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THE   AMERICANS   AT   HOME. 


VOL.  II. 


Edinburgh :  Printed  by  Thomas  and  Archibald  Constable, 
FOR 

EDMONSTON  AND  DOUGLAS. 

LONDON HAMILTON,  ADAMS,  AND  CO. 

CAMBRIDGE MACMILLAN  AND  CO. 

GLASGOW         ...  .      JAMES  MACLEHOSE. 


THE 


AMERICANS  AT  HOME 

PEN-AND-INK  SKETCHES  OF  AMERICAN  MEN 
MANNEES  AND  INSTITUTIONS. 


BY 


DAVID    MACRAE. 


IN   TWO    VOLUMES. 
VOL.  IT. 


EDINBURGH: 
EDMONSTON    AND    DOUGLAS. 

1870. 


[All  rigltts  reset  ved.] 
Ififi 


/.  2- 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  II. 

PAGE 

I.  -THE  EMANCIPATED  WHITES,          ...  1 

II.— NEGRO  DOMINATION,  .  ..13 

III.— SOUTHERN  VIEWS  OF  THE  NEGRO,          .  ,          21 

IV.— INFLUENCE  OF  SLAVERY  ON  THE  BLACKS,      .          32 

V.— THE  EMANCIPATED  BLACKS,  ...          48 

VI.— NEGRO  PECULIARITIES,         ....          72 

VII.— BLACK  CHRISTIANITY,          ....          90 

VIII.- ADMIRAL  SEMMES, 118 

IX.— NEW  ORLEANS, 130 

X.— ODD  CUSTOMS, 143 

XL— UP  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  .....        154 

XII.— WESTERN  NOTES, 168 

XIII.— THE  LIGHTNING  CITY,          .  ..  .  .189 

XIV.— ANNA  DICKINSON,      .....        208 
XV.— RAILWAY  TRAVELLING,        .  .  .  .215 

XVI.-THE  HUB, 224 

XVII. -HARVARD  AND  HER  TWO  HUMORISTS,  .        236 

XVIII.— WENDELL  PHILLIPS,  .  .       „...        247 


vi        9  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

XIX.— VARIOUS  OBSERVATIONS  IN  BOSTON,  .        256 

XX.— AN  EVENING  WITH  EMERSON,    .  .  .270 

XXI.- NEW  ENGLAND, 279 

XXII.— BIRTHS,  DEATHS,  AND  MARRIAGES,    .  .        286 

XXin.-JOHN  B.  GOUGH, 295 

XXIV.— DRINKING  HABITS,  .  .  .  .304 

XXV.— LIQUOR  LAWS,          .  .  .  312 

XXVI.— AT  HARTFORD, 320 

XXVII.— AMERICANISMS,        ...  .329 

XXVIII.— CANADIAN  WINTER,  .  .  .  .339 

XXIX.  -THE  OLD  MAN  OF  THE  MOUNTAINS,   .  .        347 

XXX.— A  DAY  WITH  THE  SHAKERS,      .  .  .355 

XXXI.— NEWSPAPERS, 369 

XXXII.— CHURCHES,     ......        375 

XXXIII.— FREE  SCHOOLS,  .        387 


I. 

THE  EMANCIPATED  WHITES. 

NOTWITHSTANDING  the  loss  to  which  Emancipation 
has  subjected  the  Southern  people,  and  the  agony  of 
the  process  by  which  it  was  accomplished,  I  scarcely 
met  a  single  man  or  woman  who  expressed  regret  that 
slavery  was  gone.  The  South  feels  like  a  man  who  has 
been  subjected  against  his  will  to  a  severe  operation — 
an  operation  which  he  thought  would  kill  him,  which 
has  terribly  prostrated  him,  from  which  he  is  still 
doubtful  if  he  will  completely  recover,  but  which  being 
fairly  over,  has  given  him  prodigious  relief. 

The  anti-slavery  agitation  turned  attention  so  exclu 
sively  to  the  burdens  which  the  system  fixed  upon  the 
slave,  that  few  have  considered  the  burdens  which  it 
fixed  also  upon  the  slaveholder,  and  the  trying  position 
in  which  latterly  it  placed  him.  The  ownership  of 
slaves  involved  a  very  serious  responsibility.  This  was 
specially  felt  by  those  masters  and  mistresses  who 
realized  that  the  negroes,  so  entirely  committed  to  their 
charge,  were  beings  with  souls  as  well  as  bodies,  for 
whose  moral  condition,  therefore,  they  were  largely 
responsible.  But  even  on  the  man  who  looked  upon 
his  negroes  as  only  so  many  working  animals  or  cotton- 
picking  machines,  slavery  imposed  burdens  from  which 
the  employer  of  free  labour  is  exempt.  With  us,  if  a 

VOL.  II.  A 


2  THE  EMANCIPATED  WHITES. 

servant  does  not  please  she  is  dismissed ;  if  a  workman 
meets  with  an  accident,  or  takes  ill,  the  loss  falls  on 
himself;  he  loses  his  wages,  and  has  to  pay  for  his 
doctor.  If  a  mill-owner  finds  trade  dull,  he  can  put 
his  hands  on  half-time,  and  so  curtail  his  expenditure  ; 
if  matters  get  worse,  he  can  shut  up  his  mill  altogether 
and  wait  for  better  times,  leaving  the  workers  to  look 
out  as  best  they  can  for  themselves. 

The  slaveholder  had  no  such  simple  resource  as  this. 
His  slaves  were  his  property,  and  if  humanity  and  self- 
interest  were  not  sufficient  to  make  him  provide  for 
them,  the  law  compelled  him.  He  had  to  feed  his 
slaves  day  by  day  all  the  year  round ;  he  had  to  keep 
them  in  clothing ;  he  had  to  provide  medical  attend 
ance  for  them  in  sickness ;  he  had  to  support  them  in 
old  age ;  and  every  worker  who  died  or  ran  away  was 
a  dead  loss  to  him  of  from  500  to  1500  dollars.  At 
slack  seasons,  or  bad  seasons,  when  perhaps  he  was 
losing  instead  of  making  money,  he  had  still  to  support 
his  negroes  unless  he  sold  them,  which,  at  such  seasons, 
he  could  scarcely  expect  to  do  without  heavy  loss. 
During  the  late  war,  though  almost  everything  in  the 
South  was  at  a  stand-still,  the  planters  and  tobacco- 
factors  had  to  provide  support  for  all  their  slaves  as 
usual,  while  our  employers  had  turned  their  operatives 
off,  and  were  waiting  till  it  should  pay  to  take  them  on 
again. 

Let  it  also  be  borne  in  mind,  that  the  slaveholder 
could  not  confine  himself,  like  the  employer  of  free 
labour,  to  such  hands  as  best  suited  his  purpose. 
When  buying  a  slave  he  could  select  his  man,  but  those 
born  on  his  property  he  had  to  take  as  they  came,  good, 
bad,  or  indifferent.  If  they  grew  up  wild  and  insubor- 


CHASING  RUNAWAYS.  3 

dinate,  he  had  to  try  and  tame  them  ;  if  they  were  lazy 
and  stupid,  he  had  to  work  them  up,  as  best  he  could, 
to  some  degree  of  usefulness.  In  both  cases  he  had  to 
put  up  with  negroes  who  were  a  burden  and  a  loss  to 
him,  and  who,  under  the  free-labour  system,  would 
simply  be  turned  off.  Of  course  he  had  the  power  to 
sell  them,  but  the  very  qualities  that  made  them  worth 
less  to  him  tended  to  make  them  worthless  and  un 
saleable  to  others.  Besides  this,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  slaveholders  had  human  feelings  like  ourselves. 
Many  of  them  were  exceedingly  attached  to  their  slaves, 
and  never  sold  them  when  they  could  possibly  avoid  it. 
In  innumerable  instances  they  retained  slaves  that  were 
utterly  useless,  simply  in  order  to  prevent  them  falling 
into  cruel  hands,  or  because  it  would  have  involved  the 
separation  of  husband  from  wife,  or  parent  from  child. 

But  the  mere  maintenance  of  their  slaves  was  a  light 
burden  to  thoughtful  and  Christian  people  in  the  South, 
compared  with  the  means  they  had  to  adopt  to  main 
tain  the  system  and  keep  their  slaves  in  order.  The 
planter,  or  tobacco-factor,  had  to  manage  his  negroes  as 
a  country  schoolmaster  manages  his  school.  If  any  of 
them,  whether  male  or  female,  were  lazy  or  unruly,  he 
had  to  whip  them.  The  owner,  if  a  man  of  kindly  feeling, 
did  not  like  this,  but  he  saw  no  alternative.  He  could 
not  turn  a  slave  off  as  he  can  now  turn  off  a  hired 
workman  ;  he  could  not  permit  him  to  neglect  his  task, 
or  show  insubordination ;  therefore  he  had  recourse  to 
the  lash. 

When  a  slave  ran  off  he  sent  after  him,  as  a  man 
would  send  after  a  runaway  horse,  or  a  parent  after  a 
runaway  boy.  It  was  not  only  that  the  slave  was  by 


4  THE  EMANCIPATED  WHITES. 

law  his  property,  and  had  cost  him  perhaps  a  thousand 
dollars.  This  was  one  incentive,  but  not  the  strongest. 
He  had  to  consider  the  effect  that  the  escape  of  one 
slave  would  have  upon  the  others.  A  planter  gave 
me  this  case  from  his  own  experience,  and  it  represents 
thousands  of  others.  "  I  had  one  ungovernable  slave," 
he  said,  "  who  made  several  attempts  to  escape.  He 
was  of  so  little  use  to  me  that  I  would  not  have  cared 
two  straws  for  the  loss  of  him,  though  he  had  cost  me 
800  dollars ;  but  he  had  been  influencing  some  of  the 
other  slaves,  and  inciting  them  to  run  away  with  him. 
I  knew  that  if  I  allowed  that  rascal  to  get  off,  others 
would  follow — I  should  lose  some  of  my  best  hands, 
and  be  kept  in  constant  trouble.  So  I  set  the  dogs  after 
him  and  hunted  him  through  the  swamp  for  nearly  a 
week  till  I  got  him.  I  had  him  tied  up  then  in  sight 
of  the  other  hands  and  lashed.  I  had  ultimately  to 
send  him  to  New  Orleans  to  be  sold ;  and  I  told  the 
others  I  would  do  the  same  with  them  if  they  tried  the 
same  tricks.  Now,  sir,"  said  this  planter,  "  you  will  say 
I  was  cruel.  Well,  perhaps  I  was  ;  but  I  tell  you,  sir, 
I  never  whipped  one  of  those  slaves  but  I  seemed  to 
feel  it  as  much  as  they  did.  Sometimes  I  felt  it  so 
much,  that  if  it  would  have  served  the  purpose  I  would 
have  taken  the  whipping  myself.  But  it  had  to  be 
done,  sir — it  had  to  be  done  !  We  could  not  have  main 
tained  the  system — we  could  not  have  kept  order  for  a 
single  day  with  some  of  them  but  for  the  lash." 

An  overseer  in  the  State  of  Alabama  told  me  this 
incident : — "  One  day  I  was  flogging  a  slave  for  theft 
in  presence  of  a  number  of  others.  The  fellow  broke 
away,  and,  picking  up  a  bar  of  wood,  flung  it  at  me. 
The  boss  (employer)  was  standing  near.  He  instantly 


REPRESSING  EDUCATION.  5 

took  a  pistol  from  his  pocket,  and  said,  handing  it  to 
me,  '  Shoot  him !'  I  hesitated  to  do  it,  so  the  boss  shot 
the  man  himself.  He  was  badly  hurt,  but  not  killed. 
That  night  the  boss  sent  for  me  to  the  house,  and  said, 

' ,  if  that  man  gets  better  we  must  sell  him.  One 

man  like  that  is  enough  to  spoil  a  whole  gang/  And 
yet,"  said  the  overseer,  "  he  was  as  kind  a  master  to 
them  that  behaved  as  any  I  saw  in  these  parts." 

I  asked  him  if  he  thought  such  severity  was  neces 
sary.  "  Yes,  sir,"  he  said,  "  it  couldn't  be  done  without. 
These  cases  were  very  rare ;  but  when  a  nigger  got 
bumptious,  we  had  to  teach  him  who  was  master.  But 
I  am  glad  that  business  is  over." 

Another  measure  exceedingly  distasteful  to  many  of 
the  Christian  people  of  the  South,  but  deemed  neces 
sary  to  the  maintenance  of  slavery,  was  the  withholding 
of  education  from  the  black  people,  making  it  an  offence 
punishable  by  law  for  any  one  to  teach  a  slave  to  read 
or  write.  Conversing  on  this  subject  with  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Girardeau  of  Charleston,  he  said,  "  Some  of  us  would 
gladly  have  given  education  to  the  negroes,  but  it  .was 
found  that  slavery  and  education  did  not  work  together. 
The  Abolitionists  of  New  England  were  doing  their  best 
to  excite  the  slaves  to  discontent.  If  we  had  taught 
them  to  read,  the  incendiary  writings  of  these  Abolition 
ists  would  have  been  scattered  broadcast  amongst  them, 
exciting  insubordination  and  anarchy,  ending  in  a  colli 
sion  between  the  black  and  the  white  races  which  would 
have  been  fatal  to  the  blacks.  Such  at  least  was  the 
general  feeling,  and  we  shut  the  door  against  all  this 
by  prohibiting  the  slaves  to  be  taught.  But,  for  my 
own  part,"  he  said, "  I  was  never  in  favour  of  these  laws, 
and  our  people  would  not  have  passed  them  if  they 


6  THE  EMANCIPATED  WHITES. 

had  not  felt  it  to  be  necessary  for  the  security  of  our 
system  of  labour." 

Professor  Woodrow  of  Columbia  bore  testimony  to 
the  same  effect.  He  said,  "  The  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  South  agitated  for  the  permission  of  negro  educa 
tion,  but  without  success.  The  opinion  of  the  public 
was,  that  it  would  endanger  slavery." 

The  moral  aspect  of  these  measures  depended  of 
course  on  the  view  taken  of  the  natural  and  proper 
position  of  the  negro.  If  it  was  right  to  maintain 
slavery,  it  was  right  to  use  the  only  means  by  which 
slavery  could  be  maintained.  The  slave-driver  looked 
upon  the  management  of  a  negro  as  we  look  upon  the 
management  of  a  horse.  If  the  slave  would  not  do  his 
duty  he  must  be  compelled  to  do  it ;  if  he  was  lazy,  or 
stubborn,  or  disobedient,  he  must  be  whipped;  if  he 
tried  to  escape  he  must  be  chased ;  if  he  could  not  be 
caught  without  bloodhounds,  he  must  be  caught  with 
bloodhounds ;  if  he  was  likely  to  run  away  again,  he 
must  be  shackled  and  branded  with  hot  irons ;  if  he 
became  absolutely  uncontrollable,  he  must  be  shot ; 
and  if  it  was  found  that  education  made  him  discon 
tented  with  his  divinely  appointed  place  as  the  white 
man's  slave,  education  must  be  kept  from  him. 

Granting  the  premiss  that  the  negro  had  to  be  kept 
in  slavery,  all  this  followed  logically  and  as  a  matter  of 
course,  and  with  this  logic  the  Southern  people  tried  to 
satisfy  themselves.  But  the  almost  irresponsible  power 
which  was  thus  thrown  into  the  hands  of  the  slave 
owner  was  often  so  shamefully  abused,  and  many  of 
the  means  that  were  necessary  to  the  maintenance  of 
slavery  seemed  so  horrible,  and  the  laws  forbidding  edu 
cation  seemed  so  grossly  inconsistent  with  the  widely 


HATRED  OF  SLAVERY.  7 

professed  purpose  of  preparing  the  black  race  for  higher 
things,  that  multitudes  of  the  thoughtful  and  Christian 
people  of  the  South  were  distracted  with  doubts  as  to 
whether  a  system  permitting  so  much  evil,  and  re 
quiring  such  measures  for  its  maintenance,  could  in 
itself  be  good.  One  eminent  Southern  clergyman  said 
to  me, — "  We  saw  its  evils,  sir ;  we  mourned  over  them  : 
but  we  could  see  no  way  of  escape.  Slavery  had  come 
to  us  by  inheritance  ;  it  was  bound  up  with  the  whole 
social,  commercial,  and  political  system  of  this  country. 
It  seemed  as  if  to  attempt  to  pull  it  down  would  be  to 
disorganize  society,  and  bring  upon  ourselves  and  the 
blacks  far  worse  evils  than  we  could  abolish.  But  I 
tell  you,  sir,  I  often  prayed  God  to  show  us  some  way 
out  of  our  difficulty  ;  and  now  the  thing  is  done — in 
the  worst  way  we  could  have  had  it — still  it  is  done, 
and  I  am  glad  that  the  ordeal  is  over." 

The  war  will  emancipate  the  Southern  people  from 
another  burden  which  was  becoming  year  by  year  more 
exasperating  and  intolerable — I  mean  the  imiversal 
odium  which  slavery  was  bringing  upon  them.  To  those 
especially  who  were  kind  to  their  slaves,  and  had  only 
looked  on  the  bright  side  of  the  institution,  it  was  very 
irritating  when  they  went  North  or  came  to  this  coun 
try,  to  find  themselves  identified  in  the  public  mind 
with  all  that  was  basest  and  most  infamous  about  the 
slave  system ;  to  find  their  motives  misrepresented,  and 
their  morality  and  Christian  character  suspected. 

A  Southern  gentleman  told  me  the  following  incident 
as  an  illustration  of  what  they  had  to  bear  : — A  friend 
of  his  who  visited  this  country  in  1850,  was  dining  one 
day  in  the  house  of  a  wealthy  Scotchman,  to  whom  he 


8  THE  EMANCIPATED  WHITES. 

had  introductions.  In  the  course  of  conversation  it  hap 
pened  to  be  mentioned  that  he  was  a  slaveholder,  where 
upon  several  of  the  ladies  instantly  rose  and  left  the 
table.  "  And  yet,"  said  my  informant,  "  that  gentleman 
was  a  devout  Christian,  and  as  kind  a  master  as  ever 
breathed — a  man  beloved  by  his  slaves." 

This  was  the  feeling  which  the  Southern  people  had 
to  encounter  at  every  turn.  The  anti- slavery  agitation 
had  brought  into  view  all  the  darkest  and  most  hideous 
features  of  slavery,  and  had  left  upon  multitudes  of 
people  the  impression  that  the  Southern  slaveholders 
were  a  set  of  coarse  and  brutal  ruffians  after  the 
pattern  of  Simon  Legree.  This  was  intensely  exasper 
ating  to  the  more  refined  and  Christian  of  the  Southern 
people,  who  were  thus  made  to  suffer  the  shame  and 
infamy  brought  upon  the  system  by  its  very  worst 
representatives.  They  complained  bitterly  of  this  in 
justice,  but  self-vindication  was  impossible.  They  held 
slavery  to  be  right,  and  this  allowed  them  to  look  on 
the  lash,  the  bloodhound,  the  branding-iron,  the  slave- 
auction,  and  the  laws  prohibiting  education,  as  neces 
sary  evils ;  and  on  the  wholesale  gratification  of  lust 
and  passion  under  the  absolute  power  granted  to  the 
slave- owner,  as  simply  abuses  perpetrated  by  bad  men 
under  an  authority  that  had  to  be  granted  for  a  better 
purpose.  But  the  world  had  come  to  believe  that 
slavery  itself  was  a  wrong.  All  the  atrocities,  therefore, 
perpetrated  under  its  license,  and  all  the  repressive 
measures  adopted  for  its  perpetuation,  stood  forth  as 
iniquities  added  to  iniquity,  making  the  whole  system 
hideous  and  indefensible.  Hence  the  indignant  re 
monstrances  and  the  vehement  reproaches  with  which 
the  Southern  churches  and  the  Southern  people  were 


SOUTHERN  ENERGY  EMANCIPATED.  9 

constantly  assailed.  And  yet  what  was  the  South  to 
do,  if  slavery  was  a  divine  and  indispensable  institu 
tion — an  institution  with  which  the  happiness  and  the 
very  existence  of  the  black  race  in  America  was  bound 
up  ?  The  war  has  rescued  the  South  from  this  dis 
tressing  dilemma.  It  has  not  only  swept  away  the 
cause  of  alienation  that  threatened  to  cut  her  off  hope 
lessly  from  the  sympathy  and  Christian  fellowship  of 
the  world;  it  has  swept  it  away  by  force,  so  that  if 
emancipation  does  prove  a  disaster,  the  South  feels  that 
she  can  wash  her  hands  of  the  responsibility. 

But  the  war  has  not  only  liberated  the  South  from  the 
incubus  of  slavery ;  it  has  pushed  her  into  circumstances 
that  must  arouse  her  energies  as  they  never  were  aroused 
before.  The  lazy  luxury  that  was  enervating  her  people 
is  no  longer  possible.  She  is  poor,  and  must  work  if 
she  would  live.  The  blacks  are  being  educated  by  tens 
of  thousands — fifty  thousand  in  Virginia  alone  being  able 
to  read  and  write,  who  were  slaves  before  the  war — and 
if  the  poorer  whites  are  to  hold  their  own  against  even 
black  competition,  they  must  be  educated  too.  More 
over,  the  gates  are  open,  Yankee  and  foreign  enterprise 
is  coming  in,  and  the  Southern  people  will  not,  dare 
not,  for  their  own  sakes,  permit  themselves  to  fall 
behind  in  the  race.  The  change  is  already  perceptible. 
I  was  told  by  professors  in  Southern  colleges,  and  by 
teachers  in  the  white  schools,  that  their  students 
and  scholars  were  studying  as  they  never  did  before  the 
war,  feeling  now  the  necessity  for  education.  Every 
where  people  were  expressing  their  sense  of  the  change. 
"  No  more  rest  for  us  now,"  said  one.  "  We  have  to 
look  sharp  and  not  let  these  Yankees  get  the  whip- 
hand  of  us,"  said  another.  "  We  have  to  rise  earlier 


1  0  THE  EMANCIPATED  WHITES. 

now,"  said  a  third,  "  and  work  more,  and  work  quicker, 
than  we  used  to  do."  The  change  seemed  to  be  summed 
up  in  an  expression  which  met  me  constantly  in  the 
South,  "  Yes,  sir,  we  are  getting  Yankeeized." 

The  ruin  caused  by  the  war  is  accelerating  the  change, 
by  compelling  many  of  the  most  cultured  and  aristo 
cratic  people  in  the  South  to  enter  the  lists.  This  of 
itself  is  enough  to  produce  a  revolution  in  Southern 
feeling.  Slavery  tended  to  brand  labour  with  degrada 
tion  :  these  men  will  help  to  put  upon  it  the  stamp  of 
nobility.  General  Lee  advised  his  officers  and  men 
wisely  on  this  point.  He  foresaw  the  change  that  was 
before  the  defeated  South ;  he  perceived  that  her  best 
hope  was  to  prepare  herself  for  it  without  delay ;  and 
he  accordingly  urged  his  soldiers  to  cast  aside  all  feel 
ings  of  hostility  engendered  by  the  conflict,  act  as  loyal 
citizens,  and  apply  themselves  at  once  to  honest  work. 
He  himself,  refusing  the  offers  of  pecuniary  assistance 
made  to  him  by  friends  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic, 
addressed  himself  to  the  task  of  self-support;  and  I 
was  told  at  Eichmond  that  one  of  his  sons,  who  held 
the  rank  of  major-general  in  the  Confederate  army, 
drove  into  the  city  from  his  farm,  a  few  weeks  after  the 
surrender,  with  a  waggon -load  of  hay.  Examples  of 
this  sort,  backed  up  by  the  pressure  of  external  circum 
stances,  can  scarcely  fail  to  launch  the  South  upon  a  new 
career;  and  when  once  the  energies  that  amazed  the 
world  during  the  late  war  are  turned  into  the  channels 
of  social  and  political  progress,  what  is  there  too  great 
to  expect  of  such  a  people  in  such  a  country  ? 

The  war  has  accelerated  the  change  in  another  way, 
by  bringing  into  the  market  the  estates  of  impover 
ished  land-owners.  White  immigration  is  beginning  to 


SLOVENLINESS  OF  SLAVERY.  11 

go  in  and  buy  up  such  lands ;  the  new  State  Govern 
ments  are  also  purchasing  large  portions  to  sell  to  the 
freedmen.  Thus  the  great  landed  estates,  that  formed 
so  marked  a  feature  in  the  old  South,  are  being  broken 
up,  and  smaller  plantations  and  farms  coming  into  ex 
istence,  causing  a  steady  increase  in  the  class  of  free 
holders — an  increase  which  seems  likely  to  go  on  till 
the  power  formerly  wielded  by  the  great  land  and  slave 
owners  becomes  absorbed  by  the  middle  class,  assimi 
lating  in  this  respect  the  South  to  the  North.  White 
immigration  is  also  carrying  in  with  it  a  variety  and  a 
quality  of  labour  destined  to  work  a  mighty  change  in  the 
whole  aspect  of  the  South.  Hitherto  she  has  been  enabled 
by  the  amazing  fertility  of  her  soil  to  show  results,  espe 
cially  in  cotton-growing,  that  conceal  her  real  backward 
ness.  In  1 859,  two  years  before  the  war,  her  exports  were 
valued  at  188  millions  of  dollars,  but  of  this  only  27 
millions  were  not  in  cotton.  Even  in  the  cotton  States 
only  39  per  cent,  of  the  farm  land  was  improved,  and 
of  the  improved  land  more  than  17  million  acres  were 
not  in  actual  cultivation.  Her  whole  system  of  agri 
culture  by  slave  labour  has  been  lop-sided,  wasteful, 
and  superficial, — the  ground  being  rather  skimmed 
than  cultivated.  The  same  crop  was  often  grown 
upon  it  year  after  year  till  the  strength  of  the  land  was 
exhausted,  when  new  ground  was  entered  upon  to  be 
scratched  and  exhausted  in  the  same  fashion.  The 
planters  held  vast  tracts  of  land  in  retention  for  this 
purpose,  supporting  a  hundred  people  on  an  area  that 
would  under  free  labour  have  been  supporting  a  thou 
sand.  Farmers  who  were  unable  to  cultivate  more  than 
100  acres  properly,  scratched  200,  and  kept  300  or  400 
more  in  wilderness.  They  confess  all  this  themselves. 


1  2  THE  EMANCIPATED  WHITES. 

They  showed  me  fields  which  never  yielded  more  than 
ten  bushels  of  corn,  to  the  acre,  where  the  deep  plough 
would  bring  up  twenty  bushels  at  once,  and  thorough 
tillage  would  soon  bring  forty.  A  planter  in  North 
Carolina  showed  me  fields  of  his  own,  out  of  which,  he 
said,  a  Scotch  farmer  would  take  thirty  bushels  to  the 
acre,  but  out  of  which  he  had  rarely  got  more  than  five. 
He  also  showed  me  fields  lying  waste  and  abandoned 
for  years,  where  proper  culture  and  a  rotation  of  crops 
would  have  been  yielding  rich  harvests  every  season. 
Even  what  has  been  cultivated  looks  rough,  ragged,  and 
unfinished.  A  Georgia  plantation  bears  about  the  same 
resemblance  to  a  farm  in  the  Lothians  that  a  Highland 
morass  bears  to  a  flower-garden.  Fields  that  have  been 
under  cultivation  for  half  a  century  remain  but  half- 
cleared,  with  the  stumps  of  the  primeval  forest  still 
sticking  out  of  the  ground,  and  sometimes  trunks  of 
fallen  trees  lying  unremoved.  "  We  give  'em  time  to 
rot,"  said  one  planter. 

Everywhere,  arid  in  everything,  slavery  seems  to  have 
been  slovenly — in  the  house,  in  the  factory,  and  in  the 
field.  All  this  is  destined  to  be  changed.  Farmers 
are  beginning  to  go  in  and  are  welcomed,  who  know 
how  to  till  the  land  so  as  to  make  the  most  of  it,  and 
who  will  not  only  introduce  improved  machinery  and 
improved  methods  themselves,  but  will  compel  their 
adoption  by  all  others  who  would  hold  their  ground 
against  this  new  competition. 

In  many  respects,  therefore,  emancipation  has  liber 
ated  the  Southern  whites  as  much,  and,  perhaps,  to  even 
better  purpose,  than  it  has  emancipated  the  negroes. 


ENFRANCHISING  THE  NEGROES.  13 


II. 

NEGRO  DOMINATION. 

WHILE  the  Southern  people  accept  the  abolition  of 
slavery  as  an  inevitable  consequence  of  the  war — many 
of  them  even  with  a  sense  of  relief — they  complain 
bitterly  of  the  conduct  of  the  North  in  forcibly  en 
franchising  the  emancipated  slaves,  and  at  the  same 
time  disfranchising  so  many  of  the  old  masters.  The 
governor  of  one  of  the  Southern  States  said, — "  These 
after-claps,  sir,  are  worse  than  the  war  itself.  It  is  hard 
enough  to  bear  our  poverty ;  it  is  hard  enough  to  have 
our  slaves  taken  from  us  without  compensation;  but 
what  we  feel  most  keenly,  is  this  attempt  on  the  part 
of  the  North  to  saddle  us  with  negro  rule."  This  I 
found  to  be  the  almost  universal  feeling  of  the  Southern 
people. 

It  will  certainly  seem  that  the  North  is  not  very 
clean-handed  in  the  matter,  when  it  is  remembered, 
that  while  she  has  forced  negro  suffrage  upon  the  con 
quered  South,  she  still  refuses  to  submit  to  it  herself. 
Some  of  the  New  England  States  grant  the  suffrage  to 
their  few  coloured  citizens.  Ohio,  I  think,  permits  a  man 
to  vote  if  he  can  prove  that  fifteen- sixteenths  of  his  blood 
is  white ;  and  New  York  allows  a  coloured  man  to  vote 
if  he  owns  250  dollars  worth  of  taxable  property.  But 
Pennsylvania  refuses,  Maryland  refuses ;  Delaware 


14  NEGRO  DOMINATION. 

and  New  Jersey  will  not  hear  of  it ;  Illinois,  Indiana, 
Missouri,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Wisconsin,  Colorado,  Nevada, 
Oregon,  and  California,  all  reject  negro  suffrage  for 
themselves,  and  yet  through  Congress  they  force  it 
upon  the  South.  This  is,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  a  mon 
strous  inconsistency.1 

So  far  as  the  enfranchisement  of  the  Southern  negroes 
is  concerned,  it  is  easy  to  assign  a  political  reason. 
When  the  war  was  over,  and  the  Southern  States  were 
called  upon  to  reconstruct  themselves,  they  began  to 
nominate  as  their  representatives  men  whose  principles 
had  been  notoriously  hostile  to  the  Government.  The 
North  said,  "  This  will  never  do.  These  States  must 
not  come  into  the  Union  except  on  a  loyal  basis,  and 
as  the  white  people  will  not  elect  loyal  men,  we  must 
allow  the  negroes  to  do  it."  Whereupon  the  negroes 
were  enfranchised,  loyal  delegates  were  elected,  and  the 
Southern  States  reconstructed  for  the  most  part  accord 
ing  to  the  mind  of  the  North. 

But  if  this  was  not  a  mere  farce — if  the  people  of  the 
North  really  deem  the  Southern  negroes  fit  for  the  suf 
frage,  why  do  they  deny  that  right  to  their  own  ?  Surely 
if  negroes  reared  in  the  darkness  of  slavery  be  qualified 
to  vote,  much  more  must  those  be  who  have  been 
brought  up  in  freedom,  and  enjoyed  the  advantage  of 
education.  And  if  the  North  deems  it  safe  to  enfran 
chise  the  black  people  in  the  Southern  States,  where 

1  I  rejoice  to  say,  that  since  these  enfranchised  throughout  the  whole 

words  were  penned,  the  Fifteenth  Kepublic.     The  North,  by  this  act, 

Amendment  /to  the  Federal  Consti-  has  nobly  vindicated  her  sincerity 

tution,  securing  the  rights  of  citizen-  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  and  has 

ship  to  the  coloured  as  well  as  to  converted  what  looked  like  a  mere 

the  white  people,  has  been  ratified  political  shift  into  a  great  act  of 

by  three-fourths  of  the   States,  so  justice    to    the    coloured    race. — 

that  practically  the  negro  is  now  March  1870. 


FALSE  ALAEM.  1 5 

they  number  four  millions,  forming  a  fourth,  a '  third, 
and  in  some  places  a  half  of  the  entire  population,  on 
what  possible  pretext  can  she  refuse  to  enfranchise  the 
300,000  that  are  scattered  thinly  over  her  own  vast 
area,  amongst  an  overwhelming  white  population  of 
twenty  or  thirty  millions  ?  If  the  black  people  ought 
to  have  a  vote,  she  is  doing  them  in  the  North  a  gross 
injustice ;  if  they  ought  not  to  have  a  vote,  then  she 
has  committed  an  unpardonable  outrage  upon  the  white 
people  of  the  South. 

But  if  the  North  has  allowed  her  prejudice  against 
the  coloured  man  to  expose  her  Southern  policy  to 
suspicion,  the  South,  on  the  other  hand,  has  allowed 
the  exasperation  of  defeat  to  blind  her  judgment,  and 
absurdly  exaggerate  her  fears.  The  idea  of  the  negro 
ruling  the  South  is  preposterous.  Granting  that  he  has 
a  vote,  he  is,  even  at  present,  in  the  minority.  In  the 
Gulf  States  the  black  population  amounted  by  last 
census  to  about  45  per  cent.,  in  the  border  States  to 
about  30  per  cent.,  and  in  Missouri  to  less  than  12  per 
cent.  In  round  numbers  the  black  population  of  the 
entire  South  is  four  millions,  the  white  population 
twelve  millions,  enabling  the  whites  to  outvote  the 
blacks  by  three  to  one.  Moreover,  this  preponderance 
is  likely  henceforth  to  increase  instead  of  diminish. 
White  immigration,  which  has  so  long  been  retarded  by 
the  existence  of  slavery,  will  rapidly  swell  the  bulk  of 
the  white  population.  On  the  other  hand,  the  increase 
of  the  black  population  must  to  some  extent  diminish. 
Under  the  slave  system  it  stood  at  its  maximum. 
The  slaves  had  neither  to  provide  for  themselves  nor 
their  children.  They  therefore  married  young,  and  had 
generally  large  families.  Their  owners  encouraged  this, 


16  NEGRO  DOMINATION. 

for  slaves  were  money,  and  increase  in  the  number  of 
their  slaves  meant  increase  in  wealth,  and  in  social  and 
political  importance.  All  this  is  altered  now.  The 
Southern  people  declare,  indeed,  that  the  emancipated 
negro  cannot  long  endure  beside  the  white  man — that 
already  he  is  dying  out.  This  assertion  met  me  every 
where — in  Virginia,  in  the  Carolinas,  in  the  Gulf 
States.  One  of  the  large  landed  proprietors  in  South 
Carolina  (Colonel  Mackay)  said  that  more  black  chil 
dren  had  died  since  emancipation  than  had  died  for 
twenty  years  before,  when  proper  care  had  been  taken 
of  them.  Mr.  Stoddard,  of  Savannah,  one  of  the  great 
planters  in  Georgia,  said  that  in  that  city  upwards  of 
5000  negroes  had  died  within  five  months  after  eman 
cipation — a  mortality  tenfold  greater  than  he  had 
known  before.  He  believed  the  census  of  1870  would 
show  a  black  population  of  less  than  three  millions 
where  formerly  there  had  been  over  four.  At  New 
Orleans,  General  Beauregard  said,  "  There  are  probably 
500,000  fewer  negroes  in  these  Gulf  States  to-day  than 
there  were  in  1861.  They  are  dying  fast.  In  seventy- 
five  years  hence  they  will  have  vanished  from  this  con 
tinent  along  with  the  red  man  and  the  buffalo/'  These 
are  only  specimens  of  the  allegations  that  met  me  every 
where  amongst  the  Southern  people,  from  the  border 
States  to  the  Gulf.  How  far  they  are  justified  by  facts, 
time  and  the  census  will  show ;  but  the  question  in  the 
meantime  is,  If  the  Southern  people  believe  what  they  say 
about  the  Hack  people  dying  out  so  fast,  what  fear  need 
they  have  of  negro  domination  ? 

The  assumption,  however,  that  the  negro  is  dying 
out,  is,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  premature.  Charles 
Campbell,  the  historian  of  Virginia,  who  has  given 


WILL  THE  NEGHO  DIE  OUT  ?  1 7 

some  attention  to  this  inquiry,  and  who  might  natu 
rally  be  expected  to  take  the  Southern  view  of  it, 
said  that  he  believed  it  to  be  erroneous.  General 
Howard,  chief  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  who  has  had 
special  opportunities  of  forming  a  correct  judgment, 
has  declared  that  the  assumption  is  altogether  ground 
less.  If  the  negro  survives  in  Canada  and  the  North, 
much  more  is  he  likely  to  do  so  in  the  warmer  and 
more  congenial  climate  of  the  South.  Still,  two  things 
are  probable.  The  first  is  that  the  sudden  emancipa 
tion  of  four  millions  of  slaves,  untrained  to  think  or  to 
provide  for  themselves,  and  this  in  a  country  wasted 
and  wrecked  by  the  war,  may  show,  in  the  next  cen 
sus,  an  extraordinary  mortality  amongst  them  since 
I860,  though  this  will  be  no  proof  of  any  tendency  to 
die  out  under  ordinary  circumstances.  The  second 
thing  is  that  now,  when  the  negroes  have  to  provide  for 
themselves  and  for  their  children,  which  many  of  them 
are  doing  with  extreme  difficulty,  and  others  are  unable 
to  do  at  all,  the  rate  of  increase  will  be  lower,  and  the 
rate  of  mortality  higher,  than  formerly.  If  this  be  so, 
then  the  existing  preponderance  of  the  white  over  the 
coloured  population  is  destined  to  increase  rather  than 
dimmish.  There  will,  of  course,  be  local  exceptions. 
Even  at  present  there  are  districts  where  the  black 
population  is  in  excess  of  the  white.  In  the  most 
southerly  regions  this  preponderance  may  continue  or 
even  increase,  as  the  blacks  of  the  North  and  the  bor 
der  States  will  naturally  gravitate  towards  the  warmer 
latitudes  near  the  Gulf,  where  the  white  immigration 
will  for  the  same  reason  be  least. 

But  even  in  places  where  the  black  population  may 
slightly  preponderate,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  fears  of 

VOL.  II.  B 


18  NEGRO  DOMINATION. 

the  white  population  are  not  creditable  to  themselves. 
Where  is  the  boasted  superiority  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  if 
he  cannot  rule  without  being  in  the  majority  ?  If 
there  is  to  be  universal  suffrage  irrespective  of  race,  the 
blacks  will  have  more  votes  in  some  districts,  perhaps 
in  some  States,  than  the  whites.  But  the  world  is  not 
governed  by  votes.  It  is  governed  by  ideas.  Majorities 
never  rule.  Even  a  democracy  has  its  policy  deter 
mined  by  the  men  (always  a  small  minority)  who  are 
able  to  act  upon  and  sway  the  majority.  This  power  of 
filling  other  heads  with  his  own  thoughts — of  making 
other  hands  the  willing  instruments  of  his  purpose — 
belongs  to  the  Caucasian  far  more  than  to  the  negro,  and 
belongs  pre-eminently  to  the  Anglo-Saxon.  Anglo- 
Saxon  ideas  are  moulding  America  from  Canada  to  the 
Gulf,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  They  have 
been  moulding  the  negro  both  in  slavery  and  in  free 
dom  ;  and  every  case  in  which  a  negro  has  risen  to 
prominence  in  the  States  is  another  proof  that  his 
power  depends  for  the  most  part  upon  his  ability  to 
conform  himself  to  these  ideas,  and  assist  in  their  de 
velopment.  There  seems,  therefore,  no  danger  what 
ever  of  "white  ideas"  giving  place  to  black.  And  if, 
under  any  circumstances,  two  millions  of  negroes  in  the 
Gulf  States  prove  themselves  able  to  control  the  desti 
nies  of  even  one  million  of  whites,  either  the  white 
people  must  greatly  deteriorate,  or  the  black  people 
must  greatly  improve.  In  either  case  the  government 
will  be  where  it  ought  to  be — in  the  hands  of  the  most 
competent. 

But  if  the  South  is  not  Africanized  either  by  the 
blacks  out-voting  or  out-witting  the  whites,  there  is  a 
danger,  it  is  said,  of  her  being  Africanized  by  amalga- 


THE  HALF-CASTE  BRIDGE.  1 9 

mation.  First  of  all,  it  is  argued  that  political  equality 
will  lead  to  social  equality  ;  "  for  if,"  said  one  Southern 
gentleman,  "  I  sit  side  by  side  in  the  Senate  House,  or 
on  the  judicial  bench,  with  a  coloured  man,  how  can  I 
refuse  to  sit  with  him  at  the  table  ?  What  will  follow  ?" 
he  continued.  "  If  we  have  social  equality  we  shall 
have  intermarriage,  and  if  we  have  intermarriage  we 
shall  degenerate ;  we  shall  become  a  race  of  mulattoes ; 
we  shall  be  another  Mexico ;  we  shall  be  ruled  out  from 
the  family  of  white  nations.  Sir,  it  is  a  matter  of  life 
and  death  with  the  Southern  people  to  keep  their  blood 
pure." 

This  was  said  at  the  table  of  a  Southern  clergyman, 
and  was  strongly  indorsed  by  the  others  who  were  pre 
sent.  This  seemed  to  me  everywhere  the  dread  that 
lies  deepest  in  the  Southern  heart,  and  gave  most  fury 
to  its  opposition.  It  was  to  it  that  Alexander  Stephens 
alluded  when  he  said,  that  if  the  present  regime  was  to 
be  permanent,  the  white  people  would  flee  from  the 
South  as  from  another  Sodom. 

This  dreaded  fusion  of  the  two  races  is  brought,  more 
than  it  otherwise  would  have  been,  within  the  range  of 
probability,  by  the  existence  of  so  many  half-castes. 
There  is  generally  a  repugnance  to  amalgamation  be 
tween  pure  whites  and  pure  blacks — negroes  preferring 
to  marry  negroes,  and  whites  preferring  to  marry  whites. 
But  this  broad,  clear  line  of  demarcation,  drawn  by  na 
ture  between  the  Caucasian  and  the  negro,  has  been  at 
innumerable  points  obliterated  by  the  immoralities  per 
petrated  by  unscrupulous  men  under  the  temptations 
offered  by  slavery.  Ther£  are  now  in  the  South  thou 
sands  upon  thousands  of  mulattoes,  quadroons,  octo 
roons,  and  so  on,  presenting  every  variety  of  shade  from 


20  NEGRO  DOMINATION. 

pure  black  to  pure  white,  and  so  forming  an  unbroken 
bridge  across  the  gulf  that  separated  the  two  races  at 
first. 

Often  amongst  the  coloured  people,  especially  in  the 
Mission  schools  and  churches,  I  found  girls  of  so  fair 
and  beautiful  a  complexion,  that  they  would  have  passed 
anywhere  for  pure  whites.  Under  the  slave-system 
this  involved  little  or  no  peril  to  the  purity  of  the 
ruling  race.  Concubinage,  so  far  as  it  existed,  was 
entirely  between  white  men  and  coloured  women,  and 
as  the  slave- code  decreed  that  the  children  should  fol 
low  the  condition  of  the  mother,  the  offspring  of  all 
this  immorality,  no  matter  how  white-skinned,  was  held 
in  slavery.  But  now,  such  girls  as  those  I  have  referred 
to,  and  freed  men  equally  unrecognisable  as  negroes, 
can  go  where  they  please — can  remove  to  places  where 
their  origin  is  not  known,  and  marry  white  men  and 
white  women,  and  so,  in  spite  of  all  the  vigilance  of 
caste,  continue  the  connection  between  the  two  races. 

These  cases,  however,  are  too  few  to  have  much  effect 
on  the  general  population ;  and  if  it  be  the  case,  as  the 
Southern  people  allege,  when  maintaining  the  specific 
difference  of  the  negro  and  the  Caucasian,  that  the 
mixed  race  becomes  barren  in  the  fourth  or  fifth  gene 
ration,  then  the  effect  will  be  scarcely  perceptible.  The 
result  dreaded  by  the  South  can  only  occur  if  the  pure 
whites  consent  to  intermarry  with  the  manifestly  black. 
But  judging  from  the  state  of  things  in  the  North,  it 
seems  probable  that  connection  of  this  kind  between  the 
two  races  will,  instead  of  increasing,  become  far  less 
common  now  than  during  the  existence  of  slavery. 
Slavery  offered  strong  temptations  to  it  on  both  sides, 
which  will  now  be  removed. 


DISCUSSION  BETWEEN  TWO  SOUTHERNERS.  21 


III. 

SOUTHERN  VIEWS  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

I  WAS  much  amused  by  a  discussion  about  the  negro 
which  I  heard  in  the  house  of  a  Southern  friend,  and 
which  was  mainly  carried  on  between  a  Virginian  and 
a  strong  pro-slavery  man  from  Mobile.  It  shows  to 
what  strange  positions  many  have  been  driven  by  the 
necessity  of  defending  the  exclusion  of  the  negro  from 
political  and  social  rights. 

The  Virginian  had  been  expressing  an  opinion  that 
the  Southern  people,  though  so  strongly  opposed  to  the 
wholesale  enfranchisement  of  the  black  population, 
would  probably  not  object  now  to  a  qualified  suffrage. 

"  Sir,"  said  the  Mobile  man,  "  I  would  object.  I 
hold  that  this  is  a  white  man's  Government,  and  that 
no  nigger  has,  or  ever  will  have,  or  ever  can  have,  a 
right  to  vote." 

"  But,"  said  the  Virginian,  "  if  a  negro  shows  himself 
man  enough  to  make  a  good  position,  and  acquire  tax 
able  property,  I  would  say,  if  he  is  educated,  let  him 
vote." 

"  But  the  nigger  can't  show  himself  a  man  when  he 
isn't  a  man.  I  hold  the  nigger  ain't  a  man  at  all" 

"  Not  a  man  !" 

"  No,  sir ;  not  in  the  same  way  as  a  white  man  is. 
There's  forty-one  points  of  difference  between  the 


22  SOUTHERN  VIEWS  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

nigger  and  the  white  man.  There 's  the  thick  lips ; 
there 's  the  flat  skull ;  there 's  the  flat  nose ;  there 's  the 
kinky  hair, — in  fact  it  ain't  hair  at  all,  it 's  wool." 

He  went  on  with  his  enumeration  till  he  had  got, 
I  think,  to  the  twenty-eighth  point  of  difference,  which 
brought  him  about  halfway  down  the  negro's  body, 
when  the  Virginian  interrupted  him  with — "  That 's  all 
very  well,  and  I  don't  say,  and  I  don't  hold,  that  the 
negro  is  equal  to  the  white  man.  All  I  say  is,  that  he 
is  a  man  ;  that  he  belongs  to  the  human  family.  He  is 
the  child  of  Ham,  and  Ham  was  the  child  of  Noah,  as 
much  as  Shem  or  Japheth  was." 

"  But  that 's  where  we  differ,"  said  the  other.  "  I  say 
he  ain't  the  child  of  Ham,  and  he  ain't  the  descendant 
of  Noah  any  more  than  my  horse  is.  Noah,  sir,  was  a 
white  man,  and  if  he  was  a  white  man,  and  if  he  had  a 
wrhite  wife,  as  he  had,  how  could  he  have  a  nigger  child  ? 
You  say  Noah  cursed  Ham.  Well,  suppose  he  did. 
Would  that  give  him  a  flat  nose  and  kinky  hair,  and 
make  a  nigger  of  him  ?  No,  sir,  my  opinion  is  the  nigger 
don't  come  from  Adam  at  all.  He  hangs  on  to  a  differ 
ent  part  of  creation  altogether.  The  only  children  of 
Adam  that  got  into  the  ark  were  Noah  and  his  sons, 
and  his  sons'  wives,  and  they  were  all  white ;  and  as 
the  nigger  must  have  got  in  too,  else  he  wouldn't  be 
here,  I  reckon  he  must  have  got  in  amongst  the  beasts." 

He  went  on  to  express  his  opinion  that  it  was  the 
negro  that  deceived  Eve  in  the  garden  of  Eden. 

"  Don't  Scripture  say  the  tempter  was  more  subtle 
than  all  the  beasts  of  the  field  ?  Well  now,  ain't  that 
the  nigger  photographed  to  a  T  ? — a  beast,  but  more 
subtle,  more  intelligent,  more  like  a  real  man  than  any 
other  beast." 


THE  BIBLE  ON  MISCEGENATION.  23 

"  That 's  new  doctrine,"  said  the  Virginian,  with  a 
laugh. 

"  It  ain't ;  it 's  as  old  as  Scripture,"  said  the  other. 

"  If  it  was  the  negro  that  deceived  Eve,  he  must  have 
been  a  mighty  deal  handsomer  then  than  he  is  now," 
said  the  Virginian.  "  And  what  do  you  make  of  the 
curse  about  his  crawling  on  the  earth  and  eating  dust  ?" 

"  It 's  God's  truth,"  said  the  other.  "  Don't  you  see 
the  niggers  often  lying  and  crawling  about.  There  's 
nothing  they  like  better  ;  and  they  do  it  more  in  Africa 
than  here.  I  reckon  we  kept  them  on  their  feet  con 
siderable  ;  but  they  will  be  at  it  here  again  by-and-by, 
now  they  've  got  no  master.  And  as  for  eating  dust  or 
dirt,"  he  added,  "  the  nigger  always  does  that  when  he 
can't  get  better.  He  eats  fullers'  earth,  and  what's 
fullers'  earth  but  dirt  ? " 

Eeferring  to  a  book  which  he  had  been  reading  on 
the  subject,  he  said,  "  That  book  makes  it  as  clear  as 
day  that  though  the  nigger  is  called  a  man  in  the  Bible, 
it  don't  mean  a  real  man  like  you  or  me.  When  God  came 
to  make  the  real  man,  the  white  man,  Adam,  He  said, 
'  Let  us  make  man  in  our  own  image',  meaning  that  He 
had  already  made  a  kind  of  man — that  is,  a  nigger — not 
in  His  own  image,  but  with  flat  skull,  thick  lips,  woolly 
head,  flat  nose,  and  no  soul  in  him.  Scripture  calls  the 
nigger  a  man,  but  it  calls  Adam  the  man,  the  white  real 
man,  the  Son  of  God.  Then  here's  another  point: 
Don't  the  Bible  tell  us  that  the  Sons  of  God  saw  the 
daughters  of  men  that  they  were  fair  or  seductive,  and 
went  and  married  them?  Well  now,  if  the  Sons  of 
God  were  the  children  of  Adam,  where  did  the  other 
men  come  from  that  had  these  daughters  ?  What  were 
they  ?  Why,  there 's  only  one  explanation,  and  that  is, 


U4  SOUTHERN  VIEWS  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

that  they  were  niggers.  And  God's  curse  came  on  the 
white  men  for  marrying  them  and  producing  a  race  of 
mulattoes — a  kind  of  animal  that  is  neither  a  man  nor 
a  beast.  That's  what  God  brought  the  flood  for,  to 
sweep  away  that  mongrel  race ;  that 's  what  He  rained 
fire  on  Sodom  for ;  and  that 's  what  He  '11  bring  a  judg 
ment  on  these  United  States  for  if  we  don't  look  out. 
That 's  the  one  unpardonable  sin,  sir,  miscegenation — 
spoiling  a  good  man  and  a  good  nigger  to  make  a 
mulatto.  1  admire  the  nigger,  sir,"  he  said,  turning  to 
me ;  "I  love  the  nigger  in  his  proper  place ;  but  his 
place  is  not  as  the  white  man's  equal,  but  as  his  slave. 
God  gave  the  white  man  dominion  over  the  fowls  of 
the  air,  and  over  the  fish,  and  over  the  beasts,  and,  there 
fore,  over  the  nigger." 

This  was  certainly  the  most  extreme  position  with 
regard  to  the  negro  which  I  heard  any  one  in  the 
Southern  States  defend.  "When  I  spoke  of  it  to  General 
E.  P.  Alexander,  he  said,  "  I  don't  know  if  any  one 
really  believes  all  that.  But  such  views  are  being  pub 
lished,  and  there  are  some  people  in  such  despair  about 
our  future,  that  they  grasp  at  these  arguments,  and 
would  be  glad  to  see  them  adopted,  in  the  hope  that  it 
would  lead  to  the  whole  negro  population  being  gathered 
up  and  shipped  back  to  Africa  !" 

As  I  have  given  this  extreme  view,  let  me  now  in 
troduce  the  substance  of  a  conversation  I  had  with  a 
Southern  clergyman,  the  Rev.  Mr.  M — ,  whose  views 
admirably  represent  those  most  prevalent  among  Chris 
tian  people 'in  the  South.  Let  me  mention,  that  this 
clergyman  was  so  thoroughly  satisfied  of  the  righteous 
ness  of  the  Southern  cause,  that  he  not  only  gave  it  his 
advocacy,  but  at  one  period  during  the  war  took  com- 


A  FIGHTING  PARSON'S  DEFENCE  OF  SLAVERY.          25 

mand  of  a  battery  in  Stonewall  Jackson's  corps,  and 
had  his  church-bell  melted  down  into  cannon-balls 
when  ordnance  stores  ran  low. 

When  he  told  me  this  himself,  he  added,  with  a  grim 
smile  of  irony, — "  I  suppose  the  fact  that  I  threw  shells 
in  on  these  Northern  rascals  to  perpetuate  slavery,  would 
recommend  me  to  your  Scottish  churches,  if  I  visited 
your  country  again !" 

When  we  got  upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  he  said, — 
"  You  appeal  to  Scripture,  and  reason,  and  expediency. 
Well,  sir,  so  do  we.  Look  at  Scripture.  You  cannot 
.  deny  that  God  gave  directions  about  slavery  from  Mount 
Sinai ;  you  cannot  deny  that  Abraham,  the  father  of 
the  faithful,  owned  slaves ;  you  cannot  deny  that  Christ 
never  forbade  slavery ;  and  you  cannot  deny  that  Paul 
returned  a  fugitive  slave  to  his  master.  Well  then,  that 
being  so,  slavery  is  not  unscriptural.  Still,"  he  con 
tinued,  "  if  it  were  horribly  averse  to  the  human  con 
science,  I  would  sympathize  with  the  efforts  made  to 
get  over  all  this  by  desperate  feats  of  exegesis.  Eut 
look  at  Eeason.  You  speak  of  property  in  man — of 
men  being  made  chattels  of,  and  so  forth.  Now,  what 
does  all  this  amount  to  ?  Simply,  that  slavery  secured 
to  the  master  a  man's  services  for  life.  You  speak  of 
inalienable  rights ;  but  freedom  is  not  one  of  these. 
Everybody  is  born  under  authority  of  some  kind.  Nul- 
lus  homo  liber.  Children  are  born  under  the  authority 
of  their  parents ;  a  man  is  under  the  authority  of  his 
father,  who  has  the  right  to  his  service  till  he  is  twenty - 
one — a  big  slice  out  of  any  one's  life.  The  recent  war 
shows  further  that  we  are  all  born  under  bondage  to 
the  Government,  which  can  press  a  man  into  its  service 
as  soon  as  he  is  twenty- one,  and  sooner.  Many  white 


26         SOUTHERN  VIEWS  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

men,  therefore,  who  died  in  this  war,  both  Yankees  and 
Southerners,  were  never  free  ;  they  passed  from  bondage 
to  their  fathers  into  bondage  to  the  Government.  A 
woman,  again,  is  under  bondage  to  her  parents  till  she 
is  of  age  ;  and  if  she  marries,  she  is  under  bondage  to 
her  husband  for  the  rest  of  her  life,  unless  she  outlives 
him  ;  so  that  a  woman  who  marries  before  she  is  of  age, 
and  dies  before  her  husband,  is  never  free  at  all.  Abso 
lute  liberty  belongs  neither  to  man,  woman,  nor  child, 
whether  black  or  white. 

"  But  you  say  that  slavery  went  further  than  all  this. 
Well,  so  it  did,  but  that  arose  out  of  the  necessities  of  the 
case.  Depend  upon  it,  sir,  where  an  inferior  race  exists 
side  by  side  with  a  superior,  there  are  only  two  ways 
of  escape  from  extermination — the  first  is  amalgamation, 
the  second  is  bondage.  Amalgamation  with  negroes  was 
not  to  be  mentioned.  There  is  a  natural  and  unconquer 
able  repugnance  to  it.  The  only  alternative  was  bondage 
— an  imperium  in  imperio — a  republic  for  the  whites,  a 
patriarchal  system  for  the  blacks.  They  needed  protec 
tion  ;  they  needed  tutelage ;  they  had  to  be  dealt  with 
as  a  race  of  infants.  It  was  a  thing  of  mercy,  a  thing 
of  kindness  to  keep  them  in  slavery.  They  were  happier 
in  slavery;  and  it  will  by-and-by  be  manifest  to  you, 
as  it  has  all  along  been  manifest  to  us,  that  they  are  not 
fit  for  freedom.  God,  sir,  in  his  providence,  has  been 
pleased  to  try  free  negro  communities  a  dozen  times  in 
the  history  of  the  world,  and  the  result  has  always  been 
the  same.  Your  negroes  were  set  free  in  the  West 
Indies.  What  is  the  result  there  ?  Most  of  the  white 
people  have  gone  back  to  England,  and  most  of  the 
black  people  have  gone  back  to  the  bush.  The  free 
negroes  in  the  South,  too,  were  always  diminishing, 


THE  DIVINE  INSTITUTION.  27 

while  those  in  slavery  multiplied  and  prospered.  They 
are  now  diminishing  everywhere,  and  sooner  or  later 
they  will  disappear  from  the  face  of  this  continent. 
Yes,  sir,  we  fought  more  for  the  good  of  the  black  than 
of  the  white  man.  At  least,"  he  added,  with  a  wise 
qualification,  "  we  believed  so." 

Such  were  the  convictions  that  made  it  possible  for 
Christian  people  and  Christian  churches  not  only  to 
tolerate  slavery,  but  to  defend  it.  The  Eev.  Dr.  Palmer 
of  New  Orleans,  in  a  famous  sermon  preached  on  the 
29th  November  1860,  urged  on  the  Southern  people  the 
maintenance  of  slavery — (1.)  as  a  duty  to  themselves, 
because  their  material  interests  were  bound  up  with  it ; 
(2.)  as  a  duty  to  their  slaves,  because  the  negro  was  a 
helpless  being,  requiring  white  protection  and  control ; 
(3.)  as  a  duty  to  the  world,  which  depended  so  much 
on  Southern  cotton ;  and  (4.)  as  a  duty  to  God,  who  had 
appointed  slavery,  and  whose  honour  was  impeached, 
and  whose  cause  on  earth  was  imperilled  by  the  atheistic 
spirit  of  abolitionism.  "  With  this  institution  assigned," 
he  said,  "  to  our  keeping,  what  reply  should  we  make 
to  those  who  say  that  its  days  are  numbered  ?  We  ought 
at  once  to  lift  ourselves  intelligently  to  the  highest 
moral  ground,  and  proclaim  to  all  the  world  that  we 
hold  this  trust  from  God,  to  preserve  it,  and  to  trans 
mit  it  to  posterity  with  the  unchallenged  right  to  go 
and  root  itself  wherever  providence  and  nature  shall 
carry  it." l 

1  When  at  New  Orleans  I  went  seen  a  Presbyterian  minister  wear 

and  heard  Dr.  Palmer  preach.     He  in  the  pulpit.     He  took  for  his  text 

is  a  youthful-looking  man,  middle-  "  The   Spirit   and  the  Bride  say, 

sized    and  thick-set,   with  a  good  Come,"   from    which  he  preached 

voice  and  gentlemanly  address.    He  an  excellent  sermon,  unexception- 

wore  a  white  vest,  the  first  I  had  ably  orthodox,    and  shaped  after 


28  SOUTHERN  VIEWS  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

It  is  curious  and  instructive  to  compare  these  views 
of  slavery  and  the  negro  with  those  entertained  by  the 
South  at  an  earlier  period.  George  Washington,  the 
Father  of  his  country,  and  himself  a  slaveholder,  said 
that  there  was  not  a  man  living  who  wished  more 
sincerely  than  he  did  to  see  a  plan  adopted  for  having 
slavery  aholished,  and  he  showed  his  sincerity  by  leaving 
the  great  body  of  his  slaves  free.  Jefferson,  also  a  South 
ern  man,  and  a  slaveholder,  said  in  1774, — "  The  abolition 
of  domestic  slavery  is  the  greatest  object  of  desire  in 
these  colonies,"  and  he  proposed  a  constitution  for  Vir 
ginia,  by  which  all  born  after  the  year  1800  were  to  be 
free.  Munroe  declared  that  the  system  had  proved 
itself  "  prejudicial  to  all  the  States  in  which  it  existed." 
Finally,  Patrick  Henry,  the  great  orator  of  the  Eevolu- 
tion,  also  a  Southern  slaveholder,  said, — "  It  would  re 
joice  my  soul  that  every  one  of  these,  my  fellow-beings, 
was  emancipated.  .  .  .  We  detest  slavery — we  feel  its 
fatal  effects — we  deplore  it  with  all  the  earnestness  of 
humanity." 

Evidently  the  founders  of  the  Republic  did  not  think 
slavery  the  beneficent  and  divine  institution  it  has 
since  been  declared  to  be.  The  first  great  light  upon 
this  subject  seems  to  have  been  obtained  by  the  South 
about  the  year  1793,  through  the  instrumentality  of 
the  machine  known  as  the  cotton-gin  (properly  cotton- 
engine),  invented  in  that  year  by  Eli  Whitney.  This 
important  invention,  acting  in  conjunction  with  those 

the  old  fashion-,  but  very  earnest  "  Your  people  are  very  ignorant  of 

and  effective.     His  congregation  is  the    real    state    of   things   in   the 

one  of  the  largest  and  most  fashion-  South;    and  what  is  worse,   they 

able  in  New  Orleans.     When  intro-  will  not  believe  the  testimony  of 

duced  to  him  after  the  service,  he  those  who  are  better  informed  than 

said,    speaking    of    this    country,  themselves." 


NECESSITY  FOE  DEFENDING  SLAVERY.  29 

of  Hargreaves,  Arkwright,  and  Watt,  speedily  converted 
slavery  from  a  precarious  into  a  paying  business ;  caused 
the  value  of  slaves  to  run  up  from  400  to  1000  and 
even  1500  dollars;  and  the  production  of  cotton  in  the 
Southern  States  to  mount  up  from  10,000  bales  in  1793 
to  100,000  bales  in  1800,  and  from  100,000  in  1800  to 
1,000,000  bales  in  1830.  It  became  evident  then  that 
slavery  was  a  divine  institution,  and  its  claims  upon 
the  admiration  of  the  world  were  in  that  year  publicly 
set  forth  for  the  first  time  by  the  Governor  of  South 
Carolina. 

In  the  meantime  the  number  of  slaves  had  increased 
enormously.  This  magnified  and  complicated  the  diffi 
culty  of  attempting  emancipation,  at  the  same  time 
that  the  profits  of  slavery  diminished  the  inclination  to 
attempt  it.  Then  arose  and  spread  the  anti-slavery 
agitation  in  the  North,  which  was  soon  knocking  with 
its  thousand  hands  at  the  gates  of  the  South.  This 
compelled  her,  if  slavery  was  to  be  maintained  at  all, 
to  guard  the  system  and  hold  her  negroes  down  by 
more  rigid  and  repressive  enactments;  while  it  sent 
her  here,  there,  and  everywhere  for  proofs  of  the 
righteousness  of  slavery,  in  order  to  satisfy  herself  and 
to  vindicate  her  conduct  before  the  world.  Vehement 
appeals  were  made  to  the  Bible ;  Moses  and  Abraham 
were  called  up  from  Levitical  and  patriarchal  times  to 
do  duty  that  must  sometimes  have  been  unpleasant  to 
them ;  and  Paul's  dealings  with  Onesimus  were  so  con 
stantly  appealed  to  in  vindication  of  the  Act  that  per 
mitted  fugitive  slaves  to  be  hunted  over  the  North,  that 
it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  apostle,  if  he  had  known 
the  use  that  was  to  have  been  made  of  him,  would  have 
sent  Onesimus  back  at  all. 


30 


SOUTHERN  VIEWS  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


The  same  search  was  instituted  with  the  same  object 
through  the  domains  of  science  and  history ;  and  the 
comparative  failure  of  emancipation  in  the  West  Indies 
was  greedily  seized  upon  as  a  strong  argument  against1 
a  similar  experiment  in  the  States.1 


1  In  speaking  of  the  failure  of 
emancipation  in  the  West  Indies, 
it  is  too  common  to  look  merely  to 
statistics  of  produce,  overlooking 
entirely  the  moral  aspects  of  the 
question.  But  surely,  apart  alto 
gether  from  the  amount  of  exports, 
it  is  some  gain  to  Christianity  and 
civilisation  that  the  atrocities  which 
were  of  daily  occurrence  in  slave 
days  are  no  longer  possible.  Taking 
the  darkest  view  of  results,  is  it  not 
worth  while  sacrificing  several  bar 
rels  of  sugar  and  risking  a  slave  or 
two  in  order  to  make  a  Man  ?  Even 
the  material  results  are  too  often 
under-rated.  Taking,  for  instance, 
the  Hanover  district  in  Jamaica,  sta 
tistics  of  which  were  published  some 
time  since,  it  seems  that  in  a  single 
parish  occupied  by  negro  settlers, 
four  thousand  acres  are  cultivated 
in  ground  provisions,  arrow-root, 
sugar,  ginger,  etc.  This,  valued  at 
£30  an  acre,  gives  a  total  value  for 
the  produce  of  these  small  settlers 
of  £120,000.  One-half  of  this  is 
estimated  to  be  consumed  by  them 
selves,  and  the  other  half  sold.  In 
six  sections,  embracing  one-fourth 
part  of  the  parish,  there  are  143 
small  sugar-cane  mills  turning  out 
regularly  upwards  of  450  barrels  of 
sugar.  "  And.  surely,"  says  the 
Jamaica  Guardian,  "  the  people, 
who,  in  thousands,  have  become 
members  of  churches,  whose  chil 
dren  are  being  educated,  who  live 
in  well-furnished  cottages,  with  cul 


tivated  grounds  and  well-stocked 
poultry-yards,  surely  such  people 
cannot  be  considered  as  sinking 
into  savagery.  The  slave  of  forty 
years  ago,  who  has  raised  himself 
to  be  a  freeholder,  who  rides  his 
own  horse  and  occupies  land  which 
he  has  purchased,  settled,  stocked, 
and  farmed  with  his  own  earnings, 
cannot  be  described  as  retrograding. 
A  country  dotted  over  its  entire 
area  with  hundreds  of  churches  and 
schools,  where  formerly  there  was 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other,  can 
not  be  said  to  be  going  backward. 
Hundreds  of  black  people  here  who 
once  were  slaves  are  now  lessees  of 
land,  proprietors  of  sugar-mills, 
growing  and  manufacturing  an 
nually  thousands  of  barrels  of  sugar 
on  their  own  account,  while  multi 
tudes  grow  and  carry  their  own 
coffee,  pimento,  ginger,  arrow-root, 
and  provisions  to  the  public  marts. 
Their  deposits  in  the  Savings  Banks 
amount  to  about  £80,000.  Some 
of  them  have  risen  to  the  bar  and 
the  bench  ;  many  of  them  are  min 
isters  ;  and  hundreds  more  of  these 
educated  natives  are  engaged  as 
schoolmasters." 

It  must  be  admitted,  however, 
that  the  results  of  emancipation  in 
the  West  Indies  have  fallen  far  short 
of  what  was  anticipated ;  and  this 
is  the  aspect  of  the  case  which  was 
constantly  looked  at  by  the  people 
of  the  Southern  States. 


THE  FINAL  ABGUMENT.  31 

When  it  is  remembered  that,  as  Bacon  says,  "  People 
are  most  willing  to  believe  that  which  they  most  desire/' 
it  cannot  be  considered  surprising  that  the  Southern 
people  should  have  been  able  to  satisfy  themselves  that 
emancipation  would  be  a  misfortune  ;  that  the  negro 
was  created  to  be  a  slave ;  that  he  was  happiest  as  a 
slave ;  and  that  it  was  a  duty  resting  upon  them,  by 
gentle  measures  if  possible,  by  forcible  measures  if 
necessary,  to  keep  him  a  slave.  Nor  is  it  to  be  wondered 
at  that  many  should  have  gone  the  length,  like  that 
Mobile  gentleman,  of  denying  that  the  negro  was  a  man 
at  all.  This,  indeed,  was  the  conclusion  to  which  the 
South  was  gravitating,  and  the  only  conclusion  in  which 
pro- slavery  Christians  could  have  found  real  and  final 
peace  ;  for  if  the  negro  was  a  man,  he  was  a  brother ; 
and  if  he  was  a  brother,  how  could  it  be  right  to  buy 
and  sell  him,  and  make  it  lawful  (not  usual,  but  per 
fectly  lawful)  to  treat  him  like  a  beast  ?  But  if  it  could 
be  proved  scripturally,  ethnologically,  that  he  really 
was  a  beast,  what  a  happy  settlement  and  quietus  this 
would  have  given  to  the  whole  difficulty  ! 


32      INFLUENCE  OF  SLAVERY  ON  THE  BLACKS. 


IV. 

INFLUENCE  OF  SLAVERY  ON  THE  BLACKS. 

IN  travelling  round  the  Gulf  States,  I  turned  my  at 
tention  chiefly  to  the  emancipated  slaves — going  to  see 
them  at  their  work,  visiting  them  in  their  cabins,  accom 
panying  them  to  their  meetings,  walking  with  them, 
talking  with  them,  and  endeavouring,  as  best  I  could,  to 
acquaint  myself  with  their  character. 

Their  present  situation  seems  to  me  full  of  peril,  and 
yet  full  of  hope,  owing  largely  in  both  respects  to  the 
influence  of  slavery.  Slavery  has  been  a  great  curse  to 
these  people,  but  it  has  also  been  a  blessing.  The  men- 
stealers  who  brought  them  from  Africa,  and  the  traders 
who  purchased  them  in  America,  were  probably  think 
ing  more  of  their  own  profits  than  of  the  negro's  good ; 
and  yet  in  God's  hand  they  became  the  means  of  re 
moving  this  portion  of  the  negro  race  from  heathenism, 
and  placing  it  under  the  charge  of  civilized  and,  in  the 
ordinary  sense  of  the  term,  Christian  people.  The  anti- 
slavery  agitation  (one-sided  as  all  such  agitations  must 
in  the  nature  of  things  be)  has  left  upon  many  minds 
the  impression  that  the  slave's  knowledge  of  Southern 
civilisation  was  confined  for  the  most  part  to  what  he 
obtained  through  the  lash. 

But  this  impression  not  only  does  gross  injustice  to 
the  Southern  people, — it  leads  to  false  views  of  the 


CHRISTIAN  INSTRUCTION.  33 

present  situation.  There  were  people,  multitudes  of 
them,  who  treated  their  slaves  infamously, — so  infam 
ously  as  to  furnish  a  strong  argument  for  the  abolition  of 
the  whole  system  that  put  such  power  into  their  hands. 
But  it  must  be  remembered  that  of  the  quarter  of  a 
million  of  families  owning  slaves  in  the  Southern  States, 
tens  of  thousands  were  humane  and  Christian  families,  in 
which  the  slaves  were  kindly  treated,  and  brought  up 
under  refining  influences.  I  had  abundant  testimony 
to  this  effect  from  the  negroes  themselves.  In  answer 
to  the  question  how  they  were  treated  in  slavery,  the 
answer,  especially  in  the  case  of  domestic  slaves,  often 
was,  "  My  massa  was  more  like  a  fader  to  me,"  "  My 
missis  was  more  like  a  mudder."  One  old  black  woman 
told  me  with  tears  in  her  eyes  how,  when  she  was  ill 
and  like  to  die,  her  mistress  sat  up  with  her  for  two 
nights  in  succession,  nursing  her  with  the  utmost  ten 
derness. 

The  laws  forbade  the  education  of  slaves.  But  no 
laws,  however  stringently  enforced,  could  prevent  a 
slave,  in  daily  connection  with  his  master,  from  learning 
a  great  deal  which  he  would  not  otherwise  have  known, 
and  becoming  to  a  certain  extent  civilized.  Moreover, 
there  were  many  slaves  who,  these  laws  notwithstand 
ing,  were  taught  to  read  by  masters  and  mistresses 
who  were  better  than  the  laws.  Many  masters  had 
the  Bible  read  to  their  slaves,  and  not  only  permitted 
but  required  them  to  go  to  church ;  and  in  almost  all 
the  places  of  public  worship  I  visited  in  the  South, 
there  was  a  gallery  for  negroes,  where,  even  in  slave 
days,  they  could  come  and  listen  to  the  same  gospel 
that  was  preached  to  their  masters.  Those  who  learned 
something  in  this  way  were  able  to  communicate  to 

VOL.  II.  C 


34      INFLUENCE  OF  SLAVERY  ON  THE  BLACKS. 

others  ;  and  sometimes  when  sold  to  other  parts,  were 
the  means  of  diffusing  this  knowledge  amongst  slaves 
who  had  never  enjoyed  such  advantages.  It  thus  came 
about  that  almost  all  the  slaves  scattered  over  the  vast 
area  of  the  South  obtained  glimmerings  of  Christian 
knowledge,  while  more  than  300,000  of  them  had  got 
the  length  of  being  connected  with  the  Church  before 
the  war  broke  out.  This  church  connection  might,  and 
often  did,  imply  very  little  either  in  the  way  of  instruc 
tion  or  moral  development;  but  it  at  least  implied 
something  which  they  would  never  have  received  in 
the  heathen  darkness  of  Africa. 

Those  who  shared  least  in  these  advantages  were  the 
gangs  that  were  driven  about  like  cattle  on  the  vast 
plantations  of  the  far  South  and  South-west,  and  who 
saw  little  of  their  master  and  less  of  his  family ;  but 
out  of  the  350,000  holders  of  slaves,  more  than  150,000 
owned  fewer  than  five,  and  a  large  proportion  of  these 
were  personal  or  domestic  servants.  On  them  the  in 
fluence  of  white  civilisation  could  not  fail  to  be  power 
ful  They  were  constantly  in  the  presence  of  white 
people  ;  if  they  were  refused  education,  they  were  still 
in  a  position  to  discover  its  value,  and  often  did  suc 
ceed  in  getting  some, — not  much,  perhaps,  but  enough 
to  make  them  anxious  for  more.  And  this,  as  we  shall 
see,  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  one  of  the  most 
hopeful  phases  of  their  present  position. 

One  thing,  indubitably,  which  the  negroes  wrere 
taught  in  slavery  was  to  speak  English.  This  is  a  point 
of  great  moment.  To  acquire  a  new  language  means 
not  only  to  learn  new  words,  but  to  learn  new  ideas ; 
and  to  the  negroes  the  mere  acquisition  of  English  was 
moral  and  intellectual  development.  Nor  is  that  the 


BLACK  ARISTOCRACY.  35 

end  of  its  advantages,  but  rather  the  beginning ;  for  it 
has  left  these  four  millions  of  emancipated  slaves  open, 
as  no  other  alien  race  on  earth  so  completely  is,  to  all 
the  civilizing  and  Christian  influences  that  surround 
them.  Suppose  them  ignorant  of  English  as  when 
brought  from  Africa,  what  would  be  their  present  con 
dition  ?  The  numerous  teachers  and  missionaries  who 
are  leading  them  up  by  tens  of  thousands  into  the  light 
of  education,  would  have  been  shut  off  from  access  to 
them  by  the  barriers  of  an  unknown  tongue.  The 
people  who  are  already  with  so  much  success  instruct 
ing  them  in  their  new  social  and  political  duties,  would 
have  been  utterly  unintelligible  to  them.  It  would 
probably  have  taken  half  a  century  to  put  them  in  a 
state  of  fitness  for  beginning  the  vast  work  which  their 
knowledge  of  English,  acquired  in  slavery,  made  it 
possible  to  begin  the  instant  the  gates  of  the  South  were 
opened. 

Another  effect  incident  to  slavery  was-  that  it  taught 
the  negro  to  look  up  to  the  white  race, — to  regard  the 
white  man  as  the  standard  of  perfection,  and  therefore 
the  pattern  for  imitation.  Some  of  the  outcomes  of  this 
were  curious  enough.  One  was  a  gradation  of  honour 
amongst  the  negroes  themselves,  based  on  resemblance 
to,  or  connection  with,  the  white  man.  The  plantation 
nigger,  working  in  the  fields,  often  under  charge  of  a 
coloured  driver,  was  the  plebeian,  who  looked  up  with 
envy  to  the  domestic  slave  who  waited  on  the  white 
family  and  was  the  negro  aristocrat.  So  also  with 
colour.  White  was  the  tint  of  nobility;  black  the 
symbol  of  degradation.  If  one  coloured  man  wanted  to 
insult  another,  he  called  him  a  nigger.  To  call  him  "  a 
charcoal  nigger  "  was  the  blackest  insult  of  all,  making 


36      INFLUENCE  OF  SLAVERY  ON  THE  BLACKS. 

him  the  furthest  remove  from  the  nobility  of  whiteness. 
The  pure  black  looked  up  to  the  mulatto,  the  mulatto 
looked  up  to  the  quadroon ;  while  all  of  them  for  the 
same  reason  looked  up  to  the  pure  white,  across  the  im 
passable  gulf  fixed  by  slavery.  Some  mischief,  no  doubt, 
arose  out  of  this.  It  seems  not  improbable  that  a  de 
sire  amongst  slave  women,  unattached,  to  be  loved  and 
petted  by  men  of  the  ruling  race,  and  to  have  children 
whose  colour  should  lift  them  to  a  somewhat  higher 
level,  co-operated  with  the  lust  of  immoral  masters  in 
producing  the  half-castes  so  numerous  throughout  the 
South. 

Another  bad  effect  flowing  from  the  exaltation  of  the 
white  man  into  a  pattern  for  imitation,  was  that  he  was 
sometimes  a  very  bad  man,  and  therefore  a  very  bad 
model ;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  negro  has  succeeded 
better  in  copying  his  vices  than  his  virtues.  But  the 
general  effect  of  making  the  white  man  the  model  for 
imitation  by  the  black,  which  slavery  did,  was  upon  the 
whole  good.  It  taught  the  negro  to  look  up  to  and 
imitate  men  higher  in  the  scale  of  civilisation  than 
himself,  and  has  made  it  all  the  more  probable  now  that 
he  will  seek  the  apotheosis  of  his  race  in  conformity 
with  "  white  "  ideas. 

Slavery  has  also  given  the  negro  a  little  sanitary 
education,  which  it  will  be  well  for  him  not  to  throw 
aside.  The  slaveholder  had  of  course  to  attend  to  the 
health  and  safety  of  his  slaves  for  his  own  interest. 
Even  if  he  was  one  of  those  who  looked  upon  their 
slaves  as 'mere  cattle,  still  he  had  paid  500  or  1000 
dollars  apiece  for  them,  and  had  a  powerful  motive  to 
keep  them  in  good  physical  condition,  so  as  to  get  the 
most  work  out  of  them  in  the  field,  or  the  highest  price 


BAD  EFFECTS  OF  SLAVERY.  37 

for  them  in  the  market.  He  accordingly  fed  them  well, 
fed  them  regularly,  kept  liquor  from  them,  had  them  up 
betimes  in  the  morning,  kept  them  actively  employed, 
and  had  sickness  or  disease  promptly  attended  to.  The 
consequence  was  that  the  slaves  were  probably  the 
healthiest  people  in  the  United  States. 

Finally,  slavery  has  taught  them  how  to  work.  It 
has  taught  them  to  dig,  hoe,  plant,  and  pick ;  it  has 
taught  many  of  the  women  to  be  good  nurses,  cooks, 
milliners,  and  dressmakers ;  it  has  taught  many  of  the 
men  to  be  builders,  to  be  cabinetmakers,  to  be  carpen 
ters,  to  be  hostlers,  to  be  barbers,  to  be  waiters,  to  be 
shopmen, — in  short,  it  has  so  far  put  them  in  a  position 
to  feel  at  home  and  to  earn  their  bread  in  a  civilized 
community.  Who  will  for  a  moment  compare  the  fit 
ness  of  these  four  millions  of  coloured  people  for  their 
present  position  with  that  of  four  millions  of  untutored 
savages  freshly  transported  from  Africa  ?  The  differ 
ence,  whatever  it  be,  and  it  is  enormous,  is  due  to  the 
influences  that  have  been  brought  to  bear  upon  them  in 
slavery. 

But  if  slavery  was  in  some  respects  a  blessing — if  at 
least  under  the  overruling  hand  of  God  who  brings 
good  out  of  evil,  and  under  the  influence  of  people 
in  the  South  who  were  better  than  their  own  laws, 
slavery  was  made  a  blessing, — it  was  in  other  respects 
a  curse.  It  injected  a  curse,  indeed,  even  into  its 
blessing. 

It  taught  the  negro  to  work ;  but  at  the  same  time 
it  taught  him  to  associate  work  with  bondage, — to  look 
upon  it  as  the  badge  of  his  degradation,  and  to  think  of 
a  state  of  freedom  as  a  state  of  idleness.  Now  that  the 


38  INFLUENCE  OF  SLAVERY  ON  THE  BLACKS. 

negro  is  free,  the  bad  effect  of  this  teaching  is  mourn 
fully  visible.1 

Again,  slavery  cared  for  the  negro  ;  but  it  did  so  in 
such  a  way  as  to  deprive  him  of  all  sense  of  responsi 
bility.  His  owner  had  to  house  him,  feed  him,  clothe 
him,  and  do  the  same  for  his  wife  and  children ;  settled 
for  him  what  he  should  do  and  what  he  should  not  do, 
thus  removing  from  the  negro  himself  all  necessity  for 
thrift,  forethought,  self-reliance,  and  self-control.  Some 
of  them,  indeed,  who  were  permitted  to  hire  themselves 
out,  or  do  extra  work  for  their  own  benefit,  and  were 
possessed  with  the  idea  of  buying  their  freedom,  or  the 
freedom  of  their  wives  and  children,  developed  those 
virtues  with  the  occasion,  and  show  themselves  in 
consequence  best  fitted  for  their  new  position.  But  such 
cases  were  exceptional.  The  slave  system  itself  taught 


1  This  kind  of  teaching  is   less  cident,  just  to  show  how  these  views 

common  now,  when  so  many  South-  of  labour  influenced  the  minds  of 

erners  have  themselves  to  work,  but  the    slaves.     In    one    of   the  first 

it  is  not  altogether  discontinued.  In  Southern  houses  I  visited,  I  took 

a  Southern  family  which  I  visited  in  the  opportunity  of  having  a  little 

Virginia,  the  servant  came  to  tell  talk  with  the  negro  girl,  who  came 

her  mistress  that  a  gentleman  was  in,  when  I  was  alone  in  the  room,  to 

at  the  door  wishing  to  see  her.    The  mend  the  fire.     I  asked  her  if  she 

lady  went,  and  found  that  it  was  a  had  been  a  slave. 

coloured  man.     With  some  sharp-          "Yes,  sah;  belonged  to  Mrs. , 

ness  she  summoned  the  servant,  and  'bout  twelve  miles  from  here." 

said,  in  the  man's  hearing,  so  that          "  How  do  you  like  the  change  to 

both  might  benefit  by  the  lesson,  freedom?" 

"How  dared  you  say  that  fa  gen-          "Well,  I  dunno.      I've  got  to 

tleman '  wished  to  see  me  ?    This  is  wu'k  now  same  as  before." 

a    negro— a    man  who    works.    A          "  But  don't  you  find  it  better  to 

gentleman  is  one  who  doesn't  work  be  free  ?  " 

— who    can    live    without    work —          "I  dunno.     I  used  to  belong  to 

who  has  others  to  work  for  him.  missis,  and  she  was  kind  to  me.    I 

A  negro  may  be  a  very  decent  man,  belong  to  my  mudder  now,  and  she 

but  he  can  never  be  a  gentleman."  gets  all  de  wage  I  earn.     Tears  to 

Let  me  mention  another  little  in-  me  I  ain't  no  mo'  free  dan  I  was." 


