Views of society and manners in America; in a series of letters from that country to a friend in England, during the years 1818, 1819, and 1820

Front matter

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Letter V

Visit to the city of Philadelphia. — Remarks on the Friends. — Laws and Institutions of William Penn. — Penal code. — Dr. Rush. — Abolition of the slave-trade. — Emancipation of the slaves in the Northern States. — Condition of the negro in the Northern States. - - - 35

Letter VI

Reference to Lieutenant Hall. — Advice to tourists. — Appearance of the city of Philadelphia. — Style of Architecture. — State-house. — Remarks on the conduct of the first American Congress. — Anecdotes relating to that period. — Peculiarities in the political character of the people of Pennsylvania. — Internal government of the States. - 58

Letter X

Departure for the Falls of Niagara. — Mode of travelling. — Description of the country. — Canandaigua. - J 25

LETTER XL Genesee. — Visit to Mr. Wadsworth. — American farmer. — Settling of the new territory. — Forest scenery. - 134

Letter XIX

On the Federal administrations. — Mr. Jefferson. — Causes of the last war. — Regulations of the navy and merchantmen. — Effects of these on the sailor's character. — Anecdote. — Defence of the country. — How conducted by the people. — Army of the West. — Policy of the New-England States. — Effect of the war on the national character. - 243

Letter XX

Unanimity of sentiment throughout the nation. — National government. — Federal constitution. - - 264

Letter XXI

Character and interests of the different sections of the confederacy, and their influence on the floor of Congress. — New-England. — Final extinction of the Federal party. — Central States. — New-York and Pennsylvania. — Southern States. — Policy and influence of Virginia. — Western States. — Manufactures. — Powers of Congress respecting black slavery. — Formation and government of Territories. — Generous policy of the Western States. — Character of the first settlers. — Shepherds and hunters of the Border. — Anecdote of Lafitte. — Various ties which cement the union of the States. ----- 276

Xll CONTENTS.

Letter XXVI

Philadelphia Market. — Deportment of the citizens. — Mode of guiding and breaking horses. — Hints to an emigrant. — Consequences of bringing foreign servants to America. — Character of servants in America. — German redemptioners. — Manner in which the importation of the peasants of the European continent is conducted. — Reply to the Quarterly Review. — Descent of the Delaware. — Letter of Count de Survillier (Joseph Buonaparte). — Rencontre with English travellers. 336

Letter XXVII

Baltimore. — Yellow Fever at Fell's Point. — Appearance of the city. — Miscellaneous. ... 352

Letter XXVIII

Washington. — The capitol. — Hall of the representatives. — Senate chamber. — The president. — Virginia slavery. — Conclusion. ----- 369

VIEWS OF AMERICA.

Letter I

VOYAGE. ICEBERG. SHIP'S CREW. BAY OP NEW-YORK.

ARRIVAL IN THE CITY.

New- York, September, 1818.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

The report of our safety, as well as of the kind welcome with which we were greeted on landing, by several families in this city, is now, I trust, far on its way towards you. I wrote too rapidly, and with a head too giddy, (you know what sort of a head one brings out of a ship.) to enter into much detail upon the few and dull events of our voyage. We saw spouting whales, and sharks, and porpoises, and all sea-monsters, in plenty ; for the breezes were mild, and the ocean and heaven so fair and smiling, as might well woo all the hideous tribes of Tethys from their dark caverns. But the only sight worth noticing was a large iceberg, in latitude 43, towards the most southern extremity of the Newfoundland bank. This, for the month of August, was an unusual object in such a latitude 5 nor shall I easily forget the moment of singular excitement which it occasioned to the captain of the vessel, myself, and another passenger. Light northeasterly winds had prevailed throughout the day ; so light, indeed, that the island which had first been descried in the direct line of our

