is only used as a bait. The shad is also found in great
quantities in this and almost all the rivers of the Eastern States.
It is excellent eating, and usually weighs about four pounds; but I
thought the flavour of the Susquehanna salmon equal, if not superior,
to any fish I tasted in the United States. I should almost presume that
it was peculiar to that river, as I have frequently met with natives of
other States who had never heard of it.
At Sunbury, I chanced to be told that three Yorkshiremen had just been
taken up. I would bet three to one, said I to myself, that their crime
is horse-stealing! and so it proved when I made inquiry.
I here turned my steps away from the Susquehanna, which for placid
beauty surpassed in my opinion any other river in the States, and
proceeded towards Philadelphia, by way of Pottsville and Reading.
Scarcely more than a year ago there were but a few houses at the former
place; but in consequence of the immediate vicinity of enormous beds of
anthracite coal, and the improved means of conveyance to Philadelphia,
its size and importance had increased in a most extraordinary manner.
The country around Philadelphia is very flat; so that I could not
find a rising ground to take a sketch from, at what I considered the
best distance. But, I think, in passing down the river, in my way to
Baltimore, I perceived a small cliff on the left bank, that would have
answered the purpose, being distant about two miles and a half. A view
in a flat country requires great minuteness, if it be taken correctly,
and would have occupied too much time; besides, before commencing a
drawing of either of the larger cities in the Union, it really became
a matter of consideration, that I had but one cake of “Newman’s light
red” in my colour-box.
A fine steamer carried me down the Delaware. About thirty-five miles
from Philadelphia, we passed Wilmington and Brandywine. We were
then landed at the mouth of the Chesapeake and Delaware canal, and
were towed onward, at a brisk trot, in one of the canal boats, and
soon entered the Elk river, near the head waters of Chesapeake bay.
The country was flat; and a great proportion of it was covered with
forest. Here we went on board another steam-boat, that rattled us along
at a tremendous pace down the Chesapeake, passing the mouth of the
Susquehanna. The captain assured me that upon one occasion, during a
camp-meeting, he had carried no less than fifteen hundred persons at a
time; he landed them during the night, and about two hundred got away
without paying their passage.
In an hour or two, the North Point, at the entrance of the Patapsco
river, became visible. General Ross landed here, with the British
force of 5000 men, on the 12th of September, 1814, and met his death
in the skirmish that ensued shortly afterwards. I rode from Baltimore
to the spot where he fell, marked by a small plain stone-monument, by
the side of the road. The last four miles out of fourteen lay through a
very pretty wood, affording a most grateful shade. When we were within
two miles from the city, we passed Fort Mac Henry, which was bombarded
upon the same occasion, almost from the extremity of the range of a
shell. Some of them, where they fell, penetrated the ground to a depth
of five or six feet.
Baltimore, when viewed from the Chesapeake, appears to be built
over several low hills, or slopes, and surrounded by others that
are considerably higher. Its situation is much finer than that
of Philadelphia. It is not so fine as that of New York; but in
some respects, is, I think, superior to Boston. When approached by
water, the most conspicuous objects are—Washington’s monument, the
shot-towers, the Roman Catholic cathedral, and the Unitarian church,
all scattered in different parts of the city. Washington’s monument
is a plain column of marble, raised on a square base, 175 feet in
height, and surmounted by a colossal statue of Washington. It is seen
from a great distance on every side, and commands the finest and most
extensive prospect; but I am very much inclined to doubt the taste
that placed any other than an allegorical object on the top of a lofty
pillar. The size of the column, and its simplicity, are calculated
to excite admiration; but in my humble judgment, it would have been
much better to have had a really fine statue placed inside the base of
the column, than to perch the General upon a height that would make
a living Admiral feel giddy. Lord Hill’s monument, near Shrewsbury,
and that to the memory of General Brock, at Queenstown, are, I think,
objectionable, for the same reasons. The battle monument is much
prettier, although it is somewhat florid in its ornaments: it is
fifty-four feet in height. The column is a circular fasces, symbolical
of the Union, twined round with fillets, bearing the names of those
who fell on the 12th and 13th of September, 1814; and supporting an
allegorical statue of a female, personifying the city of Baltimore,
with a bald eagle, the United States’ emblem, at her side. The
Archbishop of Maryland is the metropolitan of the States. The Catholic
cathedral is a handsome building, with a dome in imitation of the
Pantheon. The inside, which is divided into pews, contains two very
good pictures from the French school: a descent from the cross, by
Paul Guerin, presented by Louis XVI.; and St. Louis burying his dead
officers and soldiers before Tunis, by Steaben, presented by Charles
X. The descent from the cross is much and deservedly admired. It has
the merit of being free from that tedious detail that is usually to
be observed in the works of French artists, who paint every thing
as it is, and not as it appears. It occurred to me, that the body
of Christ did not sufficiently rest on the ground, as intended. The
latter picture displays more of the French taste. I did not like
it so well, but many prefer it to the other. At Baltimore, is the
University of Maryland, which ranks very high as a medical school.
The average expenses of a student are one hundred and twenty dollars
per annum. It has also professors in law and divinity. St. Mary’s
College and Baltimore College are also justly celebrated throughout
the Union; the latter will accommodate one hundred and fifty students,
who are instructed, by twelve professors, in the ancient and modern
languages, mathematics, natural philosophy, &c. The city also contains
a good museum, which I did, and many more public buildings, which I
did not visit, as I could not learn that there was any thing in them
particularly deserving of attention. The theatre was not open.
* * * * *
The waters of the Chesapeake and the Patapsco are the favourite resort
of the canvas-back duck, which I had always been told was the greatest
delicacy imaginable; and, “like nothing else, sir! I assure ye!” The
sporting commences early in November, and affords most excellent sport.
An experienced shot will sometimes kill three dozen in a morning
with a single gun; and occasionally they are shot on the wing with a
single rifle. The canvas-back duck very much resembles the red-headed
wigeon, or common dun-bird. Lucien Bonaparte, who has so well continued
Wilson’s work on American Ornithology, has successfully shown that it
is quite a different bird. It is about half as large again, with a
black and different formed bill and black legs. Those of the red-headed
wigeon are of a dark lead colour. They breed on the borders of the
great lakes, or about Hudson’s Bay; but in the winter months, they
are found in prodigious quantities on the Chesapeake, the Patapsco,
and the Potamac. Its flavour is owing to the root of the Vallissneria
Americana, or wild celery, on which it feeds, and for which it will
dive to a depth of eight or ten feet. The red-headed wigeon, when in
company with the canvas-back, will often wait till it has risen from
the bottom, and then snatch from it the hard-earned morsel. The _bons
vivants_ of America, talk of the canvas-back with an interest that
borders on affection, and is sometimes very amusing. “Sir,” said an old
fellow to me, “I wished to give a duck feast, and accordingly I bought
nine couple of them, all fresh killed, and all of the right weight. I
stuffed them into every corner of my gig; and would not suffer the cook
to touch them, except in my presence. I dressed them all myself, in
different ways, in my parlour, so as to have them all done according
to figure, sir! Well, sir! all my company had arrived, except an old
German; we could not wait, and sat down without him. When he came, he
exclaimed, ‘What! noshing but duckhs!’ I started up in a rage, sir! a
violent rage, sir! ‘Noshing but duckhs!’ I repeated after him: Why,
you d——d old scoundrel, said I, your own Emperor of Austria never
had such a dinner: he could not, sir, though he gave the best jewel in
his crown for it.” I tasted these birds several times before I quitted
America, and they certainly are extremely good. The meat is dark,
and should be sent to table underdone, or what in America is called
“rare.” I think the flavour might be imitated by a piece of common wild
duck, and a piece of fine juicy venison, tasted at the same time. The
word “rare” used in that sense, and which is given by Johnson, on the
authority of Dryden, is no doubt one of many which have retained in
America, a meaning in which they are not now used in England, but which
was doubtless carried over the Atlantic by the settlers of a hundred
years ago. I confess that I was for some time in error. I heard every
one around me giving orders that his meat should be “rare,” and I
thought it a mispronunciation of the word raw.
The environs of Baltimore are exceedingly pretty: almost every eminence
is crowned with a country house, surrounded by gardens and pleasure
grounds richly wooded, and laid out to the best advantage, so as
generally to afford a peep through the trees at some part of the
Patapsco, or the Chesapeake. They are admirably adapted for a fête
champêtre, or a strawberry party, as it is called at Baltimore. I had
the honour of an invitation to the only one that was given during my
stay in that city. The company assembled about six o’clock. Quadrilles
and waltzes were kept up with great spirit, first on the lawn, and
then in the house till about eleven. In the mean time strawberries
and cream, ices, pine apples, and champagne, were served up in the
greatest profusion. I had understood, and am quite ready to admit, that
Baltimore deservedly enjoys a high reputation for female beauty. I am
speaking of the American ladies in general, when I remark that it is no
injustice to them to maintain, that where you will see twenty pretty
girls, you will not see one really handsome woman. I have frequently
observed the prettiest features,—such as more reminded me of England,
than of any other country; but I think that most Europeans who have
formed a correct taste from the “stone ideal” of Greece, would agree
with me that ladies with pretensions to that higher degree of beauty,
are not so often to be met with in America as in England. There is one
particular in which they would do well to imitate my fair countrywomen.
They have great charms for the breakfast table; but yet, elegant and
lady-like as many of them undoubtedly are, how often have I been
compelled to wish, that the breakfast table had not quite so many
charms for them. They _must_ know that to eat is unfeminine; and that
ladies should in the presence of gentlemen, appear _very_ hungry, is
a decided proof of a deficiency in national manners,—just as much, or
even more so, than that men, be they who or what they may, should sit
with their hats on in the dress circle at New York. The influence of a
court would extend to, and would remedy all this. I should here again
remark, that the first society is seldom seen at the theatre, and would
not be guilty of such behaviour.
It is a matter of great surprise to a stranger, that there is not one
single promenade at Baltimore. There are some very eligible situations
immediately adjoining the city, and which to all appearance are so
easily convertible into a public walk, that it is difficult to
understand why the ladies do not insist upon its commencement. I would
most humbly advise them to do so.
I was honoured with an invitation to “the Manor,” the country residence
of Mr. Carroll, of Carrollton. The house was built long before the
revolution, and is a curious specimen of Anglo-American architecture,
somewhat resembling one of those large old parsonage houses which are
to be seen in some parts of England. It stands in the midst of an
extensive domain, in a high state of cultivation, and extremely well
and neatly kept, considering that it is worked by slaves. I could have
fancied myself in England, but for the loose zigzag fences of split
logs, which offer to the eye but a poor apology for the English hedge
row. Hedges of any kind would not, generally speaking, thrive well in
the United States. It would be necessary, I was told, that they should
be banked up, in order to keep them from being washed away by the heavy
rains; and it is probable that during the extreme heat of the summer
months, they could not obtain moisture sufficient to preserve them from
being dried up entirely. They are, however, often to be seen close to a
gentleman’s house, where they can be constantly attended to. I should
conceive that the aloe hedges of Spain and Portugal, might succeed in
the United States. It is neither a fault, nor a misfortune, that there
is no water scenery at “the Manor.” The rivers and lakes of America
are usually on a vast and magnificent scale, fitted either to bound or
to deluge a continent; small streams are also common; but a lake for
instance of a mile or two in length, is seldom to be seen, excepting
in New England, where they are plentiful. Before I arrived there, I do
not think that I had seen more than half a dozen ponds, and those all
in Kentucky. Instead of being thought an advantage, a piece of water
is avoided; no American, from choice, would build on its banks, as the
exhalations in the hot weather render such a situation very unhealthy,
excepting in the more northerly states.
At the manor I partook of that hospitality which is so kindly and
universally extended to every foreigner who visits Baltimore with
a proper letter of introduction. Mr. Carroll himself, is the most
extraordinary individual in America. This venerable old gentleman is in
his ninety-fifth year, is exceedingly cheerful, enjoys most excellent
health, and is in good possession of his faculties. He is the only
survivor of the patriots who signed the Declaration of Independence on
the 4th of July, 1776. He has always adhered to the federal principles,
and his valuable estate is one of the very few that have descended in
a direct line from the first possessor. Mr. Carroll is the grandfather
of the Ladies Wellesley and Caermarthen.
No one who visits Baltimore should omit seeing the vessels known by
the name of clippers. They are uncommonly neat single-decked schooners
usually, but sometimes are rigged like a brig. Their burden is commonly
about 200 tons. They are cut remarkably sharp at the bows, with a great
breadth of beam. When lying in the water, the head is considerably
elevated above the stern, so that, although the masts are nearly at
right angles with the hull, they appear to rake much more than they
really do. They will sail on a wind at the rate of seven knots an hour,
when other fast sailing vessels can make only five and a half, or six;
but few of them are good sailers before the wind. They usually make
a voyage to the Havannah, where they are sold for slave ships, or to
South America, where they are bought by smugglers or pirates, for whose
occupations they are admirably adapted. They are built nowhere so well
as at Baltimore.
Two rail-roads had been commenced at Baltimore: one called the
Baltimore and Ohio rail-road, because it was intended to join that
river. The exact line of country through which it would pass, was as
yet a secret with a select few, who would thus be able to secure from
the owners a refusal of the land through which it passed without being
obliged to pay an increased price. The other is called the Susquehanna
rail-road, and was intended to join that river at York-haven, about
sixty miles below Harrisburg. Deputations have been sent from Baltimore
to Philadelphia, to obtain the necessary permission to carry it into
the state of Pennsylvania; but their applications have been, I was
informed, twice refused. The rail-road, however, is still continued,
from a well-grounded persuasion that the inhabitants of the western
parts of Pennsylvania, convinced of the advantages that will accrue
to them by its affording them another means of carriage for their
bituminous coal, iron, and timber, will ultimately succeed in obtaining
a majority in Congress in favour of its completion. But does not a
jealousy of this kind arise, after a contemplation, however distant,
of the political horizon? Has it not a prospective reference to the
interest of the State separately, when the federal government shall be
no more?