GAVE  SIN  THE  SANCTION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  39 

the  negroes  to  depend  like  children  upon  others,  and 
left  them,  in  this  respect,  not  so  fit  for  freedom  as  it 
found  them.  Much  of  the  thoughtlessness,  thriftless- 
jiess,  and  weakness  of  self-control,  which  are  seen 
amongst  them  now, — keeping  so  many  in  idleness  and 
poverty,  and  making  them  fall  so  easy  a  prey  to  the 
allurements  of  intemperance  and  carnality, — must  be 
attributed  to  this  cause. 

It  brought  them  also  as  heathen  within  the  sound 
of  the  gospel,  and  to  many  this  has  been  an  unspeakable 
blessing.  But  the  extent  to  which  the  Bible  was  em 
ployed  to  justify  slavery  and  enforce  obedience  on  the 
slaves,  converted  this  blessing  in  many  cases  into  a 
curse.  It  might  not  have  been  so  had  the  clergy  been 
disposed  or  been  permitted  to  distinguish  between  the 
good  and  the  bad  in  slavery,  and  to  denounce  boldly 
the  infamous  practices  which  were  carried  on  under 
the  license  of  the  slave  code ;  but  the  fear  of  exciting 
discontent  with  the  whole  system  kept  most  of  the 
Southern  clergy  quiet  on  this  point,  whatever  their 
private  opinions  might  be  ;  and  possibly  their  circum 
spection  was  increased  by  the  fact,  that  any  such  ex 
pressions  of  opinion  might  have  exposed  them  to  the 
fury  of  the  populace,  and  brought  them  within  the 
clutches  of  the  law.1 

1  By  the  Statutes  of  Virginia  (Re-  white  person  shall  be  convicted  of 
vised  Code,  1849,  cap.  198),  "Any  being  the  author,  printer,  or  pub- 
person  who,  by  speech  or  writing,  lisher  of  any  written  or  printed 
denied  the  right  of  property  in  paper  within  this  State,  or  shall 
slaves,  was  made  liable  to  be  ar-  use  any  language  with  intent  to  dis- 
rested  by  any  white  person,  fined  turb  the  peace  or  security  of  the 
500  dollars,  and  imprisoned  for  a  same,  in  relation  to  the  slaves  of 
year."  Louisiana  went  further,  the  people  of  this  State,  or  to  dimin- 
and  decreed  as  follows  (Revised  ish  that  respect  which  is  by  law 
Statutes,  1852,  p.  554):— If  "any  demanded  from  free  people  of  colour 


40  INFLUENCE  OF  SLAVERY  ON  THE  BLACKS. 

The  consequence  was,  that  their  arguments  for  slavery, 
drawn  from  Scripture,  and  their  ex  cathedra  enforce 
ment  of  the  law  of  obedience,  led  the  slave  to  believe 
that  the  Bible  sanctioned  slavery  as  it  was,  and  the 
treatment  to  which  slavery  subjected  him  ;  and  when 
this  treatment  was  bad,  as  it  often  was,  the  mischievous 
effect  of  this  inference  can  be  supposed.  Some  people 
point  to  the  appearance  of  infidelity  amongst  the  negroes, 
and  the  prevalence  of  immorality  even  amongst  many 
who  profess  religion,  and  refer  it  to  abolition  teaching. 
If  some  mischief  has  been  done  by  the  language  in 
which  extreme  Abolitionists  sometimes  assailed  the 
Bible,  much  more  has  been  done  by  the  use,  or  rather 
abuse,  of  the  Bible  by  the  advocates  of  slavery. 

Need  we  be  surprised  if  we  find  some  negroes  reject 
ing  a  Bible,  of  which  they  know  little  or  nothing  except 
that  it  was  constantly  appealed  to  in  defence  of  a  system 
which  outraged  even  their  poor  notions  of  morality  ? 
Need  we  wonder  if  we  find  that  many  coloured  women 
see  no  inconsistency  between  a  profession  of  religion 
and  a  life  of  sin,  when  we  remember  that  the  religion 


f'or  the  whites,  or  to  destroy  that  in  any  place  whatsoever  —  or  who- 

distinction  which  the  law  has  estab-  ever  shall  make  use  of  language  in 

lished  between  the  several  classes  of  private  discourses  or  conversations, 

this  community,  such  person  shall  or  shall  make  any  signs  or  actions 

be  adjudged  guilty  of  high  misde-  having  a  tendency  to  produce  dis- 

meanour,  and  shall  be  fined  in  a  content   among  the    free    coloured 

sum  not  less  than  three  hundred  population,  or  to  excite  insubordi- 

dollars,  and  not  more  than  a  thou-  nation  among  the  slaves,  shall,  on 

sand  dollars,   and,   moreover,   im-  conviction,  be  imprisoned  at  hard 

prisoned  for  a  term  not  less  than  six  labour  for  no  less  than  three  years, 

months,  and  not  exceeding  three  nor  more  than  twenty-one  years,  or 

years."      And    again  :—  "  Whoso-  shall  siiffer  death,  at  the  discretion 

ever  shall  make  use  of  language  in  of  the  Court."     Laws  of  this  sort 

any  public  discourse  from  the  bar,  did  not  do  much  to  encourage  free 

the  bench,  the  stage,  the  pulpit,  or  discussion  or  criticism. 


EDUCATION  PROHIBITED.  41 

inculcated  on  them  was  obedience  to  their  masters,  and 
that,  with  some  of  them,  obedience  to  their  masters 
meant  submission  to  lascivious  desires  ? 

It  is  also  true,  as  we  have  said,  that  under  slavery 
many  of  the  negroes  received  moral  and  intellectual 
training;  but  this  was  owing  to  the  character  of  the 
people  into  whose  hands  they  fell,  rather  than  to  the 
institution  itself.  Slavery  professed  to  take  charge  of 
the  negroes  as  of  an  infantine  race,  but  it  belied  the 
profession.  What  was  the  meaning  of  those  laws  pro 
hibiting  the  education  of  slaves  ?  What  was  the  mean 
ing  of  South  Carolina  declaring,  that  any  white  person 
who  taught,  or  helped  to  teach  a  slave  to  read  or  write, 
would  be  fined  and  imprisoned,  and  any  black  person 
whipped?  What  was  the  meaning  of  North  Carolina 
making  it  penal  to  give  a  book  or  pamphlet  to  a  slave  ? 
What  was  the  meaning  of  Alabama  prohibiting,  under 
a  penalty  of  250  dollars,  the  teaching  of  any  slave  to 
read,  write,  or  spell  ?  Why  was  it  deemed  necessary  to 
throw  a  Southern  lady  (Mrs.  Douglas)  into  the  jail  at 
Norfolk  in  1857,  because  she  had  been  found  giving 
lessons  to  a  class  of  negroes  ? 

People  say  it  is  impossible  to  educate  the  negro — 
that  he  has  not  brains  for  it.  But  people  do  not  pass 
laws  to  prevent  impossibilities — impossibilities  having 
a  way  of  preventing  themselves.  The  passing  of  laws 
against  negro  education  was  a  formal  declaration  on  the 
part  of  the  South  that  negro  education  was  possible,  and 
not  only  possible,  but  so  imminent  that  it  needed  pains 
and  penalties  to  prevent  it.  But  why  was  its  prevention 
demanded?  Slavery  was  patriarchal.  It  had  charge 
of  the  negro  as  a  parent  has  charge  of  his  child.  What 
would  be  thought  of  a  parent  who  should  threaten  any 


42  INFLUENCE  OF  SLAVERY  ON  THE  BLACKS. 

person  with  punishment  who  helped  his  child  to  read  ? 
or  should  threaten  to  whip  the  child  itself  if  it 
attempted  to  learn?  Why  then  did  the  South  adopt 
such  a  course?  The  reason  is  obvious.  The  parent 
wants  his  boy  to  become  a  man ;  the  South  wanted  the 
negro  to  remain  a  slave.  I  am  not  speaking  of  excep 
tions,  I  am  speaking  of  the  rule.  Whatever  tended  to 
make  the  negro  a  better  slave,  a  happier  slave,  a  more 
contented  slave,  was  given  him — food,  clothing,  animal 
enjoyment,  and  amusements,  not  to  mention  pious  ad 
monitions  to  obedience,  and  practical  lessons  from  the 
conduct  of  Paul  in  reference  to  Onesimus. 

But,  as  a  rule,  whatever  tended  to  make  him  less  of 
a  slave  and  more  of  a  man  he  was  denied.  By  law  he 
was  excluded  even  from  the  category  of  men,  and  was 
held  to  be  a  piece  of  property — a  chattel — to  be  held, 
and  bought  and  sold  like  a  horse  or  a  piece  of  furni 
ture. 

While,  therefore,  slavery  with  one  hand  brought  these 
Africans  into  a  land  of  civilisation,  and  into  contact 
with  elevating  agencies,  with  the  other  hand  it  stood 
ready,  if  any  of  them  under  these  influences  attempted 
to  rise  from  the  childhood  of  slavery  into  the  manhood 
of  freedom,  to  smite  them  down. 

But  the  heaviest  calamity  which  slavery  has  brought 
upon  the  coloured  people  is  one  already  alluded  to — the 
wreck  it  has  made  of  their  morals. 

This  is  a  subject  painful  to  mention,  but  without 
bearing  this  feature  of  the  slave  system  in  mind,  it  is 
impossible  truly  to  realize  the  present  condition  of  the 
freed  people,  or  the  enormous  difficulties  which  slavery, 
though  itself  dead,  has  left  in  the  way  of  their  develop 
ment. 


MORALS  WKECKED.  43 

It  is  said  that  the  negroes  have  stronger  animal  pro 
pensities  than  the  Caucasian ;  and  it  is  certain  that 
coming  from  heathenism  they  brought  with  them  a 
lower  code  of  morality.  The  obvious  duty  of  a  Chris 
tian  community  taking  such  people  under  its  tutelage, 
was  surely  to  be  all  the  more  careful  of  their  morals  on 
this  account,  and  specially  to  impress  upon  them  the 
sac  redness  of  those  conjugal  and  filial  relations,  on 
which  the  elevation  of  any  race  so  much  depends.  But 
instead  of  this  what  did  the  slave  system  do  ?  It  broke 
down  in  multitudes  of  cases  even  the  moral  principles 
which  these  poor  people  had  respected  in  heathenism. 
It  took  away  from  husbands  any  legal  right  to  their 
wives;  it  took  away  from  parents  any  legal  right  to 
their  children.  It  put  them  entirely  into  the  hands  of 
their  master,  to  sort  and  separate  them  as  he  pleased, 
and,  if  it  suited  him,  sell  away  the  husband  to  one 
person,  the  wife  to  another,  and  the  children  to  a  third. 
I  found  cases  myself  in  which  this  barbarity  had  actu 
ally  been  perpetrated. 

What  compensation  was  animal  comfort  for  such 
outrages  on  the  deeper  affections  of  human  nature  ? 

"  Kind ! "  cried  an  excited  negro,  during  a  talk  I  had 
with  some  coloured  men  after  a  prayer-meeting,  when 
reference  was  made  to  a  planter  in  the  neighbourhood, 
"  kind ! "  he  cried,  starting  up  with  quivering  lips  and 
flashing  eye,  "I  was  dat  man's  slave ;  and  he  sold  my 
wife,  and  he  sold  my  two  chiU'en ;  yes,  brudders,  if 
dere  's  a  God  in  heaven,  he  did.  Kind  !  yes,  he  gib  me 
corn  enough,  and  he  gib  me  pork  enough,  and  he  neber 
gib  me  one  lick  wid  de  whip,  but  whar  's  my  wife  ? — 
whar  's  my  chill'en  ?  Take  away  de  pork,  I  say ;  take 
away  de  corn,  I  can  work  and  raise  dese  for  myself, 


44  INFLUENCE  OF  SLAVERY  ON  THE  BLACKS. 

but  gib  me  back  de  wife  of  my  bosom,  and  gib  me  back 
my  poor  chill'en  as  was  sold  away ! " 

Good  people  in  the  South  deplored  that  such  things 
should  be  done,  and  refused  to  associate  with  men  who 
were  known  to  treat  their  slaves  with  cruelty.  They 
were  careful  also  to  secure  their  own,  as  far  as  possible, 
from  such  painful  separations. 

"  If,"  said  one  planter,  "  a  slave  of  mine  wanted 
to  marry  a  slave  belonging  to  another,  I  always  en 
deavoured  either  to  buy  or  sell,  so  that  both  might 
belong  to  the  same  proprietor,  and  the  danger  of  separa 
tion  be  diminished.  But  this  was  not  always  possible." 

The  Church  also  endeavoured  to  diminish  the  evil 
and  prevent  respect  for  the  marriage  tie  amongst 
negroes  from  being  utterly  destroyed.  But  the  evil 
could  not  be  checked.  The  law  refused  to  recognise 
marriage  amongst  slaves,  and  therefore  denied  all  con 
sequent  rights.  No  matter  how  careful  individual 
owners  were,  the  division  of  property  was  continually 
cutting  in  between  negro  husbands  and  wives,  parents 
and  children,  causing  them  to  be  sent  or  sold  apart. 
Besides  which,  there  were  always  plenty  of  heartless 
ruffians  who  laughed  at  family  ties  amongst  niggers, 
and  had  no  more  compunction  in  scattering  slave 
families  than  in  separating  swine.  With  such  a  state 
of  things,  sanctioned  by  the  law  and  continually  occur 
ring,  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  if  many  of  the  emancipated 
slaves  are  found  to  have  no  conception  of  the  sacred- 
ness  of  marriage,  and  to  be  living  in  habitual  immor 
ality  ?  They  were  taught  practically  that  virtue  was  a 
thing  for  white  people,  not  for  niggers ;  and  were  even 
forbidden,  in  many  cases,  to  take  to  themselves  the 
ordinary  names  indicative  of  family  relationships. 


CONCUBINAGE.  45 

"  I  was  once  whipped,"  said  a  negro  servant  at  New 
Orleans,  "  because  I  said  to  missis, '  My  mother  sent  me/ 
We  were  not  allowed  to  call  our  mammies  '  mother/  It 
made  it  come  too  near  the  way  of  the  white  folks." 

Darkest  feature  of  all  in  this  system  was  the  extent 
to  which  white  men  abused  the  power  it  gave  them  over 
their  female  slaves.  "  My  God !  "  exclaimed  a  black 
man  at  Macon,  "  if  I  could  write  a  book,  I  could  tell 
what  would  make  de  world  wonder  if  dere  used  to  be  a 
God  in  dese  yar  Southern  States."  This  man's  own  wife 
had  been  taken  from  him  and  sold  to  a  trader ;  and  his 
daughter  had  been  coaxed,  bribed  with  dresses,  and 
ultimately  (these  means  failing)  had  been  taken  to 
another  plantation  and  flogged,  till  she  was  brought  to 
submit  to  her  master's  wishes.  In  such  cases  the  slaves 
had  no  resource.  Courts  of  justice  were  closed  against 
them.  No  court  would  receive  negro  evidence  against 
a  white  man.  This  helplessness  made  them  yield  the 
more  readily — made  them  feel  irresponsible,  made  them 
often  court  what  they  at  first  shrunk  from,  and  in 
multitudes  of  cases  removed  all  sense  of  shame,  and 
obliterated  the  distinction  between  virtue  and  vice. 
"  Our  wrongs,  sah,  became  a  second  nature  to  us,"  said 
a  black  woman  whom  I  met  at  the  mission- school  at 
Macon.  "  We  grew  dat  way  we  didn't  tink  of  it." 

It  is  needless  to  repeat  that  good  men  looked  upon 
these  immoralities  with  abhorrence ;  that  wise  men 
looked  upon  them  with  alarm.  But  if  slavery  was  to 
be  maintained  at  all  these  things  had  to  be  tolerated, 
and  all  that  good  men  could  do  was  to  shake  their  heads 
and  class  them  among  the  inevitable  evils  which  bad 
men  will  always  introduce  into  the  best  of  systems. 

This  prostitution  of  negro  womanhood  is  the  most 


46  INFLUENCE  OF  SLAVERY  ON  THE  BLACKS. 

fatal  of  all  the  diseases  which  slavery  has  left  to  be 
cured.  There  is  good  hope  for  men  so  long  as  women 
remain  what  they  ought  to  be,  but  when  the  purifying 
influence  becomes  itself  impure,  what  a  leverage  is  lost 
for  the  elevation  of  the  mass  !  If  the  salt  have  lost  its 
savour,  wherewith  shall  it  be  salted  ?  Slavery  has  pol 
luted  the  very  fountains  of  social  purity  and  elevation ; 
it  has  desecrated  the  sanctities  of  home ;  it  has  taught 
multitudes  of  the  negroes  to  attach  so  little  importance 
to  the  marriage- tie,  that  ministers  told  me  they  have 
negroes  coming  now  to  be  married  one  month,  and 
wanting  to  be  "  unmarried"  the  next ;  it  has  left  multi 
tudes  of  the  coloured  women  with  no  character  to  sus 
tain — no  knowledge  of  what  virtue  even  means.  With 
many  of  them  it  has  left  the  work  to  be  done  over  again 
of  relaying  the  very  foundations  of  morality.  "  They 
are  coming,"  said  one  missionary,  in  a  tone  of  thankful 
ness,  "  to  see  that  there  is  something  not  right  about 
concubinage."  It  is  well ;  but  what  a  depth  of  moral 
degradation  was  implied  in  the  fact,  that  they  had  not 
been  accustomed  to  see  that  before  ! 

The  cruelties  of  slavery  are  chiefly  associated  in 
many  minds  with  the  bloodhound,  the  branding- iron, 
and  the  lash ;  but  cases  of  severe  cruelty,  such  as  we  read 
of,  were  extremely  rare  and  in  some  districts  unknown, 
and  at  any  rate  they  are  not  the  cases  that  illustrate 
the  mischief  that  slavery  has  really  done.  The  negroes 
who  were  shackled  and  branded  with  irons  were  gene 
rally  those  who  had  still  manhood  enough  to  peril  their 
lives  in  an"  attempt  to  gain  their  freedom.  The  women, 
who  were  hunted  through  the  swamps,  or  flogged  with 
severity,  belonged  to  a  class  that  had  still  womanhood 
enough  to  prefer  physical  agony  to  moral  degradation. 


THE  WORST  EFFECT  OF  SLAVERY.  47 

But  the  worst  effects  of  slavery  are  to  be  found  amongst 
the  myriads  who  were  never  scourged  at  all — negro  men 
whose  manhood  was  so  completely  crushed  as  to  make 
them  passive  instruments  of  their  masters'  will ;  women, 
whose  womanhood  was  so  completely  stamped  out,  that 
they  became  unresisting  and  even  willing  slaves  to  the 
basest  desires  of  those  who  owned  them. 

It  is  this  moral  degradation,  superinduced  by  slavery 
upon  the  low  morality  of  heathenism,  that  now  hangs 
like  a  millstone  round  the  neck  of  the  emancipated 
race,  and  makes  the  present  crisis  so  full  of  difficulty 
and  peril. 


48  THE  EMANCIPATED  BLACKS. 


V. 

THE  EMANCIPATED  BLACKS. 

I  WAS  glad  to  find  the  condition  and  prospects  of  the 
emancipated  slaves  better  than  the  reports  circulated  in 
this  country  had  led  me  to  expect.  We  are  often  told 
that  the  negroes  are  poorer  now  and  less  happy  than 
they  were  in  slavery.  "Ah!"  said  one  planter  in  a 
tone  of  deep  commiseration  for  the  unfortunate  freed- 
men,  "if  you  had  seen  them  in  slave  days,  what  a 
merry,  rollicking,  laughing  setv  they  were !  Now  they 
are  careworn  and  sad.  You  hardly  ever  hear  them 
laugh  now  as  they  used  to  do." 

That  many  of  them  are  poorer  is  beyond  a  doubt. 
But  this  was  exactly  what  had  to  be  looked  for  at  first 
even  by  those  who  fought  for  emancipation.  In  any 
country  the  subversion  of  the  whole  system  of  labour, 
especially  if  it  meant  the  turning  adrift  of  four  millions 
of  negroes  unaccustomed  to  provide  for  themselves, 
would  necessarily  involve  much  confusion  and  distress, 
even  under  the  most  favourable  circumstances.  But  in 
the  South  it  was  effected  under  circumstances  as  un- 
favourable  in  many  respects  as  could  possibly  be  con 
ceived  It  was  effected  forcibly  and  without  preparation : 
it  was  effected  in  regions  wrecked  and  devastated  by 
war  :  it  was  effected  in  violent  opposition  to  the  will  of 
the  people  on  whom  its  success  largely  depended,  who 


ARE  THEY  POORER  THAN  IN  SLAVERY.       49 

predicted  that  it  would  be  a  failure,  some  of  whom 
seemed  to  me,  in  the  exasperation  of  defeat,  to  wish  it 
to  be  a  failure,  and  in  many  cases,  by  withholding  their 
land  and  refusing  to  employ  negro  labour,  did  some 
thing  to  make  it  a  failure. 

The  distress  that  would  have  attended  emancipation 
under  any  circumstances  was  thus  enormously  increased, 
and  was  so  great  that  the  Government  had  to  establish  a 
Bureau  for  the  issue  of  supplies  to  keep  many  of  the 
freed  negroes  from  starving.  But  I  was  assured  by  the 
Bureau  officers,  wherever  I  went,  that  things  were  right 
ing  themselves ;  that  the  negroes  were  finding  employ 
ment,  and  that  the  number  needing  Government  aid 
was  rapidly  diminishing.  These  representations  were 
borne  out  by  General  Howard's  official  report,  which 
showed  that  the  number  of  negroes  for  whom  the 
Bureau  had  to  provide  had  fallen  from  upwards  of 
166,000  in  1866  to  fewer  than  2000  in  1869.  Since 
which  time  this  part  of  the  Bureau's  work  has  been 
discontinued,  as  no  longer  necessary. 

Later  accounts  are  even  more  favourable.  Mr.  E.  P. 
Smith,  with  whom  I  visited  the  Mission  Home  at 
Beaufort,  and  whose  annual  tour  round  the  South  for 
the  express  purpose  of  observation  makes  him  an 
authority  on  this  subject,  says  in  his  report  for  this 
year  (1870) : — "I  have  seen  unmistakable  signs  of  im 
provement  every  year,  but  never  more  evidence  of 
increasing  industry,  thrift,  and  general  prosperity,  than 
this  season,  and  the  advance  from  the  winter  of  1866  is 
surprisingly  great.  You  see  it  in  every  aspect  of  life,  in 
material  comfort,  in  education,  in  morals.  Poverty  has 
decreased.  There  is  still  suffering  among  the  aged  and 
sick,  but  not  a  tithe  of  what  was  to  be  seen  on  every 

VOL.  II.  D 


50  THE  EMANCIPATED  BLACKS. 

hand  three  years  ago.  The  negroes  at  church  and  their 
children  at  school  indicate  altogether  more  comfortable 
circumstances,  they  dress  better  and  more  neatly,  and 
there  is  a  new  manliness  in  the  carriage  and  faces  of 
the  people.  On  every  hand  there  are  tokens  of  steady 
progress." 

There  is  probably  a  worthless  class  of  negroes  who 
are  and  will  always  remain  worse  off  than  in  slavery, 
but  with  large  numbers  the  reverse  is  the  case  already, 
and  the  vast  majority  have  at  least  better  hopes  than 
they  could  ever  have  had  in  bondage. 

It  may  be  true  that  they  laugh  less  now  than  they 
did,  but  the  white  man  laughs  still  less,  and  yet  he 
would  not  be  a  negro ;  neither  would  the  freedman, 
because  he  laughs  less  now,  wish  to  be  again  a  slave. 
The  reason  for  his  laughing  less  is  very  simple — freedom 
has  advanced  him  a  step  from  childhood  to  manhood. 
In  doing  so  it  has  brought  upon  him  a  responsibility 
and  care  to  which  he  was  a  stranger  before ;  but  the 
gravity  of  higher  responsibility  is  only  the  shadow  cast 
from  a  higher  happiness. 

All  this  talk  about  the  negroes  being  happier  in  slavery 
I  heard  amongst  the  white  people,  but  rarely  if  ever 
amongst  the  negroes  themselves.  Many  of  the  poorest 
of  them  told  me  that  they  had  to  put  up  with  coarser 
food  in  the  meantime,  and  poorer  clothing  than  they 
used  to  have,  and  that  they  had  a  hard  struggle  even 
for  that ;  but  the  usual  wind-up  was, — "  But  tank  de 
Lord,  we'se  free,  anyhow." 

I  heard  many  complaints  about  negro  indolence,  and 
the  impossibility  of  getting  the  blacks  to  work  without 


IDLENESS  ACCOUNTED  FOE.  51 

some  kind  of  compulsion.  I  certainly  saw  a  great  num 
ber  of  them  idle,  especially  in  the  towns. 

The  worst  case  I  remember  was  that  of  a  man  whom 
we  found  snoring  in  bed  at  noon.  The  missionary,  who 
was  with  me,  said  to  his  wife,  "  I  am  sorry  to  see  that 
your  husband  is  not  well  V 

"  Oh,  he 's  quite  well,  sah,"  replied  the  woman  ;  "  but 
he  says  he's  free  now,  and  can  lie  in  bed  when  he 
like." 

Few  cases  were  so  bad  as  that,  and  many  cases  turned 
out,  on  inquiry,  to  be  much  more  excusable  than  they 
seemed. 

I  remember  a  Southern  planter  telling  me  that  he 
had  offered  employment  to  more  than  a  hundred  idle 
negroes,  but  that  not  one  of  them  would  have  it.  I 
thought  this  a  strong  fact,  but  deemed  it  advisable  to 
see  what  the  negroes  had  to  say  to  it.  My  inquiries 
proved  that  while  the  planter's  statement  was  perfectly 
correct,  as  far  as  it  went,  it  altogether  omitted  the  ex 
planation.  The  facts  turned  out  to  be  these  : — The 
planter  had  hired  the  negroes  the  previous  year,  bar 
gaining  to  give  them  the  value  of  half  the  amount  of 
cotton  they  raised,  deducting  expenses.  When  the  crop 
was  sold  the  negroes  came  for  their  share.  The  planter 
told  them  that,  unfortunately,  owing  to  the  fall  in  cotton, 
the  crop  had  scarcely  paid  expenses,  so  there  was  nothing 
for  them  this  year ;  but  he  hoped  the  next  year  would 
prove  better. 

This  might  be  a  perfectly  true  statement  of  the  case, 
but  the  negroes  could  not  understand  it.  All  they 
knew  was,  that  they  had  worked  for  half  the  crop  and 
had  got  nothing.  Accordingly,  when  the  planter  offered 


52  THE  EMANCIPATED  BLACKS 

to  re-engage  them  next  year  on  the  same  terms  as  before, 
they  could  not  see  it.  But  probably  there  are  white 
labourers  who  could  not  have  seen  it  either.  One  of 
the  negroes  whom  I  questioned  on  the  subject  said, — 
"  I  'm  willin'  to  wu'k,  sah,  and  I  want  to  wu'k,  'cos  I  'm 
mighty  ill  off ;  but  I  won't  engage  to  wu'k  another  year 
till  I  knows  I  'm  gwine  to  get  paid  at  the  end  of  it."  It 
was  the  same  with  the  others.  It  can  scarcely  be  won 
dered  at  if  compulsion  would  have  been  needed  to  make 
the  negroes  work  under  such  circumstances  as  these. 

I  made  inquiries  also  amongst  those  whom  I  found 
swarming  into  cities  and  towns,  instead  of  staying  in 
the  country  where  their  labour  was  needed.  I  found 
that,  while  some  had  come  to  eat  the  bread  of  idleness, 
many  had  come  for  safety ;  others  to  get  their  children 
to  school ;  others  to  seek  for  work  that  would  be 
paid  for. 

Even  with  reference  to  the  worst  class  of  cases — 
such  as  that  of  the  man  snoring  in  bed  at  noon,  and 
others,  in  which  remunerative  work  was  to  be  had,  and 
yet  was  not  taken  advantage  of — two  things  need  to 
be  remembered.  The  first  is,  that  slavery  has  to  be 
credited  with  a  share  of  the  blame.  It  was  part  of  the 
teaching  of  slavery  that  a  gentleman  was  one  who  lived 
without  working.  Is  it  wonderful  that  some  of  the 
negroes,  who  want  now  to  be  gentlemen,  should  have 
thought  of  trying  this  as  the  easiest  way  ?  The  second 
point  is,  that  the  negroes,  in  so  far  as  idleness  exists " 
amongst  .them,  are  not  exceptional  people.  On  the  con 
trary,  I  found  more  activity  and  more  desire  for  work 
amongst  the  poor  negroes  than  amongst  the  poor  whites. 

I  suppose  it  is  natural  for  many,  especially  in  a  hot 
climate,  to  be  idle  when  they  can  afford  to  be  ;  and  the 


WORKING  BETTER  THAN  IN  SLAVERY.  53 

question  is,  Whether  a  black  man,  if  he  can  afford  it, 
has  not  just  as  much  right  to  be  idle  as  a  white  man 
has  ?  Why  should  more  love  of  work,  for  work's  sake, 
be  expected  of  the  black  than  of  the  white  man  ? 

But  if  many  of  the  negroes  (like  many  of  the  whites) 
were  idle,  this  was  not  the  general  rule,  and  still  less 
is  it  so  now.  In  a  single  State,  the  Bureau  registered 
50,000  contracts  between  the  negroes  and  their  old 
masters.  Many  freedmen  had  bought  and  were  work 
ing  upon  farms  of  their  own;  and  that  very  year  (1868), 
in  spite  of  the  wrecked  condition  of  the  country,  matters 
were  so  far  mending  that  2,700,000  bales  of  cotton  were 
sent  to  market,  being  500,000  bales  more  than  had  been 
produced  in  1865,  and  within  30  per  cent,  of  the  amount 
produced  in  the  golden  days  before  the  war,  notwith 
standing  the  fact  that  more  land  had  now  to  be  used 
for  the  growing  of  food. 

Planters  and  employers  who  were  able  to  pay  seemed 
to  find  no  difficulty  in  getting  the  negroes  to  work. 
General  Abbott,  a  Northern  capitalist,  who  had  settled 
in  North  Carolina,  told  me  that  as  soon  as  it  was  found 
that  he  was  paying  his  hands  regularly,  he  had  far  more 
negroes  applying  for  work  than  he  could  take  on. 

A  great  rice  planter  in  Georgia,  a  Southern  man,  who 
had  been  able  to  save  something  from  the  wreck  of  the 
war,  and  could  guarantee  payment  to  his  negroes,  de 
clared  that  they  were  not  only  working  as  well,  but 
•working  better  than  they  ever  did  as  slaves. 

"  You  will  see  them  in  the  rice  fields  now,"  he  said, 
"  working  up  to  the  waist  in  water.  I  wouldn't  have 
sent  them  in  like  that  if  they  had  been  slaves.  It 
would  have  been  too  dangerous,  and  therefore  too  ex 
pensive." 


54  THE  EMANCIPATED  BLACKS. 

It  is  said  that  the  negro,  even  if  willing  to  work, 
could  not  hold  his  own  in  competition  with  the  white 
man.  This  may  be  true  of  some  occupations;  it  is 
certainly  not  true  of  all.  It  is  extra  work  for  a  white 
man  to  cut  two  cords  of  wood  in  a  day ;  a  negro  will 
cut  three,  sometimes  four.  The  Georgian  planter,  to 
whom  I  have  just  referred,  said  he  had  tried  Irish 
labourers  in  his  rice  fields,  but  had  found  them  unfit 
for  the  work,  and  had  fallen  back  upon  his  old  negroes, 
who  wrought  so  well  that  he  had  been  enabled  to  raise 
first-rate  crops,  and  had  netted  that  year  70,000  dollars. 

At  Andersonville,  where  extensive  public  works  were 
going  on,  the  Bureau  officer  told  me  that  he  had  tried 
white  Southern  labourers — poor  whites,  or  "  crackers,"  as 
they  are  called — but  was  turning  them  off  and  taking 
on  negroes  instead.  He  found  the  negroes  could  do  the 
work  as  well,  if  not  better,  and  were  much  more  easily 
managed. 

A  Southern  magazine — The  Land  we  Love  (March 
1866) — edited  by  an  old  Confederate  General,  and  there 
fore  not  likely  to  be  biassed  in  favour  of  the  negro 
versus  the  white  man— goes  further.  "  The  Irish,"  it 
says,  "  are  reckoned  the  strongest  men  in  Europe,  but 
they  are  deficient  in  strength  and  endurance  compared 
with  the  negro.  Some  fifteen  years  ago,  a  hundred 
Irish  ditchers  were  employed  on  the  James  Eiver  and 
Kenawha  Canal,  and  at  the  same  time  a  hundred  negro 
men,  'field  hands,'  not  accustomed  to  ditching,  were 
set  to  labour  with  them.  A  rivalry  sprang  up  between 
the  parties,  and  they  did  their  utmost  to  excel  one 
another.  But  it  was  soon  seen  that  the  untrained 
negroes  could  do  far  more  work  than  the  Irish." 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  in  some  occupations, 


SAVINGS'  BANKS.  55 

the  very  ones  for  which  there  is  the  largest  and  most 
constant  demand,  the  negro  is  quite  able  to  hold  his 
own.  He  does  so  in  Canada  and  the  North;  much 
more  likely  is  he  to  do  so  in  the  South,  where  there  are 
kinds  of  labour  which,  from  the  peril  they  involve  to 
white  life,  will  probably  remain  a  negro  monopoly. 

We  are  told  that  the  negro  is  incurably  thriftless, 
and  that  this  will  prevent  him  from  ever  making  ad 
vance.  Thriftlessness,  no  doubt,  is  one  of  the  negro's 
besetting  sins,  and  one  of  which  it  will  take  a  great 
deal  of  training  to  cure  him.  But  slavery,  which  pro 
vided  everything  for  him,  confirmed,  instead  of  seeking 
to  remove,  this  tendency ;  while  freedom,  which  com 
pels  self-support,  and  offers  powerful  motives  to  thrift, 
gives  just  the  training  he  needs.  I  found  many 
thrifty,  prosperous,  and  even  wealthy  blacks  in  the 
North.  The  18,000  negroes  in  Philadelphia,  in  spite  of 
the  white  competition,  which  it  was  alleged  would 
push  them  to  the  wall,  had,  as  early  as  1837,  acquired 
$550,000  worth  of  real  estate,  and  $800,000  worth  of 
personal  property.  They  had  built  sixteen  churches, 
had  eighty  benevolent  societies,  and  had  spent  in  that 
one  year  $70,000  in  purchasing  the  freedom  of  friends 
in  slavery.  In  Washington,  one  of  the  wealthiest  men 
in  the  city  (Mr.  Lee)  is  a  coloured  man. 

Amongst  the  better  class  of  emancipated  slaves  in 
the  South,  I  found  similar  provident  habits  rapidly 
forming.  Savings'  banks,  friendly  societies,  and  build 
ing  associations  were  springing  up  amongst  them,  and 
many  were  purchasing  houses  and  land.  In  the 
single  town  of  Macon,  Georgia,  they  had  purchased 
200  buildings.  In  Savannah,  during  the  month  I  was 


56  THE  EMANCIPATED  BLACKS. 

there,  they  had  laid  past  in  the  Savings'  bank  $5679, 
being  $2300  in  advance  of  the  previous  year,  notwith 
standing  the  bad  season.  In  their  Savings'  banks, 
throughout  the  South,  they  had  deposited  $1,500,000 
since  their  emancipation  three  years  before.  More 
recently  the  progress  has  been  still  more  rapid.  Dur 
ing  this  last  year,  180  negroes  have  bought  places 
around  Augusta;  220  have  built  houses  in  Atlanta  ;  at 
Columbia,  where  one  black  mechanic  has  already 
amassed  a  fortune  of  $50,000,  forty  heads  of  families 
have  purchased  city  property  for  homes,  at  from  $500 
to  $1200  each,  within  six  months;  and  on  the  islands 
near  Charleston,  2000  freedmen's  families  have  located 
themselves,  built  their  houses  and  cabins,  and  paid  for 
their  little  farms.  I  heard  complaints  from  many 
coloured  men,  who  had  saved  some  money  and  wanted 
to  buy  land,  that  the  landowners  would  not  sell  to 
negroes.  But  this  evil  is  being  remedied.  The  South 
Carolina  Legislature,  last  year,  appropriated  $200,000 
for  the  purchase  of  large  estates,  cut  them  up  into 
farms,  and  offered  them  for  sale  to  the  freedmen  and 
the  poor  of  all  colours.  Forty  thousand  acres  of  this 
land  have  already  been  sold ;  and  the  Legislature  has 
accordingly  resolved  on  an  appropriation  this  year  of 
$400,000  more.  It  is  very  probable  that  the  other 
re-constructed  States  will  follow  this  example.  The 
freedmen's  deposits  in  their  Savings'  banks  have  rolled 
up  now  to  an  aggregate  of  $12,000,000 ;  and  the 
cashiers,  who  keep  a  note  of  the  purpose  for 
which  sums  are  withdrawn,  report  that  in  a  large 
proportion  of  cases  it  is  for  the  purchase  of  lands 
and  houses.  The  deposited  savings  of  the  past  year 
exceed  those  of  the  year  before  to  the  extent  of 


SELF-EDUCATION  IN  SLAVERY.  57 

$558,000.     And  yet  we  are  told  that  the  negroes  are 
incurably  thriftless ! 

But  the  most  amazing  and  hopeful  feature  of  all  is 
the  wide-spread  desire  which  is  found  amongst  them 
for  education.  This  seems  to  have  developed  itself 
even  in  slavery,  and  many  were  the  ingenious  ways  in 
which  some  of  them  contrived  to  pick  up  a  smattering 
of  book-knowledge  in  spite  of  prohibitory  laws  and 
vigilant  masters.  One  negro  who  served  in  a  private 
family  contrived  to  pick  up  his  letters  in  this  way :  He 
had  been  sent  one  day  to  do  something  to  the  stove  in 
the  room  where  the  governess  was  teaching  the  children. 
He  did  his  work  as  quietly  as  possible,  listening  to  the 
governess,  watching  stealthily  the  letters  to  which  she 
pointed,  and  trying  to  fix  in  his  memory  the  names 
she  gave  them.  He  made  his  work  at  the  stove  last  as 
long  as  possible,  and  went  away  with  half  the  alphabet 
in  his  memory.  After  that,  when  cleaning  the  room 
in  the  morning,  he  would  examine  these  letters  care 
fully,  and  go  over  their  names.  But  how  to  get  the 
names  of  the  rest !  —  that  was  now  his  difficulty. 
One  morning  the  little  boy  came  into  the  room. 
The  two  were  alone,  and  Sam  thought,  "  Now  is  my 
chance." 

"You'se  mighty  smart  wid  your  lessons,  I  hears, 
Massa  Tom,"  he  said. 

Master  Tom  assented  promptly. 

"  Reckon  you  know  a  mighty  heap  of  dem  tings 
on  de  wall  dere.  But  you  dunno,"  he  said  experi 
mentally,  "what  dem  black  tings  is,"  and  pointed  to 
the  alphabet. 

"  I  do.     I  know  every  one  of  them." 


58  THE  EMANCIPATED  BLACKS. 

"  Come  now,  you  dunno  wliat  dey  call  dis  chap, 
standin'  wid  his  legs  in  de  air  ? " 

"Yes  I  do.     That's  Y." 

"  Wye  !  Lor'  what  a  name  to  gib  him  !  But  you 
dunno  de  name  of  dis  yar  one  sittin'  on  de  ground  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  do.     That 's  L." 

"  L !  Why,  Massa  Tom,  you  knows  eberyting. 
Eeckon  you  know  dat  one  too," — pointing  to  another ; 
and  so  he  went  on  till  he  had  got  the  names  of  all  the 
letters  he  had  previously  missed.  This  man,  before  the 
war  came  to  set  him  free,  had  learned  to  read  and  write 
with  tolerable  ease. 

I  remember  the  case  of  another,  who  had  begun  his 
secret  self-education  by  studying  the  letters  engraven  on 
his  master's  spoons  and  plate,  which  it  was  his  business 
to  polish ;  and  of  another,  a  black  groom,  who  learned 
to  spell  from  noticing  the  signboards  above  the  shop- 
doors,  and  t  printing  the  letters  on  the  dust  upon  the 
stable-floor. 

This  desire  for  education  was  one  of  the  first  things 
that  showed  itself  when  the  war  began  to  set  the  slaves 
free.  When  General  Banks  took  command  in  Louisiana, 
and  opened  black  schools,  the  slaves  swarmed  in  from  all 
quarters — parents  bringing  their  children  and  sitting 
in  the  school  beside  them  to  learn  the  same  lesson. 
When  there  seemed  a  danger  of  this  work  having  to  be 
suspended,  Superintendent  Alvord  described  the  con 
sternation  of  the  negro  population  as  intense.  "  Peti 
tions,"  he  said,  "  began  to  pour  in.  I  saw  one  from  the 
plantations'  across  the  river,  at  least  thirty  feet  in  length, 
representing  about  10,000  negroes.  It  was  affecting  to 
examine  it,  and  note  the  names  and  marks  ( + )  of  such 
a  long,  long  list  of  black  fathers  and  mothers,  ignorant 


BLACK  SOLDIERS  LEARNING  TO  SPELL.  59 

themselves,  but  begging  that  their  children  might  be 
educated,  promising  to  pay  for  it  even  out  of  their 
extreme  poverty." 

When  Sherman's  army  entered  Savannah,  black 
schools  were  opened  there  also  —  one  of  these  in 
Bryant's  Slave  Mart,  where,  only  a  few  days  before, 
negroes  had  been  sold  by  auction.  The  school  was  no 
sooner  opened  than  500  black  pupils  were  enrolled — 
the  negroes  themselves  contributing  $  1000  to  support 
the  teachers. 

When  the  army  entered  Wilmington,  the  same  enthu 
siasm  was  witnessed.  Schools  were  opened  by  teachers 
connected  with  the  American  Missionary  Association, 
who  accompanied  the  army.  One  of  them  (Mr.  Coan) 
said, — "  I  was  to  meet  the  children  at  the  church  door 
next  morning  at  nine ;  but  before  seven  the  street  was 
blocked,  and  the  yard  densely  crowded.  Eager  parents, 
anxious  to  get '  dese  yer  four  childern's  name  token,  oh 
please,  sah  ! '  came  struggling  through  the  throng.  '  Oh, 
sah,  do  please  put  down  dese  yer.'  '  Dis  gal  of  mine, 
sah,  wants  to  jine ;  and  dat  yer  boy  he 's  got  no  parents, 
and  I  jes  done  and  brought  him.'  The  countenances  of 
those  who  were  pressing  forward  from  behind  told  of 
fears  that  they  might  be  too  late  to  enroll  before  the  list 
was  filled  up." 

"  The  same  evidences  of  joy  inexpressible  was  mani 
fest,"  he  said,  "  at  the  opening  of  the  evening  schools 
for  black  adults.  About  a  thousand  pupils  reported 
themselves  in  less  than  a  week." 

The  same  desire  for  education  had  already  been  ob 
served  amongst  the  fugitive  slaves  who  had  fled  within 
the  Union  lines,  and  been  formed  into  regiments  to 
fight  for  the  freedom  of  their  race.  At  Camp  Nelson, 


GO  THE  EMANCIPATED  BLACKS. 

where  4000  of  them  were  stationed,  they  begged  for 
schools,  recognising  the  importance  of  preparing  them 
selves  at  once  for  the  freedom  they  had  won.  Mr.  Fee, 
one  of  the  teachers,  said  that,  often,  riding  through  the 
camp,  he  saw  amongst  the  companies  resting  from  drill, 
numbers  of  black  soldiers  availing  themselves  of  the 
opportunity  to  prepare  their  lessons  for  next  day.  They 
earned  these  books  with  them  when  the  army  marched  ; 
and  one  of  their  officers  told  me  that  he  had  sometimes 
seen  them  gathered  round  the  bivouac  fires  at  night 
eager  over  their  spelling-books,  hearing  each  other 
spell,  or  listening  to  one  of  their  number  who  had  got 
on  far  enough  to  be  able  to  read  to  them  from  the  Bible. 
After  a  battle,  these  spelling-books  and  Bibles  were 
often  found  upon  the  bodies  of  the  dead. 

When  the  war  closed  in  1865,  and  the  gates  of  the 
South  were  thrown  open,  the  extraordinary  spectacle 
was  beheld  of  an  ignorant  and  enslaved  race  springing 
to  its  feet  after  a  bondage  of  two  hundred  years,  and 
with  its  first  free  breath  crying  for  the  means  of  edu 
cation.  In  immediate  response  to  this  cry,  the  Freed- 
men's  Bureau,  the  Quakers  (who  have  been  perhaps  the 
most  faithful,  consistent,  and  self-sacrificing  friends  of 
the  negro  from  the  first),  the  American  Missionary 
Association,  and  various  other  societies,  began  to  scatter 
their  teachers  over  the  vast  area  of  the  South,  till  schools 
glimmered  out  over  that  vast  expanse  like  stars  on  the 
brow  of  night. 

It  may  be  doubted  if  history  furnishes  a  parallel  to 
the  extraordinary  progress  which  has  been  made  in  the 
education  of  these  people  within  the  short  period  that 
has  elapsed  since  their  emancipation. 

The  work  may  be  said  to  have  begun  with  the  little 


LOVE  OF  SCHOOL- WORK.  Cl 

school  opened  at  Fortress  Monroe  in  1861.  Now,  in 
less  than  ten  years,  4500  schools  are  in  operation,  nearly 
10,000  teachers  are  at  work,  and  more  than  250,000 
negroes,  old  and  young,  are  under  instruction,  besides 
those  already  educated.  Twenty-five  normal  schools 
and  Black  universities  have  also  been  opened,  and  are 
attended  by  upwards  of  4000  coloured  students,  drawn 
from  the  ordinary  schools,  and  preparing,  most  of  them, 
to  become  the  educators  of  their  own  race. 

I  was  told  in  South  Carolina,  that  in  that  State  alone 
25,000  emancipated  slaves  were  able  to  read  the  Bible, 
who  had  not  known  their  letters  before  the  war.  It  is 
now  reckoned  that  in  Virginia  50,000  negroes  have  got 
instruction  in  the  ordinary  branches ;  in  Texas,  50,000 
more  ;  and  that  in  Louisiana  the  number  of  blacks  who 
are  able  to  read  is  as  great  now  as  the  number  of  whites. 

On  my  way  round  the  South  I  visited  a  large  number 
of  these  negro  schools,  and  was  amazed  and  delighted. 
The  day-schools  were  crowded  for  the  most  part  with 
black  boys  and  girls,  who  were  wonderfully  eager  over 
their  lessons,  and  seemed  to  have  a  real  delight  in 
school-work. 

"  Please,  ma'am,"  said  a  little  ebony  boy  in  Charleston, 
when  one  of  the  schools  was  being  closed  for  the  sum 
mer,  "  please  for  don't  give  us  a  long  holiday.  We  like 
de  school  better."  The  parents  speak  of  their  children's 
love  for  knowledge  with  delight.  "  They  needs  no 
drivin',"  said  one ;  "  they  is  always  talkin'  about  their 
teachers." 

"I  can't  keep  my  Margaret  from  her  book,"  said 
another  black  woman,  with  a  grin  of  satisfaction. 
"  Tears  when  she  gets  her  dinner,  she  sit  right  straight 
down  to  her  lessen." 


G2  THE  EMANCIPATED  BLACKS. 

An  odd  feature  in  some  of  these  day-schools  is  the 
presence  of  black  men  and  women,  who  are  either  too 
old  or  infirm  to  work,  or  else  are  out  of  employment  at 
the  time.  I  have  seen  three  generations  sitting  on  the 
same  bench,  spelling  the  same  lesson,  and  seen  classes 
that  included  scholars  of  from  three  feet  high  up  to  six, 
and  from  six  years  of  age  up  to  sixty.  In  one  which  I 
examined,  the  dux  was  a  quick  bright-eyed  little  boy  of 
seven,  next  to  whom  came  a  great  hulking  negro  of  six 
feet  or  above,  who  had  been  a  plantation  slave  for  nearly 
twenty  years,  next  him  came  a  little  girl,  then  a  buxom 
woman,  then  another  child  or  two,  then  another  man, 
and  so  on,  giving  the  class  a  very  grotesque  look. 
Oddest  of  all,  an  elderly  negro,  who  stood  with  earnest 
face  at  the  foot  of  the  class,  turned  out  to  be  father  to 
the  little  fellow  at  the  top  !  He  was  out  of  work  at  the 
time,  and,  to  his  honour  be  it  said,  preferred  coming  and 
standing  at  the  foot  of  the  class,  with  little  girls  above 
him,  and  his  own  little  boy  at  the  top,  to  losing  the 
only  chance  he  had  of  "  gettin'  larnin'." 

When  I  spoke  to  him  afterwards,  and  said  how  in 
terested  I  was  to  see  him  so  desirous  of  education,  he 
confided  to  me  that  he  had  great  difficulty  with  words 
of  more  than  four  letters,  and  some  big  ones  he  didn't 
think  he  would  ever  be  able  to  spell. 

"  I  sees  de  first  letter  clar  enough/'  he  said,  "  but  after 
dat,  'pears  to  me  like  puttin'  out  my  foot  in  de  dark.  I 
dunno  whar  to  find  de  next  step." 

"  But  Mose !"  he  added,  referring  to  his  little  boy, 
"  lor',  sah,  dat  boy  can  go  slick  thro'  a  word  as  long  as 
dat  "• — indicating  half  the  length  of  his  arm.  "  I  'specs," 
he  added  proudly,  "  they  '11  make  a  scholard  of  him." 

To  see  the  eagerness  of  the  older  negroes,  however, 


EAGERNESS  OF  OLD  PEOPLE.  63 

one  needs  to  go  to  the  night-schools.  In  some  of  these 
I  found  one,  two,  or  three  hundred  black  men  and 
women,  some  of  them  so  old  that  they  needed  a  strong 
pair  of  spectacles  to  see  even  the  letters  on  the  charts. 
Most  of  them  had  been  brought  up  in  utter  ignorance, 
and  were  so  unused  even  to  the  sight  of  type,  that  they 
had  great  difficulty  in  keeping  the  letters  of  a  word 
separate  to  the  eye,  and  preventing  them  from  running 
together.  I  have  seen  an  old  spectacled  negro,  sitting 
by  himself,  spelling  out  his  lesson,  and  using  his 
thumb  nails  to  hide  all  the  letters  except  one  at  a  time, 
to  prevent  them  from  dazzling  his  eye  or  distracting 
him. 

Another  scene  comes  back  to  my  mind  with  peculiar 
vividness.  It  was  an  adult  class  that  was  up  for  spell 
ing.  Half-way  down  stood  a  great  awkward-looking 
negro  man,  who  held  his  head  as  if  a  cold  key  had  been 
stuck  down  the  back  of  his  neck,  and  who  kept  his  eyes 
fixed  earnestly  upon  the  teacher.  The  word  "revela 
tion"  had  just  been  given;  those  above  this  big 
negro  had  tried  it  and  failed ;  each  one  was  allowed 
three  trials,  and  it  was  now  his  turn.  His  manifest 
anxiety  to  be  right,  especially  after  the  others  had 
failed,  was  very  ludicrous  to  behold.  He  thought  a 
moment,  rubbed  the  side  of  his  head  with  his  huge 
hand,  as  if  to  waken  up  all  his  faculties,  and  then  with 
an  expression  of  prodigious  anxiety  began.  He  broke 
down  at  the  second  syllable,  and  had  to  begin  again. 
He  tried  hard,  but  failed  at  this  attempt  also.  By  this 
time  the  perspiration  was  standing  in  drops  on  his  brow. 
He  began  for  the  third  and  last  time,  got  out  letter  after 
letter,  his  eyes  fixed  upon  the  teacher  with  the  expres 
sion  they  might  have  had  if  she  had  been  holding  a 


G4  THE  EMANCIPATED  BLACKS. 

pistol  at  his  head,  and  when  at  last  he  got  through, 
and  the  teacher  said  "  Correct,"  he  took  a  huge  breath, 
wiped  the  perspiration  from  his  brow,  grinned  from  ear 
to  ear,  and  rolled  his  delighted  eyes  round,  as  if  to 
receive  the  congratulations  of  the  school. 

Some  of  the  old  negroes,  naturally  stupid,  and  brought 
up  in  slavery,  had  little  chance  of  ever  being  able  to 
read  with  understanding;  but  others,  in  spite  of  their 
disadvantages,  were  making  astonishing  progress.  I 
saw  one  old  woman,  who  had  been  all  her  life  a  slave, 
and  was  ninety  years  old  before  she  began  the  alphabet, 
who  yet  was  able,  within  three  months,  to  spell  out 
several  verses  of  the  Bible. 

One  of  the  young  lady  teachers  at  Natchez  told  the 
following  incident  about  one  of  the  old  black  women  in 
her  night-school : — "  Aunt  Anne,  who  was  reading  in 
the  Primer,  came  one  day  into  the  Sunday-school  and 
listened  to  the  reading  of  the  Commandments  by  some 
of  the  little  boys.  The  next  day  she  came  to  my  room, 
and,  handing  me  a  Bible  open  at  the  20th  chapter  of 
Exodus,  asked  me  to  hear  her  read  the  Ten  Command 
ments,  saying  she  knew  she  should  make  mistakes,  but 
not  to  correct  her  till  she  had  finished.  I  heard  her, 
and  had  only  two  corrections  to  make.  I  then  asked 
her  how  she  had  learned  to  read  them  so  well  ?  She 
answered,  '  Miss  Hattie,  when  I  heard  those  little  boys 
say  them  in  Sunday-school  yesterday,  I  thought  I  could 
never  go  there  agin.  It  hurt  me  so  to  think  they  could 
say  by  heart  what  I,  an  old  woman,  could  not  even  read. 
You  don't-  know  how  bad  it  hurt  me.  Den  I  said  to 
myself,  '  1 11  know  them,  too ;  so  I  took  my  Bible  and 
went  off  to  the  woods,  where  nobody  could  hear  me,  and 
picked  dem  out,  and  now  I'se  so  proud  I  can  read 


FOUR  MILES  TO  SCHOOL.  65 

dem.'  .  .  .  Aunt  Anne  was  once  severely  whipped  in 
slave  days  for  attempting  to  learn  to  read." 

Nothing  is  more  interesting  than  to  see  the  joy  of 
these  people  when  they  have  got  their  first  lesson,  and 
feel  that  one  step  to  "  larnin' "  has  actually  been  taken. 

A  poor  woman  who  feared  that  she  would  never  be 
able  to  learn  anything,  was  shown  the  letter  "  0"  in  a 
book. 

"  You  see  this  round  thing  ?"  said  the  lady. 

"  Yes,  mahm." 

"  That's  '  0'.     Let  me  hear  you  say  '  0'  ?" 

The  woman  repeated  the  sound. 

"  Well,  that  is  one  of  the  letters  of  the  alphabet. 
Whenever  you  open  a  book  and  see  that  letter,  you  will 
know  that  it  is  '0'." 

The  delight  of  the  woman  was  unbounded.  She 
looked  at  the  Scripture  texts  on  the  wall,  picked  out 
every  "  0,"  and,  with  an  exclamation  of  joy,  hurried 
home  to  show  off  her  acquisition  to  her  family.  After 
that  she  became  a  regular  attender  at  the  night-school, 
and  was  soon  able  to  read. 

I  remember,  in  the  night-school  at  Montgomery, 
Alabama,  noticing  amongst  the  others  a  perfectly  black 
man  of  about  fifty  years  of  age  studying  a  big  Bible 
that  lay  on  the  desk  before  him.  The  eager  expression 
of  his  face  as  he  spelt  out  word  after  word  to  himself, 
making  every  letter  with  his  lips  as  he  went  along, 
attracted  my  attention,  and  I  asked  the  teacher  who 
he  was. 

She  said, — "  He  is  a  labourer  on  a  farm  a  good  way 
out  of  town.  He  has  to  walk  four  miles  here,  and  four 
home  again ;  but  he  is  here  every  night  as  punctual 
as  the  clock,  and  studies  hard  to  the  last  minute.  He 

VOL.  II.  E 


66  THE  EMANCIPATED  BLACKS. 

never  tastes  his  supper  till  he  gets  home.  His  work 
only  stops  about  an  hour  before  the  night-school  opens, 
so  he  comes  away  without  his  supper  that  he  may  be 
here  in  time." 

It  is  a  habit  amongst  white  people  to  look  down 
upon  the  blacks ;  but  it  would  be  interesting  to  know 
how  many  uneducated  adults  in  England,  Scotland,  and 
Ireland — white  people  though  they  be — are  striving,  as 
the  negroes  in  those  night-schools  are  doing,  to  make  up 
for  the  educational  deficiencies  of  early  years  !  Amongst 
the  lowest  class  of  whites  of  the  South,  who  are  almost 
as  illiterate  as  the  negroes,  I  wish  I  could  have  seen  a 
tithe  of  the  same  desire  for  self- improvement. 

At  the  time  of  my  tour  through  the  South,  40,000 
black  men  and  women  were  attending  these  schools, 
many  of  them  parents,  and  even  grand-parents.  There 
is  surely  hope  for  a  people  who,  freshly  out  of  slavery, 
are  found  pressing  with  such  eagerness  through  the 
gates  of  knowledge ;  and  who,  although  so  poor,  con 
tributed,  in  that  single  year,  $200,000  towards  the 
education  of  themselves  arid  their  children.  If  this 
work  of  education  goes  on,  it  will  develop  amongst  these 
people  higher  wants,  and  higher  wants  will  develop 
greater  and  more  varied  activity. 

Many  who  admit  the  widespread  desire  amongst  the 
freedmen  for  education,  still  say  that  it  will  end  in 
nothing ;  that,  with  a  few  exceptions,  the  negro  is  in 
capable  of  culture ;  that  you  can  carry  him  on  a  little 
bit,  but  there  he  stops,  and  you  can  make  nothing  more 
of  him. 

Whether  the  negro  is  capable  of  as  high  culture  as 
the  white  man  is  a  question  which  I  do  not  pretend  to 
settle.  I  believe  there  are  differences  between  races 


CAPACITY.  67 

as  there  are  between  individuals  of  the  same  race. 
Even  in  the  same  family  we  find  one  boy  cleverer  than 
his  brothers  ;  and  in  the  family  of  mankind  one  race  is 
found  to  excel  in  one  point,  another  race  in  another ; 
and  the  white  race  has  shown  more  energy,  more  grasp 
of  thought,  and  more  power  of  command  than  the  black 
race.  But  a  boy  in  the  family,  who  is  not  naturally  so 
gifted  as  his  brother,  may  be  capable  of  immensely  im 
proving  by  education ;  and  this  I  take  to  be  the  case 
with  the  negro.  Let  me  mention  one  or  two  facts. 
In  the  course  of  my  tour  through  the  South  I  heard 
about  10,000  negro  scholars  of  all  ages  examined  in  the 
different  schools.  Those  who  had  been  begun  at  the 
same  age  as  white  children  seemed,  under  the  stimulus 
of  white  teachers,  to  be  getting  on  just  as  fast — making 
allowance,  of  course,  for  their  want  of  help  at  home. 
Amongst  those  who  had  been  brought  up  in  slavery 
without  education  —  including  some  who  had  been 
whipped  for  attempting  to  educate  themselves — and 
who  had  thus  been  prevented  from  entering  school  till 
they  were  twelve,  twenty,  forty,  or  sixty  years  of  age, 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  backwardness.  But  in  Canada 
and  the  North,  amongst  coloured  youths  who  had  been 
able  to  begin  at  the  right  time,  and  were  going  on, 
there  seemed  no  such  limit  to  their  progress  as  there 
is  alleged  to  be.  In  some  schools  in  Upper  Canada  I 
saw  black  scholars  sitting  on  the  same  bench  with 
white  scholars,  and  the  teachers  assured  me  that,  for 
the  work,  such  as  it  was,  the  black  scholars  were  quite 
as  competent  as  the  white.  At  Oberlin  College,  Ohio, 
where  blacks  and  whites,  males  and  females,  all  study 
together,  and  where  the  course  of  study  embraces  Latin 
and  Greek,  mathematics,  and  natural  and  mental  philo- 


68  THE  EMANCIPATED  BLACKS. 

sophy,  the  black  students  are  still  found  perfectly 
competent.  This  does  not  look  as  if  the  negro  were 
incapable  of  culture.  Many  individual  cases  might  be 
adduced  to  confirm  the  same  inference,  and  carry  it 
even  further.  At  Toronto  University,  the  man  who 
carried  the  gold  medal  one  year  was  a  coloured  man. 
At  Oberlin,  two  years  before  I  was  there,  the  student 
who  graduated  at  the  head  of  the  whole  college  was  a 
negro  girl,  Miss  Jackson,  whom  I  afterwards  found  at 
Philadelphia,  at  the  head  'of  the  Coloured  Institute. 
Mr.  Bassett,  who  was  then  Principal  of  that  Institute, 
and  has  since  then  been  appointed  by  General  Grant 
as  United  States  Minister  to  Hayti,  is  also  a  negro. 
Langster,  another  graduate  of  Oberlin,  and  one  of  the 
most  eloquent  advocates  I  heard  in  the  States,  is  also  a 
negro.  Frederick  Douglass  and  Sella  Martin,  two  of 
the  ablest  platform  orators  in  America,  are  both  negroes. 
The  poets,  Frances  Harper  and  Maria  Child,  also  be 
long  to  the  despised  race.  The  astronomer  Banneker 
was  a  Maryland  negro.  The  present  Senator  for  the 
State  of  Mississippi,  the  present  Secretary  of  State  for 
South  Carolina,  the  present  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
Louisiana,  are  all  negroes.  There  are  negro  graduates 
in  the  pulpit,  negro  editors  of  newspapers,  negro  authors, 
negro  merchants,  negro  magistrates,  negro  sheriffs,  and 
negro  judges,  acting  efficiently  side  by  side  with  white 
men,  and  yet  we  are  told  that  the  negro  is  unfit  for 
education — that  he  can  be  brought  on  a  little  bit,  but 
after  that  falls  back,  and  you  can  make  nothing  more 
of  him. 

The  negroes  I  have  named  may  be  exceptional.  But 
they  show  not  the  less  the  possibilities  that  lie  waiting 
for  development  in  the  negro  brain ;  and  they  allow 


BEECHER  ON  NEGRO  SUFFRAGE.          69 

us  to  hope  that  they  will  cease  to  be  exceptional  when 
the  negro  has  come  to  enjoy,  as  he  is  now  beginning  to 
do,  the  same  opportunities  as  the  white  man  for  de 
veloping  what  power  he  has. 

The  wisdom  of  enfranchising  the  negro  the  moment 
he  emerged  from  slavery  is  a  matter  of  more  doubt. 
In  some  respects  it  was  a  political  necessity;  but 
events  have  only  pushed  Eepublicanism  forwards  to 
consistency.  For,  in  a  government  which  derives  its 
right  from  the  consent  of  the  governed,  why  should 
four  millions  of  the  governed  be  gagged?  And,  in  a 
Government  which  says  that  taxation  without  represen 
tation  is  tyranny,  why  should  representation  be  refused 
to  the  coloured  people,  who  are  taxed  as  heavily  as  the 
whites  are,  and  who  were  paying  into  the  United  States 
Treasury  the  year  I  was  there,  on  their  cotton  alone, 
about  $20,000,000  ? 

It  is  easy  to  say  "  They  should  have  been  educated 
and  fitted  for  the  franchise  first,  and  then  been  granted 
it."  But  it  may  be  doubted  if  they  would  ever  have 
been  granted  it,  or  even  been  allowed  the  education 
which  would  have  fitted  them  for  it,  or  had  any  fair 
field  for  self-development,  unless  they  had  been  enabled 
by  means  of  the  suffrage  to  secure  these  for  themselves. 
And,  perhaps,  after  all,  the  speediest  way  of  preparing 
a  negro,  or  any  other  man,  to  exercise  the  suffrage,  is 
to  give  it  him.  As  Beecher  said,  "  Voting  wisely  comes 
from  voting  often.  In  the  very  blunders  the  negro 
makes — in  the  very  misses  he  marks  upon  the  board — 
he  is  being  trained.  Do  you  suppose  those  haughty 
candidates  of  the  South  would  trouble  themselves  to 
pour  into  the  black  ear  the  reasons  against  such  and 
such  policies,  if  it  were  not  that  the  black  man  carries 


70  THE  EMANCIPATED  BLACKS. 

the  talisman  of  a  vote  ?  A  vote  turns  every  politician 
into  a  schoolmaster.  Negro  suffrage  makes  all  the 
Southern  politicians  professors  in  black  universities,  as 
it  were;  it  makes  every  politician  interested  in  the 
negro's  voting,  and  willing  and  anxious  to  explain  to 
him  his  side  of  his  cause.  Who,  before,  thought  it 
worth  while  to  explain  to  Pompey  or  Cuffee  anything 
about  laws  or  political  principles  ?  Now  the  negroes 
are  hearing  wonderful  things  about  the  best  laws  and 
the  best  principles  of  government.  Is  not  that  educa 
tion  ?  It  is  the  vote  which  is  to  educate  these  men  as' 
well  as  the  schoolhouse." 

It  has  also  to  be  admitted  that  'the  enfranchised 
negroes  have,  in  general,  exercised  their  new  power 
quietly,  considerately,  and  well — with  far  more  regard 
for  their  old  masters,  and  far  less  prejudice  of  race  than 
could  have  been  anticipated.  In  attending  the  con 
stitutional  conventions,  sitting  in  the  different  Southern 
States,  I  heard  no  men  speak  more  earnestly  against 
repudiating  the  public  debt,  and  maintaining  the  hon 
our  of  the  State  than  negro  members,  although  that 
debt  had  been  contracted  by  their  masters,  not  by 
them,  and  would,  if  recognised,  involve  a  tax  upon 
themselves. 

Similar  evidence  of  good  sense,  under  responsibility, 
was  showing  itself  in  the  courts  of  justice,  where 
negroes  were,  for  the  first  time,  permitted  to  act  on 
juries.  In  one  case,  I  remember,  a  coloured  man  was 
tried  for  assaulting  a  white  man,  and  was  summarily 
convicted  by  a  negro  jury,  who,  although  their  pre 
judices  were  appealed  to,  refused  to  allow  these  to  in 
fluence  their  sense  of  justice. 

The  Southern  people  themselves  were    everywhere 


HOPE.  71 

admitting  that  the  negroes  were  conducting  themselves 
better  than  they  had  thought  they  would.  "  They  are 
behaving  so  well,"  said  one  old  Southern  politician, 
"  that  I  have  more  hope  of  them  than  I  ever  had  or 
ever  thought  I  could  have  had.  And,  of  course,"  he 
said,  "  if  negro  suffrage  is  to  be  a  fixed  thing  here,  the 
sooner  they  are  educated  the  better."  This  is  just 
Beecher's  idea.  Negro  suffrage,  unless  it  bring  about  a 
collision  of  races,  will  make  it  the  interest  of  the  South 
to  have  the  coloured  people  educated,  and  fitted,  as 
quickly  as  possible,  for  their  new  responsibilities. 


72  NEGRO  PECULIARITIES. 


VI. 

NEGRO  PECULIARITIES. 

THE  broadest  differences  that  strike  one  between  the 
black  and  white  people  in  the  South,  are  those  that  are 
found  amongst  the  poorer  and  more  ignorant  class  of 
negroes.  Education,  in  school  and  public  life,  is  rapidly 
assimilating  the  higher  classes  of  coloured  people  to  the 
whites  in  manners  and  modes  of  life  ;  but  amongst  the 
lower  classes,  especially  on  the  plantations,  there  is 
still  a  good  deal  of  the  child,  and  a  touch  of  the  un 
sophisticated  savage.  They  are  fond  of  eating,  fond  of 
ornamenting  themselves,  and  fond  of  gaudy  colours. 
Envelopes  of  a  deep  crimson  dye  were  in  vogue  amongst 
them  when  I  was  there.  "  Freedmen's  envelopes,"  they 
were  called.  The  same  weakness  is  observable  in  their 
dress.  You  sometimes  see  a  woman  with  a  red  parasol, 
a  green  turban,  and  a  yellow  dress;  or  one  so  poor  as 
to  be  in  rags,  yet  wearing  ear-rings,  and  half-a-dozen 
brass  rings  on  each  hand.  The  black  dandy  sports  a 
white  hat,  red  necktie,  and  flowered  vest.  He  likes  to 
carry  a  cane  too,  not  only  because  it  looks  stylish,  but 
because  in  slave  days  he  would  have  been  whipped  or 
fined  if  he  had  appeared  with  one ;  and  its  possession 
is  a  symbol  of  his  freedom. 

They  are  very  easily  imposed  upon,  which  is  not  a 
happy  thing  for  any  man,  black  or  white,  in  America. 


FONDNESS  FOR  BIG  WORDS.  73 

A  Yankee  pedlar  had  been  round,  two  years  before,  mak 
ing  a  little  fortune  amongst  them,  by  selling  a  powder 
which,  he  said,  if  rubbed  daily  upon  the  skin,  would 
make  black  people  white.  Many  of  the  poor  planta 
tion  negroes,  who  thought  a  short  and  easy  way  had 
been  opened  up  for  escape  from  the  disabilities  of  their 
race,  bought  the  powder  largely,  and  may,  for  all  I 
know,  be  rubbing  themselves  with  it  still.  Another 
pedlar,  taking  advantage  of  the  report,  at  the  close  of 
the  war,  that  rebel  property  would  be  confiscated  and 
divided  amongst  the  blacks,  went  through  the  South 
selling  little  painted  sticks  which,  he  said,  if  stuck  in 
a  plot  of  ground  belonging  to  a  rebel,  would  secure 
that  plot  to  the  person  who  put  in  the  stick.  In  some 
districts  these  bits  of  wood  went  like  wild-fire.  Credulity 
of  this  sort  will,  of  course,  diminish  with  the  spread  of 
knowledge. 

The  negroes  have  a  curious  weakness  for  big  words. 
I  remember  a  black  waiter  at  Lexington  asking  me  if 
I  would  "assume"  a  little  more  butter.  Another  in 
formed  a  meeting  that  "  various  proceedings  had  to  be 
exercised."  One  requires  to  be  very  careful  amongst 
them  about  the  words  he  uses,  for  a  black  man  clutches 
at  a  polysyllable  as  a  hungry  man  would  clutch  at  a 
loaf,  and  will  use  it  on  the  first  opportunity  that  pre 
sents  itself,  whether  he  understands  its  meaning  or  not. 
At  a  negro  prayer- meeting,  which  I  once  addressed,  I 
happened  to  speak  of  this  life  as  a  state  of  probation — 
no  simpler  word  occurring  to  me  at  the  moment.  Black 
speakers  are  much  given  to  what  they  call  "  the  im 
provement"  of  the  previous  speaker's  remarks.  The 
coloured  gentleman  who  followed  me  improved  my  ob 
servation  by  reminding  the  meeting,  with  great  vehe- 


74  NEGRO  PECULIARITIES. 

mence,  that,  "  as  our  white  brudder  says,  we  is  all  in  a 
state  of  prohibition  /"  As  the  majority  of  the  audience 
had  probably  never  heard  either  word,  the  one  expres 
sion  served  just  as  well  as  the  other.  One  of  the 
teachers  in  the  same  city  told  me  that  a  negro  who  had 
heard  somebody  referred  to  as  "  our  venerable  brother," 
introduced  their  missionary,  Mr.  Eberard,  with  great 
pleasure  to  his  people  as  his  "venomous  brudder."  On 
another  occasion  he  entreated  the  Lord  to  convict  the 
people  of  their  sin,  and  make  them  smite  on  their 
breasts  "like  the  Ee- publican  of  old."  Another  man 
was  in  the  habit  of  using  in  his  prayers  the  tremendous 
word  "  disarumgumptigated  " — the  origin  or  significance 
of  which  no  one  in  the  place  had  ever  been  able  to 
discover.  He  prayed  that  "  their  good  pastor  might  be 
disarumgumptigated,"  and  that  "  de  white  teachers  who 
had  come  from  so  far  to  construct  de  poor  coloured  folks 
might  be  disarumgumptigated."  Whether  they  had  been 
disarumgumptigated  or  not,  or  how  it  would  feel  to  be 
so,  they  were  unable  to  say.  Wherever  the  good  man 
had  found  the  word,  it  was  evident  that  he  reserved  it 
for  all  thoughts  which  needed  a  more  impressive  term 
than  any  other  he  had  in  his  limited  vocabulary.  The 
length  of  the  word  made  it  peculiarly  suitable  for  this 
purpose,  its  capacity  being  sufficient  for  the  biggest 
idea  he  was  likely  to  possess.  This  weakness  for  high- 
sounding  words  is  very  common.  To  some  of  the  un 
educated  negroes  it  seemed  to  be  one  of  the  great  charms 
of  the  associations  which  were  being  formed  amongst 
them  for  political  and  other  purposes,  that  they  invested 
them  with  magnificent  titles.  The  negro  lad  who  served 
at  table  in  one  family  where  I  stayed  was  connected 
with  three  societies.  In  one  he  was  a  Grand  Tiler  and  in 


UNREFLECTIVENESS.  75 

another  a  Worshipful  Patriarch.  It  was  said  that  in  a 
third  he  held  the  office  of  Grand  Scribe,  though  he  was 
only  learning  to  write. 

The  same  weakness  shows  itself  in  the  names  they 
give  to  their  little  picaninnies.  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
patting  the  woolly  head  of  a  small  coal-black  urchin  who 
rejoiced  in  the  name  of  Festus  Edwin  Leander  Gannett, 
who  sat  side  by  side  with  a  little  Topsy  of  the  name  of 
Cornelia  Felicia  Thursday  Mf Arthur.  These  are  poor 
specimens  compared  with  what  we  should  have  if  the 
negroes  were  more  inventive ;  but,  as  it  is,  they  confine 
themselves  to  such  names  as  they  find  around  them,  or 
hear  spoken  about.  In  one  mission-school  at  Macon  we 
found  amongst  the  black  children  a  Prince  Albert,  a 
Queen  Victoria,  an  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  a  Jeff.  Davis. 
Queen  Victoria  was  called  up  to  be  examined  for  my 
special  behoof,  but  did  nothing  to  add  lustre  to  her 
name.  The  names  of  the  United  States,  the  days  of 
the  week,  and  the  months  of  the  year,  are  equally  popular. 
You  might  find  a  January  Jones,  a  November  Smith,  a 
Saturday  Brown,  and  a  Massachusetts  Robinson,  all 
sitting  in  school  together. 

Amongst  the  uneducated  negroes  there  is  also  ob 
servable  a  great  lack  of  reflectiveness  and  an  indolence 
of  mind  which  makes  them  indisposed  to  think  for 
themselves.  Often,  in  examining  classes  of  negro 
children,  I  remarked  how  ready  they  were  to  give 
whatever  answer  they  thought  was  expected,  without 
considering  whether  it  was  right  or  wrong.  Let  me 
give  one  instance  which  amused  me  at  the  time. 

Before  leaving  the  youngest  class  in  a  school  which 
we  were  visiting,  my  companion  (Eev.  E.  P.  Smith)  ad 
dressed  a  few  words  to  the  children,  told  them  we  were 


76  NEGRO  PECULIARITIES. 

going  away,  never  perhaps  to  return,  and  then  wishing 
to  turn  their  thoughts  upwards,  he  asked, — "  Are  we  to 
meet  again  ?" 

The  children  thinking  he  wished  them  to  back  him 
out  in  what  lie  had  said  about  our  not  returning,  shouted 
with  one  voice, — "  No  !" 

"  Are  you  sure,"  asked  Mr.  Smith,  hoping  to  make 
them  reflect ;  "  are  you.  quite  sure  we  shall  never  meet 
again  ?" 

The  whole  class  answered  with  another  shout, — 
«  Yes." 

He  paused  a  moment  to  think  how  he  could  put  the 
question  differently,  and  then  said, — "  Now,  I  want  you 
to  think  about  what  I  am  going  to  ask.  Do  you  know 
that  I  am  going  to  die  by-and-by?" 

"  Yes." 

Mr.  Smith,  brightening  at  the  thought  that  he  was  at 
last  being  apprehended — "  Well,  now,  when  I  am  dead 
and  buried,  is  that  the  end  of  me  ?" 

Chorus  of  voices — "  Yes." 

"  The  last  of  me  ?" 

"  Yes." 

"  Does  no  one  say  '  No  ?' " 

All  the  voices—"  No." 

Mr.  Smith  was  baffled  but  not  discouraged.  He 
thought  a  moment,  and  then  tried  another  tack. 

"  Does  a  horse  go  to  heaven  ? " 

"  Yes." 

"  What J— ahorse?" 

Children  see  from  his  face  that  they  are  wrong,  and 
cry  "  No." 

"  Does  a  good  man  go  to  heaven  ?" 

«  Yes." 


GETTING  INTO  A  FIX.  77 

"  Then  shan't  we  go  if  we  are  good  ?" 

"  Yes." 

"  So  even  though  I  die,  we  may  meet  again  up  there  ? 
— May  we  not  ?" 

Of  course  the  answer  was  "  Yes." 

The  teachers  often  told  us  this  was  one  of  the  greatest 
difficulties  they  had  to  overcome — to  make  the  children 
think  for  themselves. 

On  another  occasion  the  Eev.  Mr.  Haley,  one  of  the 
missionaries  in  Georgia,  wishing  to  teach  a  little  class 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  told  them  to  repeat  what  he  said. 

"  Now,  are  you  ready  ?" 

"  Yes." 

"  Well,  begin.     '  Our  Father'—" 

The  children  repeated  the  words ;  he  gave  the  next 
clause,  and  so  on  to  the  "  Amen ; "  but  when  he  was 
about  to  follow  up  the  prayer  with  some  advices  to  the 
children,  and  began  "  I  want  now — "  the  children,  never 
thinking  that  they  were  to  stop,  repeated  after  him 
"  I  want  now." 

"  Stop,  stop !"  he  said,  "  we  are  done  repeating." 

"  Stop,  stop  !"  echoed  the  children,  "  we  are  done  re 
peating." 

"  You  misunderstand,"  said  Mr.  Haley. 

"  You  misunderstand,"  said  the  children. 

Mr.  Haley  saw  that  he  had  got  himself  into  a  hope 
less  difficulty,  and  sat  down. 

The  teachers  have  to  check  this  tendency  to  thought 
lessness,  by  stopping  the  scholars  frequently  to  ask  the 
.reason  for  this  and  the  other  thing,  compelling  them  to 
fall  back  upon  their  own  resources.  I  was  surprised  to 
find,  when  this  was  done,  how  of  ten  a  scholar  turned  out  to 
have  far  more  information,  and  far  more  acuteness,  than 


78  NEGRO  PECULIARITIES. 

one  would  have  supposed  from  his  previous  thoughtless 
answers.  This  habit  of  mind  helps  to  explain  another 
defect  very  common  amongst  the  negroes,  namely,  a 
lack  of  what  we  in  Scotland  call  "  gumption," — the 
power  of  discovering  how  a  thing  should  be  done  with 
out  being  told,  and  of  seeing  what  change  of  action 
should  be  made  to  suit  new  circumstances.  A  negro  is 
often  a  first-rate  executive  officer — can  do  admirably 
what  has  been  chalked  out  for  him — but  is  apt,  if  the 
terms  of  the  problem  suddenly  change,  to  get  bewildered 
and  come  to  a  stand-still.  He  makes  a  good  soldier, 
but  rarely,  as  yet,  a  good  officer.  This  seems  to  be  partly 
a  natural  defect,  and  partly  a  habit  of  mind,  which  dis 
appears  under  proper  training. 

The  negro  mind  seems  deficient  in  power  of  generali 
zation.  When  a  black  man  is  describing  anything,  you 
will  often  hear  him  say  that  this  person  did  so  and 
so,  and  that  person  did  so  and  so,  and  the  other  person 
did  so  and  so,  when  a  white  man  would  say  "  They  all 
did  so  and  so."  The  consequence  is,  that  negro  stories 
spin  themselves  out  to  an  incredible  length.  But  if 
weak  in  generalizing,  he  is  strong  in  pictorial  concep 
tion.  He  thinks  in  tropes,  and  all  his  thoughts  are 
localized.  He  seizes  with  delight  on  anything  that 
appeals  to  the  imagination.  In  Scripture  his  special 
enjoyment  is  in  the  stories,  parables,  prophecies,  and 
visions,  which  put  truth  into  a  concrete  and  visible 
form.  This  sensitiveness  of  the  spiritual  faculty  tends, 
amongst  the  more  ignorant  negroes,  to  superstition. 
Many  of  -them  see  visions  and  dream  dreams ;  and 
fortune-telling  is  still  common  amongst  them,  though 
not  so  much  as  it  was. 

Their  fondness  for  music  is  very  noticeable.     You 


DISPOSITION.  79 

hear  them  singing  at  their  work  in  the  house,  the 
factory,  and  the  field.  Even  the  slave -gangs  in  old 
days  used  to  cheer  themselves  with  songs  on  their  way 
down  South  to  be  sold.  Singing  forms  the  most  pro 
minent  feature  in  their  religious  services.  They  are  so 
fond  of  it,  indeed,  that  I  have  seen  them  gather  in  the 
place  of  worship  long  before  the  hour  for  commencing 
the  regular  service,  and  occupy  the  intervening  time  in 
singing  hymns.  At  the  mission  homes,  too,  crowds  of 
black  children  will  sometimes  gather  half-an-hour  be  - 
fore  school-time,  and  sing  hymns  till  the  doors  are 
opened.  During  school-hours,  the  teachers  find  that  no 
thing  keeps  the  children  fresher  for  their  tasks  than 
frequent  interludes  of  song.  In  general  their  singing 
is  very  effective.  They  have  fine  voices,  and  a  natural 
turn  for  music.  They  do  not  seem  to  have  much 
originality  in  the  way  of  producing  new  tunes,  but  the 
facility  with  which  they  pick  up  airs  often  surprised 
me.  I  remember,  at  one  of  their  festivals,  a  white 
gentleman  who  accompanied  me  sang  a  tune  quite  new 
to  them,  using  words  with  which  they  were  familiar. 
They  listened  with  great  interest  and  delight,  and,  as 
soon  as  he  had  finished,  they  took  up  the  tune  and  sang  it, 
with  all  the  parts,  far  more  effectively  than  he  had  done. 

In  disposition  the  negroes  are  very  loveable,  and  one 
becomes  very  much  attached  to  them.  They  are  affec 
tionate,  docile,  and  anxious  to  please  ;  and,  amongst  the 
plantation  negroes,  I  was  often  touched  to  see  their 
gratitude  for  any  attention  shown  them,  especially  by 
white  people.  At  some  of  the  mission  homes,  poor 
negroes,  hearing  that  a  white  stranger  was  there  from 
a  far-off  land,  looking  at  their  schools,  often  travelled 


80  NEGRO  PECULIARITIES. 

miles  in  from  the  country  to  see  me.  Some  of  them 
have  grasped  my  hand  in  both  theirs,  and,  with  tears 
in  their  eyes,  said,  "  God  bless  you,  sah,  for  tinkin' 
kindly  of  we  poor  coloured  folks." 

Their  love  and  devotion  to  the  men  and  women  who 
had  come  all  the  way  from  the  North  to  teach  them, 
showed  itself  in  a  hundred  little  ways.  Never  a  day 
passed  at  any  mission-home  I  visited,  but  some  little 
presents  were  brought  to  school,  sometimes  from  the 
parents,  sometimes  from  the  children  themselves — an 
orange,  a  flower,  or  a  stick  of  candy,  anything  to  express 
their  gratitude.  One  lady  had  got  as  many  little  blue 
and  white  mugs  from  the  children  as  would  have  started 
a  small  crockery  shop.  Little  letters  too,  written  or 
printed  on  scraps  of  paper,  were  continually  being  left 
on  the  teachers'  desks  by  negro  boys  and  girls,  who 
were  using  their  newly  acquired  power  of  writing  to 
testify  their  love  for  those  who  had  come  so  far  to 
teach  them.  A  number  of  these  I  brought  away  with 
me.  Some  of  them  read  very  funnily,  but  the  feeling 
is  the  same. 

Here  is  one  from  a  little  girl : — 

"  MY  DEAR  TEACHER,  MRS.  B., — I  love  you  so  well,  and  I 
always  love  you  for  you  are  so  good.  My  mother  tells  me 
every  day  to  obey  my  teacher,  and  never  do  what 's  agin'st 
her  rule,  and  tells  me  to  pray  every  day  for  my  teachers. 
Dear  Mrs.  B.,  I  try  to  do  right  to  please  you  every  day, 
but  sometimes  I  does  wrong.  But  I  never  means  to  do 
wrong,  for  I  love  you  to  the  bodum  of  my  heart. 