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course an hour .after noon, lay but some ten miles astern of us an hour after sunset. We were leaning over one of the hatchways, in careless conversation, and the eyes of the Captain were cast accidentally upon the iceberg, which now (the short twilight having died away) appeared a black three-pointed rock, upon the clear blue of the horizon. A sudden exclamation from Captain Staunton caused me and my fellow passenger to start on our feet, and gaze as he directed. A bright flame blazed upon the highest point of the distant rock. None of us spoke ; we all held our breath, and each wrought out for himself, after his own manner, some tale of hideous suffering. "A few beings, or, it might be, one solitary wretch, had here survived his companions, and clung to this isle of frost, to expire more slowly, under the united horrors of cold, hunger, and despair. A pile had been collected from the disjointed planks of the foundered vessel, which was now kindled, when the first shades of evening afforded a hope that some eye from the receding vessel would catch the signal." All this passed through our minds at one glance of thought. The Captain had turned quickly to give orders for tacking about and lowering a boat that should pot off to the rock, when suddenly a bright star peered above the crystal, and hung distinct, and clear, over the distant pinnacle, which still, for a while, quivered beneath its receding rays. It was some minutes before we could smile at this sudden and simple explanation of an appearance which had, a moment before, so highly wrought up our interest and curiosity.

It is usual to complain much of the discomforts of a ship, — and I grant that they are numerous; but to those who are not disabled by sickness or nervous fears, I think a voyage is not without its pleasures, and certainly not without interest. Our fellow passengers, mostly Americans, were cheerful, obliging, and conversable ; the ship excellent ; her captain a weather-beaten veteran, a kind

VOYAGE. 3

hearted as well as experienced sailor, who looked not merely after the safety of his ship, but the comfort of every living being on board of her. A moralizer might have apostrophized capricious fortune, when he heard this old seaman recount the many times he had ploughed the Atlantic, and thank God that he had weathered every gale, without ever losing (to use the sailor's phrase) a single spar. I have conversed with sailors not half the age of this good captain of the Amity, who had never made a voyage without losing a spar, and holding their lives in jeopardy into the bargain. But is it not thus on the varied sea of life ? Some adventurers set forth in youth and hope, and brave gales and storms, and scud by rocks and shallows with light and easy hearts, and moor at last peacefully in the haven of old age, wrinkled indeed by time, but unscathed by misfortune ; while others, blown about at the mercy of the elements, their helm broken and their rigging torn, run foul of every quicksand, and die a thousand deaths ere they die the last.

I observed much and often upon the quietness as well as the matchless activity of the crew. No scolding on the part of the Captain, nor sulky looks on that of the men. By the former, authority was exercised with kindness, and (a sure consequence of this) obedience was, by the latter, yielded with good humour and alertness. The ship, indeed, was well named The Amity, for I never heard a dispute on board of her, save, indeed, one night, when I was the unwilling auditor of an argument in the adjoining cabin, which gradually waxed to a wrangle, between a young Scotchman, firm in the belief of grace and predestination, an older Englishman, as firm in the non-belief of both articles, and an American, who, without agreeing with either, seemed to keep the peace between both. In this good office he probably succeeded, as, in the middle of a nicely drawn distinction, on the part of the Englishman, between foreknowing and foredecreeing, I fell asleep, and

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waked to no other noise than the creaking of timber and lashing of the waves.

It is worthy of remark, that every man of the crew, from the old veteran to the young sailor-boy, could read and write, and, I believe I might almost say, every man could converse with you upon the history of his country, its laws, its present condition, and its future prospects. When our ship lay sleeping on the waters in a lazy calm, I often whiled away an hour in conversing with one or other of these sons of Neptune, as he sat piecing a torn sail, or mending a rope, and I am sure that I never came from the conversation without having gained some useful information, nor without having conceived a higher idea of the country to which the man whom I had conversed with belonged.