By the constitution of Maryland the governor does not possess the right
of a veto over the Acts of the general assembly.
More flour is annually inspected at Baltimore, than at any other port
in the United States excepting New York. The amount for the year
1830, was 597,804 barrels; but by the returns made since the first
of January, 1831, it is supposed that the quantity in this year will
exceed 600,000 barrels. The wheat that is shipped, is sent almost
exclusively to England; but it bears a very small proportion to the
flour, although it sells better in the English market—about 70,000
bushels of wheat were shipped this year for England. The quality in
general is good, excepting that a portion of it is sometimes tainted
with garlick; a nuisance that is almost unavoidable, because the plant
grows spontaneously in the wheat districts. It is said to have been
first introduced by the Hessians, during the revolutionary war, and it
has since increased so much, that it cannot be got rid of. The wheat
exported from Baltimore is grown in the State of Maryland, and in
many parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania. Money had been plentiful for
the last two years, and investments that would produce five per cent.
were not easily to be met with. A market overstocked with imports from
Europe and India, was the assignable cause: trade was comparatively
less brisk, and many capitalists withdrew their funds from active
business, for the purpose of investment in the stock of bank insurance
and rail-road companies. A great quantity of money was likewise lying
in the market in consequence of the national debt being in a course
of reduction by the payment of government loans. However, when I was
there, money was more scarce, and worth more than six per cent.; the
exchange on England had risen as high as eleven per cent. per annum,
and a large quantity of specie had been exported to that country.
At Baltimore, I first saw the fire-fly. They begin to appear about
sunset, after which they are sparkling in all directions. In some
places ladies will wear them in their hair, and the effect is said to
be very brilliant. Mischievous boys will sometimes catch a bull-frog,
and fasten them all over him. They show to great advantage, while the
poor frog, who cannot understand the “new lights” that are breaking
upon him, affords amusement to his tormentors by hopping about in a
state of desperation.
About thirty miles from Baltimore, on the western shore as it is
termed, stands Annapolis the capital of Maryland. It is situated at
the bottom of a fine bay, and contains several curious old houses,
built long before the revolution. The most conspicuous object is the
capitol, which is surmounted by a fine steeple. The general assembly
of Maryland, hold their sittings there, and it was there that General
Washington resigned to the federal congress the command he had so nobly
used. It sat there for some time after the independence of the United
States was established.
At Baltimore, I visited the studies of two very promising young
artists: Mr. Hubard, an Englishman, is certainly the better painter;
but has the advantage of four or five years of experience over Mr.
Miller, who is an American, quite a boy; and whom, I think, at least an
equal genius. He has had little or no instruction. If sent to Europe,
as he certainly ought to be, I will venture to predict, that at some
future period he will be an ornament to his native city; and which he
certainly never will, or can be, if he does not leave it. Will it be
credited, that in America, with all her pretensions to good sense and
general encouragement of emulation and enterprise, the voice of public
opinion is a bar to the advantage of drawing from a living model?
Without it, historical painting cannot thrive, and sculpture must be
out of the question.
I left Baltimore with regret: I had been kindly and hospitably
treated there,—and in a few hours the mail carried me to Washington.
This city of distances—this capital that is to be—is laid out upon
an open piece of undulating down, on the north side of the Potomac.
The capitol of the United States is built upon the most lofty part
of it, which is ascended by a fine flight of steps, and altogether
has a very imposing appearance, being visible at a great distance
from almost every side. It is of free-stone, which is found on the
river about thirty miles below the city. In front is a magnificent
portico of Corinthian columns, and behind it there is another; in the
same style, (though larger), as that at Wanstead House in Essex, or
Wentworth Castle in Yorkshire, which is a copy of Wanstead. On the top
are three domes; that in the centre would look a great deal better
if it were deeply fluted, like the dome of St. Paul’s; at present it
would be much better out of the way, as it gives a general appearance
of heaviness, to what would otherwise be deservedly thought a very
fine building. From the balustrade is obtained a delightful view of
the river, and the surrounding country. The centre of the interior
of the capitol, is occupied by a large open space under the dome,
containing four pictures, that look very well at a little distance:
the subjects are the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, the
Surrender of General Burgoyne, the Surrender of Lord Cornwallis;
and General Washington resigning his command at Annapolis. They are
painted by Col. Trumbull. The remainder of the capitol is occupied
by the apartments and offices connected with the senate, the house
of representatives, and the supreme court of the United States. The
pillars which support the roof of the chamber of representatives, are
of breccia, or pudding-stone; perhaps the most singular formation of
the kind that is to be found anywhere, not excepting that at Monserrat
in Spain, which is entirely composed of breccia. Fragments of granite,
quartz, limestone, and other rocks, have been pressed together in the
most extraordinary manner, by some stupendous power, and from a little
distance the composition might be mistaken for the _verd antique_.
It is found on the Potomac, about thirty miles above Washington. The
president’s house is a handsome building, with an Ionic portico; and
the only one in the States that resembles the modern residence of
a British nobleman. It is exactly at the distance of one mile and a
half in a straight line from the capitol, and the houses are continued
beyond it for nearly another. Numerous large streets radiate from the
capitol and the president’s house, as centres—a method of laying out a
city far handsomer than that which has been adopted at Philadelphia,
where the streets cross each other at right angles. Who that has
seen the “Perspective” at Petersburg, can ever forget it? where the
principal streets are all pointed towards the beautifully gilt steeple
of the Admiralty, that is seen glittering at the end of each of them.
It must be allowed that this arrangement has its disadvantages in the
shape of the houses, and apartments, one end of which, if they are
regularly divided, must be larger than the other.
In the dock-yard at Washington, I saw a sixty-gun frigate in a state of
forwardness, and a small schooner constructed on a plan that had never
been applied to a vessel of war, being of the same shape fore and aft,
and having no internal timbers. The blocks made there, are not all of
one piece, as they are at our dock-yard at Portsmouth. A double block
for instance, is composed of seven pieces of wood, exclusively of the
sheave. They are, no doubt, much stronger when made in this manner; but
a man can make but one in half an hour.
The college at George Town, adjoining the city, is a Catholic
establishment; its members are Jesuits, and who, as usual, are
increasing their influence, by purchasing lands, &c. Attached to the
college, is the nunnery of the Sisters of Visitation, containing about
fifty nuns. They tell there of a Hohenlohe miracle.
Washington, like most of the American cities, can boast of several
beautiful rides and walks in its vicinity. Arlington, the seat of
George Washington P. Castis, Esq., occupies a most conspicuous and
commanding situation, on the south bank of the Potomac. It is visible
for many miles, and in the distance has the appearance of a superior
English country residence, beyond any place I had seen in the States:
but as I came close to it, as usual, I was wofully disappointed. It
contains a valuable portrait of Washington, when a Major in the British
service, and wearing of course the blue-and-buff uniform.
Not far from the race ground, and about three miles from George
Town, is the residence of a gentleman who has paid greater and more
indefatigable attention to the culture of the vine than any other
person in America. The vineyards around his house produce several
different kinds of grapes; from which, considering how few years have
elapsed since the attempt was first made, he may be said to have been
very successful in producing some very good and palatable wines.
Amongst others, the best is dignified by the very aristocratic name of
“Tokay.” It is made from the “Catawba” grape, which he himself first
found in a cottager’s garden, not far from a tavern bearing the sign
of the Catawba Indians, distant about twenty miles from Washington.
From this circumstance he called it the Catawba grape. The Catawba
is a river of South Carolina, but no grape of the kind is found near
it. The cottagers could give him no satisfactory account of it, and
he never could find out whether it was indigenous, or, which is most
likely the fact, imported. It is rather a large grape, thick-skinned,
but at the same time very transparent, with a fine purple blush, and
far more fit for making wine than to form part of a dessert. As yet it
appears to thrive better than any kind of grape that has been tried
in the United States; so much so, that at Pittsburgh, and Lancaster,
and other places where there are vineyards, they have cleared away
a large proportion of the European plants, in favour of the Catawba
vine. He informed me that he had sent cuttings of it to every State
in the Union excepting Florida, Arkansaw, and Kentucky. A long time,
however, must elapse before the Americans can compete with the wines
of Europe: as yet, comparatively speaking, little can be known there,
either with reference to the best fruit, or to the soil and temperature
necessary to bring it to perfection. Upwards of seventy kinds of the
wild vine are found in the American forests, but not more than half
of them bear fruit. At Boston I tasted a grape called the Isabella
grape, whose flavour was still harsh, but was a great and decided
improvement in every respect, upon the sourness of the fox-grape of the
woods, from which, I was informed, it had been originally produced. I
am, of course, speaking of the Catawba and other grapes, only in their
wine-making capacity; the grapes raised in the United States for the
table, are exceedingly good and very plentiful.
As a matter of course, I visited Mount Vernon. A steam-boat conveyed me
to Alexandria in an hour. Alexandria was taken by the British squadron
on the 29th of August, 1814, and the stores of flour, tobacco, and
cotton, were carried off by them. It contains a population of 9000
persons, and carries on a trade in flour, tobacco, fish, and lumber, to
the southern States and the West Indies, although Baltimore has run
away with the greater part of its commerce. A ride of nine miles on a
well-shaded road, conducted me to Mount Vernon, now in possession of
John Augustine Washington, Esq., nephew to the General, and to the late
Judge, whose worth and learning are recorded by an inscription in the
court-house of Philadelphia. Of the house itself there is little to be
said. I saw there a piece of an old mug, which bears upon it a small
head of the General, said to be the best likeness of him that is known
anywhere. From the lawn, there is a fine view of the Potomac with Fort
Washington nearly opposite, which was abandoned at the approach of the
British squadron in 1814. In passing Mount Vernon, the ships fired a
salute it well deserved. I must confess that I was greatly disappointed
at the sight of the tomb that contains the ashes of Washington. I
did not expect grandeur, but I thought to have seen something more
respectable than either the old, or the new tomb, to which the coffin
was removed two years ago. But for the inscription, I should have
taken them for a couple of ice-houses. An avoidance of every thing
like pretension is desirable only so long as it is attended with
neatness;—but there is not even what can be fairly called a path to
either of them. Instead of feeling as I wished, whilst in contemplation
of the last long-home of this really great, because good man, my mind
was only occupied by intrusive reflections on the insignificant and
pauper-like appearance of the whole scene before me. The tears of La
Fayette, when visiting the tomb in 1825, might have partly flowed from
other sources than the mere consciousness that he was standing in the
presence of the mortal remains of his old friend and companion in
arms. There has been some talk of removing the coffin to the centre of
the hall in the capitol, and of a monument to be raised over it, but
I have understood that it is not seriously contemplated. If it were
placed there, it might one day be the means of saving the Union. How
forcible, how effective, in a moment of danger, might be an eloquent
appeal to its presence, made by the Judges of the supreme court, or the
orators of the American congress!
I was never fortunate enough to hear a mocking bird in its wild
state; I had frequently heard them in cages, but nowhere in such
perfection as at Washington. This bird, one of the noblest in nature,
is an inhabitant of the southern states only, and is thus described
by Wilson, the celebrated Ornithologist. “The plumage of the mocking
bird would scarcely entitle him to notice, but his figure is well
proportioned, and even handsome. The ease, elegance, and rapidity
of his movements—the animation of his eye, and the intelligence he
displays in listening and laying up lessons from almost every species
of the feathered race within his hearing, are really surprising, and
mark the superiority of his genius. He has a voice capable of almost
every modulation, from the clear mellow notes of the wood-thrush,
to the savage scream of the bald-eagle. In measure and accent, he
faithfully follows his originals; in force and sweetness of expression,
he greatly improves upon them: his admirable song rises paramount
over every competitor. His own native notes are bold and full, and
varied beyond all limits. In the height of his song, his ardour and
animation appear unbounded—he sweeps round with enthusiastic ecstasy—he
mounts or descends as his song swells or dies away; and as my friend
Mr. Bartram, (an American naturalist), has beautifully expressed it:
“he bounds aloft with the rapidity of an arrow, as if to recover or
recall his very soul, expired in the last elevated strain. While thus
exerting himself, a by-stander destitute of sight would suppose, that
the whole feathered tribe had assembled together, each striving to
produce his utmost effort, so perfect are his imitations. He many times
deceives the sportsman, and sends him in search of birds that are not
within a mile of him, but whose notes he exactly imitates. Even birds
themselves are imposed upon by his admirable music, and are decoyed
by the fancied calls of their mates, or are driven with precipitation
into the depths of the forest, at the screams of what they suppose
to be the sparrow-hawk.” He is of a size between the thrush and the
nightingale, but shaped like the latter bird. His plumage in general
is of a cinerous brown colour, with a broad bar of white on the wing,
which he is very fond of displaying. I am afraid that I never heard
them in perfection; but to judge from what I did hear, I should suppose
that although infinitely more varied, his natural notes were neither so
full nor so rich as those of the nightingale. But there are many who
think differently.”
One morning I was much amused by the debut of a new volunteer corps,
calling themselves the Highlanders,—Washington being one of the
flattest places in the States. The dress would have looked well enough
had it been uniform, but I was told there was not plaid enough of
the same pattern to be obtained in the city. The bonnet had a very
theatrical appearance, and would not have been half so bad, had not
the eye been attracted by the waistcoat and the broad lacings of the
coat, all of which were of a very dark sky-blue. I have a great respect
for the tartan; and I thought it might have looked decent, even when
converted, as it was, into small-clothes, had they not been made
extremely tight. Still, however, the costume of the nether man might
have passed unnoticed, had not the enormous bows at the knees been
composed of tri-coloured ribbon, and the general effect much heightened
by the long nankeen gaiters, which covered the leg from the knee to the
shoe.