"FLORA  B." 

Here  is  another  from  a  little  black  boy,  who  seems  to 
have  found  some  difficulty  in  getting  language  for  his 
feelings  : — 


THE  MAN  WITHOUT  SIN.  81 

"MY  AFFECTION  Miss  T — ,  I  take  it  on  myself  to 
writing  you  a  letter,  for  I  love  you  to  my  heart,  and  I 
hope  that  you  love  me  to,  and  if  you  don't,  I  do  you,  0  I 
do,  and  I  hope  that  you  do  and  I  will.  The  roses  red 
the  sugar  sweet  and  sow  is  you.  I  love  the  very  ground 
you  walk  on,  for  you  is  so  kind.  You  is  so  kind  to  your 
scholars,  indeed  you  is  so  kind,  anyhow  you  is  so  kind  to 
everybody  that  is  the  reason  I  love  you,  because  you  is  so 
kind.  And  when  you  are  afar  off  I  shall  never  forget  you. 
This  is  the  last  from  your  beloved  friend,  W.  B." 

But  the  little  boy's  feelings  were  too  deep  to  allow 
this  to  be  the  last,  for  the  week  after  there  was  another 
note,  which  was  also  to  be  the  last,  but  wasn't. 

Let  me  mention  another  little  incident  as  a  further 
illustration  of  the  love  and  reverence  with  which  these 
negro  children  regard  their  teachers.  The  missionary 
at  Nashville  was  Mr.  M'Kim — a  man  of  singular  piety 
and  devotion — who  went  in  amongst  the  poor  coloured 
people  and  taught,  and  preached,  and  helped  them  in 
every  way,  in  the  face  of  much  obloquy  and  persecu 
tion. 

A  clergyman  from  the  North,  who  came  to  visit  his 
schools,  addressed  the  children,  and  took  occasion  to 
explain  the  doctrine  of  total  depravity.  "  Now,"  he 
he  said,  "do  you  think  you  understand  it  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  cried  the  children. 

"  Well,  I  shall  see.  Do  you  know  anybody  who  is  a 
sinner  ? " 

"  Yes,  yes." 

That,  by  all  accounts,  was  a  piece  of  knowledge  very 
easy  to  acquire  at  Nashville. 

The  clergyman  then  asked, — 

"Do  you  know  any  one  who  is  not  a  sinner?" 

"Yes." 

VOL.  II.  F 


82  NEGRO  PECULIARITIES. 

"Are  you  sure?" 

"  Yes,"  louder  than  before,  and  every  hand  up. 

The  clergyman  saw  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to 
go  back  and  explain  the  doctrine  of  total  depravity 
over  again ;  which  he  did — pointing  out  what  the  Bible 
said  about  sin,  and  that  there  was  none  righteous,  no 
not  one. 

"  I  think  you  understand  that  now,"  he  said. 

"  Yes." 

"  Well,  then,  do  you  suppose  there  is  any  person  in 
the  world  who  has  not  sinned  ?" 

"  Yes  !"  emphatically — every  hand  up  again. 

"  What !  a  person  absolutely  without  sin  ?" 

"  Yes." 

"Who  is  it?" 

"  Mr.  M'Kim,"  cried  the  whole  school  in  a  breath. 

The  clergyman  found  there  was  no  use  trying  to 
make  them  believe  that  Mr.  M'Kim  could  be  a  sinner. 

The  affection  and  docility  of  the  negro,  and  his 
marked  anxiety  to  please,  make  him  a  polite  and  ad 
mirable  servant.  As  far  as  my  own  experience  went, 
no  service  in  America  is  equal  to  the  black  service. 
Even  in  hotels,  the  promptness  with  which  a  black 
waiter  sets  your  chair,  and  the  flourish  with  which  he 
hands  you  anything  you  want,  make  you  feel  that  he 
has  a  real  pleasure  in  serving  you. 

He  becomes  readily  attached  to  those  about  him,  and 
even  in  slavery  was  very  faithful  to  a  kind  master.  The 
war  supplied  innumerable  proofs  of  this.  Great  num 
bers  of  slaves,  who  could  easily  have  made  their  escape, 
chose  to  remain  with  their  masters.  Many  did  so  even 
when  Sherman's  army  came  and  set  them  free ;  arid 
many  who  left  at  first  returned  afterwards.  I  met 


FIDELITY.  83 

a  negro  man-servant  in  Virginia,  who  belonged  to  a 
major  in  the  Confederate  army,  and  followed  his  master 
through  the  war.  He  was  with  him  at  Gettysburg, 
and  was  frequently  under  fire  when  carrying  him  coffee. 
He  told  me  he  wanted  the  North  to  win,  but  that  he 
felt,  at  the  time,  that  he  would  rather  the  North  lost 
that  battle  than  gain  victory  over  his  master's  body. 
Another  negro  from  Savannah  was  with  Colonel 
Gibbons  in  the  same  battle,  which,  it  will  be  remem 
bered,  was  fought  in  Pennsylvania,  where,  therefore,  a 
slave  escaping  from  the  Confederate  lines  was  at  once 
free.  The  Colonel  sent  away  this  slave  to  a  neighbour 
ing  farmhouse  to  fetch  water  for  some  wounded  men. 
By  a  marvellous  coincidence  the  slave  found  his  own 
mother  serving  at  the  farmhouse.  She  and  the  others 
urged  him  to  avail  himself  of  this  opportunity  to  escape 
from  slavery,  but  he  said, — "  No,  my  master  has  trusted 
me  here,  and  I  will  go  back." 

The  Southern  people,  themselves,  bear  ready  testi 
mony  to  the  negro's  fidelity.  Many  ladies,  whose 
houses  had  been  plundered  by  the  "  bummers,"  told  me 
how  their  slaves  had  done  their  best  to  defend  them 
and  their  property,  sometimes  refusing,  even  under 
torture,  to  reveal  where  the  valuables  were  hidden. 
In  one  case  the  troopers  threatened  an  old  negro  servant 
that  they  would  bury  him  alive  if  he  did  not  dis 
close  his  secret,  and  actually  dug  a  grave,  put  him  in, 
buried  him,  dug  him  up  again,  and  told  him  the  next 
time  would  be  final,  but  they  could  not  force  the  secret 
from  him. 

Mrs.  A — ,  of  Fayetteville,  told  me  that  she  had  a 
faithful  old  negro,  of  the  name  of  Tinsley,  who  used  to 
hire  his  time  from  her  and  work  for  himself.  She  said 


84  NEGRO  PECULIARITIES. 

that  even  after  the  war  had  set  her  old  servant  free 
from  all  obligations,  he  used  to  put  into  her  hand, 
month  by  month,  the  usual  portion  of  his  earnings. 
She  had  lost  all  her  property  by  the  war,  and  but  for 
good  old  Tinsley,  she  said,  she  would  have  been  left 
utterly  destitute.  Tinsley  died  in  1867.  "But  even 
at  the  last,"  said  the  lady,  "  he  had  not  forgotten 
us.  He  left  $600  to  me,  and  $400  to  one  of  my 
family." 

During  the  war,  the  negro  showed  his  gratitude  to 
those  who  were  fighting  for  his  freedom  by  innumerable 
acts  of  self-sacrifice  and  devotion. 

At  Rodman's  Point,  in  North  Carolina,  a  party  of 
Federals,  attempting  to  escape  from  the  enemy,  leapt " 
into  a  scow  and  pushed  off'.  Just  as  the  enemy's  bullets 
began  to  rain  around  them,  the  barge  grounded  upon  a 
bank  of  mud.  The  soldiers  crouched  to  escape  the  fire, 
and  the  question  was,  who  would  jump  out,  at  the  peril 
of  his  life,  and  shove  the  scow  off  ? 

A  strong  black  man  who  was  with  them  said, — "  Lie 
still,  I  will  push  off  the  boat.  If  they  kill  me,  it's 
nothing ;  but  you  are  soldiers,  and  will  be  needed  to 
fight." 

He  leapt  out,  pushed  the  scow  into  deep  water,  and 
fell,  pierced  by  seven  bullets. 

I  had  the  following  from  a  lady  in  New  York,  who 
knew  one  of  the  parties  : — "  A  Federal  officer  attempt 
ing  to  make  his  escape  from  Eichmond,  was  assisted  by 
a  slave  who  knew  the  country.  Suddenly  they  found 
that  the  dogs  were  on  their  track.  The  negro  there 
upon  directed  the  officer  how  to  go,  and,  bleeding  his 
own  foot,  to  draw  the  hounds  after  himself,  struck  off 
in  a  different  direction.  The  officer  heard  afterwards 


COURAGE.  85 

that  the  dogs  had  run  down  the  negro  and  nearly  torn 
him  to  pieces  before  they  were  called  off." 

The  negro's  docility  and  imitative  power  make  him 
a  fine  subject  for  discipline.  One  sees  this  even  amongst 
the  children  in  the  coloured  schools.  Where  the  teacher 
gives  proper  attention  to  it,  the  black  children  rapidly 
attain  the  perfection  of  order.  I  remember  in  one  school 
seeing  them  enter.  They  marched  in,  in  column,  the 
boys  by  one  door,  the  girls  by  another,  keeping  step 
with  the  precision  of  soldiers,  deploying  steadily  along 
the  passages,  and  all  at  the  same  instant  taking  seats 
like  parts  of  one  machine.  Every  movement  was  made 
with  the  same  precision.  If  a  class  was  called  up,  at 
the  first  touch  of  the  spring-bell  the  class  rose ;  at  the 
second,  faced  about ;  at  the  third,  began  its  march  to 
the  front. 

It  was  this  quality  that  allowed  of  the  raw  "  contra 
bands,"  who  took  refuge  within  the  Union  lines,  and 
volunteered  to  fight  for  the  freedom  of  their  race,  being 
moulded  so  rapidly  into  fine  bodies  of  troops.  Within 
two  years  nearly  100,000  slaves  were  converted  into 
disciplined  soldiers. 

But  these  men  showed  grander  qualities  than  docility. 
It  was  doubted  at  first  if  the  negro  could  or  would  fight. 
The  war,  which  brought  between  one  and  two  hundred 
thousand  of  them  into  the  field  against  their  old  masters, 
and  tested  them  at  the  cannon's  mouth  and  in  the  face 
of  Southern  steel,  has  dissipated  that  illusion,  and  has 
given  the  negro  a  higher  place  than  he  ever  had  before 
in  American  estimation. 

Colonel  Higginson,  who  commanded  a  regiment  of 
emancipated  slaves  in  an  expedition  up  the  St.  Mary's 


86  NEGRO  PECULIARITIES. 

Elver,  declared  in  his  official  report  that  he  found  a 
fiery  energy  about  his  black  troops  beyond  anything  of 
which  he  had  ever  read,  unless  it  were  the  French 
Zouaves.  "  During  our  first  attack,"  he  said,  "  before  I 
could  get  them  below,  they  crowded  at  the  open  ends 
of  the  steamer,  loading  and  firing  with  inconceivable 
rapidity,  and  shouting  to  each  other,  '  Neber  gib  it  up  !' 
When  collected  in  the  hold,  they  actually  fought  each 
other  for  places  at  the  few  portholes,  from  which  they 
might  fire  upon  the  enemy.  The  black  gunners  under 
Mr.  Heron  of  the  gunboat  did  their  duty  without  the 
slightest  shelter,  and  with  great  coolness,  amid  a  storm 
of  shot.  The  secret  of  our  safety  lay  in  keeping  the 
regiment  below,  except  the  gunners ;  but  this  required 
the  utmost  energy  of  the  officers,  as  the  men  were  wild 
to  come  on  deck,  and  even  implored  to  be  landed  on 
shore  and  allowed  to  charge  the  enemy." 

The  records  of  the  onslaught  at  Port  Hudson,  the 
battles  at  Milliken  Bend,  Newmarket  Heights,  Olustee,- 
Poison  Springs,  and  the  second  attack  on  Petersburg, 
abound  with  proofs  of  black  valour.  At  the  battle  of 
Honey  Hill,  South  Carolina,  where  the  black  troops 
occupied  one  of  the  most  perilous  positions,  they  stood 
their  ground  so  gallantly  as  to  elicit  the  admiration 
even  of  their  enemies.  One  of  the  Southern  accounts 
of  the  battle  said,  that  the  negroes  had  charged  thrice 
with  great  fury,  re-forming  each  time  under  fire,  and 
that  in  some  places  their  dead  lay  in  heaps. 

Here  is  one  incident  of  the  fight :  Private  Fitzgerald 
(a  negro)  was  shot  badly  in  the  leg,  but  continued  fight 
ing.  Major  Nutt,  observing  his  condition,  ordered  him 
to  the  rear.  The  man  obeyed,  but  the  Major  saw  soon 
after  that  he  had  returned  to  his  post.  He  said  sharply, 


NEGRO  COMPARED  WITH  WHITE  TROOPS.  87 

"  Go  to  the  rear,  sir,  and  have  your  wounds  dressed." 
The  man  again  obeyed,  but  in  a  few  minutes  more  was 
back  with  a  handkerchief  bound  round  his  leg,  and  was 
eagerly  loading  and  firing  as  before.  He  had  a  wife  and 
children  in  slavery,  and  said  afterwards  he  was  thinking 
of  them. 

In  the  desperate  attack  on  Fort  Wagner,  the  black 
troops,  though  afterwards  thrown  into  confusion  by  the 
loss  of  their  commander,  made  a  magnificent  charge, 
gaining  the  parapet  on  the  right  and  coming  into  hand- 
to-hand  conflict  with  the  Confederates.  Sergeant-Major 
Lewis  Douglass,  the  son  of  Frederick  Douglass,  the 
negro  orator,  sprang  upon  the  parapet  when  his  Colonel 
fell,  and  cried,  "  Come  on,  boys,  let 's  fight  for  God  and 
liberty ! "  One  of  the  black  colour- sergeants,  W.  H. 
Carney,  reached  the  parapet  also,  received  three  severe 
wounds,  but  would  not  relinquish  the  flag.  When  the 
regiment  was  ordered  to  retire,  Carney,  streaming  with 
blood,  limped  along  with  the  troops  till  he  reached  the 
hospital,  when  he  fell  almost  lifeless,  saying,  with  a 
proud  smile,  "  The  dear  old  flag  has  never  touched  the 
ground,  boys." 

Such  cases  could  easily  be  multiplied. 

Speaking  with  General  Abbott,  who  at  one  time 
commanded  a  black  brigade,  I  asked  him  what  differ 
ence  he  had  found  between  negro  and  white  troops. 

He  said, — "  I  have  observed  that  negro  troops,  when 
holding  an  exposed  position,  or  advancing  under  a 
galling  fire,  are  more  apt  to  be  scared  and  'demoralized' 
than  white  troops,  especially  by  shelling,  but  when  it 
comes  to  a  charge,  and  their  blood  is  up,  they  are 
equal  to  any  troops  in  the  world."  He  said  that,  like 
the  Southern  troops,  they  charged  with  a  yell,  and 


88  NEGRO  PECULIARITIES. 

would    hurl   themselves    upon    the    enemy   with    the 
momentum  of  a  thunderbolt. 

Here  is  Geo.  H.  Boker's  description  of  the  first  charge 
by  a  Black  Eegiment  in  the  late  war : — 

"Dark  as  the  clouds  of  even 
Ranked  in  the  Western  heaven, 

So,  still  and  orderly, 
Arm  to  arm,  knee  to  knee, 
Waiting  the  dread  event 
Stands  the  Black  Eegiment. 

Down  the  long  dusky  line 
Teeth  gleam  and  eyeballs  shine, 
And  the  bright  bayonet 
Bristling  and  firmly  set, 
Flashed  with  a  purpose  grand, 
Waiting,  till  stern  command 
Of  the  fierce-rolling  drum 
Told  them  their  hour  had  come — 
Told  them  that  work  was  sent 
For  the  Black  Eegiment. 

'  Now  ! '  the  flag-sergeant  cried, 
'  Though  death  or  hell  betide, 

Let  the  whole  nation  see, 

If  we  're  fit  to  be  free  ! ' 

Oh,  what  a  shout  there  went 
From  the  Black  Eegiment. 

'  Charge  !  ' — trump  and  drum  awoke, 
Onward  the  bondmen  broke, 
Bayonet  and  sabre-stroke 
Vainly  opposed  their  rush 
Through  the  red  battle's  crush. 
On  through  the  flickering  brands, 
Onward  with  hundred  hands 
Down  they  tear  man  and  horse, 
On,  in  their  awful  course, 
Trampling  with  bloody  heel 
Over  the  crashing  steel, 
All  their  eyes  forward  bent 
Eushed  the  Black  Eegiment. 


CHARGE  BY  THE  FIRST  BLACK  REGIMENT.  89 

'  Freedom  ! '  their  battle-cry — 
Freedom  or  leave  to  die — 
Not  then  a  party  shout, 
They  gave  their  spirits  out, 
Trusted  the  end  to  God, 
And  on  the  gory  sod 
Rolled  in  triumphant  blood  ; 
Glad  to  strike  one  free  blow, 
Whether  for  weal  or  woe — 
Glad  to  breathe  one  free  breath, 
Though  with  the  lips  of  death, 
"Wishing,  alas  !  in  vain 
That  they  might  fall  again, 
Only  once  more  to  see 
That  burst  to  liberty  !  " 


90  BLACK  CHRISTIANITY. 


VII. 

BLACK  CHRISTIANITY. 

SOMETHING  ought  to  be  made  of  the  negro  on  his 
religious  side  by  good  training.  Nowhere  in  America 
does  one  find  such  simple  and  childlike  faith,  such  a 
strong  belief  in  the  presence  and  power  of  God,  such 
fervour  and  religious  enthusiasm  as  amongst  the  pious 
negroes.  They  seem  to  see  God  bending  over  them 
like  the  sky,  to  feel  His  presence  on  them  and  around 
them,  like  the  storift  and  the  sunshine.  "De  Lord  has 
gib  us  a  beautiful  day,  sah,"  was  often  the  first  remark 
on  some  of  those  radiant  spring  mornings  in  the  South, 
and  was  accompanied  by  a  bright  glance  upwards  as  if 
to  a  visible  presence.  "  If  de  Master  wills,"  "  De  Master 
knows,"  "Yes,  tank  de  good  Master,"  were  expres 
sions  constantly  on  their  lips.  One  old  man  was  so 
acustomed  to  thank  the  Lord  for  everything,  that  when, 
to  his  great  grief,  the  missionaries  were  taking  leave, 
he  said,  "  Yes,  our  friends  is  gwine  to  leave  us,  tank  de 
Lord." 

Many  of  them  have  strange  inward  experiences,  and 
believe  that  God  gives  them  special  revelations.  I 
remember  at  a  night  meeting  at  Andersonville,  an  old 
negro,  who  would  have  done  for  another  Uncle  Tom, 
told  the  audience,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  how  the  Lord 
had  shown  him  wonderful  things  in  a  dream,  and  let 


A  VISION  OF  HELL.  91 

him  hear  a  song  that  no  human  ear  had  ever  heard 
before,  and  that  had  been  a  great  comfort  to  his 
soul  ever  since.  He  went  over  it  to  us,  chanting  it 
solemnly  with  his  hands  clasped  and  his  eyes  closed ; 
and  though,  on  the  supposition  of  its  divine  origin,  it 
did  not  reflect  much  credit  on  the  Almighty's  versifica 
tion,  few  could  listen  to  it  from  the  old  man  without 
emotion.  It  began  : — 

"  When  Paul  departed  from  his  friends 

It  was  a  weepiri'  day  ; 
But  if  you  hear  the  word  in  vain, 
You  shall  tremble  when  you  meet  again 

The  minister  you  scorn." 

Some  of  these  visions  help  one  to  realize  the  spiritual 
condition  of  the  negroes,  and  the  influences  that  have 
been  at  work  upon  them.  Let  me  give  a  specimen  or 
two  of  such.  At  Macon,  a  pious  old  woman  told  the 
missionary  one  day  that  she  had  been  to  hell.  "  Not 
to  stay,"  she  said.  "  It  was  a  wision ;  but  even  in  de 
wision  I  didn't  go  to  stay,  on'y  to  look  around." 

When  asked  what  she  had  seen,  she  said, — "  I  saw 
old  Satan  sitting  over  his  hatchway,  and  he  had  a  great 
kettle  on  boiling,  and  I  thinks  it  was  fire  and  brimstone 
was  in  it.  People  ain't  happy,"  she  added,  "  when  they 
git  there,  and  Satan  is  mighty  cross  to  'em.  When  dey 
whined  and  cried,  Satan  says,  stamping  his  foot,  '  Shut 
up  !  none  of  yer  whining  ;  what  did  ye  come  here  for, 
if  ye  didn't  want  to  ?  Didn't  ye  have  ministers  to  tell 
ye  better  ?  Now  shut  up !  I  won't  have  a  bit  of  it.' 
There  is  a  bell  in  one  corner,  and  it  is  tolling  all  the 
time,  '  Eter-ni-tee — eter-ni-tee.'  And  they  cry,  '  Oh ! 
how  long  must  I  stay  here  ?'  And  Satan  he  says,  '  A 
little  bird  will  come  and  tote  away  a  grain  of  sand  from 
de  shore,  and  it  will  come  back  in  five  year  and  tote 


92  BLACK  CHRISTIANITY. 

another,  and  you  must  wait  till  it  totes  de  whole  sand 
away.' "  She  added, — "  The  Lord  shows  me  everything 
I  ask  Him  to.  I  asked  Him,  Was  He  pleased  with  my 
prayers  ?  If  He  was,  would  He  show  me  a  star  in  my 
sleep  ;  and  He  did  it.  Then  I  cried,  '  Lord,  shall  I  ever 
git  to  heaven?'  and  He  told  me, — '  Be  faithful  to  the 
end,  and  you  shall  be  saved.'  But  I  wasn't  satisfied 
with  that,  and  says  I,  '  Lord,  I's  afeard  to  die — I's 
afeard  1 11  never  git  to  heaven  ?'  And  He  said, — '  In 
the  last  hour  1 11  give  ye  dyin'  grace.'  Don't  ye  see," 
she  added,  "  at  first  He  gave  me  just  grace  enough  to 
git  into  the  path,  and  now  I's  workin'  for  my  dyin' 
grace." 

Speaking  about  sleeping  on  the  Sunday,  she  said, — 
"  I  never  sleep  away  my  Sunday  now,  only  I  nods  a 
little  sometimes  in  my  chair." 

"  Do  you  think  it  wrong  to  sleep  on  Sunday  ?" 
"  Yes,  honey,  and  1 11  tell  you  why.  One  Sunday, 
years  ago,  I  spread  a  pallet  by  the  fire  and  lay  down  for 
a  nap.  I  was  just  falling  asleep  when  I  felt  some  one 
pulling  my  dress.  I  thought  it  was  one  of  the  chill' en, 
and  said  '  Go  way  !'  But  just  as  I  got  nearly  asleep 
again,  I  felt  the  same  pulling  again,  and  I  opened  my 
eyes  to  see  who  it  was.  There  was  nobody  there.  So 
I  knew  then  it  was  the  Master ;  and,  says  I,  '  Lord,  I 
won't  sleep  your  day  away;'  and  I  have  never  lain 
down  to  sleep  a- Sunday  since.  But  I  used  to  go  out  to 
count  my  chickens  and  bring  in  my  eggs  a- Sunday. 
Well,  one  Sunday  morning  I  started  and  got  about  half 
way  to  de  fowl-yard,  when  I  heard  a  voice, — '  This  ain't 
the  day!"  I  stopped  and  listened,  but  started  to  go 
on,  but  I  heard  de  voice  again, — *  This  ain't  the  day  !' 
Says  I,  '  Sure  enough,  Lord,  this  ain't  the  day ;'  and  I 


AUNT  NANCY.  93 

turned  round  and  went  into  the  house.  And  I  never 
went  out  to  count  my  chickens  or  bring  in  my  eggs 
a-Sunday  after  that.  Sometimes  Sally  will  cut  up  a  little 
kindling,  Sunday,"  she  said,  referring  to  a  sprightly 
niece,  "  but  it  hurts  me  dreadful.  I  wouldn't  do  so 
much  as  to  grind  a  little  coffee,  Sunday.  Them  things 
ought  to  be  done  Saturday." 

Here  is  another  vision  enjoyed  by  Aunt  Nancy,  an 
old  negro  woman  who  lives  in  a  cabin  in  the  outskirts 
of  Hampton,  Virginia,  and  who  in  slave  times  was  a 
field-hand : — "  One  day  I  was  hoeing  in  the  field  a 
little,  and  I  was  thinking  some  has  to  go  to  heaven,  and 
some  has  to  go  to  hell,  when  I  hears  a  voice  saying, — 
'  You 's  agoin'  to  hell !'  And  says  I,  '  Lord,  I  thinks  it 
mighty  hard  I  has  to  work  and  suffer  while  I  live,  and 
go  to  hell  when  I  die  !'  Den  I  heard  a  louder  voice 
say,  'A  few  more  prayers — a  few  more  prayers,  and 
den  I  '11  meet  yer  in  the  way  of  mercy.'  So  that  night, 
after  I  'd  done  work,  I  thought  I  'd  go  out  to  try  and 
find  the  Lord.  I  went  out  and  looked  all  round  in  the 
woods,  and  hollered  as  loud  as  I  could,  but  I  couldn't 
find  Him.  Next  day  I  went  to  Aunt  Grace,  and  says 
I,  '  Aunt  Grace,  I 's  come  blind/  Aunt  Grace  said, — 
'  Dat  's  all  right ;  pray  on — a  few  more  serus  prayers.' 
So  de  next  night  I  went  out  again  and  hollered  and 
hollered,  but  I  could  not  find  Him.  You  see,"  she  said, 
"  I  thought  I  was  gwine  to  see  Him  like  a  nat'ral  man. 
When  I  went  home  the  cocks  was  crowin',  and  I  crawled 
up  into  the  loft,  and  fell  into  a  france,  and  in  de  trance 
I  was  drawed  away  and  away,  and  up  to  a  great  white 
house,  whar  I  knocked  at  the  door.  Well,  a  white  lady 
came  to  the  door.  She  had  black  hair,  and  she  laughed, 
but  she  didn't  make  no  sound  in  her  laugh.  I  courtesied, 


94  BLACK  CHRISTIANITY. 

and  said,  'How  d'y?'  and  she  said,  'How  d'y?— don't 
you  know  me  ? '  I  says,  '  No.'  Says  she,  '  You  ought 
to  know  me,  look  at  me  good.'  Says  I,  '  I  thinks 
it 's  the  Virgin  Mary.'  '  Yes,'  says  she,  '  come  in ! ' 
And  she  took  me  into  a  large  room,  where  there 
was  large  dresses  and  little  dresses  hanging  all  round 
the  room.  And  she  took  off  all  the  old  rags  I  wore, 
and  put  one  of  them  white  dresses  on  me.  And  she 
put  on  a  turban  all  covered  with  spangles,  just  like 
little  gold  dollars, — you's  seen  um.  And  I  had  little 
teenty  feet,  and  she  put  little  slippers  on  um.  There 
was  a  large  mirror  in  the  room,  and  she  said,  '  Now,  go 
and  see  how  ye  like  yer  new  dress/  While  I  was  look 
ing,  the  door  opened  and  a  white  man  came  in.  He 
had  on  black  clothes,  and  a  white  vest,  all  covered  with 
little  gold  dollars,  like  my  turban  was.  And  he  had  a 
ring  on  his  head,  covered  with  the  dollars,  and  he  had 
two  cups  in  his  hands.  He  brought  them  to  me  and 
said, — SALVATION  and  DAMNATION, which  will  ye  have?'" 
The  old  woman,  as  she  told  this,  seemed  much  affected, 
and  said,  with  awestruck  voice,  "  Oh,  it  'pears  like  I 
can  see  Him  now  !"  She  continued,  "  'Lord,'  says  I/ 1  '11 
have  Salvation.'  There  was  something  white  in  the 
cup,  and  I  drank  it.  It  was  sweet,  and  I  tasted  it  in 
my  mouth  two  or  three  days  after.  I  left  a  little  in 
the  cup,  and  he  gave  it  back  to  me  and  said,  '  Drink 
all  of  it.'  Then  He  said,  '  My  little  one,  now  go  back 
to  de  world  and  coax  sinners  to  come  to  me.'  Mind, 
He  didn't  say  '  drive,'  He  said  'coax'  'em.  Den  de 
virgin  told  me  I  must  take  off  my  white  dress  and  leave 
it  there.  I  didn't  want  to  leave  it  off,  but  she  said, 
'  I  '11  keep  it  for  ye,  and  if  ye  prove  faithful,  ye  shall 
have  it  again.'  Den  I  said  to  her,  '  How 's  I  gwine 


PRAYING  FOR  SHOES.  95 

to  git  down ? '  Says  she,  ' How  did  ye  git  up  ? '  'I 
come  up  by  faith/  says  I.  '  Well/  sez  she,  '  yer  gwine 
down  the  same  way.'  So  she  took  hold  of  me  and 
lifted  me  off,  and  I  flew  down  just  like  a  bird,  and  dere 
I  was  in  de  loft  again." 

Many  of  the  negroes  attach  great  importance  to  these 
visions.  "  De  Master  teaches  we  poor  coloured  folk  in 
dat  way,"  said  an  old  woman  at  the  hospital  in  Mont 
gomery,  "  for  we  hasn't  edication,  and  we  can't  read 
His  bressed  word  for  ourselves." 

The  childlike  simplicity  of  their  faith  is  another 
striking  feature  of  their  religious  character. 

An  old  black  woman  in  Norfolk,  Va.,  came  in  a 
ragged  condition  to  one  of  the  female  missionaries, 
who  was  distributing  clothes  to  the  destitute,  and 
begged  a  pair  of  shoes.  The  lady  told  her,  with  regret, 
that  the  shoes  were  all  gone. 

"  Oh  no,  honey,  not  all,"  said  the  old  woman,  "  dere 
mus'  be  some  left.  I  prayed  my  Jesus  dis  mornin'  for 
shoes,  and  de  voice  came  in  my  heart  and  said,  '  Ask, 
and  it  is  given  you !' " 

The  lady  said  she  was  sorry,  but  she  had  given  the 
last  pair  away  that  morning.  The  old  woman  said, 
with  a  look  of  distress,  "  I  did  think  my  Jesus  would 
have  give  me  shoes  to-day." 

There  was  an  unopened  box  in  the  place,  so  the 
lady  got  the  lid  off  it,  to  see  if  any  shoes  were  there. 
She  had  searched  half  way  through  it,  and  was  ready 
to  give  up,  when,  near  the  bottom,  she  found  two  or 
three  pairs,  one  of  them  just  the  size.  The  old  woman, 
when  she  got  them  on,  wept  for  joy.  She  said  she 
knew  it  would  be  so,  for  Jesus  had  promised. 

They  have  great  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  prayer.     A 


96  BLACK  CHRISTIANITY. 

good  woman  (Aunt  Mary)  whom  I  met  at  the  Beech 
Institute,  Savannah,  and  who  gave  me  a  glowing  account 
of  the  day  when  Sherman's  army  came  and  set  the  slaves 
free,  said  to  the  teachers,  "  We  know'd  it  was  a-comin', 
'cos  we  prayed  so  for  it.  'Specs  we  so  tormented  de 
Lord,  he  was  obleeged  to  send  Massa  Sharman  dis  yar 
way." 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of  their  piety  is 
its  tendency  to  excitement,  which  is  probably  one  rea 
son  why  so  many  of  them  belong  to  the  Methodist  and 
Baptist  churches,  where  this  tendency  gets  freer  scope 
for  development.  Conversion  with  the  negro  is  a 
thunder-peal,  followed  by  a  deluge  of  the  spirit,  and  a 
bursting  forth  of  the  sun  clearing  the  sky,  and  filling  the 
world  with  gladness.  This  is  called  "  getting  religion," 
and  seems  to  excite  irrepressible  emotions.  Sometimes, 
for  a  whole  week,  before  a  negro  gets  religion,  he  goes 
about  in  a  state  of  great  depression,  much  exercised  in 
mind  about  his  sins  and  his  lost  condition.  Then  sud 
denly,  perhaps  when  mournfully  waiting  at  table,  or 
going  a  message,  or  grooming  the  horses,  he  raises  a 
shout  of  joy,  and  runs  about  shaking  hands  with  every 
body,  and  crying  "  I  Ve  got  religion  !  Bress  de  Lord  ! 
My  sins  is  forgiven !  I  am  out  of  de  pit !  Bress  de 
Lord!  Hallelujah!"  The  first  man  whose  hand  he 
shakes  after  getting  religion  he  calls  his  father  in  the 
Lord  ;  the  first  woman  is  his  mother  in  the  Lord.  After 
that  he  is  a  Christian.  When  the  negro  serving-man  in 
one  family  which  I  visited  was  converted,  there  was  a 
great  disturbance  in  the  kitchen — all  the  servants  run 
ning  about  shouting,  "Dick's  got  religion  ! — Dick's  got 
religion  ! "  When  the  lady  of  the  house  went  down, 
she  found  that  Dick  himself  had  bolted  to  the  village, 


RELIGIOUS  SERVICES.  97 

with  several  of  the  others  after  him,  to  proclaim  the 
(   news,  and  shake  hands  with  his  brethren.     Most  of 
them   can    name   the   day   on  which   they  got   reli 
gion  ;  and  you   often  hear  them  enumerate  the   per 
sons  converted  at  a  given  meeting.     A  negro  lad  who 
I  sang  me  a  weird  hymn,  in  which  the  following  verse 
occurred, — 

"  You  'd  better  mind  how  you  fool  with  Christ 
In  a  moment  you  '11  be  as  cold  as  ice," — 

paused,  and  said,  "  I  saw  six  converted  on  that  verse." 
All  their  religious  exercises  partake  of  this  exciting 

L  character ;  and  in  some  of  their  churches  a  service  seems 
to  be  regarded  as  a  kind  of  failure  unless  the  audience 
gets  itself  worked  up  to  frenzy.  I  remember,  at  an 
evening  service  in  Savannah,  where  the  dimly-lighted 
church  swarmed  with  a  black  audience  of  nearly  a 
thousand  people,  a  little  excitable-looking  negro,  who 

;  turned  out  to  be  a  revival  preacher  from  up-country, 
followed  the  regular  pastor,  and  "improved  "  his  discourse 
by  addressing  frantic  appeals  to  the  people,  under  which 

I  they  began  to  sway,  and  cry,  and  groan  in  the  most  ex 
traordinary  manner.  Presently  a  shriek  was  heard,  and 
a  young  woman  sprang  into  the  air  near  one  corner  of 
the  church,  and  fell  back  amongst  her  friends,  writh 
ing  and  shrieking  as  if  in  a  fit.  Immediately  after 
wards  another  shriek  was  heard,  and  then  another — the 
preacher  holding  on  with  his  appeal,  which  was  a  con 
stant  repetition  of  the  same  words,  uttered  with  inter- 

.,  jected  gasps  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  the  audience  sway 
ing  and  groaning,  the  three  convicted  sinners  struggling 
and  shrieking,  while  their  friends,  crying  "  Glory  to 
God  !  Glory  to  God  ! "  were  trying  to  hold  them  down. 
These  scenes  are  of  continual  occurrence,  and  many  of 

VOL.  II.  G 


98  BLACK  CHRISTIANITY. 

the  coloured  preachers  evidently  do  their  best  to  bring 
them  about,  under  the  impression  that  they  indicate  the 
presence  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  These  excitements,  more 
particularly  when  they  occur  during  the  service  of  praise, 
are  called  "  shoutings."  Hence  the  meaning  of  a  negro 
hymn,  which  puzzled  me  at  first,  beginning, 

"  My  father  died  a-shouting, 
Glory  hallelujah;" 

and  going  on  in  the  following  verses  : — "  My  mother 
died  a-shouting,"  "  My  grandmother  died  a-shouting," 
and  so  on. 

In  the  best  churches  these  scenes  do  not  occur,  or  occur 
only  in  a  modified  form.  The  first  coloured  service  I 
attended  was  in  Eichmond,  in  the  Broad  Street  African 
Church,  where  more  than  a  thousand  coloured  people 
attend  service  every  Sabbath. 

Before  the  war  this  church  was  presided  over  by  a 
white  minister ;  but  since  the  negroes  have  got  the 
power  to  elect  for  themselves,  they  have  elected  a  pastor 
of  their  own  colour.  The  service  was  very  much  like 
that  of  a  white  congregation,  saving  in  one  or  two  par 
ticulars.  The  hymns  were  sung  with  unusual  fervour, 
and  when  the  last  was  given  out  the  people  began  to 
grasp  each  other's  hands,  singing  all  the  time,  and  be 
ginning  to  drift  slowly  out,  much  of  the  hand-shaking 
and  singing  going  on  after  the  people  had  got  into  the 
open  air.  The  hymns  sung  were  mostly  Isaac  Watts' ; 
and  the  sermon  would  have  passed  muster  in  many 
white  churches.  I  heard  much  better  sermons  in  other 
black  churches,  where  the  ministers  had  been  more 
thoroughly  educated.  But  at  the  camp  meetings,  and 
in  the  little  wooden  churches  and  booths  in  which  the 
negroes  congregate  in  country  districts,  the  services  are 


STRUCTURE  OF  HYMNS.  99 

very  peculiar,  and  tend  much  more  to  excitement  than 
edification. 

The  hymns  sung  are  generally  original,  and  are  of  so 
simple  a  structure  that  they  can  be  spun  out  with  ease 
to  any  length,  according  to  the  spirit  of  the  worshippers. 
One,  often  sung,  begins  thus  : — 

"  Come  along,  old  fader,  come  along, 

For  de  time  it  is  going  by  ; 
For  de  angels  say  dere  'a  nothin'  to  do 
But  to  ring  dem  charming  bells. 

0  we  're  almost  home, 

We  're  almost  home  ; 

We  're  almost  home 

For  to  ring  dem  charming  bells." 

The  next  verse  begins, — "  Come  along,  old  muder, 
come  along ; "  then  "  Come  along,  dear  sister,  come 
along ;"  "  Come  along,  little  chill'en,"  and  so  on,  each 
verse  only  needing  the  alteration  of  one  word.  When 
the  meeting  was  in  good  singing  trim,  I  sometimes  heard 
this  continued  for  a  considerable  time,  the  first  line  being 
started,  and  the  new  word  supplied  sometimes  by  one 
person,  sometimes  by  another.  A  stranger  generally 
had  a  verse  apportioned  to  him,  beginning, — "  Come 
along,  dear  stranger,  come  along  ;"  or,  "  Come  along, 
white  brudder,  come  along,"  the  chorus  being  taken  up 
by  the  whole  congregation  and  sung  with  great  feeling. 

Another  hymn  of  the  same  kind  begins — 

"  Say,  young  man,  do  you  know  the  road  ? 
Do  you  know  the  road  to  glory  ?" 

— the  next  verse  beginning — "  Say,  young  woman,  do 
you  know  the  road  ?" 

Some  of  their  hymns  and  semi-religious  songs  date 
from  the  War  of  Emancipation,  which  stirred  the  negro 
heart  to  its  depths. 


100  BLACK  CHRISTIANITY. 

"  Oh. !  go  down,  Moses, 
Go  down  into  Egypt's  land  ; 
Tell  King  Pharaoh 
To  let  my  people  go." 

This  chant,  sometimes  during  the  war,  took  this 
form  :— 

"  Oh  !  Fader  Abraham, 
Go  down  into  Dixie's  land  ; 
Tell  Jeff.  Davis 
To  let  my  people  go. 
Down  in  de  house  of  bondage 

Dey  have  watch  and  waited  long, 
De  oppressor's  heel  is  heavy, 
De  oppressor's  arm  is  strong. 

Oh,  Fader  Abraham,"  etc. 

The  only  negro  song  I  heard  that  had  a  vindictive 
turn  about  it,  was  one  dating  from  the  same  time,  when 
the  Confederacy  was  still  strong  enough  to  prevent  the 
armies  of  emancipation  from  reaching  the  slaves  in  the 
heart  of  the  South.  It  was  said  to  be  first  sung  by  an 
old  negro  prophetess  at  a  jubilee  meeting  of  emancipated 
slaves  near  Washington.  The  chorus  and  main  part  of 
the  chant  is  : — 

"  If  de  debble  do  not  catch 
Jeff.  Davis,  dat  Confederate  wratch, 
And  roast  and  frigazee  dat  rebble, 
What  is  de  use  of  any  debble  ?" 

Most  of  the  negro  hymns  are  a  strange  mixture  of 
grief  and  gladness,  representing  life  as  full  of  sorrow, 
and  death  as  a  joyful  release.  One  strange,  wild  chant, 
which  I  heard  a  woman  sing  while  scrubbing  her  floor, 
and  which  was  said  to  be  oftener  heard  in  slave  days 
than  now,  began — 

"  Wish  I  'd  died  when  I  was  a  baby, 
0  Lord  rock  a'  jubilee. 
Wish  I  'd  died,"  etc. 


PLANTATION  HYMNS.  101 

Another,  which  they  often  sing  in  church,  begins — 

"  Nobody  knows  de  trouble  I  see; 

Nobody  knows  but  Jesus  ; 
Nobody  knows  de  trouble  I  see. 

But  I  'se  goin'  to  heaven  by-an'-bye." 

This  idea  of  death  being  release  from  a  weary  life 
comes  out  also,  very  strangely,  in  some  of  their  funeral 
services.  The  immediate  friends  of  the  dead  weep  and 
wail,  and  wring  their  hands,  representing  the  human 
side  of  the  event ;  but  the  rest  of  the  crowd  are  merry, 
and  sing  joyful  tunes  to  indicate  the  happy  change  that 
has  come  to  the  departed. 

Most  of  their  hymns  are  symbolic  or  narrative — the 
negro  delighting  in  anything  that  presents  itself  in 
pictorial  form. 

The  following  is  one  of  the  most  popular,  and  has  a 
very  fine  effect  when  sung,  as  I  have  heard  a  congrega 
tion  of  negroes  sing  it,  swaying  to  and  fro,  many  of 
them  with  hands  clasped  and  tearful  eyes  turned  up  to 
heaven.  The  chorus  is  always  sung  first : — 

"  I  've  got  no  time  to  tarry, 
I  've  got  no  time  to  wait  for  you, 
My  home  is  over  Jordan  ; 
Poor  sinners,  fare  ye  well. 

Jordan's  river  I  'm  bound  to  cross, 

Bound  to  cross,  bound  to  cross  ; 
Jordan's  river  I  'm  bound  to  cross  ; 

Poor  sinners,  fare  ye  well. 

That  long  white  robe  I  'm  bound  to  wear, 
Bound  to  wear,  bound  to  wear;  etc.,  etc. 

That  golden  crown  I  'm  bound  to  wear, 
Bound  to  wear,  bound  to  wear ;  etc.,  etc. 

Them  golden  harps  I  'm  bound  to  play, 
Bound  to  play,  bound  to  play  ;  etc.,  etc. 

Them  golden  slippers  I  'm  bound  to  wear, 
Bound  to  wear,  bound  to  wear ;  etc.,  etc. 


102  BLACK  CHKISTIANITY. 

Them  waters  of  life  I  'm  bound  to  drink, 
Bound  to  drink,  bound  to  drink ;  etc.,  etc. 

Them  golden  streets  I  'm  bound  to  walk, 
Bound  to  walk,  bound  to  walk  ;  etc.,  etc. 

There 's  jus'  but  the  one  more  river  to  cross, 
One  more  to  cross,  one  more  to  cross  ; 

Jus'  but  the  one  more  river  to  cross, 
And  den  we  'se  home  in  glory. 

So  I  Ve  got  no  time  to  tarry, 
Got  no  time  to  wait  with  you  ; 
I  Ve  got  no  time  to  tarry  ; 
Poor  sinner,  fare  ye  well." 

Another  favourite  hymn  begins — 

"  Am  I  a  soldier  of  the  cross, 
Of  the  cross,  of  the  cross  ? 
Am  I  a  soldier  of  the  cross, 
A  follower  of  the  Lamb  ? 

Then  I  '11  'dure  the  toil,  and  I  '11  'dure  the  pain, 
'Dure  the  pain,"  etc. 

Another,  to  which  they  generally  beat  time  with  their 
feet,  begins — 

"  When  I  was  a  mourner  jus'  like  you, 
I  want  to  go  to  heaven  when  I  die, 
I  fast  and  I  prayed  till  I  came  thro', 
For  I  want  to  go  to  heaven  when  I  die. 

0  my  soul !  0  my  soul ! 

1  want  to  go  to  heaven  when  I  die." 

I  append  the  music  of  some  of  these  hymns  for  the 
sake  of  those  who  may  wish  to  reproduce  for  themselves 
the  tunes  sung  by  negro  worshippers  through  so  many 
years  of  slavery,  and  still  heard  at  most  of  their  planta 
tion  services.  It  was  kindly  taken  down  for  me  by 
Mr.  E.  S.  Francis,  of  Memphis — some  of  the  best  singers 
from  the  Mission  School  being  brought  across  to  sing 
to  us : — 


MUSIC. 


103 


"  NOBODY  KNOWS  THE  TROUBLE  I  SEE. 

Allegro. 


fine. 


JORDAN'S  RIVER." 


Moderate. 


-9-         -s  9   +_      9  • 


*       9  '       9       _Q_      . 


104 


BLACK  CHRISTIANITY. 


AM  I  A  SOLDIER  OF  THE  CROSS  ?" 


Moderate. 


3*^S5Eji^^l3=j3S3 
-»— •— j-»-J-« — *— *-  -• — 4^  -*---y-l 


"  WHEN  I  WAS  A  MOURNER." 


Moderate. 


These  plantation  hymns  are  less  sung  now  than  they 
used  to  be,  and  will  probably  before  long  be  numbered 
amongst  the  things  of  the  past.  The  young  negroes 
are  being  educated,  and  want  a  higher  kind  of  psalmody ; 
and  even  the  older  people,  in  some  cases,  are  drawing 
back  from  hymns  that  are  so  much  connected  in  their 
minds  with  slavery. 


PEAYERS.  105 

The  pious  negroes  delight  in  prayer ;  and  the  women, 
at  some  of  their  religious  meetings,  are  as  free  to  lead 
as  the  men.  Their  prayers  are  full  of  fire,  and  often 
exceedingly  vivid  and  impressive.  Here  was  one, 
offered  by  Sister  Nancy  Brooks  at  a  camp  meeting  at 
Poplar  Springs : — 

"  0  Father  Almighty,  0  sweet  Jesus,  most  gloriful 
King,  will  you  be  so  pleased  as  to  come  dis  way  and  put 
your  eye  on  dese  yere  mourners  1  0  sweet  Jesus,  ain't 
you  de  Daniel  God  1  Didn't  you  deliber  de  tree  chill'un 
from  de  firy  furnis  1  Didn't  you  hear  Jonah  cry  from  de 
belly  ob  de  whale  1  Oh,  if  dere  be  one  seeking  mourner 
here  dis  afternoon,  if  dere  be  one  sinking  Peter,  if  dere  be 
one  weeping  Mary,  if  dere  be  one  doubting  Thomas,  won't 
you  be  so  pleased  to  come  and  deliber  them  ?  Won't  you 
mount  your  gospel  horse  an'  ride  roun'  de  souls  of  dese 
yere  mourners,  and  say,  *  Go  in  peace,  and  sin  no  more  ] ' 
Won't  you  be  so  pleased  to  come  wid  de  love  in  one 
han'  and  de  fan  in  de  odder  han'  to  fan  away  doubts  ? 
Won't  you  be  so  pleased  to  shake  dese  yere  souls  over  hell, 
and  not  let  'em  fall  in1? " 

They  are  not  always  so  happy  as  Sister  Nancy  in 
their  Scripture  references.  A  man  at  Chattanooga  used 
to  pray  that  Mr.  Tade  (the  missionary)  might  be  rough 
shod  with  the  preparation  of  the  Gospel  of  Peace. 

The  negroes  are  very  homely  and  direct  in  their 
prayers,  and  the  person  who  leads  will  sometimes  offer 
up  special  petitions  for  himself  and  his  wife  and  chil 
dren.  Strangers  too  are  generally  noticed.  I  some 
times  heard  myself  prayed  for  as  "  de  white  gemman  in 
the  corner,"  or  "  de  white  brudder  near  de  door." 

The  turns  of  expression  are  often  very  quaint  and 
sometimes  comical.  One  man  prayed, — "Lord,  when 
we  'se  done  chawin'  all  de  hard  bones,  and  when  we  'se 


106  BLACK  CHRISTIANITY. 

done  swallerin'  all  de  bitter  pills,  take  us  home  to  thy 
self."  Another  prayed  God  to  "  sneak  away  by  de  Norf 
and  bress  de  good  folks  dere."  "  0  Lord,"  cried  another, 
who  was  eager  to  see  some  signs  of  revival  amongst  his 
people,  "  Stir  dese  yere  sinners  up  right  smart,  an'  don't 
be  as  merciful  as  you  generally  is." 

Another,  who  was  leading  the  services  at  a  crowded 
meeting,  bewailed  in  a  stentorian  voice  the  sins  of  the 
people,  which  he  enumerated,  adding  in  the  same  tone, 
"  Eemember  I  tells  you  dese  things  privately,  0  Lord." 

A  common  form  of  prayer  is,  "  0  Lord,  we  come  to 
Thee  like  empty  pitchers  to  a  full  fountain  to  be  filled." 
One  old  man  (Uncle  Nat,  at  Fuller's  Plantation,  South 
Carolina)  varied  this  figure  with  doubtful  advantage  by 
saying,  "  We  come  to  Thee  like  empty  pitchers  widout 
any  bottom,  to  ask  if  it  be  Thy  will  to  fill  poor  me  wid 
Thy  love."  In  the  same  prayer  he  said,  "  We  know 
dat  thow  are  a  just  God,  gaderin'  where  thow  has  not 
strawed."  He  prayed  God  to  "  bress  de  good  brudder 
who  was  so  good  as  to  ax  me  to  pray,"  but  whether  the 
audience  thought  the  "  brudder  "  deserved  a  blessing  for 
this,  may  be  considered  doubtful.  They  often  become 
excited,  and  indulge  in  wild  extravagancies  of  expres 
sion.  One  man,  in  his  prayer,  cried  out  about  the 
"  dam-forgotten  God,"  another  about  "  the  seven  vials 
bustin'  in  Gethsemane." 

I  could  often  see  that  these  poor  people,  though  pour 
ing  forth  a  torrent  of  words,  were  rather  looking  to  God 
and  trusting  to  the  Spirit  of  prayer,  than  seeking  to  ex 
press  special  wants.  The  consequence  was  that  very 
often  their  sentences  had  neither  beginning  nor  end; 
and  one  clergyman  said  it  would  take  heaven's  best 
grammarian  sometimes  to  make  out  what  they  wanted. 


FIGURES  BORROWED  FROM  SLAVERY.       107 

Some  of  their  expressions  show  the  presence  and  influ 
ence  of  Eoman  Catholicism  : — "  Lord,  if  you  is  busy  to 
night,  and  can't  come  down  yourself,"  prayed  one 
woman,  "  please  send  Mudder  Mary  wid  her  broom  to 
sweep  de  chaff  from  our  hearts." 

Many  of  their  images  are  drawn  from  slavery.  The 
planter's  big  house  gave  them  their  notion  of  magnifi 
cence  ;  the  planter  himself,  riding  about  on  his  horse, 
gave  them  their  ideal  of  dignity  and  power.  Hence 
such  expressions  as  these  : — "  Mount  thy  lioss,  Lord, 
from  the  top  of  Zion  hill,  ride  around  this  congregation, 
and  touch  up  some  sinners'  hearts."  One  exhorting 
brother  spoke  of  death  as  "  cuttin'  around  on  his  swift 
hoss,  up  one  street  and  down  the  other."  Another  said 
in  his  supplication, — "  Didn't  you  promise,  Lord,  to 
mount  yer  milk-white  steed,  and  ride  round  dis  yere 
Memphis  in  a  particular  manner  ? "  Another  prayed 
that  the  Father  might  "  draw  aside  de  curtains  of  his 
window,  and  cast  a  modest  smile  on  us."  An  old  man 
in  Hampton,  Virginia,  prayed, — "  0  Lord,  will  ye  please 
heyst  the  diamond  winders  of  heaven,  roll  back  yer 
lubly  curtains,  and  shake  yer  table-cloth  out,  and  let 
some  crumbs  fall  among  us." 

Eev.  Mr.  Thome,  of  Cleveland,  told  me  of  a  shrewd 
prayer  offered  by  an  old  plantation  preacher  in  Paris 
Island,  South  Carolina,  during  the  war.  The  old  man 
did  not  forget  that  he  was  bound  to  pray  for  his  enemies, 
but  did  so  in  these  words  : — "  Bress,  we  do  pray  Thee, 
our  enemies,  de  wicked  Sesech.  Gib  dem  time  to  'pent, 
we  do  pray  Thee,  and  den  we  will  excuse  Thee  if  Thou 
takes  dem  all  to  glory." 

The  preaching  at  these  plantation  meetings,  although 
improving,  is  still  in  a  very  rude  state.  It  has  to  be 


108  BLACK  CHRISTIANITY. 

remembered,  that  most  of  the  black  pastors  and  "  bred- 
dern"  who  officiate  were  themselves  slaves ;  and  that 
many  of  them  have  never  till  now  had  a  chance  of 
getting  any  education.  It  was  touching  to  see,  some 
times,  old  plantation  preachers,  who  had  never  been 
taught  to  read,  using  a  Bible  when  they  spoke,  waving 
it  in  their  hands,  and  constantly  appealing  to  it. 

"  Breddern  and  sisters!"  cried  one  of  them  earnestly, 
"  I  can't  read  more'n  a  werse  or  two  of  dis  bressed 
Book,  but  de  gospel  it  is  here — de  glad  tidings  it  is 
here — oh  teach  your  ehill'en  to  read  dis  yar  bressed 
Book.  It 's  de  good  news  for  we  poor  coloured  folk." 

I  remember  another  beginning — "  My  brederens,  you 
will  find  de  text  of  dis  mornin'  in  de  Eegulations  of 
John,"  and,  opening  the  Bible  about  the  middle,  he  began 
to  repeat  his  text  from  the  Eevelations.  Poor  old  man  ! 
He  had  never  learned  to  read,  and  did  not  know  where 
the  verses  were  that  he  could  repeat,  but  he  used  the 
Bible  to  indicate  that  they  were  there.  He  preached  a 
sermon  full  of  earnestness  and  real  power,  showing  that, 
in  spite  of  his  want  of  school  education,  he  had  been 
under  the  teaching  of  the  Spirit,  and  had  learnt  the 
true  meaning  of  the  gospel.  Some  of  the  most  vivid 
reproductions  of  Scripture  narrative  I  have  ever  listened 
to  were  from  the  lips  of  such  men,  who  might,  under 
proper  training,  have  become  orators.  Their  ignorance, 
however,  leads  them  into  many  absurd  mistakes,  espe 
cially  when  breaking  up  new  ground.  I  was  told  of 
one  who  had  learned  to  read  a  little,  but  not  well,  and 
who,  in  the  course  of  exposition,  finding  the  verse, 
"  My  feet  are  as  hinds'  feet,"  read  it,  "  My  feet  are  as 
hens'  feet."  After  a  moment's  reflection  he  proceeded 
to  show  how  beautiful  a  picture  this  was  of  Christian 


NEGRO  SERMON.  109 

faitli ;  "  for,"  said  lie,  "  you  will  observe,  my  breddern, 
dat  a  hen  in  de  henroost,  when  it  fall  asleep,  it  tightens 
it  grip  so 's  not  to  fall  off.  And  dat 's  how  true  faith, 
my  breddern,  holds  on  to  de  rock." 

Here  is  the  account  of  man's  creation  and  Satan's 
expulsion  from  heaven,  given  by  another  plantation 
preacher  at  Davis'  Bend,  on  the  Mississippi,  near  Jeffer 
son  Davis's  property : — 

"  In  John  de  Rebelashun  we 's  tole,  my  sisters  an' 
brethrin',  dat  de  old  Satan  he  set  hisself  up  to  be  equal 
with  God.  He  says  he  can  do  anyting  God  can  do.  He 
says  he  has  just  as  much  power  as  God,  an'  he  would  not 
hab  God  to  rule  ober  him  any  longer.  Den  Jesus  Christ, 
de  Son,  He  comes  right  out  in  de  front  ob  de  battle  with  a 
great  big  trumpet  in  his  han'.  Den  God  he  told  Satan  to 
make  a  man.  Well,  when  Satan  made  de  man,  God  he 
tells  him  to  blow  into  him  de  breff  ob  life.  So  de  old 
Satan  he  stoops  down  and  blows  in  his  nostrils,  and  what 
d'  ye  think  came  out  1  Why,  scorpions,  and  snakes,  and 
reptile  things  !  Den  God  he  told  Satan  to  stick  a  reed  in 
de  ground,  an'  what  d'  ye  think  came  up  1  Why,  thorns, 
an'  thistles,  an'  briers !  Den  He  told  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Son,  to  stick  His  reed  in  de  groun',  and  what  d'  ye  think 
come  up  ?  Why,  cabbage,  and  all  good  provisions  for  us 
to  eat,  my  breddern  !  Den  God  he  blew  into  de  man  old 
Satan  had  made,  and  made  him  alive,  an'  put  him  down  on 
de  earth  ;  an'  Jesus  he  took  his  big  trumpet,  an'  he  blowed 
old  Satan  rite  out  ob  hebben,  and  he  hung  three  days  an' 
three  nights  on  de  wall  of  hebben,  an'  when  he  foun'  he 
had  to  let  go  he  just  cotched  his  tail  roun'  de  whole  third 
of  hebben,  and  drug  it  right  down  to  earth.  Den  the  Son 
Jesus,  he  turns  round  on  de  Father,  an'  He  says,  '  Father, 
lift  up  de  bloomin'  curting  of  hebben,  dat  I  may  look  down 
on  de  earth  an'  see  what  dey  is  all  doin'  down  dar.'  An' 
de  Father  He  lifts  up  the  curting,  an'  de  Son  he  goes  to  de 
do'  of  hebben,  an'  looks  down  on  de  earth  ;  an'  after  awhile 


110  BLACK  CHRISTIANITY. 

de  Father  says  to  de  Son,  '  My  Son,  what  does  thee  see 
down  dar  ? '  An'  Jesus,  the  Son,  he  turns  roun'  and  says 
to  de  Father,  '  Father,  I  see  de  old  Satan  havin'  it  all  his 
own  way  down  dar.  The  people  on  the  earth  thay  's  all 
goin'  different  roads,  but  all  goin'  to  one  place — all  to  one 
place — right  down  to  de  pit." 

The  excited  preacher  went  on  to  describe  an  inter 
view  that  should  take  place  between  Jesus  and  Satan 
after  the  latter  had  been  "  chained  for  a  thousand  years." 

"  Jesus,  de  Son,  my  breddern,  he  goes  down  to  de  gate 
of  hell,  an'  he  opens  it  up  and  looks  in  and  says,  '  Well, 
Capt'n  Satan,  how  does  thee  do  this  mornin'  1 '  Den  Capt'n 
Satan  he  says,  *  I  does  well  'nuff.'  Den  Jesus  shut  the 
gate  and  left  him  in.  Oh  my  breddern,  and  oh  my  sisters, 
see  dat  you  don't  be  on  de  wrong  side  ob  de  gate  dat  day." 

These  and  many  other  features  of  the  religious  ser 
vices  common  amongst  the  emancipated  slaves  are  ludi 
crous  enough,  but  they  are  also  sad ;  for,  if  the  pastors 
are  sometimes  so  ignorant,  what  must  be  the  benighted 
condition  of  their  flocks  !  Old  Moreau,  the  slave-scholar 
at  Wilmington,  used  to  bless  God  for  slavery,  which  had 
brought  him  to  a  land  where  he  had  heard  of  Christ. 
Many  others,  who,  like  him,  were  blessed  with  Christian 
masters,  might  use  the  same  words ;  but  while  slavery 
brought  these  four  millions  of  Africans  within  sound  of 
the  gospel,  the  sound  that  many  of  them  were  allowed 
to  hear  was  very  unsatisfactory.  I  met  a  man  in 
Mississippi,  who  said  that  he  had  heard  in  slave-days 
of  one  Jesus,  but  thought,  from  the  way  his  fellow- 
slaves  spoke  of  Him,  that  He  was  a  great  planter  in 
some  other  State,  who  was  to  buy  all  the  coloured 
people  one  day  and  set  them  free.  An  old  black  woman 
in  Southern  Tennessee,  now  a  member  of  one  of  the 
churches  there,  told  me  that  where  she  was  raised  the 


A  MINISTER'S  SPELLING-CLASS.  Ill 

slaves  were  taught  that  they  had  no  souls,  and  had  to 
die  and  go  to  nothing  like  the  beasts.  Shall  we  wonder 
if  multitudes  of  the  negroes,  pastors  and  people,  emerging 
from  such  darkness,  are  very  ignorant,  and  that  their 
services  often  seem  to  the  stranger  a  jumble  of  Pro 
testantism,  Romanism,  and  Fetichism  ? 

There  are,  however,  two  features,  about  their  present 
condition,  full  of  good  augury  for  the  future.  The  first 
is  that  they  are  generally  conscious  of  their  ignorance, 
and  the  second  is  that  they  are  anxious  to  remove  it. 
In  some  of  the  mission- schools  I  visited,  I  found  black 
ministers  sitting  amongst  the  other  scholars  learning 
to  read  the  Bible.  I  remember,  at  one  home,  an  aged 
plantation  preacher,  who  every  day  after  the  chil 
dren  were  gone  came  to  learn  the  same  simple  lessons 
as  they  had  been  at ;  and  the  earnestness  with  which, 
gazing  at  the  chart  through  his  spectacles,  he  repeated 
after  the  teachers  "  a-b,  ab ;  e-b,  eb ;  i-b,  ib,"  and  so  qn. 

One  of  the  missionary  teachers  in  Georgia  had  a 
spelling-class  exclusively  for  black  ministers,  who  met 
to  get  their  lessons  in  the  church  where  one  of  them 
officiated  every  Sunday  as  pastor. 

"  Fancy,"  she  says  in  her  report,  "  a  ministers'  spelling- 
class.  Imagine  my  feelings  as  I  called  upon  the  Rev.  Mr. 

—  to  spell  w-o-r-l-d,  and  the  Rev.  Mr. to  spell 

b-e-a-s-t-s  ;  a  difficult  word,  by  the  way,  both  to  spell  and 
pronounce,  and  over  which  every  one  tripped  and  fell ! 
When  every  one  had  read  and  spelt,  it  was  proposed  by  the 

Rev.  Mr. that  they  should  read  the  first  chapter  of 

John's  Revelation.  I  readily  consented,  advising  that  one 
should  read  in  a  distinct,  audible  voice,  stopping  at  the  end 
of  each  verse  for  the  rest  to  criticise.  My  advice  was  fol 
lowed,  and  proved  very  acceptable  in  its  results.  The 
pastor  of  the  church  ascended  the  steps  of  the  pulpit, 


1 1 2  BLACK  CHRISTIANITY. 

opened  the  ponderous  Bible,  put  on  his  '  specs/  and  pro 
ceeded  slowly,  but  firmly,  to  read,  pausing,  according  to 
agreement,  for  the  criticisms  of  his  brethren,  and — alas  for 
the  dignity  of  man — of  his  sister,  too.  Yes,  there  was  no 
way  to  escape  the  responsibility  j  for  once  it  was  clearly  my 
duty  to  correct  the  preacher,  standing,  too,  in  his  own 
pulpit.  There  was  no  hesitation  on  the  part  of  his 
brethren!  criticisms  showered  down  freely,  and  I  was 
appealed  to  as  umpire.  You  said  '  sanctified '  instead  of 
1  signified '  cried  one,  alluding  to  the  first  verse  ;  you  said 
'  the  things'  instead  of  '  those  things,'  cried  another,  refer 
ring  to  the  third.  The  worthy  pastor  stood  rebuked,  and 
submitted  himself  with  a  lowliness  well  worthy  of  imita 
tion.  We  wound  up  our  exercises  by  repeating,  simultane 
ously,  all  the  hard  words  in  the  chapter — Alpha,  Omega, 
Ephesus,  Smyrna,  Thyatira,  etc. 

"  This  recitation  was  particularly  acceptable  to  all  the 
students,  for  one  of  the  primer  licentiates  had  previously 
whispered  to  Miss  B.,  '  Miss,  won't  you  please  give  me  a 
Bible  lesson,  for  they  call  on  me  to  preach  sometimes,  and 
I  'm  mighty  tight  up  on  the  words  ! ' ' 

I  remember,  near  Savannah,  calling  at  the  house  of 
an  old  black  preacher.  He  was  out,  but  his  wife 
showed  us  his  Bible,  and  said  that  now  he  was  able  to 
read  it  a  little,  he  was  studying  it  day  and  night. 

This-  desire  for  Bible  knowledge  I  found  wonderfully 
widespread  amongst  the  people,  and  was  touched  to 
find  in  how  many  cases  this  desire  had  possessed  them 
even  in  the  dark  days  when  there  seemed  but  small 
hope  of  its  gratification.  One  man  in  North  Carolina, 
whose  boys  I  saw  at  the  Beaufort  Mission  School,  had 
carried  a  Bible  with  him  when  he  escaped  from  slavery 
during  the  war,  and  though  he  could  not  read  it,  kept 
it  by  him  until,  freedom  coining,  and  schools  being 
opened,  he  was  taught  to  read  it  by  his  own  children. 


DESIRE  FOR  BIBLE  KNOWLEDGE.  113 

Another  case  was  that  of  a  poor  black  woman — a 
nurse  in  a  planter's  family — who  had  become  a  Chris 
tian,  and  was  never  weary  hearing  the  children  reading 
the  Bible,  and  telling  her  about  Jesus.  To  her  great 
delight,  the  little  girl  one  day  showed  her  the  name  of 
Jesus,  and  made  her  spell  letter  after  letter,  and  look 
at  the  word  until  she  knew  it,  and  was  able  to  point  it 
out  when  she  saw  it.  After  that  it  was  a  favourite 
employment  with  her  to  take  the  Bible  and  search  for 
the  name  that  was  so  precious  to  her.  She  had  no 
idea  in  what  parts  of  the  Bible  it  was  to  be  found ;  and 
so,  opening  it  anywhere,  she  would  travel  with  her  finger 
along  line  after  line,  and  page  after  page,  through  the 
wilderness  of  words  that  were  all  unintelligible  signs 
to  her,  till  she  found  the  name  of  which  she  was  in 
quest. 

"  And,  oh ! "  she  said,  in  narrating  her  experience, 
"  how  dat  name  started  up  like  a  light  in  de  dark,  and 
I  thought,  '  Dere  's  de  name  of  my  Jesus  ! ' ' 

"  It  was  de  on'y  one  word  I  knew,"  she  added,  "  but 
oh  !  how  dat  one  word  made  me  hunger  for  more  !  " 

This  love  for  the  Bible,  and  eagerness  to  acquire  a 
knowledge  of  it,  was  one  of  the  first  things  noticed 
amongst  the  black  men  who,  during  the  war,  fled  from 
slavery  to  enlist  and  fight  in  the  armies  of  emancipa 
tion.  One  of  them  at  City  Point,  who  had  got  a  spell 
ing-book,  and  was  very  eager  to  learn,  was  taught  his 
letters  by  one  of  his  officers.  Two  days  later,  the  black 
•soldier  returned,  able  to  spell  half-way  through  the 
book,  and  asked  eagerly  if  he  was  fit  now  to  begin  the 
Testament.  "  For  if  I  could  on'y  read  God's  own  write," 
he  said,  "  I  tink  it  would  be  wurf  more  'n  everyting." 

Let  me  mention  another  case  :  After  the  first  day's 

VOL.  II.  H 


114  BLACK  CHRISTIANITY. 

fight  at  the  Wilderness,  two  black  soldiers  of  the  31st 
Coloured  Regiment,  William  and  Thomas  Freeman, 
found  some  black  women  nearly  starving  in  a  house 
deserted  by  the  owners,  and  at  once  gave  them  all  they 
had  in  their  haversacks.  One  of  the  women,  to  express 
her  gratitude,  presented  them  with  a  Bible  she  had  got 
from  her  mistress — a  large,  strongly  bound  Bible,  weigh 
ing  about  nine  pounds.  The  soldiers  received  it  with 
delight,  and  William  Freeman  put  it  into  his  knapsack 
in  place  of  his  blanket.  He  had  learned  to  read  a  little, 
and  that  night,  by  the  watch-fires,  he  read  aloud  out  of 
his  big  Bible  to  several  of  his  fellow-soldiers.  Through 
all  the  marchings  and  fightings  from  the  Wilderness  to 
Petersburg,  the  big  Bible  went  with  him.  On  the  30th 
of  July  his  regiment  was  in  the  Crater  fight,  and 
William  went  in  with  the  Bible  on  his  back.  In  the 
first  charge  he  was  shot  in  the  breast  and  fell.  Almost 
immediately  after,  his  brother  Thomas,  pressing  on  with 
his  comrades,  was  also  struck.  As  the  litter-bearers 
were  hurrying  him  to  the  rear,  he  caught  sight  of  his 
dead  brother,  and  begged  the  men  to  stop  and  give  him 
his  brother's  knapsack.  They  took  the  knapsack  from 
the  dead  man's  shoulders  with  the  Bible  in  it,  put  it  on 
the  stretcher,  and  hurried  on.  When  the  missionary 
made  the  round  of  the  hospital  wards,  the  dying  soldier 
got  him  to  take  out  the  big  Bible,  and  read  the  twenty- 
third  Psalm,  which  his  brother  had  read  to  him  from  it 
the  night  before.  He  died  that  night,  it  is  -said,  with 
the  Bible  in  his  arms.  The  book  was  taken  care  of,  and 
is  now  preserved  in  Amherst  College. 

This  feeling  is  abroad  amongst  the  freed  people  just 
now.  In  those  night-schools,  all  through  the  South,  I 
found  that  the  great  and  crowning  desire  of  the  old 


UNCLE  JOS.  115 

people  was  to  learn  to  read  the  Bible.  Said  one  old 
woman  at  Montgomery,  who  had  begun  her  schooling 
at  seventy  years  of  age,  and  was  spelling  out  her  Bible, 
"  It 's  so  sweet  to  pick  out  dis  verse  and  dat  verse,  and 
tink  '  dem  's  de  'dentical  words  my  Saviour  spoke.' " 

Another  woman,  who  found  great  difficulty  in  master 
ing  the  primer,  begged  to  be  taught  the  words,  "  Our 
Father  which  art  in  Heaven,"  out  of  the  Bible,  to  begin 
with. 

"  Tears  to  me  if  I  could  once  do  dat,"  she  said,  "  all 
the  rest  would  come  easy." 

Another  little  picture  comes  back  to  me.  An  old 
frizzly-haired  negro  in  the  night-school,  known  as 
"  Uncle  Jos,"  was  spelling  out  his  Bible  lesson,  and 
came  upon  a  verse  which  he  had  heard  thirty  years 
before  in  slavery,  and  which  had  been  the  means  of 
his  conversion.  He  now  saw  it  with  his  own  eyes  for 
the  first  time.  It  was  the  verse,  "God  so  loved  the 
world,"  etc.-  The  old  man  spelt  it  out  with  indescrib 
able  eagerness,  word  by  word,  and  when  he  had  got 
through  it,  putting  his  finger  upon  the  verse  as  if  to 
hold  it  there,  he  looked  up  to  heaven,  with  big  tears  of 
gratitude  beginning  to  trickle  down  his  cheeks.  He 
was  what  would  be  called  an  old  "  woolly-headed 
nigger,"  but  his  look  at  that  moment  was  the  look 
which  a  painter  might  have  taken  for  the  face  of  old 
Simeon  when  he  said, — "  Now  lettest  thou  thy  servant 
depart  in  peace :  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  Thy  salva 
tion." 

We  found  the  same  love  for  the  Bible  amongst 
many  of  the  negroes  whom  we  visited  in  their  homes. 
Nothing  seemed  to  delight  the  old  people  more  than  to 
hear  it  read.  Sometimes  we  found  them  being  taught 


116  BLACK  CHRISTIANITY. 

to  read  it  for  themselves  by  the  children.  The  mis 
sionary  of  a  newly-opened  school  in  a  Texas  plantation, 
where  she  had  only  two  Bibles,  said  that  every  day, 
as  soon  as  lessons  were  over,  there  was  a  little  crowd 
of  scholars  up  with  messages  from  parents  and  grand 
parents  at  home,  begging  the  loan  of  one  of  the  Bibles 
for  the  night,  that  they  might  have  it  read  to  them  by 
their  children.  What  a  soil  is  this  in  which  to  sow 
good  seed ! 

All  this  is  beginning,  along  with  general  education, 
to  elevate  the  religious  condition  and  worship  of  the 
emancipated  people.  Old  and  young  are  being  in 
structed  ;  the  young  are  getting  such  a  training  as 
no  appreciable  portion  of  the  coloured  race  ever  got 
before.  An  educated  ministry  is  gradually  springing 
up  amongst  themselves ;  and  it  is  anticipated  that 
when  the  religious  enthusiasm,  which  forms  so  striking 
a  feature  of  their  character,  and  which  has  been  ex 
hausting  itself  so  much  in  mere  noise  and  frenzy,  is 
directed  into  practical  channels,  it  will  develop  (what 
is  much  needed)  a  higher  morality  amongst  the  negroes 
themselves,  and  perhaps  impart  some  of  its  own  warmth 
to  the  whole  Christianity  of  the  country. 

There  are  influences  at  work,  however,  which  may  do 
a  good  deal  to  modify  the  future  relation  of  the  coloured 
people  to  Christianity.  Chief  amongst  these  is  the  in 
fluence  of  Popery.  In  1867  a  Plenary  Council  of  the 
Catholic  Church  was  held  in  Baltimore,  when  the  posi 
tion  of  -the  emancipated  negroes  was  discussed,  and 
measures  inaugurated  for  securing  them  to  the  Church 
of  Eome.  The  following  year,  nearly  a  hundred  priests 
landed  at  New  Orleans,  and  it  was  understood  that  the 
Society  for  Propagating  the  Faith  had  appropriated  the 


HOME  IN  THE  FIELD.  1 1  7 

sum  of  $600,000  (£120,000)  for  carrying  on  mission- 
work  among  the  blacks.  A  priest  at  New  Orleans  told 
me  that  they  had  over  50,000  black  children  in  their 
schools ;  and  it  is  said  that  upwards  of  a  hundred  black 
students  are  now  being  educated  at  Eome  in  prepara 
tion  for  this  new  and  promising  field.  The  imposing 
ceremonials  of  the  Romish  Church,  its  system  of  Ab 
solution,  its  worship  of  the  Virgin,  and  its  repudiation 
of  distinctions  of  race  and  colour,  are  all  likely  to  make 
it  popular  amongst  the  negroes.  There  is  need  of 
every  civilizing  and  Christian  agency,  but  this  prospect 
is  regarded  with  alarm  by  many  in  America,  who  con 
cern  themselves  very  little  with  religious  questions. 

For  the  blacks  are  now  voters,  and  if  the  Church  of 
Eome  brings  them  under  her  sway,  it  is  feared  that  the 
negro  and  the  Irish  votes  will  enable  her  to  exercise  an 
undesirable  influence  over  the  destinies  of  America. 


1 1 8  ADMIRAL  SEMMES. 


VIII. 

ADMIRAL  SEMMES. 

MY  first  sight  of  the  once  famed  commander  of  the 
Alabama  was  at  Mobile.  I  had  notes  to  him  from 
various  Southern  officers,  and  being  in  quest  of  in 
formation  which  he  was  the  most  likely  to  have,  I 
deemed  it  of  importance  to  find  him  out.  This  turned 
out  to  be  no  easy  matter ;  and  as  the  case  illustrates 
two  very  curious  features  of  American,  and  specially 
(at  present)  of  Southern  life — namely,  the  unsettled 
condition  of  the  people  both  as  regards  home  and 
occupation — I  may  tell  the  whole  story. 

It  was  reported  at  the  North  that  Semmes  on  his 
return  to  the  States  had  become  a  professor  of  moral 
philosophy,  but  had  failed.  It  was  conjectured  that 
the  Alabama  had  furnished  an  indifferent  training  for 
a  moral  philosophy  chair.  At  anyrate  he  had,  accord 
ing  to  report,  given  it  up,  and  gone  upon  the  staff  of  a 
Mobile  newspaper. 

On  reaching  Mobile  I  asked  the  clerk  at  the  hotel  if 
he  knew  where  Captain  Semmes  lived. 

No ;  he  didn't. 

"  What  paper  does  he  edit  ? " 

"  No  paper,"  said  the  clerk.  "  He  did  edit  a  paper 
once,  but  he  gave  that  up." 

"  What  is  he  doing  now  ? " 


A  FRUITLESS  SEARCH.  1 1  9 

"  God  knows/'  said  the  clerk. 

"  I  reckon  they  '11  be  able  to  tell  you  at  the  Tribune 
office,"  said  a  tall  gentleman  who  was  lounging  against 
the  rails. 

Away  to  the  Tribune  office  I  accordingly  went ;  glad, 
when  I  reached  it,  to  escape  from  the  glare  of  the 
Southern  sun,  which,  though  it  was  still  but  the  month 
of  March,  was  flaming  in  the  sky  with  furnace-heat. 
I  made  my  way  up  to  the  editor's  room,  but  was  taken 
aback  by  the  following  intimation  on  the  door  : — 


POSITIVELY  NO  ADMITTANCE 

until  after  two  o'clock, 
Except  to  whip  the  editors. 


A  conflict  with  a  fighting  editor  struck  me  as  an 
unhappy  and  precarious  way  of  advancing  my  in 
quiries;  however,  I  made  bold  to  knock.  The  door 
was  opened  by  a  pale  young  gentleman  with  a  quid  of 
tobacco  in  his  cheek,  who  told  me  that  the  editor  was 
not  in.  I  said  that  was  a  pity,  as  it  prevented  the 
possibility  of  whipping  him.  At  this  mild  joke  the 
pale  young  gentleman  condescended  (after  ejecting  a 
mouthful  of  tobacco  juice)  to  smile.  He  said,  in 
answer  to  my  inquiries,  that  he  could  not  tell  where 
Semmes  was  to  be  found ;  thought  he  lived  out  in  the 
country  somewhere  ;  but  was  certain  they  could  inform 
me  definitely  in  the  office  below. 

No  more  knowledge  on  the  subject  seemed  to  exist 
in  the  office  below  than  I  had  found  in  the  office  above. 
It  occurred,  however,  to  one  gentleman  that  Captain 
Semmes  was  now  a  lawyer,  and  that  his  address  might 
be  found  in  the  Directory.  He  obligingly  went  for  the 
Directory — the  Americans  are  generally  very  polite — 


120  ADMIRAL  SEMLMES. 

and  turned  up  the  name.     There  it  was,  sure  enough, 
"  Semmes,  R.,  attorney,  4  Dauphin  Street." 

"  Ah,  4  Dauphin  Street,"  said  the  gentleman,  sending 
a  squirt  under  the  counter,  "  he  ain't  there  now  ;  that 's 
certain." 

Here  let  me  remark  that  the  principal  use  of  some 
directories  in  America  seems  to  be  to  let  you  know 
where  not  to  go. 

"  But  here  is  his  son,"  said  the  gentleman,  who  was 
still  looking  at  the  book,  "  Semmes,  jr.,  at  Caleb  Price's, 
corner  of  Water  and  Center  Streets." 

I  thanked  my  polite  friend,  thought  my  search  was 
to  be  crowned  with  success  at  last,  and  set  off  through 
the  oppressive  heat  to  Center  Street.  I  reached  Price's, 
which  turned  out  to  be  a  hardware  store,  went  in,  and 
asked  for  Mr.  Semmes. 

"  Ah,  he  ain't  here  now,"  said  the  man  behind  the 
counter."  "  He  was  here,  but  he  is  gone  to  Memphis." 

"Is  his  father,  the  Admiral,  at  Mobile?" 

"  I  reckon  he  is.     Lives  in  the  country  somewhere." 

"  Do  you  know  where  I  could  find  the  exact  address  ?" 

"No,  sir." 

I  began  to  think  there  was  to  be  as  much  difficulty 
in  capturing  the  Admiral  as  there  had  been  in  captur 
ing  his  ship.  This  last  straw  broke  the  camel's  back. 
I  was  already  like  to  drop  from  sheer  fatigue,  and  the 
thought  of  setting  out  on  further  search  with  no  clue  to 
success  was  too  trying  to  be  thought  of.  Half  melted 
with  the  heat — Southern  heat  is  something  fearful — I 
got  back  to  Battle  House,  and  refreshed  myself  with 
such  a  dinner  and  such  delicious  iced  water  as  can  only 
be  got  in  an  American  hotel. 

Fortunately  further  search  became  unnecessary.     In 


•      APPEARANCE.  121 

tlie  afternoon  I  met  Major  E — ,  a  personal  friend  of 
Captain  Semmes,  who  told  me  that  the  Admiral  was 
now  a  public  lecturer ;  that  he  was  to  deliver  a  lecture 
in  Mobile  that  very  night ;  and  that  he  would  have 
pleasure  in  going  with  me  and  introducing  me.  My 
only  fear  was  that  the  Admiral  might  change  his 
profession  again  before  the  hour  of  meeting  and  not 
make  his  appearance. 

According  to  arrangement  the  Major  accompanied 
me  to  the  theatre,  and  took  me  round  to  the  green 
room,  that  we  might  meet  the  Admiral  before  the 
lecture  began. 

We  had  waited  but  a  few  minutes  when  Semmes 
appeared.  He  is  a  small,  dark-looking  man,  thin,  wiry, 
weather-beaten  in  face,  with  a  fierce-looking  moustache 
twisted  outwards  at  the  ends,  and  a  dangerous  look 
about  his  black  restless  eyes.  One  can  see  at  a  glance 
that  Semmes  is  no  ordinary  man. 

He  was  dressed  for  the  occasion  in  what  a  Scotch 
man  would  call  his  Sunday  clothes — a  sleek  and  most 
unpiratical  suit  of  black,  including  dress  coat,  large 
white  shirt-cuffs,  and  black  tie  hanging  in  front  of  his 
turn-down  collar.  He  looked  keenly  and  warily  into 
my  eyes  as  we  shook  hands,  took  a  seat  and  entered 
into  conversation,  but  was  evidently  a  little  troubled 
about  his  lecture,  and  would  every  now  and  then  twist 
his  moustache  with  an  abstracted  air.  Two  or  three 
gentlemen  came  in,  each  of  whom  he  pressed  to  take 
the  chair  at  the  meeting.  One  of  them  said  his  friend 

Mr. would  be  a  much  more  suitable  man.  Mr. 

said  he  could  not  think  of  it,  and  suggested  that  it 

would  be  far  better  for  the  Admiral  to  have  no  chair 
man  at  all — that  it  was  quite  the  custom  now  for 


122  ADMIRAL  SEMMES. 

lecturers  just  to  go  in  and  begin  without  ceremony.  It 
was  true,  and  yet  I  could  not  but  think  that  I  detected 
an  unexpressed  reluctance  to  be  associated  with  the 
Admiral  in  so  public  a  manner  when  he  was  going  to 
lecture  on  the  very  subject  about  which  the  party  now 
in  power  felt  so  sore.  Perhaps  I  was  mistaken,  but 
even  if  I  was  right,  this  feeling,  in  the  present  painful 
circumstances  of  the  South,  is  not  to  be  wondered  at. 

The  few  minutes'  conversation  I  now  had  with  the 
Admiral  related  to  the  Alabama.  When  the  difficulty 
she  had  given  rise  to  between  Great  Britain  and  America 
was  mentioned,  Semmes  said, — "  Great  Britain  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  Alabama  in  her  capacity  as  a 
Confederate  war-ship.  The  Yankee  papers  say  she  was 
equipped  in  a  British  port.  It  was  not  so.  She  left 
Liverpool  like  any  merchant  ship,  without  a  gun  or  a 
single  armed  man  aboard  of  her.  I  reached  Liverpool 
three  days  after,  and  found  that  she  had  gone  to  the 
Azores.  I  followed  her ;  and  there  a  transport  met  us 
with  guns.  If  any  nation  is  responsible,  it  is  Portugal. 
But  Portugal  is  not  responsible  either ;  for  she  had  no 
force  there  to  prevent  me.  I  was  three  days  at  the 
Azores,  and  then  steamed  out  upon  the  high  seas,  and 
put  the  Alabama  formally  upon  commission." 