To one who has only viewed the great deep in contemplative ease and security from its shores, there is something pleasingly exciting in being borne triumphantly over its bosom, and in witnessing how the wonderful creature man struggles with the elements, holding on his adventurous course for days and weeks without doubt or fear, marking his progress over the trackless waste with unerring certainty, and directing his eye yet more steadily to the far-distant port than points his guiding needle to the pole. Forgive me the idle observation, that I never fully appreciated the perseverance, as well as the adventure, of the daring Columbus, until I found myself watching the sun sink and rise, in and from the eternal waters, day after day and week after week. How extraordinary was the mind which could calculate with such certainty upon the existence of an unknown world ! How daring the spirit which could throw itself upon the mercy of a furious and unexplored ocean, hitherto deemed impassable and interminable ! How perfect the self-possession which remained unshaken, not merely amid the strife of the elements, but the warring passions — the alternate rage, and

VOYAGE. D

fear, and despair of the ignorant and superstitious crew, who stood a united host against one man. But what a man ! Alone supported by his own powerful mind amidst the perils of the deep, the horrors of a mutiny, and the heart-sickness produced by hope delayed, when sun after sun discovered the same watery waste — the same unchanging horizon of sky and sea ; when night after night bred thoughts, more and yet more anxious, and danger still more imminent, the apprehension of which it had been defeat or death to betray ! How much the human race is indebted to this great mind is still, perhaps, unknown. The world which a hero discovered, and which bigots and robbers for a season polluted with crimes, has also been the refuge of the poor and the persecuted of every tongue and every clime ; and now exhibits, in its northern section, a well organized nation, in all the vigour and pride of youth and freedom ; in its southern, a spirited people, awaking from ignorance and resenting oppression, asserting their rights as men and citizens, and laying the foundation of commonwealths, which the next generation may see established in power, rich in resources, enlightened with knowledge, and fenced by the bulwarks of just laws, wise institutions, and generous patriotisms, against the efforts of foreign enemies, or the machinations of domestic traitors.

It was not without emotion that, on the evening of the 30th day from that on which we had cleared out of the Mersey, we heard the cry of "Land," and, straining our eyes in the direction of the setting sun, saw the heights of Neversink slowly rise from the waters, opposing a black screen to the crimson glories of the evening sky.

You will but too well remember the striking position of New- York to require that I should describe it. The magnificent bay, whose broad and silver waters, sprinkled with islands, are so finely closed by the heights of

6 BAY OF NEW-YORK.

the Narrows, which, jutting forward with a fine sweeping bend, give a circular form to the immense basin which receives the waters of the Hudson — this magnificent bay is grand and beautiful as when you admired it some twenty years since ; only that it is. perhaps, more thickly studded with silver-winged vessels, from the light sharp-keeled boat through all the varieties of shape and size, to the proud three-masted ship, setting and lowering its sails to or from the thousand ports of distant Europe, or yet more distant Asia.

Every thing in the neighbourhood of this city exhibits the appearance of life and cheerfulness. The purity of the air, the brilliancy of the unspotted heavens, the crowd of moving vessels, shooting in various directions, up and down, and across the bay and the far-stretching Hudson, and the forest of masts crowded round the quays and wharfs at the entrance of the East River. There is something in all this, — in the very air you breathe, and the fair and moving scene that you rest your eye upon, which exhilarates the spirits, and makes you in good humour with life and your fellow creatures. We approached these shores under a fervid sun ; but the air, though of a higher temperature than I had ever before experienced, was so entirely free of vapour, that I thought it was for the first time in my life th^t I had drawn a clear breath. I was no longer sensibfe of any weakness of the lungs, nor have I as yet been reminded of this infirmity.