In the capitol, as all the world knows, sit the senate, the house
of representatives, and the supreme court of the United States. And
here I may be permitted to remark, that when writing generally on
such a subject as the United States, every candid person will make
allowances for the impossibility of avoiding a repetition of things
already well known and well described. Under the apprehension that I
shall frequently be in error on this head, I think the safest mode is
to apologise at once, and beforehand. None, however, is necessary for
not entering at large upon a subject so tedious and so endless, as
that of the courts of the different states in their separate capacity
as to the federal judiciary. I may mention, that the United States
are divided into seven judicial circuits, and thirty-two judicial
districts. Each state is one district, with the exceptions of New
York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Alabama; which
are each of them divided into two districts. There are three courts
belonging to the general or federal government: the district court,
the circuit court, and the supreme court. The district court possesses
a civil and criminal admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, and also
takes cognizance of all cases affecting the revenue, and all crimes
and offences committed within the district, which are punishable by
moderate corporal punishment, or fine and imprisonment. It is held by
a district judge (there being one in each district), sitting alone,
four times a year: his salary varies from 1000 to 3000 dollars a year.
An appeal lies from his decision in cases where, exclusive of costs,
the matter in dispute exceeds the sum or value of fifty dollars, to
the “circuit court,” possessing an original jurisdiction, civil and
criminal. The civil jurisdiction extends to all controversies between
citizens of different states, and between a citizen and an alien. All
offences against the penal laws of the United States, can be tried in
this court. It is also a court of equity. The circuit court is held
before the district judge, sitting twice a year with the judge of
the supreme court. An appeal lies from its decisions to the supreme
court of the United States, where the matter in dispute exceeds 2000
dollars. In criminal cases, a point may be reserved for the opinion
of the judges of the supreme court, which is sent down to the circuit
court to be proceeded upon afterwards. In six of the states, Alabama,
Mississippi, Louisiana, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, there is no
circuit court, because the judges of the supreme court could not find
time to sit there twice a year; but the district courts possess the
powers and jurisdiction of a circuit court.
The supreme court of the United States, is a very high and honourable
tribunal, composed of a chief justice, with a salary of 5000 dollars
(1125_l._), and six associate justices, with a salary of 4500 dollars
each, who hold a sitting once a year, at Washington, commencing on
the second Monday in January. The court sits five hours every day for
two months, deciding in that time usually about eighty causes, which
are reported as those of the law courts in England used, and ought
still to be, by an officer of the court. Its original jurisdiction
is confined to all such cases, affecting ambassadors, consuls, and
vice-consuls, as a court of law can exercise consistently with the law
of nations; and it has original, but not exclusive jurisdiction of all
suits brought by ambassadors, and other public ministers, in which a
consul or vice-consul is a party. But its dignity rests chiefly on its
appellate jurisdiction, which extends to all cases and appeals, and
writs of error from the circuit courts: likewise in all cases where the
constitution and laws of the federal government, or the construction of
any treaty entered into by the federal government, or its validity, or
any right or interest under a treaty, has been a subject of controversy
in the state tribunals. Its decisions and opinions on the construction
of the constitution, are the safeguard of the Union. But its appellate
jurisdiction is defined, and extends to no cases but where the power is
affirmatively given. In order to enable it to issue a mandamus, proof
is required that it is an exercise, or necessary to an exercise, of
its appellate jurisdiction. The supreme court has jurisdiction in all
controversies where the United States shall be a party in controversies
between two or more states; between a state and the citizens of another
state; between citizens of different states; between citizens of the
same state claiming lands under grants of different states; and between
a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or
subjects. A strict and admirable attention to justice, is observable
in these arrangements. Every description of case which might be
partially decided by the courts of the litigant states, is brought to
the bar of the great national tribunal to be disposed of.
During the last sittings of the supreme court, a case of great
constitutional interest was heard before it. It was entitled “The
Cherokee Nation, _versus_ the State of Georgia.” The Cherokee
nation having been repeatedly harassed by the incursions and other
unneighbourly proceedings of the inhabitants of Georgia, applied to the
supreme court for an injunction to restrain the state, its governor,
and other officers, from executing and enforcing the laws of Georgia
within the Cherokee territory. The counsel for the Cherokees argued,
that not being a state of the Union, the Cherokee nation was to be
considered as a foreign state, and was rendered capable of suing in
the supreme court by virtue of the clause I have mentioned above, in
which the judicial power of the court is extended to controversies
between a state and the citizens thereof, and foreign states’ citizens
or subjects: but Chief Justice Marshall decided, that the relation of
the Cherokees to the United States resembled that of guardian and ward;
that they could not be considered either as a foreign state, or as a
state of the Union; and that therefore they were rendered incapable
of suing in that court. His judgment was strengthened by the wording
of the articles of the constitution, in which Congress is empowered
to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and the several states and
the “Indian tribes,” who being in this manner specifically mentioned,
could not have been considered as a foreign state or nation by the
original framers of the constitution. Imagine the astonishment of the
poor Cherokees upon being told, that the highest tribunal at the city
of their Great Father could afford them no redress. The affair will, of
course, come before congress. Chief Justice Marshall decided according
to the letter of the constitution; but the opinion of Chancellor
Kent, of New York, is surely deserving of the greatest attention, as
containing an exposition apparently more agreeable to justice. He
considers the Indian tribes “not only as states, but as foreign states,
because they do not constitute any ingredient or essential part of our
own body politic.” He considers the clause just referred to, may have
contained the additional grant of power to regulate commerce with the
“Indian tribes” out of abundant caution, and to prevent any possible
doubt of the application to them of the power to regulate commerce
with “foreign nations.” The last words, he apprehends, would have
reached the Indians; but the constitution, in several other instances,
has gone into a like specification of powers which were, by necessary
implication, included in the more general grant. Thus, for instance,
power is given to congress “to declare war,” and it is immediately
subjoined “to grant letters of marque and reprisal.” They have power
to “coin money,” and “to regulate the value thereof:” they have power
“to raise armies,” and “to provide and maintain a navy:” and it is
immediately subjoined “to make rules for the government” (and not
government only, but it is added) “and regulation of the army and land
force.”
All the judges in the American courts enjoy an immunity from wigs, and
the judges of the supreme court alone are clothed in “silk attire.”
Their robes are black, and fashioned according to the taste of the
wearer. I examined four or five of them which were hanging up in the
court, and found that although perfectly judicial, they displayed
no small attention to taste in their cut and general appearance. A
proper degree of dignity is required and observed in the supreme
court; business is there conducted as it ought to be in every court
of justice; but some of the state courts are remarkably deficient in
this respect: even in the court-house at Philadelphia, during the
sitting of the circuit court, I have seen a gentleman, a counsellor of
eminence, coolly seat himself on the table whilst a judgment was being
given, and in that attitude I have heard him address some interlocutory
observations to the court, and press them upon its attention with
great earnestness and ability. I cannot understand why more dignity,
both judicial and forensic, should not be observed in the courts
of the United States. I have often been in the company of American
lawyers, who, as individuals, were men of gentlemanly manners, and
excellent general information, which they have ever evinced a readiness
to impart; but I do not remember one who ever mentioned the subject
at all, without admitting that a proper want of the respect due to
the time and the place is frequently but too visible in the American
courts; and yet there is no improvement.
Silence, being indispensable, is well preserved; but counsel and
attorneys may be occasionally seen with their legs dangling over the
back of a chair, or possibly resting on the table. A corresponding
carelessness of manner is of course exhibited by the spectators. I
have even observed persons with their hats on in court, and upon
inquiry have been told they were Quakers; but once or twice I remember
having taken the liberty of doubting the information. I hope I shall
not be supposed to mean, that no greater decorum is observed in the
principal courts of the larger cities than in those held at places
of minor importance; I am speaking of them generally as I found them
when in travelling. I happened to arrive at some place where a court
was sitting, and “just dropped in” for half an hour _en passant_; but
still there is always a something even in the best of them which, to an
English eye, appears undignified and indecorous; although there can be
no doubt that their appearance is not mended by the total absence of
wigs and gowns from all of them.
The spirit of equality renders it allowable, and the impossibility
in distant towns of making the profession answer by any other
arrangement, renders it necessary, that a barrister and solicitor
should frequently commence business as partners, and play into each
other’s hands. A judge will frequently travel from town to town
unattended, in his gig, or on horseback, with his saddle-bags before
him, or in the stage-coach, and dine at the village table d’hôte with
shopkeepers, pseudo majors, and advertising attorneys. Human nature
will out. In the absence of other titles, it is the pleasure of the
Americans that they should be dignified by the rank of General,
Colonel, or Aide-de-camp; but more especially I found by that of Major.
An English gentleman assured me that, being on board a steamer on the
Ohio river, he was first introduced by a friend as plain Mr., then as
Captain; soon after he was addressed as Major, and before the end of
the day he was formally introduced as a General. There is usually
a Major, or an Aide, as they call themselves, in every stage-coach
company. The captain of a steam-boat, who was presiding at the dinner
table, happened to ask rather loudly, “General, a little fish!” and
was immediately answered in the affirmative by twenty-five out of the
thirty gentlemen who were present.
One would have imagined, that in the United States, where an equal
partition of the rights of mankind is the boasted foundation of the
government, Justice would have been treated with peculiar courtesy;
but she is not properly honoured there. Justice is not exclusively a
republican in principle, whatever the Americans may think. She must
remain unaltered, whatever may be the form of government, as the value
of the diamond is the same whether its possessor be a prince or a
peasant. During my occasional visits to the courts of justice in the
United States, I could not help thinking how fortunate it was that
Justice was blind, and could not therefore be shocked by the want of
decorum I observed there. What was my surprise on entering the supreme
court in the capitol at Washington, to perceive her wooden figure with
the eyes unfilleted, and grasping the scales like a groceress! With
great deference, I would suggest that the whole of this unworthy group
should be removed. The day may arrive, as I have said before, when the
supreme court may be the means of saving the Union.
Any suggestions recommendatory of an amendment or additional clause in
the constitution, emanate from the judges of this exalted tribunal.
When it is thought necessary that the constitution of any particular
state should be altered or amended, the legislature authorizes the
people to express their opinions as to whether they are or are not in
favour of calling a general convention. This is usually arranged at the
time of a general election. If there be a majority in favour of the
convention, the legislature then calls upon the people to elect persons
to serve as members or delegates, and it fixes the time of meeting.
If any amendments are made by the convention, they are submitted to
the people for their approval; and if a majority decide upon their
adoption, they forthwith become part of the constitution.
When it is considered that the supreme court has a federal jurisdiction
extending over a union of twenty-four states, many of them as large
or larger than England, whose humble and individual importance are
increasing, and which are divided and subdivided by party, and by
conflicting and annually arising interests, and which are becoming
more and more democratic in every succeeding year, and consequently
more and more opposed to the spirit in which the constitution was
originally framed, some idea may be formed of the importance that is
attached to the decisions of this court, whose authorities, from first
to last, are intended as a safeguard to the Union. The independence
of this court, and, in fact, of all the federal judiciary, may be
termed the sheet anchor of the United States. Its power constitutes
their chief hope; the abuse of it is the only medium of tyranny, and
is therefore the principal source of apprehension. The judges of all
the federal courts hold their offices during good behaviour, and are
removable only by impeachment. It would reasonably be supposed that the
individual states would follow the example of the general government in
the appointment of their judges; but this is not the case. In seven of
the states they are elected for a term of years only; in Rhode Island
they are elected annually; in five of the states they are obliged to go
out of office at sixty, sixty-five, or seventy years of age. This law
in the enlightened state of New York has deprived it of the valuable
services of Chancellor Kent, the author of the admirable Commentaries
on the laws of America. There are many democrats who actually wish that
the judges of the supreme court should be elected for a term of years
only. This custom is notoriously productive of sufficient hardships in
some of the more remote states, where, on account of the smallness of
the salary, amounting to not more than two or three hundred pounds, the
bench is sometimes filled by young and inexperienced men, who are the
children of party, and whose decisions must be occasionally affected by
the hope of re-election.
Entailed estates are but little known in the United States: in South
Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana, not at all. In many of the states
they are nothing in effect but an estate in fee; the limitation in
tail being of no value, except it be in special tail. But in all cases
estates tail may be barred by a simple deed of bargain and sale, and
which is, in fact, the almost universal assurance; lease and release
being but little known. In other respects the doctrine of the statutes
of uses is in full operation, excepting in the state of New York, where
it has been discontinued since the new code passed in 1829.
The proceedings of the courts of equity are for the most part similar
to those practised in England. Many of the states have chancellors,
whose offices are held like those of the other judges. The state
of New York had just been obliged to appoint a vice-chancellor, on
account of the increase of business. The duties of the chancellor,
as far as they go, are the same as those of the lord chancellor of
England; but in many of the states the jurisdiction in bankruptcy or
insolvency is separate. The terms bankruptcy and insolvency are used
indiscriminately, although the distinction is of course generally known
and understood among lawyers. By the articles of the constitution, the
general government is enabled to pass uniform laws on the subject of
bankruptcy. No general bankrupt law has, however, been passed, although
such a measure has been often contemplated. In the United States a
proportion of the people, large beyond that of any other country, is
engaged more or less in traffic of some kind or other in the course of
the year, and the difficulty of coming to any equitable decision as
to who may or may not be considered a bankrupt, has been the reason
why no general law on the subject has been passed by the federal
congress. The states likewise have the power of passing bankrupt
laws; but they would only be productive of confusion, as they would
not be allowed to have the effect of rescinding a contract between
citizens of different states; the supreme court having decided that
a discharge under the bankrupt or insolvent laws of one state, could
not affect contracts made or to be executed in another. As a matter
of necessity, the states have insolvent laws of their own, which are
generally recognized and respected in all of them as far as they
conveniently can be. In some cases the person only, not the debt,
is released by them; in others, the debt is discharged, but future
acquisitions by gift, devise, or descent, are liable, though not the
produce of future industry. The whole law on the subject of bail in
the United States is much the same as that of England. A debtor to the
United States can only be released by obtaining a release under the
United States’ insolvent law. In order to be enabled to apply for a
release under the insolvent laws of any particular state, a debtor must
have resided in that state for a certain period, generally one year;
and on the surrender of all property (if he has any), he obtains a
discharge from prison, which is also a discharge from the debt itself,
and as a personal discharge, is respected throughout the Union; but
as a discharge from the debt, it often operates as such only in the
state that grants the discharge. Between citizens of the same state it
releases the debt as well as the person; between citizens of different
states, or between a citizen and a foreigner, or between foreigners,
the discharge depends on circumstances. If the suit be brought in the
courts of any particular state, and the party has been released by the
laws of that state, the debt is considered equally cancelled as if the
controversy had been between citizens of the same state. If the debtor
to the United States has applied for, and obtained the benefit of the
United States’ insolvent law, it can only be in cases where a judgment
has been obtained against him, and he has been taken in execution. He
must, however, remain in prison for thirty days, and surrender all his
property, which he must swear does not exceed thirty dollars, over and
above his necessary wearing apparel; for if he has property beyond that
amount, he cannot obtain the benefit of this law. By this discharge,
the person only is released, so that property subsequently obtained
from any source is responsible. In all other cases of discharge, under
the insolvent laws of individual states, before noticed, the person
or the debt are discharged (as mentioned above), but still with the
reservation, that all property acquired by descent, gift, or devise,
shall be subjected to execution, but not the future acquisitions of the
debtor by other means.
