Travels: comprising a journey from England to Ohio, two years in that state, travels in American, &c. To which are added the Foreigner's protracted journal, letters, &c.

Front matter

'Co, o.

V

I

Preface

sedateness of mind amidst such a. company, without anyplace of retirement to sit alone ; to be destitute of a concordance, dictionary, the Scriptures, or an}" other books ; and to complete a work for publication while travelling, without any regular place of abode, vras not easy to accomphsh. From a consideration of such cu'cumstances, as well as a consciousness of his want of ability for writing, the author solicits the lenity of the reader for any deficiency he may find in the %vork.

It was not, however, his intention to give an account of iiis journey exclusively, or to speak solely of anything that might ti'anspire on such an enterprise. He did not write altogether for that pm'pose ; but he wrote in part to employ bis time usefully, and to put down such reflections as might occur to his mind, on such an occasion, for the benefit of his own soul, and of others also. Is not this of the utmost importance ? Should not the soul have some refreshment as well as the body ? Does man live by bread alone ? And is it not true that young people, and all people of reflection, want some useful employment to keep them from exill May God bless both the writer and reader, and that after their labors and travels on earth, they may happily meet in heaven, which is the prayer of the

AUTHOR.

TRAVELS.

Our removing from the docks to lay at anchor. — An unpleasant occurrence among the sailors. — Some men at an unseasonable hour in the morning before we set forward, came apparently in search of some one they wanted to find. — A steamer came to set us forward and unexpectedly brought about thirty persons, which made considerable confusion. — After more than one day and two nights sail the captain sent a family of nine persons back. — Reflections, &,g.

Although the lime for our sailing was set for Tuesday the 12th, yet we did not get out of the docks till Saturday the 16th ; when we removed a small distance from Liverpool, where we laid at anchor till Monday afternoon. The ship we sailed in was a fine vessel, about seven feet and a half between decks, and spoken highly of by almost all people on that account, room, &c.*' The berths were all taken before we put to sea, unless a very few individuals were wanting ; and although it is customary to have a row

* The dimensions of it are nearly as follows : — Forty yards in length and ten in width, masts about five feet eight inches in circumference, and about twenty yards high, sixteen or twenty sail cloths, some of the largest containing at least perhaps a hundred yards of cloth in each.

down the middle, yet there were none in this vessel ; and one of the agents said in my hearing, if I am not mistaken, that they did not expect they should want any. Moreover as the time for sailing was more than up when we left the docks, and laden perhaps with forty or fifty hogsheads of water down the middle, (and put to sea in this state of preparation,) we did not expect any of course : and hence we were flattered with sailing in as fine and comfortable a vessel as any that were going to America.*

Before we launched forth a circumstance happened that was rather shocking to think of One of the sailors wanted to go on shore, but another held and prevented him. Whether the one who held him was in earnest I know not. Continuing to attempt landing, and the captain unfortunately being there, he fell roughly upon him, knocked him down, and began beating him wdth all his might in a very severe manner. This treatment enraged the man, and provoked him to draw his knife out of its sheath to defend himself. Hence, after he had disentangled himself from his struggle with the captain, he stood with his knife drawn in the midst of them, and no man durst take him. One or two of them laid hold of his elbows, as they knew he had no evil intention towards them ; but they could not get the knife away from him. One of the passengers said, "shoot him." Some time after the captain went on shore ; and the sailors, not

* I have been since informed, I think, by one who came over at the same time, that near the English or Irish coast this vessel was lost.

TO NEW YORK.

knowing but he consented, let the man go also : but it seems that this was not the captain's intention. Hence, late at night, when he came on board and understood that the man was gone, and had not returned, he swore at a strange rate. This storming, passionate rage, like an uncontrollable tempest, continued for a considerable length of time. After a while he fell upon one man and beat him in a very severe manner ; and continued to swear and rage and threaten till he had avenged himself, and his madness was over. The passengers I suppose, were all in bed, and therefore did not behold the brutal scene ; but it was plainly heard and sufficiently understood. O Saviour of men, give me the mind that was in thyself; that whether travelling by sea or land, or tried by perplexing circumstances, I may manifest the same spirit. Assist me by thy grace to possess my soul in patience, and suffer me not to give place unto wrath, whatever I may be called to do or to suffer.