Probably a great proportion of the neat white houses that every where peep out from clumps of young trees along the picturesque shores of the surrounding waters, have started up since you left this country. As we first slowly entered the New- York bay, with a breeze so light as just to save a calm, it was with pleasure that I observed the number of smiling dwellings that studded the shores of Staten and Long Islands. Here was seen no great proprietor, his mighty domains stretching in silent and solitary grandeur for uninterrupted miles, but thousands of little villas or thriving farms, bespeaking the residence of the easy citizen or tiller of the soil. I should not omit another circumstance which I noticed, as evincing the easy condition of the people of this young country. While our ship slowly moved through the still waters, pointing her course to the city, which just appeared upon the distant edge of the bright sheet of silver which opened before us as we cleared the Narrows, numberless little boats, well manned with active rowers, darted from the different shores, and. severally mooring along-side of our lazy vessel, with the cry of AH wellcl a dialogue ensued, commencing with friendly congratulations, between the crews of the boats and the various inhabitants of the ship. On one side, queries respecting the length of the voyage, the weather, the winds, and the latest news from Europe ; on the other, the health of the city, the nature of the season, of the harvest, the arrival and departure of vessels, and a thousand nameless trifles interesting to men returning from a distance to their native shores. At the close of the dialogue, one or other of the boatmen would carelessly ask if any of the passengers wished to be landed; but the request was always made in a manner which expressed a willingness to render a civility rather than a desire to obtain employment. These boats" had something picturesque as well as foreign in their appearance. Built unusually long and sharp in the keel, they shot through the bright waters with a celerity that almost startled the eye. Their rowers, tall, slender, but of uncommon nerve and agility, were all cleanly dressed in the light clothing suited to a warm climate ; their large white shirt-collars unbuttoned and thrown back on their shoulders, and light hats of straw or cane, with broad brims, shading their sunburnt faces. These faces were uncommonly intelligent.

Piercing gray eyes, glancing from beneath even and projecting brows, features generally regular, and complexions which, burnt to a deep brown, were somewhat strangely contrasted with the delicate whiteness of the clothing. I made yet another observation upon these natives. They all spoke good English, with a good voice and accent ; I had before observed the same of the crew of the Amity.

Approaching the city at sunset, I shall not soon forget the impression which its gay appearance made upon me. Passing slowly round its southern point, (formed by the confluence of the Hudson with what is called the East River, though it seems more properly an arm of the sea,) we admired, at our leisure, the striking panorama which encircled us. Immediately in our front, the Battery, with its little fort and its public walks, diversified with trees, impending over the water, numberless well-dressed figures gliding through the foliage, or standing to admire our nearing vessel. In the back ground, the neatlypainted houses, receding into distance ; the spiry tops of poplars, peering above the roofs, and marking the line of the streets. The city, gradually enlarging from the Battery, as from the apex of a triangle, the eye followed, on one side, the broad channel of the Hudson, and the picturesque coast of Jersey, at first sprinkled with villages and little villas, whose white walls just glanoed in the distance through thick beds of trees, and afterwards rising into abrupt precipices, now crowned with wood, and now jutting forward in bare walls of rock. To the right, the more winding waters of the East River, bounded on one side by the wooded heights of Brooklyn and the varied shores of Long-Island, and, on the other, by quays and warehouses, scarce discernible through the forest of masts that were crowded as far as the eye could reach. Behind us stretched the broad expanse of the bay, whose islets, crowned with turreted forts, their colours streaming from their flag-staffs, seemed to slumber

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on the still and glowing waters, in dark or sunny spots, as they variously caught or shunned the gaze of the sinking sun. It was a glorious scene ; and we almost caught the enthusiasm of our companions, who, as they hailed their native city, pronounced it the fairest in the world.

When our ship neared the quays, there was some bustle, occasioned by the moving crowd of vessels that intervened between us and the shore, and many active tars sprang from the yards and rigging of the surrounding ships to assist in clearing our passage. But neither then, nor when we finally touched the land, were we boarded by any needy supplicants imploring work for the love of charity, or charity for the love of Heaven. There was, however, no lack of good offices from the busy citizens on the quay- One laid planks to assist the passengers in their descent from the vessel ; another lent a hand to stay their unsteady feet, while some busied themselves in taking charge of their bundles and portmanteaus, and many strange tongues and faces spoke and smiled a good welcome to the city. There was in the look and air of these men, though clad in working-jackets, something which told that they were rendering civilities, not services ; and that a kind thank ye was all that should be tendered in return. Arriving at a boarding-house which had been recommended to us, we were very kindly welcomed by a sprightly intelligent young woman, the sister of the more staid and elderly matron of the house. The heat continued with little abatement after sunset, and every window and door of the house was open. While seated, refreshing ourselves with tea and fruit, and conversing with our lively hostess, a sound, which had filled our ears from the first moment that we left behind us the bustle of the wharfs, now completely fixed our attention.