Fugitive debtors from other countries can be sued and imprisoned only
as if they were citizens of America, that is, by exhibiting against
them a bailable cause of action. They must remain in prison, if taken
immediately on their arrival, until entitled by a residence in the
state (usually for one year) to apply for the benefit of the insolvent
laws. State citizenship is required only in a few of the states, the
more general law being, that they may be discharged after a year’s
residence in the state in which they happen to be sued, whether they
have become citizens or not. Foreigners become citizens of the United
States after five years’ residence. The acts of naturalization, the
last of which was passed in 1816, require that an oath be taken before
a state-court by a foreigner of good moral character three years before
his admission, of his intention to become a citizen, and to renounce
his native allegiance; and at the time of admission he must satisfy
the court, that he has resided five or six years, at least, within the
United States, and likewise take an oath to renounce and abjure his
native allegiance, and to support the constitution of the United States.
America is in some respects, a laboratory for the rest of the world.
It is the fittest region for experiment. From the first of January,
1832, imprisonment for debt has ceased in the state of New York; the
fact is, there is so much more false capital in the United States than
in England, that a creditor is not often one dollar the richer for
having put his debtor into confinement. The example, if it succeed,
will probably soon be followed in Massachusetts, where there is a
strong party in favour of a similar experiment. Whilst I was in that
state, a meeting was held at Boston, to consider of its propriety; but
the united arguments of many speakers, tended to prove nothing more
than what was most probably acknowledged beforehand, by three-fourths
of those who heard them, and into which all that can be said on the
subject must ultimately resolve itself, namely, that the sufferings
of an innocent debtor are highly unjust, and much to be lamented; but
that it would be very objectionable to have no means of confining one
whose conduct had been fraudulent. By the constitution of the state
of Illinois, imprisonment for debt is disallowed, except in cases of
fraud, or the refusal of the debtor to deliver up his property for the
benefit of his creditors.
The question as to the power of any court or officer to remove a child
from his parents on account of their misconduct, remains unsettled;
but if either of the parents were dead, and the survivor an unsuitable
person to take care of the child, application would be made to the
orphan’s court, which exists in every state. Its authority resembles
that of the lord chancellor in cases of infants being wards of court.
Wills, both of real and personal estate, are proved there; and all
executors and administrators pass their accounts in this court, from
whose decisions an appeal lies to the chancellor. All deeds are by
law required to be registered. Wills are proved and witnessed as in
England; and a similar law prevents a witness from taking a legacy.
A case of fraud used in obtaining a will, the only fraud of which
the English court of chancery does not take notice, is decided by the
chancellor in some states; in others, it is usual to send it, as in
England, to a jury.
The whole law of mortgage is, generally speaking, much the same as in
England.
The proceedings in a chancery suit, differ only in the pleadings being
a little more simple: a bill for instance, contains merely the stating
and interrogating parts, and the prayer. Witnesses are examined, as in
England, upon written interrogatories. The effect of an answer and the
mode of using it in court, are also similar.
There is no such officer as an accountant-general. Masters in chancery
are known only in some of the states. Their duties are somewhat
similar; and matters are referred to any one of them whom the parties
may agree upon. In New York, I observed that “Mr. A. master in
chancery,” was almost as frequently to be seen on the door, as the
names of a counsellor and solicitor. In those states where there are
no masters in chancery, the court has a “Permanent Auditor,” who
discharges nearly all the duties assigned to the masters in England.
The form of an action, the pleadings, and the method of obtaining
evidence, are essentially the same as those used in England, generally.
In some states the action of ejectment is unknown; in others, it
has merely undergone some modification. Real actions, such as writs
of right, writs of entry, are much used; the period of limitation
has, however, been altered from that of England. The English law
of prescription is acknowledged, with a very few necessarily
constitutional exceptions. The period of limitation allowed in an
action of assumpsit, also varies in different states; in some it is
three years, in others it is six, as in England. Where the action of
ejectment is in use, the period of limitation is in some states twenty
years, as in England; in others, seven years is thought sufficient.
Juries are generally constituted as in England, with the exception of
special juries, which are never formed.
Throughout the United States a counsellor is allowed to make a speech
for the prisoner, and act generally in his behalf, as in a civil cause.
Every state in the Union has its rules for the admission of
counsellors, solicitors, and attorneys. They generally require that
a student shall have studied law with some counsellor for at least
three years. On application for an admission as an attorney, the
court usually appoints three gentlemen of the bar to examine into the
moral and legal qualifications of the applicant. If he be previously
and favourably known to them, the examination is almost nominal. If
he be unknown, or be known, but with unfavourable impressions, the
examination is proportionably more strict. When admitted as either
counsellor or solicitor, he can generally practise in both characters,
the distinction being nominal, excepting in the supreme court of the
United States, where no person can be counsellor and solicitor at
the same time. In the country particularly, it is usual for a lawyer
to assume the duties of attorney, conveyancer, proctor, solicitor,
and counsellor; but after having practised some time, he usually
confines himself to the practice of a counsellor only. A barrister
and solicitor are frequently partners: as I have before remarked,
it would be impossible for any practitioner to obtain a livelihood,
excepting in the larger towns, without exercising his abilities in
both capacities. For the “materiel” of a great part of the foregoing
remarks I am indebted to the kind and able assistance of a gentleman of
the Baltimore bar, and I have endeavoured that their accuracy should
not suffer under my pen.
It would be tedious to enter into any detail of the different state
constitutions. It is sufficient to remark, that their affairs
are usually administered by a governor, a senate, and a house of
representatives. The executive authority is vested in the governor,
who has in some states the benefit of a council. In some states he
is elected for a period of four years, but more usually for two.
The legislature consists of a senate, and house of representatives:
both, or the latter, are usually elected annually; but sometimes for
a longer period, with modifications. In the state of Rhode Island,
whose government is founded on the provisions of the charter granted
to the colony by Charles the Second in 1663, and which is the only
state in the Union that has no written constitution; the governor,
senate, and judges are elected annually; the members of the house of
representatives are elected every six months, or semi-annually, as they
term it. In general, no other qualifications are required of voters but
those of colour, age, sex, and residence. In nearly all the states the
right of suffrage is enjoyed by free white citizens, who have resided
for one year in the state, and six months in the country. In some of
the states, colour is no bar. As to age, that of twenty-one years is
the usual requisition. Every voter must of course be a citizen of the
United States.
Without entering at large upon the hackneyed subject of universal
suffrage, it may be sufficient to remark, that the intrinsic evils of
the system are more or less acknowledged by a very large proportion of
the better class of Americans, although they of course diminish in the
same ratio with the increase of virtue and intelligence; the objection
is not merely, that the uncultivated and the ignorant part of the
community should be allowed the unqualified right of suffrage; but it
lies in the corrupt influence to which it is open. Both the rich and
the poor man have rights to be protected; but it must be unreasonable,
that the wealthy and enlightened should be controlled by the needy.
The object of my charity goes to the poll; and not only exercises as
much political liberty as myself, but a great deal more; because the
poorer classes being the more numerous, the government is, in effect,
under their direction. If in addition to this it be considered, that
they must frequently vote in compliance with the wishes of a superior,
it follows, that the most corrupt, or the most successful at intrigue,
must enjoy the greatest share of political power. A person who does
not in such a country as America, gain some sort of qualification by
his industry is, surely, unworthy to be trusted with the right of
suffrage. I was informed that votes were very rarely bought with money,
and believed it; because where the voters and the candidates are so
numerous, the disbursements must be very large, and the difficulty of
concealment proportionately increased. They are rather commanded by
considerations of place; and it is very evident, that a person who
could be influenced by interest in one way, could easily be bribed in
another, were it not for the fear of detection. The system of treating
is common enough. “Why, Sir!” said an old woman to a gentleman of
South Carolina, my informant, “I guess Mr. A. is the fittest man
of the two, but t’other whiskies the best.” The influence of petty
demagogues is very great; there being usually two or three in every
village. Naturalized foreigners, as a body of voters, possess great
power in some places: in New York, where there are said to be nearly
30,000 Irish, their influence over the elections is much complained of.
The house of representatives of the United States is composed of
members chosen every second year, by the people of the several states.
In Virginia and Kentucky they are voted for, _vivâ voce_, and not by
ballot, as in the other states. At present, one member is returned
for every forty thousand persons, five slaves in the slave states
counting as three whites. The present number is 216. As the number of
representatives might be too large, in consequence of the increasing
population, the constitution provides that the number should not
exceed one for every 30,000, but that no state shall be without a
representative. As the minimum only is there mentioned, the federal
congress has the power of extending the number of electors necessary
for the return of a member.
The senate of the United States is composed of two members from each
state. They are chosen by the legislature of the several states, for
the term of six years; one-third of them being elected every two years.
The only qualifications necessary for a senator are—that he be thirty
years of age, in conformity with the age of the Roman senator; and that
he have been for nine years a citizen of the United States, and an
inhabitant of the state for which he is elected.
The qualifications required of a member of the house of
representatives are—that he be twenty-five years of age; seven years a
citizen of the United States, and an inhabitant of the state where he
is chosen. No property qualification is required in either case; and
the consequence is, that the house of representatives is half filled
with young lawyers. The only privilege it enjoys in its legislative
character, which is not shared by the senate, is, that it has the
exclusive right of originating all money bills.
Chancellor Kent, in his Commentaries, observes, “that the great
object of the separation of the legislature into two houses, acting
separately, and with co-ordinate powers, is to destroy the evil
effects of sudden and strong excitement; and of precipitate measures,
springing from passion, caprice, prejudice, personal influence, and
party intrigue, which have been found, by sad experience, to exercise
a potent and dangerous sway in single assemblies.”
No one can, for a moment, doubt the force of these remarks. It is
the best arrangement that can be adopted in a republic: still it is
but splitting one pillar into two; the interests and inducements are
co-extensive. The senate of the United States and the British house of
lords are, or may be, equally influenced by the love of their country,
and both are intended for its protection; but the one is little more
than another house of representatives, the other a most essentially
distinct part of the government: both are bound by the ties of honour,
and the duties of both are defined and exacted by the constitution; but
those of the house of lords are dictated by the further necessity of
consulting their own security, by a proper and constant interposition
between the throne and the people. The interests of the one are the
same as those of the house of representatives, the only additional
power they enjoy consisting of an association with the president, for
the purpose of making treaties, and in the appointment of government
officers. The interests of the house of lords are identified with those
of the house of commons, not merely with reference to property up to an
extent usually far exceeding the amount of the qualifications necessary
for obtaining a seat in that house; but they purchase an additional
security to the constitution, by obliging the peers of Great Britain to
keep a watchful eye on every attempt at encroachment upon the dignity
of the crown, their own rank in the country, and their rights as
“hereditary lawgivers.” In these times, when speculation is afloat, not
as to what they will do, but as to what they dare do, how true should
they be to themselves. Their obligations are far more weighty than the
“legal presumption” (to use the words of Chancellor Kent, when speaking
of the senate with reference to the houses of representatives), “that
the senate will entertain more enlarged views of public policy, will
feel a higher and greater sense of national character, and a greater
regard for stability in the administration of the government.”
The president of the United States must be a citizen of the United
States, must have attained the age of twenty-one years, and have been
fourteen years a resident in the United States. He holds his office
for four years. He is elected at the same time as the vice-president,
who is president of the senate, but who has no vote, unless the votes
be equally divided. The president, vice-president, and all civil
officers of the United States, are removed from office on impeachment
for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and
misdemeanours. The president is commander-in-chief of the army and
navy: he has the power by, and with the advice and consent of the
senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present
concur: he can convene both houses of congress, on extraordinary
occasions; and adjourn them in case of their disagreement as to the
time, to any time he may think proper: he appoints ambassadors, other
public ministers and consuls, judges of the supreme court, and all
officers of the United States whose appointments are not otherwise
provided for by the constitution, and which shall be established by
law, &c. &c. The president and vice-president are elected by electors
appointed in each state equal to the whole number of senators and
representatives to which the state may be entitled to in congress;
but no senator, or representative, or person holding an office of
trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an
elector. The method of choosing these electors is threefold: by the
state-legislatures; by general-ticket; and by districts. The two latter
are more generally preferred, as the choice emanates more directly
from the people. Four only of the states,—Delaware, South Carolina,
Louisiana, and Tennessee, adopt the former. I think it would be tedious
and unnecessary to give an analysis of these three methods; suffice
it to remark, I have heard it regretted that the constitution did not
limit the choice to one mode. Chancellor Kent says “there would be
less opportunity for dangerous coalitions and combinations for party,
or ambitious or selfish purposes, if the choice of electors were
referred to the people at large; and this seems now to be the sense
and expression of public opinion.” When the electors have made out
the requisite lists, they are sent up to, and opened in the presence
of the senate and house of representatives; and the president and
vice-president are chosen in the manner prescribed by the twelfth
article of the amendments to the constitution. In the year 1801, the
federalist candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency were Mr.