He  also  said, — "  Not  one  penny  of  the  cost  was  con 
tributed  in  England.  She  was  paid  for  out  of  the 
treasury  of  the  Confederate  States ;  and  she  was  used 
for  Confederate  purposes,  just  as  the  rifles  and  ammuni 
tion  bought  by  the  North  in  England  were  used  for 
Federal  purposes." 

He  said  that  though  the  North  laid  so  much  stress  on 
the  Alabama  having  been  built  in  England,  he  could 
prove  to  me,  from  documents  in  his  possession,  that  the 


SEMMES  ON  THE  PLATFORM.  123 

Federal  Government  were  at  one  time  negotiating  with 
Laird  of  Liverpool  to  build  war-ships  for  them.  A  copy 
of  these  proofs  he  afterwards  forwarded. 

Speaking  of  life  on  board  the  Alabama,  he  said  he 
had  no  chaplain  on  board,  but  Sunday  was  observed  as 
a  day  of  rest. 

Describing  the  routine  of  capture,  he  said, — "  I  had  a 
man  at  the  masthead  in  all  weathers.  '  Sail  ho  ! '  from 
him  announced  a  ship  in  sight.  The  officer  on  deck 
would  then  cry  up  to  him  through  the  trumpet,  c  Where 
away  ?  '  What  does  she  look  like  ? '  and  so  forth.  If 
she  turned  out  to  be  a  merchantman  we  hoisted  the  flag 
most  likely  to  lull  any  suspicions,  stood  for  her,  and 
sent  off  a  boat.  As  soon  as  our  officer  stepped  aboard  of 
her  we  hoisted  the  Confederate  flag,  and  the  officer 
pointed  to  it  as  the  one  under  which  the  capture  was 
made.  When  she  was  an  American  ship  we  took  off 
her  crew  and  burnt  her.  We  had  no  resource  ;  there 
was  no  port  open  to  take  her  to.  If  she  had  English 
property  aboard  I  took  a  ransom  bond  and  let  her  go/' 

He  had  still  some  of  these  bonds  "  stowed  away,"  he 
said,  "  where  even  Ben  Butler  in  search  of  spoons  could 
not  find  them."  I  asked  him  for  one  as  a  curiosity, 
seeing  they  were  waste  paper  now ;  but  the  Admiral 
did  not  know  what  in  the  course  of  Providence  might 
turn  up  yet,  and  thought  it  best  to  keep  them. 

It  was  now  time  for  the  lecture,  so  the  Major  and  I 
went  into  the  theatre  and  took  our  seats.  There  was  a 
somewhat  thin  audience;  but  most  of  the  Southern 
people  of  the  lecture- attending  kind  had  been  almost 
beggared  since  the  war,  and  the  charge  that  night  was, 
I  think,  a  dollar. 

It  was  some  time  after  the  hour  before  Seinmes  made 


124  ADMIRAL  SEMMES. 

his  appearance.  At  last  lie  came  stepping  in  quietly 
upon  the  stage  alone,  his  hat  in  one  hand,  his  manu 
script  in  the  other.  The  audience,  as  is  customary  at 
such  meetings  in  America,  received  him  in  silence. 

The  Admiral,  with  his  dark,  weather-beaten  face  and 
corsair  look,  seemed  to  find  himself  out  of  his  element 
standing  in  black  clothes  behind  a  reading-desk.  His 
eyes,  with  a  cast  of  sadness  in  them,  glanced  restlessly 
to  different  parts  of  the  building ;  and  once  or  twice  he 
smacked  his  lips  as  if  his  mouth  were  too  dry.  His 
voice  was  somewhat  weak,  but  he  spoke  distinctly,  and 
gave  us  an  exceedingly  graphic  and  interesting  lecture, 
with  abundant  evidence  in  it  of  thought,  culture,  and 
literary  power.  There  was  even  a  touch  here  and  there 
of  the  moral  philosopher.  In  describing  his  war  upon 
the  whale  ships,  he  was  led,  by  an  unlooked-for  associa 
tion  of  ideas,  into  a  dissertation  on  the  natural  history 
of  the  whale,  and  the  beautiful  providential  arrange 
ments  by  which  God  provides  that  animal  with  food,  and 
prepares  it  for  the  use  of  man.  "  The  same  beneficent 
hand  that  feeds  the  raven/'  said  the  Admiral  piously, 
"  feeds  the  whale,  carrying  to  it  by  the  Gulf  Stream  the 
sea-nettles  which  it  cannot  go  for  itself."  I  thought  if 
any  New  York  shipowner  was  present  he  would  wonder 
whether  it  was  the  same  beneficent  hand  that  had 
carried  the  Admiral  in  the  same  direction.  There  were 
very  few  peculiarities  in  his  speech,  except  his  Cockney- 
like  addition  of  "  r  "  in  "  Alabamar  "  and  "  idear ;  "  also 
his  American  pronunciation  of  "  calmly,"  as  if  it  were 
spelt  "  kemly,"  and  of  "  u  "  as  if  it  were  "  oo  "—"We 
threw  a  shot  astern  which  indooced  the  merchantman 
to  heave-to." 

His  lecture  was  an  attempt  to  vindicate  the  career 


HIS  LECTURE.  125 

of  the  Alabama  on  historical  grounds.  He  compared 
the  Confederate  struggle  against  the  North  to  the 
struggle  of  the  American  colonies  against  Britain,  and 
said  that  although  the  one  had  succeeded  and  the  other 
failed,  this  made  no  difference  in  the  prior  rights  of 
belligerency.  If  George  Washington's  commission  was 
valid,  so  was  Eobert  E.  Lee's ;  if  Lee's  was  valid,  so  was 
the  Alabama's. 

He  then  drew  a  parallel  between  himself  and  Paul 
Jones,  the  American  commander  who  figured  so  pro 
minently  in  the  American  War  of  Independence.  He 
said  that  Jones  had  destroyed  many  of  his  prizes,  and 
with  far  less  excuse  than  he  had,  for  Jones  had  always 
open  ports  into  which  he  could  have  carried  his  prizes 
for  adjudication,  whereas  the  Alabama  was  a  home 
less  wanderer,  with  all  the  ports  of  the  world  shut 
against  her.  He  had,  therefore,  done  from  necessity 
what  Jones  had  so  often  done  from  choice.  "  And  yet," 
he  said,  "  the  Yankees,  who  call  Jones  a  hero,  call  me  a 
pirate !  It  is  the  old  story  about  the  bull  goring  the 
wrong  ox.  What  Jones  destroyed  was  British  com 
merce  ;  what  I  destroyed  was  Yankee  commerce.  That 
makes  the  difference." 

At  the  close  of  his  lecture  he  described  with  great 
eloquence  of  language  the  beautiful  Sunday  morning 
when  he  sailed  his  ship  from  the  Azores  out  upon 
the  high  seas  ;  and  when  for  the  first  time  the  Con 
federate  flag  waved  from  her  peak,  and  the  name  was 
given  her  that  was  soon  to  be  written  in  lurid  fires 
upon  the  ocean  before  the  eyes  of  an  astonished  world. 

"  I  was  at  her  baptism,"  he  said  ;  "  I  was  also  at  her 
burial.  Two  years  had  passed.  Again  it  was  Sun 
day — the  19th  of  June— this  was  her  funeral  morning." 


126  ADMIRAL  SEMMES. 

He  described  his  fight  with  the  Kearsarge  and  its 
result.  "Many,"  he  said,  with  a  touch  of  pathos, 
"many  went  down  with  the  ship  that  day  who  had 
stood  with  bared  heads  at  her  christening  on  that  Sun 
day  morning  two  years  before." 

And  now  for  a  moment  the  Admiral's  dark  eyes 
kindled  with  fire,  as  he  added, — 

"  No  enemy's  foot  ever  polluted  her  deck.  No 
splinter  of  her  hull,  no  shred  of  her  flag  remains  as  a 
trophy  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy  !  " 

This  passage,  in  newspaper  phrase,  "  brought  down 
the  house." 

I  had  many  thoughts  that  night  as  I  sat  listening  to 
Semmes.  Had  the  South  achieved  her  independence, 
this  man,  who  (all  honour  to  him)  is  now  struggling  by 
means  of  these  lectures  to  earn  an  honest  livelihood, 
would  to-day  have  been  one  of  the  most  important  and 
prominent  men  in  the  Dis-United  States  of  America. 
Success  would  have  thrown  out  of  sight  the  unpleasant 
facts  in  the  history  of  his  ship,  and  Admiral  Semmes 
would  have  been  handed  down  to  the  admiration  of 
posterity  as  the  great  captain  who,  with  one  ship,  and 
in  a  few  months,  swept  the  American  flag  from  the 
ocean.  But  the  South  fell,  and  Semmes  (not  Admiral 
at  all1)  is  called  a  pirate.  Here  is  some  food  for  thought, 
if  not  some  ground  for  charity. 

Let  rne  add  a  word  here  about  the  Alabama  diffi 
culty.  I  found  the  Americans  all  over  the  North  feel 
ing  very  keenly  about  it.  Their  feeling  was  not  so 

1  I  was  told  at  Washington  that  say  that  the  President  knew  no  one 

when  Semmes  called  on   President  in  God's   creation    owning  such   a 

Johnson  about  his  pardon,  he  sent  name  and  title.     The  Admiral  took 

in  his  card  as  "Admiral  Semmes."  the  hint,  and  sent  in  his  card  as 

The  usher  returned  after  a  while  to  "  Mr.  Semmes." 


THE  ALABAMA  QUESTION.  127 

much  against  Semmes  and  the  South  as  it  was  against 
us.  It  was  no  doubt  provoking  that  two  or  three 
Confederate  cruisers  should  have  destroyed  so  much 
valuable  commerce  and  almost  driven  their  flag  from 
the  ocean.  But,  then,  had  the  circumstances  of  North 
and  South  been  reversed,  no  doubt  the  North  would 
itself,  if  a  chance  occurred,  have  done  with  Southern 
commerce  precisely  what  Semmes  and  Maffitt  did  with 
hers.  Their  strongest  feeling  on  the  subject  was  in 
reference  to  this  country.  And  let  me  say,  that  I  think 
they  were  feeling  about  the  matter  very  much  as  we 
should  feel  if  under  similar  circumstances  they  had 
done  by  us  as  we  during  the  early  part  of  the  war  did 
by  them.  Let  us  suppose  that  Ireland  rose  in  open 
rebellion,  and  that  the  Americans  showed  their  sym 
pathy  with  the  Irish  as  we  showed  ours  with  the  Con 
federates.  They  would,  of  course,  have  a  perfect  right 
(just  as  we  had)  to  give  their  sympathies  where  they 
pleased  :  but  how  should  we  like  it  ?  Their  case  is  even 
stronger,  for  this  reason,  that  the  people  in  this  country 
seem  to  anticipate  that  America  would  sympathize  with 
Ireland,  while  the  people  of  the  Free  States  in  America 
anticipated  confidently  that  we  (in  a  case  where  slavery 
was  involved)  would  sympathize  heartily  with  them. 
The  revulsion  of  feeling  was  necessarily  greater.  France, 
therefore,  would  be  a  better  parallel ;  where  in  a  war 
between  Free  Government  and  Personal  Power  we 
should  confidently  expect  American  sympathy. 

Suppose  then  that  we  were  at  war  with  France,  and 
that  instead  of  the  Americans  sympathizing  with  us 
they  should  crow  over  every  British  defeat,  and  in 
spite  of  our  entreaties  should  disregard  the  questions 
involved, — how  would  this  be  likely  to  affect  our  feel- 


128  ADMIRAL  SEMMES. 

ings  towards  the  Americans  ?  Suppose,  further,  that 
American  shipbuilders  should  build  fast  ships  intended 
to  be  let  loose  on  British  commerce ;  that  one  of  these, 
followed  by  others,  should  begin  upon  the  high  seas 
the  wholesale  destruction  of  British  commerce,  light 
ing  up  the  ocean  with  the  flames  of  our  burning  ships ; 
and  suppose,  finally,  that  the  Americans  (those  at  any 
rate  whose  voices  were  heard  in  this  country)  should 
cheer  on  these  destroyers  of  our  peaceful  merchant 
men — should  gleefully  record  their  depredations  and 
fete  their  officers  at  American  ports — how  should  we 
like  all  this  ?  and  how  should  we  feel  if  the  Americans, 
when  we  expressed  our  indignation,  should  content 
themselves  with  saying,  "  What  have  you  against  us  ? 
Our  Government  is  neutral.  It  didn't  let  these  ships 
go.  In  fact,  it  meant  to  stop  them  as  soon  as  it  be 
came  perfectly  clear  that  they  were  meant  to  prey  on 
your  commerce,  but  somehow  before  the  evidence  was 
quite  complete  the  ships  got  away." 

Would  that  pacify  us,  when  we  saw  that  while  these 
ships  were  burning  millions'  worth  of  our  merchandise 
and  driving  the  British  flag  from  the  seas,  the  Americans 
(within  the  limits  allowed  by  legal  neutrality)  were 
cheering  on  these  cruisers,  and  laughing  at  our  painful 
attempts  to  catch  them  ?  I  think,  on  the  contrary, 
that  we  should  have  felt  towards  them  very  much  as 
they  have  felt  towards  us. 

This  is  the  canker  that  underlies  the  legal  question, 
and  makes  it  so  difficult  to  solve.  In  itself,  of  course, 
the  legal"question  is  important— far  more  important  to 
us  (as  well  as  to  America)  than  the  worth  of  all  the 
shipping  destroyed  or  all  the  damages  that  may  be 
claimed.  But  American  exasperation  was  not  caused 


THE  REAL  DIFFICULTY.  129 

by  violation  of  law  on  our  part,  nor  will  it  be  allayed 
by  pecuniary  compensation.  However  the  legal  ques 
tion  is  settled,  the  restoration  of  harmony  of  feeling 
between  the  two  nations  can  only  be  brought  about,  so 
far  as  we  are  concerned,  (1.)  by  our  realizing  that  the 
American  feeling  towards  us  is  just  what  ours  would 
have  been  in  like  circumstances  towards  them  ;  and  (2.) 
by  our  feeling  and  acting  now  towards  the  American 
Government  and  people  as  we,  under  the  supposed 
change  of  circumstances,  would  wish  them  to  feel  and 
act  towards  us.  When  the  Christian  law  is  fulfilled, 
the  claims  of  international  law  will,  I  humbly  believe, 
be  easily  and  cheerfully  satisfied  on  both  sides. 


VOL.  II. 


130  NEW  ORLEANS. 


IX. 

NEW  ORLEANS. 

FROM  Mobile  I  went  on  to  New  Orleans  by  water. 
It  was  a  bright  warm  afternoon  when  we  left  the  city 
behind  us,  and  steamed  out  into  what  I  should  have 
taken  for  a  vast  calm  sea,  had  it  not  been  for  the  posts 
that  stuck  out  of  the  water  at  intervals  along  our 
course  for  miles,  indicating  the  narrow  channel  by 
which  steamers  have  to  find  their  way  out  through  the 
shallows  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  route  is  west 
ward  by  Chandeleur  Bay ;  and  early  next  morning  the 
steamer  reaches  Port  au  Place,  the  landing-point  for 
New  Orleans.  Let  me,  in  passing,  give  a  word  of 
advice  to  any  reader  who  may  have  to  take  that  sail. 
When  you  are  asked  before  you  retire  at  night  if  you 
wish  to  be  awakened  in  the  morning  for  the  first  train, 
say  "  Yes."  The  train  starts  at  an  inhuman  hour- 
five  o'clock,  or  earlier — the  second  not  till  seven.  But 
if,  beguiled  by  the  hope  of  two  additional  hours  of 
sleep,  you  say  that  you  will  wait  for  the  second  train, 
the  following  experience  awaits  you.  At  a  quarter 
past  four  in  the  morning,  when  you  are  enjoying  the 
best  part  of  your  night's  repose,  you  are  awakened  by 
a  terrific  knocking  at  your  cabin-door,  within  three 
feet  of  your  head,  followed  by  a  voice  inquiring  if 
you  are  going  by  the  first  train.  As  soon  as  you  have 


PORT  AU  PLACE.  131 

collected  your  scattered  senses,  you  reply,  probably  with 
some  irritation,  "  No !"  and,  turning  over,  you  try  to 
compose  yourself  to  sleep  again.  In  this  you  are  not 
assisted  by  the  loud  knocking  at  the  next  cabin- door, 
and  the  next,  though  if  you  are  a  sufficiently  wicked 
person,  it  may  give  you  a  little  malignant  gratification 
to  think  that  others  are  getting  their  night's  rest  broken 
as  well  as  yourself ;  also  to  hear  that  the  man  in  the 
next  cabin  but  one  has  assailed  the  knocking  demon 
with  a  volley  of  invectives,  which  you  feel  are  richly 
deserved,  but  which  are  expressed  with  less  choiceness 
of  language  than  you  would  wish  to  employ  yourself. 
As  soon  as  there  is  silence  you  begin  to  woo  back  your 
sleep,  and  have  just  relapsed  into  unconsciousness,  when 
you  are  nearly  startled  out  of  your  berth  by  another 
loud  knock  at  your  door,  and  a  different  voice  inform 
ing  you,  in  an  imperative  tone,  that  the  train  is  just 
going.  Your  first  impulse  is  to  spring  up,  open  the 
door,  snatch  a  boot  or  anything  that  comes  to  hand,  and 
hurl  it  at  the  intruder's  head  ;  but,  by  a  powerful  effort, 
you  control  yourself,  and  reply,  with  ferocious  indigna 
tion,  that  you  don't  go  with  that  train.  You  are  now, 
in  spite  of  all  your  efforts  to  the  contrary,  kept  awake 
for  the  better  part  of  half-an-hour,  by  the  trampling  of 
feet  and  voices  of  people  on  the  pier,  all  of  which  are 
by-and-by  superseded  by  a  hideous  noise  in  the  outer 
air,  such  as  might  proceed  from  a  gigantic  donkey 
attempting  to  bray  with  a  bad  cold  in  its  throat,  which 
your  previous  experience  enables  you  to  refer  to  the 
railway  engine.  When  this  doleful  overture  is  over, 
and  you  hear  the  train  go  off,  you  turn  in  your  berth 
with  a  sense  of  relief,  and  try  once  more  to  sleep  ;  but 
no  sooner  have  you  begun  to  doze,  than  once  more  a 


132  NEW  ORLEANS. 

furious  knock  awakes  you,  this  time  for  the  second 
train.  All  is  over  now,  and  you  get  up  and  dress,  to 
discover,  with  renewed  indignation,  that  you  have  been 
aroused  three-quarters  of  an  hour  too  soon,  and  that 
there  is  nothing  for  you  on  the  programme  but  to  stand 
shivering  on  the  deck  or  the  long  wooden  pier,  doubtful 
whether  the  pale  green  scene  around  you,  gleaming 
through  the  poisonous  mist,  is  water  or  land ;  and  re 
flecting  that,  if  you  had  only  taken  the  first  train,  you 
might  already  have  been  at  your  hotel  in  the  city,  and 
preparing  to  enjoy  a  comfortable  breakfast. 

The  first  day  I  spent  in  New  Orleans  was  Sunday. 
All  morning  the  streets  were  alive  with  people  swarm 
ing  to  and  from  the  market-places,  and  pouring  out 
from  the  Catholic  places  of  worship.  During  the  earlier 
part  of  the  day  vast  numbers  of  shops  were  open,  and 
people  sitting  reading  the  morning  papers  as  on  other 
days.  The  French,  rather  than  the  British  or  American, 
idea  of  Sunday  seems  to  prevail.  There  is  a  magnificent 
Catholic  cathedral  in  the  city,  and  Eomanism  is  strong, 
owing  partly  to  so  large  a  portion  of  the  population 
being  of  French  and  Spanish  extraction.  Some  of  the 
districts  (faubourgs,  as  they  are  still  called,)  are  almost 
entirely  French  ;  and  French  taste  and  Spanish  magni 
ficence  are  discernible  in  the  houses,  the  equipages,  and 
the  dress  and  manners  of  the  people.  The  New  Orleans 
ladies  are  very  beautiful,  their  loveliness  being  of  the 
pale  and  delicate  caste  known  in  Italy  as  morbidezza, 
and  they  dress  with  great  elegance  and  taste.  A  New 
Orleans  belle  reclining  at  ease  and  fanning  herself,  is 
loveliness  and  grace  personified.  Many  of  the  younger 
men  have  a  fierce,  dangerous  look  about  them,  different 


DRAINAGE.  133 

from  anything  I  observed  as  a  common  feature  in  other 
American  cities. 

The  war  had  told  heavily  on  the  trade  of  New  Orleans, 
and  some  of  the  old  merchants  seemed  to  think  that  her 
glory  had  departed.  Nothing,  however,  can  permanently 
affect  the  prosperity  of  a  city  enjoying  such  splendid 
advantages  of  location.  Those  vast  rivers  of  the  north 
and  north-west — the  Upper  Mississippi,  the  Ohio,  and 
the  Missouri — draining  one  of  the  richest  regions  in  the 
world,  pour  their  treasures  into  the  Lower  Mississippi, 
which  rolls  them  down  to  New  Orleans.  More  than 
20,000  miles  of  navigable  inland  waters,  finding  their 
gateway  to  the  ocean  through  that  city,  can  scarcely 
fail  to  preserve  for  it  a  foremost  place  amongst  the  com 
mercial  centres  and  seaports  of  the  world.  Its  greatest 
enemy  is  yellow  fever ;  but  efforts  have  been  made  of 
late  years,  by  sanitary  improvements,  to  rid  the  city  of 
this  annual  visitation,  and  these  have  been  attended 
with  considerable  success.  As  immigration  increases, 
and  the  marshy  country  around  becomes  drained  and 
cultivated,  it  is  hoped  that  "  Yellow  Jack"  may  have  a 
final  quietus  given  him. 

The  vast  area  covered  by  the  city  is  almost  as  flat 
as  a  billiard-board.  It  lies  at  a  lower  level  than  the 
Mississippi,  which  flows  round  part  of  it  behind  the 
protecting  embankments  called  levees.  The  drainage 
of  the  city  is,  therefore,  not  into  the  river,  but  away 
from  it,  to  the  lake ;  and  advantage  is  taken  of  the 
higher  level  of  the  river  to  bring  streams  of  water  from 
it  into  the  streets  to  flow  in  little  runnels  at  the  sides, 
helping  to  keep  the  streets  clean  and  wholesome. 

The  city  in  every  direction  is  intersected  with  street 
railways,  such  as  are  almost  universal  in  American 


132  NEW  ORLEANS. 

furious  knock  awakes  you,  this  time  for  the  second 
train.  All  is  over  now,  and  you  get  up  and  dress,  to 
discover,  with  renewed  indignation,  that  you  have  been 
aroused  three-quarters  of  an  hour  too  soon,  and  that 
there  is  nothing  for  you  on  the  programme  but  to  stand 
shivering  on  the  deck  or  the  long  wooden  pier,  doubtful 
whether  the  pale  green  scene  around  you,  gleaming 
through  the  poisonous  mist,  is  water  or  land ;  and  re 
flecting  that,  if  you  had  only  taken  the  first  train,  you 
might  already  have  been  at  your  hotel  in  the  city,  and 
preparing  to  enjoy  a  comfortable  breakfast. 

The  first  day  I  spent  in  New  Orleans  was  Sunday. 
All  morning  the  streets  were  alive  with  people  swarm 
ing  to  and  from  the  market-places,  and  pouring  out 
from  the  Catholic  places  of  worship.  During  the  earlier 
part  of  the  day  vast  numbers  of  shops  were  open,  and 
people  sitting  reading  the  morning  papers  as  on  other 
days.  The  French,  rather  than  the  British  or  American, 
idea  of  Sunday  seems  to  prevail.  There  is  a  magnificent 
Catholic  cathedral  in  the  city,  and  Eomanism  is  strong, 
owing  partly  to  so  large  a  portion  of  the  population 
being  of  French  and  Spanish  extraction.  Some  of  the 
districts  (faubourgs,  as  they  are  still  called,)  are  almost 
entirely  French  ;  and  French  taste  and  Spanish  magni 
ficence  are  discernible  in  the  houses,  the  equipages,  and 
the  dress  and  manners  of  the  people.  The  New  Orleans 
ladies  are  very  beautiful,  their  loveliness  being  of  the 
pale  and  delicate  caste  known  in  Italy  as  morbidezza, 
and  they  dress  with  great  elegance  and  taste.  A  New 
Orleans  belle  reclining  at  ease  and  fanning  herself,  is 
loveliness  and  grace  personified.  Many  of  the  younger 
men  have  a  fierce,  dangerous  look  about  them,,  different 


DRAINAGE.  133 

from  anything  I  observed  as  a  common  feature  in  other 
American  cities. 

The  war  had  told  heavily  on  the  trade  of  New  Orleans, 
and  some  of  the  old  merchants  seemed  to  think  that  her 
glory  had  departed.  Nothing,  however,  can  permanently 
affect  the  prosperity  of  a  city  enjoying  such  splendid 
advantages  of  location.  Those  vast  rivers  of  the  north 
and  north-west — the  Upper  Mississippi,  the  Ohio,  and 
the  Missouri — draining  one  of  the  richest  regions  in  the 
world,  pour  their  treasures  into  the  Lower  Mississippi, 
which  rolls  them  down  to  New  Orleans.  More  than 
20,000  miles  of  navigable  inland  waters,  finding  their 
gateway  to  the  ocean  through  that  city,  can  scarcely 
fail  to  preserve  for  it  a  foremost  place  amongst  the  com 
mercial  centres  and  seaports  of  the  world.  Its  greatest 
enemy  is  yellow  fever ;  but  efforts  have  been  made  of 
late  years,  by  sanitary  improvements,  to  rid  the  city  of 
this  annual  visitation,  and  these  have  been  attended 
with  considerable  success.  As  immigration  increases, 
and  the  marshy  country  around  becomes  drained  and 
cultivated,  it  is  hoped  that  "  Yellow  Jack"  may  have  a 
final  quietus  given  him. 

The  vast  area  covered  by  the  city  is  almost  as  flat 
as  a  billiard-board.  It  lies  at  a  lower  level  than  the 
Mississippi,  which  flows  round  part  of  it  behind  the 
protecting  embankments  called  levees.  The  drainage 
of  the  city  is,  therefore,  not  into  the  river,  but  away 
from  it,  to  the  lake ;  and  advantage  is  taken  of  the 
higher  level  of  the  river  to  bring  streams  of  water  from 
it  into  the  streets  to  flow  in  little  runnels  at  the  sides, 
helping  to  keep  the  streets  clean  and  wholesome. 

The  city  in  every  direction  is  intersected  with  street 
railways,  such  as  are  almost  universal  in  American 


136  NEW  ORLEANS. 

which  fifty  or  a  hundred  people  sit  down  to  every  meal 
daily  all  the  year  round.  The  presence  of  so  many 
resident  boarders  secures  to>  the  traveller  far  better 
accommodation  than  he  could  have  in  this  country  at 
the  same  price,  or  indeed  at  any  price.  The  cost  of 
living  at  an  American  hotel  ranges  from  $2  to  $6 
a  day— the  most  common  charge  being  S3 — that  is, 
nominally,  12s.,  but  really,  at  present,  only  about  9s.,  by 
reason  of  the  value  of  gold.  For  this  you  have  not  only 
a  comfortable  bedroom,  public  parlours,  smoking-rooms, 
reading-rooms,  and  service,  but  you  have  three  or  four 
sumptuous  meals  every  day,  which,  if  ordered  privately, 
on  the  British  system,  would  cost  from  4s.  to  £1  a  piece. 
To  show  that  I  am  not  speaking  at  random,  let  me 
give  the  ordinary  bill  of  fare  for  dinner  in  the  hotel 
where  I  stayed  at  New  Orleans,  and  where,  I  think, 
the  charge  was  three  and  a  half  dollars  a  day.  And 
let  the  reader  remember  that  the  guests  are  free  not 
only  to  choose  a  dish  out  of  every  course,  but  to  order 
as  many  dishes  in  each  course  as  he  pleases — could,  in 
fact,  if  he  had  a  stomach  like  Apicius,  partake  of  them 
all,  and  pay  nothing  extra. 

DINNER 

Soups. — Ox- joint ;  vermicelli. 

Fish. — Baked  red  snapper,  with  brown  oyster  sauce. 

Boiled. — Leg  of  mutton,  with  caper  sauce ;  sugar-cured  ham  j  corned 
beef. 

Cold  Dishes. — Corned  beef  ;  roast  beef  ;  mutton ;  ham. 

Roast. — Beef ;  loin  of  lamb  ;  pig.  with  apple  sauce  ;  loin  of  pork  ; 
loin  of  mutton  ;  loin  of  veal. 

Entries. — Beef  a  la  mode  ;  calves  head,  with  brain  sauce  ;  cro 
quettes  of  rice,  with  lemon  sauce ;  calves  feet  a  la  Pascaline  ; 
veal  and  ham  scolloped  with  mushrooms ;  maccaroni,  with 
Italian  sauce  ;  oyster  patties. 

Vegetables. — Irish  potatoes,  mashed  or  boiled;  hominy;  rice;  beans ; 
spinach  ;  cabbage. 


DO  AT  ROME  AS  THE  ROMANS  DO.  •       137 

Relishes.  — Worcestershire  sauce  ;  mushroom  catsup  ;  walnut  and 
tomato  catsup  ;  pickled  beets  ;  mixed  pickles  ;  pickled  cucum 
bers  ;  Cumberland  sauce  ;  lettuce  ;  cheese ;  Harvey  sauce  ; 
beefsteak  sauce  ;  John  Bull  sauce. 

Pastry  and  Pudding. — Gooseberry  pie  ;  bread  pudding,  with  brandy 
sauce  ;  Pethivier  pie  ;  Genoese  perlies  :  biscuits  Milanais  ; 
annisette  jelly  ;  English  cream. 

Dessert. — Raisins  ;  filberts  j  almonds  ;  pecans  ;  oranges. 
COFFEE. 

This  was  a  specimen  of  every  day's  dinner,  and  din 
ner  was  but  one  of  three  meals,  all  included  in  the 
moderate  daily  charge  named.  Breakfast  went  on 
from  seven  in  the  morning  to  ten ;  dinner  from  two  to 
half-past  four ;  supper  from  seven  to  twelve.  • 

To  get  the  full  advantage  of  these  hotels  you  must, 
of  course,  conform  to  their  arrangements.  Breakfast  at 
the  public  table  when  breakfast  is  going  on ;  dine  when 
dinner  is  going  on ;  sup  when  supper  is  going  on.  If 
you  want  to  read,  write,  or  smoke,  go  to  the  public 
rooms  assigned  for  the  purpose,  for  if  you  don't,  you 
must  make  up  your  mind  to  pay  for  your  eccentricities. 
If  you  are  not  satisfied  with  the  public  parlour  and 
want  one  for  yourself,  you  will  probably  be  charged  ten 
to  twenty  shillings  a  day  extra.  If  you  dislike  sitting 
at  the  public  table,  and  order  your  meals  to  your  own 
room,  you  will  be  charged  for  it.  And  if  you  miss  a 
meal,  or  half-a-dozen  meals,  it  makes  no  difference  in 
your  expense.  The  charge  is  so  much  a  day,  and  you 
pay  that  amount  whether  you  avail  yourself  of  the 
accommodation  provided  for  it  or  not. 

It  was  still  the  month  of  March  when  I  visited  New 
Orleans,  but  the  weather  had  become  intensely  hot. 
Pears  were  ripe,  and  the  second  crop  of  strawberries 
was  in  the  market.  The  first  crop  had  come  on  at 
Christmas-time  in  consequence  of  an  unusually  mild 


138  NEW  ORLEANS. 

winter.  Mosquitoes  too,  which  have  no  moral  right  to 
appear  before  the  month  of  May,  were  already  begin 
ning  to  sound  their  piobrach  in  the  bedroom.  I  got 
no  sleep  the  first  night  with  these  little  winged  tormen 
tors.  The  second  night  the  mosquito-curtains  were 
up.  Going  about  the  blazing  city  during  the  day,  I 
often  thought  I  should  have  dropped.  My  hat  felt  like 
a  stove,  and  I  was  consumed  with  burning  thirst. 
Wherever  there  was  an  awning  I  walked  under  it ; 
wherever  there  was  a  streak  of  shadow  six  inches 
broad  on  the  heated  pavement  I  clung  to  it,  but  even 
the  best  shaded  streets  had  their  crossings,  and  the 
great  central  thoroughfare  that  stretches  back  from,  the 
levee  seemed,  in  the  fiery  heat,  to  be  about  half-a-mile 
wide.  Fortunately  or  unfortunately,  every  house,  store, 
and  office  had  its  fountain  of  iced  water,  and  wherever 
I  called,  my  first  petition,  after  the  usual  salutation, 
was  for  a  draught  of  this  delicious,  but,  as  I  afterwards 
found,  rather  dangerous  beverage. 

The  people  themselves  said  that  the  weather  was  un 
usually  hot  for  the  season,  but  they  were  on  the  outlook 
for  rain,  and  anticipated  that  after  the  first  shower  the 
temperature  would  fall,  and  they  should  have  another 
month  or  two  of  tolerably  cool  weather. 

At  New  Orleans,  I  met  General  Beauregard,  who 
played  so  prominent  a  part  in  the  opening  scenes  of 
the  great  war  drama.  It  was  he  who,  on  the  morning 
of  the  12th  of  April  1861,  fired  that  "first  gun"  of  im 
mortal  memory,  which  shook  the  continent,  and  awoke 
the  whole  thunder  of  the  war.  He  commanded  the 
Confederates  at  Bull  Eun,  and  was  the  General  who 
effected  the  "  bottling-up  "  of  Benjamin  Butler  at  Ber- 


GENERAL  BEAUREGARD.  139 

muda  Hundreds,  but  his  chef-d'ceuvre  was  the  defence 
of  Fort  Sumter,  which  he  held  tenaciously  to  the  last 
year  of  the  war,  against  all  the  force  that  the  North 
could  bring  against  it.  Hence  his  sobriquet  of  "  THE 
MAN  or  SUMTER,"  by  which  he  became  known  in  Con 
federate  history. 

He  is  now  employed  as  president  of  the  New  Orleans 
and  Great  Northern  Railway.  His  property  near  Mem 
phis  is  still  held  by  the  Government.  The  Freedmen's 
Bureau  have  erected  a  large  negro  school  on  part  of  it, 
where  I  found  some  of  Beauregard's  former  slaves 
amongst  the  scholars. 

Beauregard  is  a  small,  spare,  genteel-looking  man, 
with  short  dark  hair,  and  iron-grey  moustache.  I  had 
notes  from  some  of  his  old  comrades  in  arms,  and  he 
received  me  with  great  politeness.  He  has  French 
blood  in  him,  and  his  manner  is  more  cordial  than  is 
common  amongst  the  Americans. 

In  talking  of  the  Federal  and  Confederate  com 
manders,  he  spoke  with  great  respect  and  admiration 
of  General  Lee.  He  said  Longstreet  also  was  an 
admirable  soldier.  "He  inspired  his  men  with  per 
fect  confidence,  which  always  indicates  a  superior 
officer." 

He  evidently  regarded  Jackson,  however,  as  the 
genius  of  the  war.  "  Lee  was  the  trained  soldier ;  Jack 
son  was  the  born  soldier.  He  was  an  extraordinary 
man.  He  had  not  only  the  inspiration  of  a  patriot ; 
he  believed  that  he  was  directly  commissioned  by  the 
Almighty.  He  was  an  enthusiast,  but  the  people  who 
disparage  him  don't  know  him.  He  could  have  com 
manded  an  army  just  as  well  as  he  commanded  a 
corps." 


140  NEW  ORLEANS. 

Of  Federal  General  M'Clellan  he  said,  — "  M'Clellan 
was  a  fine  engineer ;  but  he  had  been  unaccustomed  to 
handle  masses  of  men,  and  he  was  just  getting  his  hand 
in  when  he  was  displaced.  His  great  defect  was  his 
lack  of  personal  daring  ;  but  if  they  had  let  M'Clellan 
alone  they  would  have  been  in  Richmond  sooner  than 
they  were." 

He  seemed  reluctant  to  express  his  opinion  of  Grant. 
"  But,"  he  said,  "  if  Grant  and  Lee  had  changed  places ; 
if  Grant  had  been  at  the  head  of  only  50,000  men,  and 
Lee  had  had  150,000,  how  long  do  you  think  Grant 
would  have  held  his  ground  ?  Or  take  Joe  Johnston 
and  Sherman.  If  Johnston  had  been  at  the  head  of 
Sherman's  army,  and  Sherman  at  the  head  of  Johnston's, 
do  you  think  Sherman  would  ever  have  got  into  the 
South  ;  or  if  he  got  in,  have  ever  got  out  again  ?  That 
is  the  way  to  look  at  it.  We  had  to  fight  against  over 
whelming  odds." 

Speaking  of  the  defence  of  Charleston,  he  said, — "  I 
have  always  intended  to  write  a  history  of  it.  But  the 
Federal  troops  captured  my  baggage  with  all  the  papers. 
I  got  the  baggage  back,  but  the  papers  were  retained, 
and  without  them  I  could  do  nothing  but  write  a  novel 
on  the  subject." 

He  said  the  world  would  never  get  much  more  than 
the  Northern  side  of  the  war.  The  North  had  posses 
sion  of  all  the  materials,  and  could  do  with  them  what 
it  liked.  On  the  Southern  side,  the  "  Eecollections  of 
Governor  Allen,"  and  "  Cooke's  Wearing  of  the  Grey," 
were  good,  but  rather  sketches  than  history.  Pollard, 
he  said,  professed  to  give  Confederate  history,  but  he 
was  unreliable.  Jordan's  "  Life  of  Forrest  "  was  good, 
and  had  the  best  account  ever  published  of  the  battle 


BEAUREGARD  ON  CONFEDERATE  HISTORY.  141 

of  Shiloh.1  Swinton's  "  Army  of  the  Potomac,"  though 
written  by  a  Northern  man,  was  fair ;  but  was  written 
when  everything  was  in  confusion,  and  was  therefore  in 
many  points  erroneous. 

In  answer  to  a  question  about  negro  soldiers,  he  said, 
— "The  negroes,  if  disciplined,  make  very  efficient 
soldiers  ;  but  they  have  not  the  morale  of  white  troops." 

After  referring  to  the  changes  that  the  war  had  made 
in  the  South,  and  the  want  there  was  for  white  immi 
gration  to  develop  the  resources  of  the  country  under 
the  new  system,  he  showed  me  the  map  of  the  New 
Orleans  and  Jackson  Eailway,  and,  running  his  finger 
up  the  eastern  side  of  the  Mississippi,  said, — "  We  have 
land  there  along  the  railway  track  for  ten  thousand 
families.  Your  Scotch  small  farmers,  with  a  little 
capital  and  personal  acquaintance  with  farm  work,  are 
just  the  men  we  want,  and  the  men  that  would  soon 
find  themselves  in  excellent  positions  here." 

Previous  to  my  leaving  New  Orleans,  the  General 
gave  me  a  kind  note  to  the  railway  officials  along  his 
line,  in  case  I  should  go  North  that  way.  This  I  was 
unable  to  do  ;  but  afterwards,  having  occasion  to  travel 

1  The  battle  of  Shiloh,  named  Sharpsburg,  named  from  the  village, 
after  a  church,  is  the  same  known  The  Northern  battle  of  the  Chicka- 
by  the  Federals  as  the  battle  of  hominy,  named  after  the  river,  is 
Pittsburg  Landing.  It  has  been  the  Southern  battle  of  Cold  Harbour, 
noted  as  a  curious  fact  that  the  named  after  a  tavern.  In  like  man- 
North,  where  possible,  named  its  ner,  the  Northern  armies  were  named 
battles  from  natural,  the  South  from  from  the  rivers,  as  the  Army  of  the 
artificial  objects.  The  North  named  Potomac,  the  Army  of  the  Tennes- 
the  battle  of  Bull  Run  from  a  brook  :  see,  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  ; 
the  South  called  it  the  battle  of  while  the  Southern  Armies  were 
Manassas,  from  the  adjacent  railway  named  from  the  artificial  divisions 
station.  The  Northern  battle  of  of  the  country— the  Army  of  Ten- 
Antietam,  named  from  another  nessee,  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir- 
brook,  is  the  Southern  battle  of  ginia,  and  so  on. 


142  NEW  ORLEANS. 

through  part  of  Tennessee  by  rail,  and  finding  the  con 
ductor — from  whom  I  particularly  wanted  some  infor 
mation — very  surly,  I  thought  next  time  he  came  round 
I  would  try  the  effect  of  Beauregard's  note.  When  the 
man  read  the  note,  he  looked  at  me,  and  read  it  again ; 
then,  folding  it  up  very  carefully,  he  fired  a  shot  of 
tobacco-juice  aside,  and  said  impressively,  "A  friend, 
sir,  of  General  Beauregard's  is  a  friend  of  mine."  He 
sat  down  beside  me,  and  began  to  tell  me  that  he  had 
fought  under  Beauregard  himself  at  the  battle  of 
Corinth.  He  gave  me  all  the  information  I  wanted ; 
but  being  evidently  anxious  to  show  his  respect  for  his 
old  General  in  some  more  tangible  way,  he  went  and 
brought  me  some  choice  cigars,  which  he  pressed  me  to 
take.  It  was  a  little  incident,  but  it  is  one  of  a  thou 
sand  illustrations  I  had  of  the  feelings  which  the  people 
cherish  for  their  fallen  chiefs. 


ODD  CUSTOMS.  143 


ODD  CUSTOMS. 

THERE  are  some  odd  practices  which,  in  the  vulgar 
notions  about  America,  obtain  no  doubt  absurd  pro 
minence,  but  which  nevertheless  do  prevail  more  or  less 
all  over  the  States,  and  specially  in  the  South  and  West. 
One  of  these  is  the  practice  of  sitting  with  the  feet  thrown 
up  on  the  nearest  elevation.  Walking  about  in  New 
Orleans  one  day,  my  eye  was  arrested  by  the  strange 
spectacle  of  twenty  or  thirty  pairs  of  boots  sticking  out 
skywards  over  the  gilded  balcony  of  one  of  the  principal 
hotels.  They  turned  out  to  be  the  boots  of  twenty  or 
thirty  gentlemen  sitting  up  in  the  balcony,  who,  with 
their  feet  over  the  rail,  and  their  chairs  tipped  back, 
were  smoking  their  cigars  and  reading  the  evening 
papers.  Even  in  the  House  of  Representatives  at 
Washington,  one  of  the  first  objects  that  attracted  my 
attention  on  entering  was  a  pair  of  large  boots  exhibit 
ing  their  soles  on  one  of  the  desks  immediately  in  front 
of  the  Speaker's  chair.  On  passing  further  in,  I  obtained 
a  view  of  the  honourable  gentleman  to  whom  the  boots 
belonged,  and  who,  leaning  back  in  his  chair,  with 
folded  arms,  had  thrown  his  feet  upon  his  desk  as  the 
posture  most  conducive  to  ease  and  meditation.  Here 
and  there,  in  that  large  and  fine  assembly,  some  other 
member  could  be  seen  in  the  same  strange  attitude. 


144  ODD  CUSTOMS. 

When  I  remarked  this  to  Mr.  Colfax,  then  speaker  of 
the  House,  who  was  with  me,  he  said, — "  You  would 
think  that  unmannerly  in  England.  But  your  members 
sit  down  in  the  House  of  Commons  with  their  hats  on. 
We  should  consider  that  unmannerly  here." 

The  negroes  very  naturally  imitate  their  old  masters  ; 
and,  in  the  mixed  Conventions  in  the  South,  it  was  a 
ludicrous  picture  of  the  revolution  that  has  taken  place, 
to  see  here  and  there,  between  two  white  members,  a 
coal-black  gentleman  reclining  easily  in  his  chair,  with 
his  arms  folded,  and  his  large  feet  thrown  luxuriously 
over  his  desk. 

It  is  only  one  feature  of  the  ease  and  absence  of 
formality  that  strikes  a  stranger  oddly  about  most 
Americans.  Even  their  representative  kings  and 
noblemen  hedge  themselves  round  with  no  divinity. 
Their  outgoings  and  incomings  are  generally  free  from 
all  pomp  and  circumstance.  You  go  up  to  the  White 
House  to  see  the  President  in  any  kind  of  dress  you 
please,  give  your  card  to  the  usher,  who  wears  no  livery 
of  any  kind,  and  wait  your  turn.  The  President,  who 
is  dressed  quite  as  plainly  as  you  are,  receives  you  with 
out  any  fuss,  hears  what  you  have  to  say,  perhaps  offers 
you  a  cigar  if  he  thinks  you  a  nice  fellow,  and  shakes 
hands  with  you  before  you  go.  All  public  men  in 
America  are  more  accessible  than  with  us ;  and  their 
unvarying  courtesy,  in  spite  of  the  extent  to  which 
they  must  be  bored  by  visitors,  continually  astonished  me. 

In  some  circles,  especially  in  the  great  centres  of 
civilisation,  style  and  etiquette  prevail  just  as  in 
refined  circles  here ;  and,  as  a  people,  the  Americans 
dress  better  than  we  do.  But  they  like  to  assert  their 
freedom ;  and  the  contempt  they  often  show  for  what 


NO  LIVERIES.  145 

we  call  "  appearances,"  strikes  a  stranger  very  oddly. 
Even  in  New  York,  I  remember  meeting'  a  D.D.  and 
magazine  editor  leaving  his  office  with  a  large  basket 
over  his  arm,  such  as  a  servant  uses  here  for  market 
ing.  At  dinner-parties  you  often  find  gentlemen  coming 
without  any  regard  to  uniformity  of  attire,  and  at  one 
party  in  the  house  of  a  wealthy  politician,  I  remember 
our  host  receiving  the  company  in  his  shooting-coat. 
At  Montgomery,  Alabama,  when  visiting  the  State 
House  where  the  Confederate  Government  held  its 
first  sittings,  we  were  introduced  to  the  Secretary  of 
State,  who  was  hard  at  work  at  his  desk,  and  who 
received  us  cordially  in  his  shirt- sleeves.  One  of  the 
heads  of  departments  at  Des  Moines,  in  the  State  of 
Iowa,  welcomed  us  in  exactly  the  same  costume.  The 
day  was  warm,  and  it  was  more  comfortable  to  be 
without  one's  coat.  Why  then  should  he  keep  it  on  ? 
It  was  the  Eepublican  idea  in  its  rough  form.  The 
man  was  there — the  Secretary  of  State  was  there- — 
coat  or  no  coat  made  no  difference  in  his  ability  to  do 
his  work.  The  coat  was  nothing ;  the  man  was  every 
thing. 

All  official  costumes  or  liveries  are  unpopular  in 
the  States.  They  seem  to  be  regarded  as  menial  and 
unrepublican.  Even  the  railway  guards  and  porters 
dress  just  like  other  people.  The  conductor  occa 
sionally  wears  a  little  band  round  his  cap,  or  a  little 
silver  brooch  fastened  on  his  coat,  that  you  may  know 
him ;  but  it  is  only  to  prevent  confusion,  and  let  you 
see  that  you  are  giving  your  ticket  to  the  right  man. 
Ministers  dress  like  laymen,  very  rarely  wearing  a 
white  tie,  either  in  the  pulpit  or  out  of  it.  As  for 
pulpit-gowns,  I  don't  remember  having  seen  such  a 

VOL.  II.  K 


146  ODD  CUSTOMS. 

thing  in  the  United  States,  except  in  Episcopal 
churches.  The  common  practice  is  for  the  minister 
to  walk  up  to  the  pulpit  in  his  overcoat,  and  take  it 
off  there  at  his  leisure — sometimes  taking  off  his  over 
shoes  there  also.  At  public  meetings  even  greater 
license  is  sometimes  claimed.  Smith,  the  late  Governor 
of  Virginia,  began  a  speech  on  one  occasion  with  his 
overcoat  and  muffler  both  on.  Finding  himself  getting 
too  warm,  he  threw  them  off  and  proceeded.  When  the 
vehemence  of  his  delivery  began  'to  bring  out  a  per 
spiration  upon  him,  he  said, — "  If  the  audience  will 
allow  me,  I  will  take  off  my  coat," — which  he  did. 
Warming  still  more  over  his  subject,  he  next  threw  off 
his  collar,  unbuttoned  the  neck  of  his  shirt,  rolled  up 
his  sleeves,  and  in  this  state  delivered  a  peroration 
that  brought  down  the  house. 

When  I  remarked  to  a  friend  in  the  Old  Dominion 
that  it  was  strange  to  see  so  much  absence  of  formality, 
he  said, — "  You  will  find  more  of  that  sort  of  thing  in 
the  Carolinas."  Failing  to  see  much  of  it  even  there,  I 
mentioned  the  fact  to  a  young  lawyer  at  Ealeigh. 

"  Oh  !"  said  he,  "  if  it  is  ancient  forms  you  want,  come 
up  to  the  Supreme  Court  to-morrow  morning,  and  see  it 
opened  in  the  old  Norman  style." 

I  was  there  before  the  hour,  and  found  the  judges, 
attorneys,  and  clients  all  talking  familiarly  together 
round  the  stove.  The  Marshall,  Mr.  Litchford,  vulgarly 
known  as  "  Old  Litchford,"  whose  business  it  is  to  open 
the  Court,  was  also  there,  dressed  like  a  respectable 
working-man,  without  any  badge  of  office.  Litchford, 
by  the  way,  was  the  identical  tailor  to  whom  Andrew 
Johnson,  afterwards  President  of  the  United  States,  was 
apprenticed  in  Ealeigh  when  he  was  a  tailor- lad. 


WHITTLING.  147 

When  nine  o'clock  arrived,  the  Judges  took  their 
seats  upon  the  Bench,  and  the  Chief  Justice  ordered 
the  Marshall  to  open  the  Court.  Whereupon  old  Litch- 
ford,  rolling  his  quid  into  his  cheek,  and  squirting,  cried, 
— "  0  yez  !  0  yez  !  this  Supreme  Court  is  now  opened  ; 
God  bless  the  State  and  this  honourable  Court !"  and 
wound  up  with  another  squirt  by  way  of  peroration. 
The  Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina  was  thus  re 
opened  in  the  old  Norman  style.  It  was  comical  enough, 
but  then  the  Supreme  Court  was  not  the  less  Supreme, 
nor  were  the  lawyers  less  able  or  less  eminent  men  on 
that  account.  I  daresay  many  of  our  forms  appear  just 
as  absurd  to  the  Americans. 

Mr.  Vance,  ex-govern  or  of  the  same  State,  said  jocosely, 
when  this  subject  was  mooted, — "  Don't  go  away  with 
the  notion  that  we  discard  forms.  Judge  -  — ,  sir,  is 
as  great  a  stickler  for  forms  as  any  man  in  your  country. 
One  day  a  soldier,  who  had  been  battered  considerably 
in  the  war,  was  brought  in  as  a  witness.  The  Judge 
told  him  to  hold  up  his  right  hand. 

"  Can't  do  it,  sir,"  said  the  man. 

"Why  not?" 

"  Got  a  shot  in  that  arm,  sir." 

"  Then  hold  up  your  left." 

The  man  said  he  had  got  a  shot  in  that  arm  too. 

"  Then,"  said  the  Judge,  sternly,  "  you  must  hold  up 
your  leg.  No  man  can  be  sworn,  sir,  in  this  Court  by 
law,  unless  he  holds  up  something !" 

Whittling  is  another  odd  practice  still  common  enough 
with  some  Americans  when  they  have  nothing  better  to 
do,  or  have  any  nervous  energy  to  work  off.  The  ex- 
governor  just  referred  to,  when  I  first  saw  him  in  a 


148  ODD  CUSTOMS. 

friend's  office,  was  amusing  himself,  as  he  talked  to  his 
friend  notching  the  corner  of  the  rude  chair  with  his 
whittling  knife.  Bourienne  records  the  same  thing  of 
Napoleon,  so  let  us  suppose  that  it  is  a  mark  of  genius. 

I  remember,  at  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Old  School 
Presbyterians  at  Albany,  observing  Dr.  Charles  Hodge, 
the  well-known  American  theologian,  sitting  in  the  sofa 
of  honour  in  rear  of  the  platform,  intent,  during  the 
greater  part  of  a  debate,  in  cutting  the  top  of  a  stick 
into  what  appeared  to  be  intended  for  a  dog's  head. 
They  tell  the  story  of  a  young  American,  who,  being 
poor,  found  great  difficulty  in  overcoming  the  objection 
of  his  inamorata's  father  to  the  match.  One  day  he 
took  his  minister  with  him  to  testify  to  his  character 
and  urge  his  suit.  While  the  minister  did  so,  the  ex 
cited  youth  sat  nervously  whittling  the  top  of  his  stick. 
The  old  gentleman  watched  him,  and  at  last  got  up  and 
said, — "  No,  sir,  you  shan't  have  my  daughter.  I  have 
watched  you  whittling  that  stick,  and  if  you  had  made 
a  man's  head  of  it,  or  a  dog's  head,  or  the  likeness  of 
any  mortal  thing  in  heaven  above  or  in  the  earth  be 
neath,  I'd  have  said,  'Take  the  girl;'  but  a  man  that 
whittles  a  stick  for  fifteen  minutes  and  makes  nothing 
of  it,  ain't  worth  a  ten-cent  cuss." 

A  much  less  agreeable  and  at  the  same  time  a  much 
more  common  habit  in  America,  is  the  chewing  and 
spitting  of  tobacco.  This  practice  prevails  more  or 
less  all  over  the  continent,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific,  and  from  Canada  to  the  Mexican  Gulf. 
Happily  it  is  disappearing  in  New  England,  and 
from  amongst  the  classes  of  highest  refinement  all 
over  the  States.  But  the  extent  to  which  it  still  pre 
vails  in  some  parts  of  the  South  and  West  would 


TOBACCO-SPITTING.  149 

scarcely  be  credited.  You  see  people  chewing  and 
spitting  in  the  streets,  in  the  stores,  in  the  hotels, 
especially  around  the  stove,  and  in  every  ferryboat, 
steamboat,  and  railway  car.  I  remember,  on  the 
Charlotte  Road,  a  man  getting  out  at  a  way-station, 
where  his  wife  was  meeting  him.  He  appeared  to  be 
delighted  to  see  her,  and  stepping  up,  rolled  his  quid 
into  his  "  off  cheek,"  gave  a  diagonal  squirt,  to  prepare 
for  the  enjoyment,  and  then  kissed  her.  There  was  a 
juiciness  about  the  transaction  that  keeps  it  very  fresh 
in  my  memory.  Even  in  New  England  you  see  the 
floors  of  railway  cars  traversed  with  heavy  splashes  of 
tobacco  juice,  which  have  been  projected  with  inade 
quate  force  in  the  direction  of  some  distant  spittoon ; 
and  at  other  times  filthy  with  puddles  of  the  same 
fluid,  gradually  thickening  and  expanding  between  the 
feet  of  assiduous  chawers.  I  can  still  recall  the  intense 
gratification  with  which  I  beheld  the  man  who  sat  next 
me  letting  fall  his  clean  copy  of  Harper's  Monthly  into 
the  puddle  he  had  been  making  between  his  feet  and 
mine. 

It  is  not  only  the  commoner  classes  that  indulge  in 
this  offensive  habit.  I  remember  one  of  the  most 
eminent  ministers  in  South  Carolina,  with  whom  I  had 
a  warm  discussion  at  his  own  fireside  on  the  subject  of 
slavery,  pulling  a  knife  out  of  one  pocket,  a  cake  of 
tobacco  out  of  another,  cutting  a  plug  for  himself,  and 
beginning  to  chew  and  spit  vigorously,  as  if  to  work  off 
the  extra  'excitement,  and  keep  himself  cool  enough  for 
argument.  I  remember  the  Governor  of  another 
Southern  State  explaining  to  me  the  strange  relation 
in  which  he  stood  to  the  Military  Department,  and 
nailing  down  each  statement  with  an  emphatic  squirt 
into  the  adjacent  spittoon.  I  remember  still  more 


150  ODD  CUSTOMS. 

vividly — the  incongruity  was  so  ludicrous  to  one  un 
accustomed  to  the  fashion  of  the  country — a  Southern 
poet  reading  me  some  of  his  verses,  with  a  large  plug 
of  tobacco  in  his  mouth;  and  every  now  arid  then, 
when  his  mouth  became  too  full,  stopping  in  the 
middle  of  some  beautiful  line  to  squirt  another  mouth 
ful  of  tobacco  juice  towards  the  grate.  In  Courts  of 
Justice  you  sometimes  see  the  officer  give  a  squirt,  and 
call  up  the  next  witness,  the  witness  take  up  the  Bible, 
and  give  a  squirt  before  kissing  it;  and  the  Mayor 
squirting  in  the  spittoon  at  his  feet  before  proceeding  to 
put  the  man  upon  his  oath.  All  this  is  so  much  a 
thing  of  custom  that  the  people  themselves  are  almost 
unconscious  of  it,  and  probably  will  not  believe  how 
conspicuous  it  is  to  a  stranger.  It  seems  to  them  no 
more  offensive  than  smoking  appears  to  us,  or  snuffing 
did  to  our  grandfathers. 

It  is  a  partial  approximation  to  our  own  views  of  the 
practice  that  it  is  considered  desirable  to  have  the  ex 
pectorated  juice  discharged  into  spittoons  and  carried 
forth  from  the  sight  of  men.  In  many  of  the  railway 
cars,  placards  are  stuck  up  requesting  particularly  that 
gentlemen  will  spit  in  the  spittoons.  In  deference  to 
which  request  I  observed  that  gentlemen  spat  in  the 
direction  of  the  spittoons,  but  not  always  with  the 
success  which  one  could  have  desired.  On  one  line 
the  check-tickets  which  passengers  get  to  stick  in  their 
hats  had  the  following  admonition  on  the  back  : — 


Those  who  expect-to-rate  as  gentlemen, 
will  not  expectorate  on  the  floor ! 


Spittoons  are  everywhere.    They  occupy  an  honoured 


CARRYING  ARMS.  151 

place  at  the  White  House.  They  cover  the  floors  of 
both  Houses  of  Congress,  and  the  floors  of  all  the 
Legislative  Halls  throughout  the  country.  They 
abound  in  steamboat  saloons  and  cabins,  in  railway 
cars,  in  stores,  offices,  private  houses,  colleges,  and  even 
in  places  of  public  worship.  I  was  only  surprised  that 
the  national  principle  had  not  introduced  one  with  a 
chawed-up  plug  of  tobacco  in  it  under  the  beak  of  the 
American  eagle,  with  the  view  of  properly  indicating 
its  nationality. 

The  increasing  refinement  of  the  country,  however, 
is  setting  its  face  against  this  disgusting  practice.  ' 

Tell  it  not  in  Gath,  publish  it  not  in  Askelon,  but  it 
is  said  that  ladies  in  some  parts  of  the  South  use 
tobacco  also.  Not  in  the  public  and  vulgar  way 
common  amongst  the  men,  but  in  the  form  of  snuff, 
into  which  a  little  stick  of  fibrous  wood  is  dipped  and 
then  chewed.  The  practice  is  known  in  North  Carolina 
by  the  name  of  "dipping."  It  is  said  to  keep  the  teeth 
beautiful  and  white.  I  sometimes  saw  a  negro  woman 
with  the  dipping  stick  between  her  lips ;  but  white 
ladies  are  not  disposed  to  own  the  soft  impeachment, 
and  reports  vary  as  to  the  prevalence  of  the  practice. 

Another  custom  which  is  queer  enough  at  a  proper 
distance  is  that  of  carrying  arms.  Such  a  thing  is 
scarcely  known  in  New  England  or  the  settled 
Northern  States,  but  in  some  parts  of  the  South  and 
South-west  it  seemed  to  me  that  almost  everybody 
carried  some  murderous  weapon  about  with  him.  I 
remember  one  day,  in  Alabama,  getting  into  conversa 
tion  in  the  cars  with  a  mild-looking  gentleman  who  sat 
opposite,  and  expressing  my  surprise  at  this  practice. 


152  ODD  CUSTOMS. 

"  I  guess,"  said  he,  "  it 's  safer.  I  always  carry  seven 
shots  about  with  me  myself." 

The  mild-looking  gentleman,  as  he  spoke,  drew  up 
a  corner  of  his  vest  and  gave  me  a  glimpse  of  a  revolver 
that  was  stuck  into  his  trousers'  pocket. 

I  found  he  was  connected  with  the  Government 
operations  for  completing  the  national  cemeteries ;  so 
that  he  might  be,  or  might  suppose  himself  to  be,  more 
in  danger  than  ordinary  men.  The  disturbed  state  of 
the  country  at  the  time  probably  caused  an  unusually 
large  number  to  go  about  armed,  but  the  practice  seems 
to  have  been  always  common  over  a  great  part  of  the 
South,  as  well  as  along  the  Western  frontiers,  where 
the  unsettled  state  of  society  and  the  inaccessibility  of 
proper  Courts  of  Justice,  throw  upon  every  man  the 
duty  of  self-defence.  I  cannot  say  that,  even  in  the 
worst  parts,  I  encountered  any  of  those  dangerous 
characters  who  are  said  to  pick  their  teeth  with  bowie- 
knives  ;  but  in  liquor- saloons  and  gambling-houses 
(which  the  reader  will  not  mistake  my  motive  in  visit 
ing)  I  have  seen  a  man  change  his  revolver  to  a  more 
convenient  pocket,  or  unbuckle  it  and  lay  it  under  his 
elbow,  as  if  to  give  fair  warning  that  he  was  not  to  be 
trifled  with.  People  who  frequent  such  places  must,  of 
course,  take  their  chance,  and  are  themselves  to  blame, 
if  they  get  into  a  brawl  at  last,  and  are  cut  up  with  a 
bowie-knife,  or  shot.  But  I  am  disposed  to  estimate 
as  very  slight  the  danger  which  any  man  runs,  even  in 
the  worst  parts  of  the  South-west,  who  is  engaged  in 
honest  work  and  attends  to  his  own  business.  At  New 
Orleans,  which  had  a  bad  character  for  murder  and 
outrage  before  the  war,  I  was  spending  an  evening 
with  Mr.  M'Coard,  a  Scotchman,  who  has  been  there 
for  the  greater  part  of  his  life.  When  I  spoke  to  him 


CARRYING  ARMS. 


153 


about  this  practice  of  carrying  arms,  lie  put  his  finger 
into  his  waistcoat  pocket  and  brought  forth  a  small 
penknife  with  one  of  the  blades  broken. 

"This/'  said  he,  "is  the  only  weapon  I  have  ever 
carried,  and  I  have  been  here  for  thirty  years,  and  have 
often  had  occasion  to  pass  at  night  through  the  worst 
parts  of  this  city.  But,  then,  I  attended  to  my  own 
business,  and  interfered  with  nobody  else."1 


1  Let  me  add  a  word  here  about 
the  alleged  dangerous  intolerance  of 
the  Southern  people,  of  which  I  had 
often  read  in  books,  and  of  which  I 
had  several  times  been  warned  in  the 
North.  If  it  is  common  now,  as 
it  seems  to  have  been  in  the  days 
and  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  I  saw 
very  little  of  it ;  and  even  when  dis 
cussing  questions  on  which  my  views 
were  entirely  at  variance  with  theirs, 
I  found  myself  always  listened  to 
with  patience,  and  treated  with  the 
most  perfect  courtesy. 

I  confess  to  having  doubts  whether 
the  same  consideration  would  always 
have  been  shown  me  had  I  come 
from  New  England  instead  of  Scot 
land.  The  feeling  against  Northern 
measures,  Northern  institutions,  and 
Northern  people,  was  very  strong, 
and  seemed  to  have  been  imbibed 
even  by  the  children.  "  0  God, 
bless  our  folks,"  prayed  one  little 
Southern  child,  at  her  mother's 
knee,  "but  don't  you,  God,  be  go 
ing  and  blessing  the  Yankees !" 
Northern  capitalists  trying  to  settle 
in  the  South,  were  getting  the  cold 
shoulder  given  them  ;  and  Northern 
officers  were,  as  a  rule,  excluded 
from  Southern  society.  I  feel  bound 
to  say  that,  as  far  as  my  observation 
went,  this  antipathy  was  almost  en 


tirely  on  the  Southern  side.  In  the 
North,  I  heard  almost  nothing  ex 
pressed  but  compassion  for  the 
South  in  her  desolation,  regret  that 
the  war  had  become  necessary,  and 
sincere  desire  (the  war  being  over 
and  the  new  principles  established) 
to  live  with  the  Southern  people  on 
terms  of  cordial  friendship.  Of 
course  the  circumstances  of  North 
and  South  after  the  war  have  much 
to  do  with  this  difference  of  feeling. 
Magnanimity  and  kindness  are  vir 
tues  much  easier  of  practice  to  the 
victor  than  to  the  vanquished.  But 
Soxithern  feeling  is  not  the  less  to 
be  deplored,  and  it  is  pleasant  to 
see  that  in  many  quarters  it  is 
changing.  I  remember,  in  the  hotel 
at  Raleigh,  hearing  a  long  and  ami 
cable  discussion  carried  on  between 
old  Federal  and  Confederate  officers 
who,  three  years  before,  had  been 
seeking  each  others'  lives  on  the  field 
of  battle.  And  now  that  slavery, 
the  great  wall  of  partition,  is  thrown 
down,  and  intercourse  between 
North  and  South  is  daily  increasing, 
it  may  be  confidently  anticipated 
that  the  two  peoples,  coming  to 
know  each  other  better,  will  come 
to  love  and  honour  and  respect  each 
other  more. 


154:  UP  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 


X. 

UP    THE    MISSISSIPPI. 

"ARE  you  going  as  far  as  the  Mississippi  Eiver?" 
a  New  York  friend  asked  me  before  I  began  my 
Southern  tour. 

I  said  it  was  my  hope  to  get  as  far  as  that  at  least. 

"  Then  take  my  advice,"  he  said,  "  and  don't  go 
aboard  a  Mississippi  steamer." 

"Why  not?" 

"Because  you '11  run  the  risk  of  going  heavenwards 
faster  than  you  want,"  he  replied;  "these  steamers 
have  an  ugly  habit  of  blowing  up."1 

"Do  you  intend  sailing  on  the  Mississippi?"  asked 
another  friend  when  I  had  got  to  Philadelphia. 

I  told  him  that  very  likely  I  should. 

"  Because,  if  you  do/'  he  said,  "  I  would  recommend 
you  to  take  a  berth  as  far  aft  as  possible." 

"  For  what  reason  ?" 

"  Because  if  there 's  a  blow-up,"  he  said,  "  you  have  a 
better  chance  of  getting  ashore." 

Similar  advices  were  given  by  so  many  friends  in  the 
Eastern  States,  some  of  them  in  joke,  others  manifestly 

1  The  correspondent  of  a  Western-  had  been  blown.     When  asked  how 

paper,  who  had  been  blown  up  on  he  had  got  down  again,  he  replied, — 

the  Mississippi,  published  shortly  "  I  greased  my  pants  and  slid  down 

afterwards    a    description    of    the  on  a  rainbow." 
heavenly  land  to  which,  he  said,  he 


HIGH  PRESSURE.  155 

in  earnest,  that  when  at  New  Orleans  I  did  go  aboard 
a  Mississippi  steamer  on  my  way  to  Vicksburg,  the 
possibility  of  an  explosion  was  sufficiently  present  to 
my  mind  to  make  me  ask  the  clerk  as  a  particular 
favour  to  let  me  have  a  berth  as  far  aft  as  he  could. 

"  I  reckon,"  he  said,  as  he  passed  me  the  book  to 
enter  my  name,  "  most  of  the  aft  berths  are  taken  up ; 
but  I  '11  give  you  the  farthest  aft  there  is  vacant/' 

I  thanked  him  with  great  cordiality,  and,  on  his 
giving  me  my  key,  went  off  in  good  spirits  to  see  where 
my  cabin  was.  I  confess  to  a  very  distinct  subsidence 
in  my  feelings  of  gratitude  and  satisfaction  when  I 
found  that  the  aft  berths  had  been  so  far  taken  up  that 
mine  was  the  one  exactly  over  the  boiler-pipes.  The 
steamer,  however,  looked  so  magnificent,  with  her  deck- 
cabins  towering  into  the  sky,  and  her  vast  saloon 
sparkling  with  white  and  gold,  that  I  felt  as  if  the 
explosion  of  so  majestic  a  structure  was  not  a  thing  to 
be  imagined. 

When  the  engines  began  to  work  and  the  floating 
palace  moved  out  into  the  river,  I  felt  this  confidence 
beginning  to  give  way.  I  don't  know  whether  her  being 
a  high-pressure  steamboat  had  anything  to  do  with  it, 
but  instead  of  making  the  usual  noise  of  machinery,  she 
began  to  draw  huge  soft  breaths  that  seemed  to  inflate 
her  from  stem  to  stern ;  and  while  it  sent  her  speeding 
on  with  her  airy  bulk  over  the  smooth  water,  gave  at 
the  same  time  a  light  tremulous  jigging  motion  to 
everything,  as  if  the  mighty  fabric  were  constructed  of 
pasteboard. 

Nor  was  this  the  last  source  of  uneasiness.  When 
night  came  on  I  retired  to  my  cabin.  It  was  a  beauti 
ful  little  room — one  of  a  hundred  such — all  white  and 


156  UP  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 

gold,  with  muslin  curtains,  marble  washstand,  and  a 
mirror  with  resplendent  frame.  But  a  skeleton  pre 
sided  at  this  feast  of  upholstery.  Over  the  mirror  was 
fastened  a  neatly  printed  card  conveying  the  following 
little  piece  of  information  : — 


Passengers  will  find 

LIFE-BELTS 

under  their  berths. 

The  doors  can  also  be  lifted 

easily  off  their  hinges,  and  the 

MATTRESSES 
make  good  life-preservers. 


I  confess  that  I  did  not  go  to  bed  any  easier  in  mind 
after  reading  that.  It  was  no  doubt  well  to  know  that, 
if  occasion  called  for  it,  a  life-belt  was  within  arm's  - 
length ;  also  that  the  door  could  be  lifted  easily  off  its 
hinges ;  but  the  possibility  of  having  to  make  a  run 
down  the  Mississippi  Eiver  in  the  middle  of  the  night 
on  the  back  of  a  cabin-  door,  was  not  the  most  cheerful 
thought  with  which  to  lull  one's-self  to  repose.  I  have 
said  that  my  berth  was  immediately  over  the  boiler- 
pipes.  The  steam  in  these  vessels  is  not  blown  off  near 
the  top  of  the  funnel,  as  in  ours,  but  is  blown  out 
through  the  side.  The  consequence  was,  that  whenever 
during  the  night  the  steamer  had  to  stop  at  any  place, 
I  was  first  of  all  startled  by  the  hollow  shriek  of  a 
steam- whistle,  which  was  instantly  succeeded  by  a 
horrible  sound  as  of  a  volcano  opening  under  my  berth, 
and  a  roar  of  steam,  which  seemed  bellowing  on  me  to 
spring  up,  unhinge  the  cabin-door,  and  prepare  for  the 
worst. 

The  first  night  accustomed  me  to  all  this ;  and  after- 


RIVER  STEAMERS.  157 

wards,  in  the  different  Mississippi  steamers  of  which  I 
had  experience,  I  slept  as  comfortably  as  in  my  own 
bed  at  home,  especially  when  I  got  a  little  farther  away 
from  the  boiler-pipes. 

Apart  from  the  danger  of  explosion,  which,  after  all, 
is  much  less  than  at  first  it  seems,  these  steamers  are 
admirably  contrived  for  comfort.  That  one  from  New 
Orleans  to  Vicksburg — the  "  Eobert  E.  Lee" — was  the 
largest  and  finest  I  saw  on  any  American  river  except 
the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Hudson.  Her  accommodation 
was  immense ;  her  gorgeous  saloon,  extending  without 
a  break  from  end  to  end  of  the  steamer  (for  the  machinery 
is  all  on  the  lower  deck),  was  richly  carpeted,  and  had 
tables,  reading-desks,  and  luxurious  lounges  without 
number.  The  very  spittoons  were  richly  silvered.  The 
mode  of  building  up  these  steamers,  terrace  above  ter 
race,  gives  the  choice  of  three  open  decks  to  walk  upon ; 
and  every  cabin  passenger  has  a  bedroom  to  himself. 
Each  room  is  fitted  up  with  two  beds,  but,  except  from 
choice,  two  persons  are  never  "  roomed"  together  unless 
the  steamer  is  crowded.  The  greater  part  of  the  saloon 
aft  of  the  centre  tables  is  fitted  up  in  even  more  luxu 
rious  style,  and  is  reserved  for  ladies,  and  for  gentlemen 
who  have  ladies  with  them. 

The  steamers  on  the  Hudson  River  are  still  more 
magnificent,  and  at  the  same  time  safer  and  more  sub 
stantial.  Their  saloons  are  like  lofty  glittering  arcades, 
with  three  or  four  airy  galleries  on  both  sides — each 
gallery,  with  its  long  line  of  cabin-doors,  painted  in 
white  and  gold. 

The  fare  on  these  steamers  is  almost  as  sumptuous 
as  at  the  hotels,  an  extraordinary  variety  of  dishes  being 
provided  at  every  meal.  The  charge  is  about  five  dol- 


158  UP  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 

lars  a  day — say  twelve  to  fifteen  shillings  of  our  money 
— and  this  includes  everything,  passage-money,  bed 
room,  meals,  and  service.  Eiver  travelling  in  America, 
in  these  first-class  steamers,  free  as  it  is  from  all  danger 
of  storm  and  sea- sickness,  is  the  most  delicious  and 
luxurious  kind  of  travelling  of  which  I  have  ever  had 
experience. 

The  greatest  want  on  the  Mississippi  is  the  want  of 
scenery.  Till  you  get  up  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred 
miles  from  the  Gulf,  there  is  almost  no  variety.  This 
may  be  said  to  be  a  feature  of  American  scenery  gener 
ally.  It  is  told  of  some  plaid- weaver,  that  he  projected 
a  tartan  of  so  vast  a  check  that  it  would  have  required 
four  Highland  regiments  to  be  dressed  in  it  to  let  the 
entire  pattern  be  seen.  American  scenery  is  on  that 
kind  of  scale.  You  sometimes  travel  hundreds  of  miles 
before  you  see  any  change  or  get  a  glimmering  of  the 
general  pattern.  There  are,  of  course,  exceptions.  Splendid 
river  scenery  is  got  on  the  Hudson,  which  is  the  Ehine 
of  the  United  States ;  magnificent  landscapes  are  also 
got  along  the  Blue  Eidge  and  up  the  Valley  of  Virginia ; 
and  in  California,  which  I  did  not  get  across  to  see,  the 
Yo  Semite  Valley  is  acquiring  the  reputation  amongst 
travellers  of  being  unsurpassed  in  grandeur  by  any 
scenery  in  the  world.  And  of  course  there  are  parti 
cular  sights,  such  as  Niagara,  and  the  Kentucky  Caves, 
and  the  Natural  Bridge,  that  rank  among  the  wonders 
of  the  world.  But  all  this  is  exceptional.  America, 
over  the  greater  part  of  her  immense  area,  is  flat  and 
tame.  Even  some  of  her  mountain  ranges  rise  so  im 
perceptibly,  that  they  lose  the  ordinary  appearance  of 
mountains.  A  gentleman  who  had  come  over  the  Eocky 
Mountains  said  the  only  two  things  he  had  failed  to 


MISSISSIPPI  SCENERY.  159 

discover  were  mountains  and  rocks.  The  main  features 
of  American  scenery  are  two,  namely,  flat  forest  land 
and  flat  prairie  land. 

On  the  lower  Mississippi  the  scenery  is  particularly 
monotonous.  Standing  on  the  topmost  deck  or  flat 
roof  of  the  steamer  to  get  the  widest  view,  you  behold 
around  you  what  seems  to  be  a  lake.  The  banks  or 
shores,  when  the  river  is  full,  are  a  mere  rim  to  the 
water,  and  are  clothed  with  wood,  over  which,  especially 
on  the  newly  deposited  lands,  where  the  spontaneous 
growth  of  cotton-wood  is  low,  you  get  glimpses  of  a 
vast  expanse  of  forest  beyond,  melting  into  blue  haze. 
As  you  steam  swiftly  on,  the  low- lying  woods  are  con 
tinually  closing  in  behind  and  gliding  apart  in  front, 
revealing  reach  after  reach  of  river,  still  separated  from 
the  sky  by  the  same  low  rim  of  wooded  brink.  Some 
times,  far  ahead,  you  may  discern,  rising  from  the  flat 
expanse,  a  hilly  ridge  or  "  bluff."  But  in  two  or  three 
hours  it  has  glided  to  the  rear,  and  is  sinking  again  into 
the  level  expanse  out  of  which  it  rose.  Darkness  comes 
and  you  retire  to  rest,  the  steamer  speeding  on  at  the 
rate  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  miles  an  hour  all  through  the 
night.  In  the  morning  you  get  up  and  mount  again  to 
your  point  of  observation,  only  to  see  the  same  thing 
repeating  itself — the  low  alluvial  banks  along  both 
sides,  the  expanse  of  forest,  and  the  reaches  of  river  one 
after  another  opening  up  ahead.  And  so  through  that 
boundless  expanse,  which  is  one  day  to  be  the  home  of 
millions  of  human  families,  you  move  on  and  on  un 
ceasingly. 

The  river  flows  in  so  sinuous  a  course,  and  parts  its 
.arms  so  often  to  take  in  an  island,  that  from  the  steam 
boat  the  rising  or  setting  sun  shifts  about  in  the  most 


160  UP  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 

bewildering  manner  from  front  to  back,  and  from  one 
side  to  the  other.  Sometimes  the  river  makes  a  vast 
detour,  returning  after  a  sweep  of  twenty  or  thirty 
miles  to  near  the  spot  from  which  the  detour  began. 
At  these  points  it  sooner  or  later  makes  a  new  channel 
for  itself  across  the  neck  of  land.  This  is  called  a  shoot, 
and  as  soon  as  it  becomes  deep  enough,  steamers  and 
rafts  avail  themselves  of  it  to  shorten  the  distance. 
Over  great  tracks  the  river  flows  at  a  higher  level  than 
the  land,  and  is  kept  in  its  place  only  by  the  banks  it 
has  washed  up  for  itself.  An  overflow  or  a  giving  way 
of  this  barrier  sometimes  converts  a  region  as  large  as 
an  English  county  into  an  inland  sea. 

The  Mississippi  looked  its  best  at  that  season,  being 
deepened  and  broadened  by  the  melting  of  the  winter 
snows  in  the  far  North.  The  rising  of  the  river  seemed 
everywhere  the  item  of  news  most  interesting  to  the 
people  ;  and  the  telegrams  announcing  that  "  At  Cincin 
nati,  on  the  14th,  the  river  was  rising — weather  clear," 
and  that  "  On  the  1 5th,  the  Arkansas  Eiver  had  risen 
twenty  feet,"  were  read  with  as  much  eagerness  as  a 
rise  in  stock  would  excite  in  people  holding  scrip.  The 
rising  of  the  river  means,  for  that  part  of  the  continent, 
the  opening  up  of  the  North-west  and  the  commence 
ment  of  the  summer  trade.  At  other  seasons,  especially 
after  a  long  summer  drought,  the  river  is  low,  and  navi 
gation  becomes  more  difficult  and  dangerous.1 

1  It  is  said  that  during  the  war  the    coast,  where    the    rivers    and 

the  men  fronffar  up  country,  where  sloughs    become    flooded    by    the 

they  were  accustomed  to  no  rise  in  tide-water.     One  case  was  that  of  a 

the  level  of  their  inland  waters,  ex-  Hard-shell  Baptist  preacher,  acting 

cept  after  rains  or  the  melting  of  the  as  a  captain  in  the  Confederate  ser- 

snows  in  the  far  North,  were  often  vice,  who,  with  his  company,  was 

bewildered  and  thrown  out  of  their  sent  across  what  he  took  to  be  a 

reckoning  when  brought  down  near  shallow  stream  to  reconnoitre.  Find- 


SNAGS.  161 

We  hear  a  great  deal  about  the  number  of  accidents 
on  the  Mississippi,  but  the  wonder  to  those  who  have 
travelled  on  it  must  be,  that  the  accidents  are  so  few  as 
they  are.  Even  where  the  river  is  a  mile  or  half-a-mile 
wide,  the  channel  is  often  narrow,  and  is  continually 
shifting.  Then  there  are  the  "  snags."  These  snags  are 
trees  which  have  dropped  into  the  river  and  been  swept 
down,  till  meeting  with  some  obstruction  they  have 
stuck,  their  heavy  roots  getting  embedded  in  the  mud 
at  the  bottom,  while  their  trunks,  under  the  influence 
of  the  current,  are  kept  pointing  down  the  river.  There 
they  remain,  slanting  up  like  a  spear,  ready  to  transfix 
any  steamer  that  runs  up  against  them.  When  they 
are  long  enough  to  protrude  from  the  water  they  are 
less  dangerous,  because  visible — at  least  by  day.  Even 
when  they  come  close  to  the  surface,  they  betray  their 
presence '  by  causing  a  disturbance  in  the  otherwise 
smooth  flow  of  the  water,  as  if  a  gigantic  fish  were 
arrowing  its  way  against  the  current.  But  some  of 
them  keep  their  heads  sufficiently  far  below  not  to  dis 
turb  the  smooth  current,  and  yet  sufficiently  near  the 
surface  to  strike  a  steamer  passing  over.  These  are  the 

ing  himself  in  the  neighbourhood  of  brethering,  I  have  been  a  preacher 

a  vastly  superior  force  of  the  enemy,  of  the  gospel  for  twenty  years,  and 

he  concealed  his  men  and  lay  close  was   always    agin'  cussin',  but  the 

for  several  hours.      His  position,  Yankees   is    a-coming,  and   a  tre- 

however,  became  so  perilous  that  menjus  rain  somewhar  has  riz  this 

he  prepared  stealthily  to  withdraw.  here  creek,  so  that  we  can't  cross, 

He  was  gliding  rapidly  away  with  and  I  swar  for  once  boys,  by  the 

his  men,  when,  coming  to  the  slough,  Lord,  we  've  got  to  stand  now  and 

he  found,  to  his  horror  and  amaze-  fight  like  devils."1 

ment,  that  it  was  now  about  ten  feet  One  of  his  men,  however,  was  able 

deep  !    He  gazed  into  the  deep  water  to  direct  him  to  a  ford,  which  they 

for  some  time  with  the  look  of  a  man  all  crossed  in  safety ;  the  astonished 

who  has  got  into  a  world  of  danger-  captain  getting  his  first  practical 

ous  enchantments.    At  length,  turn-  lesson  on  the  tides, 
ing   to    his    men,   he  said,    "  My 

VOL.  II.  L 


162  UP  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 

hidden  monsters  that  bring  most  peril  into  Mississippi 
navigation.  How  the  pilots  are  able  to  detect  and 
evade  them  so  well  as  they  do  is  to  me  a  mystery ;  and 
the  wonder  is  increased  tenfold  when  it  is  remembered 
that  these  vast  steamers  run  through  the  night  as  well 
as  through  the  day.  Sometimes  I  have  gone  up  at  night 
to  what  may  be  called  the  roof  of  the  steamer,  on  which 
the  pilot-house  is  reared,  and  have  not  only  found  it 
impossible,  through  the  darkness,  to  make  out  anything 
distinctly  on  the  river,  but  even  to  detect,  in  the  black 
line  of  forest  visible  on  both  sides  against  the  sky,  any 
break  that  might  have  served  as  a  landmark.  The 
Mississippi  pilots  must  have  eyes  like  a  cat. 

The  insatiable  desire  of  every  Mississippi  captain  and 
pilot  to  beat  every  other,  adds  an  element  of  danger 
that  might  well  be  dispensed  with.  ISTo  steamer  is  ever 
allowed  to  pass  another  without  a  struggle.  If  you  are 
making  up  upon  one  ahead,  you  will  presently  see 
denser  volumes  of  smoke  begin  to  issue  from  her  fun 
nels  in  preparation  for  the  inevitable  race.  If  you  look 
up  at  the  smoke  from  your  own  steamer,  you  will  per 
ceive  evidence  of  similar  preparations ;  and  if  you  go 
to  the  lower  deck  where  the  engines  are,  you  will  find 
the  furnace-doors  open,  and  the  stokers  busy  tossing 
bars  of  wood  into  the  roaring  fires,  to  work  up  the 
motive  power  to  its  highest  point. 

