The New World; or, Recent visit to America. Together with introductory observations for tourists, and four appendices, etc

Front matter

«&t fete ffitab; OR, RECENT VISIT TO AMERICA. TOGETHER WITH Introhttorg ibstfijutions for 9 omAs. AND CONTAINING ALL SUITABLE INFORMATION FOR EMIGRANTS, &c. BY THE REV. W. G. CAMPBELL. GENERAL MISSIONARY, AND AUTHOR OF "THE APOSTLE OP KERRY. "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." — "Dan. xii. 4. LONDON: ELLIOTT STOCK, G2 PATERNOSTER ROW, Also DUBLIN: JOHN ROBERTSON & CO. 3 GRAFTON STREET J. GOUGH, 6 EUSTACE STREET. And of the Author, OG Carysfort Avenue, Blackrock, Dublix. J871. dubli:; R. T. WIITTF, KTE.AM FRK-S PR.INTE 45 F'LEKT STREET TO ANDERSON FOWLER, ESQ. TIPPERARY, IRELAND, (LATH OF NEW YORK,) f feis §ook is itiicaM, AS A SMALL TOKEN OF THE HIGHEST PERSONAL ESTEEM, AND ALSO, IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THE DEEP INTEREST WHICH HE, AND OTHER MEMBEBS OF HIS FAMI1T TOOK IN THE AUTHOR'S RECENT VISIT TO AMERICA, BY THE AUTHOR. CONTENTS.

Voyage Home — Arrival at Queenstown — Irish Conference in Cork

Appendix

A. — Emigrants to Canada and the Stites

APPENDIX.

B— Social and Domestic Habits of America.

APPENDIX.

C— Church Usages in Canada and States

APPENDIX.

D. — Miscellaneous — George Washington Signs of the Times — Literary Curiosity — Conclusion

Preface

. " Ljtnjled safe beyond life's re ', We ne'er from Christ shjjll pirt ; There all in perfect harm.jny. We shall be one in heart." [^.-YI^HAT ! another book on America ? We answer yes, K|n|^ and very likely, soon another, and another still, to follow in quick succession ; and after all, the tale will not be told. The New World, a great name, but a greater reality ; a world of wonders, an almost unbounded country ; in fact, a hemisphere which embraces portions of all the civilized nations of the earth. Its natural products are equally as varied and abundant. What wonderful mysteries and revolutions has the history of our world unfolded to human view, since the 12th of October, 1492, when Christopher Columbus, the great Spanish Navigator, landed on the shore of one of the Bahama Islands, which he called San Salvador, or Saint Saviour ; and although the word America is derived from a subsequent Florentine Navigator, called Amerigo, yet the honour of discovery can never, with any propriety, be attributed to any one but Columbus.

It was he who reasoned out the existence of the New World, and practically ascertained its truth ; his was the most remarkable maritime enterprize in the history of the world ; it formed a connection between Europe and America, which will never be broken while the world lasts ; and therefore the undivided acknowledgement must instrumentally be ascribed to the Genose Navigator ; but all the glory to the Giver of every good and perfect gift. The writer will be able only

PREFACE.

. to direct the reader's attention to a few of the States, and to parts of British America, to those which he visited, and from which he so recently returned. He feels somewhat diffident in entering on a subject on which so much has been written ; but looking at the subject from a religious as well as a social stand-point, and taking his narrative principally from personal observations, as well as from the most authentic resources, he hopes the work will be of consider able advantage to the emigrant, especially to the religious emigrant, as well as a source of pleasurable satisfaction to the tourist and to those who have friends in that country. And while he does not at all lend himself to unqualified emigration, yet he knows that for many years to come it will awaken increasing interest in all parts of Europe.

The discovery of the country, its settlements by Anglo-Saxon colonies, tend to enhance that interest ; but the encourage ment lately afforded by the English Government to emi grate to Canada, will vastly increase the tide of emigration to that dominion. The very word " New World " or America, has just now a kind of charm, particularly for the young adventurer. The Atlantic is unchained by steam, and by telegraphic despatch ; and reminds one of Alexander Selkirk's soliloquy in the Island of Juan Fernandez — " How swift is a glance of the mind, Compared with the speed of its flight The tempest itself lags behind, And the swiftwinged arrows of light.' In America invention is quickened by the freedom of competition ; its labour is rewarded by unexampled returns. Its peace is not maintained by great military establish ments ; public opinion rules without regimental troops, ex cept on the sea-board, and the frontier. Her navy spreads her banner on every sea, and extends her enterprize to every clime. Her national resources are developed by culture.

PREFACE.

. IX And every man is free. New states are yearly added to her boundless territory. Canals intersect the plains und cross the highlands. The steam power annihilates distance by its accelerated speed. Its wealth is increased four-fold, and its population doubled in every twenty-two years. Religion is neither persecuted nor paid. Intelligence is vastly diffused with unparalleled universality, and her steam-press teems with the mental acquisitions of all nations and ages. Emigrants, of various lineage, constantly crowd her shores. Her constitution opens an asylum to the virtuous, the unfortunate and the oppressed of every nation under heaven. 350 years ago, her territory was one unproductive waste ; no monument of art ; its inhabitants barbarians ; the axe and the ploughshare unknown ; its soil wasted and lavished its strength in useless, but magnificent vegetation, and only gathered fertility from the repose of centuries.