Adams and General Pinkney; the republican favourites were Mr. Jefferson
and Colonel Barr. The two latter obtained a small, but equal majority
over the former; and to decide between them was the allotted office
of the house of representatives. Mr. Jefferson was chosen after no
less than thirty-five trials. In the mean time the people were kept in
suspense; the tranquillity of the Union was endangered; the possibility
of a recurrence of similar difficulties was forcibly impressed upon
the minds of Americans; and an alteration of the clause regulating
the mode of election of the president and vice-president was resolved
upon. The old clause contained these words, “The person having the
greatest number of votes to be president, if such number be a majority
of the whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more than
one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then
the house of representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one
of them for a president, &c.” The mode of election was altered; but
it may still happen that the vote of a single member of the house
of representatives may decide it. In President Jackson’s Message of
December, 1830, he says, that “the necessity for an amendment is made
so clear to his mind by the observation of its evils, and by the many
able discussions which they have elicited on the floor of congress,
and elsewhere, that he should be wanting in his duty were he to
withhold another expression of his deep solicitude on the subject. A
contingency which sometimes places it in the power of a single member
of the house of representatives to decide an election of so high and
solemn a character, is unjust to the people; and becomes, when it
occurs, a source of embarrassment to the individuals thus brought into
power, and a cause of distrust of the representative body. Liable
as the confederacy is, from its great extent, to parties founded
upon sectional interests, and to a corresponding multiplication of
candidates for the presidency, the tendency of the constitutional
reference to the house of representatives is to devolve the election
upon that body, in almost every instance; and whatever choice may
thus be made among the candidates thus presented to them, to swell
the influence of particular interests to a degree inconsistent with
the general good.” The election of the president, immediately by the
people, without the intervention of electors, is here hinted at. There
is a levelling spirit abroad in the United States, that sheds its
influence over new laws and institutions: if there be a possibility of
a tendency towards either the federal or the democratical principles,
that tendency is sure to be democratical; and it is by no means
improbable, that such a mode of election may, at some future day, be
contended for and adopted. Chancellor Kent says, “that the mode of
appointment of the president, presented one of the most difficult and
momentous questions that could have occupied the deliberations of the
assembly which framed the constitution; and if ever the tranquillity
of this nation is to be disturbed, and its peace jeopardised by a
struggle for power among themselves, it will be upon this very subject
of the choice of a president. It is the question that is eventually
to attest the goodness and try the strength of the constitution, &c.”
Should the mode of election be altered, as I have just supposed it
may be, we may bid adieu to the Union forthwith. When we consider the
increasing population of the United States, the immense variety of
interests, and that every free inhabitant feels, I may say, personally
concerned,—whether he be really so or not,—in the success of his
favourite candidate, we can, in some measure, foresee even under the
present mode of election, how violent, how convulsing, at no very
distant period, will be the struggle and party-feeling exhibited at
the election of an officer, whose opinions on the construction of the
articles of the constitution, during his short ascendancy of four
years, will affect millions with a sentiment of attachment or disgust.
When General Jackson came into office, he immediately thought proper
to turn out several hundred subordinate officers, whose places were
filled up by his own party. The number of those who lost their places
at the commencement of any preceding presidency was extremely small,
bearing no proportion whatever to those dismissed by the General. The
increasing weight and importance of the affairs of the United States
rendered it partly a matter of expediency to do so; and, in all human
probability, future presidents will find themselves obliged to follow
the example. I make no remark on the late petticoat confusion in the
United States’ cabinet; like the battle of Navarino, the best that can
be said of it is, that it was an “untoward event.”
The salary of the president is 25,000 dollars (5625_l._) a year, with
the president’s house at Washington for his residence; but his expenses
do not equal his income. Mr. Calhoun, the vice-president, receives but
5000 dollars (1125_l._) a year. The secretaries for state, treasury,
war, and navy, and the postmaster-general, receive a yearly salary of
6000 dollars (1350_l._) each, and work very hard for it, their time and
attention being fully occupied, and often till a late hour of the night.
In the Message of 1830, to which I have before referred, General
Jackson invites the attention of congress to the propriety of promoting
such an amendment of the constitution as will render the president
ineligible after one term of service; and yet General Jackson is again
a candidate, and most probably a successful candidate, for the office
of president at the next election, on the first Wednesday in December,
1832, preparatory to his taking office for the twelfth presidential
term of four years, commencing on the 3d of March, 1833.
The election of the next—and heaven knows how many future
presidents!—will depend upon the known opinions of either candidate
upon “the Cherokee case;” upon the question of the renewal of the
charter of the United States’ Bank, to which I have before adverted;
on Masonry; on whether there is or is not a power granted by the
constitution to lay out the federal funds upon internal improvements
throughout the Union; and lastly, on the still more important question
as to the continuance or modification of the existing tariff. The
candidates will most likely be General Jackson, the president of the
day, Mr. Clay, Mr. Wirt, and Mr. Calhoun.
The opinions of General Jackson are in favour of the removal of the
Cherokees: he is averse to the renewal of the charter of the United
States’ Bank: he is a Freemason, and believes that the application of
the federal funds to internal improvements would be unconstitutional.
His opinions on the tariff question are oracular and uncertain.
Mr. Clay is opposed to the removal of the Cherokees; he is in favour
of the renewal of the Bank charter; he is a Mason; is an advocate for
internal improvements; and a staunch friend to the protecting, or, as
it is called by its supporters, the American system.
Mr. Wirt, a gentleman of Maryland, was the counsel for the Cherokees
before the supreme court. He has lately been started as a candidate by
the Anti-masons. Since the abduction and supposed murder of William
Morgan, who, a few years since, wrote a book revealing the secrets
of Freemasonry, the Anti-masons have become gradually more and more
numerous. They profess a hatred of all secret societies as dangerous
and unconstitutional; and although they will not be able to secure the
presidency to themselves, yet it is probable they will be sufficiently
strong to defeat the election of either of the more obnoxious
candidates. Mr. Wirt’s opinions are supposed to coincide with those
of Mr. Clay generally; but with respect to the internal improvement
system, and the tariff question, he is at present uncommitted.
Mr. Calhoun, the vice-president of the day, is the great champion
of the interests of the southern states, the nullifiers, and the
anti-tariff party; and in that character, if at all, he will be elected
to the presidency. His opinions are in favour of the removal of the
Cherokees, and of the existence of the United States’ Bank. On the
subject of internal improvements his opinions are said to be changed,
he having been originally an advocate of the system when secretary
at war in 1819. He is a “Nullifier,” although his situation as
vice-president has prevented him from showing himself in that character
so uniformly as he would have done. The term “nullifier,” which, like
the word “radical” in England, has now grown into common use, was first
adopted by the members from South Carolina, in congress, about two
years ago; the doctrine they profess was broached at the same time. A
nullifier is a person who holds that the federal constitution is merely
a compact or league between the several states; and that each state has
a right to decide for itself concerning the infractions of that league
by the federal government, and to nullify or declare void an act of the
federal congress within its limits.
Whatever may be urged by the party who are opposed to the opinions of
General Jackson, with reference to the advancement of prosperity in the
United States by his internal policy merely, his administrations of
the affairs of his country with regard to its relations with foreign
powers, has certainly been generally successful. He has obtained for
her the command of a profitable trade with the British West Indian and
North American colonies, thereby settling a question which had already
been the subject of six negociations. The president, in his Message,
at the second sitting of congress, on the 7th of December, 1830, says,
that this desirable result was promoted by the liberal provision of
congress, in allowing the ports of the United States to be open to
British shipping before the arrangement could be carried into effect
on the part of Great Britain, thereby requiting a similar act of
liberality on the part of the British government in 1825.
He has recovered claims upon the Brazils, Columbia, and Denmark, from
which kingdom the payment of 650,000 dollars is secured to the citizens
of the United States, for spoliations upon their commerce in the years
1808, 9, 10, and 11. Similar claims upon France, for injuries during
the war, have also been lately adjusted with that power.
He has concluded a treaty of commerce with Mexico; and by another with
Columbia, he has freed the American merchants from the discriminating
duties which had been imposed upon them; and by another with Turkey
he has secured a free passage for American merchantmen, without
limitation of time, to and from the Black Sea, by which their trade
with Turkey is placed on an equal footing with that of other nations.
By a compact made between the United States and the state of Georgia,
on the 24th of April, 1802, and long before any gold mines were thought
of, the United States engaged to extinguish for the use of Georgia,
“as early as the same could be peaceably obtained on reasonable terms,
the Indian title to the county of Talassee, and to all the other lands
within the state of Georgia.” As gold mines, within two or three years,
have been discovered in that state, it has naturally followed, that the
inclination of the Indians to remain, and that of the Georgians to get
rid of them, has become far more decided than formerly. The Indians
(Cherokees) however, claim a voice in the affair of their removal
from the land of their fathers; and that their assertions have other
foundations than those of an appeal to common justice and humanity, is
proved by the fact, that from the 28th of November, 1785, the general
government has made with them no less than fifteen different treaties,
thereby plainly acknowledging their independence, and their capacity
and power to treat. Within the last two or three years, however, gold,
as I have before remarked, has been discovered on the territories
of the Indians; and the state of Georgia has applied to the general
government to fulfil the contract, and rid them of the Cherokees. The
general government would be willing to come to a proper arrangement
with the Cherokees, but they are unwilling to go. The number now left
is about 15,000; the remainder of the tribe, since the year 1809,
having acceded to the offer of the United States, and removed to the
lands provided for them beyond the Mississippi. When this part of the
tribe petitioned to be allowed to remove, the answer of the president
(Mr. Madison) contained the words, “those who are willing to remove may
be assured of our patronage, our aid, and our good neighbourhood.” The
Georgians, however, happen to think that this is just the time for them
to go, and they forcibly prevent them from digging for gold on their
own land, saying, that every year will but increase their anxiety to
remain; and that they have no right to dig for gold when the reversion
of the land is in the state. These disputes yet remain unsettled.
The Cherokees are far advanced in civilization; and have among them
men of very superior abilities. They adopt in part the costume of
Europeans; they have schools, and churches, and a printing press
among them; and were fully competent to understand the following
precious piece of humbug, forming part of President Jackson’s message
to congress, in 1830. “Humanity has often wept over the fate of the
aborigines of this country; and philanthropy has been long busily
employed in devising means to avert it; but its progress has never
for a moment been arrested, and one by one have many powerful tribes
disappeared from the earth. To follow to the tomb the last of this
race, and to tread on the graves of extinct nations, excites melancholy
reflections. But true philanthropy reconciles the mind to these
vicissitudes, as it does to the extinction of one generation to make
room for another. In the monuments and fortresses of an unknown people
spread over the extensive regions of the west, we behold the memorials
of a once powerful race, which was exterminated, or has disappeared,
to make room for the existing savage tribes, &c. &c. The tribes which
occupied the countries now constituting the eastern states, were
annihilated or have melted away to make room for the whites. The waves
of population and civilization are rolling to the westward; and we
now propose to acquire the countries occupied by the red men of the
south and west, by a fair exchange, and at the expense of the United
States, to send them to a land where their existence may be prolonged
and perhaps made perpetual. Doubtless it will be painful to leave the
graves of their fathers; but what do they more than our ancestors
did, or than our children are now doing? To better their condition
in unknown lands, our forefathers left all that was dear in earthly
objects; our children by thousands yearly leave the land of their
birth to seek new homes in distant regions. Does humanity weep at
these painful separations from every thing animate and inanimate with
which the young heart has become entwined? Far from it! It is rather a
source of joy that our country affords scope where our young population
may range unconstrained in body or in mind, developing the power and
faculties of man in their highest perfection. These remove hundreds
and almost thousands of miles at their own expense, purchase the lands
they occupy, and support themselves at their new home from the moment
of their arrival. Can it be cruel in this government, when, by events
which it cannot control, the Indian is made discontented with his
ancient home, to purchase his lands, to give him a new and extensive
territory, to pay the expenses of his removal, and support him a year
in his new abode? How many thousands of our own people would gladly
embrace the opportunity of removing to the west on such conditions. If
the offers made to the Indians were extended to them, they would be
hailed with gratitude and joy.
“And is it supposed that the wandering savage has a stronger attachment
to his home than the settled, civilized Christian? Is it more
afflicting to him to leave the graves of his fathers, than it is to our
brothers and children? Rightly considered, the policy of the general
government towards the red man, is not only liberal but generous. He
is unwilling to submit to the laws of the states, and to mingle with
their population. To save him from this alternative, or, perhaps, utter
annihilation, the general government kindly offers him a new home; and
proposes to pay the whole expense of his removal and settlement.”
I will here introduce a few remarks on what is called the gold region
in the United States, with the kind assistance of Mr. Damm, a Swedish
gentleman resident at New York, and connected with the gold mines. I
have selected them, with a very few alterations, from the reports on
the subject lately published by the government. It is now about thirty
years since gold was discovered in North Carolina; it was found in the
sand and gravel of different water-courses, first in Cabarras county,
soon afterwards in a county of Montgomery in that state. Until within
a few years past, the process of washing for gold was principally
confined to the two counties just named. The greater portion of the
gold thus procured was found in small pieces, varying in size from one
pennyweight down to particles of extreme minuteness; at most of the
mines, however, it is not uncommon to find pieces of a much larger
size; for example, at Cabarras, a single piece has been found weighing
twenty-eight pounds avoirdupois, besides several other pieces varying
from four to sixteen pounds. The proprietor of the same mine affirms,
that about a hundred pounds avoirdupois have been found in pieces,
about one pound in weight; these large pieces, however, compose but a
small portion of the whole product of the mines.
At a mine in Montgomery county, a number of pieces of about one pound
weight have been found. One of them weighed four pounds eleven ounces,
and another three pounds. In Anson county, during the summer of 1828,
a piece of gold weighing ten pounds, another of four pounds weight,
together with a number of small pieces, were taken up out of the sands
and gravel of Richardson’s creek. These discoveries have been chiefly
made in or near beds of streams; but in some instances deposits of
considerable extent have been found on the sides and tops of hills.