One Monday morning, as early perhaps as three or four o'clock, some men came down the hatchway, looked into some of the berths and asked "where are you from ?" Some people they seemed to pass by, and others probably being asleep heard them not. An Irish woman being awake, asked, " are you going to give us some grog this morning ?" Others began to compliment them with their drollery. One asked, " have you found the persons you wanted ?" From which question it appeared that they were in search of some one who had escaped from them, and pro-

1* bably this was an incontrovertible fact, for in the afternoon there was a person brought on board said to be under an arrest for debt.

But before we set sail there came a steamer to set our vessel forward, and in this vessel about thirtypersons, who, together with their luggage, were to be crammed in amongst us. Having all our goods placed and arranged as well as we could place them for our comfort, and as emigrants supposing that we had a full complement, this extra company caused such confusion, as without some difficulty cannot be described. Their luggage was let down the hatchway close to my berth, and stowed upon our things and about us till we could hardly stir. Some of the casks of water which lay down the middle of the vessel, (perhaps of two hogsheads each) were to be drawn up, the luggage moved, and new berths built for their slccommodation. A few people the first night were accommodated with a place of rest ; others sat or laid themselves down as they could in their clothes till morning. Some were obliged to sit up a

second night. A Mrs. B y from Oxford, with

husband and seven children, who said she had not had her clothes off for seven nights, came and laid herself down once or twice in that manner. A Mr.

and Mrs. B d with their family came with them.

"Where is our berth ?" asked Mrs. B d. To

which one replied, '' on those casks." She exclaimed in trouble enough, " the Lord have mercy upon us.

Mr. B y, we are sadly taken in." There was

another family in this company consisting of nine persons, of the name of P h from Sysham in

Northamptonshire. This family, or some part of them, if I am not mistaken, sat up cheerfully two nights till a berth was built for their accommodation ; but alas ! sorrow cam.e in the morning ; and whether they laid down with comfort I know not. For in the morning Captain ****** said he had been imposed upon by their sending so many, and that if he took them all to New- York he should be fined such a sum of money ; so he got a fisherman after more than two nights and one day's sail to take them back in a rough sea and so many miles from land. And there was no saying nay ; for this man was so firm and so arbitrary in his purposes that in such circumstances no one could expostulate with him ; so they let them down into this little boat tossed about like an egg-shell so many miles from land ; and which it was said were bound not for Liverpool but to the Irish coast. Alas J what a contrary event was this ! There were none on board, I presume, but saw their difficulty and were sorry for them, but no one could assist or knew how to speak in their behalf. A stout young man of the family objected,

but made no great resistance ; and Mrs. P h it

was reported as if anxious to get out of her trouble uttered the desponding yet presumptuous expression " I wish I may be drowned." This was a sad disappointment and equally terrifying in aspect. How true it is that " man is born to trouble, and that one half of the world knows not what the other half suffers."

12 FROM ENGLAKD

What precarious circumstances men are placed in ! and what dangers surround them both by sea and land! How desirable for our safeguard is the protection and guidance of a gracious and all wise Providence ! This family, as it seemed, had suffered loss in their temporal circumstances, and were making an enterprising effort to emigrate to a distant country to repair their loss or to obtain as an industrious people a home and the necessaries of life.

They came from S -m in Northamptonshire,

where they rented a farm under the duke of ,

at which they sank eleven hundred pounds in six years. They lost about twenty horses, forty cows, and the last year about a hundred and fifty sheep. And in addition to these losses, if they were correct in their statement, they had a rich brother who got some land from them to the amount of about sixty pounds per annum. They seemed like a plain and an industrious people, and these adverse circumstances appeared to be their lot without neglect or mismanagement of theirs. Under these circumstances they were disposed to go to America ; they had made every necessary preparation, and proceeded as far as Liverpool to set sail. At this juncture a vessel had put to sea and laying at anchor some distance from land. They were informed of the circumstance, and much urged forward, probably as favorable to their journey, although they had not an opportunity to see and judge for themselves. To save time and expense they might think it an auspicious circumstance, and therefore readily consented to hurry forward to embrace so favorable an opportunity to make the most rapid progress in their journey. Hence they were carried to the vessel and set forward that afternoon. They travelled the rest of the day and night — the following day and the next night, and then the Captain forced them back in a fisherman's boat. Admitting that we had been travelling forty hours at five miles an hour would make it two hundred miles from Liverpool. This seemed not only like a blundering mistake but a circumstance shocking in its consequence. " How ought we then on earth to live," and how well it is when we can meet with all the adversities of life by having our feet on a firmer base than this earth with all its appendages can afford — when we can say

*' Though waves and storms go o'er my head, Though strength, and health, and friends be gone ; Though joys be wither'd all and dead. Though every comfort be v^dthdrawn ; Gn this my steadfast soul relies, Father, thy mercy never dies."