I  remember  our  coming  up  one  day  with  a  steamer 
that  had  just  come  off  from  a  station  at  the  bank  where 
she  had  been  taking  in  wood.  She  gave  two  "toots" 
with  her  steam-pipe,  which  were  instantly  responded 
to  by  our  steamer.  I  asked  a  gentleman,  who  had  just 
come  on  the  balcony  beside  me,  what  that  signal 
meant  ? 


STEAM-BOAT  RACING.  163 

"  It 's  a  race,"  he  said.  "  I  reckon  we  '11  put  that 
craft  astern  or  we  '11  go  up." 

Both  steamers  were  already  quickening  their  speed. 
The  long  soft  breathing  of  ours  had  soon  changed  into 
a  deep  panting  sound ;  the  shuddering  from  stem  to 
stern  became  tremendous  ;  and  the  passengers  of  both 
steamers,  crowding  to  the  side,  forgot  all  sense  of  danger 
in  the  furious  desire  to  see  their  own  steamer  win.  The 
two  were  now  perilously  near  one  another,  and  rushing 
over  the  water  with  terrific  velocity.  The  race  was  of 
very  brief  duration.  Our  steamer  drew  ahead  foot  by 
foot  and  yard  by  yard ;  the  interest  began  to  abate-; 
and  the  other  steamer,  when  she  saw  there  was  no 
hope,  gave  it  up  and  dropt  astern,  followed  by  the  ex^ 
ulting  cheers  of  our  men,  one  of  whom,  with  stentorian 
lungs,  derisively  offered  her  a  tow-line. 

These  little  excitements  help  to  pass  the  time,  as 
also  do  the  meals,  which  emerge  into  prominence  when 
one  has  little  else  to  do  than  lounge  and  eat,  and  lounge 
and  eat  again.  The  monotony  is  further  relieved  by 
the  numerous  stoppages.  These  steamers  burn  up  their 
fuel  so  fast  that  they  have  to  stop  frequently  to  take 
in  more.  One  steamer  will  burn  60  to  80  cords  of 
wood  a  day,  each  cord  being  a  pile  8  feet  long  by  4 
high,  and  4  across,  and  costing  about  $3.  Eighty  cords 
of  wood  is  reckoned  as  equivalent  to  800  or  1000 
bushels  of  coal.  At  certain  points  on  the  river,  the 
wood  is  ready  on  a  raft,  which  is  brought  out  and 
lashed  to  the  side  of  the  steamer.  This  allows  her  to 
hold  on  her  course  while  the  fuel  is  taken  in,  after 
which  the  raft  is  thrown  off  to  be  carried  back  by  the 
river  to  its  place  again.  At  other  points,  the  wood  is 
piled  on  the  river  bank,  and  the  steamer  stops  along- 


164  UP  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 

side.  As  time  is  precious,  the  taking  in  of  the  wood 
is  generally  a  scene  of  great  stir  and  excitement.  The 
gangways  are  no  sooner  out  than  a  swarm  of  negroes 
pour  out  upon  the  bank  from  the  lower  deck,  with 
exciting  cries,  and  attack  the  first  cord.  Those  who 
carry  the  wood  in  use  one  gangway,  those  who  are 
returning  for  more  use  another,  all  of  them  trotting  at 
each  other's  heels,  and  stimulating  each  other  with 
shouts.  In  this  way,  to  use  a  vulgar  expression,  they 
keep  the  pot  boiling  till  the  wood  is  all  aboard,  when 
the  steamer  instantly  moves  oft*.  Frequently,  also, 
in  the  course  of  the  day,  stoppages  are  made  at 
villages  and  plantations,  scattered  thinly  over  the  vast 
expanse.  These  minor  landing-places  rarely  boast  of 
piers.  The  banks  of  the  river  being  low,  the  steamer 
simply  turns  in,  brings  her  cheek  against  the  bank, 
runs  out  her  gangway,  takes  in  or  puts  ashore  any 
passengers  or  goods ;  and  being  by  this  time  turned  in 
the  right  direction  by  the  current,  she  moves  out  into 
the  river  again  and  resumes  her  course.  Sometimes 
she  touches  at  a  place  where  only  one  or  two  wooden 
houses  are  visible  in  the  clearing,  but  which  a  large 
board  stuck  across  two  poles  at  the  landing  informs 
you  is  "  Bowden  City,"  or  "  New  Babylon."  Odd  as  it 
looks,  there  is  something  suggestive  in  the  spectacle 
of  a  man  squatting  in  one  of  these  vast  solitudes  and 
calling  his  log  cabin  a  city.  It  shows  his  belief  in  the 
future  of-his  country.  He  is  walking  by  faith,  not  by 
sight.  Already,  with  prophetic  eye,  he  sees  around 
him  the  civilisation  of  which  he  is  only  the  pioneer — 
beholds  warehouses,  and  public  squares,  and  miles  of 
busy  streets,  where,  in  the  meantime,  there  is  nothing 
but  swamp  and  primeval  forest,  and  his  lonely  wooden 
house  standing  in  the  clearing. 


LOOKING  TO  THE  FUTURE.  165 

This  looking  to  the  future  strikes  one  everywhere  in 
America.  Travelling  through  that  vast  Bepublic,  with 
its  States  as  large  as  European  kingdoms,  one  seems  to 
hear  the  whole  continent  filled  with  the  noise  of  those 
forty  millions  of  hands  busy  rearing  a  throne  for  the 
future  empire  of  the  world.  The  scaffolding  is  up,  and 
everything  as  yet  looks  rough,  raw,  and  unfinished. 
The  roads  are  bad ;  the  railway  tracks  are  rougli ;  even 
on  the  best  farms  and  plantations  the  fields  seem  but 
half- reclaimed,  and  towns,  farm-houses,  and  churches, 
over  half  the  continent,  are  built  of  wood,  often  hand 
somely  built,  beautiful  to  look  upon  under  their  paint 
and  stucco,  .and  decoration,  but  still  frail  and  im 
provised.  Even  the  big  cities  seem  but  the  tem 
porary  habitations  of  the  powerful  life  that  has  thrown 
them  up,  and  filled  them  with  noise  and  traffic.  The 
continent  is  only  being  cleared.  It  is  a  world  of  pre 
paration,  living  not  on  the  memories  of  the  past,  but  on 
the  visions  of  its  great  future.  And  so  Ephraim 
Bowden,  when  he  has  bought  a  patch  of  wilderness  on 
the  Mississippi,  and  knocked  up  his  wooden  shanty, 
forthwith  sticks  two  poles  and  a  cross- board  at  the 
landing-place,  and  paints  on  it  the  name  "  Bowden 
City."  Noble,  onward-looking  Ephraim !  God  grant 
that  the  Father  of  Waters  may  not  come  over  his  banks 
some  night  and  convert  the  "  city  "  into  a  river  bed. 

But  besides  prospective  cities,  like  Mr.  Bowden's, 
you  come  upon  real  and  actual  cities  —  centres  of 
population  forming  at  intervals  along  that  endless 
highway  of  commerce.  One  night  it  is  Natchez,  glitter 
ing  on  its  dark  ridge,  and  mingling  its  lights  with  the 
stars.  Next  day  it  is  Vicksburg,  slumbering  on  its 
sunny  hills.  Two  days  after  it  is  Memphis,  the 


1G6  UP  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 

western  capital  of  Tennessee.  Two  nights  and  two 
days  more  of  swift  sailing  bring  you  to  the  vast  city 
of  St.  Louis,  with  its  front  of  seven  miles.  But  even 
these  are  mere  spots  in  the  interminable  expanse. 

The  extent  of  the  area  that  has  to  be  traversed  in 
order  to  get  north  from  the  Gulf  to  the  Lakes  was 
brought  home  to  me  at  that  season  by  the  change  of 
climate.  As  I  passed  up  the  Mississippi,  stopping  here 
and  there  to  make  little  excursions  east  and  west  to 
see  the  country,  the  season  was  steadily  advancing  at 
each  point,  but  to  those  passing  north  it  was  retrograd 
ing.  The  summer  sun  was  blazing  in  the  sky  when  we 
left  New  Orleans,  the  swamps  were  vividly  green,  and 
the  forests  in  leaf.  As  we  passed  up  the  river,  day  by 
day,  and  week  by  week,  the  hands  of  the  season  seemed 
to  be  going  back.  The  woods  began  to  grow  less  green, 
the  leaves  folded  themselves  back  into  the  bad,  the 
buds  shrunk  back  into  the  naked  boughs ;  and  when  I 
reached  the  shores  of  Michigan  the  country  was  covered 
with  snow.1 

Few  things  impress  one  with  the  vastness  of  America 
more  than  the  length  of  the  river  voyages,  especially  on 
the  Mississippi  and  her  tributaries.  From  New  Orleans 
you  have  200  miles  of  sailing  up  country  through  the 
region  of  sugar-planting,  before  reaching  the  mouth  of 

1 1  had  the  privilege,  indeed,  of  way  north  ;  and  a  few  weeks  later, 

enjoying  three  springs  in  that  one  after  enjoying  the  more  advanced 

year.     The  peach  and  plum  trees  season  in  Virginia  and  Maryland,  I 

were   bursting  into  blossom  as   I  found  myself  in  British  America  in 

passed  south  into   Georgia.      This  time  to  catch  the  spring  once  more, 

was  the  first  spring.     I  got  back  to  in  the  Canadian  woods,  preparing 

winter  in  Illinois   and  Ohio  ;  but  them  with  the  utmost  despatch  for 

crossing  the  country  from  thence  in  the  advent  of  summer,  which,  when 

a  south-westerly  direction  to  Vir-  it  does  come,  comes  by  Express, 
ginia,  I  met  the  spring  again  on  its 


INLAND  SAILING.  167 

the  Eed  Eiver;  and  other  600  miles  up  the  Bed  Eiver 
to  reach  Lanesport  in  Arkansas.  From  New  Orleans 
up  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  you  have  1050  miles,  and 
1000  more  up  the  Ohio  to  Pittsburg  in  Pennsylvania. 
On  the  Mississippi  itself,  the  sail  from  New  Orleans  to 
St.  Anthony,  in  Minnesota,  is  over  2000.  Or  if,  after 
steaming  1200  miles  up  the  Mississippi,  you  turn  off 
into  the  red  Missouri,  the  steamer  takes  you  1500 
miles  further  before  stopping  at  Fort  Pierre.  On  the 
Missouri  alone,  from  its  point  of  junction  with  the 
Mississippi,  you  can  sail  3200  miles  inland  to  Benton, 
being  a  longer  sail  by  several  hundreds  of  miles  than 
from  Great  Britain  to  America.  Is  it  a  wonder  that 
the  American  speaks  proudly  of  his  great  country  ? 


168  WESTERN  NOTES. 


XII 

WESTERN  NOTES. 

IF  America's  river  travelling  is  exceptionally  good, 
her  road  travelling  is  exceptionally  bad.  Probably  the 
worst  roads  on  the  face  of  the  civilized  earth  are  the 
high-roads  and  by-roads  of  the  United  States.  I  have 
a  vivid  recollection  of  one  drive  with  a  planter  along, 
what  he  called,  the  "right  straight  road"  from  one 
place  to  another,  where,  for  half-a-mile  at  a  time,  we 
had  to  sit  with  our  feet  up  on  the  splash-board,  while 
the  horse  rather  swam  than  waded  with  the  buggy  after 
him.  I  said  this  was  a  frightful  road. 

"Wall,  it  is  damp  !"  said  the  planter. 

The  water  was  fortunately  clear  in  most  places,  and 
my  companion  pointed  once  or  twice  with  his  whip  to 
what  he  called  "  a  considerable  fish  scooting  across  the 
road."  At  one  point,  where  the  water  seemed  to  be 
becoming  deeper  and  muddier,  he  looked  anxiously 
ahead,  and  said  he  hoped  "  that  'ere  bridge  was  in  its 
place  to-day." 

I  asked  him  with  some  concern  if  there  was  any 
possibility  of  its  not  being  there. 

"  Beckon  after  the  rains  it  gets  adrift  sometimes,"  he 
replied.  "  Once  I  tried  this  road  I  met  the  bridge 
going  the  other  way,  about  half-a-mile  back  of  here." 


STAGING  IT.  169 

Fortunately  on  the  present  occasion  we  found  the 
bridge  in  its  place. 

Another  experience  recurs  to  me  in  this  connection. 
Crossing  the  Blue  Eidge  of  Virginia,  in  the  early  sum 
mer  of  1868,  I  came  to  Goshen,  on  the  way  to  Lexing 
ton.  While  waiting  for  the  Lexington  stage-coach  to 
come  round,  I  asked  a  man,  who  was  smoking  in  the 
verandah  of  the  hotel,  what  sort  of  road  it  was.  He 
didn't  know  exactly,  but  "  reckoned  it  was  powerful 
rough."  Another  man  in  a  slouched  hat,  who  was 
lounging  behind,  was  of  the  milder  opinion  that  the 
road  was  "  not  bad  but  bumpy."  I  regret  that  I  never 
met  this  man  again  to  ascertain  what  in  his  opinion 
was  needed  to  make  a  road  bad  as  well  as  bumpy. 

We  had  not  left  Goshen  long  before  the  coach  began 
to  jolt  tremendously.  I  asked  a  boy,  who  was  my 
fellow-passenger  for  the  first  mile  or  two,  why  the 
roads  were  not  kept  in  better  order. 

"Oh!"  said  he,  just  as  a  sudden  lurch  nearly  threw 
him  into  my  lap,  "  this  ain't  nuthin'.  This  is  kinder 
smooth.  When  you  get  up  past  the  Furnace  there's 
ruts  that  deep  "  (indicating  the  length  of  his  arm) ;  "  and 
after  dark,  Joe  (the  driver)  ken't  see  whar  the  holes 
is." 

This  prediction  proved  too  true.  By  the  time  we  got 
past  the  Furnace  the  jolting  became  so  incessant  and 
terrific  that  I  had  to  tie  my  hat  on  with  a  handkerchief, 
and  almost  suspend  myself  over  the  broad  belt  that 
formed  a  back  to  the  centre  seat,  to  keep  myself  from 
being  shaken  to  pieces.  At  first  I  was  apprehensive 
that  the  stage  might  topple  over  and  roll  down  into  the 
river ;  but  when  darkness  came  on,  and  the  road  became 
worse,  I  began  to  doubt  whether,  supposing  we  did  go 


170  WESTERN  NOTES. 

over,  I  should  be  able  to  know  any  difference  till  we 
plopped  into  the  water. 

The  distance  to  Lexington  is  a  mere  bagatelle — not 
too  much  to  be  got  over,  on  an  English  road,  between 
tea  and  supper ;  and  yet,  although  I  was  the  only  pas 
senger,  which,  no  doubt,  made  the  jolting  worse,  it  took 
four  stout  horses  (not  to  mention  the  frantic  driver) 
from  half-past  six  that  evening  till  three  o'clock  next 
morning  to  accomplish  the  distance — being  eight  hours 
and  a  half  to  a  drive  of  twenty  odd  miles.  My  wonder 
was  that  we  got  to  Lexington  with  bones  unbroken  and 
wheels  still  upon  the  coach. 

There  is  another  road  from  Lexington  to  the  railway, 
by  Stanton  ;  but  the  saying  at  Lexington  is,  that  which 
ever  one  you  take,  you  by-and-by  wish  devoutly  you 
had  tried  the  other. 

Another  variety  of  sensation  is  enjoyed  in  swampy 
regions,  on  what  are  called  "Corduroy  roads,"  which 
consist  of  logs  or  trunks  of  trees  laid  transversely  and 
close  together,  and  which  are  distinguishable  as  Hickety- 
crickety  or  Hunker- chunker  roads,  according  to  the 
thickness  of  the  logs.  Corduroy  roads,  however,  have  a 
method  and  monotony  in  their  madness,  and  when 
your  bones  and  teeth  have  once  begun  to  "  dirl,"  you 
have  nothing  new  to  apprehend,  unless  any  of  the  logs 
are  missing. 

The  roads  out  west,  and  especially  over  the  open 
prairie  are-  different  from  all  these.  They  are  often 
delightful  in  dry  weather,  but  after  rain! — imagine  a 
continent  of  mud,  and  you  have  some  idea  of  what 
awaits  you. 

A  story  is  told  of  a  man  struggling  in  his  waggon 
along  a  heavy  prairie-road,  and  seeing  in  a  vast  mud- 


PRAIRIE  ROADS.  171 

slough  at  the  roadside  a  man's  hat.  Inferring  from  its 
motion  that  there  must  be  somebody  in  the  mud  below 
it,  he  shouted,  "  Hollo,  pardner,  can  I  help  you  out  of 
thar?" 

"  Never  mind,"  replied  a  voice  from  under  the  hat, 
"  I  've  got  a  powerful  horse  under  me  !" 

"When  the  traveller  on  one  of  these  prairie  roads  finds 
his  own  horse  floundering  up  to  the  girths  in  mud,  and 
sinking  deeper  and  finding  no  bottom,  he  begins  to  see 
the  point  of  that  story. 

In  a  new  country,  where  the  population  is  thinly 
scattered  over  a  vast  area,  one  can  scarcely  wonder  at 
all  this.  What  can  people  do  to  their  roads  on  a  bound 
less  alluvial  prairie,  where  the  clay  is  from  ten  to  fifteen 
feet  in  depth,  and  where,  for  twenty  miles  at  a  time, 
not  a  single  tree  is  to  be  seen,  rocks  are  nowhere,  and 
stones  are  as  scarce  as  diamonds  ? 1  But  one  does  feel 
aggrieved  to  find  some  of  the  streets  in  the  great  cities 
and  centres  of  population  almost  as  bad.  I  remember 
in  the  City  of  Memphis  stopping  at  a  street  corner  to 
try  the  depth  of  a  mud-hole  with  my  stick.  The  friend 
with  me  recommended  care  in  case  my  stick  got  lost  in 
it.  He  said  a  wag  had  once  put  a  stick  up  behind  that 
hole  with  the  announcement,  "  Bo  AD  COMMISSIONER 
GONE  DOWN  HERE  ! "  In  speaking  of  New  York,  I 
referred  to  the  condition  of  the  roads  in  that  city.  On 
New  Year's  Day,  the  weather  being  sleety,  many  of  the 
principal  streets  were  literally  swimming  with  mud — a 
peculiar  trial  to  the  New  Yorkers,  who  swarm  about  on 

1  The  Western  people,   possibly  "gathering  rocks."    In  a  case  be- 

owing  to  the  scarcity  of  real  rocks,  fore  the  court  at  S*  Louis,  a  girl 

speak  of  every  little  stone  as  a  rock.  was  fined  for  "throwing  rocks  "  at 

"Rocking"  a  person  means  throwing  another, 
stones  at  him.     They  speak  of  boys 


172  WESTERN  NOTES. 

that  day  calling  at  the  houses  of  all  their  friends,  where 
it  is  the  fashion  for  the  ladies  to  sit  in  dress  and  receive 
them.  The  people  were  all  in  "  rubbers."  Even 
people  who  drove  needed  these  to  make  their  way  from 
the  carriage  to  the  door.  One  gentleman  was  seen  by 
a  newspaper  reporter  wading  triumphantly  along  in 
fishing-boots.  "  Ye  gods  !  ye  gods  !  "  cried  the  New 
York  Herald  next  morning,  "  must  we  endure  all  this?" 
In  Chicago,  the  friend  whose  hospitality  I  enjoyed  said 
that  he  had  often  seen,  at  the  west  end  of  Lake  Street 
in  that  city,  a  barrel  floated  over  a  mud-hole,  with  the 
warning  intimation  upon  it 


No  BOTTOM. 


If  a  horse  got  in,  it  sunk  and  had  to  be  drawn  out  with 
ropes.  It  was  a  joke  that  there  was  good  trout-fishing 
in  some  of  these  holes. 

And  yet  a  vast  deal  of  money  is  spent  in  many  of 
these  cities  in  keeping  the  streets  in  repair ;  and  every 
kind  of  paving,  asphalting,  and  macadamizing  has 
been  tried.  In  St.  Louis  I  observed  some  streets  floored 
with  iron  gratings,  others  macadamized,  and  others 
paved  with  wooden  bricks  laid  on  a  floor  of  sanded 
planks,  and  cemented  with  asphalt.  This  is  called  the 
Nicholson  pavement,  and  is  found  in  New  York,  Chicago, 
and  other  cities  as  well  as  St.  Louis.  As  long  as  it 
lasts,  it  is  as  safe,  smooth,  and  noiseless  a  road  as  could 
be  desired.  But  the  depth  of  soft  clay  that  underlies 
many  of  these  cities  makes  it  extremely  difficult  for 
any  paving  to  support  the  heavy  traffic.  This  probably 
is  the  reason  why  street  railways  are  so  common  in 
America. 


IRON  MOUNTAINS.  173 

On  reaching  the  city  of  St.  Louis  from  the  south,  one 
begins  to  feel  the  swifter  and  stronger  current  of 
Northern  life,  and  get  again  into  the  everlasting  din  of 
dollars  and  cents.  St.  Louis  has  a  population  reckoned  at 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million,  and  though  one  of  the  oldest 
centres  of  civilisation  in  the  west,  having  been  selected 
by  the  French  as  early  as  1764  as  a  station  for  the 
Indian  fur  trade,  it  may  be  said  to  be  really  a  product 
of  the  present  generation.  Its  population  was  only 
2000  in  1810;  it  had  risen  to  16,000  in  1840;  to 
70,000  in  1850  ;  and  is  at  least  240,000  to-day.  It  is 
therefore  one  hundred  and  twenty  times  bigger  than  it 
was  sixty  years  ago.  About  one-third  of  its  inhabi 
tants  are  Germans — frugal,  industrious  citizens,  but 
mostly  rationalistic,  and  much  given  to  spending  their 
Sundays  in  the  parks,  and  drinking  lager-beer.  The 
Irish,  who  are  also  numerous,  belong  chiefly  to  the 
labouring  class.  The  Scotch  are  few  in  number,  but 
prosperous.  One  of  them,  who  had  amassed  a  large 
fortune,  was  preparing  magnificent  botanic  gardens  in 
the  suburbs  for  presentation  to  the  city.1 

1  Much  interest  was  being  excited  It  was  anticipated  that  if  this  ex- 

in  St.  Louis  at  the  time  I  was  there  periment  succeeded,  railroad  iron, 

by  experiments  that  were  going  on  which  costs  40  or  50  dollars  a  ton 

in  the  smelting  of  iron.     So  far  as  from  Britain,  could  be  home-made 

ore  goes,  Missouri's  wealth  is  bound-  at  half  that  cost — thus  taking  the 

less  :  so  is  her  supply  of  coal.     But  American    iron-trade    out    of   the 

unfortunately  (for  her,  not  for  us)  hands  of  this  coxintry,  and  giving  it 

the  coal  is  so  sulphurous  that  in  the  to  Missouri.     It  is  certainly  aggra- 

ordinary  process  of  melting  the  ore  vating  to  the  Americans,  and  espe- 

into  pigs,  and  afterwards  rolling  it  cially  to  the  people  in  that  State, 

out  into  bars,  the  iron  is  spoilt.   The  to  have  to  buy  British  iron  when 

object  of  the  experiment  referred  to  they  have    literally  mountains   of 

was  the  discovery  of  a  method  by  iron-ore  beside  them.     The  famous 

which  the  pigging  process  could  be  iron  mountains — three  in  number — 

dispensed  with,  and  the  iron  rolled  are  within  a  hundred  miles  of  St. 

out  into  bars  from  the  first  melting.  Louis.     One  of  them— known  as  the 


174  WESTERN  NOTES. 

St.  Louis  is  very  proud  of  her  public  library,  and  of 
her  schools.  Millions  of  dollars  are  devoted  to  educa 
tional  purposes, — in  school  lands,  buildings,  and  current 
expenses.  No  child  in  the  city  needs  to  be  without 
education.  Everything  except  books  is  provided  free. 
There  is  also  a  Normal  school  for  preparing  teachers ; 
but  of  the  two  Universities,  one  is,  or  was  then,  at  a 
stand-still  for  want  of  funds.  I  mention  this,  because 
it  is  a  representative  fact.  All  over  the  West  classical 
education  is  still  at  a  discount.  The  people  have  no 
time  for  it ;  they  say  themselves  it  must  wait  its  turn. 

"  We  air  a  smart  people,  sir,"  said  a  man  from  Omaha, 
"  but  we  ken't  whip  creation  in  everything  at  once.  We 
air  reclaiming  the  wilderness  just  now,  and  we'll  begin 
to  produce  scholars  by-and-by." 

In  the  meantime,  a  man  who  can  reckon  up  quickly, 
raise  stock,  run  a  store,  and  see  well  round  a  corner, 
commands  a  higher  salary  than  a  man  who  can  construe 
a  passage  in  Euripides,  but  is  ignorant  of  the  art  of 
fleecing  either  sheep  or  customers.  People  are  all  hasten 
ing  to  make  rich  while  the  country  offers  such  facilities 
for  it.  They  crowd  their  children  into  the  schools  and 
classes  that  teach  the  branches  demanded  for  everyday 
life, — reading,  writing,  ciphering,  geography,  and  so  on. 
But  Latin  brings  no  dollars  ;  Greek  is  not  quoted  in  the 
market ;  these,  therefore,  get  the  go-by.  Even  in  the 
colleges,  very  few  students  have  the  patience  to  com 
plete  their  course.  At  Iowa  State  University  only  15 
had  graduated  out  of  600  students,  being  less  than 
three  per  cent.  At  Harvard,  Massachusetts,  nearly 

Pilot  Knob— is  a  mountain  of  solid  shoe)  had  been  made  from  it  with- 

ore,  with  the  iron  so  pure  that  I  out  any  smelting  at  all.     A  great 

was  told  a  horse-shoe  (worthless,  of  part  of  the  mountain  is  80  per  cent, 

course,  but  still  a  hammered  horse-  of  pure  iron. 


WANT  OF  HIGHER  SCHOLARSHIP.  175 

twenty  per  cent,  graduate,  being  a  six  times  larger  pro 
portion.  It  is  the  difference  between  the  Old  and  the 
New  States.1  Professor  Parvin  of  the  Iowa  University 
mentioned,  amongst  other  cases,  that  of  a  promising 
student  who  left  before  he  had  got  half  through  his 
curriculum.  The  Professor  urged  him  to  remain. 

"  Why,  look  here,"  said  the  student,  unfolding  a  letter ; 
"  here's  an  offer  of  $1500  a  year,  and  prospects.  You 
graduated  twenty- five  years  ago,  and  have  only  $1400 
a  year  now !" 

He  said  great  numbers  of  the  students  left  in  that 
way  to  become  telegraphic  operators,  or  teachers,  or 
insurance  agents,  or  agents  for  agricultural  stores,  or 
"  runners"  for  Chicago  houses, — employments  in  which 
they  can  make  as  much  money  without  as  with  a 
degree,  and  begin  to  make  it  sooner. 

Of  course  a  more  thorough  education  is  demanded 
for  some  purposes.  Men  have  to  be  reared  for  the 
professions ;  and  scientific  education  is  needed  for  the 
discovery  and  development  of  the  material  resources 

1  In  our  own  Universities  the  same  pleted  their  curriculum.    At  Oxford 

differences    are    discernible.      Last  and  Cambridge  the  great  majority 

year  (Session  1868-69)  39  students  of  the  men  graduate,  but  the  annual 

took  their  M.  A.  degree  at  Aberdeen,  percentage  I  do  not  know, 
out  of  661  attending  the  Arts  classes  ;  In    one    point,    however,    Iowa 

at  St.  Andrews,  9  out  of  152  ;  at  University  is  ahead  of  Harvard.     It 

Edinburgh,  53  out  of  661 ;  at  Glas-  opens  its  classes  to  female  students, 

gow,  25  out  of  755.    In  other  words,  and  allows  them  to  graduate,  con- 

12  per  cent,  graduated  at  Aberdeen  verting  a  number  of  young  ladies 

(exceptionally  high  from  other  cir-  every  year  into  "Bachelors  of  Arts." 

cumstances) ;  6  per  cent,  at  St.  An-  The  merit  of  being  first  in  America 

drews ;   and  8  per  cent,   at  Edin-  to  recognise  the  right  of  women  to 

burgh ;    while    only   3^    per  cent.  University    education    belongs    to 

graduated  at  Glasgow,  which  is  the  Oberlin  College,  Ohio.     For  more 

commercial  capital  of  Scotland,  and  than  thirty  years  its  classes  have 

tempts  many  students  away  into  been  open  to  all  competent  comers, 

active  life  before  they  have  com-  irrespective  of  colour  or  sex. 


176  WESTERN  NOTES. 

of  the  .country.  But  even  in  these  departments  the 
demand  there  is  for  practical  knowledge,  and  the  price 
that  is  paid  for  it,  draw  men  prematurely  into  active 
life,  tempting  them  away  from  further  study  in  order 
to  make  the  most  of  the  knowledge  they  have  already 
attained,  and  which  the  country  in  its  present  state 
cries  most  for.  Hence  the  anomaly  noticeable  every 
where  in  the  States,  but  especially  in  the  West — 
education  so  universal,  and  yet  scholarship  so  rare. 
The  wonder  is,  that,  in  spite  of  her  circumstances, 
America  should  have  produced  so  many  men  of  science, 
poets,  scholars,  and  theologians,  as  she  already  has. 
The  general  fact,  however,  is  as  stated.  America  lifts 
up  the  whole  mass  of  her  population  to  a  higher  educa 
tional  level  than  ours ;  but  far  fewer,  comparatively, 
rise  above  that.  The  system  is  one  of  lateral  extension. 
Hence,  probably,  the  reason  why  St.  Louis  had  her 
numberless  schools,  wealthy  and  flourishing ;  but  one 
of  her  two  colleges  closed  for  want  of  funds. 

Two  hundred  miles  up  the  river  from  the  great  city 
of  Missouri  stands  Keokuk,  "  the  Gate  City  "  of  Iowa. 
Keokuk  started  in  its  career  with  a  great  flourish  of 
trumpets,  advanced  rapidly  for  a  time,  and  was  to  have 
been  another  St.  Louis.  But  it  began  to  flag,  and  for 
ten  years  has  been  almost  at  a  stand -still,  allowing 
other  cities  in  the  same  State  to  outstrip  it,  and  only 
beginning  now  to  resume  its  progress.  Its  history  has 
a  meaning  which  is  of  some  practical  value  to  business 
people  emigrating  from  this  country.  Wherever  there 
is  a  field  for  emigration  that  becomes  popular,  cities 
start  up,  and  adventurous  clerks  and  shopkeepers  flock 
thither  from  the  Eastern  States,  and  from  this  country, 


CITIES  TOO  FAST  FOR  COUNTRY.  177 

in  far  larger  numbers  than  are  needed.  Those  who 
are  there  first,  while  everything  is  rising,  and  who 
are  worldly-wise  enough  to  sell  out  before  the  reaction 
comes,  get  away  with  fortunes. 

But  most  of  the  merely  business  men  who  crowd  to 
these  places,  and  invest  in  city  property,  on  the  sup 
position  that  things  are  always  to  go  on  as  they  have 
begun,  are  apt  to  be  disappointed.  If  better  centre- 
points  be  found  for  trade,  cities  of  this  kind  rapidly 
sink  into  mere  trading  stations.  I  have  a  letter  from 
a  gentleman  who  was  in  Missouri  at  the  time  of  my 
visit,  who  says  that  last  summer  he  visited  a  city 
called  New  Philadelphia,  which  had  grown  rapidly  at 
first,  and  reared  not  only  churches,  brick  stores,  and 
market-house,  but  a  college  that  cost  $100,000.  In 
this  city,  according  to  his  report,  not  a  living  soul  is 
now  to  be  found — the  nearest  inhabitant  being  a 
farmer,  about  quarter  of  a  mile  off.  Trade  has  taken 
a  different  direction ;  the  people  have  rushed  after  it ; 
the  deserted  buildings  are  going  to  ruin,  and  the  only 
students  attending  the  college  are  the  farmer's  pigs, 
which  roam  at  will  through  the  college  grounds,  pre 
paring  to  graduate  in  pork.  New  Philadelphia,  in  the 
expressive  language  of  America,  is,  in  the  meantime, 
"  played  out." 

Even  cities  like  Keokuk  (more  fortunate  in  their  site, 
and  with  a  really  great  future  before  them),  grow  at 
first  with  a  rapidity  so  disproportionate  to  that  of  the 
surrounding  country,  that,  after  the  first  rush  of  life  is 
over,  they  need  years  to  recover  from  the  effects  of  over 
growth,  and  have  often  a  struggle  to  keep  themselves 
alive  till  the  country  makes  up  to  them.  In  North 
east  Missouri,  the  business  men  in  eight  counties  (not 

VOL.  II.  M 


178  WESTERN  NOTES. 

the  farmers,  whose  case  was  the  very  reverse)  were 
classified  by  a  gentleman  who  had  special  facilities  for 
information,  and  the  result  stood  as  follows  : — Eighty- 
five  per  cent,  of  these  business  men  were  just  making 
ends  meet ;  five  per  cent,  were  making  money ;  and 
ten  per  cent,  were  going  down  hill  with  more  or  less 
velocity. 

The  ledger  of  one  leading  merchant  showed  that  he 
began  the  year  with  a  capital  of  $8,000  ;  that  he  effected 
sales  to  the  amount  of  $57,800  ;  and  that  he  had  stock, 
etc.,  on  hand  to  the  value  of  $12,360,  with  $4,700  of 
liabilities.  In  other  words,  he  had  made  his  living, 
and  ended  the  year  worth  $340  less  than  at  the  be 
ginning — not  much  to  show  for  a  twelvemonth's  labour 
and  interest  on  his  $8000  of  original  capital. 

Business  people  would,  therefore,  do  well  to  think 
twice  before  seeking  a  home  in  the  setting  sun,  and,  if 
they  do  follow  that  luminary,  let  them  go  prepared  for 
pretty  much  the  same  kind  of  struggle  they  have  had 
here.  In  Western  cities,  like  St.  Louis,  there  are  hun 
dreds  of  applicants  for  every  situation  of  the  kind  they 
want. 

The  class  of  men  for  whom  there  is  really  a  demand, 
and  for  whom  there  are  fine  prospects  all  over  the  West, 
is  the  class  of  small  farmers,  and  foremen  on  farms — 
men  who  have  saved  enough  to  buy  thirty  or  forty 
acres  of  land,  and  are  able  to  work  it. 

Perhaps  at  present  the  best-paying  business  of  all, 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  is  stock-raising.  Illinois  has  done 
the  most  of  this  hitherto,  but  land  there  is  now  becoming 
too  valuable,  and  the  business  is  being  "  crowded"  far 
ther  and  farther  west.  Men  who  go  out  far  enough  to 
get  land  cheap,  are  finding  this  business  richly  remuner- 


CIVILISATION.  179 

ative ;  and  as  the  land,  almost  everywhere,  is  steadily 
rising  in  value,  the  risk  is  almost  nothing. 

From  Keokuk  I  struck  out  westward  by  Des  Moines 
to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  country.  Iowa  is  a  magnificent 
agricultural  State,  with  less  waste  land  than  any  other 
State  in  the  Union.  It  has  an  area  of  55,000  square 
miles,  about  30,000  of  which  consists  of  far-rolling 
prairie  land,  as  bare  as  the  rolling  sea.  The  land  lies 
ready  for  the  plough,  and  is  quick  in  its  returns  to  the 
good  farmer,  yielding  from  forty  to  eighty  bushels  of 
corn  to  the  acre.  I  saw  one  farm  in  the  Des  Moines 
Valley,  owned  by  an  English  lad  who  had  worked  upon 
a  farm  at  home  for  £20  a  year.  On  going  out  to  Iowa 
he  bought  160  acres  of  land  at  $5  (or  £1)  an  acre,  with 
money  lent  him  by  his  uncle.  He  set  to  work  at  once, 
was  able  the  first  year  to  pay  the  whole  loan  back,  and 
the  next  year  to  save  $1300.  His  farm  is  valued  now 
at  $5000,  or  six  times  its  original  price. 

Land  in  that  Valley  was  selling  at  $10  to  $25,  and 
in  the  western  part  of  the  State  at  $3,  in  a  region  which 
had  just  been  surveyed  for  a  railway.  It  is  curious,  in 
these  Western  States,  to  find  railways  run  out  into 
regions  where  there  are  no  people.  Here,  when  towns 
are  large  enough,  a  railway  is  opened  between  them  to 
meet  the  demands  of  an  existing  traffic.  In  these 
Western  States  a  railway  is  run  out  into  the  prairie, 
people  run  out  with  it,  and  towns  and  traffic  are  the 
result. 

It  is  also  surprising,  in  regions  which  are  associated 
in  most  people's  minds  with  the  Eed  Indian  and  the 
buffalo,  to  light  upon  handsome  towns  not  unfrequently 
ahead  of  our  own  in  some  of  the  appliances  of  civilisa- 


180  WESTERN  NOTES. 

tion.  Even  on  the  farms  that  are  spread  out  like  little 
pocket-handkerchiefs  on  the  prairie,  one  sees  refine 
ments  that  would  make  some  of  our  farmers  open  their 
eyes.  I  remember  one  day,  when  crossing  the  prairie 
to  Iowa  city,  seeing  a  man  with  an  umbrella  sitting  in 
what  looked  like  a  dog-cart,  and  driving  slowly  over  a 
field.  I  said  to  the  friend  beside  me,  "  That 's  a  strange 
place  for  a  drive?" 

"  Oh,  he  's  ploughing  ! "  he  said. 

"  Ploughing  ?" 

"  Yes,  that 's  what  we  call  a  buggy-plough.  It  makes 
ploughing  pleasanter.  A  woman  or  -a  boy  could  plough 
with  it  just  as  well  as  that  man." 

I  got  a  nearer  inspection  of  one  of  these  ploughs 
afterwards.  The  shares  are  fixed  beneath  the  convey 
ance,  and  by  means  of  a  handle  you  can  adjust  them 
so  as  to  regulate  the  depth  of  the  furrow.  When  all  is 
ready,  you  mount  to  your  cushioned  seat,  take  the 
reins,  and  plough  your  field  without  needing  to  put  a 
foot  to  the  ground.  Some  buggy-ploughs  are  so  con 
structed  to  cut  four  furrows  •  simultaneously, — thus 
doing  the  work  of  four  men. 

In  breaking  up  the  prairie  land  for  the  first  time,  a 
plough  is  used  similar  to  our  own,  and  needs  three  or 
even  five  yoke  of  oxen  to  draw  it. 

In  Iowa  I  saw  for  the  first  time  a  prairie  on  fire. 
The  sight  was  ludicrously  different  from  what  it  is 
generally  described  to  be  in  sensational  romances. 
Instead  of  a  vast  waving  plain,  across  which  an  ocean 
of  devouring  flame  was  sweeping,  with  herds  of  frantic 
buffaloes  flying  before  it,  nothing  more  alarming  was 
visible  than  a  little  crawling  streak  of  fire  like  a  scarlet 


SPORT.  181 

thread  lying  across  the  nearest  undulations, — the 
ground  before  it  green,  the  ground  behind  it  black,  as 
if  a  funeral  pall  had  been  drawn  over  it.  The  edge 
of  fire  was  slowly  eating  its  way  forward.  This  was 
all.  Coleridge  maintains  that  if  a  man  runs  to  see  a 
house  on  fire,  he  has  a  perfect  right  to  hiss  the  fire  if 
it  tamely  allows  itself  to  be  put  out.  I  felt  as  if  I  had 
a  right  to  hiss  that  burning  prairie.  It  was  a  miserable 
exhibition  that  nobody  would  give  two  cents  to  see 
again.  It  may  be  different  at  other  seasons  and  in 
other  regions  where  the  grass  is  long  and  dry,  and 
where  there  are  woods,  already  half  kindled  by  the 
summer  sun.  But  an  Iowa  prairie  on  fire  in  spring-time 
looks  as  described  above.  The  people  set  it  on  fire 
themselves  to  clear  the  ground,  and  give  it  a  nice  top- 
dressing  for  the  new  grass.  It  lets  it  come  up  sooner 
and  makes  it  sweeter  for  the  cattle.  The  Indians  used 
to  fire  the  prairie  in  the  fall,  to  clear  off  the  long  grass 
and  make  it  easier  to  track  the  game. 

The  principal  sport  in  Iowa  now  is  duck- shooting. 
The  ducks  have  their  feeding  grounds  on  the  prairie, 
and  fly  at  night  to  the  rivers.  The  quail,  looking  like 
our  pheasant,  and  the  prairie  chicken — a  bird  with  the 
habits  of  our  grouse,  but  larger — were  everywhere 
abundant,  but  are  growing  scarce  ;  and  being  a  delicacy 
in  the  Eastern  States,  are  bought  up  for  the  New  York 
restaurants,  which  have  their  agents  everywhere  for  the 
purpose.  That  mighty  Babylon  of  America  stretches 
out  its  hand  even  to  the  western  prairies  to  pick  up 
delicacies  for  its  epicurean  taste. 

The  beautiful  name  of  Iowa  is  said  to  be  a  word 
signifying  satisfaction,  and  to  have  been  given  by  the 


182  WESTEllN  NOTES. 

red  men  when  they  moved  across  from  the  eastern  side 
of  the  Mississippi.  "  Iowa  ! " — it  is  enough,  here  let 
us  rest,  be  this  our  home.  Alas !  the  poor  Indian  ! 
He  has  not  long  been  allowed  to  rest.  The  pale-faces 
(the  "  long-knives,"  Yenghese  or  Yankees)  with  their 
railways,  street  cars,  and  buggy-ploughs,  have  "  crowded 
him  out."  Thirty  years  ago,  the  whole  of  Iowa,  except 
a  strip  along  the  shore  of  the  Mississippi,  was  in  posses 
sion  of  two  confederated  tribes  of  Indians,  known  as 
the  Sacs  and  Foxes.  Now,  there  is  hardly  an  Indian 
to  be  seen,  except  on  the  reservations ;  and  even  these 
are  being  bought  up  one  by  one,  and  the  Indians 
pushed  farther  and  farther  back.  The  Americans  say 
that  you  can't  civilize  the  Indian — that  there  is  no  use 
attempting  it ;  and  it  is  to  be  feared  that  this  con 
venient  induction  has  made  them  somewhat  unscru 
pulous  in  pushing  him  off,  and  appropriating  his  land.1 
But  Indian  civilisation  is  not  a  thing  impossible. 
Civilized  half-castes  are  plentiful  enough ;  and  the 

1  An  old  Indian,  belonging  to  one  over    our    heads,   that    broke    our 

of  the  nations  that  were  pushed  out  government  all    to  pieces.      They 

of    Mississippi  and  Georgia  forty  took  us  prisoners  for  every  little 

years   since,   spoke  of   that  event  debt,  and  they  made  debts  in  order 

with  as  keen  a  sense  of  injustice  to  take  us  prisoners.     In  every  way 

and  wrong  as  if  it  had  been  a  thing  they  rode  over  us  roughshod.    We 

of  yesterday.     He  said,  in  detail-  appealed  to  the   Great   Father  at 

ing  the  circumstances: — -"That  land  Washington.      He  said,  'I  cannot 

was  ours.      But  the  white  people  protect  yon  where  you  are.      But 

began  to  want  it  for  their  cotton  you  have  lands  west  of  the  Missis- 

and  their  slaves.     We  said,  '  No ;  sippi,   I  will   remove    you   there. ' 

this  is  our  hunting-ground.      The  This  was  what  they  wanted— to  get 

bones  of  our  fathers  lie  here.     We  us  away  and  take  our  land.    We 

will  not  part  with  it.'     They  said  held  another    council.      It    lasted 

they  must  have  it,  one  way  or  an-  four   days.     I  was  a    young   man 

other.      We  held  a  council,  but  it  then,  but  I  was  one  of  the  council, 

broke  up ;  nothing  could  be  done.  We  said,  '  This  land  is  ours.     Let 

Then  the  white  people  passed  laws  us  live  and  die  here.'     The  Secre- 


THE  INDIAN  DOOMED.  183 

Creeks,  Choctaws,  and  Cherokees,  are  instances  of 
whole  tribes  conforming  to  the  usages  of  civilized  life. 

I  met  a  full-blooded  Chocktaw  in  the  Indian  office 
at  Washington,  who  had  come  on  official  business  from 
the  Indian  country  in  the  west  of  Arkansas.  He  was 
well  educated,  well  mannered,  and  dressed  exactly  like 
a  white  man.  In  the  course  of  conversation  he  invited 
me  to  go  and  see  their  country  when  in  Arkansas.  I 
said  I  should  like  to  go,  if  he  would  promise  to  let  me 
away  with  my  scalp  on. 

"  Oh,"  said  he,  "  scalping  is  played  out.  We  live 
now  by  farming.  We  have  adopted  the  American 
form  of  Government ;  and  our  chief  has  become  a 
Presbyterian  minister  ! " 

It  has  to  be  admitted,  however,  that  the  Indian  is 
very  slow  to  tame.  He  has  more  judgment  to  begin 
with  than  the  negro ;  but  shows  himself  not  half  so 
susceptible  of  improvement.  And  before  there  is  time 
to  civilize  Mm,  he  is  likely  to  be  "  improved  "  from  the 


tary  of  War  was  there,  and  his  will  go.'  It  took  three  years  to 
mouth  was  full  of  promises.  But  move  the  nation  across  the  Missis- 
we  said,  '  The  Secretary  of  War  sippi.  On  our  way,  the  cholera 
will  die ;  the  Great  Father  at  Wash-  took  us  and  swept  off  our  people 
ington  will  die  ;  and  all  this  will  be  by  thousands.  One  of  our  poets 
repudiated.'  The  Secretary  had  and  orators  looked  back  from  the 
bribed  one  of  our  chiefs  —  a  half-  Western  shore  of  the  Mississippi 
white  and  half-Indian — to  sign  the  and  said,  '  If  there  is  a  God  in 
treaty  ;  and  as  soon  as  he  got  it  heaven,  He  will  reward  the  Georgi- 
signed  he  went  away  ;  the  traitor  ans  and  the  Mississippians  for  this 
also  fled,  for  he  knew  that  we  would  great  wrong!'  And  he  has,"  con- 
kill  him.  Orders  came  for  us  now  tinned  the  Indian,  alluding  to  the 
to  move.  We  said,  '  No,  we  have  wreck  of  these  States  in  the  late 
been  betrayed.'  Then  came  General  war.  "We  did  not  know  how  it 
Scott,  with  6000  men,  to  drive  us  would  be,  but  it  came.  God  is 
off  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  We  just.  He  has  given  them  the  same 
fought,  but  the  white  man  was  too  cup  to  drink  that  they  gave  to  us." 
strong  for  us.  Then  we  said,  (  We 


184  WESTERN  NOTES. 

face  of  the  earth.  American  civilisation  is  impatient, 
and  cannot  wait  for  him.  People  who  eat  their  meals 
in  four  minutes  and  a  half,  and  push  railway  lines 
across  the  prairie  at  the  rate  of  two  miles  a  day,  can 
not  wait  a  hundred  years  to  give  the  Indian  time  to 
bury  his  tomahawk,  wash  his  face,  and  put  on  a  pair  of 
trousers. 

Civilisation  is  pushing  westward  and  driving  the 
Indian  farther  and  farther  towards  the  setting  sun. 
Even  there  no  land  of  rest  any  longer  awaits  him. 
The  pale-faces  are  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific ;  the 
two  civilisations  are  spreading  themselves  over  the 
continent  towards  one  another,  and  have  already 
shaken  hands  across  the  Eocky  Mountains.  Along  the 
Indian  frontier  on  both  sides  there  is  continual  friction 
and  sporadic  warfare, — always  with  the  same  result. 
The  whites  are  multiplying  and  advancing ;  the 
Indians  are  diminishing  and  withdrawing.  Cholera, 
small-pox,  and  drink  are  wiping  them  out  even  faster 
than  war.  Their  passion  for  drink  is  something 
fearful, — so  fearful,  that  in  Canada  and  some  of  the 
States  the  sale  of  liquor  to  an  Indian  has  had  to  be 
prohibited  by  special  enactments.  An  Indian  will  sell 
his  blanket,  his  gun,  anything  he  has,  for  whisky. 
And  when  once  he  begins  to  drink,  he  never  knows 
when  to  stop.  I  was  told,  however,  by  a  friend  in 
Keokuk,  that  he  had  observed  when  parties  of  Indians 
came  there,  enough  of  them  were  detailed  to  keep 
sober  and  take  charge  of  the  rest,  who  thereupon  pro 
ceeded  to  drink  till  they  were  mad. 

People  who  have  lived  amongst  the  Indians  have  a 
very  much  lower  opinion  of  them  than  those  who  have 
only  made  their  acquaintance  through  works  of  fiction. 


INDIAN  SENSITIVENESS.  185 

A  gentleman  at  Vicksburg,  who  had  been  a  missionary 
amongst  them  for  some  years,  declared  that  if  you  gave 
half  of  your  last  loaf  to  an  Indian,  he  would  steal  the 
other  half  two  minutes  after  if  he  got  the  chance.  But 
that  if  you  helped  an  Indian  in  distress  he  would 
generally  do  as  much  or  more  for  you  in  like  circum 
stances. 

The  engineer  of  one  of  the  lake  steamers  in  Western 
Canada  gave  me  the  following  pleasing  fact  from  his 
own  experience  : — "  One  day  I  met  a  wild  Indian  in 
the  woods  very  downcast.  The  nipple  of  his  fowling- 
piece  had  broken.  He  was  far  from  his  people,  and, 
without  his  gun,  he  had  110  means  of  providing  for 
himself.  I  screwed  the  nipple  out  of  mine,  found  that 
it  fitted  exactly ;  and,  as  I  had  others  aboard  the 
steamer,  I  let  him  have  it.  He  thanked  me  and  went 
off  into  the  woods.  Next  morning,  before  the  steamer 
started,  he  came  on  board  with  some  very  fine  game  for 
me ;  and  he  has  never  let  a  season  pass  since  without 
paddling  down  in  his  canoe,  sometime  during  our 
running  season,  with  some  little  present  of  game  or 
fish  to  show  that  he  has  not  forgotten  what  I  did  for 
him." 

Indians  are  said  to  remember  injuries  much  longer 
than  kindness,  and  have  probably  got  more  of  them  to 
remember. 

They  are  proud  also  and  very  easily  offended.  I 
remember,  while  lounging  with  a  friend  at  the  door  of 
a  hotel,  an  Indian  woman  made  her  appearance  with  a 
basket  of  native  bead-work  for  sale.  The  gentleman 
beside  me,  without  waiting  to  see  what  she  had,  waved 
her  off.  The  woman  stopped,  and  with  a  look  of 
magnificent  scorn  turned  away.  I  was  sorry  that  she 


186  WESTERN  NOTES. 

had  been  hurt,  and  called  on  her  to  come  back  and 
show  us  what  she  had,  but  she  deigned  no  response. 

An  Indian  cannot  be  bargained  with  like  another 
man.  If  you  want  him  to  carry  you  across  a  river,  he 
will  shove  off  in  his  canoe  till  an  arrangement  is  made 
that  pleases  him  ;  and  if,  in  trying  to  make  an  arrange 
ment,  you  offend  him,  he  will  paddle  stoically  away, 
and  no  entreaties  or  promises  even  of  whisky  and 
tobacco  (the  two  things  that  tempt  an  Indian  most) 
will  bring  him  back,  or  so  much  as  make  him  seem  to 
be  any  longer  conscious  of  your  presence. 

You  can  very  rarely  engage  Indians  for  money  to  be 
guides  or  servants.  They  will  go  with  you  as  com 
panions,  and  will  not  refuse  the  money  given  them ; 
but  if  you  do  or  say  anything  to  offend  their  pride,  and 
make  them  think  they  are  regarded  as  menials,  they 
will  leave  without  a  word,  and  without  the  slightest 
regard  to  the  difficulties  of  your  position.  If  you  ask 
them  to  clean  your  boots,  they  will  decline  without 
any  indication  of  being  offended,  but  in  the  morning 
you  find  them  gone.  But  this  trait,  as  we  have  seen 
elsewhere,  is  to  be  found  amongst  others  in  America  as 
well  as  amongst  the  Indians. 

Professor  Bell  of  Kingston,  in  Canada,  who  has  seen 
much  of  the  Indians  in  the  course  of  his  geological 
surveys  in  the  North-west  and  on  the  islands  of  Lake 
Huron,  gave  me  an  amusing  incident  illustrative  of 
another  feature  of  their  character  allied  to  the  fore 
going,  namely,  their  extreme  sensitiveness  to  ridicule, 
— which,  however,  in  this  case,  defeated  its  own  end. 
The  photographer,  accompanying  the  party,  was  anxious 
to  get  some  Indian  groups.  Near  one  village,  where  he 
erected  his  camera,  the  Indians,  always  curious,  began 


A  QUEEK  PHOTOGEAPH.  187 

to  gather  round  in  great  numbers.  The  photographer 
tried  to  get  a  group  of  them  arranged  in  front ;  but  as 
often  as  they  saw  him  put  his  head  under  the  black 
cloth  and  begin  to  adjust  the  focus,  they  drew  aside  out 
of  range,  thinking  that  it  was  some  new  kind  of  gun 
which  he  was  about  to  discharge.  When  one  of  the 
chiefs  appeared  on  the  ground  the  photographer  told 
him  what  he  wanted,  and,  in  order  to  satisfy  him,  gave 
him  a  look  through  the  camera.  The  picture  floating 
on  the  glass  delighted  the  chief,  but  he  noticed  that 
everything  was  upside  down.  This  amused  him  at  first, 
till  it  occurred  to  him  that  the  white  man  wanted  to 
take  the  Indians  in  this  way,  to  make  them  look 
ridiculous.  However,  he  told  his  people  that  there  was 
no  powder  in  the  thing,  and  explained  what  he  had 
seen.  The  photographer  then  prepared  to  take  the  pic 
ture  ;  but  what  was  his  surprise,  on  adjusting  his  focus, 
to  see  the  Indians  beginning  to  stand  on  their  heads, 
evidently  delighted  that  they  had  discovered  how  to 
baffle  the  white  man,  and  be  taken  right  end  up.  The 
photographer  told  the  chief  it  was  quite  impossible  to 
take  them  with  their  legs  waving  in  the  air  in  that 
style.  They  were  therefore  persuaded  to  sit  on  the 
grass,  but  insisted  on  holding  their  legs  up  as  high  as 
they  could,  in  which  position  they  were  taken. 

The  chief  himself  was  afterwards  taken  at  his  own 
request,  standing  on  his  head,  with  two  Indians  holding 
his  legs  to  steady  him.  I  have  beside  me  a  copy  of 
this  extraordinary  photograph,  which  the  Professor  gave 
me  as  a  curiosity. 

Such  Indians  as  I  met  in  Canada  spoke  in  a  far  more 
friendly  way  of  the  British  than  those  in  the  West  spoke 
of  the  Americans.  It  is  pleasant  to  think,  as  it  seems 


188  WESTERN  NOTES. 

everywhere  admitted,  that  we  have  managed  to  keep  on 
better  terms  with  the  Indians  than  the  States  have  done. 
But  whatever  credit  is  due  to  us  for  this,  a  very  im 
portant  difference  in  the 'situation  ought  not  to  be  over 
looked.  The  greater  portion  of  British  America,  peopled 
by  the  Indians,  is  a  region  unattractive  to  emigrants, 
and  specially  valuable  for  its  furs.  The  Indians,  there 
fore,  are  not  much  in  our  way,  and  we  need  them  to 
hunt  for  us  and  supply  our  markets ;  whereas,  in  the 
Western  States,  the  Indians  lie  across  the  path  of  civili 
sation,  and  what  America  wants  is  their  land — a  want 
involving  her  in  negotiations  of  much  greater  difficulty. 


THE  LIGHTNING  CITY.  189 


XIII. 

THE    LIGHTNING    CITY. 

EETUENING  from  the  West  by  the  southern  shores  of 
Lake  Michigan  and  Lake  Erie,  I  spent  a  few  days  in 
Chicago — pronounced  "  Shikahgo."  The  growth  of  this 
city  is  one  of  the  most  amazing  things  in  the  history 
of  modern  civilisation.  Forty  years  ago,  the  Indians 
roamed  over  the  districts  which  are  now  covered  with 
busy  streets.  As  recently  as  1830,  the  commercial 
strength  of  the  place,  then  a  mere  Government  out 
post,  consisted  of  4  tavern-keepers,  1  merchant,  1 
butcher,  and  4  Indian  traders,  who  carried  on  their 
business  in  log-huts.  Chicago  now  has  300,000  of  a 
population — has  streets  seven  or  eight  miles  long — has 
street  railways  traversing  the  city  in  all  directions, 
carrying  annually  7,000,000  passengers.  The  log-huts 
have  made  way  for  magnificent  warehouses  and  palaces 
of  marble  ;  the  little  traders  have  become  great  mer 
chants,  some  of  them  worth  millions  of  dollars,  and  doing 
business  on  a  scale  of  extraordinary  magnitude.  Far- 
well,  who  began  as  a  poor  clerk,  is  worth  $2,000,000, 
and  does  dry-goods  business  to  the  amount  of  $8,000,000 
a  year.  Field,  Leiter,  and  Co.'s  sales  amount  annually 
to  $12,000,000,  and  have  sometimes  reached  $80,000 
in  a  single  day.1 

1  In  New  York,  A.  T.  Stewart's  and  Claffin's  $36,000,000.     These,  I 

sales  for  the  year  amount  to  double,  suppose,  are  the  biggest  dry-goods 

and  Claffin's  to  treble,  that  sum, — A.  businesses  in  America. 
T.  Stewart's  reaching    $25,000,000 


190  THE  LIGHTNING  CITY. 

The  progress  of  Chicago  in  the  grain  and  lumber 
trade  has  been  even  more  amazing,  and  has  already 
made  her  the  greatest  grain  and  lumber-market  in 
the  world.  In  1831,  three  vessels  were  all  that  she 
attracted  during  the  year.  Now,  9000  vessels  and 
propellers  swarm  annually  to  her  port ;  and  her  lake 
tonnage  has  reached  the  enormous  figure  of  two  and  a 
quarter  millions  of  tons  in  clearances  alone.  In  1838, 
she  made  her  first  shipment  of  wheat,  amounting  to 
only  78  bushels ;  the  year  I  was  there  she  had  shipped 
66,000,000  bushels  of  flour  and  grain  of  all  kinds,  while 
her  receipts  in  lumber  amounted  to  730,000,000  feet, 
riot  counting  124,000,000  pieces  of  lath,  and  400,000,000 
shingles.  This  trade  was  largely  in  excess  of  preceding 
years,  and  was  advancing  in  the  same  proportion.  The 
railway  across  the  Eocky  Mountains,  which  places 
her  now  on  the  great  highway  between  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific,  is  likely  still  more  to  accelerate  her 
progress. 

It  was  early  morning  when  I  entered  Chicago  from 
the  Rocky  Island  road,  and  the  great  city  was  just 
wakening  into  life  for  the  day.  The  first  thing  that 
attracted  my  attention  when  driving  from  the  station 
to  one  of  the  hotels,  was  the  sight  of  a  two-storey  house 
moving  up  the  street  before  us.  I  pointed  it  out  in 
amazement  to  the  driver. 

"  Did  you  never  see  a  house  moving  before  ? "  said  he 
unconcernedly. 

"  No.     Do  your  houses  move  about  like  that  ? " 

"  Wall,"  he  said,  "  there  's  always  some  of  them  on 
the  move." 

Which  turned  out  to  be  the  fact.  Never  a  day 
passed  during  my  stay  in  the  city  that  I  did  not  meet 


LIFTING  GRANITE  BUILDINGS.  191 

one  or  more  houses  shifting  their  quarters.  One  day  I 
met  nine.  Going  out  Great  Madison  Street  in  the 
horse-cars  we  had  to  stop  twice  to  let  houses  get  across. 
All  these  were  frame  houses,  and  in  some  of  them  I 
could  see  the  people  sitting  at  the  windows.  One  of 
those  crossing  Madison  Street  was  a  double  shop — 
cigars  at  one  end,  confectionery  at  the  other,  and  as  it 
moved  along  the  shopkeeper  stood  leaning  against  the 
door-post  smoking  a  cigar.  The  way  in  which  these 
houses  are  moved  is  this  : — After  being  screwed  up  to 
let  a  platform  with  wheels  or  rollers  be  placed  under 
neath,  they  are  drawn  along  by  means  of  a  windlass, 
fixed  on  the  street  at  some  distance  ahead,  and  turned 
by  a  horse.  When  the  house  has  been  drawn  near 
the  windlass,  this  machine  is  shifted  forward,  fixed, 
and  set  in  motion  again. 

But  it  is  not  only  frame  houses  that  are  moved. 
Great  blocks  of  masonry  in  some  parts  of  the  city  have 
been  lifted  up  from  four  to  fourteen  feet.  The  Brigg's 
House,  a  gigantic  hotel,  five  storeys  high,  solid  masonry, 
weighing  22,000  tons,  was  raised  four  and  a  half  feet, 
and  new  foundations  built  in  below.  The  people  were 
in  it  all  the  time,  coming  and  going,  eating  and  sleep 
ing — the  whole  business  of  the  hotel  proceeding  without 
interruption.  The  Tremont  House,  another  large  hotel, 
was  lifted  in  the  same  way.  The  work  was  done 
so  smoothly  and  so  gradually,  by  500  or  600  men 
working  in  covered  trenches  below,  that  Mr.  Beecher, 
who  was  a  guest  in  the  hotel  at  the  time,  said  the 
only  personal  knowledge  he  had  of  the  hotel  being  in 
process  of  elevation,  was  derived  from  the  fact  that  the 
broad  flight  of  stairs  from  the  street  seemed  to  be  get 
ting  steeper,  and  that  the  lower  windows,  which  were 


192  THE  LIGHTNING  CITY. 

on  a  level  with  his  face  when  he  arrived,  were  three  or 
four  feet  higher  when  he  went  away. 

The  process  of  lifting  these  blocks  is  ingenious,  and 
yet  simple  enough.  The  foundations  are  laid  bare,  and 
the  trenches,  if  necessary,  concealed  by  awnings.  Logs 
are  laid  along  the  foundations,  inside  and  out ;  holes 
cut  at  short  intervals,  and  transverse  logs  passed  through, 
with  jackscrews  beneath.  This  being  done  all  round, 
several  hundreds  of  workmen  flood  the  trenches 
within  and  without,  put  their  levers  in  the  jackscrews, 
and  at  a  given  signal  turn  all  the  screws  simultane 
ously,  gradually  pressing  the  transverse  logs  up,  till  the 
building  rests  upon  them.  As  the  screwing  goes  on, 
the  whole  mass  of  masonry  moves  up  hairbreadth  by 
hairbreadth.  New  logs  are  continually  inserted  as 
the  space  admits  of  it;  and  so  the  building  rises  in 
the  air  day  by  day  till  it  stands  on  this  log-founda 
tion  at  an  elevation  five,  ten,  or  fifteen  feet  higher 
than  it  did  at  first.  In  the  meantime,  the  new  stone 
foundation  is  being  built  in  the  interstices,  and  is 
ready,  when  the  building  has  been  screwed  up  to 
the  height  desired,  to  receive  its  weight  on  the 
slackening  of  the  screws.  The  log-foundation  is 
then,  bit  by  bit,  drawn  out,  and  stone  substituted; 
so  that,  by  the  time  the  wood  is  entirely  removed, 
the  building  stands  on  its  new  stone  foundation  as 
on  a  rock,  without  a  joint  dislocated,  or  its  stone, 
plaster,  or  furniture  disturbed. 

The  stone  foundation  is  generally  in  the  form  of  an 
under-storey.  Sometimes  a  dwelling-house  is  lifted, 
and  shops  put  in  below.  I  was  told  of  a  congregation 
in  the  city  which,  being  in  want  of  money,  had  their 
church  lifted  so  as  to  allow  of  the  insertion  of  shops 


I 

THE  REASON  WHY.  193 

below,  got  these  let,  and  speedily  relieved  the  church 
from  its  embarrassments. 

In  other  cases  large  blocks  of  building — warehouses 
and  the  like — have  not  only  been  lifted,  but  moved 
back  to  widen  the  street.  The  process  in  that  case  is 
the  same,  except  that  the  log-foundation  is  made  more 
in  the  form  of  a  sliding  platform, — like  that  from  which 
a  ship  is  launched,  but  of  course  with  the  incline  less, 
and  the  motion  so  gradual  as  to  be  imperceptible  ex 
cept  from  day  to  day. 

The  reason  for  all  this  house-lifting  in  Chicago  is 
that  the  city  was  found  to  be  on  too  low  a  level,  expos 
ing  it  to  inundation  from  the  inland  ocean,  along  whose 
flat  shore  it  lies,  and  also  making  proper  drainage  im 
possible.  The  people  had  therefore  to  choose  between 
three  things — (1.)  to  submit  to  these  inconveniences, 
which  must  yearly  become  more  disastrous,  or  (2.)  to 
pull  down  their  city,  raise  the  level,  and  rebuild, 
or  (3.)  to  contrive  machinery  that  would  lift  the  city, 
and  let  the  new  level  be  drawn  underneath.  The  last 
expedient  was  adopted,  and  ever  since  then  the  city  has 
been  in  process  of  elevation.  The  machinery  thus 
called  into  existence  makes  house-moving  so  easy  that 
the  Chicago  people  think  nothing  of  it.  If  a  man  with 
his  frame-house  and  cigar-shop  at  one  corner  finds 
business  dull,  he  moves  house  and  all  away  to  some 
other  street,  where  he  thinks  it  will  be  brisker.  The 
reason,  however,  why  so  many  frame-houses  are  con 
tinually  on  the  move  at  present,  is,  that  the  ground  is 
wanted  for  stone-buildings  and  warehouses ;  and  it  is 
found  cheaper  to  move  the  wooden  houses  away  to  the 
suburbs  than  to  pull  them  down  and  have  to  re-erect  them. 

House- moving  is  occasionally  to  be  seen  in  other 

VOL.  II.  N 


194  THE  LIGHTNING  CITY. 

parts  of  America ;  but  Chicago,  owing  to  its  circum 
stances,  has  been  the  great  nursery-ground  and  arena 
for  it.  Even  there  it  will  become  less  common  by-and- 
by,  as  the  city  is  now  for  the  most  part  graded,  and 
new  houses  are  built  on  the  new  level.  But  house- 
moving  is  only  one  of  the  wonders  of  that  great  city. 
Her  elevators  amazed  me  almost  as  much.  They  also 
are  the  product  of  ingenuity  taxed  by  new  circum 
stances.  The  amount  of  grain  that  has  to  be  taken  up 
and  re- shipped  at  Chicago  made  the  ordinary  method  of 
lading  and  unlading  cars  and  ships  too  slow.  Accord 
ingly,  gigantic  buildings  were  erected  along  the  wharves, 
provided  with  machinery  that  plunges  its  hands  down 
into  the  ships  and  barges  that  come  alongside,  and 
empties  them  with  a  rapidity  otherwise  unattainable. 

I  went  one  day  to  see  the  elevators  at  work  in  one 
of  Armour,  Dole,  and  Co.'s  granaries, — a  stupendous 
building,  110  feet  high,  presenting  the  appearance  of  a 
mountain  boxed  up  for  transit.  The  interior,  on  the 
ground-floor,  was  like  a  railway  terminus,  with  trains 
running  in  and  out.  We  had  to  ascend  what  seemed  a 
mile  of  stairs,  through  storey  after  storey,  to  get  to  the 
top,  where,  in  what  might  be  called  the  attics  of  the 
building,  the  huge  machinery  was  working.  The  next 
flat  below  the  machinery  was  the  one  to  which  the 
grain  was  lifted  by  the  elevators,  to  be  weighed  and 
shot  into  the  store,  or  down  into  railway  cars  or  ships. 
From  this  storey,  when  a  ship  comes  alongside  the 
granary,  an  elevator,  working  on  the  principle  of  our 
river- dredging  machines,  but  with  the  buckets  small 
and  touched  with  Chicago  lightning,  is  sent  down  into 
her  hold;  and  instantly,  on  steam  being  turned  on, 
begins  clutching  the  grain  with  its  myriad  hands,  and 


THE  LIGHTNING  STYLE  APPLIED  TO  PIGS.  195 

flying  up  with,  it  to  the  top  of  the  granary,  pouring  into 
a  huge  vat  or  "  scale-hopper."  This  receptable  holds 
500  bushels  at  a  time,  and  immediately  on  receiving 
that  weight  opens  below,  discharging  the  500  bushels 
into  the  granary,  and  instantly  closes  again  to  receive 
more.  In  this  way  the  grain  weighs  itself  on  its 
passage  from  the  ship  to  the  store, — machinery  lifting 
it,  machinery  weighing  it,  and  machinery  storing  it. 

When  the  grain  is  not  to  be  stored,  but  transferred 
from  ships  to  railway  cars,  the  cars  enter  the  building, 
and  the  ship  comes  alongside.  The  elevator  stretches 
down  into  the  ship's  hold  and  runs  the  grain  up  into 
the  scale-hopper,  which,  instead  of  emptying  it  into  the 
store,  discharges  it  into  a  spout,  which  shoots  it  down 
into  the  cars.  In  this  way,  with  incredible  rapidity, 
train  after  train  is  loaded  and  sent  off. 

In  that  granary  there  were  ten  elevators,  each  capable 
of  running  up  4000  bushels  an  hour — the  ten  being 
thus  able  to  gather  up  and  store  the  grain  at  the  rate 
of  40,000  bushels  an  hour,  if  all  working  at  once. 
There  were  100,000  bushels  stored  in  the  bins  at  the 
time  of  my  visit,  and  capacity  for  700,000  more.  A 
new  granary  was  being  built  by  the  same  firm  close 
beside  the  one  described,  and  was  almost  ready  to  begin 
work.  It  was  on  a  still  more  gigantic  scale — being 
provided  with  fifteen  elevators,  ten  for  receiving  and  five 
for  shipping — and  being  capacious  enough  to  hold  a 
million  and  a  quarter  bushels. 

Chicago  is  famous  also  for  her  application  of  steam- 
power  in  the  conversion  of  pigs  into  pork.  She  has  so 
many  hundreds  of  thousands  to  slaughter  every  year 
that  she  has  no  time  to  kill  and  cure  them  in  the  old 
fashion.  She  requires  capacious  buildings,  divided  into 


196  THE  LIGHTNING  CITY. 

different  storeys  and  compartments,  in  each  of  which 
the  hogs  are  passed  through  a  different  process.  At  any 
of  these  establishments  you  may  see,  almost  incessantly 
at  the  busy  season,  a  stream  of  pigs  pouring  in  along  a 
gangway,  little  imagining  what  awaits  them.  Every 
pig  the  instant  it  gets  within  the  building  receives  a 
stunning  blow ;  is  clutched  by  the  snout ;  stuck ;  run 
by  machinery  up  to  the  top  of  the  building ;  plunged 
into  a  long  tank  of  hot  water ;  shot  from  hand  to  hand 
and  scraped ;  hooked  up  and  run  on  by  machinery, 
ripped  down,  cut  into  parts,  dressed  and  salted,  and  all 
this  with  such  rapidity  that  within  twelve  minutes  from 
the  time  when  it  was  an  intelligent  pig  on  the  gangway, 
it  is  converted  into  pork,  packed  in  barrels,  and  ready 
for  shipment.  They  tell  about  an  ingenious  Yankee 
inventing  a  machine,  which  was  warranted,  when  wound 
up  and  set  in  motion,  to  chase  a  pig  over  a  ten-acre  lot, 
chop  him  into  sausages,  work  his  bristles  into  shoe- 
brushes,  and  manufacture  his  tail  into  a  cork-screw. 
That  machine  I  am  not  prepared  to  vouch  for ;  but  the 
machinery  in  those  pig-killing  establishments  in  Chicago 
any  one  visiting  the  city  at  the  killing  season  can  see 
at  work  for  himself.  The  number  of  pigs  killed  in 
some  of  them  is  almost  fabulous.  One  of  the  two  I 
saw  kills  70,000  pigs  per  annum,  besides  myriads  of 
sheep,  which,  during  the  busy  season  in  autumn,  are 
slaughtered  at  the  rate  of  2000  a  day.  In  that  single 
year  there  were  killed  and  packed  in  Chicago  2G,000 
cattle  and  670,000  hogs,  reaching  about  four  times 
the  weight  of  her  population.  Cincinnati  was  long 
known  as  the  Porkopolis,  or  head-centre  of  pig-killing 
in  the  West ;  but  Chicago  drew  a-head  about  six  years 
ago,  and  seems  likely  to  distance  all  competitors. 


GREENBACK  CHRISTIANITY.  197 

Chicago  is  almost  as  great  a  city  for  worldliness  and 
wickedness  as  for  trade.  What  she  does  she  does  with 
all  her  might.  Her  good  people  are  very  good,  her  bad 
people  are  very  bad.  Everything  works  at  high  pres 
sure.  The  first  thing  that  strikes  a  stranger  is  the 
universal  rush  for  wealth.  Chicago  is  a  young  New 
York.  The  deep-mouthed  roar  of  the  Empire  City 
becomes  a  Babel  of  shrill  voices  in  the  West,  but  the 
universal  cry  is  the  same — "  Dollars  and  cents,  dollars 
and  cents  ! "  You  hear  it  in  the  street,  you  hear  it  in 
the  market,  you  hear  it  in  the  store,  you  hear  it  in  the 
cars,  you  hear  it  in  the  house.  People  run  about  say 
ing  that  Smith  has  made  $10,000  by  that  transaction  : 
that  grain  is  up,  and  that  Brown  is  hauling  in  millions. 
If  you  ask  whose  church  that  is,  your  friend  tells  you, 
and  adds  that  it  cost  $30,000.  If  you  refer  to  a  mar 
riage,  you  are  told  that  it  is  a  fine  match — that  the 
man  is  worth  half-a-million.  Your  companions  at  the 
boarding-house  table  talk  excitedly  of  the  immense 
sales  being  effected  by  Clutch  and  Cut.  The  young 
lady  who  goes  with  you  to  the  evening  lecture  looks 
pensive,  and  when  you  ask  her  the  reason,  raises  her 
sad  eyes  to  heaven,  heaves  a  sigh,  and  tells  you  that 
P.RR  stock  is  down  2^  per  cent.  Dollars  and  cents ! 
it  is  the  voice  of  prayer  in  the  morning  ;  it  is  the  voice 
of  thanksgiving  at  night.  There  seems  no  God  but 
gold,  and  cent  per  cent  is  his  profit. 

In  this  scramble  for  money,  principle  is  too  often  run 
to  the  wall,  knocked  over  and  trampled  under  foot. 
Respectability  is  gauged  by  dollars,  so  even  is  Chris 
tianity.  What  a  godly  congregation  that  must  be 
which  builds  its  church  of  jolliette  marble,  salaries  its 
minister  at  $5000  a  year,  draws  $10  a  piece  for  the 


198 


THE  LIGHTNING  CITY. 


back-seats,  and  has  nobody  in  it  worth  less  than  $2000  I1 
If  a  man  makes  money,  it  seems  to  matter  little  how 
he  makes  it.  Even  in  the  case  of  a  downright  swindle, 
the  criminal,  in  public  estimation,  seems  to  be  the  man 
who  has  allowed  himself  to  be  swindled.  The  other 
man  may  be  called  a  great  rogue,  but  is  admired  for  his 
smartness,  and  when  a  keen  stroke  of  business  has  to  be 
done,  people  say,  "  Go  to  him,  sir ;  one  of  the  smartest 
men  in  the  country,  sir." 

Chicago,  in  this  respect,  is  only  a  reflex  of  New  York, 
and  both  of  them  are  only  strongly  coloured  pictures 
of  the  commercial  world  of  America. 

Chicago  is  notorious  also  for  its  fast  life  and  its  im 
morality.  One  of  its  own  citizens  said,  "  It  is  a  second 
Corinth." 2  One  surface  evidence  of  what  goes  on 


1  When  Dr.  Ormiston  of  Hamil 
ton,    one    of    the    most    eloquent 
ministers  in  America,  was  called  to 
Chicago,  he  said,—  "  Double  the  area 
of  your  church  and  let  the  poor  in 
free,  and  I  will  come."     But  that 
was  too  vulgar  a  Christianity  for 
El  Dorado. 

2  There  is  one  form  of  vice,  almost 
unknown  in  this  country,  so  preva 
lent  in  Chicago— so  prevalent  indeed 
in  certain  circles  of  society  all  over 
the  North— that  it  is  difficult  to 
avoid  allusion  to  it,  though  I  would 
fain  keep  it  out  of  the  text.     I 
mean  the  practice  among  women  of 
resorting  to  medical  aid  to  avoid 
the    trials  and    responsibilities   of 
maternity.       It    is  impossible  for 
any  one  to  travel   in   the    States 
without    becoming    aware    of    the 
frightful  prevalence  of  this  prac 
tice.    The  papers  swarm  with  ad 
vertisements  of  the  requisite  medi 


cines  ;  and  books  and  pamphlets 
giving  instruction  in  this  diabolical 
art  are  openly  advertised  and  sold. 
The  almost  total  absence  of  chil 
dren  within  the  circles  referred  to 
cannot  possibly  escape  notice  ;  and 
if  you  remark  it  privately  to  any 
one  the  same  explanation  is  invari 
ably  given.  A  medical  man  in  one 
of  the  large  cities  of  the  North 
enumerated  thirty  practitioners  in 
that  one  city  who,  to  his  own 
knowledge,  devoted  themselves  to 
this  species.of  murder.  In  all  these 
cities  there  are  establishments  called 
by  such  names  as  "Invalids'  Ke- 
treats,"  but  well  enough  known  to 
be  reserved  almost  exclusively  for 
cases  of  this  description.  One  of 
the  most  magnificent  houses  in 
Fifth  Avenue,  New  York,  is  a  place 
of  this  kind.  You  see  on  a  side- 
door  a  silver  plate  marked  "  Office," 
and  ladies  are  not  ashamed  to  drive 


DIVOECES. 


199 


beneath  is  tlie  commonness  of  divorce.  The  marriage- 
tie  seems  more  easily  dissolved  in  that  State  of  Illinois 
than  a  business  partnership.  Some  of  the  lawyers  bid 
for  such  cases.  I  noticed  one  advertisement  by  a 
Chicago  law-firm,  stating  that  it  had  already  obtained 
upwards  of  300  divorces,  and  charged  nothing  except 
when  a  decree  was  obtained.  In  order  to  satisfy  the 
law,  the  practice  is  for  one  of  the  parties,  say  the  wife, 
to  get  a  bill  drawn  up  claiming  divorce  on  the  ground 
of  her  husband's  drunken  habits,  incompatibility  of 
temper,  etc.  If  the  husband  is  willing  that  the  divorce 
should  be  effected,  he  simply  "confesses"  the  bill — 


up  to  it  in  their  carriages.  The 
practice  is  not  confined  to  those 
who  wish  to  hide  their  sin  ;  it  is  re 
sorted  to  by  tens  of  thousands  of 
married  ladies  to  prevent  interrup 
tions  in  a  life  of  gaiety,  and  to  escape 
the  trouble  of  bringing  up  a  family, 
— no  doubt  a  greater  difficulty  in 
America  than  here.  This  vice  has 
extended  itself  so  widely,  and  is 
producing,  in  co-operation  with 
other  causes,  such  disastrous  re 
sults—in  some  places  absolutely 
stopping  the  increase  of  the  native 
American  population — that  medical 
men  and  ministers  of  the  gospel 
have  had  to  issue  earnest  appeals 
on  the  subject.  One  of  the  most 
eminent  clergymen  in  New  England 
recently  published  a  volume,  en 
titled  The  Serpent  in  the  Dove's 
Nest,  in  which,  as  his  vindication 
for  dealing  with  a  subject  so  repul 
sive  to  him,  he  declares  his  belief 
that  scarcely  a  woman  in  America 
will  read  that  book  who  does  not 
know  some  one  in  the  circle  of  her 
friends  who  is  practising  this  ini 


quity.  What  foreigner  would  ven 
ture  to  make  a  charge  so  fearfully 
comprehensive  as  that  ?  This  state 
of  things  not  only  lowers  the  moral 
tone  of  society,  but  makes  it  look 
with  less  horror  than  lit  ought  on 
the  crime  of  infanticide.  A  case 
exceptional,  but  still  frightfully 
significant  in  some  respects,  occurred 
in  Chicago  the  winter  before  last. 
In  a  boarding-house  in  the  city,  the 
landlady  one  morning  heard  the 
crying  of  a  baby  in  the  room  occu 
pied  by  two  of  her  married  boarders. 
When  the  husband  went  out,  the 
landlady  went  in  to  see  the  infant, 
and  ask  if  she  could  do  anything 
for  it.  She  saw  the  baby  lying  on 
the  quilt  dead.  The  mother  said 
that  its  father  had  killed  it.  In 
the  evening  the  father  returned, 
wrapt  the  dead  infant  in  a  news 
paper,  and  threw  it  over  the  bridge. 
The  matter  was  talked  about,  there 
was  a  preliminary  examination  be 
fore  a  magistrate,  but  the  case 
dropped  and  nothing  more  was 
done. 


200  THE  LIGHTNING  CITY. 

whether  there  be  any  truth  in  it  or  not — whereupon 
the  decree  is  granted,  the  two  are  divorced,  and  the 
husband  can  marry  another  woman,  and  the  wife  another 
man,  the  hour  after  if  they  please.  One  lady,  well 
known  in  Chicago,  was  living  with  her  eighth  husband, 
most  if  not  all  the  others  being  still  alive.  I  am  happy 
to  add  that  this  was  not  considered  respectable  even  in 
Chicago. 

Another  case  which  excited  talk,  merely  on  account 
of  its  oddity,  was  that  of  a  doctor  and  his  wife  living  in 
Wabash  Avenue  (the  Belgravia  of  Chicago),  who  fell  out 
with  one  another.  The  lady  get  a  bill  of  divorce  and 
served  it  on  her  husband,  who,  consenting  to  separa 
tion,  confessed  the  bill.  Thereupon  the  lady  married  a 
gentleman  whom  they  had  in  the  house  as  a  boarder. 
The  doctor  did  not  leave  the  house,  but  merely  changed 
into  the  boarder's  room  and  became  the  boarder,  wrhile 
the  boarder  took  the  doctor's  place  and  became  the  hus 
band — all  three  living  under  the  same  roof  as  before. 