It was not, however, until about six years ago, that the gold mines,
properly speaking, were discovered in North Carolina, that is, gold
in regular, well-defined veins. This discovery, like that of the
alluvial deposits, was in some measure accidental. A person, while
washing the sand and gravel of a small rivulet for gold in Montgomery
county, observed that he could never find it beyond a certain spot in
ascending the stream; but at the point where the gold seemed to cease,
he discovered a quartz vein running into the hill on one side of the
channel, and at right angles with the course of the rivulet. Having
frequently taken up out of the bed of the stream, pieces of quartz with
bits of gold attached to them, he came to the conclusion that the gold
found scattered below, must have come out of the vein of quartz; and
he determined to pursue it into the hill. He had done so but for a few
feet, when he struck a beautiful deposit of the metal in a matrix of
quartz, and subsequently another in carbonate of lime. In following
this vein about thirty or forty feet longitudinally, and at a depth of
not more than fifteen or eighteen feet, he found a succession of what
are technically termed nests, from which he took out more than 15,000
dwt. of virgin gold. Soon afterwards the mine fell into other hands;
and the working of the vein has been discontinued in consequence of the
quantity of water which made its appearance; though it is understood
that it will be resumed in a short time. This discovery of the metal in
regular veins, presented the subject in a new and interesting point of
view; and directed a search for gold among the hills and high grounds,
and particularly for veins traversing the earth.
In the course of the summer, after the developement of Barringer’s
mine, some valuable mines were discovered in Mecklenburgh county.
The product of these, worked in the rudest manner, without skill or
capital, was so great as to excite general notice; and stimulated the
land-owners in that section to search for these hidden treasures. The
mines now began to attract the attention of the public; and several
persons of enterprise, and some capital, repaired to the spot. Some
of them made investments, began to erect machinery, and worked the
veins with system and regularity. The success of the first adventurers
in this new enterprise, and for a time the attention of every body
who sought to engage in the mining business, was exclusively turned
towards Mecklenburgh county. The consequence was, a constant search
for gold was kept up in that county, and not unattended with success,
as many very promising veins were discovered. These Mecklenburgh mines
were the first that attracted attention; and the first that were
examined and worked with skill and management. They were, of course,
greatly in advance of every other part of the region, and the products
have been greater in proportion to the labour, and capital, and skill
that have been applied to them.
In the course of the succeeding year, a very extensive and rich vein
was discovered in Guilford county; and it was soon operated upon by
more than one hundred hands, who flocked in from the country around,
and received permission to dig there. The discovery of one vein in
a district, furnishes the means of finding others. The people of
the neighbourhood visit it, examine the appearances of the ores, and
other signs and indications, and thus in some degree are qualified to
make a search on their own lands or elsewhere. This was the case in
Guilford county; the discovery of the first vein was soon followed by
the opening of several others. The same plan will be followed in every
district, until the gold region be explored, and the places which
exhibit any external signs of gold be thoroughly known. About this time
Cabarras county, which had hitherto been only considered as productive
in its washings, was ascertained to be a vein-mining district; and
discoveries to the same effect were made about the same period at
Lincoln.
It is less than two years and a half ago, since gold in veins was
first discovered in Davidson county; it having previously been found
only in and near the beds of rivulets and creeks. Within the last few
months, veins have been opened in the adjoining county of Randolph.
Rowan, situated between Davidson and Cabarras counties, embraces a
considerable section of the gold region, and contains many veins whose
external appearance is good and promising. The metal is also found in
the streams: some few veins have also been opened in Tredell county,
and are now in a course of developement.
While progress had been thus making in opening veins, and in
ascertaining their situations, some valuable discoveries of stream
deposits occurred in a section of the state of North Carolina, hitherto
not suspected to be within the range of the gold region. In Burke
county, one of the most mountainous of the state, and one, two, or more
feet under the surface, a layer of sand and gravel is found, varying
from a few inches, sometimes to more than a foot, in thickness; in
this layer the virgin gold is found, generally in small particles
about the size of a pin’s head, and very often as large as a grain of
corn; it is separated, and collected from the accompanying matter, by
washing. Water is abundant; and the absence of clay and adhesive matter
in the auriferous layer, makes the process of washing exceedingly
easy. A number of these deposits have already been found, and some of
them have proved to be very productive. It may be here mentioned, that
in the adjoining county of Rutherford, gold in deposit has also been
found; but as yet, not much labour has been expended in that quarter.
One vein, which is very encouraging, has been worked regularly; another
vein of good expectations has been discovered.
In short the veins and places of deposit are very numerous, and
scattered over the whole country, with a few exceptions; and the gold
which is produced finds a market so readily, that it is difficult to
give a very correct estimate of the product of mines of the Carolinas,
Virginia, and Georgia; but it was said to amount to 500,000 dollars in
1830, from North Carolina alone. During that year, nearly the whole
gold coinage of the United States’ mint, was from native gold. The
coinage was 643,105 dollars in gold coin: of this, 125,000 was derived
from Mexico, South America, and the West Indies; 19,000 from Africa,
466,000 from the gold region of the United States, and about 33,000
from sources not ascertained. Of the gold of the United States above
mentioned, 24,000 may be stated to have come from Virginia, 204,000
from North Carolina, 26,000 from South Carolina, and 212,000 from
Georgia.
It may not be out of place here to remark, that hereafter the quantity
of domestic gold that will be received at the mint, will bear a
less proportion to the whole amount found, than has been the case
heretofore; the reason is this: hitherto, Philadelphia may be said
to have been nearly the only market for the article; goldsmiths and
merchants at New York, and other cities in the Union, were unacquainted
with it; and therefore for fear of deception, dealt but little in
it; this occasioned the greater part of the gold to be taken to
Philadelphia, where, if not sold to the goldsmiths or merchants, it was
deposited in the mint; so that at all events a portion of it always
contrived to reach that establishment. But now the case is different:
a market for the gold is opening in most of the cities of the United
States; goldsmiths and jewellers, having ascertained its comparative
purity, which is said to be greater than that of the gold of Mexico or
the Brazils, will generally become purchasers for their own use.
That there will be an increase in the products of the mines every
succeeding year, admits of very little doubt, when the gradual
enlargement of the gold region, extending through Virginia, North
and South Carolina, and Georgia—the number of persons turning their
attention to the business—the mills that are now erecting in various
places—the improvements in the mode of working and general management,
are made the subject of consideration.
The improvements in machinery have been considerable within the last
two years: it is believed, however, that as yet they are far from being
perfect. The defects in the present mode of extracting the gold are
well known to those most extensively engaged in the business; and some
of the miners, even at this time, are turning their attention towards
the introduction of other methods, promising more economy and greater
results. Grinding the ore in water with the vertical stone, which
is the method practised in Chili, is now the process most generally
used; but the liabilities of the vertical, or Chilian mill, to become
disordered—the waste of gold and quicksilver—the irregularity of
results from the same ores—the want of proper checks on the workmen,
together with minor objections, will probably, in a few years more,
cause these mills to be in a great measure discontinued, except in
small establishments, and for certain classes of ores in the larger
ones.
The auriferous veins of North Carolina and Virginia have not yet been
sufficiently developed. As yet not a single shaft in the whole range
of country (except at the Charlotte Mine, near a small town of that
name, worked under the direction of the Chevalier de Rivafinoli) has
been carried down to the depth of a hundred feet. Seventy to eighty
feet is the greatest depth yet attained; and thirty feet is more
than an average on the main excavation: as far, however, as these
experiments have gone, they furnish no reason to doubt the durability
of the mines; for thus far, the well-defined veins not only retain
their first size, but, in many cases, become larger, and more often
than otherwise, improve in richness. This circumstance has given rise
to an idea among the common workmen, that the vein grows richer about
the time it reaches water. On the whole, when it is considered, that
in Mexico, Saxony, and other great mining districts, veins have been
successfully followed downwards more than 2500 feet; the probability
that the veins in the United States will improve, is, at least, as
great as that they will become poorer.
Nor is it in the nature of things, that any considerable portion of
the whole number of veins existing there, much less all of them, have
already been discovered.
The usual way that discoveries are made, is to take some of the earth
or gravel lying on the top of the rocks, and wash it in an iron pan.
If any fine particles of gold are found, the vein is known to be
auriferous, and its degree of richness and value is judged of by a
variety of circumstances. This fine gold without doubt comes out of the
vein, the top of which had been disintegrated, and fallen to pieces.
There are many bold veins in every district, the tops of which show no
gold, whilst other indicating substances are abundant. The probability
is, that some of them at a greater depth may prove highly auriferous.
Reviewing all that has been said on the subject, it will be seen that
the whole business is yet in its infancy; and the only cause for wonder
is, that so much has been done in so short a time. Ignorance and
prejudice were to be overcome, and ridicule was liberally bestowed on
the few who engaged in the business.
If the work proceed as rapidly for some years to come, as it has
for the three years past, the changes in the appearance of things
will become very striking. There are some persons of intelligence,
mostly however at a distance, who seem to apprehend that the mines
of the United States will produce consequences similar to those that
followed to Spain and her colonies from the discovery of the mines of
South America and Mexico. Without stopping to inquire how far these
consequences were occasioned by the mines of the New World, it may be
remarked with truth, that no sort of analogy is to be found in the
condition and circumstances of the two countries; and that neither the
statesman nor the philosopher need anticipate that the results will be
similar.
That great effects will be produced is beyond question: and these will
show themselves in the increasing prosperity of the country. Among the
advantages that will follow from the developement of the mines, is
the encouragement they give to agriculture, in the withdrawal of some
of its surplus labour, and giving it new employment. They will create
home markets for the surplus products of the farmer; and this will
encourage him to improve his farm, and increase the productiveness of
his lands. As yet, this influence has not been much felt; but a close
observer may see that the improvement has commenced, though it will not
be generally perceptible until the division of labour more fully takes
place between the farmer and the miner. Mining and farming are two very
different pursuits; and farmers will soon see that it is prudent for
them to stick to the plough, and sell or let the auriferous veins to
the miner.
An important change will also take place (at a very distant period)
in the staples of the gold country; cotton will be less and less
cultivated in the mining districts; while the bread stuff, farinaceous,
succulent vegetables—and stock, will claim the chief attention. This
change in the staples of the agriculturist, will in itself produce
important results. The opening of the mines, and the prospect of
profitable employment, will in some degree check that spirit of
emigration which has been carrying off so many enterprising and useful
citizens, and will bring into the country men of wealth intelligence,
business habits, and general enterprise.
The opening of the mines has been attended with one primary and
bad effect; that of creating a mania for speculation. The usually
attendant failures and mishaps will co-operate with other causes, to
throw the mines into the hands of a distinct class of men, who, having
a knowledge of the business, and having capital at command, will
eventually conduct all the mining operations in the country.
Whether the effects be good or bad, their influence will not be
confined to North Carolina. It will be felt in Virginia, South
Carolina, and Georgia,—the people in the upper parts of these states
having far more interest in the mines than is generally supposed.
When the cheapness of obtaining the timber necessary for machinery,
the certainty of labour, and the security of property under such a
government as that of the United States, are deeply considered; these
mines might be far more worth the attention of an English company
than many a scheme in which English capital is already embarked.
Applications to government for charters will most probably be more
numerous in every succeeding year. The capital required to form a
company would not, I was informed, exceed 40,000_l_. or 50,000_l_.
* * * * *
No one can visit the United States without hearing of President
Jackson’s celebrated “veto” on internal improvements, and every
disinterested individual would, I humbly think, be ready to admit
that the sentiments it contains are just and valuable, because they
display a solid attachment to the letter of the constitution. By the
articles of the constitution, the powers of the federal government,
with reference to its expenditure of the national funds upon internal
improvements in the Union, are confined to the establishment of
post-offices and post-roads. On the 27th May, 1830, in the firm
persuasion that the words ‘post-roads’ could apply only to those which
might prove of general benefit to the citizens of the Union, and not
to those which conferred an advantage only upon the inhabitants of any
particular state, a bill entitled “An Act authorising a subscription
of stock in the Maysville, Washington, Paris, and Lexington turnpike
road Company,” was returned by the President to the house of
representatives, without having received his signature. In the veto
by which it was accompanied, he shows that “grants for internal
improvements from the national treasury, have been made professedly
under the control of the general principle, that the works which might
be thus aided should be of a general, not local—national, not state
character; and that a disregard of this distinction would of necessity
lead to the subversion of the federal system. The road in question had
no regard to any general system of improvements, and was exclusively
without the limits of the state; starting at a point on the Ohio
river, and running out sixty miles to an interior town, and even as
far as that state was concerned, of partial, not general advantage.”
In another part of the veto he adds, “that if it be the desire of the
people, that the agency of the federal government should be confined
to the appropriation of money in aid of such undertakings in virtue
of state authority; then the occasion, the manner, and the extent
of the appropriations, should be made the subject of constitutional
regulation.” In about three years, the national debt of the United
States will be paid off, and the government will find itself in
possession of a surplus revenue of ten or twelve millions of dollars.
To divide it amongst the states, will be unconstitutional, because
it will render the states too dependent on the favour of the federal
government; and as it is collected chiefly by means of the tariff, it
cannot cease to exist so long as the tariff remains in force.
Without a limited and defining authority, arising from a constitutional
adjustment of this power of distribution upon equitable principles, it
is beyond a doubt that neither Mr. Clay, nor any other person who may
be president, could give any thing like universal satisfaction amid the
“scramble for appropriations,”—as the veto has it,—which could not but
ensue upon the conflicting and uncontrollable variety of interest that
is annually increasing in the American community.