I remembered your account of the din of the frogs, and of your consequent surprise thereat, in ascending the Delaware. But the sound we heard did not at all answer to our preconceived notions of a frog concert. Tic-a-te-tic, tic-a-te-tac, was cried as it were by a thousand unseen voices. At first we half suspected the sound had its existence in our fancy — a kind memorial, perhaps, bestowed at parting by the giddy ship. Gradually, however, I began to esteem these chatterers breathing realities, and, losing the thread of our gayhearted entertainer's discourse, I found myself repeating tic-a-te-tic, tic-a-te-tac, " I suppose they must be frogs." The word caught the lady's ear. " Frogs ! Where ?" " Nay ; indeed I know not, but somewhere assuredly." " Not here," said the lady. " No !" said I. " Pray, then, what is the noise ?" " Noise ! I hear none." If my companion had not here come to my assistance, I should have had serious apprehensions for the sanity of my organs. Backed, however, by her support, I insisted that there certainly was a noise, and to my ears a most uncommon one. Our good-humoured hostess listened again, " I hear nothing, unless it be the catty-dids." " The catty-dids ! and who, or what are they ?" You will probably recognise them for old acquaintances, though I do not remember your mentioning them among the thousand-tongued insects of this land.* This whimsical cry, with the shorter note of the little tree-frog, the chirp of crickets, and the whiz and boom of a thousand other flying creatures, creates, at this season, to the ear of a stranger, a noise truly astounding. We are now, however, tolerably familiarized to the sound, and I doubt not may soon be able to say to a wondering stranger, like the young American, I hear nothing.

* I have since had one of these insects in my hand. In size it is larger than the ordinary grasshopper, and in colour of a much more vivid green- Tt is perfectly harmless, and is altogether a most " delicate creature."

Letter II

BOARDING-HOUSE IN NEW-YORK. GENERAL APPEARANCE

OF THE CITY AND ITS ENVIRONS.

New-fork, October, 181S.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

We have removed from our former residence, to a more private boarding-house at the head of Broadway ; a gay street that you will remember, though it has now stretched itself over twice the length of earth that it occupied when you traversed it. This, ljouse has been filled with a rapid succession of inmates since we first entered it, and whenever we are not engaged abroad, we find a very pleasing society at the public table. The social mode of living here adopted in the hotels and boarding-houses, offers great advantages to foreigners, who may be desirous of mixing easily with the natives, and of observing the tone of the national manners. During the few days that we have lived in this house, we have met with a greater variety of individuals from all parts of the Union, than we could have done in as many months by visiting in half the private houses of the city. Families from the Eastern States, and gentlemen from the south and west, have successively appeared, and departed, and left with us many invitations to their various dwellings — so warmly uttered, that the heart could not doubt their sincerity. We were peculiarly struck by the polished manners of one or two natives of Carolina, and by the independent air, softened by republican simplicity, of some of the adventurous settlers from the infant, west. We gleaned

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from these intelligent strangers many curious facts, tending to illustrate the amazing advance of this country, which imparts to it the character of a player's stage, where both the actors and the scenery are shifted as fast as you can turn your eye. One gentleman, in the prime of manhood, told me, that he knew the vast tract which now forms the flourishing state of Ohio, when it contained no inhabitant, save the wild hunter and his prey. Making lately the same journey, through which he had toiled 20 years ago through one vast, unbroken forest, he found smiling landscapes, sprinkled with thriving settlements, villages and even towns, and a people living under an organized government, and well administered laws. " I had heard of all this," said my informer, " and knew that it all was so ; but when I saw it with my own eyes, I felt as a man might be supposed to feel, who should wake from a sleep of some .centuries' duration, and find the earth covered with states and empires of which he had never heard the name."