A  still  more  extraordinary  case  occurred  in  the  same 
city  in  1865: — A  sewing  girl  had  married  a  soldier, 
who  did  not  return  in  the  same  train  with  the  rest  of 
the  Chicago  troops  at  the  close  of  the  war.  Thereupon 
this  girl  got  a  bill  of  divorce,  wishing,  as  the  saying  is, 
"  to  take  up  with  another  man."  Her  husband  returned 
in  a  day  or  two  and  passed  the  night  with  her.  Next 
day  she  served  the  bill  upon  him  ;  he  (probably  wishing 
to  "  take  up"  with  some  other  woman)  "  confessed"  the 
bill,  and  the  decree  was  got.  Thereupon  the  girl  and 
her  mother,  accompanied  both  by  the  husband  that  was 
and  by  the  husband  that  was  to  be,  went  to  the  magis 
trate's  office  and  got  the  new  marriage  effected.  They  all 
dined  merrily  together ;  after  which  the  mother-in-law 


NUMBER  OF  DIVORCES.  201 

and  the  happy  pair  accompanied  the  divorced  husband 
to  the  railway  station  to  see  him  off  to  his  home  !  As 
Miss  Edgeworth  used  to  say,  when  a  story  was  very 
hard  to  swallow,  "  This  is  a  fact."  But  such  cases  ought 
never  to  be  told  without  this  appendix,  that  they  are 
only  found  amongst  a  class  of  people  who  live  unsettled 
lives,  and  are  not  considered  respectable.  Still  divorces 
are  common  amongst  other  classes,  and  public  morality 
is  undoubtedly  tainted  with  this  deep  "  heresy  of  life/' 

In  1865,  the  number  of  divorces  applied  for  in 
Chicago  was  275,  of  which  274  were  granted.  In  1866 
there  were  327  applied  for,  and  209  granted.  In  1867 
there  were  311  applied  for,  being  about  five  per  cent,  of 
the  marriages ;  that  is,  for  every  twenty  marriages  there 
was  one  divorce.  I  referred  formerly  to  the  greater 
sacredness  of  the  marriage-tie  in  the  South.  While  the 
single  city  of  Chicago  in  one  year  granted  274  divorces, 
and  the  State  of  Connecticut  decreed  1316  in  the  five 
years  ending  May  1,  1865,  South  Carolina  has  never 
granted  a  divorce  at  all  since  the  organization  of  her 
State  government  in  1776.1 

1  Last  year  advantage  was  taken  of  his  views,  or  persons  determined 
of  Mr.  Beecher's  performance  of  to  misrepresent  them.  Probably  no 
the  marriage  ceremony  between  Mr.  man  in  America  has  done  more  than 
Richardson  and  Mrs.  M'Farland  in  he  has  to  uphold  the  sacredness  of 
New  York,  to  charge  him  with  loose  marriage  ;  and  his  views  on  the  sub- 
views  on  the  subject  of  divorce.  Mr.  ject  are  far  more  rigid  than  those 
Beecher's  real  fault  in  that  case  commonly  held.  In  a  recent  article 
seems  to  have  been,  that  he  allowed  on  "The  Christian  Law  of  Mar- 
himself  to  be  led  by  a  chivalrous  riage,"  published  in  his  own  paper 
feeling,  and  by  over-confidence  in  (The  Christian  Union),  he  says, — 
his  friends,  to  act  on  insufficient  "  We  learn  in  Mark  that,  after 
evidence.  But  the  charge  brought  Christ  had  answered  the  Pharisees, 
against  him,  of  indorsing  wliat  he  his  disciples  asked  him  again  of 
himself  calls  "  the  pernicious  heresy  the  same  matter  in  the  house.  And 
of  free  love,"  could  only  have  been  then  he  thus  reversed  the  positions 
made  by  persons  utterly  ignorant  of  the  two  actors  :  '  If  a  woman 


202  THE  LIGHTNING  CITY. 

But  if  Chicago  draws  to  a  head  some  of  the  worst 
vices  that  pervade  American  society,  she  develops  the 
antidote  with  almost  equal  rapidity,  and  has  already  a 
powerful  Christian  element  labouring  with  untiring 
zeal  to  evangelize  the  masses,  and  elevate  the  moral 
tone  of  society. 

The  growth  of  her  churches,  charities,  and  Sunday- 
schools,  is  almost  as  astonishing  as  the  increase  of  her 
trade.  Thirty- six  years  ago,  there  was  only  one  build 
ing  in  Chicago  for  religious  purposes, — a  little  wooden 
chapel  erected  by  a  handful  of  Methodists  in  1834,  and 
brought  across  the  river  on  screws — being  the  first  case 
of  house- moving  in  the  city  which  has  since  achieved 
such  wonders  in  that  department.  Now  there  are  130 
churches,  erected  and  supported  by  voluntary  contribu 
tions,  valued  at  $8,000,000,  and  attended  every  Sunday 
by  over  100,000  people;  while  40,000  children  are 
being  taught  in  their  Sunday- schools.  Charities  are 

shall  put  away  her  husband,  and  be  do  it  of  their  own  choice,  not  by 

married  to  another,  SHE  COMMITTETH  legal  compulsion.     The  separations 

ADULTERY.'  which  the  courts  grant  are,  there- 

"  We  do  not  believe  that  this  fore,  allowable.     But  they  should 

means  that  a  woman  has  no  right  not  (indeed  they  cannot)  annul  the 

to  ask  society  to  step  between  her  marriage  of  the  two  persons.  Neither 

and  her  husband  if  his  conduct  is  is  free  to  marry  again  while  the  other 

unbearable.     This  is  another  thing  is  living.     Separation  is  one  thing, 

from  being  discontented  with  her  divorce  is  another.    This,  as  we  un- 

marriage  relation  because  she  wants  derstand  it,  is  the  Christian  law  of 

to  marry  another  man.     Her  hus-  marriage." 

band  may  be  so  cruel  that  her  life  He  holds  that,  for  no  other  cause 
is  embittered,  or  even  in  danger.  but  that  of  adultery,  is  a  woman 
He  may  be  such  a  profligate  that  free  to  marry  again.  And  he  says, 
she  cannot  believe  that  it  is  her  that  it  was  only  on  the  assurance 
duty  to  live  in  his  company.  He  given  him  that  this  cause  existed  in 
may  be  such  a  spendthrift  that  she  the  case,  of  MTarland,  that  he  con- 
is  deprived  of  the  necessaries  of  life  sented  to  perform  the  marriage  cere- 
for  herself  and  her  children.  Some  mony  between  the  divorced  wife  and 
women  have  carried  such  crosses  to  Mr.  Richardson, 
the  gate  of  heaven.  But  they  should 


CHRISTIAN  EFFORT  IN  THE  LIGHTNING  STYLE.       203 

also  numerous,  and  generally  well-supported.  There 
are  several  hospitals,  a  Soldiers'  Home,  a  (fresh-water) 
Sailors'  Home,  a  Home  for  the  Friendless,  two  Orphan 
Asylums,  a  Nursery  and  Half- Orphan  Asylum,  an 
Erring  Woman's  Refuge,  an  Old  Ladies'  Home,  Ee- 
form  and  Industrial  Schools,  and  a  voluntary  City 
Belief  Society  that  looks  after  the  destitute.  There  is 
also  a  Young  Men's  Christian  Association — one  of  the 
finest  and  most  active  I  have  seen  anywhere.  Of  its 
1400  members,  more  than  500  were  occupying  them 
selves  more  or  less  in  Christian  work ;  8000  families 
were  being  visited  monthly,  400,000  bibles,  tracts, 
papers,  and  books  of  various  kinds,  were  distributed 
that  year,  and  situations  were  found  for  3300  persons 
out  of  work.  It  had  also  built  a  magnificent  hall,  at  a 
cost  of  $200,000,  with  handsome  library,  lecture-rooms, 
amusement-rooms,  reading-rooms,  etc.,  where  young 
men  could  at  any  time  spend  an  enjoyable  and  profit 
able  evening. 

Every  great  city  in  America  can  show  similar,  and 
some  of  them  even  greater,  evidence  of  Christian 
activity.  But  the  wonder  in  Chicago  is  that  these 
agencies  for  good  should  have  developed  with  such 
rapidity,  and  in  the  midst  of  such  a  scramble  for  gold, 
and  such  temptations  to  vice.  Christianity  in  such  a 
city  becomes  fast  like  everything  else.  When  the 
costly  hall  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
went  on  fire  in  1867,  the  secretary  and  other  officials, 
as  soon  as  they  found  that  the  building  was  doomed, 
ran  about  amongst  the  Christian  merchants  in  the  city 
for  subscriptions.  "  Our  hall  is  burning,  sir ;  the 
engines  are  at  work,  but  there  is  no  hope.  We  shall 
want  a  new  one.  Let  us  have  money  enough  to  begin 


204  THE  LIGHTNING  CITY. 

at  once."  Thousands  upon  thousands  of  dollars  were 
subscribed  without  a  moment's  hesitation  ;  and  it  is 
said  that  before  the  fire  was  out  money  enough  had 
been  raised  to  build  a  new  hall  in  a  style  of  even 
greater  magnificence  than  the  first.  This  is  only  a 
specimen  of  the  lightning  Christianity  of  Chicago. 

The  man  who  may  be  called  par  excellence  the  Light 
ning  Christian  of  the  city,  is  Mr.  Moodie,  the  secretary 
of  the  association  referred  to,  and  a  man  whose  name 
is  a  household  word  in  connection  with  missionary 
work.  I  went  to  one  of  his  mission-schools,  and  have 
rarely  beheld  such  a  scene  of  high-pressure  evangeliza 
tion.  It  made  me  think  irresistibly  of  those  breathing 
steam-boats  on  the  Mississippi,  that  must  either  go 
fast  or  burst.  Mr.  Moodie  himself  effervesced  about 
the  school  the  whole  time,  seeing  that  everybody  was 
at  work,  throwing  in  a  word  where  he  thought  it  neces 
sary,  and  inspiring  every  one  with  his  own  enthusiasm. 

As  soon  as  the  classes  had  been  going  on  for  the 
specified  number  of  minutes,  he  mounted  the  platform, 
rang  a  bell,  and  addressed  the  children.  He  is  a  keen, 
dark-eyed  man,  with  a  somewhat  squeaky  voice,  but 
with  thorough  earnestness  of  manner  and  delivery. 
His  remarks  were  few  but  pointed,  and  full  of  interro 
gation,  keeping  the  children  on  their  mettle.  It  is  one 
of  his  first  principles  never,  in  any  of  the  exercises,  in 
schools  or  meetings,  to  allow  the  interest  or  attention 
of  the  audience  to  flag  for  an  instant.  At  a  great 
religious  convention  held  at  Chicago,  to  which  500 
delegates  came  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  he  got  a 
resolution  passed  that  no  one  was  to  be  allowed  more 
than  three  minutes  for  his  speech.  The  result  was 
that  an  immense  number  got  an  opportunity  of  speak- 


THREE-MINUTE  SPEECHES. 


205 


ing,  and  an  admirable  check  was  put  on  the  American 
tendency  to  copious  and  flowery  oratory.  Every  man 
had  to  dash  in  medias  res  at  once,  say  what  he  had  to 
say  without  loss  of  words,  and  leave  out  all  minor 
points  to  get  time  for  the  points  of  most  importance.1 


1  Here  are  a  few  specimens  of  the 
three-minute  speeches  on  the  ques 
tions  of  "  How  to  reach  the  poor, 
and  how  to  make  religious  services 
more  effective :  "- 

MK.  HOODIE'S  SPEECH. 

"  We  don't  make  our  services  in 
teresting  enough  so  as  to  get  uncon 
verted  people  to  come.  We  don't 
expect  them  to  come — would  be 
mortified  if  they  did.  To  make 
them  interesting  and  profitable,  ask 
the  question — How  shall  we  make 
them  more  interesting  ?  and  then 
ask  some  man  that  never  takes  a 
part  how  he  would  do  it.  You  will 
wake  him  up.  If  you  can't  talk, 
read  a  verse  of  Scripture,  and  let 
God  speak.  Bring  up  the  question 
— What  more  can  we  do  in  our  dis 
trict  ?  Get  those  who  never  do  any 
thing  to  say  what  they  think  ought 
to  be  done,  and  then  ask  them  if 
they  are  doing  it.  Don't  get  in  a 
rut.  I  abominate  ruts.  Perhaps  I 
dread  them  too  much,  but  there  is 
nothing  I  fear  more." 

KEV.  MR.  WYNN'S  SPEECH. 

"  You  must  preach  truth  as 
though  it  were  truth.  We  must 
throw  aside  our  manuscripts.  The 
gift  at  Pentecost  was  a  gift  of 
tongues  and  not  of  pens.  I  heard 
of  a  man  once  who  was  asked  by 
his  wife  to  scold  the  hired  girl.  He 
said  he  would  write  out  a  scold. 
(Laughter.)  He  wrote  it  out,  and 
the  wife  read  it,  but  it  did  not  pro 
duce  any  perceptible  effect.  She 
threw  aside  the  manuscript,  and 
went  at  it  in  the  good  old-fashioned 
way.  And  then  the  cook  began  to 


think  she  meant  something.  In  the 
pulpit  we  ought  to  take  heed  of  the 
example  of  our  political  brethren. 
What  effect  would  a  political  speech 
have  if  it  were  read  ?  " 

ME.  WM.  KEYNOLD'S  SPEECH. 

"No  one  can  deny  that  churches 
are  losing  favour  with  the  masses. 
That  which  convinced  John  that 
Christ  had  come  was  that  to  the 
poor  the  Gospel  was  preached. 
Where  is  this  done  now  ?  We  are 
troubled  with  a  respectable  Chris 
tianity.  We  have  our  houses  of 
worship  made  into  houses  of  mer 
chandise.  A  seat  in  God's  house 
is  a  matter  of  bargain  and  sale.  If 
Christ  were  here  again  upon  earth, 
I  think  that  He  would  take  the 
same  instrument  that  He  once  used, 
and  again  clear  out  His  house. 
(Laughter. )  WL  en  I  was  in  Europe, 
where  caste  is  acknowledged,  yet  I 
saw  that  the  rich  and  poor,  titled 
and  untitled,  were  alike  equal  after 
they  entered  the  sanctuary.  It 
ought  to  be  so  here.  It  is  said  that 
the  expenses  of  a  church  can  be 
raised  in  no  other  way  than  by  pew- 
rents.  I  belonged  to  a  clrurch  in 
Peoria  that  could  by  pew-renting 
barely  raise  $1600.  I  now  belong 
to  a  mission  where  we  have  free 
seats,  and  raise  that  amount  easily, 
and  we  do  it  by  each  one  paying 
50  cents  a  week.  It  isn't  hard  to 
pay  that  amount.  We  fail  to  reach 
the  poor  on  account  of  dress.  We 
dress  as  if  the  church  was  a  place  to 
display  the  latest  fashions  and  styles 
of  bonnets.  Our  ministers  too  are 
getting  ambitious,  and  have  a  hank 
ering  after  city  churches,  and  are 
unwilling  to  preach  in  poor  churches. 
The  reason  why  we  do  not  reach 


206  THE  LIGHTNING  CITY. 

Though  earnest  in  his  piety,  and  full  of  religious  talk, 
Mr.  Moodie  has  no  patience  with  mere  cant,  and  wants 
everybody  to  prove  his  sincerity  by  his  acts.  At  one 
meeting  on  behalf  of  a  struggling  charity,  a  wealthy 
layman,  loud  in  his  religious  professions,  offered  up  a 
prayer  that  the  Lord  would  move  the  hearts  of  the 
people  to  contribute  the  aid  required.  Mr.  Moodie 
rose  and  said  that  what  the  charity  wanted  was  only 
$2000,  and  that  he  considered  it  absurd  for  a  man  worth 
half-a-million  to  get  up  and  ask  the  Lord  to  do  any 
thing  in  the  matter  when  he  could  himself  with  a  mere 
stroke  of  his  pen  do  all  that  was  needed  and  ten  times 
more,  and  never  feel  the  difference. 

The  first  thing  Mr.  Moodie  does  with  those  whom 
he  succeeds  in  bringing  under  Christian  influences  is 
to  turn  them  to  account  in  pushing  on  the  work.  No 
place  is  too  bad,  no  class  too  hardened  to  be  despaired 
of.  He  sometimes  takes  a  choir  of  well-trained  chil 
dren  with  him  to  the  low  drinking-saloons  to  help  him 
in  wooing  the  drunkards  and  gamblers  away  to  the 
meetings.  On  one  such  occasion  which  was  described 
to  me,  he  entered  one  of  these  dens  with  his  choir, 
and  said, — "Have  a  song,  gentlemen?"  No  objec 
tion  was  offered,  and  the  children  sang  a  patriotic  song 
in  fine  style,  eliciting  great  applause.  Mr.  Moodie 
then  started  them  with  a  hymn,  and  went  round, 
while  they  sang,  distributing  tracts.  When  the  hymn 

the  poor  is  that  the  poor  are  not  ing  the  services  came  down  from  the 

welcome."  pulpit,  politely  offered,  her  his  arm, 

T>        T»T     iTir        )  a  an(i  gave  her  a  seat  in  his  own  pew. 

REV.  MR.  WINES'  SPEECH.  (Applause.)      People  were  not  al- 

"A  poor  but  respectably  dressed  lowed  to  stand  in  the  aisles  after 

and  feeble  old  woman  went  into  a  that."     (Laughter.) 

city  church.      She  walked  up  the  Cries  of  "  Name  the  man." 

aisle,  and  no  one  gave  her  a  seat.  Mr.    Wines,    "  Kev.  Dr.   Tyng." 

The  pastor  saw  her,  and  interrupt-  (Loud  applause.) 


HOW  SCHOOLS  HAVE  MULTIPLIED.  207 

. 

was  over,  he  said, — "We  shall  now  have  a  word  of 
prayer !" 

"  No,  no  !"  cried  several  in  alarm,  "no  prayer  here  !" 

"  Oh  yes,  we'll  have  a  word.  Quiet  for  one  moment, 
gentlemen ;"  and  he  offered  up  a  few  earnest  petitions. 
Some  of  the  men  were  touched,  and  when  he  invited 
them  to  go  with  him  to  his  meeting  and  hear  more, 
about  half  of  them  rose  and  went.  It  is  believed  that 
if  Pandemonium  were  accessible,  Mr.  Moodie  would 
have  a  mission  started  there  within  a  week. 

There  are  now  thirty-six  mission  schools  under  the 
Sunday- School  Union,  attended  by  6500  poor  children 
and  persons  reclaimed  from  vice. 

Chicago  has  also  developed  her  educational  system 
with  amazing  rapidity.  There  are  plenty  of  people  in 
Cook  County  able  to  remember  the  time  when  the  only 
school  in  Chicago  was  kept  in  a  log- hut,  meant  for  a 
bakehouse,  and  was  attended  by  seven  children,  who 
were  taught  by  a  discharged  soldier  of  the  name  of 
William  Cox.  Now  the  city  has  373  public  school 
rooms,  with  400  teachers  and  30,000  pupils  enrolled, 
maintained  at  a  cost  of  650,000  dollars  annually.  It 
has  also  private  schools  with  18,000  pupils  in  attend 
ance  ;  a  university,  a  law- school,  two  business  colleges, 
and  three  theological  seminaries.  This  is  quick  work 
for  a  city  not  forty  years  of  age  ! 


208  ANNA  DICKINSON. 


XIV. 

ANNA  DICKINSON. 

BOTH  in  the  West  and  in  the  East,  I  had  the  oppor 
tunity  of  hearing  Miss  Anna  E.  Dickinson,  one  of  the 
women  who  became  celebrated  during  the  war,  and  who 
still  is  (as  a  public  lecturer)  one  of  the  best  known  in 
the  United  States.  The  history  of  this  young  lady  is 
something  of  a  romance,  though  the  romance  is  not  of 
the  kind  most  common  with  her  sex. 

When  the  war  broke  out  in  1861,  a  young  Quaker  girl, 
employed  in  the  Mint  at  Philadelphia,  was  dismissed 
by  the  Democratic  Board  of  Directors,  because,  at  a 
young  ladies'  meeting,  she  had  dared  to  blaspheme  the 
sacred  name  of  General  George  B.  M'Clellan.  Little 
did  the  directors  imagine  with  what  vehemence  the 
Quaker  girl  was  to  make  vengeance  recoil  on  the  poli 
tical  party  in  whose  interests  she  had  been  dismissed. 
Partly  out  of  strong  sympathy  with  the  Eepublican  (and 
especially  the  Abolition)  party,  and  partly  to  support 
herself  and  others  dependent  upon  her,  she  began  to 
deliver  public  lectures,  urging  the  North  to  strike  at 
slavery  as  an  evil  in  itself,  and  as  the  cause  and  strength 
of  the  rebellion.  The  beauty  and  oratorical  power  of 
the  girl  excited  interest,  but  brought  her  little  sub 
stantial  benefit,  and  the  winter  of  1862  found  her  at 
Concord  (the  city  of  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson),  in  cornpa- 


ANNA  DICKINSON.  209 

rative  poverty,  delivering,  for  ten  dollars,  the  last  lec 
ture  for  which  she  was  engaged  for  the  season. 

That  lecture,  full  of  pathos  and  stormful  eloquence, 
turned  the  tide  of  her  fortunes.  The  State  election  was 
pending,  and  the  military  reverses  of  the  North  had 
damaged  the  hopes  of  the  Eepublican  party.  The  Se 
cretary  of  the  Central  Committee  heard  Anna  Dickinson 
deliver  her  lecture,  and  was  so  impressed  with  its  power 
that  he  said  to  his  coadjutors,  "  If  we  could  get  that  girl 
to  deliver  this  lecture  round  the  State,  we  might  carry 
the  Republican  ticket  yet."  The  experiment  was  thought 
worth  making.  Miss  Dickinson  was  engaged,  and  the 
campaign  arranged  for.  Others  of  the  party  were  not  so 
sanguine.  The  candidate  for  one  district  wrote  indig 
nantly  to  the  Secretary,  "  Don't  send  that  d — d  woman 
down  here  to  defeat  my  election."  But  when  Miss 
Dickinson  began  her  course,  lecturing  round  the  State, 
drawing  enthusiastic  audiences,  and  fanning  the  embers 
of  Eepublican  sentiment  into  a  flame,  the  astonished 
candidate  began  to  deluge  the  committee  with  applica 
tions  for  her  aid.  But  the  answer  was  the  old  answer — 

"  If  you  will  not  when  you  may, 
When  you  will  you  shall  have  nay." 

The  "  d — d  woman"  was  not  sent  down ;  that  candidate 
was  defeated,  but  the  State  was  carried  for  the  Repub 
licans. 

There  now  got  up  a  furor  about  the  eloquent  young 
Quakeress.  Leading  Republicans  in  Connecticut,  who 
had  begun  to  despair  of  carrying  their  State  for  Lincoln, 
sent  for  Anna  Dickinson,  who  came,  saw,  and  conquered. 
What  could  gallant  Americans  do  when  a  pretty  Quaker 
ess  had  taken  the  field  ?  Mrs.  Stanton  says  that  the 
fortnight's  campaign  was  one  continued  ovation.  Even 

VOL.  II.  0 


210  ANNA  DICKINSON. 

Democrats  gave  way  to  the  popular  enthusiasm,  tore  off 
their  badges,  and  substituted  the  likeness  of  the  Quaker 
girl.  Ministers  preached  about  her ;  people  called  her 
another  Joan  of  Arc,  raised  by  God  to  carry  the  Kepub- 
lican  ticket.  When  the  State  was  actually  carried  for 
Lincoln  by  a  majority  of  several  hundred  votes,  Anna 
Dickinson  was  hurrahed,  serenaded,  deluged  with  bou 
quets  ;  while  the  Electoral  Committee,  more  practical 
in  its  gratitude,  presented  her  with  four  hundred  dollars 
for  her  closing  speech,  and  one  hundred  dollars  for  each 
of  the  preceding.  She  was  now  called  for  everywhere, 
and  went  stirring  up  the  popular  enthusiasm  in  favour 
of  the  Government.  When  she  went  to  speak  at  Wash 
ington,  the  Hall  of  Eepresentatives  (corresponding  with 
our  House  of  Commons)  was  voted  to  her  with  acclama 
tion  ;  she  was  led  to  the  Speaker's  chair  by  the  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  there,  "  for  an  hour 
and  ten  minutes,"  the  Quaker  girl  delivered  her  argu 
ments  and  fiery  appeals  to  a  vast  audience  of  three 
thousand  legislators,  soldiers,  and  other  citizens,  amongst 
whom  sat  President  Lincoln. 

In  1865,  the  successful  issue  of  the  war  took  away 
one  stimulus  to  her  enthusiasm ;  but  there  were  other 
unsettled  questions  in  which  she  was  interested,  and  on 
which  (specially  the  question  of  Woman's  Eights)  she 
has  been  lecturing  ever  since. 

The  first  time  I  heard  her,  she  appeared  upon  the 
platform  in  a  grey  dress,  with  a  red  ribbon  hanging 
from  the  brooch  at  her  neck.  She  faced  the  vast 
audience  with  a  fearless  eye,  and  with  the  air  of  one 
who  is  accustomed  to  it.  She  is  pretty  without  being 
very  prepossessing ;  is  rather  small  in  person,  but  full 
of  nerve  and  passion;  wears  her  dark  clustering  hair 


ANNA  DICKINSON  ON  THE  PLATFORM.  211 

cut  short ;  has  a  bold  front ;  an  eye  full  of  dark  light 
ning,  an  Irish- American  tongue,  and  a  tremendous  voice 
that  might  awaken  the  dead.  Her  lecture  was  on  her 
now  favourite  subject  of  Woman's  Eights.  She  entitled 
it  "  Idiots  and  Women " — taking  as  her  text  the  law 
that  "  all  people  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  shall  be 
eligible  to  office  and  shall  have  the  right  to  vote,  save 
only  criminals,  paupers,  idiots,  and  women"  From 
this  text  she  delivered  a  violent  philippic  against  the 
subjection  of  women  and  the  tyranny  of  men.  "  Here 
is  a  nation,"  she  cried,  "  that  declares  that  it  gains  its 
power  from  the  consent  of  the  governed,  and  yet  never 
receives  and  never  asks  the  consent  of  one-half  the 
governed  !  Here  is  a  nation  declaring  that  taxation 
and  representation  are  inseparable,  and  yet  taxing  a 
woman's  property  wherever  it  can  be  found,  but  for 
ever  denying  woman  the  right  to  say  how  this  tax  shall 
be  expended !" 

And  what  reason  is  assigned  for  this  ?  "  Most  men," 
she  answered,  "  can  give  no  better  reason  than  the 
Bishop  gave  for  believing  in  the  Bible — namely,  first, 
that  he  was  a  bishop,  and  second,  that  he  knew  nothing 
about  it !" 

She  waxed  wroth  over  the  law's  injustice  to  women. 
She  cited  one  case  of  a  man  in  Connecticut  who  married 
a  woman  worth  50,000  dollars  in  her  own  right.  This 
man,  first  of  all,  paid  for  his  wedding  clothes  out  of  his 
wife's  money,  and  when  he  died  (as  he  did  within  a 
year),  willed  to  his  wife  the  interest  of  her  own  money, 
so  long  as  she  remained  a  widow  ! 

"  Some  people  tell  us,"  she  said,  "  that  women  in 
fluence  enough  by  their  beauty.  But  how  about  those 
who  have  no  beauty  ?  Have  plain-looking  women  no 


212  ANNA  DICKINSON. 

rights  ?  Others  say,  '  Women's  business  is  to  look  after 
the  house/  If  this  is  your  position,  why  do  you  not 
carry  the  argument  to  its  logical  conclusion,  and  say  to 
the  storekeeper,  '  Your  business  is  to  sell  soft  goods, 
therefore  you  shall  not  vote  ?' " 

She  had  some  stinging  remarks  here  and  there  for 
the  male  sex — those  at  least  opposed  to  female  suffrage. 
"  People  say  that  women  are  silly  creatures,  not  fit  to 
vote.  Well,  some  of  them  are : "  she  said, "  God  Almighty 
made  them  so,  I  suppose,  to  match  some  of  the  men" 
When  she  spoke  of  the  laws  that  have  the  effect  of 
compelling  a  woman  to  choose  between  a  husband 
or  nothing,  she  said,  as  Theodore  Parker  had  it,  That 
it  was  sometimes  giving  her  a  choice  between  two 
nothings. 

Her  audience,  cold  and  listless  at  first,  occasionally 
receiving  with  an  audible  hiss  some  unwelcome  per 
sonality,  soon  became  interested,  and  began  to  laugh 
and  applaud,  while  Miss  Dickinson,  unaffected  by 
any  demonstration,  bowled  along  at  a  terrific  rate, 
pushing  back  her  hair  from  her  excited  face,  and  pour 
ing  forth  an  unbroken  torrent  of  sarcasm,  argument, 
and  appeal. 

Dr.  Johnson  used  to  say  that  a  woman's  preaching 
was  like  a  dog  walking  on  its  hind  legs — it  did  not  do 
it  well,  but  it  was  a  wonder  to  see  it  doing  it  at  all. 
But  Anna  Dickinson,  when  in  the  right  mood,  lectures 
with  rea|  power ;  and  Dr.  Johnson  himself  would  have 
winced  under  some  of  her  strokes  that  night. 

At  the  May  anniversary  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society 
in  New  York,  I  heard  her  again  unexpectedly.  She 
was  not  announced  to  be  there,  but  after  several  speeches 
had  been  delivered,  the  chairman  said,  "  If  my  eyes  do 


AT  NEW  YORK  AND  CHICAGO.          213 

not  deceive  me,  I  think  I  see  Miss  Dickinson  in  one  of 
the  back  seats.  Will  she  come  up  to  the  platform  ?" 
Miss  Dickinson  did  not  need  much  coaxing.  She  rose 
at  once,  walked  up  to  the  platform,  and,  assuming  that 
she  had  been  called  on  for  a  speech,  took  off  her  hat, 
laid  it  on  the  chairman's  desk,  and  began.  From  the 
reference  which  she  by-and-by  made  to  a  little  card  in 
her  hand,  it  seemed  as  if  she  had  not  been  altogether 
unprepared  for  the  invitation.  Her  remarks,  however, 
lacked  the  nerve  and  fire  of  her  lecture.  She  "  im 
proved"  a  speech  that  had  gone  before  in  favour  of 
enfranchising  black  men  by  demanding  the  enfranchise 
ment  also  of  black  women.  This  proposal,  when  public 
feeling  was  not  prepared  to  enfranchise  even  the  cul 
tured  ladies  of  the  North,  seemed  such  a  reductio  ad 
absurdum  of  the  Woman's  Eights  movement  that  the 
meeting  seemed  rather  annoyed  at  its  being  made. 

Miss  Dickinson's  self-confidence  is  wonderful.  At 
the  Woman's  Eights  Convention  in  Chicago,  the  Eev. 
Eobert  Laird  Collyer,  a  prominent  Unitarian,  denounced 
the  female  suffrage  movement,  recommending  women 
to  stay  at  home  and  leave  politics  to  their  husbands. 
Miss  Dickinson  immediately  got  up  in  reply,  attacked 
Collyer  with  great  spirit,  said  that  in  Massachusetts 
there  were  three  women  to  one  man,  so  that  on  his 
principle  two-thirds  of  them  could  have  no  husbands 
to  represent  them ;  and  that  40,000  of  the  remainder 
had  drunken  husbands  who  did  not  represent  but  mis- 
represent  them.  Mr.  Collyer  responded,  Miss  Dickin 
son  replied,  and  so  it  went  on  amidst  great  excitement, 
each  party  speaking  four  or  five  times,  Mr.  Collyer,  it 
was  said,  coming  off  second-best. 

Tor  her  regular  lectures  Miss  Dickinson  is  much 


214  ANNA  DICKINSON. 

sought  after  by  Lyceums  and  other  societies  through 
out  the  North.  I  was  told  that  next  to  John  B.  Gough 
she  drew  the  biggest  audiences  of  any  public  lecturer 
in  the  States.  She  is  paid  at  the  rate  of  from  £15  to 
£30  a  night,  and  is  said  to  be  always  worth  that  and 
more  to  the  society. 


RAILWAY  TRAVELLING.  215 


XV. 

RAILWAY  TRAVELLING. 

"  YES,  sir,"  said  a  tall  Western  man  with  whom  I 
was  one  day  conversing,  "  I  calculate  this  is  going  to 
be  the  biggest  thing  in  God's  creation."  He  referred 
to  the  new  line  which  was  then  in  rapid  process  of 
construction  across  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  shores 
of  the  Pacific.  Without  wholly  committing  myself  to 
the  same  position,  it  seems  to  me  that  America,  in  some 
of  her  railway  as  well  as  steam-boat  comforts,  has  left  the 
rest  of  the  world  behind.  On  one  of  these  Western  lines, 
I  travelled  several  hundreds  of  miles  in  a  train  where, 
by  the  payment  of  a  few  extra  dollars,  I  secured  a 
beautiful  little  parlour  and  bedroom  all  to  myself.  The 
parlour  was  furnished  with  richly- cushioned  sofa  and 
chairs,  a  stove,  gilded  racks  for  parcels  and  books,  and 
a  table  at  which  I  could  sit  and  write,  or  have  my 
meals  if  I  chose  to  order  them  in.  The  bedroom  was 
furnished  with  equal  completeness,  and  the  conductor, 
who  awoke  me  in  the  morning,  brought  in  my  breakfast 
and  the  morning  papers  of  the  district  through  which 
we  were  passing  at  the  time.  It  was  like  a  little 
travelling  hotel 

These  "  drawing-room  coaches,"  "  silver-palace  cars," 
and  "  Pulman  cars,"  as  they  are  variously  called,  are 
only  found  as  yet  on  a  few  of  the  longest  and  most 


2 1 6  KAILWAY  TRAVELLING. 

frequented  lines.  But  almost  every  train  that  runs  by 
night  in  Canada  or  the  States  carries  a  sleeping  car, 
where  the  payment  of  an  extra  dollar  secures  you  a 
tolerably  comfortable  curtained  berth,  in  which,  when 
you  become  accustomed  to  the  noise  and  the  shudder 
ing  and  jolting  of  the  car,  you  may  sleep  as  soundly  as 
you  would  in  your  own  bed  at  home.  Dressing  in  one 
of  these  berths,  especially  the  under  one,  feels  a  little 
like  trying  to  dress  under  a  sofa ;  but  the  major  part  of 
your  toilet  can  be  deferred  till  you  get  to  the  washing 
and  dressing-room,  which  is  always  found  at  one  end 
of  the  car. 

To  understand  this  and  many  of  the  other  peculiari 
ties  of  railway  travelling  in  America,  it  is  necessary  to 
remember  that  the  carriages  or  "  cars"  are  not  divided 
into  compartments  like  ours,  with  doors  at  the  side.  You 
enter  by  a  door  opening  from  a  little  platform  at  the 
end,  and  find  yourself  in  what  seems  a  long  narrow  room 
with  a  passage  down  the  middle,  and  sixteen  or  twenty 
little  cross  sofas  on  each  side.  Along  the  centre,  the 
car  is  so  high  that  a  tall  man  can  walk  with  his  hat 
on.  If  you  find  the  one  you  first  enter  full,  you  can 
step  along  the  passage,  and  out  upon  the  little  plat 
form  at  the  other  end,  from  which  you  can  step  (even 
when  the  train  is  at  full  speed)  to  the  platform  of 
the  next  car,  and  so,  if  you  like,  thread  the  whole 
train. 

This  construction  clears  the  way  for  almost  all  the 
conveniences  that  make  railway  travelling  in  America 
so  much  pleasanter  and  less  fatiguing  than  here.  There 
is  a  stove  at  one  end  of  every  car,  and  a  fountain  at  the 
other.  If  you  feel  cold,  you  can  go  and  heat  yourself 
at  the  stove;  if  you  feel  thirsty,  you  can  go  to  the 


THE  TRAIN-BOY.  217 

fountain  and  have  a  drink.  On  many  lines,  indeed,  a 
boy  passes  through  the  train  every  half-hour  with  iced 
water,  which  is  supplied  gratis.  The  same  arrangement 
allows  you,  if  you  want  a  smoke,  to  pass  forward  when 
you  please  to  the  smoking  car ;  or,  if  night  comes  on,  to 
pass  rearward  to  the  sleeping  car.  It  also  allows  the 
conductor  to  pass  through  and  examine  or  collect  the 
tickets  without  any  stoppage  of  the  train :  and  allows 
the  "train-boy"  to  pass  to  and  fro,  vending  such  articles 
as  travellers  may  be  supposed  to  want. 

This  last  is  so  conspicuous  a  feature  in  railway  travel 
ling  in  America  that  it  deserves  special  mention.  The 
train  is  hardly  started  before  the  boy  comes  through 
selling  newspapers.  He  is  generally  a  sharp  lad,  who 
has  clearly  before  his  mind  two  facts.  The  first  is,  that 
if  you  have  forgotten  to  buy  a  newspaper  before  starting, 
you  will,  by-and-by,  begin  to  miss  one  very  much,  and 
be  willing  to  pay  a  little  extra  rather  than  want  it. 
The  second  is  that,  as  the  train  is  now  fairly  off,  he  (the 
boy)  enjoys  a  monopoly,  there  being  no  longer  any  out 
side  competition,  and  therefore  that  he  can  charge  just 
as  much  as  he  thinks  your  paperless  condition  will 
tempt  you  to  pay :  which  he  does. 

But  the  boy  is  aware  that  humanity  has  an  appetite 
for  other  things  than  news.  Accordingly,  having  dis 
posed  of  his  papers,  he  by-and-by  makes  his  appear 
ance  with  a  basket  of  apples,  or  nuts,  or  grapes,  or 
whatever  happens  to  be  in  season.  Should  he  fail  to 
tempt  you  with  these,  he  returns  with  maple  sugar, 
or  figs,  or  candy.  If  you  have  children,  he  turns  the 
box  of  candy  round  to  let  them  see  it.  Their  little 
mouths  begin  to  water,  they  turn  their  wistful  eyes  to 
yours,  your  parental  affections  are  moved,  and  you  ask 


218  RAILWAY  TRAVELLING. 

the  boy  what  he  charges.  The  boy  magnanimously,  and 
in  consideration  of  your  being  a  parent  with  the  cares 
of  a  family  devolving  upon  you,  names  ten  cents,  the 
candy  being  worth  two;  arid  when  you  have  divided 
the  candy  amongst  the  children,  throws  a  smile  into  the 
lot  without  charge,  and  passes  on  in  quest  of  other 
customers. 

After  a  time  the  same  boy,  speculating  in  his  inscru 
table  retirement  on  the  varied  wants  of  human  nature, 
and  having  come  to  the  conclusion  that  by  this  time 
(your  appetite  for  confections  and  latest  news  being 
satisfied)  the  desire  for  general  information  may  be 
successfully  appealed  to,  re-appears  with  an  armful  of 
books,  magazines,  or  illustrated  papers.  He  passes 
down  the  car,  throwing  one  upon  the  lap  of  each  person 
as  he  goes, — but  not  indiscriminately  ;  he  has  observed 
your  appearance,  and  has  formed  his  opinion  of  what  is 
most  likely  to  excite  your  interest,  and  send  your  hand 
again  into  your  pocket.  Accordingly,  upon  your  knee, 
for  you  have  your  little  boy  (we  shall  suppose)  upon 
the  other,  he  drops  a  picture-book ;  on  your  wife's  lap, 
for  he  has  noted  her  expensive  bonnet,  he  throws  a 
Magazine  of  Fashion;  to  the  curly-headed  youth  with 
his  hat  cocked  over  his  eye  he  throws  an  illustrated 
police  paper ;  to  the  gentleman  with  the  cheesy  hat  he 
administers  an  agricultural  journal;  on  the  lap  of  the 
old  maiden  lady  at  the  door  he  drops  the  Monthly 
Scandal,  or  a  copy  of  The  Mysterious  Man,  and  so  passes 
through  into  the  next  car  to  drive  the  same  business. 
And  just  when  the  elderly  lady  has  dipped  deep  enough 
into  the  story  of  The  Mysterious  Man  to  feel  an  intense 
desire  to  know  what  becomes  of  him,  and  the  youth 
with  the  hat  cocked  over  his  eye  has  caught  sight  of 


NO  CLASSES.  219 

some  picture  of  doubtful  propriety  between  the  uncut 
leaves  of  the  police  paper,  the  boy  is  back  to  take  away 
the  papers  or  get  the  money  for  them. 

In  cars  constructed  in  the  manner  described,  there  is 
of  course  no  separation  of  classes.  Some  lines,  no  doubt, 
have  emigrant  cars  more  rudely  fitted  up,  and  charging 
a  smaller  price,  to  run  newly  arrived  emigrants  out 
West.  On  other  lines,  especially  in  the  South,  there 
are  "  nigger  cars,"  open,  of  course,  to  white  people,  and 
often  used  as  smoking  cars,  but  to  which  all  coloured 
passengers  have  to  confine  themselves.  The  Civil 
Eights  Bill  has  made  such  a  restriction  illegal ;  but 
wherever  I  went  the  old  rule  was  still  practically  en 
forced.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  those  luxurious 
silver-palace  cars,  which  constitute  (practically)  an  Ame 
rican  first  class,  being  open  to  those  only  who  pay  an 
extra  price  to  the  conductor.  There  is  also  the  sleeping- 
car,  and  the  ladies'  car — the  latter  fitted  up  with  extra 
accommodation,  and  reserved  for  ladies,  and  for  gentle 
men  who  have  ladies  with  them. 

But  these  are  all  trifling  exceptions.  In  the  ordinary 
cars,  which  charge  about  the  same  as  our  second  class, 
with  superior  accommodation,  and  in  which  nine-tenths 
of  the  people  Iwavel,  all  classes  are  together.  The  Irish 
servant-girl  pays  the  same  fare  as  the  Yice-President 
of  the  United  States,  and  takes  her  seat  beside  him. 
The  hodman  has  a  cushioned  seat,  a  carpet,  a  rail  for 
his  feet,  an  ornamental  rack  for  his  bundle,  and  a  lattice 
blind  to  screen  his  delicate  complexion  from  the  sun, 
just  as  the  bishop's  daughter  has  in  the  seat  before,  or 
the  young  dandy  in  the  seat  behind. 

There  are  inconveniences  connected  with  this  state 


220  EAILWAY  TRAVELLING. 

of  things,  but  they  are  far  fewer  than  I  had  been  led  to 
expect.  You  never  see  an  act  of  rudeness  such  as  might 
not  occur  any  day  in  a  first-class  carriage  at  home.  The 
only  approach  to  incivility  that  is  at  all  common  arises 
from  the  desire  of  every  passenger  to  keep  a  whole  seat 
to  himself  and  get  you  passed  on  if  possible  to  another. 
He  will  seat  himself  at  one  side,  lay  his  coat  at  the 
other,  as  if  it  were  engaged  (each  seat  or  little  sofa 
being  meant  for  two) ;  and  when  he  sees  you  or  any 
one  else  coming  through  the  car  in  quest  of  a  place,  he 
will  turn  his  face  to  the  window,  and  become  suddenly 
absorbed  in  the  distant  landscape.  But  when  you  stop 
and  say,  "Is  this  seat  occupied,  sir?"  he  will,  as  a  rule, 
turn  pleasantly,  and  (the  game  being  up)  lift  his  coat 
and  make  room ;  and,  having  no  further  interest  in  the 
landscape,  will  generally  get  into  conversation  with  you, 
and  make  a  very  agreeable  companion.  The  little  pre 
liminary  bit  of  churlishness  is  common,  I  suppose,  to 
both  countries. 

But  there  is  never  any  annoyance  from  smoking  in 
America,  the  way  to  and  from  the  smoking  car  being 
always  open.  And  I  have  often  heard  ladies  who  had 
gone  from  this  country  speak  of  the  indescribable  relief 
it  is  there,  when  travelling  without  a  companion,  to 
know  that  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  be  locked  up 
alone  in  a  small  compartment  with  some  rude  or  desper 
ate  character.  In  America,  a  lady  takes  her  seat  in 
the  public  car  with  as  much  confidence  as  she  would 
take  her  seat  in  the  saloon  of  one  of  our  steamers,  or 
the  drawing-room  of  one  of  our  hotels. 

Moreover,  while  the  privacy  that  is  possible  in  Britain 
is  impossible  here,  and  while  this  commingling  of  all 
classes  must,  to  a  certain  extent,  lower  the  highest  form 


TICKETS.  221 

of  aristocratic  refinement,  it  is  one  of  the  ways  in  which 
the  people,  high  and  low,  are  being  educated  for  the  new 
form  of  society  to  which  the  world  is  moving.  The 
high  must  stoop  to  help  up  the  low.  All  down  the 
scale,  the  work  of  God  incarnating  Himself  to  redeem 
mankind  has  to  be  reproduced.  The  result  in  many 
respects  is  beneficial  to  all  classes.  One  notices  in  these 
American  cars  that  the  millionnaire,  finding  that  the 
hodman  can  sit  on  the  same  seat  and  claim  equal  rights, 
learns  to  be  accommodating,  and  to  take  his  seat  not  as 
a  millionnaire  but  as  a  man ;  while  the  hodman,  finding 
that  he  is  amongst  ladies  and  gentlemen,  and  is  expected 
to  act  like  a  gentleman  himself,  becomes  polite  to  an 
extent  which  would  surprise  those  who  draw  their 
notions  of  men  and  manners  in  America  too  exclusively 
from  the  pages  of  Martin  CJmzzleivit.  Of  course  men 
and  masses  of  men  are  not  refined  in  a  day,  but  the 
process  of  education  is  going  on. 

American  railways  provide  other  facilities  besides 
those  already  mentioned.  Your  ticket,  for  instance, 
allows  you  to  break  your  journey  anywhere  or  every 
where  along  the  route.  I  remember  taking  a  through 
ticket  once  from  New  York  to  Charleston.  It  was  a 
formidable-looking  ticket,  about  a  foot  and  a  half  long, 
divisible  into  parts  representing  different  stages  of  the 
journey.  Armed  with  this  ticket,  I  began  my  journey 
South.  I  stopped  a  week  at  Philadelphia,  another  at 
Washington,  another  at  Eichmond ;  a  fortnight  at  Peters 
burg  ;  a  fortnight  at  Wilmington  :  spent  altogether  two 
months  on  the  way.  When  I  gave  up  the  last  piece  of 
the  ticket,  I  said  to  the  conductor, — "How  long  do 
these  tickets  remain  good?" 


222  RAILWAY  TRAVELLING. 

"  Nominally  a  year,"  he  said ;  "  but  if  you  had  turned 
up  next  year  or  the  year  after,  we  should  have  passed 
you  on.  We  hold  the  ticket  good  till  you  get  to  the 
end  of  your  journey." 

Then  the  system  of  checking  baggage.  This  is  an 
unspeakable  relief  to  the  encumbered  traveller.  Every 
body  knows  what  a  constant  source  of  anxiety  luggage 
is  in  this  country.  You  have  first  of  all  to  get  a  paper 
label  stuck  on  every  box  and  bag  merely  to  prevent  its 
being  carried  away  to  London  when  you  want  to  go  to 
Liverpool.  On  reaching  your  destination  you  have 
often  to  struggle  through  a  frantic  crowd  of  men, 
women,  porters,  and  cabmen,  to  find  out  and  identify 
your  different  things.  And  from  the  frequent  similarity 
of  different  trunks  and  portmanteaus  to  one  another, 
never  a  day  passes  without  mistakes  occurring,  and 
innocent  people  driving  away  with  other  people's  things. 
Or  if,  to  escape  all  this,  you  book  your  luggage,  you 
have  to  pay  for  it.  In  America  you  are  saved  all  this 
annoyance  and  expense  by  a  very  simple  contrivance. 
When  you  take  out  your  ticket,  the  baggage-clerk  looks 
at  it,  and  affixes  a  brass  medal  with  a  number  on  it  to 
each  of  your  packages,  and  gives  you  the  duplicates. 
These  are  your  "  checks."  So  long  as  you  have  these 
the  company  takes  charge  of  your  luggage  and  is  re 
sponsible.  You  may  stop  a  day  here  and  a  day  there 
on  your  way,  but  when  you  reach  your  destination 
your  things  are  there  waiting  you.  Nobody,  even  by 
assuming  your  name  (which  would  suffice  here)  can 
meddle  with  these  packages  without  presenting  the 
checks.  Nor  is  it  necessary  when  you  want  your 
baggage  to  go  and  identify  it.  The  numbers  on  the 
duplicate  tickets  suffice  for  that.  You  take  your  seat 


NO  TROUBLE  WITH  LUGGAGE.  223 

in  a  hack  or  hotel-omnibus,  and  give  your  checks  to 
the  man,  who  goes  and  gets  your  things  for  you.  I  had 
less  trouble  with  my  luggage  travelling  thousands  of 
miles  in  America  over  different  lines  of  railway  than  I 
have  sometimes  had  here  passing  from  Edinburgh  to 
Glasgow.  The  Americans  cannot  understand  why  we 
content  ourselves  with  our  present  system ;  and  I  con 
fess  my  wits  are  no  keener  than  theirs. 


224  THE  HUB. 


XVI. 

THE  HUB. 

MY  first  visit  to  Boston,  the  account  of  which  I  have 
left  over  till  now,  that  all  about  that  city  may  go  together, 
was  paid  in  the  month  of  November,  just  when  that 
great  centre  of  the  intellectual  life  of  America  was 
quickening  into  activity  for  the  winter.  The  city  was 
in  town  again,  as  one  gentleman  expressed  it;  the 
public  schools  and  colleges  were  open;  the  literary  stars 
that  vanish  into  space  in  the  summer-time  were  again 
clustering  over  the  place  in  glorious  constellation ;  the 
lecture  courses  for  which  Boston  is  so  famous  were  all 
commenced;  everything  was  going  on  that  I  was  most 
anxious  as  a  stranger  to  see.  The  first  thing  that 
caught  my  eye  in  the  papers  on  the  night  of  my  arrival 
was  a  list  of  lectures  to  be  delivered  by  Wendell 
Phillips,  Horace  Greeley,  Curtis,  John  B.  Gough,  Charles 
Sumner,  and  Ealph  Waldo  Emerson.  I  remember  how 
it  thrilled  me,  as  I  read  these  advertisements,  to  feel 
that  I  was  really  in  Boston — that  city  of  many  a  dream. 

The  Bostonians  are  very  proud  of  their  city.  I  think 
it  was  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  who  first  called  it  "  the 
Hub  " — hub  being  the  central  part  of  a  wheel — Boston, 
by  analogy,  the  central  part  of  God's  creation,  from 
which  all  light  radiates,  and  towards  which  all  eyes  of 
men  and  angels  are  turned.  It  used  to  be  a  saying 


UNITARIANISM.  225 

that  a  person  born  in  Boston  did  not  need  to  be  born 
again.1 

Boston  and  New  York  being  both  great  cities — 
Boston  the  literary  and  New  York  the  commercial 
centre  of  the  States — there  exists  between  them  a  feel 
ing  of  secret  jealousy,  something  like  that  which  exists 
here  between  Glasgow  and  Edinburgh.  Each  one  points 
to  the  other  with  pride  when  the  glory  of  the  United 
States  is  the  topic,  but  when  the  question  is  one  of 
Boston  versus  New  York,  a  strong  feeling  of  jealousy 
betrays  itself.  It  was  a  great  triumph  to  New  York 
that  season  when  Cunard  withdrew  his  steamers  from 
Boston.  There  was  infinite  crowing  over  "the  hub" 
in  the  New  York  papers;  and  "the  hub"  could  not 
conceal  its  chagrin. 

Boston  is  still  the  headquarters  of  Unitarianism. 
Most  of  the  educated  people  I  met  were  adherents  of 
this  creed ;  but  Unitarianism,  while  it  has  succeeded  in 
impregnating  the  popular  faith  with  some  of  its  ideas, 
seems  to  have  lost  ground  as  a  separate  faith.  Even 
in  Boston  it  no  longer  stands  where  it  did  in  the  days 
of  Buckminster,  Ware,  and  Greenwood.  The  other 
creeds  are  gaining  ground,  and  already  claim  a  large 
majority  of  the  population.  As  soon  as  you  leave  the 
city  you  begin  to  lose  sight  of  Unitarianism  altogether ; 
and  in  New  York,  with  its  three-quarters  of  a  million 
of  souls,  only  a  few  hours'  run  from  Boston,  the  Uni 
tarians,  out  of  460  Protestant  churches,  can  claim  but 
three  !  It  is  too  colourless  a  creed  for  the  masses. 

Within  its   own   pale  there    seems    an   illimitable 

1  The  Americans  have  a  weakness  death  of  two  other  prominent  Bos- 

for  comical  profanity.  When  Gover-  tonians,  one  gentleman  remarked — 

nor  Andrews'  death  was  announced  "What  a  respectable  place  heaven 

that  week,  following  close  on  the  is  getting  to  be  ! " 

VOL.  II.  P 


226  THE  HUB. 

diversity  of  opinion.  I  talked  with  some  Unitarians 
who  held  very  high  views  of  Christ's  divinity  and  the 
inspiration  of  Scripture ;  others  were  mere  infidels. 
There  is  the  same  diversity  in  the  pulpit.  I  heard  one 
prominent  Unitarian  in  Boston  preach  a  sermon  on 
"  The  Life  of  Christ "  that  might  have  passed  muster  in 
the  most  orthodox  church  in  Scotland.  Every  variety 
of  believer  and  unbeliever  is  covered  by  the  same  name, 
from  men  like  Gannet  and  Eufus  Ellis,  who  represent 
the  old  school  of  reverent  Unitarians,  down  to  Mr. 
Hepworth,  who  discards  the  authority  of  either  Old  or 
New  Testament,  and  looks  on  the  Virgin  Mary  as  a 
woman  of  doubtful  reputation.  The  only  point  of 
agreement  seemed  to  be  their  common  denial  of  the 
doctrine  of  Depravity,  the  Atonement,  and  the  Trinity. 
But  there  is  no  standard  of  appeal.  Every  man  is 
allowed  to  think  for  himself. 

I  heard  a  great  deal  in  Boston  about  Theodore  Parker, 
traces  of  whose  influence  are  found  everywhere.  His 
preaching  was  described  to  me  as  quiet,  but  with  a 
depth  of  earnestness  about  it  to  which  no  listener  could 
remain  insensible.  His  sarcasm  was  withering — his 
language  at  times  daring,  even  to  profanity,  making  the 
people  shudder.  For  years  the  vast  Music  Hall  was 
crowded  Sabbath  after  Sabbath  to  hear  him.  A  gentle 
man  who  was  a  frequent  attender,  said  he  had  some 
times  seen  the  whole  audience  convulsed  with  laughter, 
sometimes  bursting  into  tempests  of  applause.  They 
used  to  read  the  papers  before  Parker  came  in,  and 
even  during  the  preliminary  exercises ;  but  papers  were 
laid  aside  when  the  sermon  began.  Another  gentleman 
told  me  that  he  was  once  present  at  a  meeting  of  young 
men  in  Parker's  house.  Parker  was  giving  them  a  his- 


CHOATE'S  VOCABULARY.  227 

tory  of  the  society  lie  had  formed  after  being  expelled 
from  the  Unitarian  body  as  too  extreme.  Some  of 
his  people  at  first  wanted  communion;  but  he  had 
discountenanced  it,  and  told  them  they  could  take 
their  cake  and  wine  at  home.  "I  think,"  he  said, 
"  it  is  time  for  people  to  give  up  taking  their  meals 
in  church."  My  informant  was  so  shocked  at  this 
blasphemy  that  he  left,  and  never  went  to  hear  Parker 
again. 

Parker  gets  the  credit  amongst  all  parties  of  having 
been  a  brave  and  fearless  man,  and  one  of  those  who 
fought  the  battle  of  Abolitionism  at  the  peril  of  his  life. 
William  Crafts,  a  coloured  man,  who  is  now  organizing 
a  scheme  for  co-operative  negro  labour  in  the  Southern 
States,  from  which  he  and  his  wife  were  then  runaway 
slaves,  told  me  that  Parker  on  one  occasion  concealed 
them  in  his  study,  and  wrote  his  sermons  with  loaded 
pistols  on  his  table,  and  the  gun  that  his  father  had 
used  in  the  revolutionary  war  standing  at  his  side. 

One  also  hears  a  great  deal  in  Boston  about  Choate 
and  Webster  (•''  Dan'l  Webster,"  as  they  call  him),  and 
the  Homeric  conflicts  of  those  giants  in  forensic  debate. 
I  spoke  to  people  who  had  heard  Choate  plead  for  four 
or  five  hours  in  succession,  laying  out  his  case  with 
consummate  skill,  and  holding  the  court,  and  the  dense 
audience,  spell-bound  to  the  close.  Even  a  people  so 
remarkable  for  ease  arid  fluency  of  address  as  the 
Americans,  stood  amazed  and  confounded  at  Choate's 
overwhelming  vocabulary.  It  was  said  that  when 
Noah  Webster's  Dictionary  was  first  published,  a 
case  was  going  on  in  court  which  was  expected  to 
bring  from  Choate  a  speech  of  at  least  four  hours' 
duration. 


228  THE  HUB. 

.       £ 

A  gentleman  in  conversation  with  one  of  the  judges 
happened  to  remark  that  the  dictionary  just  published 
contained  thirteen  thousand  new  words. 

"  Thirteen  thousand  new  words  ! "  cried  the  judge  in 
consternation.  "  For  God's  sake  don't  tell  Choate  that 
till  this  case  is  over  ! " 

Choate  seemed  to  be  born  a  special  pleader.  He  lost 
himself  in  his  case ;  became  as  nervous  and  eager  about 
it  as  if  he  were  client  himself;  spoke  with  intense 
earnestness,  and  often  pleaded  before  the  jury  with  tears 
in  his  eyes.  Well  aware,  no  doubt,  of  the  influence 
that  sympathy  has  over  a  man's  judgment,  he  lost  no 
opportunity  of  prepossessing  people  in  his  favour.  One 
gentleman,  whose  son  is  now  a  lawyer,  said  that  on  one 
occasion  he  introduced  his  son  to  Choate  in  the  midst 
of  the  crowd,  as  the  people  were  pouring  into  court. 
Choate  shook  hands  kindly,  said  a  few  pleasant  words, 
and  passed  on.  He  stopped  again,  however,  under  one 
of  the  pillars,  turned  round,  and  waited  till  the  gentle 
man  and  his  son  came  up,  when  he  took  the  young 
man's  hand  and  said, — "  If  I  can  ever  be  of  any  service 
to  you,  come  to  me  at  once.  Will  you  promise  ? "  Had 
he  said  this  at  first  it  might  have  been  taken  as  a  mere 
piece  of  politeness  :  stopping  again  to  say  it,  left  upon 
the  mind  of  both  father  and  son  a  deeper  impression  of 
kindness. 

Another  acquaintance  of  the  eloquent  lawyer's  men 
tioned  that,  when  speaking  with  him  one  day  on  the 
Court-house  steps,  a  working-man  passed  up,  to  whom 
Choate  nodded  familiarly. 

"  Who  is  that  ? "  the  gentleman  asked. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Choate.  "  But  he  may  be  one 
of  the  jury." 


CHARLES  SUMNER.  229 

Choate's  power  of  moving  the  sympathies  and  ex 
citing  the  enthusiasm  of  his  auditors  made  him  a 
dangerous  antagonist,  even  for  the  redoubtable  Ex 
pounder  of  the  Constitution.  But  Webster's  strength 
was  more  real,  and  depended  less  than  is  often  sup 
posed  upon  the  scathing  fire  and  terrible  power  of 
voice  which  marked  his  mightier  efforts  both  at  the 
bar  and  in  the  Senate.  In  a  celebrated  will  case,  when 
Choate  and  Webster  were  pitted  against  each  other, 
Choate  made  a  thrilling  speech  of  two  hours'  duration, 
and  was  followed  by  Webster,  who  spoke  in  his  usual 
sluggish  style  but  got  the  verdict  for  his  client.  A 
lady  who  was  present  was  asked  next  day  what  she 
thought  of  Choate's  speech. 

"  Oh,  beautiful !  enchanting ! "  she  said  with  enthu 
siasm.  "  I  never  heard  anything  like  it." 

"And  Webster's?" 

"  I  was  quite  disappointed  with  Webster,  after  all  I 
had  heard  about  his  oratory/' 

"  He  put  the  case  very  clearly  though  ? " 

"  Oh  yes,  he  put  the  case  clearly  enough." 

"  You  would  feel  that  he  had  made  out  the  case  ? " 

"  Yes.     Oh  yes." 

"  You  had  no  doubt,  when  he  sat  down,  how  the  jury 
would  decide  ? " 

"None." 

"  Well,  that  's  what  we  mean  by  Webster's  oratory." 

One  of  the  first  celebrities  whom  I  heard  "  orate  "  in 
Boston  was  Charles  Sumner,  who  represents  the  State 
of  Massachusetts  in  the  Senate,  and  whose  name  and 
position  first  became  familiar  to  the  public  here  when 
Brooks  of  South  Carolina  assaulted  him  in  Congress  for 


230  THE  HUB. 

his  hostility  to  slavery.1  His  lecture  at  Boston  was 
entitled,  "Are  we  a  Nation?"  and  was  an  argument, 
powerfully  put,  in  favour  of  maintaining  the  authority 
of  Congress.  He  is  a  large,  heavy  man,  dark-eyed  and 
dark-haired,  looking  much  younger  than  he  really  is, 
and  wearing  his  hair  a  little  after  the  fashion  of  Disraeli, 
massed  upon  the  side  of  his  brow.  He  has  a  deep, 
powerful  voice,  but  his  oratory  did  not  impress  me. 
He  began  to  gesticulate  in  a  formal  manner  as  soon  as 
he  opened  his  mouth,  reminding  one  of  a  schoolboy 
commencing  a  recitation.  His  intonations  also  are 
artificial.  He  lifts  his  voice,  keeps  it  up  for  a  time, 
and  then  suddenly,  and  without  any  reason  in  the 
nature  of  things  (unless  it  be  to  let  the  whole  power 
of  his  voice  be  felt)  plunges  into  a  deep  growling 
tone.  This  is  characteristic  of  many  public  speakers 
in  America.  Sumner  is  regarded  in  the  North  as  a 
great  orator,  and  lectures  a  good  deal  round  the 
country.  Unhappily,  he  has  the  reputation  of  being 
a  great  scholar,  and  considers  it  necessary  to  sustain 
his  reputation  by  loading  his  speeches,  when  they 
admit  of  it,  with  classical  allusions,  and  is  so  fastidious 
about  his  ore  rotundo  style,  that  he  often  weakens  the 
native  force  of  his  thought  and  argument.  When  a 
speech,  in  consequence,  becomes  heavy  and  laboured, 
the  people  can  only  say,  "  It  was  classic,  sir ;  it  was  a 
classic  speech." 

But  Charles  Sumner  is  a  power  in  the  country,  and 
one  of  the  ablest  as  well  as  most  prominent  leaders  of 
the  Eepublican  party — would  probably,  but  for  his 

1  It  is  told  of  Sumner,  but  is  also  tort,  that  when  challenged  to  fight 
told  of  others,  making  it  doubtful  with  pistols,  he  replied, — "When  I 
who  was  the  real  author  of  the  re-  want  to  die,  I  can  shoot  myself." 


GOING  TO  SEE  LONGFELLOW.  231 

rugged  honesty  and  self-will,  have  been  the  leader  of 
that  party  long  ago. 

At  Cambridge,  a  few  miles  out  of  Boston,  lives  the 
poet  Longfellow — one  of  the  men  in  all  America  whom  I 
was  most  anxious  to  meet,  and  to  whom,  before  leaving 
Scotland,  I  had  been  provided  with  introductions.  How 
well  I  remember  that  particular  forenoon  when  I  took 
the  Cambridge  horse-cars  and  drove  out  along  the 
Mount  Auburn  road,  feeling  as  if  it  were  a  dream  that 
within  half-an-hour  I  was  to  see  Henry  Longfellow 
face  to  face.  At  last  the  conductor  stopped  to  let  me 
out,  and  said, — "You  take  the  cross-road  here.  Mr. 
Longfellow's  house  is  the  third  to  the  left." 

I  walked  down  the  road  very  slowly,  for  anticipation 
is  sweet,  and  one  does  not  like  to  hurry  over  a  joy  that 
can  never  be  had  but  once.  My  bosom  was  filled  with 
strange  emotion.  I  was  about  to  see  the  man  who  had 
touched  the  heart  of  Christian  humanity  with  his  songs 
— one  who  had  filled  my  own  early  life  with  the  music 
of  his  dreams.  It  is  always  sweet  to  pay  homage  to  the 
poet,  but  to  few,  either  in  the  New  World  or  in  the  Old, 
could  I  have  paid  it  with  so  much  heart  as  to  Long 
fellow.  How  pure  his  influence  upon  the  world  had 
been !  How  many  hearts  his  "  Psalm  of  Life,"  his 
"  Evangeline,"  and  his  "  Excelsior,"  had  kindled  with  a 
nobler  enthusiasm  !  How  many  toilers  in  the  dark  cells 
of  humanity  his  "  Architects  of  Fate"  had  awakened  to 
the  nobleness  and  immortality  of  faithful  work  !  Among 
the  mountains  of  sorrow  how  many  melancholy  wander 
ers  had  he  cheered !  How  many  a  mother's  heart,  throb 
bing  with  anguish  over  the  withered  corpse  of  her  child, 


232  THE  HUB. 

had  he  comforted  with  his  sweet  song  of  "  The  Eeaper 
and  the  Flowers !" 

The  old  Craigie  House,  once  the  Washington  head 
quarters,  which  has  been  occupied  by  Longfellow  since 
1837,  and  from  which,  in  1839,  he  dated  his  Hyperion, 
was  now  before  me — a  large  white  mansion,  standing 
on  a  gentle  eminence,  partially  screened  from  the  Mount 
Auburn  road  by  a  grove  of  elms.  A  footpath  led  to  it 
from  the  gate  through  the  gently  sloping  lawn.  Just  as 
I  reached  the  door,  a  short-haired  terrier  came  racing 
round,  and  began  to  jump  up  to  my  hand  and  wriggle 
joyfully  about  my  feet.  I  had  only  been  in  a  minute 
when  Longfellow  made  his  appearance.  He  looked  older 
and  more  venerable  than  I  had  expected  to  find  him — 
his  long  clustering  hair  and  shaggy  beard  white  as  snow. 
I  was  struck,  too,  with  a  look  of  latent  sadness  in  his 
eyes — an  expression  which  vanishes  at  times  when  he 
is  moved  to  laughter,  but  steals  back  into  the  thoughtful 
eye,  and  into  every  line  of  the  face,  as  soon  as  the  pass 
ing  thought  is  gone.  Those  lines  of  Mrs.  Browning's 
often  occurred  to  me  when  I  looked  at  him  : — 

"  0,  sorrowful  great  gift, 
Conferred  on  poets,  of  a  twofold  life, 
When  one  life  has  been  found  enough  for  pain." 

I  heard,  however,  from  some  of  Longfellow's  friends, 
that  the  tragic  death  of  his  wife,  to  whom  he  was 
devotedly  attached,  had  made  a  great  change  in  his 
appearance,  and  brought  a  shadow  over  his  life  that 
nothing  had  ever  been  able  to  drive  away. 

The  family  were  at  an  early  dinner,  but  Longfellow 
insisted  upon  my  joining  them.  The  Scotch  terrier 
went  in  with  us,  and  was  still  making  demonstrations 
to  attract  my  attention. 


LONGFELLOW'S  TABLE-TALK.  233 

"  That  terrier  is  intensely  national/'  said  Longfellow, 
with  a  smile.  "  I  never  knew  a  Scotchman  come  here 
but  that  terrier  found  him  out,  and  wanted  to  make 
friends  with  him." 

After  dinner  he  took  me  to  his  study,  wheeled  a  big 
arm-chair  for  me  to  the  fireside,  and,  seating  himself  in 
another,  with  a  cigar,  began  to  ask  about  his  literary 
friends  in  Scotland.  He  spoke  of  Alexander  Smith  and 
his  City  Poems,  and  of  Gilfillan's  early  recognition  of 
their  author's  genius,  and  expressed  deep  regret  at 
Smith's  premature  death.  Aytoun  he  knew  chiefly  by 
his  Lays  of  the  Scottish  Cavaliers.  Tennyson,  he  said, 
was  exceedingly  popular  all  over  America.  He  showed 
me  a  beautiful  copy  of  the  Laureate's  works  that  stood 
among  the  books  on  his  study-table.  He  spoke  of 
George  Mac  Donald,  and  of  Dr.  John  Brown,  whose 
"  Spare  Hours"  \_Horce  Subsecivas]  was  much  admired. 
"  But  he  is  best  known,"  he  said,  "  by  some  of  his 
shorter  pieces.  Rob  and  his  Friends  is  everywhere." 

Speaking  of  international  copyright  law,  he  said, — 
"  We  have  done  all  we  could  to  get  such  a  law  passed. 
You  would  gain  by  it  even  more  than  we.  The  diffi 
culty  lies  with  the  lower  class  of  publishers  and  book 
sellers  here.  They  cry  out  against  it.  But  houses  like 
Fields'  are  strongly  in  its  favour,  and  have  lent  all  their 
influence  to  obtain  it.  My  own  idea,"  he  added,  "  is 
this : — Any  copyright  taken  out  on  the  one  side  should 
hold  on  the  other  ;  and  whenever  it  expires  on  the  side  on 
which  it  is  taken  out  it  should  expire  on  the  other.  This, 
I  think,  would  cover  the  whole  ground,  and  would  avoid 
all  difficulty  arising  from  the  different  lengths  of  time 
for  which  copyright  is  granted  in  the  two  countries." 

Of  newspapers  and  journals  he  said, — "  Ours  are  not 


234  THE  HUB. 

equal  to  yours.  We  have  no  such  classic  writing  here 
as  you  have  in  the  Times,  Spectator,  and  Saturday  Re 
view.  But  our  standard  is  rising." 

Speaking  of  the  war,  he  said, — "  When  the  Marquis 
of  Lome  was  here,  I  asked  him  why  the  English  aristo 
cracy  were  so  exultant  over  the  split  of  our  Union.  The 
Marquis  said  it  was  the  instinct  of  caste.  He  was  the 
first  nobleman  I  met  who  perceived,  or  at  least  con 
fessed  the  truth.  I  was  surprised  to  hear  the  confession 
even  from  him." 

He  looked  at  some  photographs  that  I  happened  to 
have  with  me.  On  coming  to  Cruickshanks',  he  said, 
sadly,  "  How  changed  he  is  since  I  first  met  him  at  the 
door  of  Dickens's  house.  It  makes  me  feel  old  to  look 
at  him."  He  admired  a  picture  of  Thomas  Carlyle, 
taken  by  Elliot  and  Fry,  but  was  amused  beyond  mea 
sure  at  the  philosopher's  appearance  in  the  handsome 
cloak  which  the  artist  had  thrown  over  his  shoulders 
to  give  effect  to  the  picture,  and  over  which  the  face 
of  Sartor  Eesartus  appeared,  wearing  an  expression  of 
ludicrously  doleful  resignation. 

Speaking  of  "  Hiawatha"  and  the  Indians,  I  told  Long 
fellow  how  much  I  preferred  the  Indian  of  romance  to 
the  Indian  of  reality,  as  far  as  my  experience  of  him 
had  gone. 

He  said,  "  You  see  no  true  specimens  now.  They  are 
all  degenerated  by  contact  with  white  men  and  by  rum. 
I  doubt  if  there  is  a  pure  uncontaminated  Indian  left 
on  this  continent." 

He  said  that  the  correct  pronunciation  of  Hiawatha 
was  "  Hea-wah-tha." 

When  I  spoke  of  Evarigeline,  but  expressed  my  doubt 
if  the  hexameter  would  take  root  in  English  soil,  he  said, 


LONGFELLOW'S  TABLE-TALK.  235 

— "  I  don't  know ;  I  think  it  will.  It  is  a  measure  that 
suits  all  themes.  It  can  fly  low  like  a  swallow,  and  at 
any  moment  dart  skywards.  What  fine  hexameters  we 
have  in  the  Bible, — '  Husbands,  love  your  wives,  and  be 
not  bitter  against  them.'  And  that  line, — '  God  is  gone 
up  with  a  shout,  the  Lord  with  the  sound  of  a  trumpet  /' 
Nothing  could  be  grander  or  finer  than  that !" 

"  When  I  wrote  Evcmgeline,"  he  added,  "  friends  here 
said,  '  It  is  all  very  well,  but  you  must  take  an  English 
metre  ;  that  hexameter  will  never  do.'  But  my  thoughts 
would  run  into  hexameter.  However,  to  please  them, 
I  translated  some  passages  into  heroic  measure ;  but 
they  agreed,  when  they  heard  them  together,  that  the 
hexameter  was  best."  But  whatever  might  be  thought 
of  classic  measure  for  new  poems,  Homer  and  Virgil 
ought,  if  possible,  he  said,  to  be  preserved  in  their 
native  hexameter.  Attempts  to  modernize  Homer,  and 
put  him  into  English  metre,  were  apt  to  become  absurd. 
It  was  like  putting  a  statue  in  crinoline,  or  converting 
Achilles  into  a  modern  gentleman. 


236 


HARVARD  AND  HER  TWO  HUMORISTS. 


XVII 


HARVARD  AND  HER  TWO  HUMORISTS. 

A  FEW  days  after  my  first  interview  with  Longfellow, 
he  was  kind  enough  to  take  me  to  hear  one  of  Lowell's 
lectures  at  Harvard,  where  the  author  of  the  Biglow 
Papers  occupies  the  Chair  of  Modern  Languages  and 
Literature.1 

"We  went  first  and  had  a  glance  through  the  Uni 
versity  Library.  Harvard's  ambition  was  to  make  this 
an  American  Bodleian ;  but  the  destruction  of  the 
library  by  fire  in  1764  was  a  heavy  blow;  and  the 


1  Harvard  University  (the  Oxford 
of  America)  is  so  called  from  its 
founder,  the  Rev.  John  Harvard, 
who  in  1636  "donated"  £700  to 
wards  its  support.  Lotteries  were 
subsequently  chartered  to  raise  suffi 
cient  money  for  the  different  build 
ings  ;  but  the  University  has  from 
the  first  depended  mainly  on  private 
generosity.  Attempts  were  made 
long  ago  to  induce  Indians  to  attend 
its  classes,  and  prepare  themselves 
for  civilizing  their  fellow-aborigines. 
But  the  red  man  was  too  fond  of  the 
trail  and  the  war-path,  and  only  one 
ever  took  a  degree  at  Harvard.  Of 
late  years  the  standard  of  gradua 
tion  in  this  University  has  been 
rising  ;  and  the  degrees  of  Harvard 


and  Yale  are  now  equal  in  value  to 
almost  any  that  can  be  obtained  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Harvard 
has  34  professors,  20  tutors,  about 
400  trader-graduates,  and  upwards 
of  800  students  altogether  attend 
ing  the  classes.  Difference  of  creed 
is  made  no  ground  of  exclusion 
from  any  honour,  even  the  highest. 
Amongst  the  professors,  one  is  a 
Swedenborgian,  another  a  Uni 
tarian,  another  a  Universalist,  an 
other  a  Presbyterian,  and  so  on. 
But  Longfellow  said  they  all  worked 
pleasantly  together.  The  academi 
cal  year  is  divided  into  two  terms, 
with  seven  weeks'  vacation  in  sum 
mer  and  six  in  winter. 


JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL.  237 

number  of  books  since  collected  does  not  exceed 
150,000.  I  noticed  several  old  donations  from  Scot 
land,  and  the  librarian  said  lie  was  anxious  to  see 
more  of  the  Scottish  element,  and  wished  that  Scottish 
authors  and  publishers  knew  the  desire  of  Harvard 
that  everything  published  in  this  country  should  put 
in  an  appearance  there — a  desire  which  I  am  glad  of 
this  opportunity  of  making  to  some  extent  known. 
As  for  the  kind  of  books  wanted,  Harvard  is  omni 
vorous.  "  I  should  be  glad,"  the  librarian  said,  "  if 
every  Scotchman  who  puts  an  idea  or  half  an  idea  in 
print  would  send  it  to  this  library."  To  illustrate  the 
importance  that  might  attach  to  even  the  pettiest 
publication,  he  told  me  a  story  (which  I  hope  was  not 
apocryphal)  about  some  man  who  would  have  lost  a 
large  fortune,  had  it  not  been  that  a  funeral  sermon 
preserved  at  Harvard  enabled  him  to  supply  a  missing 
link  in  the  chain  of  evidence. 

On  leaving  the  library,  and  crossing  the  grassy  square 
towards  Lowell's  class-room,  we  saw,  rambling  towards 
the  same  point  from  the  other  side,  an  undersized 
gentleman  in  a  Highland  cloak,  carrying  a  portfolio 
under  his  arm.  It  turned  out  to  be  the  author  of  the 
Biglow  Papers  himself. 

We  accompanied  him  to  his  class-room,  where  100 
to  150  students  were  assembled,  most  of  them  keen, 
dark- eyed  youths,  and  many  of  them  wearing  double 
eye-glasses — a  phenomenon  about  New  England  (and 
especially  about  Boston)  ladies  and  gentlemen  which  I 
never  got  to  the  bottom  of. 

Lowell  stepped  up  to  the  platform,  opened  his  port 
folio  on  the  desk,  and  without  ceremony  began  his 
lecture.  American  professors,  like  American  ministers, 


238  HARVARD  AND  HER  TWO  HUMORISTS. 

abjure  gowns.  Lowell,  in  plain  shooting- coat  and 
light  speckled  necktie ;  long  curling  brown  hair,  parted 
in  the  middle ;  corner  of  white  handkerchief  sticking 
out  of  his  breast-pocket,  stood  leaning  with  his  elbows 
on  his  desk  and  one  leg  bent  back  and  swaying  itself 
easily  on  the  point  of  his  boot  as  he  went  on. 

He  read  in  a  pleasant,  quiet,  gentlemanly  way,  and 
enlivened  his  lecture  with  continual  sallies  of  wit,  that 
threatened  at  times  to  disturb  the  decorum  of  the  class. 
The  main  topic  related  to  the  poetry  of  the  Troubadours : 
but  the  introduction  had  some  remarks  on  the  Saxons 
— "  of  whom,  however,"  said  he,  "  as  was  said  of  the 
gods,  '  the  less  we  have  to  do  with  them  the  better.' " 
He  described  them  as  a  sturdy  people,  "  sound  of 
stomach,"  "  with  no  danger  of  liver  complaint" — a 
shrewd  people,  "endowed  with  an  acute  sense  of  the 
side  on  which  the  bread  was  buttered  " — "  fine  farmers, 
settling  on  the  land  and  sticking  like  alluvial  deposits 
in  the  levels  " — practical  men  "  with  no  notion  that 
two  and  two  ever  make  five."  "  The  solidity  of  these 
people,"  he  said,  "  makes  them  terrible  when  fairly 
moved."  "But  there  could  be  no  poet  in  a  million 
such.  Poetry  is  not  made  of  such  materials — of  minds 
in  which  the  everlasting  question  is, '  What  is  this  good 
for  ? ' — a  question  which  would  puzzle  the  rose  and  be 
answered  triumphantly  by  the  cabbage." 

When  he  came  to  speak  of  the  old  Metrical  Eomances, 
he  said,  describing  the  career  of  one  of  their  knight- 
errants, — ctlt  was  delightful.  No  bills  to  pay.  Hero 
never  brought  to  a  stand- still  for  want  of  cash."  "  Then 
there  are  the  giants  who  are  admitted  to  all  the  rights 
of  citizenship,  and  serve  as  anvils  for  knights,  who 
sometimes  belabour  them  for  three  days  in  succession, 


LOWELL'S  PROGENITORS.  239 

and  stop,  not  for  want  of  breath  on  the  part  of  the 
combatants,  but  of  the  minstrel,  who,  when  he  found 
himself  or  his  audience  becoming  exhausted,  managed 
to  make  the  giant's  head  loose  on  his  shoulders." 

In  these  glorious  days  of  Metrical  Romance,  said  the 
professor,  "you  have  a  fine  time  of  it,  living  in  your 
castle  on  the  top  of  a  rock,  enjoying^a  sort  of  inde 
pendence,  such  as  a  man  enjoys  in  jail."  Your  horse, 
too,  is  a  wonderful  animal,  "  whose  skeleton  Professor 
Owen  would  have  given  his  ears  for."  You  have  a 
summary  way  of  dealing  with  your  subjects.  "  If  they 
are  infidels  you  take  all  their  heads  off  and  bring  them 
to  more  serious  views."  Finally,  at  the  end  of  a  glorious 
career,  "  you  die  deeply  regretted  by  your  subjects,  if 
there  are  any  of  them  left  with  their  heads  on." 

Enlivening  his  lecture  with  little  sparkling  bits  of 
fun  of  this  sort,  he  went  on  for  nearly  an  hour,  in  quiet, 
easy  style,  rarely  looking  up  from  his  manuscript ;  his 
hands  looped  behind  his  back,  or  fingering  the  edges  of 
his  desk,  raising  the  lid  half  an  inch  and  letting  it 
softly  down  again.  At  the  comical  bits  there  was  a 
"  pawky  "  look  in  his  face  and  a  comical  twinkle  of  the 
eye,  as  if  he  were  enjoying  the  fun  just  as  much  as  we. 

Lowell  is  descended  from  a  family  that  is  very  old 
for  New  England.  His  grandfather,  John  Lowell,  was  a 
prominent  man  in  the  days  of  the  Eevolution,  and  was 
appointed  by  Washington  to  be  Judge  of  the  District 
Court  of  Massachusetts.  He  afterwards  became  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Eirst  Circuit  under  the  Presidency  of 
John  Adams.  The  poet's  father,  the  Eev.  Dr.  Charles 
Lowell,  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1800,  and  spent  some 
years  in  Europe,  two  of  them  at  the  Edinburgh  Uni 
versity.  The  poet  himself  was  born  in  Cambridge, 


240  HARVARD  AND  HER  TWO  HUMORISTS. 

where  he  now  lives,  and  studied  at  the  University  of 
which  he  is  now  a  professor.  He  published  a  volume 
of  poetry  in  1841  ;  tried  in  1843  the  editing  of  a  paper, 
for  which  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  and 
Lowell  himself  wrote,  but  which,  being  too  good  for 
general  appreciation,  came  out  but  thrice,  and  then 
died,  —  * 

"  Wandering  backward  as  in  scorn, 
Waiting  an  ^Eon  to  be  born." 


In  1844  Lowell  published  another  volume  of  poetry, 
containing  many  pieces  of  exquisite  beauty  ;  but  the 
productions  that  first  made  him  celebrated  were  his 
inimitable  Biglow  Papers,  written  against  the  Mexican 
war  and  slavery,  and  published  in  1848. 

The  very  first  of  these  threw  the  public  into  con 
vulsions  of  laughter,  and  hit  tile  mark  so  well,  that 
James  Eussell  Lowell  from  that  day  was  known  as  a 
power  in  the  country.  On  one  occasion,  with  half- 
a-dozen  of  these  humorously  sarcastic  verses,  he  turned 
the  State  election,  securing  a  peace  man  as  Governor  of 
Massachusetts,  by  making  the  war  candidate  and  his 
talented  right-hand  man,  John  P.  Eobinson,  the  laugh 
ing-stock  of  the  whole  country.  Here  was  his  sketch 
of  Gushing,  the  war  candidate  :  — 

"  General  C.  is  a  dreffle  smart  man  ; 
He  's  been  on  all  sides  that  give  places  or  pelf  ; 
But  consistency  still  being  part  of  his  plan, 
He  's  been  true  to  one  party  —  an'  that  is  himself. 
So  John  P. 
Robinson  he 
Sez  he  shall  vote  for  General  C." 

Contrasting  the  General's  notions  with  the  peace  prin 
ciples  that  reigned  in  the  quiet  rural  districts  of  New 
England,  he  goes  on  to  say,— 


THE  BIGLOW  PAPEES.  241 

"  We  were  gittin  on  nicely  up  here  to  our  village, 
With  good  old  ideas  o'  wut  's  right  an'  wut  aint ; 
We  kind  o'  thought  Christ  went  agin  war  and  pillage, 
An'  that  eppyletts  worn't  the  best  mark  of  a  saint ; 
But  John  P. 
Robinson  he 
Sez  this  kind  o'  thing  's  an  exploded  idee. 

Parson  Wilbur  sez  he  never  heerd  in  his  life 
That  th'  Apostles  rigged  out  in  their  swallow-tail  coats 
An'  marched  round  in  front  of  a  drum  and  a  fife, 
To  git  some  on  'em  office,  an'  some  on  'em  votes ; 

But  John  P. 

Robinson  he 
Sez  they  didn't  know  evrerythin'  down  in  Judee." 

John  Bright's  reference  to  the  Biglow  Papers  in  a 
Parliamentary  debate  during  the  American  war  created 
an  immediate  demand  for  them  in  this  country,  and 
led  to  their  republication.  Lowell's  verses  during  the 
rebellion  became  less  pacific,  but  not  less  pungent. 
Many  of  the  American  letters  in  the  London  Daily 
News,  which  stood  by  the  North  during  the  war,  were 
understood  to  be  his. 

Since  Longfellow's  resignation  of  his  Chair  at  Har 
vard,  some  fourteen  years  ago,  Lowell  has  occupied  his 
place.  The  two  poets  live  near  each  other,  and  are 
intimate  friends.1  In  manner,  voice,  and  appearance, 

1  Longfellow's    verses,     entitled  The  dawn  was  on  their  faces,  and 

«  The  Two  Angels,"  which  are  not  The  ^^  houges  hearsed  ^ 

publish  ed,  I  think,  in  all  the  English  plumes  of  smoke." 

editions  of  Ms  poems,  were  occa-  Of  the  angels,  "  one  was  crowned 

sioned  by  the  coincidence  of  the  ^th  amaranth,  as  with  flame,  and 

birth  of  a  child  in  his  house,  and  one   with    asphodels,    like    flakes 

the  death  of  Mrs.  Lowell,  also  in  of  light."    The  one  that  stopped  at 

child-birth,  on  the  same  day.     The  Longfellow's  gate  was  the  angel  of 

poem  begins  :—  light  :_ 

"  Two  angels,  one  of  Life  and  one  of  "  'Twas  at  thy  door,  O  friend,  and  not 

Death,  at  mine, 

Pass'd  o'er  our  village  as  the  morn-  The  angel  with   the  amaranthine 

ing  broke ;  wreath, 

VOL.  II.  Q 


242 


HARVARD  AND  HER  TWO  HUMORISTS. 