* * * * *
The progress of reform in England, and in Europe generally, is watched
with the most intense interest by the Americans. A deep feeling of
regard and sympathy for the mother country, as they term it, is still
general, and I think increasing; and though most of the Americans
believe their own country is the first in the world, they are still
reasonable enough to assign to Great Britain the second place in the
scale of nations. Those airs which it must be admitted so frequently
render an Englishman ridiculous, when travelling on the old continent,
would be entirely thrown away in the United States. All pretentions
to importance are disregarded, even without being canvassed, as
they might be in Europe; but so long as an Englishman behaves with
propriety, the Americans will entertain more respect for his name and
character, than they care to avow openly. They wish us well through
our troubles, and watch with sincere pity what they consider to be the
approaching downfal of our constitution: but at the same time their
national vanity receives something very like gratification from the
belief, that we shall be forced to adopt a form of government similar
to their own. That the American form of government is admirably adapted
to a new country, that that country has astonishing resources, and
that the Americans lose no time in making the most of them, (I speak
of America as a country, not of the Union, for America must thrive
come what will to the government) that it has thriven under its
institutions, and is at present enjoying an exemption from many evils
incidental to older countries, it would be an absurdity to deny. But
the natural causes of prosperity which the Americans so pre-eminently
enjoy, must not be mistaken, as they most fondly and frequently are,
for the positive effects, and little more than the positive effects, of
a good government, however good and well adapted that government may
be. The American constitution has never been tried. That it was nearly
a bankrupt at the close of the last war, was a trial of the resources
of the country, not of its institutions. Forty years is no time to
test the strength of a government like that of the United States,
when civilization is extended over so small a proportion of them. The
good is perceived at present; the evils are latent, and comparatively
little felt. But there are among the institutions of the Union, the
seeds of discord and confusion, whose growth is only stifled by the
bustle of commercial pursuits, and that panacea for every political
disease, a fine country abounding in resources, and of small population
in comparison to its extent. It is possible that the mischief will not
be felt, so long as there is no real motive for disaffection; so long
in fact as the people are not in want, which may not be the case while
ground yet remains to be cultivated.
In England and America universal suffrage would be alike only in name.
In America it is true, that almost every one can vote; but then it
is equally true, that excepting in the larger cities in which may
be always found, even in America, a certain proportion of persons
without any ostensible means of getting a livelihood, every one has
at least a prospective certainty of the acquisition of property. The
poor, comparatively speaking, are so few, that universal suffrage is,
at present, but a mere hydra in embryo. Were the present course of
improvement to proceed without interruption, from what the political
economists call the disturbing causes,—were luxury to be kept at a
distance, and a forced equality and contentment to be preserved by a
strong and universal exertion of the democratic principle,—it would be
demonstrable, that the American constitution would last for centuries;
or in other words, till the country became so thickly peopled as to
be subject to the evils resulting to England, and the older dynasties
of Europe. If a democracy be essentially the best form of government,
it would follow that a surplus population, that unhappy proof of its
excellence, would but be called the sooner into existence. Then will
come the real moment of trial, whether a democracy can exist under
the pressure of want—whether those that have any thing to lose, would
not be at the mercy of those that have not—whether an equality of
condition would not be considered as conferring a title to a community
of goods—whether, when such a state of things is apprehended, a
standing armed force, be it called by what name it may, would not be
necessary, not to repress foreign invasion, but to put down domestic
commotions—whether taxes must not be levied for its support—and whether
those taxes would not be found exceedingly troublesome. In an article
in the American Quarterly Review, (July 1831), evidently written in
a wantonness of spirit that savours of ambition, or disappointment,
or of both, and in which we are kindly told the easiest road to ruin,
it is remarked that “our forefathers were habituated to the European
system, but they built up the republican colonies with infinite ease.”
But may it not be here remarked, that as it is the boast, and justly
the boast, of the Americans, and of the New Englanders in particular,
that the tone of liberty which pervades their institutions is derived
through the blood of the Puritans, who did build up the colonies with
infinite ease, and whose descendants are still living; so it must not
be forgotten that the Hampdens, the Hazelrigs, the Cromwells, and
others, who were prevented from embarking for America by the order of
their obstinate and ill-fated monarch, were men of the same opinions
as the “forefathers” mentioned above; that they did remain behind—that
they did fight against the monarchy of England—that they did obtain
the victory—that they did enjoy the ascendancy to their hearts’
content—and that they did establish a commonwealth in England, not to
flourish for ever as an example to the world, but to be overthrown by
a military force, which brought back the son of the last king amid the
acclamations of every rank of society.
Supposing the blood to be shed, and the horrors to be passed through,
that must be shed and passed through before the experiment of a
commonwealth could be again tried in England, is it possible that it
could exist, situated as Great Britain is with reference to the other
powers of Europe, without an unemployed standing army? and then again,
is it possible that it could exist with one? Where in the annals of
the world can the compatibility of the one and the other be pointed
to? England is but paying the penalty necessarily consequent on her
career of prosperity. Her constitution can no more be blamed for the
existence of a standing army, than for a superabundant population, or
the enormous size of London.
By what then is it probable that the career of the Union will be
disturbed? Are not wealth and luxury to have their due weight? It is to
the credit of the Americans, that individual wealth has never yet been
employed for any unconstitutional purpose; but it is nevertheless true,
that an aristocracy is most undeniably springing up in every city of
the Union. In the course of time many large fortunes will be amassed,
and opulent families will be distributed throughout the country. It
will be but in the spirit of human nature, that a person in possession
of what in common American would be termed “an elegant location,”
should wish to have upon it a better house than his neighbours, and
that another should wish to have a still better; and is it to be
believed that the head of a rich and ambitious family will be for
ever, as now, restrained by the voice of public opinion from doing his
utmost to prevent a fine place from going out of his family? Can the
inclination remain in thraldom, and the man be said to enjoy liberty?
Will not one example be followed as a precedent by five hundred others?
and will not an hereditary aristocracy be produced in this manner?
The system of entails in England is considered by the Americans as
highly pernicious; but their idea of its extent is far beyond the
truth. On this head I have heard great ignorance displayed by them.
Some think that an entailed estate cannot be destroyed at all; but
that an entailed estate cannot, in any case, be destroyed without the
consent of the eldest son, is the more common error; one which is
prevalent with the uninitiated even in England, and is, of course,
still more so among the Americans, who are but little aware that an
estate cannot, in any case, be rendered unalienable for more than one
generation; or, technically speaking, for more than a life or lives in
being, and twenty-one years afterwards. This rule has been a favourite
with English lawyers, because, on the one hand, it prevents landed
property from being unavailable for commercial purposes for a longer
period than one generation; and, on the other, it makes reasonable
allowance for the English policy of keeping up the families of our
nobility and gentry. From whence then does the vulgar error principally
arise? From this circumstance: under the usual form of settlement, the
father has the present enjoyment of the estate, and the son has the
inheritance in tail in expectancy; and in this case the father and
son, as soon as the latter is of age, may do what they please with the
estate; and it is a very common arrangement for them to agree to make
a fresh settlement, which ties up the estate for another generation.
But this is only an exercise of their absolute power of disposal,
which they might, if they pleased, exercise by selling the estate, or
otherwise getting rid of it. If no fresh settlement has been made, and
the son outlives the father, he alone may do what he pleases with the
estate, without asking the consent of his eldest son or of any other
person. The Americans are little aware that there is not a nobleman’s
estate in the country, with the exception of Blenheim, Strathfieldsay,
and perhaps half a dozen others, where the reversion is in the crown
under some very old grant, which could not be absolutely disposed of,
_once, at least_, in every generation. That there is a power of making
unalienable entails in Scotland, (with irritant and resolutive clauses,
as the Scotch lawyers have it), where the person making them is not
indebted at the time, is a truth which I do not conceive could have
given rise to the error respecting those in England.
* * * * *
The proceedings at the next session of congress will be of the utmost
importance, and before this work be out of the press, the tariff
question will probably have given rise to as much angry discussion as
has ever been heard within the walls of the capitol.
The tariff, that is to say, the principle of effectual protection to
domestic industry, is supported by about two-thirds of the American
people. Manufactures sprung up during the late war, and millions of
dollars have since been invested in them on the faith of the tariff.
After the conclusion of hostilities, the war duties were repealed
generally; but some of them were continued for the protection of
domestic industry. This was effected in 1816, and by the influence
of the southern votes; and, strange as it may appear, was especially
supported by the members of South Carolina; whilst the northern members
were not generally partial to the measure. The southern states at
that period, were averse to the expense of a naval establishment:
they disliked foreign commerce, because it tended to embroil the
country in disputes with the European powers, and they were therefore
friendly to a moderate tariff. In 1824, additional protection was
given to manufactures. It was opposed by New England and the south,
and supported by the middle and western states. In 1828, still further
protection was given, notwithstanding a violent opposition from the
southern states, who now felt the error they had been guilty of.
The tariff question, then, is simply this. The northern states are
manufacturers; the southern states are cotton growers. The southern
states have never objected to such duties on imported foreign
manufactures, as would be sufficient for the purposes of a revenue
equal to the government expenditure; but beyond what is necessary for
the attainment of that object, they are entirely averse to the tariff,
because Great Britain does not buy so much of their cotton as she would
if her manufactured goods were not excluded from the markets of the
United States, by means of the protecting duties. The inhabitants of
South Carolina are most violently opposed to the tariff. One-third of
them would, if they could, secede from the Union immediately.
In the year 1823, the crop of cotton amounted to 420,000 bales. In
the year 1831, the crop has been ascertained to be 1,070,000 bales,
of which, 165,000 are consumed in the home manufactories, and the
remainder is exported, chiefly to England.
Certainly, if ever there was a country upon earth where the principles
of free trade could be allowed an existence, that country is the states
of North America, so long as they remain united. When we contemplate
their unbounded resources, and their endless extent, we must admit that
they afford scope for a species of energy altogether without present
parallel in the old continent; and it is difficult to believe, that
free trade should not be a part of their system, not only because it
would correspond with the boasted freedom of their institutions, but
on account of the certainty of benefit they would ultimately derive
from it. But from the entirely different sources of wealth of the
northern and southern states, there emanates a disparity of interests,
which, with reference to the enormously increasing influence of the new
cotton states, are, it is plain, but partially developed at present.
The settlement of disputes arising from the differences of soil and
climate, in themselves uncontrollable by legislative interference,
must be a subject far more difficult to grapple with, than that which
merely relates to internal improvements, which may be assisted by an
alteration of the constitution. Many Americans will probably tell you
as they have told me, that the Union is becoming stronger and stronger;
they will assure you that there is a growing conviction, that the
complaints of the southern states are without foundation, that their
sufferings are chiefly imaginary, and that their citizens will,
sooner or later, come to the same opinion; that four-fifths of all
the articles that are taxed, either heavily or lightly, are consumed
in the northern, western, and the tariff states, while at the same
time a home market exists for from 150,000 to 200,000 bales of the
best cotton of the southern states, at the best prices: that the party
war which rages in newspapers throughout the Union, means nothing at
all; and that, to use the quotation so well applied by Mr. Adams in
his last 4th of July oration, delivered at Quincey, near Boston, “We
angry lovers mean not half we say.” It is probable that some part of
what is said by an American country newspaper on the subject of party,
may be nonsense; but one cannot help being a little less sceptical,
when higher authorities, and the proceedings of public meetings, are
consulted, which, if we are to judge by the excitement they occasion,
are not quite a farce, whatever county meetings may be in England.
The report of the committee read at the anti-tariff convention, which
took place at Philadelphia on the 5th of October, 1831, contains
amongst others, the following strongly worded passage, speaking of
“that feeling of resentment which is goaded into activity by a sense of
oppression, and embittered by the recollection, that it is the hand of
a brother that inflicts it,” it proceeds, “do you doubt its existence,
its nature, or degree; look to the character of this assembly, and the
circumstances under which it is convened: give your attention to the
history of the past, and be admonished by the novel and extraordinary
spectacle which is presented to your view—do not close your eyes
altogether to the fact, that this assembly is without parallel in the
annals of the government; that we are freemen, and the representatives
of freemen, who speak to you of our violated rights; that we have come
from different, and distant parts of the Union, to join in demanding
their restoration; that a consciousness of strength is the offspring of
united counsel; and that our purpose is not the less firm, because it
is announced to you peaceably, and in the spirit of conciliation.”
The reports of the different committees of investigation, appointed
by the opposition or tariff convention, which commenced its sittings
at New York on the 26th of October, had not appeared in print when I
quitted America.
Mr. Adams, a strong tariff man, and residing in the heart of the
tariff, states, in his last 4th of July oration, speaking of the
doctrine of “nullification,” which, he says, “contains within itself
an absurdity, importing a pretended right of one state in this Union,
by virtue of her sovereignty, to make that null and void which it
pre-supposes to be null and void before,” proceeds, by saying, “that
it is a principle under which the pillars of the Union are tottering
while he is speaking.” On the other side, Mr. Calhoun, at the head
of the anti-tariff party, and one of the cleverest men in America,
in his “sentiments upon the subject of state rights and the tariff,”
says, that “whatever diversity of opinion may exist in relation to the
principle, or the effect on the productive industry of the country
of the present, or any other tariff of protection, there are certain
political consequences flowing from the present which none can doubt,
and all must deplore. It would be in vain to attempt to conceal, that
it has divided the country into two great geographical divisions,
and arrayed them against each other, in opinion at least if not in
interest also, on some of the most vital of political subjects—on its
finance, its commerce, and its industry—subjects calculated above
all others, in time of peace, to produce excitement, and in relation
to which the tariff has placed the sections in question in deep and
dangerous conflict. If there be any point on which the (I was going to
say southern section, but to avoid, as far as possible, the painful
feelings such discussions are calculated to excite, I shall say) weaker
of the two sections is unanimous, it is that its prosperity depends in
a great measure on free trade, light taxes, economical and, as far as
possible, equal disbursements of the public revenue, and an unshackled
industry; leaving them to pursue whatever may appear most advantageous
to their interests. From the Potomac to the Mississippi there are few,
indeed, however divided on other points, who would not, if dependent on
their volition, and if they regarded the interest of their particular
section only, remove from commerce and interest every shackle, reduce
the revenue to the lowest point that the wants of the government fairly
required, and restrict the appropriations to the most moderate scale,
consistent with the peace, the security, and the engagements of the
public; and who do not believe that the opposite system is calculated
to throw on them an unequal burthen, to repress their prosperity, and
to encroach on their enjoyment. On all these deeply important measures
the opposite opinion prevails, if not with equal unanimity, with at
least a greatly preponderating majority in the other and stronger
section, so much so that no two distinct nations ever entertained
more opposite views of policy than these two sections do on all the
important points to which I have referred,” &c. &c. “The system,” he
adds in a note, “if continued, must end, not only in subjecting the
industry and property of the weaker section to the control of the
stronger, but in proscription and political disfranchisement. It must
finally control elections and appointments to offices, as well as acts
of legislation, to the great increase of the feelings of animosity, and
of the fatal tendency to a complete alienation between the sections.”