Its immense domain was a solitude ; but as the fortunes of nations are not under the control of blind destiny, it has awoke from the slumber of ages, and follows now in the steps of a favouring Providence, which has called its noble institutions into being, and which are the birth-right and the palladium of their civil, social, and religious liberty and prosperity. These institutions, the Americans hope, will act on European states, and regenerate the Old World ; in fact, their vast resources and institutions are almost more in character with " fable and with song," than with reality ; for when we consider her mighty forests, her majestic moun-- tains, her ocean lakes, her splendid rivers, her magnificent estuaries, her mysterious rapids, her gigantic Niagara, her lineless sea coast, her sheltered sounds, her encircled bays, her commodious harbours, her fruitful harvests, her varied productions, her healthful climate, her exuberant minerals, her illimitable railways, her ample sweep of horizon, together X

PREFACE.

. with her almost daily new-born cities and her busy factories, we may well exclaim, " All hail, Columbia ! " Nor has all been told : her religious appliances exceed and excel all ; her sound, in this respect, has gone out into all the world ; her hosts of evangelical ministers, her church accommodation, her Sunday school agency, the activity, liberality and piety of her lay agency, and her wide spread membership, and though last, not least, her "star spangled banner of liberty," all, all may justify her in exclaiming, and never more so than now — " 0 Freedom ! pure instructress of the mind, Blest bond of union, birthright of mankind ; Thine is the star, that from yon mountain height, *; Beams light and glory to the nation's sight ; Thine is the voice, the talismanic charm, That warms the patriot's breast, and nerves his arm.' The Author has now to state that his design in going to America, was not to gratify a passion for the romance of travel, nor any desire for notoriety, nor even for the enjoyment of relaxation, however necessary that might have been, after the hard contest with the human monsters at Granard ; for whatever may have been his conflicts or his toils in his feeble efforts to promote the best interests of his native land, yet he trusts his Epitaph will never be " A youth of labour, but an age of ease."

His motive in crossing the broad Atlantic, was simply the love of kindred, which, he trusts, was founded on love to Christ. He had two brothers and many relatives in America, whom he did not see for many years ; and the wish to see them, in order to be in some measure useful to their spiritual interests, pressed on his mind for a long time. At length the fitting time appeared to turn up, and having obtained the cordial

PREFACE.

. XI sanction of his ministerial brethren at the Dublin Confer ence of 1863, and the consent of his family, whose anxious feelings for his safety are well expressed in the following lines — (he started) — " Sail on nor fear to breast the sea, Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee. Our hearts, our hopes, ouiprayers, our tears, Our faith triumphant o'er our fears. Are all with thee, are all with thee." Having now had his wishes fully gratified, and having returned in safety to his native land, he is induced at the in stance of some particular friends to record some of the events which transpired during his visit. For this purpose he has spared neither time nor trouble nor expense, to make the Book as interesting as he possibly could ; and to those espe cially who look at both countries from a national and religious stand-point, he believes it will be gratifying.

The doctrine of a particular providence will be recognized throughout the whole, and his purpose to make all to bear upon the in terests and signs of the present times, will be steadily kept in view. The limited character of the time at his com mand, will account for any apparent haste which may be found in the style, and for which he has to claim the kind indulgence of the reader. Above all, he hopes it will be promotive of personal piety ; and with those expectations he prayerfully commits the work to Him who has said, " If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." *' Simple rule and safest guiding, Inward peace and inward light; Star upon our path abiding, ' Ti-ust in God and do the right,' W. G. C. INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS PRINCIPALLY INTENDED FOR TOURISTS AND CABIN PASSENGERS.

" Oars alone will ne'er prevail, To reach the distant coast ; The breath of heaven must swell the sail, Or all our toil is lost." being now brought so near by transatlantic fepSoJ steam power that a trip may be performed as quickly "jStaJ*? and as cheaply to the New World, as a Continental tour used to be to English or Irish tourists. Liverpool is the right starting point for either Canada or the States for the English ; but if they prefer, they can go on board at Queenstown for New York or at Londonderry for Quebec, and indeed Dublin can nearly compete with either just now, and the fare is more moderate. I would strongly recommend the paddle steamers to the screw. I tried the latter. There is an unpleasant jerk and a trembling sensation in the screw which is not in the paddle. I hear that the Cunard " Scotia " is the best, the steadiest and the swiftest.

It is a little dearer, but the best is bad enough, especially to bad sailors. In some of the Cunard steamers there is a second class saloon cabin quite as good as some of the first cabins in other steamers, and if any one preferred quietness, this should claim a preference, and is only about half the price of the first cabin, where often the religious element is at the lowest discount, and perhaps repudiated altogether. Be sure to secure your berth as near as possible to the middle of the vessel — there is less of the pitching or plunging sensation, and especially if the vessel be a screw, which often interferes with sleep. After you land, I would say, be cautious as to what hotel you go, or put up at ; persons will in great numbers importune you to go to this and to that hotel,