Lowell,  like  Longfellow,  would  not  be  distinguished 
from  a  cultured  English  gentleman.  Both  of  them 
are  indispensable  members  of  what  the  envious  New 
Yorkers  call  the  Mutual  Admiration  Society  of  Boston 
—the  circle  that  has  done  so  much  to  give  America  a 
classic  literature  of  her  own,  and  that  represents  a 
class  of  the  scholarly  men  whom  America  will  produce 
in  greater  numbers  when  the  work  of  breaking  up  the 
boundless  prairies  and  hunting  incessantly  after  the 
almighty  dollar  is  sufficiently  over  to  afford  time  for 
quiet,  intellectual  growth. 

I  was  glad  to  hear  that  the  opening  of  the  medical 
classes  would  give  me  an  opportunity  of  hearing  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes  deliver  the  inaugural  lecture.1  Mr. 


Pausing,  descended,  and  with  voice 

divine 

Whisper'd  a  word  that  had  a  sound 
like  Death. 

Then  fell  upon  the  house  a  sudden 

gloom, 
A  shadow  on  those  features  fair  and 

thin; 
And   softly  from    that  hush'd    and 

darken'd  room 

Two  angels  issued,  where  but  one 
went  in." 

1  It  is  a  coincidence  worthy  of 
note,  that  America's  two  greatest 
humorists — Holmes  and  Lowell — 
should  have  both  been  born  at  Cam 
bridge,  and  should  both  have  gra 
duated  at  Harvard,  where  both 
are  now  professors.  Holmes  is 
best  known  in  this  country  by  his 
"Autocrat," — undoubtedly  his  chef- 
d'ceuvre, — but  it  will  be  remem 
bered  by  many  that  it  was  his 
"Old  Ironsides"  that  saved  the 
historic  frigate  Constitution  from 
being  broken  up  in  1836,  when  she 


was  taken  for  that  purpose  into  the 
navy  yard  at  Charleston.  The 
poem  formed  part  of  a  "Metrical 
Essay "  delivered  before  the  Har 
vard  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society,  and 


"  Ay,  tear  her  batter'd  ensign  down, 

Long  has  it  waved  on  high, 
And  many  an  eye  has  danced  to  see 
That  banner  in  the  sky." 

And  so  on  to  the  grandest  verse  of 
all— 

"  O  better  that  her  shatter'd  hulk 

Should  sink  beneath  the  wave  ; 
Her  thunders  shook  the  mighty  deep, 
And  there  should  be  her  grave. 

"  Nail  to  the  mast  her  tatter'd  flag, 

Set  every  threadbare  sail ; 
And  give  her  to  the  god  of  storms, 
The  lightning  and  the  gale." 

This  poem,  published  in  the 
Boston  Advertiser,  ran  like  wild 
fire  through  the  States,  aroused  the 
patriotic  sentiment  of  the  people, 
and  saved  the  old  ship. 


EMERSON  AND  AGASSIZ.  243 

Fields,  the  publisher,  who  went  with  me,  took  me 
round  to  the  museum  behind  the  lecture-hall,  where 
we  found  a  number  of  the  literary  and  scientific  men  of 
Boston  assembled  to  accompany  Dr.  Holmes  to  the  plat 
form.  The  doctor  himself  was  there,  but  was  altogether 
a  different-looking  man  from  what  I  had  supposed 
him  to  be.  I  had  conceived  of  him,  for  what  reason 
I  know  not,  possibly  from  his  poetry,  as  a  tall,  thin, 
dark-eyed,  brilliant-looking  man.  This  is  not,  perhaps, 
the  conception  one  gets  from  his  Autocrat  of  the 
Breakfast  Table;  but  I  read  his  poems  first,  and  first 
impressions  are  apt  to  remain.  Holmes  is  a  plain 
little  dapper  man,  his  short  hair  brushed  down  like  a 
boy's,  but  turning  grey  now;  a  trifle  of  furzy  hair 
under  his  ears;  a  powerful  jaw,  and  a  thick,  strong 
under  lip  that  gives  decision  to  his  look,  with  a  dash  of 
pertness.  In  conversation,  he  is  animated  and  cor 
dial — sharp  too,  taking  the  word  out  of  one's  mouth. 
When  Mr.  Fields  said,  "I  sent  the  boy  this — "  "Yes; 
I  got  them,"  said  Holmes.  He  told  me  I  should  hear 
some  references  to  Dr.  John  Brown  of  Edinburgh  in 
his  lecture ;  also  some  thoughts  he  had  taken  from  Dr. 
Brown's  fine  essay  on  Locke  and  Sydenham.  "  But 
you  see,"  he  added  with  a  smile,  "  I  always  tell  when 
I  steal  anything ! " 

Near  us,  under  one  of  the  lofty  windows,  two  men 
were  standing  whom  I  would  have  travelled  many  a 
league  to  meet.  One  of  them  was  Professor  Louis 
Agassiz — big,  massive,  genial-looking  ;  the  rich  healthy 
colour  on  his  broad  face  still  telling  of  the  Old  World 
from  which  he  came — altogether  a  man  who,  but  for 
his  dark,  keen  eyes,  would  look  more  like  a  jovial 
English  squire  than  a  devotee  of  science.  Beside 


244  HARVARD  AND  HER  TWO  HUMORISTS. 

him  stood  a  man  of  strangely  different  build — a  gaunt, 
long-limbed  man,  dressed  in  a  high- collared  surtout — 
his  piquant  New  England  face  peering  down  over  the 
old-fashioned  black  kerchief  that  swathed  his  long, 
thin  neck.  It  was  Emerson,  the  glorious  transcen- 
dentalist  of  Concord.  He  stood  in  an  easy,  contem 
plative  attitude,  with  his  hands  loosely  folded  in  front, 
and  his  head  slightly  inclined.  He  has  the  queerest 
New  England  face,  with  thin  features,  prominent 
hatchet  nose,  and  a  smile  of  childlike  sweetness  and 
simplicity  arching  the  face,  and  drawing  deep  curves 
down  the  cheek.  Eyes,  too,  full  of  sparkling  geniality, 
and  yet  in  a  moment  turning  cold,  clear,  and  searching 
like  the  eyes  of  a  god.  I  remember,  when  introduced 
to  him,  how  kindly  he  took  my  hand,  and  with  that 
smile  still  upon  his  face,  peered  deep  with  those  calm 
blue  eyes  into  mine. 

When  the  hour  arrived  we  went  into  the  lecture- 
room.  Let  me  try  to  bring  up  the  scene  again.  The 
room  is  crowded  to  the  door — so  crowded  that  many 
of  the  students  have  to  sit  on  the  steps  leading  up 
between  the  sections  of  concentric  seats,  and  stand 
crushed  three  or  four  deep  in  the  passages  along  the 
walls.  What  a  sea  of  pale  faces,  and  dark,  thoughtful 
eyes ! 

Holmes,  Emerson,  and  Agassiz  are  cheered  loudly  as 
they  enter  and  take  their  seats.  The  Principal  opens 
proceedings  with  a  short  prayer — the  audience  remain 
ing  seated.  Dr.  Holmes  now  gets  up,  steps  forward  to 
the  high  desk  amidst  loud  cheers,  puts  his  eye-glasses 
across  his  nose,  arranges  his  manuscript,  and  without 
any  prelude  begins.  The  little  man,  in  his  dress  coat, 
stands  very  straight,  a  little  stiff  about  the  neck,  as  if 


THE  AUTOCRAT  LECTURING  THE  STUDENTS.    245 

he  feels  that  he  cannot  afford  to  lose  anything  of  his 
stature.  He  reads  with  a  sharp,  percussive  articulation, 
is  very  deliberate  and  formal  at  first,  but  becomes  more 
animated  as  he  goes  on.  He  would  even  gesticulate  if 
the  desk  were  not  so  high,  for  you  see  the  arm  that  lies 
on  the  desk  beside  his  manuscript  giving  a  nervous 
quiver  at  emphatic  points.  The  subject  of  his  lecture 
is  the  spirit  in  which  medical  students  should  go  into 
their  work — now  as  students,  afterwards  as  practition 
ers.  He  warns  them  against  looking  on  it  as  a  mere 
lucrative  employment.  "Don't  be  like  the  man  who 
said,  '  I  suppose  I  must  go  and  earn  that  d — d  guinea !'" 
He  enlivens  his  lecture  with  numerous  jokes  and  bril 
liant  sallies  of  wit,  and  at  every  point  hitches  up  his 
head,  looks  through  his  glasses  at  his  audience  as  he 
finishes  his  sentence,  and  then  shuts  his  mouth  pertly 
with  his  under  lip,  as  if  he  said,  "There,  laugh  at  that !" 

Emerson  sits  listening,  with  his  arms  folded  loosely 
on  his  breast — that  queer  smile  of  his  effervescing  at 
every  joke  into  a  silent  laugh,  that  runs  up  into  his 
eyes  and  quivers  at  the  corners  of  his  eyebrows,  like 
sunlight  in  the  woods.  Beside  him  sits  Agassiz,  leaning 
easily  back  in  his  chair,  trifling  with  the  thick  watch- 
guard  that  glitters  on  his  capacious  white  waistcoat, 
and  looking  like  a  man  who  has  just  had  dinner,  and  is 
disposed  to  take  a  pleasant  view  of  things. 

Holmes  is  becoming  more  animated.  His  arm  is  in 
motion  now,  indulging  in  mild  movements  towards  the 
desk,  as  if  he  meant  to  kill  a  fly,  but  always  repents 
and  doesn't.  He  shows  less  mercy  on  the  persons  and 
opinions  that  he  has  occasion  to  criticise.  He  comes 
down  sharply  on  "  the  quacks,  with  or  without  diplomas, 
who  think  that  the  chief  end  of  man  is  to  support  the 


246  HARVARD  AND  HER  TWO  HUMORISTS. 

apothecary."  He  has  a  passing  hit  at  Carlyle's  "  Shooting 
Niagara,"  and  his  discovery  of  the  legitimate  successor 
of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  drill-sergeant.  He  has  also  a 
fling  at  Dr.  Gumming,  of  London,  and  "  his  prediction 
that  the  world  is  to  come  to  an  end  next  year  or  next 
week,  weather  permitting,  but  very  sure  that  the  weather 
will  be  unpropitious." 

The  lecture  lasted  about  an  hour,  and  at  its  close 
was  applauded  again  and  again — Holmes  being  a  great 
favourite  with  the  students.  I  met  him  afterwards  at 
a  dinner  given  to  Longfellow  and  his  literary  friends, 
in  congratulation  on  the  completion  of  the  poet's  trans 
lation  of  Dante ;  and  hoped  there  to  enjoy  one  of  the 
Autocrat's  after-dinner  speeches,  which  are  said  to  be 
amongst  his  most  brilliant  performances.  Longfellow, 
however,  unlike  most  Americans,  shrinks  from  any 
kind  of  public  speaking  himself,  and  Mr.  Fields  came 
round  at  dessert  to  inform  us  that  Longfellow  had  de 
clared,  that  if  he  had  to  make  a  speech  he  should  be  in 
torment  all  the  evening,  and  lose  the  enjoyment  of  his 
dinner.  It  had,  therefore,  been  resolved  that  there 
should  be  no  speeches :  so  Holmes's  power  as  an  im- 
provisatore  had  no  opportunity  for  exercising  itself  that 
night. 


WENDELL  PHILLIPS.  24' 


XVIII. 

WENDELL  PHILLIPS. 

THE  first  sight  I  got  of  the  great  Abolition  orator  was 
in  the  Music  Hall  at  Boston,  where  an  audience  of  3000 
people  had  assembled  to  hear  him  lecture  on  the  poli 
tical  situation.  He  came  upon  the  platform  in  a  light 
overcoat,  which  he  threw  off  when  he  rose  to  speak. 
On  advancing  to  the  desk,  he  seemed  to  find  the  light 
upon  his  eyes,  and,  as  he  had  no  need  of  it  for  any 
notes,  he  turned  it  down,  laid  his  arm  lightly  upon  the 
desk,  and  began.  He  is  a  man  of  somewhat  aristocratic 
appearance,  with  not  only  the  perfect  ease  and  self- 
possession  of  the  practised  orator,  but  the  quiet  and 
graceful  manners  of  the  gentleman.  He  is  tall  and 
fair-complexioned,  with  keen  grey  eyes,  and  a  face  in 
which  the  prevailing  expressions  are  firmness  and  scorn, 
acquired,  perhaps,  by  his  having  had  to  face,  in  the 
course  of  his  combative  life,  so  much  loud-mouthed  and 
empty-headed  opposition.  I  found  that  I  had  been 
led,  from  the  ferocity  of  his  onslaughts  on  public  men 
and  public  measures,  as  reported  in  the  newspapers,  to 
form  a  false  conception  of  his  delivery.  There  is  no 
fire,  no  vehemence,  no  declamation.  His  sarcasm  is 
like  the  air  from  an  iceberg — cold,  keen,  withering.  He 
follows  an  enemy  like  an  Indian  upon  the  trail.  You 
feel  as  you  listen  that  he  is  advancing  steadily — that  it 


248  WENDELL  PHILLIPS. 

is  only  a  question  of  time.  When  he  comes  to  strike, 
his  strokes  are  like  galvanic  shocks ;  there  is  neither 
noise  nor  flash,  but  their  force  is  terrible. 

He  can  sting  with  a  passing  touch.  The  mere  words 
cannot  enable  a  reader  to  imagine  the  effect  he  pro 
duced  when  he  referred  to  something  that  Mr.  Seward 
said  "  before  he  lost  his  brains,"  and  called  President 
Johnson,  for  his  references  to  the  old  doctrine  of  a  white 
man's  government,  "  the  Eip  Van  Winkle  of  the  nine 
teenth  century."  Or  the  effect  which  the  scorn  in  his 
face  gave  to  his  allusion  to  General  Grant's  provoking 
reticence.  "  You  had  first,"  he  said,  "  a  man  with  his 
face  heavenward,  then  you  had  a  man  with  his  face 
hellward,  and  now  you  want  a  man  of  whom  all  that 
can  be  said  is,  that  we  don't  know  which  way  his  face 
is  turned." 

Phillips'  power  of  exposition  and  defence  is  almost 
as  great  as  his  power  of  attack.  He  has  the  gift  of 
stating  his  case  with  exquisite  clearness,  and  in  such  a 
way  as  to  recommend  it  to  his  audience  without  any 
appearance  of  special  pleading. 

When  asked  by  a  friend  if  he  had  ever  studied  the 
works  of  any  great  orator  as  a  model  for  his  style,  he 
said — "  No  :  my  style  grew  out  of  my  training.  I 
have  always  been  the  advocate  of  unpopular  move 
ments,  and  a  man  who  advocates  an  unpopular  move 
ment  must  do  three  things  :  He  must  state  his  principle 
so  clearly  that  it  cannot  be  misunderstood  or  honestly 
misrepresented ;  he  must  state  it  so  simply  that  the 
commonest  man  in  an  audience  of  unlettered  men  can 
understand  him ;  and  he  must  indulge  in  no  high- 
falutin.  High-falutin  may  do  for  a  popular  man  speak 
ing  on  a  popular  subject;  but  an  Abolitionist  trying 


ON  THE  SITUATION.  249 

flights  of  rhetoric  would  be  roared  at,  where  men  like 

,  on  the  4th  of  July,  would  be  applauded  to  the 

echo.  I  think,"  he  added,  "  if  I  have  any  special  power 
of  speaking,  it  grew  first  from  believing  what  I  advo 
cated,  and  then  from  forgetting  everything  else  in  an 
intense  desire  to  make  my  audience  think  with  me." 

One  of  the  speeches  I  heard  him  give,  was  an  attack 
on  Congress  for  its  timidity,  in  not  dealing  summarily 
with  the  obstructive  President,  and  settling  the  negro 
question  with  reference  to  the  spirit  rather  than  the 
mere  letter  of  the  Constitution.  Here  are  one  or  two 
of  the  passages  most  characteristic  of  the  man  and  his 
principles.  Speaking  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  "  the 
compromise  of  1789,  which  suicidally  bound  up  slavery 
and  freedom  together,"  he  said, — 

"  The  fathers  took'  a  cannon,  and  filled  it  half  up  with 
powder,  then  they  filled  up  the  remainder  with  burning 
coals,  and  upon  the  top  of  these  they  drove  a  plug,  and 
hoped  it  would  not  burst !  .  .  .  Well,  it  did  burst  in  1861. 
.  .  .  Then  came  the  question,  '  What  is  to  be  done  V  The 
north  star  of  Lincoln's  Government  was  to  save  the  nation 
in  the  likeness  in  which  it  was  created  in  '89.  Mr.  Seward 
declared  that  he  would  wage  this  war  to  its  conclusion, 
and  not  cross  the  barriers  of  a  single  State  to  touch  its 
Constitution.  And  as  a  fitting  commentary  on  his  word, 
he  sent  down  George  B.  M'Clellan  [this  with  indescribable 
sarcasm]  not  to  do  it.  In  other  words,  the  system  of  the 
Republican  party  was  to  put  the  pieces  of  the  same  cannon 
together,  put  in  the  same  powder,  the  same  red-hot  coals, 
and  the  same  plug,  and  then  hope  it  would  not  happen 
again ! " 

Referring  to  the  crisis  in  1862,  which  compelled  the 
North  to  think  of  the  negro,  he  said,— 

"  We  wanted  blood  and  treasure,  and  when  the  cloud 
was  blackest  we  began  to  ask  with  bated  breath,  '  Will  the 


250  WENDELL  PHILLIPS. 

negro  fight1?'  and  we  went  to  France  to  inquire  how  their 
black  troops  fought  in  Africa,  and  to  Herodotus  to  see  the 
historical  aspect  of  the  question,  and  we  rummaged  science 
to  learn  »the  ethnological  position  of  the  race,  and  then, 
shutting  our  eyes  and  shuddering,  we  concluded  we  would 
risk  it.  That  was  statesmanship.  .  .  .  And  the  moment 
we  touched  the  talisman  Justice,  the  moment  we  dispersed 
our  doubts,  and  carried  on  the  war  on  great  American 
principles,  and  independent  of  race,  the  ship  of  State 
righted,  and  we  went  from  Gettysburg  to  Atlanta,  and 
from  Atlanta  to  Petersburg,  and  from  Petersburg  to  the 
crowning  victory  at  Richmond." 

In  reference  to  the  continued  repugnance  to  the  negro 
and  to  negro  suffrage,  he  said, — 

"  You  cry  out  against  Africanizing  the  South.  Ah,  how 
nice  it  would  be  if  the  South  could  be  made  happy,  united 
again,  without  that !  How  blessed  to  wake  up  to-morrow, 
and  find  every  one  of  these  objectionable  persons  bleached 
white !  But  if  you  could  see  it,  it  is  the  greatest  cause  of 
gratitude  the  American  people  have  to-day,  that  there  are 
four  millions  of  Africans  in  the  Southern  States.  But  for 
them  the  reconstruction  of  the  South  in  our  time  would  be 
hopeless.  God  has  given  us  in  the  blacks  a  fulcrum  on 
which  to  rest  the  lever  to  lift  up  the  South  into  nineteenth 
century  civilisation." 

"  Our  fathers,"  he  said,  "  did  one  great  work — they  came 
from  Europe  repudiating  all  caste,  and  founded  a  State  in 
which  it  was  not  the  rich  man,  nor  the  nobleman,  that  was 
to  bear  the  sway — it  was  the  man  himself — man  without 
regard  to  his  accidents.  .  .  .  We  have  that  work  now  to 
vindicate  and  complete.  .  .  .  We  are  verging  towards  the 
close  of  an  epoch.  God  has  bound  this  generation  to  the 
great  duty  of  eliminating  from  American  politics  all  ideas 
of  race ;  and  whenever  the  American  magistracy  becomes 
colour-blind,  unable  to  distinguish  white  from  black — when 
that  day  comes,  the  duty  of  this  generation  is  done  and 
sealed,  and  this  epoch  is  closed." 


HISTORY  AND  CHARACTER.  251 

Wendell  Phillips  belongs  to  a  family  well  known  in 
New  England.  His  ancestor,  who  went  out  from  this 
country  with  the  Puritans,  was  the  Eev.  George  Phillips, 
a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  who  had  gradu 
ated  at  Cambridge.  His  family  became  possessed  of 
large  landed  property,  and  did  good  service  to  the  cause 
of  learning  in  New  England,  by  founding  and  endowing 
the  Colleges  of  Exeter  and  Andover.  The  father  of 
Wendell  Phillips  was  first  Mayor  of  Boston,  and  is  de 
scribed  as  a  man  of  courtly  manners.  His  wife,  the 
mother  of  the  orator,  was  a  woman  of  rare  virtues  and 
attainments,  and  is  said  to  have  early  trained  her  chil 
dren  to  independence  of  character,  teaching  them  to  do 
what  they  felt  to  be  right,  whatever  might  be  the  opinion 
of  the  world.  The  effect  of  her  training  is  strikingly 
manifest  in  the  stern  and  uncompromising  adherence  to 
principle,  in  spite  of  ridicule  and  abuse,  which  has  been 
one  of  Wendell  Phillips'  most  prominent  characteristics. 
He  inherited,  however,  his  father's  aristocratic  tenden 
cies,  and  at  Harvard,  where  he  studied,  joined  the 
Gentlemen's  Club,  a  rather  exclusive  society,  and  was 
known  as  the  leader  of  the  aristocratic  set.  His  leanings 
were,  therefore,  all  on  the  other  side  from  the  Abolition 
movement,  which  at  that  time  was  considered  odious 
and  vulgar. 

In  1836,  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  that  dogged  and 
irrepressible  antagonist  of  slavery,  was  laid  hold  of  by 
a  mob  and  dragged  through  the  streets  of  Boston  with 
a  halter  round  his  neck.  Young  Phillips  was  in  the 
street,  and  that  sight  opened  his  eyes  to  the  repressive 
and  tyrannical  spirit  of  slavery,  making  him  also  an 
Abolitionist.  On  the  7th  of  November,  in  the  following 
year,  the  Eev.  E.  P.  Lovejoy  was  shot  by  a  mob  while 


252  WENDELL  PHILLIPS. 

attempting  to  defend  his  anti-slavery  printing-press. 
This  was  at  Alton,  in  Illinois,  the  State  where  Abraham 
Lincoln,  the  coming  Emancipator,  was  at  that  time  prac 
tising  law.  When  the  murder  of  Mr.  Lovejoy  became 
known  in  the  city  of  Boston,  Channing,  the  noble- 
hearted,  burning  with  shame  for  his  country,  went  to 
the  Mayor  and  succeeded,  with  difficulty,  in  getting  his 
sanction  to  the  holding  of  an  indignation  meeting  in 
Faneuil  Hall. 

The  meeting  was  held,  and  resolutions  moved,  but 
the  Attorney- General  opposed  them  in  a  speech  of  such 
ability,  that- when  he  sat  down  the  popular  ardour  was 
cooled.  At  this  juncture,  when  the  whole  aim  and 
object  of  the  meeting  was  in  danger  of  being  defeated, 
a  young  man,  unknown  to  most  of  the  audience,  rose 
and  asked  permission  to  reply.  He  made  a  speech  so 
clear  and  keen,  and  demolished  so  completely  the  argu 
ment  of  the  Attorney-General,  that  the  meeting  was 
taken  by  storm,  rewarded  the  young  orator  with  raptur 
ous  applause,  and  carried  the  original  resolutions. 

The  young  orator  was  Wendell  Phillips,  and  from  that 
day  he  was  a  marked  man.  Such  was  the  thoroughness 
of  purpose  with  which  he  now  espoused  the  Abolition 
movement,  that  he  relinquished  his  legal  position,  be 
cause  it  bound  him  by  oath  to  support  a  constitution 
which  furnished  a  guarantee  to  slavery.  The  traditions 
of  his  family  were  all  in  favour  of  the  Federal  compact, 
but  when  Wendell  Phillips  began  to  feel  how  powerful 
a  bulwark  the  Union  afforded  to  slavery,  he  joined  Gar 
rison  in  denouncing  it  as  a  compact  with  hell.  When 
the  war  broke  out  in  1861,  and  the  North  began  to 
speak  of  putting  an  end  to  slavery,  in  order  to  remove 
the  root  of  the  bitterness  and  antagonism  that  had  cul- 


CONSISTENCY.  253 

urinated  in  rebellion,  Wendell  Phillips  began  to  urge 
the  preservation  of  the  Union  as  strenuously  as  he  had 
formerly  urged  its  dissolution.  On  this  ground  he  has 
been  accused  of  gross  inconsistency  ;  but  the  charge  is 
based  on  a  forgetfulness  of  his  supreme  and  controlling 
purpose.  An  officer  who  attacks  a  position  because  it 
is  occupied  by  the  enemy,  is  perfectly  consistent  in  de 
fending  the  same  position  when  it  is  occupied  by  his 
own  troops.  Wendell  Phillips  always  attached  import 
ance  to  union,  but  more  importance  to  the  emancipation 
of  the  coloured  race.  He  considered  that  disunion  was 
preferable  to  complicity  with  slavery.  While,  therefore, 
the  Union  protected  slavery,  he  was  against  it ;  as  soon 
as  it  turned  and  began  to  assail  slavery,  he  was  with  it. 
His  consistency  becomes  apparent  the  moment  we  look 
at  him  in  his  true  character  as  an  Abolitionist.  In  his 
career  of  conflict  with  the  Slave  Power,  which  was  car 
ried  on  for  thirty  years  in  the  teeth  of  as  gigantic  and 
furious  an  opposition  as  ever  met  a  public  movement, 
Wendell  Phillips  never  wavered,  never  faltered,  never 
swerved.  He  took  up  the  cause  when  it  could  only 
be  advocated  at  the  jeopardy  of  his  life.  Along  with 
Theodore  Parker,  Garrison,  and  others,  he  fought  the 
battle  year  after  year  under  every  kind  of  discourage 
ment  and  opposition,  and,  as  late  as  1861,  had  to  be 
protected  during  his  speech  by  a  posse  of  police,  even 
in  the  city  of  Boston.  And  now  when  he  has  lived  to 
see  the  slave  power  in  the  dust,  and  slavery  banished 
for  ever  from  the  soil  of  the  United  States,  instead  of 
resting  on  his  laurels,  he  has  gone  on  with  the  advocacy 
of  other  movements  which  have  brought  upon  him  quite 
as  much  ridicule,  if  not  as  much  wrath — the  movements, 
namely,  for  the  Suppression  of  the  Liquor  Traffic,  and 


254  WENDELL  PHILLIPS. 

the  extension  of  the  suffrage  to  the  coloured  people,  and 
to  women. 

Phillips  is  a  well-read  and  scholarly  man.  He  was  a 
fellow-student  with  Charles  Sumner  at  Harvard,  and, 
though  Sumner  was  the  more  laborious  student,  Phillips 
was  reckoned  the  more  gifted  man.  His  favourite  study 
from  the  first  was  history.  His  friend  Theodore  Tilton 
says,  that  at  college  he  gave  a  whole  year  to  the  study 
of  the  English  Eevolution  of  1640,  reading  every  book, 
pamphlet,  and  speech  on  the  subject  that  he  could  find, 
and  another  year  to  the  history  of  George  the  Third  and 
the  American  Eevolution.  In  light  literature  he  read 
and  re-read  Sir  Walter  Scott  with  such  avidity  and  en 
joyment,  that  he  said  himself  it  was  a  hard  thing  to  get 
the  Conservative  taste  out  of  his  mouth  and  acquire  a 
liking  for  Radicalism. 

He  seems,  however,  to  have  succeeded  not  only  in 
getting  the  taste  of  Conservatism  out  of  his  mouth,  but 
to  have  acquired  an  intense  detestation  of  it,  and  many 
charge  him  with  personal  hatred  of  its  exponents  :  this 
he  himself  disclaims.  To  a  friend  who  spoke  to  him 
about  the  severity  of  his  attacks  on  public  men,  he 
said, — "  I  may  be  severe,  but  I  claim  this  for  myself, 
that  I  have  never  had  the  slightest  feeling  of  personal 
animosity  towards  the  men  I  have  criticised.  I  have 
looked  at  them  from  a  moral  stand-point ;  I  have 
criticised  them  as  sinners  against  a  race  or  against  a 
principle.  I  have  been  the  object  of  abuse  myself  for 
thirty  years,  but  I  have  never  once  uttered  a  word 
against  a  man  for  any  injury  done  to  me  personally,  or 
to  any  one  connected  with  me.  As  to  hostile  criticism 
in  itself,"  he  said,  "  I  think,  if  it  is  fair,  we  need  it.  In 
a  democratic  Government  like  ours,  the  people — the 


HIS  GENEROSITY.  255 

masses — are  entitled  to  the  whole  truth  about  men  who 
are  seeking  their  confidence  and  their  votes.  They  are 
entitled  to  know  the  defects  of  these  men  as  well  as 
their  merits,  so  that  if  they  trust  them  they  may  trust 
them  intelligently.  If  my  speeches  are  examined,  it 
will  be  found  that  the  faults  I  have  pointed  out  have 
been  faults  of  the  public  man  affecting  the  public 
welfare." 

His  friends  bear  out  this  assertion,  and  declare  him 
to  be  at  heart  a  man  of  great  kindness  and  generosity. 
One  of  them  gave  me  the  following  illustration  of  his 
character : — He  was  travelling  in  the  cars  during  the 
lecture  season,  and  got  into  conversation  with  a  lady 
who  had  been  lecturing  in  the  same  town  as  himself, 
having  resorted  to  this  work  for  self-support.  When  it 
came  out  that  she  had  only  received  five  dollars  for  her 
lecture,  Phillips  exclaimed,  "  Five  dollars  !  That  is  not 
right.  They  paid  me  fifty ;  and  I  hold  that  a  woman 
has  a  right  to  just  as  much  as  a  man,  if  she  does  the 
work  as  well.  You  must  allow  me  to  divide  with  you." 

She  would  not  hear  of  it  at  first,  biit  Phillips  insisted, 
and  put  a  little  roll  of  dollar-bills  into  her  hand.  On 
examination  afterwards,  she  found  that  he  had  given 
her  not  the  half,  but  the  whole  of  his  fee — fifty  dollars. 
He  had  probably  been  aware  that  she  needed  it.  It 
adds  to  the  generosity  of  this  act,  that  the  lady  was 
related  to  the  ex- President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 


„ 


256  VARIOUS  OBSERVATIONS  IN  BOSTON. 


XIX. 

VARIOUS  OBSERVATIONS  IN  BOSTON. 

THE  Boston  ladies  are  highly  educated,  and  many  of 
them  so  intellectual  that  they  need  to  use  double  eye 
glasses  when  they  look  at  the  gross  objects  of  sense 
around  them,  but  they  have  never  got  over  the  weak 
ness  of  their  sex  for  shopping.  In  visiting  the  larger 
stores — all  places  for  the  sale  of  goods  are  called  "  stores" 
in  America — I  was  at  first  astounded  at  the  multitudes 
of  ladies  that  swarmed  in  them  all  It  seemed  to  me 
that  at  this  rate  merchants  must  make  fortunes  in  a  day. 
I  found,  however,  that  the  appearance  of  trade  was  often 
greater  than  the  reality.  It  is  a  common  practice  for 
ladies  to  go  round  the  principal  stores  in  any  part  of 
the  city  and  make  the  salesmen  turn  over  all  the  goods, 
to  see  if  they  can  find  a  prettier  shade  of  cloth,  or  get 
the  thing  a  cent  or  two  cheaper.  They  don't  linger 
over  anything— they  are  American  in  that ;  but  they 
must  see  everything.  There  are  ladies  in  Boston  and 
New  York  wrho  go  out  shopping  every  other  day,  often 
with  no  idea  whatever  of  making  a  purchase.  You  will 
hear  ladies  say,  "  Let  us  go  and  see  what  they  have  in 
the  stores,"  and,  after  two  or  three  hours  of  activity, 
during  which  time  they  have  probably  had  twenty  or 
thirty  people  turning  over  goods  for  them  in  different 
establishments,  they  will  return  without  having  bought 


SHOP-BOYS.  257 

a  single  cent's  worth.  Still  a  vast  deal  of  business  is 
done,  and  done  smartly.  The  rule,  not  only  in  Boston, 
but  almost  everywhere  in  the  States,  is  cash.  Store 
keepers  cannot  be  troubled  with  accounts.  Of  course, 
if  ladies  run  short  of  money  the  things  are  charged,  but 
the  money  is  paid  on  delivery. 

I  was  much  struck  in  these  large  stores  with  the 
activity  and  politeness  of  the  cash-boys.  These  little 
fellows  are  kept  flying  about,  and  seem  to  enter  into 
their  work  with  as  much  spirit  as  if  they  had  a  principal 
share  in  the  business.  They  are  taken  direct  from 
school,  and  get  two  or  three  dollars  a  week  to  begin 
with.  Many  of  them  are  the  children  of  poor  Irish 
people,  but  have  been  Americanised  by  the  education 
they  get  in  those  public  schools  that  are  playing  so 
important  a  part  in  American  civilisation.  A  boy 
to  get  through  must  pass  examinations  at  every 
stage.  At  the  end  of  his  course,  if  he  has  passed  all 
these,  he  gets  his  written  discharge.  In  many  stores  a 
boy  will  not  be  engaged  unless  he  can  produce  this 
discharge,  which  is  a  certificate  of  his  education.  This 
is  a  practice  worthy  of  imitation,  and  gives  a  great 
leverage  to  the  educational  system.  The  education 
given  in  the  Boston  common  schools,  just  as  in  those 
out  West,  has  always  a  practical  bearing,  and  these  boys 
leave  school  most  proficient  in  the  branches  they  espe 
cially  need  for  success  in  active  life.  Their  expertness 
in  arithmetic  is  wonderful.  They  reckon  up  like  a  flash 
of  lightning.  "  As  for  geography/'  said  one  gentleman, 
who  was  showing  me  through  his  store,  "  ask  any  of 
these  little  fellows  the  smallest  place  in  God's  earth, 
and  he  will  tell  you  where  it  is  and  what  they  raise 
there."  He  pointed  out  several  young  salesmen  who 

VOL.  II.  R 


258  VARIOUS  OBSERVATIONS  IN  BOSTON. 

had  come  to  his  store  as  cash-boys  at  $2j  a  week,  and 
were  now  on  salaries  of  from  $1000  to  $1500  a  year. 

An  admirable  contrivance  for  giving  the  alarm  in 
case  of  fire  exists  in  Boston,  and  has  been  adopted  in 
many  other  cities  both  in  the  States  and  in  Canada. 
Wherever  a  fire  is  discovered,  this  system  allows  of  the 
whole  city  being  made  instantly  aware  of  it,  and  at  the 
same  instant  summons  the  fire-engines  to  the  spot. 
The  system  may  be  described  in  a  few  sentences. 
Alarm-boxes,  communicating  telegraphically  with  the 
Central  Fire  Office,  are  fixed  in  the  walls  all  about  the 
city  and  suburbs.  The  moment  any  person  discovers 
a  fire  he  runs  to  the  nearest  box,  gets  the  key,  and 
turns  the  handle.  This  suffices  to  set  the  whole 
machinery  in  motion.  The  instant  the  handle  is 
turned  it  causes  a  bell  to  ring  in  the  Central  Office, 
and  so  to  ring  as  to  inform  the  operator  at  which  box 
the  alarm  is  sprung.  In  another  instant  the  alarm  is 
transmitted  telegraphically  to  all  the  fire-stations,  and 
in  twenty  seconds  more  the  engines  in  the  division  of 
the  city  where  the  fire  has  broken  out  are  hurrying  to 
the  spot,  others  following  if  required.  The  same  elec 
tric  current  which  strikes  the  alarms  at  the  fire-stations 
rings  church  bells  in  different  parts  of  the  city,  which 
indicate  by  the  number  of  strokes  where  the  fire  is. 
Everybody  is  thus  made  aware  in  a  moment,  and  by 
the  same  signal  that  announces  the  fire,  whether  his 
house  or  place  of  business  is  in  danger.  Cards,  with 
all  the  districts  marked,  are  sold  for  a  penny.  Some 
people,  curious  in  such  matters,  keep  a  card  in  their 
bedrooms,  and  on  an  alarm  sounding  at  night,  consult 
the  card  to  see  where  the  fire  is.  There  is  a  certain 


THE  FIRE  TELEGRAPH.  259 

interest  in  knowing  that  it  is  in  your  friend  Smith's 
district,  and  exciting  yourself  with  the  image  of  Mr. 
Smith  darting  from  the  attic  of  his  house  through  a 
cloud  of  smoke,  and  descending  a  long  ladder  in  his 
night-shirt. 

In  Montreal,  where  the  same  system  is  in  operation, 
the  chairman  of  the  Fire  Committee  was  good  enough 
to  arrange  for  a  false  alarm  being  given  to  let  me  see 
the  system  at  work.  The  district  selected  for  giving 
the  alarm  from  was  Beaver  Hill,  known  as  District  No. 
37.  The  alarm  was  given  at  exactly  fifteen  minutes  to 
nine,  by  the  turning  of  the  handle  in  the  box.  Almost 
instantly  on  the  handle  being  touched,  I  heard  church 
bells  begin  to  toll,  indicating  that  the  alarm  had  not 
only  reached  the  Central  Office  but  had  been  already 
telegraphed  to  all  the  fire-stations.  The  bells  gave 
three  tolls,  and  after  a  few  seconds'  pause,  seven  more — 
3  and  7  indicating  37th  district.  By  this  time  a  com 
motion  was  discernible  at  some  distance  up  the  street, 
followed  by  the  appearance  of  the  hose-reel  dashing 
round  the  corner,  exactly  one  minute  and  a  half  from 
the  moment  when  the  alarm  was  touched.  The  firemen 
saw,  on  coming  round  the  corner,  that  it  was  a  false 
alarm  ;  but  as  they  are  occasionally  tested  in  this  way 
to  keep  them  in  practice,  they  dashed  up,  attached  the 
hose  to  the  plug,  run  out  the  reel,  fixed  the  nosle,  and 
in  fifteen  seconds  from  their  appearance  at  the  corner 
the  hose  was  spouting  a  column  of  water  into  the  sky. 
Within  half-a-minute  more  the  reel-hose  from  the 
next  station  was  up  and  spouting  in  the  same  way ;  in 
another  minute  and  a  half  a  third,  and  in  another 
minute  a  fourth.  Had  the  engineer  not  telegraphed 
from  the  alarm-box,  for  this  also  can  be  done,  the 


260  VARIOUS  OBSERVATIONS  IN  BOSTON. 

whole  brigade  would  have  been  up  in  five  minutes 
more. 

Before  the  experiment  was  over,  a  great  number  of 
people,  directed  by  the  church  bells,  were  running  into 
the  street  to  see  the  conflagration,  and  one  boy  arrived 
in  hot  haste  to  get  particulars  of  the  fire  for  one  of  the 
afternoon  papers. 

The  fire  department  at  Montreal,  which  also  attends 
to  the  watering  of  the  streets,  costs  the  city  about 
£4000  a  year.  The  expense  would  be  greater  if  engines 
were  necessary ;  but  the  water  comes  from  a  high  level 
and  hose-reels  suffice.  At  Hamilton,  Canada  West, 
where  the  reservoir  has  been  constructed  with  a  pro 
phetic  eye  to  ten  times  the  present  population,  the 
water-pressure  is  so  enormous,  and  batters  and  slunges 
a  house  with  such  terrific  force,  that  the  people  said 
they  scarcely  knew  which  to  dread  most,  the  fire  or  the 
water.  In  Boston,  fire-engines  are  needed,  but  Yankee 
ingenuity  is  applied  to  the  rapid  production  of  steam 
so  as  to  let  no  time  be  lost.  The  instant  an  alarm  is 
telegraphed,  every  engine- furnace  is  lighted,  and  the 
engine  run  out.  The  furnace  is  so  constructed  as  to 
utilize  to  the  utmost  the  draught  caused  by  the  swift 
motion  of  the  engine;  the  consequence  being  that  as 
the  engine  dashes  along  the  street,  the  furnace  glows 
with  intense  heat,  generating  steam  with  such  astonish 
ing  rapidity  that  the  machinery  is  generally  ready  to 
begin  work  the  instant  the  place  is  reached.  Often  at 
night,  I  used  to  hear  the  alarm  and  see  these  engines 
flying  like  fiery  meteors  along  the  street  towards  the 
scene  of  action.  The  fire-tax  is  under  1  per  cent. 

I  happened  to  be  in  Boston  when  the  State  election 


A  POLLING-PLACE.  261 

took  place.  The  party  contest  was  very  keen.  The 
Republican  party  had  rendered  itself  obnoxious  to  cer 
tain  classes  of  electors  by  committing  itself  to  pro 
hibition  and  negro  suffrage.  The  Democrats  could 
therefore  appeal  to  the  thirsty  part  of  the  population 
and  to  the  lower  classes  of  Irish  voters,  who  seem 
everywhere  in  America  to  have  an  ineradicable  hatred 
to  the  "  nigger."  A  vast  and  secret  organization,  only 
vaguely  known  to  the  public  by  the  cabalistic  letters 
"P.  L.  L.,"  variously  interpreted  "Personal  Liberty 
League/'  and  "  Public  Liquor  League/'  was  understood 
to  have  expended  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  in 
undermining  the  Eepublican  position,  and  to  have 
pledged  40,000  electors  to  vote  the  Democratic  ticket 
and  get  the  grog-shops  opened. 

When  the  voting  day  came  I  went  about  the  city, 
and  was  surprised  to  find  so  entire  an  absence  of  all 
outward  excitement.  But  for  my  previous  knowledge 
of  the  fact,  I  should  never  have  imagined  that  a  great 
party  conflict  was  in  progress.  Everything  in  the  great 
city  went  quietly  on  as  usual,  and  yet  every  man  in 
house,  store,  shop,  factory,  and  in  the  street,  paying  two 
dollars  of  a  poll-tax,  was  a  voter. 

Going  to  one  of  the  polling-places  in  the  heart  of  the 
city,  I  found  the  locality  perfectly  quiet,  save  for  an 
unusual  number  of  carriages  and  hacks,  and  a  little 
crowd  of  people  in  front  of  the  polling-place.  The 
votes  were  being  taken  in  a  hall  a  few  paces  back  from 
the  street.  There  were  two  doors,  both  in  front,  the 
one  for  entrance,  the  other  for  exit.  At  the  former 
stood  a  number  of  electioneering  agents  and  others, 
some  of  them  with  printed  bills  in  their  hands,  con 
taining  the  names  of  the  men  nominated  by  the  differ- 


262  VARIOUS  OBSERVATIONS  IN  BOSTON. 

ent  parties.  There  was  a  white  bill  with  a  list  of  the 
Eepublican  nominees,  a  blue  bill  with  the  Democratic 
nominees,  and  a  pink  bill  with  a  list  made  up  partly  of 
Democrats  and  partly  of  Eepublicans.  The  first  was 
the  straight  Eepublican  ticket,  the  second  the  straight 
Democratic,  and  the  third  the  split  ticket.  These  were 
being  offered  to  all  the  electors  as  they  passed  in.  One 
man,  with  his  cigar  gripped  between  his  back  teeth  on 
one  side,  so  as  to  allow  him  both  to  speak  and  smoke, 
was  standing  on  the  baluster  at  the  side  of  the  entrance 
steps,  calling  upon  all  and  sundry  to  vote  the  Demo 
cratic  ticket,  with  which  he  was  ready  to  supply  them 
from  the  bundle  in  his  hand. 

"  Come,  now,  gentlemen,"  he  cried,  in  a  voice  that 
would  have  been  a  fortune  to  a  travelling  showman, 
"here's  your  ticket,  gentlemen — the  genu-ine  Simon 
Pure.  Three  shares  in  the  Phoenix  Gold  Company  to 
every  man  who  will  vote  this  ticket.  Gentlemen,  I  am 
the  only  one  that  holds  the  honest  ticket — the  genu-ine 
pure  Democratic-Eepublican  up  and  down  split  and 
straight  crooked  ticket !" 

A  working  man  going  in  to  vote  took  a  ticket  from 
him,  and  with  a  cigar  in  his  mouth  and  one  hand  in 
his  pocket,  took  a  leisurely  look  at  it. 

"Yes,  sir!"  cried  the  orator,  "the  straight,  honest 
ticket ;  good  for  ten  drinks,  gentlemen.  If  you  want 
to  keep  the  grog-shops  open  all  night,  vote  my  ticket." 

A  German  in  a  light  overcoat,  passing  in  through  the 
crowd,  was  immediately  besieged  with  bills.  "  Here 's 
the  lager- beer  ticket,"  cried  the  speaker,  bending 
down  and  thrusting  one  of  his  bills  into  the  voter's 
hands.  "  Pass  in,  pass  in ;  every  dram-shop  shut  up 
to-morrow,  if  you  don't  vote  this  ticket.  Ah  !  how  do 


METHOD  OF  VOTING.  263 

you  do,  sir  ? " — to  a  small  tailor-looking  individual  who 
had  just  made  his  appearance,  and  with  whom  the 
orator  insisted  on  shaking  hands — "This  way,  John; 
you  desire  the  honest,  straight  up  and  down,  independ 
ent  ticket — here  it  is  !  Yes,  sir,  this  is  it !" 

On  entering  the  hall  I  found  it  crowded  with  people, 
and  cloudy  with  tobacco  smoke.  A  little  lane  was 
kept  for  voters  passing  from  the  door  to  the  ballot-box 
— the  people  forming  the  lane  being  for  the  most  part 
electioneering  agents  and  others  specially  interested  in 
the  election,  all  of  them  highly  excited.  The  excite 
ment  was  confined  to  the  end  of  the  room  where  the 
electors  passed  in.  As  soon  as  they  gave  their  votes 
and  passed  through,  they  ceased  to  be  objects  of  any 
further  interest,  and  either  went  away  or  lounged  about 
for  a  time,  discussing  the  prospects  of  the  election,  and 
adding  their  share  to  the  tobacco  smoke  that  filled  the 
room  and  the  tobacco  juice  that  dirtied  the  floor. 

The  place  was  not  unlike  a  railway  booking-office, 
save  that,  instead  of  a  ticket-box  within  the  rail,  there 
was  a  counter  with  desks  and  slits  for  the  voting-papers. 
The  routine  in  these  polling-places  is  as  follows  : — The 
elector,  on  entering,  passes  up  to  the  counter.  The 
clerk  asks  his  name,  and  checks  it  off  upon  the  voting- 
list  before  him,  to  make  sure  that  the  man  is  really  a 
voter,  and  to  see  that  he  does  not  vote  twice.  This 
done,  the  man  drops  his  voting-paper  into  the  ballot- 
box  and  passes  on. 

I  observed  that  most  of  the  voters  used  the  party 
coloured  tickets  that  were  being  distributed  at  the  door, 
making  no  concealment  of  how  their  votes  went.     Some 
of  them,  however,  took  their  pencils  and  altered  one 
or  more  of  the  names.     Paper  and  envelopes  lay  ready 


2G4  VARIOUS  OBSERVATIONS  IN  BOSTON. 

for  any  who  might  wish  to  keep  their  votes  secret. 
I  saw  no  one  avail  himself  of  this  right  while  I  was 
in ;  but  the  right  is  recognised,  and  is  deemed  of  vital 
importance. 

I  spoke  to  one  of  the  men  who  had  tickets  for  dis 
tribution,  and  got  him  to  show  me  the  list  and  tell  me 
something  about  the  different  candidates. 

"  Of  course/'  he  said,  "  if  there  are  any  men  here  you 
don't  want,  you  can  scratch  them  out,"  and  as  he  spoke 
he  ran  my  pencil  through  one  or  two  of  the  names. 

"Who  is  that  you're  scratching  out?"  said  a  man 
fiercely,  stepping  close  up. 

"  I  am  only  explaining  our  system,"  said  the  other. 

"Ah!  I  guess  we're  pretty  well  posted  up  in  that," 
said  the  man,  and  turned  away. 

With  this  single  exception,  though  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  excitement  in  the  room  and  about  the  door, 
everything  went  on  pleasantly,  and  without  the  least 
disturbance  or  confusion.  I  only  saw  one  drunk  man 
all  the  time  I  remained,  and  even  he  was  not  so  drunk 
as  to  be  either  boisterous  or  incapable  of  taking  care  of 
himself. 

There  was  more  excitement  in  the  evening,  especially 
round  the  newspaper  offices,  where  crowds  were  gathered 
to  see  the  bulletins  that  were  continually  coming  in, 
announcing  the  result  of  the  election  in  other  parts  of 
the  State.  As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  the  Republi 
can,  and  therefore  the  Prohibition  party,  was  defeated, 
liquor  dealers,  without  waiting  for  the  anticipated 
change  in  the  law,  began  at  once  to  open  their  bars 
and  grog-shops.  So  instantly  is  the  public  decision  for 
good  or  for  evil  accepted  in  America  as  the  practical 
law  of  the  land. 


WENDELL  PHILLIPS  ON  PEOHIBITION.  265 

Meeting  Wendell  Phillips  a  day  or  two  after,  I  asked 
him  what  he  thought  of  the  vote. 

"  We  have  gone  back  a  step  this  week/'  he  said,  "  but 
after  a  little  experience  of  license  or  free  trade  in  drink 
we  shall  return  to  prohibition." 

I  asked  him  how  far  it  was  the  case,  as  was  alleged, 
that  the  mass  of  the  temperance  people  were  in  favour 
of  license. 

"  So  far  from  that,"  he  replied,  "  four-fifths  of  them 
are  prohibitionists,  and  the  remaining  fifth  are  opposed 
only  because  they  look  on  this  as  a  purely  moral  ques 
tion,  and  do  not  wish  the  law  to  interfere." 

I  mentioned  that  the  Mayor  had  said  that  a  prohibi 
tory  law  could  not  be  enforced. 

"Did  he?"  said  Phillips  grimly,  "well,  if  the  Mayor 
cannot  execute  our  laws,  we  shall  try  to  invent  some 
one  who  can." 

"You  think  then  that  this  law  could  be  enforced?" 

"  I  will  answer  your  question  in  this  way,"  he  replied ; 
"  When  you  have  a  set  of  men  like  our  City  Council, 
who  have  been  elected  for  the  express  purpose  of  not 
enforcing  a  law,  and  who  make  no  attempt  to  enforce 
it,  that  is  no  proof  that  the  law  cannot  be  enforced. 

"  You  will  do  well,"  he  added,  "  to  remember  two 
things.  First  of  all  there  is  $30,000,000  worth  of  pro 
perty  in  this  city  of  Boston  interested  in  the  liquor 
traffic.  This  represents,  directly  or  indirectly,  about 
15,000  votes  that  can  always  be  counted  on  in  favour 
of  repealing  or  evading  prohibitory  laws.  With  these 
15,000  voters  mixed  up  with  all  parties,  and  that  im 
mense  amount  of  money  playing  into  the  hands  of  the 
dangerous  classes,  it  has  been  possible  for  the  last 
twenty  years  for  that  party  (in  this  city,  not  in  the 


266  VARIOUS  OBSERVATIONS  IN  BOSTON. 

State)  to  hold  the  balance  of  power.  The  consequence 
is  that  the  government  of  Boston  has  only  been  a  stand 
ing  committee  of  its  grog-shops.  The  Mayor  and 
Aldermen  were  nominated  and  supported  by  the  grog- 
selling  interest,  on  the  understanding  that  they  should 
not  see  a  grog-shop.  This,  sir,  is  the  result  of  our  city 
politics,  educated  by  thirty  millions  of  capital.  Notice," 
he  said,  "  another  thing.  Here  the  liquor  interest  is 
fighting  for  a  license  law.  Well,  in  New  York  they 
have  a  license  law,  but  they  are  fighting  it  down  just  as 
the  same  interest  here  is  fighting  down  prohibition. 
What  they  all  want  is  free  trade  in  drink.  What  they 
are  opposed  to  is  not  mere  prohibition,  but  any  check 
whatever  on  the  sale  of  liquor." 

It  was  during  my  first  visit  to  Boston,  in  November 
1868,  that  Charles  Dickens  was  on  his  way  to  America 
to  make  a  reading-tour  through  the  States.  The  public 
excitement  had  already  begun.  When  I  went  down 
one  morning  to  Ticknor  and  Fields'  publishing  house, 
in  Tremont  Street,  I  was  astonished,  and  at  first  alarmed, 
to  find  a  vast  crowd  gathered  in  front  of  the  building. 
My  first  impression  was  that  there  had  either  been  a 
fire  or  a  murder,  but  on  making  my  way  into  the  crowd, 
and  asking  a  policeman,  he  said  it  was  Dickens'  tickets 
being  sold.  I  had  to  get  myself  smuggled  in  by  a  back 
way,  and  on  going  up  to  Mr.  Fields'  room  found  him 
standing  at  the  window,  like  the  chief  of  a  besieged 
castle,  looking  down  with  a  perplexed  air  upon  the 
mob. 

"  I  never  saw  anything  like  this,"  he  said,  "  since 
Jenny  Lind  was  here.  If  I  had  anticipated  such  a 
blockade,  I  should  have  arranged  for  the  tickets  being 


DICKENS  IN  AMERICA.  267 

sold  elsewhere."  All  other  business,  of  course,  was  at 
a  stand-still. 

When  I  left  I  had  to  make  my  way  out  through  the 
crowd,  and  many,  thinking  that  I  had  been  in  getting  a 
ticket,  began  to  bid  liberally. 

"  Dollar  and  a  half  for  your  ticket !"  cried  one — (a 
dollar  and  a  quarter  being  the  price  advertised).  "  Two 
dollars — two  and  a  half !  three  dollars  !"  and  so  on,  till 
I  had  made  my  escape. 

But  the  eagerness  for  tickets  was  nothing  in  Boston 
to  what  I  found  it  some  weeks  later  in  New  York. 
Tickets,  mostly  in  the  hands  of  speculators,  were  selling 
at  ten,  fifteen,  and  even  twenty  dollars.  People  gathered 
at  the  office  where  tickets  were  to  be  sold  as  early  as 
four  o'clock  on  the  winter  mornings,  though  the  office 
was  not  to  be  opened  till  nine.  The  common  practice 
in  New  York — a  practice  we  very  much  want  copied 
here — is,  in  such  cases  (as  well  as  at  meetings  where  a 
crowd  collects  before  the  doors  are  open),  for  the  people 
to  arrange  themselves  in  single  file,  each  new  comer 
taking  his  place  at  the  back  of  the  last.  This  prevents 
crushing,  and  secures  that  those  who  come  first  get 
first  served,  or  get  first  in,  as  the  case  may  be.  It  pre 
vents  rude  men  from  coming  and  forcing  their  way  in 
by  brute  force  past  those  who  have  entitled  themselves 
to  first  entry  by  being  first  there.  The  numbers  that 
gathered,  on  these  cold  December  mornings  to  get  a 
good  place  in  the  line  of  ticket-purchasers,  were  so 
great  that  the  line  sometimes  extended  from  the  door 
of  the  office  away  down  to  the  corner,  along  the  cross 
street,  up  the  next,  and  away  nobody  knew  where. 
Sometimes  persons  who  came  too  late  wrould  offer  one, 
two,  or  three  dollars  merely  for  a  place  in  the  line. 


268  VARIOUS  OBSERVATIONS  IN  BOSTON. 

Others,  more  sagacious,  hired  porters  on  the  previous 
ni^ht  to  take  places  next  the  door  at  three  or  four  in 

O  1 

the  morning — they  themselves  coming  down  at  their 
ease  a  few  minutes  before  nine,  after  a  comfortable 
breakfast,  and  taking  their  proxies'  places,  greatly  to 
the  envy  of  the  long  line  of  cold  and  hungry  people 
who  had  been  there  in  person  since  five  or  six. 

Dickens  was  offered  $10,000,  it  is  said,  to  go  to 
Chicago,  but  declined,  and  made  no  arrangements  for 
visiting  that  city  at  all.  The  result  was  interesting 
and  instructive.  The  Chicago  papers,  which  had  begun 
to  herald  the  great  novelist's  approach  with  a  flourish 
of  trumpets,  now  discovered  that  the  public  were  under 
a  great  hallucination  as  to  his  powers ;  that  he  had  a 
weak  voice  and  was  a  very  indifferent  reader ;  also,  that 
he  had  a  brother's  wife,  with  a  large  family,  in  Chicago, 
whom  he  could  make  happy  with  a  few  thousand 
dollars,  but  for  whom  he  was  heartlessly  doing  nothing. 
I  found  scarcely  anybody  in  that  city  with  a  good  word 
to  say  about  him.  If  he  had  swindled  the  Government, 
or  run  away  with  somebody's  wife,  they  could  have 
forgiven  him  ;  but  to  read  in  other  cities  than  New 
York  and  leave  Chicago  in  the  cold  was  an  unpardon 
able  rock  of  offence. 

Dickens  made  a  large  sum  of  money  by  his  readings 
in  America  ;  but  the  speculators  must  have  made  more. 
In  Boston  they  bought  up  almost  all  the  tickets  for  the 
four  courses  the  first  morning,  and  then  sold  them  at 
twice,  thrice,  and  (in  one  case  that  I  knew  of  myself) 
eight  times  the  original  cost.  Tickets,  however,  never 
rose  to  the  prices  realized  for  Jenny  Lind's  concerts. 
Her  tickets  (also  bought  up  by  speculators)  were  sold 
in  many  cases  by  auction.  Knox,  a  hatter  in  New 


DICKENS'S  POPULARITY.  2G9 

York,  bidding  against  a  wealthier  man,  paid  $390  for 
his  ticket.  It  turned  out  a  profitable  investment,  apart 
altogether  from  the  concert.  People  said,  "  Let  us  go 
and  see  the  hatter  that  paid  $390  to  hear  Jenny  Lind." 
It  was  the  making  of  Knox's  fortune. 

Dickens's  presence  in  America  gave  an  extraordinary 
impulse  to  the  sale  and  perusal  of  his  books.1  On 
the  day  after  his  arrival  in  New  York,  only  two  of 
the  1900  volumes  of  his  works  in  the  Mercantile 
Library  were  left  in.  His  novels  were  selling  by  tens 
of  thousands,  and  were  to  be  had  at  every  stall  and  in 
every  steamer,  ferryboat,  and  railway  car.  Dombey, 
Nicholas  Nicldeby,  and  David  Copperfield  were  selling 
at  14d. ;  Pickwick  at  10d.,  and  American  Notes  at  4d. 
of  our  money.  There  is  no  international  copyright,  and 
reprints  of  British  works  can  be  sold  there  for  little 
more  than  the  mere  price  of  printing  and  paper.  I 
bought  a  beautiful  edition  of  Tennyson's  Poems,  con 
taining  the  whole  of  them,  for  half-a-crown. 

1  The  newspapers  teemed   with  was    not    attending    church,    one 

paragraphs    about     him— one    of  paper  suggested  that  he  might  not 

which  is  worth  repeating.  On  its  be  interested  in  American  politics  ! 
being  reported  in  Boston  that  he 


270  AN  EVENING  WITH  EMERSON. 


•  XX. 

V 

AN  EVENING  WITH  EMERSON. 

ACCORDING  to  arrangement,  I  met  Emerson  one 
evening  at  the  Parker  House,  to  accompany  him  to 
Roxbury  (a  suburb  of  Boston),  to  hear  one  of  his  public 
lectures.  We  walked  part  of  the  way  along  Washing 
ton  Street,  brilliant  with  its  shop-lights,  till  the  horse- 
cars  should  overtake  us — the  philosopher,  with  charac 
teristic  homeliness,  carrying  his  manuscript  under  his 
arm,  wrapped  in  a  bit  of  newspaper.  When  the  car 
came  up  all  the  seats  were  occupied,  so  we  had  to 
stand — no  one  rising  to  offer  a  seat  to  Emerson,  either 
because  in  the  dim  light  he  was  not  recognised,  or 
because,  in  that  land  of  equality  and  fraternity,  one 
man  is  as  good  as  another. 

Leaving  the  omnibus  at  Eoxbury,  we  made  our  way 
to  the  Mechanics'  Institution,  where  the  lecture  was  to 
be  delivered,  and  found  the  chairman  waiting  in  the 
ante-room.  On  the  chairman  asking  what  the  subject 
of  lecture  was  to  be,  Emerson  said  he  had  brought  two 
lectures  with  him,  and  would  take  a  look  at  the 
audience  before  deciding  which  to  give. 

"  Have  you  a  good  light  falling  on  the  desk  ? "  he 
inquired  ;  "  for  if  not  I  must  trouble  you  to  get  a  lamp. 
I  am  an  old  man,  and  need  light." 

The  hall  was  so  crowded  that  I  had  to  carry  in  a 


ON  THE  PLATFORM.  271 

chair  for  myself  over  the  heads  of  the  people.  When 
Emerson  appeared  there  was  some  applause;  but  a 
Scotchman  misses  in  America  the  enthusiasm  that  in 
this  country  would  greet  a  man  like  Emerson. 

The  chairman  having  announced  the  subject  for  next 
meeting,  said, — "  I  have  now  the  pleasure  of  intro 
ducing,  as  the  lecturer  for  this  evening,  Mr.  Emerson." 
This  is  the  stereotyped  form  at  all  such  meetings,  and 
the  chairman  has  nothing  else  to  do. 

The  gaunt  man,  simple  and  homely  in  his  appear 
ance,  rose,  took  off  his  overcoat,  laid  it  across  the  back 
of  a  chair,  took  his  place  at  the  desk,  and  began  to 
adjust  his  manuscript,  which  (made  up  of  sheets  and 
scraps  of  every  size,  age,  and.  hue)  looked  like  a 
handful  of  invoices  taken  from  a  merchant's  file. 

Let  me  try  to  convey  an  idea  of  his  manner  and 
style.  When  he  stood  up,  there  was  still  some  talking 
amongst  the  audience,  and  movement  of  people  coming 
in.  Emerson  stood  waiting,  with  head  inclined,  and 
his  calm,  deep,  thoughtful  eyes  passing  dreamily  over 
the  sea  of  faces,  till  there  was  perfect  silence.  Then 
he  began, — "  The  first  lesson  of  Nature  is  perpetual 
ascension."  He  paused,  as  if  to  let  the  key-note  of  his 
lecture  be  distinctly  caught.  "  There  is  a  doctrine 
among  physicists,"  he  began  again,  "that  a  pot  of 
earth  may  remain  a  hundred  years  the  same ;  but  put 
in  a  seed,  and  all  is  changed — not  the  seed  only  but 
every  atom  of  earth.  Now,  put  a  man  into  the  world !" 
he  cried  with  sudden  energy,  "  and  see  how  soon  that 
great  pot  will  lie  changed !" 

"  Man,"  he  resumed,  falling  back  into  the  old  tone, 
"man  brings  in  the  element  of  Eeason.  There  goes 
reason  to  the  boiling  of  an  egg,  to  the  fighting  of  battles, 


272  AN  EVENING  WITH  EMERSON. 

to  the  making  of  an  alphabet.  It  is  a  long  scale  from 
the  gorilla  to  the  gentleman — to  Plato,  to  Aristotle,  to 
Shakespeare !  But  there  is  always  an  accelerated 
march.  There  are  many  kinds  of  men — men  of  horses 
and  guns,  men  of  scrip  and  stock,  men  of  dinners  and 
dancing-parties,  men  with  power  reaching  as  far  as  the 
pop  of  a  champagne  cork,  and  then  they  are  done. 
But  I  want  to  see  men  of  many  thoughts — men  like 
Newton,  like  Columbus,  like  Copernicus  !  Aristocracy 
means  truth  and  reality — doing  what  is  elsewhere  only 
pretended  to  be  done.  The  hero  must  be  well-born — 
must  have  the  force  of  a  hundred  men  in  him.  Douglas 
can  throw  the  bar  a  farther  cast.  Cceur  de  Leon  can 
slay  more  Saracens.  .  .  .  Heroes  are  they  who  can 
serve  themselves  at  a  pinch.  Homer's  heroes  (Achilles, 
Agamemnon,  and  the  rest)  were  of  this  make.  Peter 
the  Great  would  learn  to  build  ships.  Napoleon  said, 
— '  If  there  is  no  gunpowder,  I  will  manufacture  it ;  if 
no  gun-carriages,  I  will  make  them;  if  no  bridge,  I 
will  construct  one.'  Truly,  a  competent  man,  who, 
throw  him  as  you  will,  always  fell  upon  his  feet." 

Emerson  went  on  thus  for  an  hour  and  a  half — stand 
ing  at  the  desk,  his  thin  piquant  face  full  of  kindly 
light,  and  that  "  slow  wise  smile  "  continually  stealing 
over  it.  He  speaks  with  great  deliberation,  and  has 
less  fluency  of  utterance  than  is  common  with  the 
Americans  ;  but  his  hesitation  never  assumes  the  form 
of  a  stammer,  or  causes  any  cessation  of  sound.  He 
will  sometimes  dwell  upon  a  word  as  if  gathering  his 
strength  and  then  hurl  out  the  next  like  a  thunderbolt. 
Once  or  twice,  when  he  seemed  anxious  to  impress  his 
thought  upon  the  audience,  the  large  hand  that  hung  at 
his  side  clenched  itself  and  began  to  work  convulsively, 


HIS  LECTURE.  273 

jerking  downwards  as  if  stabbing  some  one  at  his  knee ; 
then  suddenly,  just  as  his  thought  exploded,  the  long  arm 
was  flung  out  with  the  fingers  clenched,  and  the  great 
thumb  sticking  up  like  the  blade  of  a  broken  sword. 

Let  me  give  a  few  of  the  more  memorable  passages 
of  his  lecture  that  night,  and  those  most  appreciated  by 
the  audience  : — 

"  I  want  the  American,"  he  said,  "  to  be  dipped  in  the 
Styx  of  universal  experience.  The  youth  should  learn  to 
row,  to  fish,  to  hunt,  to  camp  in  the  woods,  to  work 
equations.  I  happened  to  be  at  West  Point  once  attend 
ing  an  examination.  After  the  examination  was  over,  I 
saw  a  bed  rolled  up.  I  said  to  the  cadet,  *  Who  jnakes 
your  bed  V  He  said,  'I  do.'  '  Who  cooks  your  food?' 
'  I  do.'  '  Who  blacks  your  boots  V  '  I  do.'  Here  was 
the  capable  man,  able  to  do  for  himself. — The  man  of 
science  must  find  out  the  cause  of  ill  and  the  cure.  We 
must  say — '  Mr.  Professor  of  Entomology,  can  you  tell  us 
what  insect  this  is  that  has  been  destroying  our  fruit-trees 
these  eight  years  1  If  not,  make  way  for  one  who  can.' 
...  In  the  Swedish  shipyards  there  was  a  rot  in  the 
timber.  The  King  sent  for  Linnaeus  to  examine  it. 
Linnaeus  found  in  it  an  insect  which  laid  its  eggs  in  April. 
He  said,  '  Let  the  logs  be  kept  submerged  from  March  till 
May.'  It  was  done,  and  the  rot  ceased." 

"  The  fame  truly  attaches  to  the  man  who  thinks,  not  to 
those  who  make  money  of  it.  The  man  who  thinks  is  the 
king;  all  else  are  journeymen.  The  mob  cheers  the 
publisher,  not  the  inventor, — they  do  not  see  the  house  in 
plan.  But  when  it  makes  ten,  twenty,  fifty  per  cent,  they 
say,  '  It  is  the  voice  of  God  ! '" 

"  From  a  ferry-boat  one  day,  a  friend  pointed  out  to  me 
how,  iu  houses,  convenience  has  been  sacrificed  to  elegance. 
I  am  fond  of  books,  and  I  suffer  in  houses  from  want  of 
light.  The  chandeliers  are  hung  high — are  no  better  for 
old  eyes  than  moonshine.  There  is  a  want  here  of  common 

VOL.  II.  S 


274  AN  EVENING  WITH  EMERSON. 

sense.  The  English  do  not  fail  in  this.  They  are 
renowned  for  common  sense.  Montesquieu  thought  the 
true  article  was  not  to  be  found  out  of  that  island.  .  .  . 
In  India,  the  Duke  of  Wellington  sent  guides  to  find  a 
ford  for  his  troops.  They  said,  '  There  is  none  nearer 
than  so  many  miles  above.'  The  Duke  said,  *  Here  is  a 
town  on  this  side,  there  is  a  town  on  that  side,  there  must 
be  a  ford  here  ! ' — and  took  his  men  across.  So  Lord 
Palmerston,  when  he  was  asked  by  the  city  of  Edinburgh 
to  proclaim  a  fast  because  of  the  cholera,  made  reply, 
4  Clean  out  your  drains ! '  The  English  rush  to  practical 
measures :  they  tolerate  no  flights  of  oratory :  they 
demand  facts  ending  in  a  policy  and  vote. — I  like  to  see 
the  singing  and  the  dancing-master  penetrating  into  the 
prairie  !  It  is  nothing  in  itself :  but  the  more  piano  the  less 
wolf ;  the  more  of  dancing-master  the  less  of  bear  and 
wilderness.  .  .  .  Morality  is  the  object  of  government — 
not  democracy  or  monarchy,  but  a  state  of  things  in  which 
crime  shall  not  pay" 

One  does  not  listen  long  to  Emerson  without  feeling 
that,  though  an  impressive  speaker,  he  is  more  of  a 
Thinker  than  an  Orator.  He  is  himself  interested 
deeply  in  his  subject ;  but  often  his  interest  seems  more 
that  of  one  looking  at  his  own  thought  than  of  one  who 
has  to  impress  his  thought  upon  others.  In  this  one 
sees  the  student,  the  man  of  books  and  solitary  habits. 

In  so  far  as  he  speaks  to  the  audience,  he  is  curt, 
aphoristic,  oracular.  There  is  no  reasoning,  no  explain 
ing,  no  bridging  the  gaps  for  little  feet  or  unaccustomed 
limbs ;  the  giant  hurls  his  stepping-stones  into  the 
river-bed  and  strides  across,  seldom  looking  back  to  see 
if  you  can  follow.  Hence  the  impression  he  leaves  of 
being  fragmentary,  incoherent,  difficult  to  follow.  "  If 
you  blow  your  nose,"  said  one  gentleman,  "  you  may  lose 
him  and  never  be  able  to  pick  him  up  again  the  whole 


TABLE-TALK.  275 

night."  I  think  it  was  the  Marquis  of  Lome  who  com 
pared  one  of  Emerson's  lectures  to  a  number  of  proposi 
tions  written  on  separate  pieces  of  paper,  shaken  up 
in  a  hat,  and  read  just  as  they  happened  to  come  out ! 

And  yet  there  is  an  indescribable  power  about  this 
man  which  attracts  large  audiences  wherever  he  goes, 
and  sends  every  listener  away  richer  than  he  came,  if 
only  by  so  many  splinters  of  glittering  ore.  That  night 
a  few  in  the  audience  were  listless — one  or  two  even 
asleep — before  the  philosopher  was  done ;  but  the  mass 
of  the  people  listened  with  steady  attention  to  the  close, 
though  with  what  comprehension  of  the  subject  it 
would  be  difficult  to  say.  As  we  were  dispersing,  I 
asked  a  man  beside  me  what  he  thought  of  the  lecture. 
"  Why/'  said  he,  "  I  suppose  it 's  very  fine,  because 
it  is  Emerson ;  but  darned  if  I  know  what  it 's  been 
all  about."  Others  were  full  of  enthusiasm  about  it 
— having,  let  us  hope,  a  deeper  apprehension  of  its 
meaning. 

We  returned  to  Boston  together,  and  spent  the  rest 
of  the  evening  at  the  Union  Club.  Longfellow  was 
there ;  old  Dana,  the  poet,  with  his  snow-white  hair 
and  patriarchal  look;  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  sprightly, 
nervous,  and  lively;  Lowell,  with  his  classic  head,  brown 
curling  beard  and  moustache,  and  hyacinthine  locks ; 
Hayes,  the  Arctic  voyager,  small,  black-haired,  with 
quick  dark  eye  and  resolute  face ;  Agassiz,  big,  jovial, 
and  ruddy ;  and  Fields,  the  publisher,  with  one  or  two 
of  his  partners. 

Speaking  to  Emerson  about  lecturers  in  America,  he 
said, — "  Gough  can  draw  vast  audiences  all  over  the 
country,  and  command  his  price — $200  or  $250  a  night. 
Curtis  is  a  fine  speaker.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  is  a 


276  AN  EVENING  WITH  EMERSON. 

flame  of  fire.  Wendell  Phillips  is  the  man  who  has 
most  power  of  bringing  others  at  the  moment  to  think 
with  him.  People  go  to  hear  him  who  detest  his  ideas, 
and  come  away  applauding.  I  envy  Phillips.  I  have 
often  asked  him  about  his  method,  but  have  got  nothing 
satisfactory  out  of  him.  Every  man  should  learn  when 
young  to  arrange  his  ideas  with  rapidity,  and  express 
them  without  confusion.  It  is  a  rare  and  most  valu 
able  accomplishment." 

Speaking  of  Education  in  America  and  this  country, 
he  said, — "  The  Americans  read  more  and  are  more 
extensively  educated  than  your  people."  He  scouted  the 
idea  that  education  made  people  dissatisfied  with  humble 
life.  "People  look,"  he  said,  "to  what  makes  bread. 
A  man  will  rather  live  as  a  storekeeper  than  starve  as 
a  doctor." 

Of  the  agitation  against  the  Liquor  Laws  which  was 
going  on  in  Boston  at  the  time,  he  said, — "  I  voted 
against  Prohibition.  I  never  touch  the  freedom  of  the 
individual  when  it  can  possibly  be  helped.  No  doubt 
there  are  men  who  cannot  keep  from  drink,  and  when 
a  poor  woman  comes  to  a  bar-keeper  and  says, — ( My 
husband  is  a  good,  kind  man  except  when  he  gets 
drink,  and  then  he  becomes  a  brute ;  may  I  vex  you 
not  to  let  him  have  any;'  and  still  the  bar-keeper  sells 
it  to  him,  one  feels  as  if  he  would  like  a  law  to  prevent 
him.  But  this  is  only  part  of  the  question.  We  must 
find  some -other  way  of  working.  I  am  a  fanatic  for 
individual  liberty." 

Eeferring  to  British  politics  and  the  Eeform  Bill 
which  had  passed,  he  said, — "  It  is  a  wise  step.  It  has 
probably  averted  revolution.  Your  Government  lasts 
because  it  has  learned  to  bend  when  it  would  otherwise 
break." 


MEMORANDA.  277 

The  case  of  Governor  Eyre  was  exciting  attention  at 
the  time.  Emerson  expressed  his  astonishment  that 
Thomas  Carlyle  should  have  taken  the  Governor  under 
his  wing,  and  wanted  to  know  what  was  thought  of  it 
in  this  country.  He  did  not  believe  that  men  like 
Tennyson,  Ruskin,  and  Kingsley  would  have  mixed 
themselves  up  with  the  affair  had  Caxlyle  not  led  the 
way.  He  thought  Carlyle  was  losing  himself. 

He  asked  about  Stirling — "the  Scotch  Hegelian," 
as  he  called  him.  He  had  read  his  book.  Stirling  was 
an  able  man,  and  had  good  metaphysical  insight.  His 
work  was  "  good  gymnastics."  He  spoke  of  Robertson 
of  Brighton,  and  was  anxious  to  know  what  influence 
his  sermons  were  producing  on  the  popular  theology.1 

Emerson  has  been  a  public  man  now  for  over  forty 
years.  He  was  ordained  pastor  of  a  Unitarian  Church 
in  Boston  in  the  year  1829,  but  resigned  his  charge 
two  years  after,  because,  like  the  Quakers,  he  believed 
the  Lord's  Supper  to  be  a  thing  of  inward  commun 
ion,  and  to  be  sensualized  by  the  presentation  of 
actual  bread  and  wine.  Four  years  later  he  married 
his  second  wife  and  went  to  reside  at  Concord,  a  little 

1  Emerson's  own  theological  posi-  bones  of  the  past,  or  put  the  living 

tion  may  be  inferred  from  the  fol-  generation  into  masquerade  out  of 

lowing  passages  from  his  lectures  its  faded  wardrobe  ?    The  sun  shines 

and    books  : — "  Our    age    is  retro-  to-day  also.     There  are  new  lands, 

spective  ;  it  builds  the  sepulchre  of  new  men,   new  thoughts.     Let  us 

the  fathers.     Foregoing  generations  demand  our  own  works  and  laws  and 

beheld  God  face  to  face ;  we  through  worship."    And  again  : — "  Alone  in 

their  eyes.     Why  should  not  we  history  Christ  estimated  the  great- 

also  enjoy  our  original  relation  to  ness   of  man.     Christ  said,  'I  am 

the  universe  ?    Why  should  not  we  divine.       Through  me   God  acts  : 

have  a  poetry  and  philosophy  of  through  me  speaks.      Would  you 

insight,  and  not  of  tradition  :  and  a  see  God,  see  me  ;  or  see  thee  when 

religion  by  revelation  to  us,  and  not  thou  also  thinkest  as  I  (the  Christ) 

a  history  of  theirs?      Embosomed  now  think.'     Churches  are  built  not 

for  a  season  in  nature,  .  .  .  why  on  Christ's  principles  but  on  His 

should  we  grope    among  the  dry  tropes." 


278  AN  EVENING  WITH  EMERSON. 

town  about  seventy  miles  out  from  Boston.  It  is  said 
that  when  his  wife  wanted  the  children  baptized, 
Emerson  said, — "When  we  find  a  man  who  is  as  good  as 
they  are  I  shall  not  object."  When  Channing  went  to 
Concord,  Emerson  said, — "  This  is  the  man,"  and  the 
children  were  baptized.  He  lives  in  comparative  seclu 
sion,  thinking  and  reading.  He  is  a  devout  student  of 
nature,  loves  to  hold  silent  cornmunipn  with  her,  and 
draws  to  those  who  are  engaged  in  exploring  her 
mysteries.  He  and  Agassiz  are  great  friends.  They 
look  at  nature  from  different  sides,  but  the  facts  and 
the  spiritual  meanings  of  nature  reflect  and  glorify 
each  other.  Emerson  is  often  in  Boston,  and  never  fails 
on  such  occasions  to  find  his  way  to  Fields'  publishing 
house  in  Tremont  Street,  which  is  the  great  rendezvous 
for  literary  men  in  "  the  Hub."  During  the  winter  he 
is  much  engaged  in  lecturing.  But  he  is  now  turning 
an  old  man,  is  neither  so  able  nor  so  willing  as  he  once 
was  to  bear  the  fatigue  of  travelling,  and  every  season 
brings  with  it  fears  that  he  will  not  appear  on  the  plat 
form  again.  To  me  his  appearance  suggested  no  reason 
why  he  should  not  go  on  for  ten  years  more,  just  as  he 
has  done  for  the  ten  years  past.  But  Americans,  when 
they  get  to  a  certain  age,  especially  if  they  shave  smooth 
as  Emerson  does,  never  seem  as  if  they  were  growing 
older.  Moreover,  there  is  a  childlikeness  about  Emer 
son  that  keeps  him  even  younger  in  nature  than  he  is 
in  appearance.  In  manner  he  is  quiet,  cordial,  un 
affected,  with  a  freshness  of  sympathy  that  makes  it 
impossible  not  to  love  as  well  as  admire  him.  In  his 
society  one  becomes  conscious  of  his  genius  without 
humiliation.  It  steals  round  one  like  the  morning  light, 
giving  a  sense  of  pure  enjoyment. 


NEW  ENGLAND.  279 


XXL 

NEW  ENGLAND. 

TEAVELLING  through  New  England,  with  its  busy 
centres  of  population,  its  white  towns  and  villages,  its 
white  churches,  and  its  numberless  white  farm-houses 
specking  the  landscape,  the  eye  is  delighted  with  the 
evidence  of  universal  comfort  and  prosperity. 

This  prosperity  is  certainly  not  owing  to  her  soil.  I 
had  no  idea  that  the  land  there  was  so  barren.  In 
some  districts  the  soil  looked  so  thin  and  the  ground 
so  rocky  that  I  began  to  believe  the  story  about  the 
sheep  that  had  to  get  their  noses  sharpened  to  let  them 
reach  the  blades  of  grass  between  the  stones.  It  was 
a  continual  source  of  wonder  to  come  in  such  regions 
upon  so  many  beautiful  farm-houses  and  flourishing 
villages  and  towns.  But  the  people  are  active  and 
thrifty ;  they  labour  with  their  own  hands  and  waste 
nothing,  are  great  in  manufacture,  full  of  ingenuity  and 
resource,  and  wring  not  only  competence  but  wealth 
out  of  the  reluctant  hand  of  nature. 

In  some  places  I  looked  about  in  vain  for  any  people 
wearing  the  appearance  of  our  working  and  labouring 
classes  at  home.  At  Lawrence,  where  35,000  girls  are 
employed  in  the  mills,  I  saw  thousands  of  them  at  their 
looms,  but  could  scarcely  realize  that  this  was  their 
daily  and  hourly  avocation.  From  the  neatness  of 


280  NEW  ENGLAND. 

their  attire,  from  their  genteel  appearance,  their  man 
ners,  and  their  thoughtful  and  intelligent  looks,  I  should 
have  taken  them  to  be  young  ladies  of  the  middle  class 
who  had  merely  come  to  try  their  hands  as  amateurs. 
I  could  not  but  contrast  them  with  the  poor  mill-girls 
in  our  cities  whom  we  see  at  meal  hours  swarming 
along  the  streets,  bareheaded  and  often  barefooted  even 
in  wet  and  frosty  weather.  These  girls  at  Lawrence 
and  Lowell  earn  from  eight  to  ten  and  a  half  dollars  a 
week — an  average  of  about  thirty  shillings — of  which 
they  pay  about  a  third  for  board,  in  the  comfortable 
houses  provided  for  them.  They  live  well,  dress  well, 
and  yet  accumulate  money  in  the  Savings'  Bank.  As 
much  as  28,500  dollars  was  banked  by  the  Lawrence 
girls  on  one  monthly  pay-day.  They  are  all  educated. 
Many  of  them  continue  to  attend  evening  classes,  and 
some  of  them  take  lessons  in  French  and  music.  They 
have  a  library  and  free  reading-room  at  the  mill.  I 
went  into  one  of  their  libraries,  and  found  a  catalogue 
of  5000  books — 1500  of  which  were  out.  In  the  read 
ing-room  I  found  all  the  principal  papers,  one  of  them 
French.  To  see  these  girls  coming  in  thousands  from 
the  mills  at  six  o'clock,  many  of  them  with  books  in 
their  hands,  you  wrould  imagine  them  to  be  a  congrega 
tion  of  young  ladies  coming  from  a  meeting.  One 
visitor  who  went  to  see  this  sight  waited  till  the  stream 
was  past,  and  then  said,  "  But  where  are  the  mill-girls  ? " 
I  was  struck  with  this  superiority  in  the  condition 
and  status  of  the  working  classes  all  over  New  Eng 
land.  Speaking  of  it  one  day  to  a  friend  in  Northamp 
ton,  Massachusetts,  he  took  me  to  his  window,  and 
said,  pointing  across  the  road,  "  Do  you  see  that  white 
house  among  the  trees  ? " 


FARMERS.  281 

I  looked,  and  saw  a  genteel-looking  house,  with  its 
green  lattices,  its  verandah  adorned  with  creeping 
plants,  and  its  orchard. 

"  That  belongs  to  the  blacksmith,"  said  my  friend. 
"He  owns  his  house  and  occupies  it.  He  shoes  my 
horses,  and  lives  there  like  a  gentleman — as  he  is." 

"  Do  you  see  that  house  beyond  ? "  he  continued ;  "  that 
one  with  the  large  portico  ?  There  the  carpenter  stays  ; 
and  the  house  and  all  that  ground  where  you  see  the 
trees  are  his  own.  If  there  are  any  repairs  to  be  at 
tended  to  about  my  blinds,  or  shutters,  or  woodwork 
anywhere,  he  conies  and  attends  to  them.  He  is  a 
working-man,  a  labourer,  and  yet  a  gentleman.  Labour 
here  is  honourable,  and  the  man  who  can  turn  his  hand 
to  most  things  generally  gets  on  best,  and  at  least  always 
can  get  on." 