The remedy proposed by Mr. Calhoun appears exceedingly reasonable.
In three years the national debt of the United States will be paid
off, and the government will find itself in possession of a surplus
revenue of 10,000,000 or 12,000,000 of dollars, chiefly arising from
the tariff duties. The applications from the different states for
its appropriation under the internal improvement system will be
innumerable, and it will be impossible to grant them without adding a
stimulus to old causes of jealousy, and giving birth to new ones. To
adopt the system of dividing the money between the different states
is admitted, on all hands, to be unconstitutional, not only because
no such power is given by the articles of the constitution, but
because the exercise of it would tend to render the individual states
too dependent on the favour of the general government. Mr. Calhoun
recommends, that the money should be left in the pockets of the people,
and affirms that there is but one “effectual cure—an honest reduction
of the duties to a fair system of revenue, adapted to the just and
constitutional wants of the government, and that nothing short of this
will restore the country to peace, harmony, and mutual affection.”
The example of good citizenship displayed by Massachusetts during
the existence of the embargo in 1807, is now referred to as worthy
of imitation by the southern states; a total stagnation of the trade
of that state was the consequence of the Berlin decree, and the
retaliatory orders in council of the British government; and in the
opinion that the embargo was unconstitutional, the question was tried
before the supreme court of the United States, who decided in favour
of the authority of the general government. Massachusetts behaved
with the best grace imaginable, conscious that there was no medium
between submission and separation,—no alternative but acquiescence or
disunion. Her behaviour might be imitated, but under very different
circumstances. In the case of Massachusetts, the cause of the evil was
understood: it was external: it could be removed; or rather would some
day cease as a matter of course; but with South Carolina, the disease
is internal, existing in the time of peace, increasing, and most
likely, beyond the reach of any but a temporary remedy.
The first intimation I had of the existence of the tariff was likely to
have been a disagreeable one. When I landed at New York, I had with me
an excellent double-barreled fowling-piece; and I was told that I must
either pay thirty per cent. on its full value, or I could deposit it in
safe-keeping at the custom-house till my return; and in the mean time I
could purchase an American gun cheap; I was indebted to the liberality
of the gentleman presiding at the head of the custom-house, who, upon
hearing from a friend that I had not brought it to sell, but merely for
my pleasure, politely and immediately gave me an order for it.
The climate of Washington has undergone a considerable alteration
within the memory of those who have known it for the last forty
years. Its healthiness has by no means increased as the forest has
disappeared; on the contrary, the reverse effect has rather been
produced. The real nature of a climate cannot be known till it has been
rendered fit for the habitation of man; and no land can be said to be
in that condition, till it has been partially cleared and cultivated.
The process in some places renders the climate warmer, and in others
it has the effect of producing more cold; so that it does not always
follow that clearing is productive of beneficial results. Since the
forests of the Pyrenees have been gradually cut down and destroyed, the
south of France is not nearly so desirable a residence for invalids as
it was formerly. In Germany, a good effect has been produced; but not
so at Washington. The summer is still excessively hot, (the thermometer
ranging above ninety in the shade), and the winter very cold:
originally these two seasons almost divided the year between them; but
now, the weather exhibits far more of the variableness of the climate
of England. The vicissitudes of temperature are often painful, and
frequently and rapidly produced by the most violent and piercing gusts
of wind from the north-west. The cold of winter, although still very
severe, has been much mitigated of late years. In 1780, the bay of the
Chesapeake was solid ice from its head to the mouth of the Potomac; and
in some places, at Annapolis for instance, from five to seven inches
thick. In 1772, the snow in the district of Washington was nearly three
feet deep, and in some places it drifted to the depth of ten or twelve.
The length and severity of the winters have much abated; but still
the climate, as I was informed by a gentleman perfectly acquainted
with the subject, has not become more healthy. In the year 1829, the
average number of deaths for the last ten years, has been one in every
fifty-three. The greatest mortality prevails in the month of August,
and the cases are chiefly those of fever. It is owing to the malignity
and greater variety of diseases, accidents, and privations, to which
the poorer inhabitants of the more thickly peopled cities are liable,
that the annual mortality at New York is calculated as one to fifty;
and at Baltimore as one to forty-nine. In Charleston, South Carolina,
it is as one to forty: the situation being more southerly, it is not so
healthy as that of Washington.
Every part of the United States is said to be more or less unhealthy
during the summer months; but the inhabitants of the northern and
middle states, and of the high lands and ridges, excepting in the
vicinity of water, enjoy a much purer air than that breathed by the
inhabitants of the southern states, and the lower districts of the
country. An American writer remarks, that “The intermitting fever
which is confined to particular spots, seems to originate from the
exhalations of marshes, and borders of stagnant waters, though it is
a curious fact and worthy the attention of physicians, that families
who live in the neighbourhood of these places enjoy good health, while
others who inhabit the summit of the adjacent hill, are victims to
this annually returning malady. When marshy places become dry, fish,
insects, and decaying vegetable substances exposed to the action of a
burning sun, generate those gaseous miasms which, absorbed by the body,
produce weakness, sickness, and death. Ascending by their lightness
they are probably carried by the winds to a neighbouring eminence,
where settling, they form a sickly and noxious atmosphere.” I have more
than once heard it remarked, that the Americans of the present day are
not such men as their fathers, the soldiers of the war of Independence.
They can take as true an aim with a rifle, but cannot undergo the same
fatigue, and are not so long lived, generally. The inhabitants of the
more northern states of New England, are perhaps, exceptions; but in
any given number of the inhabitants of Georgia, and the Carolinas for
instance, there are not so many persons to be found of ninety years
old and upwards, as among the same number of persons living in the
country in England. I heard this from a gentleman on whose information
I believed that I could rely: yet it is singular, that according to
the census of 1830, the number of persons of a hundred years old and
upwards, should be larger in the southern than in the northern states.
The middle states could boast of a larger number of whites of a hundred
years old and upwards, than any other. New York in a population of
1,913,508 containing fifty-three, and Pennsylvania fifty-seven in a
population of 1,347,672: the total number in the United States was
2654. The largest number in any one state was in Virginia, 479, but by
far the greatest proportion of these are blacks. Mungo Park affirms
that the negroes in Africa are not a long-lived race. Speaking of the
Mandingoes, the general name for the inhabitants of the country watered
by the Gambia, he says, “They seldom attain extreme old age. At forty,
many of them become grey haired, and covered with wrinkles, but few of
them survive the age of fifty-five or fifty.” It is singular that they
should attain a greater age in the United States. By the table which
shows the number of persons of one hundred years old and upwards, it
will be seen that the proportion of blacks of that age greatly exceeds
that of the whites; but it may be remarked, that the ages of the
blacks are not so well known as those of the whites; and the accuracy
therefore of the census, as it respects the ages of this class, is less
to be relied on. It may be remarked, that Dr. Ramsay, the historian of
South Carolina, asserts, that those individuals who have been born and
brought up in the northern states, and who have afterwards migrated to
the south, are usually more robust, more capable of withstanding the
climate, and are longer lived than the natives of the south. Certain
it is, that the Americans in general have not the healthy look of
the Englishman. The men are often tall, very powerful, particularly
in Kentucky, and well proportioned; but their complexions are not
unfrequently sallow, and climate-worn, with a countenance resembling
that of a person just recovered from an illness. This is partly the
consequence of the climate, partly of their mode of living and their
love of ardent spirits, still fatally prevalent. I am speaking of
traveller’s fare when I say, that the tavern tables are always well
and plentifully supplied; but no viands are thought so palatable as
those that are swimming in melted butter. A beef steak that would be
excellent if cooked _au naturel_, is almost invariably placed at the
head of the table, and in this manner almost invariably spoiled. At
breakfast the bread and cakes cannot be too new, or too hot; and fresh
supplies arrive during the meal, which is usually despatched with the
most extraordinary rapidity. At New York I once had the tablecloth
whisked from under my plate by the impatient servants. The natural
consequence is, an extreme prevalence of dyspepsia in all parts of the
United States, which is not lessened by the incredible quantity of
soda water, sweetened with different syrups, which is consumed by the
Americans during the hot weather. At Baltimore I have drank, I think,
the finest soda water I ever tasted.
The inns, or taverns, as they are called, which I met with were
generally good, particularly in the towns; those in the country,
however, were sometimes exceedingly dirty and disagreeable. I have
almost always found the greatest disposition on the part of the
landlord to render them as comfortable as possible, and have very
seldom failed in my application for a room with a single bed, some
of them containing as many as four or five. The Americans think
nothing of this. Upon one occasion, in Kentucky, where I had secured a
single-bedded room, the landlord who appeared to have been surprised,
and thought I must be ill, came up to me shortly afterwards, and most
good-naturedly told me, that my room was ready: “As you’re unwell, sir,
I guessed you’d like to retire directly.” The expense of living at the
best inns in the United States varies from two to three dollars a day.
For this sum a person is provided with a bed, and four meals at stated
hours. A coffee-room in the hotel for eating and drinking at one’s own
time, is a luxury the Americans have not yet attained to; at least I
do not remember to have seen one anywhere. I did not find the regular
hours so troublesome as I expected, as the great heat rendered it
impossible for weeks together to take any thing like severe exercise,
excepting at a very early hour of the morning, or after six o’clock
in the evening. I would instance Mr. Head’s table at Philadelphia, as
the best in the United States. There was a quiet gentlemanlike style
about it, that I never saw surpassed, or hardly equalled, by a table
d’hôte in any country. I wish I could speak as well of the bed-rooms in
that respect; I much prefer those at Mr. Barnum’s at Baltimore, and Mr.
Gadsby’s at Washington. Take it altogether, the Tremont at Boston, is
by far the best hotel in the States. Ice is to be had in the greatest
plenty in all parts of the United States; I have even found it as a
luxury at my toilette. On the subject of eating ices, I found that
nobody would touch a water ice, and that in general cream ices only
were to be met with, even at the best shops.
The most fearful enemy of health is ardent spirits, which, by those
who drink them at all, are taken at all hours, from four in the
morning till twelve at night, and swallowed under the various and
subdued appellations of bitters, egg-nogg, mint-julep, and many others;
all sounding watery enough to have captivated Sangrado himself. The
Temperance Societies are an honour to the country. There are about
1000 of them in the United States, composed of 1,200,000 members, and
affecting about 2,000,000 of individuals directly or indirectly. They
have caused the suppression of 1000 distilleries, and 3000 retail
stores. The members solemnly promise that they will not touch a drop of
any kind of spirits: of course, the rules of the society are sometimes
broken, particularly as they allow wine and brandy when ordered by
the doctor. I have heard it observed by those who are unfriendly to
these associations, that an individual who cannot abstain from spirits
without belonging to a temperance society, will not refrain when he
becomes a member; but there is a vast difference between the strength
of a resolution made to oneself, and known only to oneself, and a
promise solemnly and publicly given, where fulfilment is demanded
by honour, the fear of shame, and the duty of example. It is always
observed, that when a member of the society has once relapsed into his
old habits, his course is one of recklessness and desperation. That
the societies have done good is undeniable, by their influence on the
wholesale trade in spirits at New York.
END OF VOL. I.
Manning and Smithson, Printers, London-house Yard, St. Paul’s.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.
Inconsistent hyphenations have been left as is.
Page 50. “fifty cents. per annum” replaced by “fifty cents per annum”.
Page 58. “fashionble” replaced by “fashionable”.
Page 85. “cerous virginianus” replaced by “cervus virginianus”.
Page 113. “enojoyment” replaced by “enojoyment”.
Page 201. “represensatives” replaced by “representatives”.
Page 205. “choise” replaced by “choice”.
Page 208. ‘“the Cherokee case;’ replaced by ‘“the Cherokee case;”’.
Page 240. “40,000l,” replaced by “40,000l.”.
Page 252. Removed duplicated the across page boundary.
Page 274. “neighbonrhood” replaced by “neighbourhood”.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIX MONTHS IN AMERICA, VOL. 1 (OF 2) ***
Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
States without permission and without paying copyright
royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may
do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
license, especially commercial redistribution.
START: FULL LICENSE
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG™ LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person
or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg
electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
of Project Gutenberg electronic works. Nearly all the individual
works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
that you will support the Project Gutenberg mission of promoting
free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
Project Gutenberg name associated with the work. You can easily
comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg License when
you share it without charge with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
other Project Gutenberg work. The Foundation makes no
representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
country other than the United States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg License must appear
prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg work (any work
on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the
phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed,
performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg™ License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws
of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is
derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg
trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg License for all works
posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
beginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg work in a format
other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official
version posted on the official Project Gutenberg website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain
Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the
full Project Gutenberg License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg electronic works
provided that:
• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
to the owner of the Project Gutenberg trademark, but he has
agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation.”
• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™
License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™
works.
• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
receipt of the work.
• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than
are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
cannot be read by your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right
of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
without further opportunities to fix the problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
or any Project Gutenberg work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
from people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.
The Foundation’s business office is located at 41 Watchung Plaza #516,
Montclair NJ 07042, USA, +1 (862) 621-9288. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread
public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state
visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.
Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.
This website includes information about Project Gutenberg,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