Such are the dangers we are exposed to by sea and land, and such are the troubles some people meet with. And men are such beings that self-interest and want of charity lead some to deprive the defenceless of their right, and others to oppress them in their indigence, when they cannot defend themselves. It appears to me, that if this captain, through inattention, had been imposed upon, he ought to have borne the consequences — that he ought to have carried them back again, or forward, and contrived to have, landed them, or have been subject to the penalty, and not have exposed the lives of such a company by forcing them out to sea in the manner thus described. What is your opinion, reader ? Be what it may, it seems that there are some people whom we cannot reason with, and some circumstances which we are imperceptibly led into out of which there appears no safe way to escape.

Once more : Our journey through life, in many instances, may providentially lead us to pass over the great deep ; and many thousands, in late years, have found it necessary, both for their own and their children's good — and among the numbers who have emigrated already, not a few have had cause to be thankful that there w^as such a country as America to repair to. Have you any inclination, reader, to follow them ? If so, consider whether you have a sufficient reason to justify you in so doing. Have you any impression that you ought to go, or do circumstances make it necessary ? Stop, and consider. Are you determined ? Then beware of men. Ask counsel of Him who is infinite in wisdom. Does his Spirit, or Providence, call you, like Abraham, to go and sojourn in a strange land ? Wait upon him for direction, who is wonderful in counsel. Remain at his feet till you have no doubt of it. Pray for His protection and blessing, and at length commit yourself into his hands as unto a faithful Creator. Take not a place till you have seen the room of the vessel, nor suffer a self-interested people to send you blindfolded to sea, when you must go, be the circumstances ever so unpleasant.

TO KEW YORK. 16

No. II.

Danger nigh — the wind became boisterous and the sea rough — three days very tempestuoup, &c. — Nevertheless the passengers continued in good spirits. — Some people are mistaken who think that crossing the sea is a pleasant journey.

Last evening after going to bed it rained hard, the wind was boisterous, and the captain called all hands to help as if danger was nigh. Some of the passengers said that we were in danger from rocks, not having got clear of the Irish channel. This day we have had a strong gale, and the vessel heaved us up and down as much, or nearly, perhaps, as if we had been in a swing boat. The sea appeared to be hoary, or to boil like a pot of ointment. The porpoises floated on the surface of the water, which is said to be a sign of bad weather.

Saturday and Sunday were very windy. It seemed as blustering as when on land it strips buildings and blows down large trees. The sea beat over the vessel, and came down the hatchway. Boxes, kettles, and other things, would tumble against us unless tied, and in general the vessel was as sloping as a flat-roofed house. Consequently, many were very sick ; nor could we scarcely get out, stand to get a cup of tea, or do anything.

" Still by me, O my Saviour, stand,

And guard in fierce temptation's hour ; Hide in the hollow of thy hand ; Show forth in me thy saving power.

Still be thy arms my sure defence,

Nor earth, nor hell shall pluck me thence !"

On Monday, July 2, the wind was blustering. On Tuesday, more so ; but on Wednesday it became more terrible, and of course the sea much more troubled. We could not light any fire, the wind was so furious, and the sea as if it would have swallowed us up. I knew not that I recollected it more blustering on the land in my life. Merciful Protector of men, save me in every danger ! Could a person have flown so many hundred miles, and have taken an elevated stand at a distance, he might have seen the vessel encountering the storm and tempest. Had he been an artist, with his palette and materials for painting, he might have sketched out the unpleasant scene. Could he have come down to the steerage, he might have witnessed the situation of emigrants and their perils on the sea. I did not know but the Prince of the power of the air was going to raise as powerful a storm as that which smote the Patriarch's house and buried his family in the ruins thereof; or that an angry God was going to fulfil that irrevocable sentence which has assured us that we shall surely die. The air appeared as dark, perhaps, as in the dead of winter, and the evening brought not a brighter scene. During our passage, it was reported that the captain said that he should not be believed, if he told the people in New York what weather we had had in our journey. At the height of this tempest, I went down into the second cabin.

and told awoman-that I should like to find a serious person or two to join me in prayer ; whence I returned to a person from Derby, who agreed to unite with me. " Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." Truly, there is nothing like prayer, either at home or abroad ! Prayer ardent has shut and opened the heavens ; dried up the sea ; disconcerted the schemes of armies, and bound the most inveterate enemies as with chains. Elias prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit.