Many changes have taken place in this city and island since you knew them. Streets upon streets have been added to the former, and much draining and leveling (of this last I incline to think too much) has been, and is still carrying on in, ana about it. The citizens of Paris were wont to call the narrow streets of their old capital rues aristocrates, and very justly, since pedestrians had to make their way through them at the hazard of their lives. In opposition to this, the streets here might widi justice be termed rues democrates. Not content with broad pavements, carefully protected from the encroachment of wheels by a sill of considerable elevation, the little inequalities of the ground are being removed with much trouble and expense. I have frequently admired the ingenuity with which a new, or rather an additional foundation is introduced beneath a brick house of very tolerable solidity, so as to preserve to it the superiority it had hitherto asserted over the passing causeway. But I have not yet had the opportunity of observing a house upon its travels. I am told, however, that the curiosity is still to be seen, though probably very rarely, as the now universal use of brick, in almost all the chief cities of the States, as well as the improved style of architecture in the wooden tenements, still prevalent in the country, must have rendered the method of travelling in domo, and shifting the neighbourhood, without disturbing the household gods, considerably less feasible. My confidence in the veracity of a friend has been occasionally put to the proof, when he has pointed out to me, in the outskirts of the city, a house that had undergone a transportation of a quarter of a mile to arrange itself in the line of the street, and which stood a very secure looking tenement of two floors, with brick chimneys, and walls of very substantial frame work.

Notwithstanding the pleasant, opulent, and airy appearance of the city, a European might be led to remark, that, if nature has done every thing for it, art, in the way of ornament, has as yet done little. Except the City- Hall, there is not a public building worth noticing ; but it presents what is far better — streets of private dwellings, often elegant, and always comfortable. Turn where you will, successful industry seems to have fixed her abode. No dark alleys, whose confined and noisome atmosphere marks the presence of a dense and suffering population ; no hovels, in who.se ruined garrets, or dank and gloomy cellars, crowd the wretched victims of vice and disease, whom penury drives to despair, ere she opens to them the grave.

I shall not fatigue you with particular accounts of the excursions we have made into the surrounding country. We surveyed with pleasure the thriving farms of Long- Island, and those of the neighbouring state of Jersey. The country is every where pleasingly diversified ; gentle

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hills, sinking into extensive valleys, watered by clear rivers, their banks sprinkled with neat white dwellings, usually low and broad roofed, shaded by projecting piazzas, and very generally by enormous weeping willows. These exotics seem to take wonderfully to the soil and climate, and are much cultivated, in the more immediate neighbourhood of houses, as well on account of their rapid growth, as from the massiveness of their foliage, and from their being the earliest trees to bud, and the latest to cast their leaves. I could not so well approve of the equally universal culture of the Lombardy poplar, a tree that has no one good quality to recommend it, for the rapidity of its growth can hardly be accounted one, since we can only observe upon it, in the words of the old proverb, that ill weeds gro?v apace. One is the more disposed to quarrel with this vile stranger, from the uncommon beauty of all the native trees. Nor might the neglect of the more noble sons of the forest find apology in* the sluggishness of their growth. In this soil and climate, vegetation is so powerful, that a very few years may find you seated under the oak that your hands have planted.

There are some veiy lovely, though few very lordly dwellings scattered along the shores of this island. You will remember how picturesque these shores are ; the one washed by the magnificent waters of the Hudson, and the other by that arm of the sea styled the East River, which runs round the head of Long Island. I know not if you ever navigated this curious channel. The whirlpools of Hell-Gate are at high water, with good pilotage, passed by sailing vessels without much hazard, and by steamboats without any hazard, in almost all states of the tide ; those huge leviathans pointing their way steadily through the narrow channels which wind among the whirling eddies that boil on either hand, styled respectively the greater and lesser pots. During the revolutionary war, a large British frigate, richly laden with specie, seeking to attain the city unobserved by the American force, attempted this intricate passage without the guidance of an experienced pilot; suddenly assailed by one of the many powerful currents which run, with irresistible force, in all directions, it was sucked into the largest of these caldrons, and, in all its pride and gallant trim, engulfed in a moment.