The evening continued dark and gloomy, the sailors sat solitary, and the passengers were shut down without any light, as in a prison-house on the sea. The wind and the waves roared as with the voice of many waters, and having been troubled for such a length of time grew not better but worse. Sometimes the waves would dash against the side, and go over our heads. The vessel would so roll on her side as to throw people violently against each other, or against some thing that might much injure them. At night I was afraid that I should fall asleep and pitch out of my berth, so I reached a cord and put it round me, and fastened it to one of the wooden slips above me.

" To the haven of thy breast, O Son of man, I fly !

Be my refuge and my rest, For oh, the storm is high !

18 FKOM ENGLAND

Save me from the furious blast —

A covert from the tempest be : Hide me, Jesus, till o'erpast

The storm of sin I see.

" First and last in me perform

The M^ork thou hast begun : Be my shelter from the storm.

My shadow from the sun.

Weary, parch'd with thirst, and faint

Till thou th' abiding spirit breathe. Every moment. Lord, I want

The merit of thy death."

Our situation, to a people unaccustomed to a sea-faring life, was trying, and when we went to bed there appeared no signs of alteration. At length, however, I fell asleep ; and when I awoke in the night, and found at intervals the ship more still, I was in hopes that the storm had ceased. When we rose in the morning, lo ! there was a calm.

But the people, in general, were in good spirits, and notwithstanding the dangers of the sea and the difficulties attending such a voyage, the thoughts of arriving in this land of liberty pretty well buoyed them up to cheerfulness. Some of them having been oppressed with poverty and exercised with want of success ; others having had some relations there before, whom they wanted to see — they lived in hopes of seeing an end to the painfulness of a sea voyage by having their griefs redressed in the land to which they were bound. There was one man who had been in New York before, and was going over a second time, and said he would sooner be in America with or without a shilling, than be in England with five hundred pounds !

Imagination leads some people to suppose that crossing the ocean (especially to a contemplative mind) is a pleasant journey, but indeed it is a time of but little enjoyment. They suppose that the beauty of the firmament in a clear day — the large expanse of water in an ocean — the smoothness of the surface in a calm, and the majestic folding of the waves in a gale of wind — the rippling of the stream — the noble appearance of a large vessel in full sail, &c., are delightful ; but experience teaches otherwise. If it is pleasant to take an occasional excursion on the water, there are many things annoying and disagreeable among a ship's company, emigrating to a distant country. To enumerate a few : — First, the tossing of the vessel brings on the seasickness — and although some may not be sick, yet they are obliged to be among and surrounded, perhaps, by fifty at one time who are so. Secondly, after being sick, and continuing in a dense salt atmosphere, a person during the whole voyage probably can never relish his food. Thirdly, for want of experience, he is furnished with such food as he could not relish on land. The beef and bacon cured by some people, and sold to passengers for such a journey, is so unsavory that it is sufficient to starve a person, or make him sick. Fourthly, he is obliged to be surrounded by people he cannot retire from, and in such a company there are, perhaps, some reading and others singing — some fiddling and others dancing — children crying and men swearing. These things, together with some others that might be mentioned, the difficulty of cooking a little food, and the want of some things that under afflictive circumstances might be procured on the land, make it not a pleasant but a disagreeable journey.

No. III.

Peiils and dangers will not long deter men from folly. — The question " Is there any harm in dancing ?" answered, &c.

There are no perils wicked men get into that will deter them from folly ; for if they are brought to their wit's end, and to the very brink of destruction, they return to their evil practices as soon as the danger is over. This is the case here : no sooner scarcely had the storm ceased, than they began with fiddlincT and dancins;. Alas ! what foolishness and presum})tion. Is this the way, O vain man, of showing thy gratitude for a deliverance from what in a few days must have ended thy life ?

The reader will probably ask, " Is there any harm in dancing ?" I believe there is, and that it must be classed among the vanities of this present world — among the works of darkness rather than light. I believe no righteous person can join in such an assembly : First, because the righteous, in no age of the world, have followed such an amusement. Secondly, because it is followed at the present time exclusively by the thoughtless and gay — the dissipated and licentious — by the ungodly and men of this world. And, Thirdly, because lovers of pleasure shun it in affliction — at the decease of their dearest friends — during storm and tempest, or heavy thunder and lightning. There has not been one instance, I presume, where a righteous man has had recourse to music and dancing to find comfort in affliction ; but there have been thousands of people who have repented of the evil, and given themselves unto prayer.

Are you not convinced, reader, that the way that leads to everlasting life and glory is too narrow to admit of dancing ? If you are, will you persist in such folly ? Dare you dance on the brink of a precipice, or still pursue a course that leads to hell ? Could it be possible that if death should arrest a person in the way to hell, that he could have the least hope of heaven ? Is not su(;li a case a hopeless one? And if dancing, dressing, self-indulgence, living without repentance, fasting, and prayer, may be admitted, in what sense do you consider the way to heaven to be a straight and narrow one ? Turn you, then, from your evil ways that your souls may live. " Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." — Isaiah Iv. 7.

No. IV.

Want of experience makes a sea voyage more unpleasant than it otherwise might be. — Some information given in regard to preparing for such a journey, &c. — But the most important of all journeys, together with a preparation for it, is from this world to that which is to come. — Reflections.

Emigration would be more pleasant, both with regard to a journey at sea, and settling in a strange country, if experience was not wanting ; but in such enterprises, as well as all others, there are many things to learn. Hence, some people set out on such a journey without making preparations that would be to their comfort, and some others locate themselves in places which discourage them.

In order to explain myself on the first particular here mentioned, I shall put down a few things which should be regarded. A little information in reference to providing for such a journey may be useful. Hence, let the reader CTbserve that at this time of emigration, there are tradesmen at Liverpool who make considerable business in furnishing travellers with what is necessary for their journey. Such people are useful, as they pretty well know by much experience, what is necessary ; but travellers being strangers to them, they are apt to recommend too much of some things that are almost useless, and too little of others that are extremely necessary — though recommending indiscriminately to the robust and healthy, the sailor and the countryman, the delicate and sickly, without making a proper distinction between them. The effects of the water, confinement, &c., give people unaccustomed to a sea-faring life such an electrifying shock, that could they have what is suitable to their condition they would find it greatly to their comfort. Here are a number of families on board, and every family, I suppose, is plentifully provided with biscuits ; but not an individual, probably, w^ho likes, and but few that can eat them. Some have a hundred weight, and if information be correct, some others more than double that quantity, who will not probably eat a half nor a quarter of them.

This seems almost universally a useless article, unless people were kept out at sea till they recovered themselves, or were starving. To avoid eating them, people are baking cakes in the pan every day. The beef and bacon, likewise, that these merchants furnish passengers with, by whomsoever it is cured, or wherever it comes from, is so different to home-cured meat, that the taste of it is almost sufficient to make people sick.

To avoid the difficulties some have fallen into in this respect, let passengers use a little caution. Let them first purchase as much bread as they can eat while it is good, and providing they can find some as well baked and made of as good yeast as is sometimes sold in England, they might lay in as much as would last a week or a fortnight. Secondly, they misht cut some well-baked bread in slices, and well toast it — and providing it was good and well packed, they probably might take a sufficient quantity to last the whole voyage. Thirdly, let them lay in a proper quantity of flour, rice, and potatoes. There is scarcely anything more palatable to people on sea than potatoes roasted. Fourthly, take some good home-cured bacon, and put some beef in pickle for yourselves. Fifthly, provide some coffee, tea, and plenty of sugar — ten pounds of sugar would not be too much for a six weeks' voyage to some individuals. In addition to these things, it would probably be prudent to purchase some gingerbread, oranges, plums, and wine, as your better judgment may determine ; inasmuch as it will be too late to procure such things after you have put to sea. I might, however, have observed, that it would be best to take some biscuits, in case they could not be dispensed with.