He  told  me  that  when  a  lady  friend  from  the  South 
was  on  a  visit  to  him,  he  said  he  would  drive  her  to 
Hatfield,  and  show  her  where  their  labourers  lived. 
On  the  way  over  he  said,  "What  do  you  expect  to  see  ?" 
She  said  she  understood  the  houses  were  better  than 
most  of  their  negro  cabins  in  the  South.  "  Well,"  said 
he,  "  you  shall  judge."  He  drove  her  across  the  beauti 
ful  Connecticut  Valley,  and  entered  Hatfield  by  a  broad 
street  with  long  rows  of  elms,  and  with  neat  white 
houses  on  both  sides,  surrounded  with  orchards.  The 
lady  called  his  attention  to  some  of  these  as  they  passed, 
admiring  their  elegance.  "  By  the  way,"  said  he,  when 
they  got  to  the  end  of  the  street,  "  I  forgot  to  tell  you 
that  these  are  the  labourers'  houses  ! " 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  condition  of  this 
class  is  very  much  better  in  America  than  with  us, 
where  the  vast  mass  of  the  agricultural  population  hold 


282  NEW  ENGLAND. 

their  houses  and  farms  at  the  will  of  another.  The 
smallest  farmer  in  New  England  is  independent.  His 
house  and  land  is  his  own.  He  is  beholden  to  no  one. 
He  keeps  his  own  horse,  his  cow,  and  his  pigs ;  draws 
the  manure  over  his  own  fields ;  plants  and  reaps  his 
own  corn ;  digs  and  hoes  his  own  turnips  and  potatoes. 
Moreover,  he  is  educated  and  well-informed,  and  his 
children  are  all  at  school.  He  reads  the  papers ;  he 
has  the  current  literature  of  the  day  on  his  table ;  he 
knows  what  Gladstone  and  Disraeli  are  about  here  ;  he 
keeps  himself  well  acquainted  with  home  politics ;  he 
has  a  vote  and  knows  what  to  do  with  it ;  and  can  get 
up  in  the  township  meetings  and  express  himself  intel 
ligently  if  occasion  calls  for  it.  These  are  the  men  who 
form  the  stamina  and  moral  strength  of  the  common 
wealth. 

The  manners  of  these  people  would  astonish  those 
who  have  formed  their  notions  of  the  Americans  from 
the  laughable  pictures  in  Martin  CTiuzzlewit — pictures 
inimitable  in  themselves,  but  representing  in  some  re 
spects  a  state  of  things  as  far  back  in  the  brief  history 
of  America  as  tattooing  is  in  ours.  Of  course  it  has  to 
be  remembered  that  America  is  a  Bepublic,  and  that 
the  manners  of  even  the  poorest  class  are  framed  on  the 
Eepublican  model,  and  assume  equality.  The  man  in 
America  who  grooms  your  horse  must  not  be  considered 
your  inferior  on  that  account.  He  is  simply  a  fellow- 
citizen  who  has  undertaken  to  look  after  your  interests 
in  the  stable,  as  a  lawyer  would  undertake  to  look  after 
your  interests  in  court,  or  a  broker  to  transact  your 
business  in  the  market.  If  you  forget  this,  and  order 
the  man  about  in  the  same  tone  as  you  would  a  dog,  he 
is  likely  enough  to  resent  the  insult  exactly  as  the 


POLITENESS  TO  LADIES.  283 

lawyer  or  the  broker  would,  or  as  you  would  yourself,  if 
any  one  employed  that  tone  to  you.  In  such  a  case, 
accustomed  as  you  are  to  the  deferential  manner  and 
ready  obedience  of  servants  at  home,  you  consider  the 
man  rude  and  impertinent.  But,  on  the  Eepublican 
theory  of  equality,  it  is  you  and  not  the  man  who  have 
violated  the  laws  of  good-breeding  by  forgetting  that 
you  are  speaking  to  an  American  citizen,  and  therefore 
(by  hypothesis)  a  gentleman. 

The  tone  of  command  in  which  many  Englishmen 
are  accustomed  to  address  servants  is  peculiarly  ob 
noxious  to  Americans ;  and  is  one  reason  for  the 
unpopularity  of  Englishmen  in  the  States,  and  the 
impressions  they  often  receive  of  American  rudeness. 
No  one  is  readier  than  an  American  working  man  to 
shock  your  self-importance  and  make  what  is  vulgarly 
called  "  small  potatoes  "  of  you,  if  you  address  him  in 
an  imperious  tone,  or  assume  airs  of  superiority.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  you  rarely  meet  any  one  more  ready 
to  oblige  if  his  assistance  is  politely  asked.  Of  course 
there  are  rude  and  vulgar  people  amongst  them  as  there 
are  amongst  ourselves,  and  of  all  vulgar  people  p'erhaps 
vulgar  Americans  are  the  most  unbearable ;  but  the 
charge  of  rudeness  often  brought  against  the  Americans 
as  a  people  is  a  calumny. 

Their  extraordinary  politeness  to  the  softer  sex  has 
been  already  referred  to.  A  lady  in  America  may 
traverse  the  whole  continent  alone  without  the  slightest 
fear  of  insult  or  annoyance;  and  will  find  special 
accommodation  awaiting  her  at  every  point.  In  the 
large  hotels,  she  will  find  a  private  entrance  for  ladies, 
and  the  handsomest  rooms  in  the  whole  place  reserved 
for  them.  In  the  river  steamers  she  will  find  herself, 


284  NEW  ENGLAND. 

without  asking  for  it,  furnished  with  one  of  the  berths 
furthest  aft,  so  that  in  the  event  of  an  explosion  she 
may  have  the  best  chance  of  escape.  On  the  railways 
she  will  find  a  ladies'  car,  furnished  more  luxuriously 
than  the  others ;  and  in  ordinary  cars  or  public  con 
veyances  of  any  description,  she  will  find  the  roughest- 
looking  man  ready,  without  being  asked,  to  rise  and 
give  her  a  seat.  If  she  enters  a  strange  church  and 
stops  at  any  pew  she  will  find  not  one  but  all  the  gen 
tlemen  in  it  insisting  upon  getting  up  to  let  her  in. 
All  over  the  continent,  as  a  general  rule,  she  will  find 
American  men  her  obedient  servants. 

Perhaps  the  Americans  carry  this  too  far ;  but  it 
says  something  for  them  that,  under  circumstances 
hitherto  unfavourable  to  high  refinement,  and  under  a 
form  of  government  which  is  supposed  to  convert  might 
into  right,  the  stronger  sex  should  have  shown  more 
deference  to  the  weaker  than  is  found  in  the  nations 
that  pride  themselves  most  upon  their  gallantry  and 
high  breeding. 

The  New  Englanders  have  less  suavity  of  manner 
than  the  people  of  the  South,  and  less  frankness  than 
the  men  of  the  West,  but  in  many  respects  they  are 
more  refined  than  either — swear  less,  drink  less,  chew 
less — while  they  exhibit  the  same  ease  of  manner  and 
address,  the  same  deference  to  ladies,  and  the  same 
open-handed  hospitality  to  strangers. 

In  acuteness  and  intellectual  force,  they  probably 
stand  first.  Nothing  astonishes  one  more  in  New 
England  than  her  busy  intellectual  life ;  her  schools 
crowded  with  minute  philosophers ;  her  farms  and 
factories  teeming  with  mechanical  invention ;  Harvard, 
Yale,  and  Andover  rearing  leaders  of  thought  for  the 


BEAIN.  285 

new  generation.  While  the  South  has  been  growing 
cotton  and  tobacco,  and  the  West  has  been  growing 
food  for  half  the  world,  sterile  New  England  has  been 
growing  brain.  These  teeming  little  States,  crowded 
together  in  a  mere  corner  of  the  vast  Eepublic,  are  still 
its  brain  and  spiritual  centre,  from  whence  the  ideas 
have  gone  forth  that  are  making  America  what  she  is. 
It  was  to  resist  the  invasion  of  New  England  ideas 
that  the  South  took  arms  in  1861.  But  those  ideas 
flashing  from  500,000  Northern  bayonets  won  the  day, 
and  are  now  beginning  to  mould  the  South  as  they 
have  already  moulded  the  Great  West. 


286  BIRTHS,  DEATHS,  AND  MARRIAGES. 


XXII 

BIRTHS,  DEATHS,  AND  MARRIAGES. 

EVERYBODY  has  heard  of  that  exhaustive  treatise  on 
the  Snakes  of  Iceland,  which  consists  of  the  following 
six  words : — "  There  are  no  snakes  in  Iceland." 

One  would  imagine,  on  looking  over  American  news 
papers,  that  the  same  brief  formula  might  be  employed 
to  dispose  of  the  subject  of  births  in  America.  In  that 
corner  of  the  page  sacred  in  this  country  to  hatches, 
matches,  and  despatches,  and  to  which  the  fair  sex 
turn  first,  as  instinctively  as  a  merchant  turns  to 
the  markets,  the  American  papers  enter  deaths  and 
marriages,  but  no  births.  I  am  not  prepared  to  say 
why.  It  is  a  deep  subject.  Some  refer  the  fact  to  that 
prudery  which  speaks  of  roosters,  and  is  supposed  to 
speak  of  gentlemen-cows,  and  the  limbs  of  a  table. 
A  New  York  friend  was  rather  disposed  to  account  for 
it  in  this  way, — That  the  native  Americans  have  no 
births  to  record ;  that  the  Irish  have  so  many  that  the 
papers  could  not  hold  them  all ;  and  that  other  nation 
alities  dare  not  be  represented  if  the  Irish  are  kept  out. 
Whatever  the  true  explanation  be,  the  fact  remains. 

But  if  the  papers  exclude  births  they  make  up  for 
the  loss  of  material  by  expanding  the  death  column 
with  comments  upon  the  life  and  character  of  the 
deceased,  and  the  grief  of  surviving  relatives.  The 


OBITUARY  NOTICES.  287 

announcement  that  Ezekiel  Jefferson  died  on  such  a 
day,  at  such  a  place,  will  be  followed  by  several 
dolorous  lines,  beginning — 

"  Alas  !  poor  Zeky  's  gone  at  last ; 
His  pain  is  o'er,  his  anguish  past." 

I  copied  the  following  one  day  from  the  obituary  list 
in  the  Philadelphia  Ledger  (Jan.  llth,  1868).  It  is 
a  mere  specimen  of  what  appears  in  thousands  of 
American  papers  every  day  : — 

"  On  the  7th  instant,  Mrs. ,  wife  of  John ,  in 

the  57th  year  of  her  age. 

Our  mother  is  dead,  laid  in  her  clay, 
Which  loudly  calls  to  us  to-day, 
And  bids  us  all  to  dry  our  tears, 
For  mother  rests  from  all  her  cares. 
Dear  mother  rest  in  sweet  repose, 
Unbroken  by  the  last  of  foes." 

To  which  was  appended  the  following  verse,  which 
seems  to  be  a  favourite,  as  it  occurred  thrice  in  that 
same  obituary  list  after  as  many  different  names  :— 

"  Oh,  weep  not  for  her,  'tis  unkindness  to  weep, 
Her  weary,  weak  body  has  fallen  asleep  ; 
No  more  the  fond  tie  of  affection  she  knows  ; 
Oh,  weep  not ;  oh  !  break  not  that  gentle  repose. 
Gone,  but  not  forgotten." 

To  a  notice  of  a  boy's  death  was  said  to  be  appended 
the  touching  remark, — "  Our  little  Jacob  has  been  taken 
from  this  earthly  garden  to  bloom  in  a  superior  flower 
pot  above." 

The  obituary  comments  sometimes  introduced  are 
less  poetical  than  these,  but  more  practical. 

The  Christian  Index  added  to  the  announcement  of 
the  death  of  a  clergyman  the  following  touching  and  at 
the  same  time  suggestive  piece  of  information : — "He  was 


288  BIRTHS,  DEATHS,  AND  MARRIAGES. 

a  father  in  the  Church;  he  supported  our  distinctive 
principles  warmly ;  was  a  faithful  reader  of  the  Index, 
and  for  several  years  paid  for  three  copies  in  advance." 

Another  paper,  after  the  announcement — "  On  the 
1 7th,  John  S.  B — ,  much  regretted/'  added,  "  He  was 
diligent  in  business,  serving  the  Lord.  The  large  dry 
goods'  store,  corner  of  Main  and  Walnut  Street,  was 
entirely  the  creation  of  his  industry,  and  will  hence 
forth  be  carried  on  by  his  bereaved  sons."  1 

The  funeral  customs  in  America  vary  in  different 
States  and  amongst  different  sects.  But  in  New 
England  the  common  practice  is  to  have  the  room  in 
which  the  body  is  laid  adorned  with  flowers, — wreaths 
of  which  are  laid  upon  the  coffin.  Many  of  these  are 
sent  by  the  friends.  When  the  deceased  is  a  child,  the 
body  is  laid  in  a  casket  strewed  with  flowers  within, 
and  the  room  is  adorned  more  gaily.  When  the  hour  for 
the  service  has  arrived,  the  family  come  down-stairs,  the 
friends  assemble,  look  at  the  body,  and  talk  in  whispers. 
The  service  is  begun  by  the  minister  reading  a  few 
verses  from  the  Bible  and  offering  up  a  short  prayer, 
after  which  he  gives  an  account  of  the  life  and  death 

1  The    following,    cut    from    an  shully  in  the  wate  of  makerel,  wich 

American  paper,  is  therefore  but  a  wos  always  nice  and  smelt  sweat, 

slight   improvement  upon  fact  :—  and  his  survivin  wife  is  the  same 

"James  Bangus,  we  are  sorry  to  way.     We  niver  new  him  to  put 

stait,   has   decesed.      He  departed  sand  in  his  suger,  though  he  had  a 

this  last  Mundy.    He  went  4th  with-  big  sand  bar  in  front  of  his  house  ; 

out  any  struggle,  and  sich  is  life.  nor  water  in  his  lickers,  tho  the 

To-day,   we  are  as  pepper  grass  ;  Ohio  river  past  his  door.     Piece  tu 

to-morrer,  we  are  kut  down  like  a  his  remanes.     He  leves  1  wife,  9 

cowcumber.      James    kept   a  nice  children,  1  kow,  4  horses,  a  grow- 

store,  which  his  wife  now  waits  on.  cer's  store,  and  other  quodrupeds 

His  virchews  wos  numerous,  and  to  moorn  his  loss.     But  in  the  lan- 

his  wife  inherits  them.      We   are  gwidge  off  the  poit,  his  loss  is  thare 

happy  to    stait    to    the  admiring  eturnal  gane." 
wurld  that  he  never  cheeted,  spe- 


RITUAL.  289 

of  the  deceased,  concluding  with  another  short  prayer 
for  family  and  friends.  The  mourners  then  look  at  the 
body  for  the  last  time  and  proceed  to  the  carriages, 
while  the  coffin  is  closed  and  carried  to  the  hearse. 
No  liquor  or  refreshment  of  any  kind  is  used. 

The  whole  family  (males  and  females)  attend  the 
funeral.  Mourning  attire  is  not  considered  essential. 
Everybody  dresses  "  quietly  ;"  but  at  half  the  funerals 
in  Boston  no  mourning  is  put  on,  even  by  the  family  of 
the  deceased.  The  tendency  is  to  diminish  the  gloom 
connected  with  the  rites  of  sepulture,  and  suggest  the 
idea  that  death  is  simply  the  passage  from  one  life  to 
another. 

In  other  parts  of  America  mourning  is  more  common ; 
and  on  the  occasion  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  death  in  1865,  the 
cities  and  towns  all  over  the  North  were  literally  loaded 
with  black — a  spectacle  of  mourning  probably  without 
a  parallel  in  history.  Within  three  hours  of  the 
arrival  of  the  news  in  each  city,  the  warehouses  and 
stores  were  emptied  of  every  kind  of  sable  cloth — black 
silk  and  black  velvet  being  bought  up  when  nothing 
else  was  to  be  had.  Thousands  of  ladies  cut  down  even 
their  black  dresses  and  did  them  up  into  mourning- 
festoons,  that  every  window  and  door  might  be  hung 
with  the  drapery  of  woe. 

Some  sects  have  more  elaborate  funeral  rites  than 
those  I  have  described  as  prevailing  in  Boston,  while 
others  dispense  with  ceremonies  altogether.  The 
Eoman  Catholics  and  Episcopalians  have  their  usual 
service  at  the  grave  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
Shakers,  who  have  no  belief  in  a  material  resurrection, 
and  regard  the  body  as  nothing  but  the  worthless 
and  cast-off  garment  of  the  spirit,  bury  it  uncere- 

VOL.  II.  T 


290  BIRTHS,  DEATHS,  AND  MARRIAGES. 

moniously  in  the  fields,  and  rake  the  earth  over  it  so  as 
to  obliterate  all  traces  of  where  it  has  been  laid.  They 
look  upon  graveyards,  tombstones,  and  epitaphs  much 
as  we  look  upon  the  practice  of  those  savages  who  bury 
a  warrior  with  his  bow  and  arrows,  and  some  food  at 
his  side.1 

The  marriage  customs  in  America  vary  as  much  as 
those  connected  with  funerals.  In  wealthy  and  well- 
to-do  circles,  a  marriage  is  generally  made  the  occasion 
of  an  extraordinary  display,  and,  as  Donald  said  dole 
fully  of  his  wife's  funeral,  "it  is  accompanied  with 
a  fery  considerable  dale  of  expense."  It  has  been 
reckoned  that  in  Chicago  a  wedding  costs,  on  the 
average,  about  $5000. 

The  number  of  invitations  sometimes  issued  is 
enormous.  A  wedding  to  which  fifty  or  a  hundred 
guests  are  asked  is  a  very  small  affair — "  a  one-horse 
wedding,"  to  use  the  Western  phraseology.  From 
three  to  five  hundred  invitations  is  common ;  a  thou 
sand  not  remarkable.  A  Miss  Whitney  was  married 
in  Boston  shortly  before  my  first  visit.  The  invitations 
issued  for  the  ceremony  and  reception  numbered  3000, 
and  her  wedding  gifts  in  silver  alone  were  valued  at 
$10,000.  There  is  a  golden  circle  in  New  York  in 
which  even  that  would  probably  be  reckoned  a  "  one- 
horse  wedding." 

At  these  great  wedding  parties  the  house  swarms  with 
guests  for  two  or  three  hours — the  guests  coming  and 

1  The  Catholics  charge  the  Presby-  the  dead. man  to  the  grave,  consists 

terians  with  almost  equal  disrespect  of  three   brief  sentences  : — "  Tak' 

for  the  dead.     They  say  the  Scotch  him  oot,"  "  Put  him  in,"    "  Cover 

ritual,  when  the  hearse  has  brought  him  up." 


MARRYING  IN  THE  TRAIN.  291 

going  as  they  please.  They  are  never  all  there  at  once, 
and  many  of  those  who  are  invited  do  not  or  cannot 
come.  This  is  always  taken  into  account.  A  friend 
in  Brooklyn  told  me  that  if  all  the  people  invited  to 
his  wedding  had  come,  they  would  not  only  have 
crammed  the  house  from  top  to  bottom,  but  there 
would  require  to  have  been  fifty  or  sixty  of  them  on 
the  roof  and  fourteen  up  each  chimney. 

In  fashionable  circles  in  the  South,  it  is  usual  to  hold 
the  festivities  in  apartments  from  which  the  daylight  is 
excluded,  probably  because,  in  the  blaze  of  innumerable 
lamps,  the  scene  looks  more  enchanting,  and  the  jewelled 
beauty  of  the  ladies  shines  to  greater  advantage.  In 
marriage,  however,  as  in  everything  else,  the  Americans 
hold  themselves  free  to  dispense  with  demonstrations, 
if  they  please.  The  law  does  not  demand  proclamation 
of  banns,  and  as  the  marriage  may  be  celebrated  at  any 
time  or  place  either  by  a  minister  or  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  people  pressed  for  time  sometimes  avail  them 
selves  of  the  facilities  thus  open  to  them. 

It  is  told  of  an  engine-driver  in  the  State  of  Maine, 
that,  not  being  able  to  spare  a  day,  he  got  the  minister 
and  his  bride  to  start  with  him  on  the  engine,  and  had 
the  ceremony  performed  while  the  train  was  running. 
Another  case,  of  which  I  knew  something  personally, 
was  that  of  a  wealthy  Pennsylvanian  contractor,  who, 
when  he  had  everything  ready  for  a  European  tour, 
suddenly  reflected  that  he  might  as  well  take  a  wife 
with  him.  He  drove  off  to  a  friend's  house,  and,  with 
out  any  circumlocution,  proposed  to  one  of  the  young 
ladies,  on  the  express  condition  that  the  marriage  should 
take  place  that  day,  and  that  she  should  be  ready  to 
start  with  him  that  night  to  catch  the  Cunard  steamer 


292  BIRTHS,  DEATHS,  AND  MARRIAGES. 

next  day  at  New  York.  He  said  he  would  give  her  ten 
minutes  to  decide  while  he  drove  on  to  his  banker's. 
He  found  her,  on  his  return,  ready  to  accept  his  offer. 
They  drove  with  her  father  and  brother  to  a  magistrate's 
office,  had  the  ceremony  performed  at  once,  and  were 
off  to  New  York  by  the  first  train. 

There  is  a  delightful  way  of  welcoming  a  married 
pair  back  from  their  tour,  common  in  some  parts  of 
America.  On  the  day  being  ascertained  when  the 
couple  are  to  be  home,  a  host  of  friends,  especially  the 
young  folks  of  both  sexes,  take  possession  of  the  house, 
adorn  it  with  flowers,  and  have  everything  prepared  to 
receive  the  home-comers.  When  the  pair  arrive,  they 
meet  with  a  tumultuous  welcome,  and  are  entertained 
at  their  own  table  to  a  feast  of  their  friends'  providing. 
These  are  called  "  Surprise  parties."  Sometimes  a 
minister  returning  from  his  furlough  is  welcomed  back 
in  the  same  way. 

The  celebration  of  marriage  anniversaries  on  the  fifth, 
twenty-fifth,  and  fiftieth  return  of  the  wedding-day,  is 
very  common  in  New  England,  if  husband  and  wife  are 
both  alive  and  living  together.  At  these  celebrations 
friends  assemble  at  the  house,  and  generally  bring  pre 
sents  with  them — the  presents  increasing  in  the  value 
of  their  material  according  to  the  length  of  time  that 
has  elapsed  since  the  knot  was  tied.  The  fifth  anniver 
sary  is  called  the  wooden  wedding,  and  the  invitations 
are  often-  issued  on  wooden  cards,  thin  as  paper,  and 
beautifully  ornamented.  The  presents  suitable  to  this 
anniversary  are  of  wood.  A  desk  will  do,  a  wooden 
trencher,  or  paper-cutter,  will  be  accepted,  and  a  work- 
stand  or  cabinet  will  not  come  amiss.  The  twenty- 
fifth  anniversary  is  the  silver  wedding,  when  silver 


AWKWARD  MISTAKE.  293 

toothpicks,  forks,  spoons,  fruit-knives,  cake -baskets, 
and  so  forth,  are  in  demand.  The  fiftieth  anniversary 
is  the  golden  wedding ;  and  if  the  happy  couple  reach 
the  seventy- fifth  year  of  connubial  bliss,  there  is  a  dia 
mond  wedding ;  but  this  occurs  too  rarely  to  bring  much 
extra  trade  to  the  jewellers.  Some  people  have  what 
they  call  a  sugar  wedding  on  the  first  anniversary,  and 
a  tin  wedding  on  the  fifteenth  ;  but  these  are  not  "  on 
the  card." 

The  marriage-fee  in  America,  when  a  clergyman 
officiates,  varies  in  amount  according  to  the  wealth  and 
generosity  of  the  party  paying  it.  The  amount  to  which 
the  clergyman  is  entitled  by  law  seems  to  vary  in  differ 
ent  States.  In  Virginia  it  is  two  dollars  and  a  half ; 
in  Massachusetts  one  dollar  and  a  quarter  (about  5s.  of 
our  money  at  present  rates) ;  but  they  say  that  even 
the  poorest  mechanic  will  generally  give  five  dollars ; 
while  people  in  more  affluent  circumstances  give  twenty, 
forty,  or  fifty.  One  fashionable  clergyman  in  New  York 
said  he  had  repeatedly  got  100  dollars  in  gold, — £20  of 
our  money. 

It  is  not  considered  polite,  however,  for  the  clergy 
man  to  look  how  much  he  has  got  till  he  reaches  home, 
when  he  hands  the  fee  to  his  wife,  whose  perquisite  it 
is  supposed  to  be.  This  practice  of  slipping  the  fee 
into  his  hand  quietly  sometimes  leads  to  mistakes. 
One  gentleman,  on  the  occasion  of  his  daughter's 
marriage,  had  written  out  two  checks,  one  for  the 
clergyman,  the  other  as  a  parting-gift  to  the  bride ; 
but,  by  mistake,  put  the  checks  into  the  wrong  hands. 
When  the  bride,  on  her  journey,  got  an  opportunity  of 
peeping  into  hers,  she  thought  the  paternal  injunction 
to  use  it  wisely  was  scarcely  worth  giving,  with  a  trifle 


294  BIRTHS,  DEATHS,  AND  MARRIAGES. 

not  sufficient  to  buy  a  new  dress ;  while  the  clergyman, 
on  going  home,  was  enchanted  to  find  that  his  services 
were  thought  worthy  of  so  munificent  a  recompense  as 
$5000.  Suspecting,  with  a  modesty  which,  in  some 
minds,  may  throw  doubt  upon  the  story,  that  there 
must  be  some  mistake,  he  called  upon  the  bride's 
father,  when  matters  were  explained  and  rectified. 

At  another  wedding,  at  Detroit,  the  bridegroom, 
when  called  upon  for  a  song,  put  his  hand  into  his 
waistcoat  pocket,  and  said,  amidst  applause,  that  he 
would  give  them  a  new  version  of  the  popular  song  of 
"Ho,  yo,  Billy  Barlow."  On  producing  the  slip  of 
paper,  he  found  that  instead  of  a  cutting  from  a  news 
paper  it  was  the  ten- dollar  bill  which  he  thought  he 
had  given  to  the  minister.  It  was  a  capital  joke  for 
the  company,  but  how  the  clergyman  and  his  wife 
looked  when,  instead  of  a  nice  little  sum  to  help  them 
through  with  their  marketing,  they  found  a  new  version 
of  "Ho,  yo,  Billy  Barlow,"  no  special  correspondent 
was  present  to  record. 


JOHN  B.  GOUGH.  295 


XXIII. 

JOHN  B.  GOUGH. 

SOME  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  ago,  when  I  was  a  lad 
at  college,  I  remember  one  night  struggling  into  the 
densely- crowded  City  Hall  in  Glasgow  to  hear  the 
American  orator,  J.  B.  Gough,  deliver  one  of  his  lectures 
on  Intemperance.  When  he  came  timidly  upon  the 
crowded  platform  in  rear  of  the  portly  chairman,  he  did 
not  look  like  one  from  whom  much  was  to  be  expected. 
I  was  so  far  back  in  the  hall  that  I  could  not  make  him 
out  very  well ;  but  he  looked  a  weakly  man,  with  a 
thin  face  that  answered  the  account  given  of  him  in 
the  pamphlets  that  were  selling  amongst  the  audience 
— as  one  who  had  wrecked  himself  in  youth  by  a  wild 
career  of  dissipation. 

During  the  chairman's  introductory  remarks  Gough 
sat  sideways  in  his  chair,  twining  his  hands  nervously 
round  one  another,  as  if  he  felt  bashful  and  ill  at  ease. 
But  when  he  rose  and  came  forward  to  the  front  of 
the  platform  and  began  to  speak,  I  remember  how  the 
tone  and  music  of  that  wonderful  voice  began  to  thrill 
me,  how  the  orator  kindled  to  his  work,  carried  the 
vast  audience  with  him,  and  after  a  speech  of  two 
hours,  sent  them  away  in  a  glow  of  enthusiasm  about 
the  cause  he  had  pleaded  so  well.  Probably  many  who 


296  JOHN  B.  GOUGH. 

read  this  have  similar  recollections  of  the  stirring  ap 
peals  with  which  during  that  tour  through  this  country 
Gough  awoke  the  temperance  sentiment  of  the  masses. 

After  his  departure  little  more  was  heard  of  him  in 
this  country.  Only  now  and  then,  at  intervals  of  years, 
some  little  paragraph  finding  its  way  into  our  papers 
from  some  transatlantic  source,  showed  that  he  was 
still  alive.  But  immediately  on  reaching  America  I 
began  to  hear  about  Gough  again,  and  found  that  he 
had  not  only  been  before  the  public  during  all  those 
intervening  years,  but  was  still  the  most  popular 
lecturer  in  the  States. 

The  first  opportunity  I  had  of  hearing  him  again  was 
in  the  Cooper  Institute,  New  York.  When  he  came 
upon  the  platform  I  was  struck  with  the  change  which 
fourteen  years  had  made  in  his  appearance.  I  re 
membered  him  as  a  youngish-looking  man,  with  bare 
face  and  dark  hair.  There  now  stood  before  us  a  man 
with  long  grey  hair  and  heavy  beard  and  moustache. 
But  as  soon  as  he  began  to  speak,  the  old  voice  rung 
out  clear  and  thrilling  as  ever,  and  he  had  not  been 
"  orating "  for  five  minutes  before  it  was  evident  that 
he  was  going  to  produce  a  powerful  effect  upon  his 
audience.  His  theme  that  night  was  the  old  subject 
of  intemperance.  As  he  went  on  he  became  more  and 
more  impassioned,  exciting  the  people  sometimes  to 
enthusiasm,  sometimes  to  laughter,  sometimes  to  tears. 
His  oratory  is  dramatic.  He  is  the  David  Garrick 
of  the  platform.  Colonel  Higginson  said  of  him,  that 
he  was  not  only  an  actor,  but  an  entire  dramatic  com 
pany,  performing  all  the  parts  of  the  play,  as  the  Iron 
Duke  at  one  time  occupied,  in  his  own  person,  half  the 
offices  of  the  Cabinet. 


HIS  POPULARITY.  297 

When  he  had  spoken  for  more  than  an  hour  he 
turned  to  the  clock  to  see  that  he  was  not  keeping  the 
audience  beyond  the  time.  This  excited  eager  shouts 
of  "  Go  on,  Gough,  go  on  ! "  When  another  half-hour 
had  fled,  and  he  looked  at  the  clock  again,  some  one 
cried,  "  Take  away  the  clock  ! " — a  suggestion  that  was 
received  with  loud  cheers. 

Gough's  peroration  that  night  was  one  that  I  had 
heard  him  give  in  this  country — Paul  Benton's  well- 
known  apostrophe  to  water,  which  he  gave  with  amaz 
ing  power. 

He  has  been  a  public  lecturer  now  for  twenty-eight 
years.  On  the  subject  of  intemperance  alone  he  has 
lectured  more  than  6000  times,  to  audiences  reckoned 
to  include  in  the  aggregate  5,000,000  of  people.  He 
has  been  lecturing  every  winter  during  those  twenty- 
eight  years,  and  almost  every  night  of  every  winter ; 
and  it  says  something  for  the  reality  of  his  power,  that 
after  so  long  and  so  severe  an  ordeal  he  remains  to  this 
day  the  most  popular  lecturer  of  the  kind  in  the  United 
States. 

His  popularity  may  be  gauged  by  the  increasing 
amount  paid  to  secure  him.  Twenty-five  years  ago  he 
got  from  one  to  five  dollars  for  a  lecture  ;  now  he  gets 
from  a  hundred  to  three  hundred  and  fifty.  As  the 
Americans  say,  "  Gough  never  needs  to  open  his  mouth 
under  $200."  He  was  offered  £500  sterling  to  go  and 
give  a  lecture  in  Chicago,  but  declined,  because  it 
would  take  him  so  far  from  home. 

His  name  in  the  syllabus  of  any  society  is  said  to  be 
a  tower  of  strength,  and  to  keep  the  minds  of  the  com 
mittee  easy  in  regard  to  the  whole  course.  If  they  lose 
money  on  any  of  the  others,  they  expect  that  John  B. 


298  JOHN  B.  GOUGH. 

Gough  will  bring  them  a  harvest  of  dollars  sufficient  to 
cover  all  deficits. 

His  lectures  on  intemperance  are  still  amongst  his 
best  and  most  effective ;  but  more  than  half  the 
lectures  he  gives  are  on  other  subjects.  Two  especially 
I  heard  spoken  of — one  on  "  London  Life,"  in  which  he 
hits  off  some  of  the  peculiarities  and  foibles  of  the 
English  character  ;  the  other  on  "  Eloquence,"  in  which 
he  introduces  imitations  of  the  different  styles  of 
oratory,  which  one  may  suppose,  from  Gough's  power 
of  mimicry,  to  be  amusing  enough. 

It  has  been  remarked,  howrever,  that  whatever  his 
subject,  he  seeks,  in  dealing  with  it,  to  make  people 
not  only  happier,  but  better.  He  enjoys  the  character 
of  being  himself  a  true  man  and  a  sincere  Christian. 
George  H.  Stuart  of  Philadelphia  said  he  was  astonished, 
when  travelling  in  this  country,  to  find  people  believ 
ing  the  slanders  that  had  been  circulated  about  Gough, 
charging  him  with  opium-eating  and  secret  indulgence 
in  liquor.  He  said  Gough  had  lived  down  these 
calumnies  in  America  long  ago. 

When  the  lecture  season  was  over,  I  went  to  see 
the  orator  at  his  home  in  New  England.  As  it  may 
interest  his  friends  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  to  know 
something  of  his  home  life,  let  me  introduce  part  of  a 
letter  written  from  the  spot : — 

"  His  conveyance  was  waiting  for  us  at  Worcester,  and 
drove  us  here,  a  distance  of  about  five  miles.  A  hearty 
welcome  awaited  us,  and  showers  of  questions  about  friends 
in  Scotland — Mr.  M'Gavin,  Mr.  Marr,  Mr.  Thomas  Knox, 
Mr.  Logan,  and  many  others,  of  whom  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gough 
seem  to  cherish  a  warm  recollection. 

"  The  house  is  called  *  Hillside.'     It  is  pleasantly  situ- 


LOVES  CHILDEEN.  299 

ated  upon  a  rising  ground,  with  the  little  village  of  Boyl- 
ston  just  below.  The  approach  is  through  an  avenue  of 
trees  which  Gough  planted  with  his  own  hand  some 
sixteen  or  seventeen  years  ago. 

"  There  is  an  air  of  home  about  the  whole  place  that  is 
exceedingly  pleasant.  The  house  has  grown  with  Gough' s 
fortunes,  and  has  had  so  many  additions  made  to  it  that 
there  is  a  delightful  bewilderment  in  trying  to  make  your 
way  from  one  part  of  the  house  to  another,  and  a  pleasant 
feeling,  when  you  get  peeps  into  so  many  cosy  rooms,  that 
you  are  in  the  abode  of  one  who  loves  to  have  his  friends 
about  him.1 

"  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gough  have  no  children  of  their  own, 
but  they  like  to  have  the  house  filled  with  children's 
voices,  so  they  have  several  young  nieces  living  with  them, 
all  of  them  as  lively  as  crickets.  Gough  himself  is  as 
merry  and  light-hearted  as  any  of  them.  At  supper  to 
night  he  kept  us  in  such  convulsions  of  laughter  with  his 
funny  stories  that  there  was  no  getting  on  with  the  business 
of  the  table.  He  seems  devotedly  attached  to  the  children, 
and  likes  when  we  are  sitting  talking  to  have  one  of  them 
on  each  knee.  Behind  the  house  he  has  built  a  beautiful 
gymnasium  for  them,  a  children's  paradise  for  a  wet  day, 
where  they  have  swings  suspended  from  the  roof,  and  a 
long  floor  where  they  can  race  and  romp  to  their  hearts' 
content.  Gough  seems  never  happier  than  when  he  is 
romping  with  them ;  and  when  he  has  a  game  at  nine 
pins,  along  the  side  of  the  room,  they  vie  with  one  another 

1  He  has  a  large  and  admirably  it,  and  cuts  out  the  illustrations  to 

selected  library,  on  which  he  has  add  to  his  collection.     They  say  he 

spent  and  continues  to  spend  a  great  has  Cruickshank  on  the  brain.    But 

deal  of  money.     He  has  a  special  the  first  thing  that  strikes  one  on 

taste  for  works  illustrated  by  good  looking  at  his  bookcases  is  the  taste 

artists,  and  has  the  largest  collec-  and    costliness    of    the    bindings, 

tion  of  these  that  I  have  seen  in  any  Gough  was   a  bookbinder  himself 

private  library.      He  has  such  an  at  one  time,   and  every  book  he 

admiration    for    Cruickshank  that  gets  must  be  bound  in  the  best 

wherever    he  finds    another    book  style  before  being  permitted  to  take 

illustrated  by  that  artist  he  buys  its  place  in  his  cabinet. 


300  JOHN"  B.  GOUGH. 

who  shall  be  smartest  in  rolling  back  the  balls  and  setting 
up  the  pins. 

"  Near  the  house,  there  is  another  wonderful  building. 
Perhaps  I  should  call  it  an  institution.  It  is  a  vast  Hen 
nery,  with  about  2000  fowls  in  it,  and  no  end  of  pigeons. 
I  remember  hearing  once  that  John  B.  Gough  had  gone 
into  '  the  Hen  Speculation.'  I  didn't  know  exactly  what 
the  hen  speculation  was,  but  I  thought  that  on  any  hypo 
thesis  it  was  a  queer  business  for  a  public  orator  to  go 
into.  The  explanation  turns  out  to  be  that  Mrs.  Gough 
has  a  great  fondness  for  fowls,  and  that  when  the  mania 
for  rare  breeds  was  at  its  height  she  bought  largely,  and 
found  the  sale  of  the  eggs  so  profitable  that  this  Hennery 
was  erected,  a  man  got  to  take  charge  of  it,  and  a  regular 
business  established.  Gough  showed  me  through  the  place 
this  morning.  It  is  a  spacious  building,  with  long  galleries, 
lined  wi£h  airy  apartments  for  the  fowls,  which  live  in  a 
most  genteel  style,  having  their  own  little  parlours  and 
bedrooms,  and  door-plates  outside,  with  their  technical 
names  upon  them,  and  nothing  wanting  but  door-bells  or 
little  knockers  to  make  the  arrangements  complete.  Eng 
lish  \  Dorkings,  silver  Polands,  black  African  bantams, 
golden  Polands,  brown  Leghorns,  and  Cochin  China  buffs, 
all  live  in  connubial  bliss  in  separate  suites  of  apartments ; 
while  in  one  elegant  room  with  a  balcony  outside,  an 
aristocratic  fowl,  known  as  Madame  La  Feche,  struts  about 
with  the  dignity  becoming  a  lady  whose  eggs  sell  at 
thirty-five  shillings  a  dozen. 

"  Besides  the  Hennery  there  is  a  place  for  cattle,  and  a 
garden,  and  an  orchard,  and  several  fields,  all  fenced  and 
nicely  kept.  The  place  was  a  wilderness  when  Gough 
purchased  it  nearly  twenty  years  ago.  Now  it  blossoms 
like  the  rose.  It  is  a  picture  of  the  man  himself,  and  of 
what  God  has  enabled  him  to  do  for  many  a  wasted  life. 

"  Here  he  spends  the  summer  in  quietness,  refreshing 
himself  after  his  winter's  work  and  preparing  new  lectures 
for  the  next.  Even  during  the  busy  season  he  tries  to 
spend  his  Sundays  at  home,  and  refuses  engagements  that 


ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  HIS  CHARACTER.  301 

would  keep  him  long  away.  He  showed  me  a  letter  he 
had  from  Mr.  Moodie,  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  in  Chicago,  offering  to  engage  him  for  eighty 
nights  a  year,  at  $200  a  night,  for  ten  years!  That's 
how  they  do  things  in  Chicago !  But  Gough  said  it 
would  keep  him  from  home  during  the  winter,  and  re 
fused  it. 

"  To-night  I  got  a  sight  of  a  curious  record  of  his  life — 
two  huge  scrap-books,  in  which  Mrs.  Gough  has  preserved 
all  the  newspaper  reports  of  his  lectures,  etc.,  since  he 
began  his  public  career.  One  of  the  first  is  a  notice  of 
him  as  a  young  mechanic,  who  made  a  good  speech  at  a 
meeting.  This  was  in  1842.  In  1843  he  had  begun 
lecturing,  and  had  been  paid  $3  for  three  addresses,  being 
at  the  rate  of  4s.  a  piece.  During  the  year  1844  he 
delivered  383  speeches,  which  yielded  him  an  income  of 
only  $720.  During  1866,  he  delivered  162  lectures,  and 
his  income  has  risen  to  $28,500.  He  gets  as  many  en 
gagements  as  he  can  take,  and  had  to  refuse  about  1100 
last  year.  He  takes  an  honest  pride  in  looking  back  and 
marking  the  steps  of  his  progress." 

There  is  one  thought  that  seemed  to  me  to  cheer 
him  still  more — the  thought  that  he  has  been  the  in 
strument  of  doing  good.  I  saw  hanging  in  his  library 
the  photograph  of  the  first  man  he  reclaimed  from 
drunkenness.  He  preserves  it  carefully,  and  likes  to 
think  that  the  one  has  become  a  thousand.  -  He  loves 
his  work,  and  said  he  hoped  to  die  in  harness. 

Gough,  although  English-born,  is  a  thorough  Republi 
can,  and  has  no  idea  of  being  patronized  by  anybody. 
When  in  this  country,  re-visiting  with  his  father  the 
scenes  of  his  childhood,  they  met  the  son  of  his  father's 
employer. 

The  old  man  took  off  his  hat  and  said, — "  Mr.  Denny, 
this  is  my  son,  John  Gough,  from  America." 


302  JOHN  B.  GOUGH. 

The  youth,  without  deigning  to  look  particularly  at 
him,  said  carelessly,  "  How  do,  Gough  ?" 

To  which  Gough  replied  as  carelessly,  "  How  do, 
Denny  ?"  and  passed  on. 

He  doubts  if  his  father  ever  forgave  him  for  this 
audacity. 

Another  incident  belonging  to  the  same  week  ought 
to  be  told  along  with  that.  There  was  an  old  woman, 
a  Mrs.  Beattie,  at  Sandgate,  who  had  been  kind  to 
Gough  when  he  was  a  poor  boy,  and  on  one  particular 
occasion  had  given  him  a  large  cake  of  gingerbread  and 
a  bottle  of  milk.  Gough  had  never  forgotten  her  kind 
ness,  and  when  he  found  himself  in  the  old  place  again, 
he  searched  her  out.  He  was  to  lecture  in  a  neighbour 
ing  town  that  night,  and  great  numbers  of  the  Sandgate 
people  were  going  to  hear  him.  The  old  woman  was 
eager  to  go  also,  but  the  distance  was  too  great  to  walk, 
and  she  was  too  poor  to  pay  for  any  conveyance.  On 
hearing  of  this,  Gough  went  before  the  hour  of  meeting 
and  took  her  with  him  in  the  carriage.  When  the 
lecture  was  over  he  drove  her  home  again,  and  putting 
five  sovereigns  into  her  hand,  told  her  that  was  the 
payment  of  an  old  debt. 

"  Goodness  me !"  said  the  old  woman,  "  what 's  it 
for?" 

"  Don't  you  remember  ?  It 's  payment  for  that  bottle 
of  milk  and  the  gingerbread  you  gave  me  twenty-four 
years  ago." 

Finding  afterwards  that  she  was  in  debt  for  coals 
and  house- rent,  he  got  the  bills  and  paid  them ;  and 
ever  after,  up  till  the  time  of  her  death,  in  1864,  sent 
her  a  present  of  £10  every  Christmas  day  in  memory  of 
that  milk  and  gingerbread. 


HIS  SILVER  WEDDING.  303 

A  few  months  after  my  visit,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gough 
celebrated  their  silver  wedding,  having  completed  the 
twenty-fifth  year  of  their  married  life.  Hundreds  of 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  from  Worcester  and  other  cities, 
gathered  to  do  them  honour;  letters  and  telegrams 
poured  in  from  all  parts  of  America,  and  silver  gifts  of 
all  kinds — silver  e*pergnes,  silver  vases,  silver  fruit- 
dishes,  and  so  on — were  presented,  along  with  congratu 
latory  letters  and  speeches.  In  expressing  his  thanks, 
Mr.  Gough  spoke  of  his  humble  circumstances  at  the 
time  of  his  marriage  twenty-five  years  before,  when  he 
took  his  wife  from  the  little  farm  under  the  hill  on 
which  his  house  now  stands.  He  said  there  was  no 
party,  no  wedding-cake,  no  cards;  he  disturbed  the 
minister  at  his  breakfast  to  perform  the  marriage 
ceremony,  and  then  set  off  with  his  bride  to  Boston, 
where  he  had  to  make  a  temperance  speech  that  night. 
He  said  the  first  congratulation  he  got  was  from  a  pious 
friend  (Deacon  Moses  Grant),  who  met  him  at  Boston, 
and  talked  to  his  wife,  while  Gough  went  to.  look  after 
the  luggage. 

"  When  I  got  back,"  said  Gough,  "  the  Deacon  took 
me  aside  and  said,  'Johnny,  she'll  do' — and  she  has 
done !" 


304:  DRINKING  HABITS. 


XXIV. 

DRINKING  HABITS. 

THE  main  difference  between  the  drinking  habits 
in  America  and  our  own  country  is  this — the  Ameri 
cans  drink  more  at  bars  and  less  at  home.  Of  native 
Americans  the  New  Englander  drinks  least,  the 
Southerner  most.  I  scarcely  ever  saw  liquors  of  any 
kind  on  the  table  in  New  England — in  clergymen's 
houses  never,  except  on  one  occasion,  when  a  bottle  of 
wine  was  opened  at  dinner,  and  even  that  turned  out  to 
be  a  delicate  hospitality  meant  exclusively  for  me.  I 
took  none,  and  the  bottle  remained  untouched,  and 
never  made  its  appearance  again.  Tea  is  commonly 
used  instead  of  ale  or  wine,  and  glasses  of  iced  water 
are  handed  round  at  every  meal.  Even  in  the  South 
you  do  not  often  see  spirits  on  the  table.  What  sur 
prised  me  still  more  was  to  find  that  the  Highlanders 
in  America,  despite  the  Highland  tendency  to  conservat 
ism  in  old  customs,  bad  as  well  as  good,  had  abandoned 
their  old  practice  of  offering  liquor  to  visitors.  In  the 
Highland -settlements,  both  in  Canada  and  the  South, 
I  met  with  unbounded  hospitality,  but  was  never 
offered  liquor  except,  I  think,  on  two  occasions.  One 
of  these  only  confirmed  the  uniformity  of  the  contrary 
practice.  After  dinner  (at  which  there  was  no  bever 
age  stronger  than  the  delicious  and  unintoxicating  wine 


BA.RS.  305 

of  the  country,  pressed  from  the  scuppernong  grape) 
our  host  went  and  brought  some  whisky.  I  told  him 
with  thanks  that  I  never  tasted  spirits.  "  No  I "  said 
he  with  surprise ;  "  well,  we  never  use  it  ourselves  ;  but 
I  thought,  coming  from  the  old  country,  you  would  miss 
it !"  It  was  not  the  first  nor  the  fiftieth  time  that  I 
was  humiliated  to  find  how  much  the  poetry  and  the 
practice  of  Scotland  had  associated  her  name  with 
whisky. 

In  Canada  there  used  to  be  a  great  deal  of  drinking 
and  dissipation  at  what  are  called  "  bees."  At  thresh 
ing,  husking,  or  apple-paring  times,  the  neighbours  in 
country  districts  assemble  to  help  one  another.  These 
occasions  are  called  threshing  bees,  husking  bees,  etc. 
If  you  are  building  a  house  for  yourself,  one  neighbour 
comes  with  his  axe,  another  with  his  horses,  another 
with  his  carpenter's  tools — a  score  of  them  perhaps — to 
help  you,  till  the  roof  is  over  your  head ;  and  you, 
in  turn,  are  expected  to  help  the  next  comer.  This  is 
called  a  raising  bee.  At  these  bees,  whisky  used  to  be 
drunk  like  water,  but  this  feature  is  happily  disappear 
ing,  and  whisky  giving  place  to  coffee,  cakes,  fowl,  and 
other  wholesome  refreshments. 

But  if  the  Americans  drink  less  in  the  house,  they 
drink  far  more  at  public  bars  and  saloons.  This 
practice  is  not  confined  to  the  poorer  classes.  I  was 
surprised  to  see  a  class  of  men  "  liquoring  up  "  at  these 
bars,  who,  in  our  country,  would  no  more  be  seen  enter 
ing  a  public-house  than  they  would  be  seen  entering  a 
house  of  ill  fame.  You  see  merchants,  colonels,  generals, 
senators,  and  officers  of  State  patronizing  these  open  bars 
as  freely  as  we  patronize  a  flower-show.  I  cannot 
say  that  I  ever  saw  a  clergyman  amongst  them.  In 

VOL.  II.  U 


306  DRINKING  HABITS. 

some  parts  of  the  country  the  practice  is  discounte 
nanced  by  all  church  members.  It  is  one  of  the  distinc 
tions  in  America  between  "  the  Church "  and  "  the 
world." 

But  saloons  and  bars  are  everywhere.  Every  steamer, 
every  restaurant,  every  hotel  has  its  own,  where  from 
morning  till  night  you  will  see  the  barmen  in  their 
shirt  sleeves  hard  at  work  compounding  cocktails,  morn 
ing-glories,  tangle-legs,  gin- slings,  eye-openers,  and 
other  transatlantic  refreshers,  and  handing  them  to 
the  thirsty  souls  on  the  other  side  of  the  counter.  The 
bar  at  Delmonico's  or  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  in  New 
York,  is  a  sight  worth  seeing.  The  public  bars  in 
Mobile  and  New  Orleans  are  also  magnificent,  some  of 
them  like  gilded  arcades,  open  to  the  street,  and  visible 
from  end  to  end  to  all  passers  by.  There,  on  a  hot  day, 
you  will  see  gentlemen  swarming  in  and  out,  and  a  long 
line  of  perspiring  barmen,  in  shirts  and  light  pants, 
behind  the  long  counter,  mixing  iced  drinks  and  pass 
ing  them  across  with  as  much  rapidity  as  if  there  was 
a  bet  of  a  hundred  dollars  who  should  serve  the  greatest 
number  within  a  given  time.  In  these  bars  there  are 
generally  no  seats.  Gentlemen  walk  briskly  in,  step 
up  to  the  counter,  toss  off  their  drinks,  and  go.  No 
time  is  lost.  An  American  can  drink,  but  he  cannot 
afford  to  waste  time  over  it.  But  th6  number  of  drinks 
he  will  take  at  that  bar  before  business  hours  are  over 
would  astonish  people  of  the  same  class  here.  The 
liquor  is  generally  taken  in  the  form  of  cocktails,  that 
is,  mixed  with  water  sugar  and  spices. 

There  is  another  class  of  people  not  given  to  slings  or 
cocktails,  who  indulge  in  what  are  called  "bitters." 
Bitters  are  advertised  in  every  newspaper;  placarded 


TEMPERANCE  MEN.  307 

in  every  shed ;  painted  in  enormous  letters  on  every 
fence,  tree,  and  rock  where  a  human  eye  may  be  ex 
pected  to  rest.  I  sometimes  encountered  these  adver 
tisements  in  Southern  swamps  and  Western  prairies, 
in  places  where  one  would  imagine  the  only  customers 
could  be  polecats,  "  bars,"  or  buffaloes.  The  enormous 
demand  that  exists  for  these  "  bitters  "  might  lead  a 
stranger  to  imagine  that  some  epidemic  was  continually 
raging  all  over  the  United  States.1  On  being  tasted 
they  are  not  found  by  any  means  so  unpalatable  as  the 
mixtures  that  go  under  the  same  name  with  us.  Let 
it  be  hoped  that  it  was  imagination,  but  some  of  them 
that  I  put  to  my  lips  conveyed  to  my  mind  a  not  very 
distant  impression  of  whisky. 

I  have  heard  of  a  deacon  who  drew  rein  at  a  farm 
house  door  on  a  very  hot  day.  He  was  offered  a  glass 
of  cider. 

"Cider,"  said  the  deacon  ruefully,  wiping  his  hot 
brow  with  his  pocket-handkerchief.  "  No  :  cider  ain't 
allowed  in  the  pledge.  But  if  you  '11  call  it  apple-juice 
I  '11  take  a  drop." 

The  present  generation  of  Americans  give  something 
stronger  the  name  of  "  bitters,"  and  take  a  good  many 
drops. 

You  find,  however,  a  far  larger  proportion  of  total 
abstainers — men,  and  especially  women,  who  neither 
"  liquor  up  "  nor  taste  bitters — than  there  is  in  this 
country.  The  mass  of  the  clergy  are  abstainers,  which 
gives  a  powerful  leverage  to  the  temperance  movement. 
Many  also  of  the  most  prominent  statesmen,  orators, 

*'    . 

1  It  is  said  that  in  a  graveyard  in  eye  of  the  visitor  :—  "  If  you  would 
Gloucester,  Massachusetts,  the  fol-  keep  out  of  here,  use  Hostetter's 
lowing  advertisement  meets  the  Bitters." 


308  DRINKING  HABITS. 

soldiers,  and  literary  men  in  the  country,  are  not  only 
abstainers,  but  advocates  of  the  temperance  movement. 
Amongst  such  are  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Horace 
Greeley,  Wendell  Phillips,  and  William  Lloyd  Garrison  ; 
Albert  Barnes,  Theodore  Cuyler,  Abbott,  Hall,  and  Todd; 
General  Howard  and  Senator  Wilson  of  Massachusetts  ; 
while  the  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  (Mr. 
Colfax)  is  a  prominent  member  of  a  temperance  society 
formed  amongst  members  of  Congress.  To  these  names 
might  be  added  a  vast  number  of  others,  less  known  on 
our  side  of  the  water,  but  almost  as  well  known  in  the 
States.  I  have  not  mentioned  men  like  Gough,  Delevan, 
or  Neal  Dow,  because  their  celebrity  is  identified  with 
either  the  Temperance  or  the  Prohibition  movement.1 

The  same  holds  true,  though  to  a  less  extent,  in  the 
South.  General  Lee  has  had  the  reputation  of  being 
an  abstainer  since  his  boyhood ;  and  we  have  already 
seen  with  what  rigidness  Stonewall  Jackson,  and  Stuart 
the  great  cavalry  commander  of  the  South,  practised 
the  same  virtue.  Most  of  the  Presidents  of  the  United 

1  General    Gregory,    a  Christian  sidered  the  matter,  and  revoked  the 

soldier  of  the  same  cast  as  Howard,  order. 

is  also  a  prominent  advocate  of  tern-  I  have  also  mentioned  Mr. 
perance.  It  is  told  of  him  that,  Beecher's  name.  He  said  himself 
when  his  brigade  was  preparing  for  that  not  only  was  he  an  abstainer, 
action  at  Gettysburg,  the  corps  com-  but  his  church  might  almost  be 
mander  issued  an  order  to  supply  called  a  total  abstinence  church,  and 
the  troops  with  liquor.  Gregory  was  only  one  of  thousands  to  which 
rode  up  and  said, — "  Is  that  order  the  same  description  would  apply, 
peremptory  ? "  "  Yes."  " Then,"  He  did  not  make  the  pledge  a  con- 
said  he,  "I  must  resign  my  com-  dition  of  membership,  but  people 
mand.  I  shall  undertake  to  do  any-  knew  his  views. 
thing  with  these  troops  that  can  be  "The  other  day,"  he  said,  "a 
done  by  brave  men,  but  I  will  not  candidate  presented  himself.  I  said 
undertake  to  control  men  who  have  to  him,  '« You  don't  drink,  of  course  ? ' 
been  stimulated  by  intoxicating  "  'Certainly  not.' 
drinks."  The  commander  recon-  "  <  You  are  a  temperate  man  ? ' 


TEMPERANCE  MEN.  309 

States  have  been  Southern  men ;  and  all  of  them,  from 
Madison  downwards,  were  total  abstainers  until  the 
chance  accession  of  Mr.  Johnson.  Grant  also  is  said  to 
have  become  one  since  assuming  his  present  position. 

The  influence  of  example,  however,  is  not  so  power 
ful  in  America  as  it  is  here.  The  tendency  is  for  each 
person  to  consider  his  own  example  as  much  worth  as 
any  other  body's.  This  increases  the  sense  of  individual 
responsibility,  but  diminishes  the  constraining  force  of 
conspicuous  examples. 

The  fact  at  least  remains  that,  notwithstanding  the 
higher  position  which  the  Temperance  movement  has 
maintained  in  America,  more  whisky  is  consumed  there, 
according  to  population,  than  in  Scotland.  The  annual 
consumption  in  America  is  equal  to  four  gallons  for 
each  person,  as  compared  with  two  and  a  quarter  in 
Scotland.  In  1867,  the  number  of  places  in  England, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland  licensed  for  the  sale  of  liquor 
was  150,000;  in  the  States  only  130,000;  but  while 


"  '  Oh  yes.'  carried  on    independently,   it    has 

"  'An abstainer,  I  suppose?'  to  a  large  extent  re-organized  its 

"  'Yes,  I  may  say  I  am.'  societies  on  the  model  of  masonic 

"  '  You  would  have  no  objection  lodges.     The  members  are  Brothers, 

to  sign  the  pledge  ? '  Templars,  or  Sons  and  Daughters  of 

"  'Well,  no,  I  can't  say  that  I  Temperance;  and  their  office-bearers 

would.'  are     Grand     Scribes,     Worshipful 

"  '  All  right ;  here  is  our  form.'  Grand    Patriarchs,   and    so    forth. 

"  I  put  a  pledge-card  before  him  They    have    meetings    and    social 

— we  always  have  them  at  hand  in  gatherings,  to  which  none  but  mem- 

the  drawer — he  put  down  his  name,  bers  are  admitted  ;  they  recognise  a 

and  I  have  no  doubt,"  Beecher  added,  closer  brotherhood,  and  act  upon  it ; 

"he  will  remain  firm.     Good  men  and  are  rather  mutual  insurance  than 

here  only  want  a  straw  to  turn  the  missionary  societies.    Otherwise  the 

scale,  and  fix  them."  difference  is  more    in    name  than 

Much  of  the  life  of  the  Temperance  reality.     The  movement  in  our  own 

movement  in  America  is  found  in  country  is    rapidly  assuming   the 

the  churches.     In  so  far  as  it  is  same  form. 


3 1 0  DRINKING  HABITS. 

the  money  spent  on  liquor  in  our  three  kingdoms  has 
never  been  reckoned  higher  than  £80,000,000,  it 
amounts  in  the  States  to  £130,000,000,  without  count 
ing  the  imported  liquors. 

The  comparative  amount  of  drunkenness  is  not  so 
easily  determined.  How  unsafe  it  is  to  trust  in  such 
matters  to  cursory  observation,  was  curiously  illustrated 
by  the  fact  that  Newman  Hall,  of  London,  travelling  in 
the  States  at  the  same  time  that  Bishop  Clarke  of 
America  was  travelling  in  this  country,  said  he  had 
seen  more  drunkenness  in  London  in  a  week  than  he 
had  seen  in  America  during  his  whole  visit ;  while  the 
Bishop  had  just  been  saying  that  he  had  seen  less 
drunkenness  in  London  in  a  whole  month  than  he  had 
seen  in  New  York  in  a  single  night.  The  two  state 
ments  are  of  course  quite  reconcileable,  if  taken  to 
represent,  not  the  actual  amount  of  drunkenness,  but 
merely  the  amount  seen  by  two  observers  in  different 
circumstances.  I  am  disposed  to  think  that  Newman 
Hall's  observation  more  nearly  represents  the  actual 
state  of  things  as  visible  to  the  public  eye.  I  went  to 
some  of  the  lowest  parts  of  New  Orleans,  New  York, 
and  Montreal,  for  the  express  purpose  of  seeing  how  ' 
they  compared  with  the  corresponding  districts  of 
London  and  Glasgow,  but  never  saw  such  sickening 
and  hideous  exhibitions  of  drunkenness  as  are  to  be 
seen  every  Saturday  night  in  almost  any  Scotch  or 
English  city.  If  there  are  as  many  drunk  people,  the 
police  must,  by  prompt  apprehension,  keep  them  off 
the  street,  and  must  apprehend  them  at  earlier  stages 
of  inebriation.1 

1    Police  reports    confirm    this      Montreal  paper  said  he  had  never  " 
view  of  the  case.     The  editor  of  a      seen  so  many  drunk  people  during 


PRO 


PORTION  OF  DRUNKARDS. 


311 


The  calculations  made  as  yet  of  the  number  of  habi 
tual  drunkards  in  either  country  are  necessarily  vague, 
from  the  impossibility  of  securing  the  necessary  data ; 
but  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  same  class  of  calcula 
tors,  drawing  their  conclusions  from  the  same  class  of 
facts,  give  exactly  the  same  number  of  drunkards  and 
the  same  number  of  annual  victims  for  America  as  for 
Great  Britain.  In  each  country  600,000  habitual 
drunkards,  and  60,000  deaths  annually  through  drink, 
are  the  numbers  arrived  at.  Whatever  may  be  the 
worth  of  the  estimates  in  themselves,  the  coincidence 
is  not  without  its  value.1 


his  whole  stay  in  that  city  as  he 
had  seen  in  Edinburgh  and  Greenock 
in  a  single  night.  And  yet  the  Po 
lice  reports  of  Montreal  show  4375 
arrests  of  drunk  persons  in  1866, 
and  4136  in  1867 ;  while  in  Greenock 
(which  is  probably  two-thirds  the 
size  of  Montreal)  the  numbers  were 
only  1899  in  1866,  and  1750  in 
1867  ;  and  even  in  Edinburgh  they 
were  but  4123  in  1866,  and  3773  in 
1867,  actually  lower  than  in  Mont 
real,  though  the  population  of  Edin 
burgh  is  probably  half  again  as 
large. 

1  An  eminent  American  physi 
cian,  in  a  recently  published  work 
on  American  intemperance,  reckons 


that  of  every  300  men  in  America, 
122  do  not  drink  at  all ;  of  the  178 
who  do  drink,  100  drink  moderately, 
50  are  occasional  drinkers,  25  drink 
periodically,  or,  as  it  is  vulgarly 
expressed,  "go  on  the  spree  ;"  and 
3  are  habitual  drunkards,  Then  of 
the  women  :  Out  of  every  700  there 
are  600  who  never  drink,  30  who 
taste  wine,  17  who  taste  ardent 
spirits,  36  who  use  beer,  14  who 
drink  "  periodically,"  and  3  who  are 
habitual  drunkards.  Thus,  while 
fewer  women  drink  than  men,  a 
much  larger  proportion  become 
drunkards — 1  in  every  33  women, 
1  in  every  59  men. 


3 1 2  LIQUOR  LAWS. 


XXV. 

• 

LIQUOR  LAWS. 

BOTH  in  Canada  and  the  States,  I  looked  with  some 
interest  into  the  working  of  the  Liquor  laws,  and  the 
results  of  my  observations  can  be  summed  up  in  two 
sentences.  Wherever  an  overwhelming  temperance 
sentiment  exists — wherever,  in  other  words,  the  major 
ity  of  the  people  are  opposed  to  the  use  of  liquor- — pro 
hibitory  legislation  succeeds,  and  is  attended  with  the 
most  beneficent  results.  In  all  other  cases  it  has  proved 
a  failure.  I  am  sorry  to  say  it ;  but  the  truth  must  be 
told ;  and  if  the  truth  in  this  case  tells  against  the 
efficacy  of  mere  legislation,  it  may  perhaps  indicate 
where  the  remedy  is  to  be  looked  for. 

In  Canada,  I  found  an  Act  in  existence  known  as 
Dunkin's  Law,  and  similar  to  the  Permissive  measure 
which  is  being  agitated  for  amongst  ourselves.  This 
Act,  after  passing  the  Legislature  in  1864,  was  adopted 
by  sixty-two  municipalities  in  Upper  Canada,  and  by 
twenty- eight  in  the  Lower  Province :  and  already,  in 
most  of  these,  it  is  a  dead  letter.  In  some  of  them,  no 
serious  attempt  has  ever  been  made  to  enforce  it — 
people  apparently  satisfying  their  consciences  by  voting 
its  adoption,  and  continuing  to  vote  against  its  repeal. 
In  other  places  where  it  had  been  enforced,  the  inn 
keepers  in  revenge  not  only  shut  up  their  bars,  but 


SEEING  IT  IN  A  NEW  LIGHT.  3 1  3 

their  whole  accommodation  for  travellers.  The  result 
was  described  to  me  by  a  farmer  who  had  himself  voted 
for  the  Act. 

"  First  week  after  its  adoption,"  said  he,  "  I  arrived 
after  a  long  drive  at  the  inn.  Nobody  around ;  every 
thing  shut  up.  I  went  to  the  nearest  house.  '  What 's 
wrong  at  the  inn  V  said  I.  '  Nothing  wrong/  said  the 
man  ;  '  only  Dunkin's  Law,  that 's  all.'  '  But  where 
is  S —  ?'  said  I,  naming  the  landlord.  '  Vamoosed/ 
said  the  man.  Well,  I  thought  I  'd  go  to  the  yard  of 
the  inn,  give  my  horse  a  drink,  and  get  home.  But 
when  I  got  there  the  pump  was  locked  up  too.  I  had 
not  contemplated  Dunkin's  Act  in  this  light  before.  I 
got  into  my  buggy  and  drove  off.  I  Ve  let  Dunkin's 
Law  alone  since  then." 

"  But,"  said  I,  "  why  couldn't  some  one  take  the  inn, 
and  open  it  on  temperance  principles  ?" 

"  To  be  sure ;  why  not  ? "  said  he.  "  But  nobody  did 
it." 

"  Then  how  have  matters  gone  ?" 

"  Oh,  S —  is  back,  and  the  inn  opened  again." 

"  And  the  bar  ?" 

"  Yes,  the  bar  too." 

"  But  what  of  Dunkin's  Law  ?" 

"  Well,  sir,  I  guess  it 's  on  the  statute-book.  If  it 
don't  do  anything  more,  it's  a  great  moral  protest  against 
the  traffic,  sir." 

It  was  a  paper  blockade.  The  law  protested,  and 
the  traffic  went  on. 

I  found  a  similar  state  of  things  existing  in  some  of 
the  Prohibition  States.  In  Massachusetts,  the  people 
were  spending  £2  per  head  on  intoxicating  drinks — a 
higher  average  than  prevails  in  Scotland — and  yet  the 


314  LIQUOR  LAWS. 

Maine  Law  was  the  law  of  the  State.  "We  are  all  for 
Maine  Liquor  Law,"  said  one  man,  "  but  we  are  agin  its 
enforcement."  The  law  had  gone  further  than  popular 
sentiment  would  bear  it  out.  People  would  not  inform, 
juries  would  not  convict,  magistrates  would  not  exact 
the  penalties.  Mayor  Harris,  of  Springfield,  Massachu 
setts,  who  made  strong  efforts  to  enforce  the  law  in  his 
own  city,  said  it  was  the  terror  that  the  good  men  had 
of  the  bad  men  that  was  his  trouble.  "  I  could  get  no 
co-operation,"  he  said.  "  Some  would  say  behind  the 
door, — "  You  are  a  clever  fellow  ;  stick  to  it ;  put  them 
through/ — but  the  best  men  would  not  help  me  in  the 
plainest  cases." 

In  Boston,  when  inquiry  was  made  into  the  working 
of  Prohibition,  the  police  reported  2000  places  where 
liquor  was  being  got  in  spite  of  the  law.  This  was  more 
by  200  than  all  the  places  licensed  in  the  much  larger  city 
of  Glasgow.  The  advocates  of  Prohibition  said,  "  It  is 
because  our  local  authorities  will  not  put  the  State  law 
in  force."  The  State  accordingly,  in  1866,  put  its  own 
constabulary  into  Boston  for  the  express  purpose  of 
enforcing  the  law.  Seizures  were  made  day  after  day. 
Colonel  Jones  was  hard  at  work  when  I  was  there  in 
1867,  and  the  traffic  was  cut  down  to  half  its  former 
proportions.  But  the  people  were  not  prepared  for 
this.  The  "  P.L.L."  agitation,  already  referred  to  in  a 
previous  chapter,  was  got  up;  the  liquor  interest 
supplied  the  sinews  of  war ;  a  majority  was  secured  in 
the  State  Legislature ;  and  the  law  of  Prohibition  was 
repealed. 

These  facts  represent  the  side  of  the  question  most 
adverse  to  prohibitory  legislation.  But  there  are  im- 


THE  TRAFFIC  RESTRICTED.  3 1 5 

portant  facts  also  on  the  other  side.  It  has  to  be 
admitted  first  of  all,  that  as  a  general  (not  a  universal) 
rule,  wherever  temperance  sentiment  is  strong  enough 
to  get  the  Maine  Law  passed,  it  is  strong  enough  to 
compel  the  liquor  traffic  to  withdraw  from  the  public 
gaze.  It  was  a  new  thing  for  me  to  walk  for  hours 
along  the  streets  of  a  large  and  populous  city  like 
Boston  and  not  see  a  single  spirit-shop.  That  is  one 
point  gained.  The  traffic,  no  doubt,  goes  on.  But  it 
has  to  creep  away  into  back  streets,  or  conceal  itself 
behind  window-blinds  that  offer  nothing  but  cigars,  or 
soda-water,  or  confectionary,  to  the  uninitiated  passer 
by.  When  the  people  become  more  vigilant,  it  has  to 
supply  its  customers  through  clubs  or  city  agencies, 
or  under  medical  prescription.  In  desperate  cases  it 
has  to  betake  itself  to  the  exhibition  of  Greenland  pigs 
and  other  curious  animals,  charging  25  cents  for  a 
sight  of  the  pig  and  throwing  in  a  gin  cocktail  gra 
tuitously.  Natural  history,  in  such  cases,  becomes 
a  study  of  absorbing  interest.  People  have  no  sooner 
been  to  see  the  Greenland  pig  once,  than  they  are 
seized  with  an  irresistible  desire  to  go  back  and  see 
him  again. 

The  traffic  thus  maintains  an  existence.  But  under 
such  difficulties  it  can  never  go  on  to  the  same  extent 
as  when  liquor  is  sold  freely  and  openly.  There  is  a 
large  class  of  people  in  every  community  who  will  use 
liquor  if  they  can  have  it  in  the  ordinary  way ;  but 
will  not  creep  up  back- stairs  for  it,  or  patronize  the 
Greenland  pig.  The  worst  of  it  is  that  the  class  thus 
excluded  is  the  class  that  could  use  liquor  with  most 
moderation ;  whilst  the  patrons  of  the  Greenland  pig 
are  precisely  those  whom  it  is  most  desirable,  for  the 


316  LIQUOR  IAWS. 

sake  of  public  peace  and  morality,  to  keep  drinking 
facilities  from. 

The  absence  of  these  facilities,  however,  keeps  vast 
numbers  from  drinking  who  are  elsewhere  enticed  into 
public-houses  by  the  allurements  spread  out  at  every 
corner.  The  furious  opposition  which  the  liquor- 
sellers  make  to  prohibition  in  every  form  and  degree, 
is  proof  how  seriously  it  affects  their  trade.  If  the 
traffic  could  go  on  as  well  in  back  streets  as  in  front 
ones,  and  behind  false  blinds  as  well  as  behind  open 
bars,  the  publicans  would  let  the  Maine  Law  people 
have  their  way,  and  would  laugh  at  them  for  their 
pains. 

A  comparison  of  the  amount  of  liquor  consumed  in 
Prohibition  States,  as  compared  with  those  where  the 
sale  of  drink  is  licensed,  shows  that  the  grog- sellers 
know  what  they  are  about. 

In  California,  where  there  is  almost  free  trade  in 
liquor,  the  amount  consumed  in  1867  averaged  $157 
worth  for  each  person.  In  Ehode  Island,  under  a  more 
stringent  license  law,  and  under  circumstances  more 
resembling  those  of  the  Prohibition  States,  the  average 
was  still  $45.  Whereas  in  Massachusetts,  under  a 
Prohibitory  law,  the  average  was  only  $23,  little  more 
than  a  half;  and  in  the  State  of  Maine,  where  the 
Prohibitory  law  was  enforced  more  rigidly,  the  average 
was  only  $13,  being  less  than  a  twelfth  of  the  propor 
tion  under  easy  license  in  California,  and  less  than  a 
third  of  the  proportion  under  the  stringent  license  law 
of  Ehode  Island.  Or  if  we  take  three  Prohibitory 
States  (Massachusetts,  Maine,  and  Vermont),  and  com 
pare  them  with  four  License  States  (New  Jersey,  Khode 
Island,  Maryland,  and  Wisconsin),  we  find  the  three 


WHERE  PROHIBITION  SUCCEEDS.  317 

Prohibitory  States  spending  $43,000,000  on  drink 
(certainly  an  odd  account  of  Prohibition  !)  but  the  four 
License  States  spending  $137,000,000,  or  fully  three 
times  more,  with  25,000  fewer  people. 

The  same  result  appears  if  we  take  the  same  State 
under  License  and  under  Prohibition.  We  have  seen 
that  Massachusetts,  in  spite  of  the  Maine  Law,  drank 
more,  in  proportion  to  her  population,  than  Scotland. 
But  Massachusetts,  when  she  got  a  License  law,  drank 
more  than  ever.  In  the  single  city  of  Boston,  six  months 
of  license  showed  an  increase  of  5440  arrests. 

Such,  indeed,  was  the  spread  of  intemperance,  and  its 
concomitant  evils,  under  the  laxer  law,  that  the  people 
took  the  alarm,  and,  after  a  year's  trial,  re-enacted  the 
Prohibitory  law  in  a  more  stringent  form  than  ever. 
Prohibition  could  not  kill  the  monster,  but  at  least  it 
hampered  and  clogged  his  movements. 

This  effect  is  seen  even  where  a  large  proportion  of  the 
people  are  against  the  enforcement  of  the  law ;  while 
in  places  where  the  mass  of  the  people  have  them 
selves  abjured  the  use  of  liquor,  and  are  determined 
not  to  allow  the  community  to  be  disturbed  and  made 
liable  to  additional  burdens  by  a  drinking  minority— 
in  such  places  the  law,  when  passed,  is  enforced  with 
rigour,  and  the  liquor  traffic  is  literally  stamped  out. 
This  is  conspicuously  the  case  in  rural  districts,  where 
evasion  is  more  difficult,  and  where — the  eyes  of  a  reso 
lute  public  being  on  the  watch — the  carrying  on  of  an 
illicit  traffic  to  any  extent  becomes  impossible.  In  many 
such  districts  the  traffic  has  been  swept  clean  away, 
with  whatever  of  pauperism,  immorality,  and  crime  be 
longed  to  it.  Even  in  cities,  the  traffic,  though  not 
annihilated,  is  driven  too  far  underground  for  any  but 


3 1 8  LIQUOR  LAWS. 

long-snouted  and  determined  dram-drinkers  to  reach  it. 
One  gentleman  who  visited  Portland,  in  the  State  of 
Maine,  in  company  with  a  friend,  told  me  that  they 
hunted  through  the  whole  city  on  a  hot  day  in  quest 
of  something  to  drink,  but  without  success.  Under 
standing  that  druggists  were  allowed  to  dispense  a  cer 
tain  amount  in  cases  of  sickness,  his  friend  went  into  a 
drug- store  with  his  hand  upon  his  stomach.  But  the 
druggist  was  too  wide-awake,  or  had  the  fear  of  Neal 
Dow  and  the  police  before  his  eyes.  He  suggested  pills, 
was  ready  to  furnish  them  in  any  quantity,  but  would 
supply  no  whisky.  They  fell  in  at  last  with  a  sym 
pathetic  Englishman,  who  undertook  to  conduct  them 
to  a  place  where  drink  could  be  had.  He  led  them  to 
a  back  street,  and  up  two  pair  of  stairs  into  a  miserable 
"  snuggery,"  where  they  got  some  stuff  resembling  soup 
and  water,  which  the  man  called  beer,  and  charged  for 
as  such.  The  others  had  something  else,  but  all  re 
ported  equally  bad.  "  We  sought  no  more,"  said  my 
informant,  "  till  we  got  out  of  Maine." 

In  probably  no  other  city  of  its  size  is  the  law  so 
resolutely  enforced,  but  the  fact  and  its  lesson  remain 
the  same.1  When  the  people  are  determined,  the  thing 
can  be  done.  Even  as  a  legislative  measure,  Prohibition 
is  a  triumph  of  the  good  over  the  bad.  But  far  too 
much  is  expected  of  it ;  and  wherever  it  diverts  men's 

1  Even  in  Portland,  the  law  seems  reason  assigned  being  that  by  some 

to  be  in  advance  of  public  senti-  political  manoeuvre  the  State  had 

nient.     Mr.  George  Easton,  whose  lost   its    constabulary,    and    there 

name  is  well  known  in  connection  were  no  proper  parties  to  attend  to 

with  the  Temperance  movement  in  the  enforcement  of  the  Prohibitory 

Scotland,  says  that  when  he  landed  law.     In  the  spring  of  last  year  the 

in  Portland,  eighteen  months  ago,  State  regained  its  constabulary,  and 

liquor  was  being  sold  openly  at  all  the  bars  were  closed, 
the   bar-rooms    in    the    city  —  the 


WHERE  PROHIBITION  SUCCEEDS.  319 

minds  from  the  moral  movement  011  which  its  whole 
strength  depends,  and  deludes  a  community  with  the 
idea  that  it  can  change  its  moral  condition  by  a  vote,  it 
•not  only  fails  as  a  practical  measure,  but  works  mischief 
as  a  theory. 


320  AT  HARTFORD. 


XXVI. 

AT  HARTFORD. 

IN  the  outskirts  of  Hartford,  one  of  the  busy  centres 
of  population  in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  lives  the 
authoress  of  Uncle  Toms  Cabin.  The  house  stands 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  back  from  the  main  road,  and 
is  only  accessible  therefrom  by  a  rough  waggon-way, 
where  you  feel  as  if  you  were  driving  across  a  ploughed 
field  in  the  winter  time.  In  wet  weather,  if  you  are  on 
foot,  you  have  to  pick  your  steps  along  the  skirt  of  the 
miry  road  on  a  string  of  planks  laid  there  for  the  pur 
pose.  By-and-by  you  come  to  the  railway  track,  where 
you  have  to  cross  the  rails.  A  little  farther  on,  the 
road,  getting  worse  at  every  step,  spreads  out  into  a 
muddy  irregular  square,  where  stands  a  saw-mill. 
Across  the  hedge  from  this  mill  Mrs.  Stowe  has  built 
her  house.  It  struck  me  as  an  extraordinary  site  for 
any  one  to  select  for  a  country  seat.  But  Mrs.  Stowe  is 
a  Beecher,  and  it  seems  impossible  for  a  Beecher  to  do 
anything  that  has  not  some  cast  of  oddness  about  it.  I 
inferred  from  what  Mrs.  Stowe  herself  said,  that  the 
situation  had  been  chosen  on  account  of  some  fine  trees 
which  are  now  enclosed  in  the  grounds.  The  house  is  a 
large  building  of  dark  red  stone.  When  you  first  enter 
you  are  struck  with  a  certain  antique  air  about  the 


A  CHAT  WITH  MRS.  STOWE.  321 

large  reception-hall,  the  Norman  arches,  and  the  great 
doors  of  carved  oak.  The  walls  are  hung  with  pictures, 
many  of  them  fine  works  of  art,  superior  to  what  one 
generally  sees  as  yet  in  the  houses  of  even  wealthy 
Americans.  I  remember  in  the  drawing-room  being 
struck  with  a  magnificent  photograph  of  the  Colos 
seum,  four  or  five  feet  long,  and  a  portrait  of  Lincoln 
in  oil — the  finest  I  saw  in  America.  Lincoln  was  not  a 
handsome  man  to  begin  with,  but  most  of  the  pictures 
I  saw  of  him  were  very  poor,  and  the  marble  statue  of 
him  in  the  Capitol  at  Washington  looks  very  inferior 
as  a  work  of  art. 

Here  Mrs.  Stowe  lives,  with  her  husband  and  family. 
The  Professor  is  a  delightful  man,  hale  and  jovial,  with 
snowy  white  hair  and  whiskers,  and  manners  as  free 
and  hearty  as  a  sea  captain.  He  was  full  of  enthusiasm 
at  that  time  about  Canada,  which  he  had  just  been 
visiting  along  with  his  wife. 

I  remember  Mrs.  Stowe  sitting  between  us  heating 
her  feet  on  the  fender.  She  is  more  youthful  in  appear 
ance  than  I  had  expected  to  find  her,  looking  almost 
like  a  girl  in  certain  positions  of  the  head ;  but  when 
she  turns  her  face  to  the  light,  you  see  the  marks  of 
advancing  years.  She  was  dressed  that  day  in  black 
silk,  with  white  facings,  and  had  her  wavy  brown  hair 
brushed  aside  and  falling  down  in  curls  behind  her  ears. 
She  is  exceedingly  interesting  when  she  talks,  but  seems 
liable  to  strange  variations  in  her  mood.  At  her  brother's 
house  in  Brooklyn,  I  remember  her  sitting  almost  the 
whole  time  of  dinner  without  uttering  a  single  word. 
Even  that  day  at  Hartford,  she  would  sometimes,  in  the 
midst  of  the  conversation,  remain  silent  for  a  long  time, 
bent  forward,  with  her  hands  folded  across  her  knees, 

VOL.  n.  x 


322  AT  HARTFORD. 

gazing  thoughtfully  and  abstractedly  into  the  fire.  Then 
suddenly  she  would  waken  from  her  reverie,  and  strike 
in  with  a  brilliant  remark,  and,  when  she  said  anything 
very  good,  would  look  round  with  a  radiant  face,  look 
ing  twenty  years  younger  than  she  had  done  two  minutes 
before,  and  with  her  wide-set  brown  eyes  beaming  with 
a  singularly  engaging  smile. 

When  I  spoke  of  Uncle  Tom  and  the  outlook  for  the 
negroes,  she  said, — "  The  black  people  never  had  a 
chance  before.  They  will  rise  now.  They  will  take 
their  place  side  by  side  with  the  white  man,  and  live. 
The  black  children  get  on  just  as  fast  as  white  children ; 
the  school  examinations  show  it.  The  mixed  race  is 
weaker." 

"  The  mixed  die  out  soon,"  said  the  Professor,  "  and 
yet  the  mixed  women  are  the  loveliest  I  ever  saw." 

Mrs.  Stowe  said,  with  a  comical  smile,  "  You  didn't 
always  think  so,  did  you  ?" 

Speaking  of  Congress  as  compared  with  Parliament, 
she  said, — "  What  could  you  expect  with  Congress  full 
of  negro -whipping  planters  ?  When  slavery  was  men 
tioned  these  men  raged  up  and  down  the  House  like 
tigers.  Charles  Sumner  is  one  of  the  politest  men  alive, 
yet  Brooks  declared  he  had  insulted  him.  It  was  insult 
enough  to  attack  slavery.  Those  were  the  days  of  fight 
ing  and  disturbance.  There  has  been  perfect  decorum 
in  Congress  since  the  South  went  out." 

"  There  is  as  much  difference,"  she  said,  "  between  the 
Southern,  aristocracy  and  the  aristocracy  of  England  as 
between  light  and  darkness.  The  English  are  refined  ; 
the  Southerners  are  not.  It  was  one  of  the  first  things 
I  noticed  in  Stafford  House  :  the  Puke  of  Sutherland 
[Mrs.  Stowe  pronounced  it  '  Dook']  and  Lord  Palmer- 


A  CHAT  WITH  MftS.  STOWE.  323 

ston  always  said  to  the  servants  '  Please/  '  Yes,  please/ 
'  Thank  you.'  Perhaps/'  she  added,  "  they  feel  it  neces 
sary  to  be  polite,  as  their  position  is  one  of  tolerance ; 
but  at  any  rate  they  are  polite  and  affable  to  servants. 
I  observed  they  said  '  Yes,  sir/  or  '  No,  sir/  to  a  servant, 
though  they  did  not  say  it  to  each  other.  Now,  a 
Southerner  would  say,  '  Here,  boy  !  Do  this,  quick  !' 
and  would  kick  him  if  he  didn't/' 

"  The  Northern  people,"  she  added,  "  are  accustomed 
to  be  polite  to  one  another ;  so  polite  and  so  unaccus 
tomed  to  anything  else,  that  when  our  members  found 
themselves  spoken  to  by  the  Southern  members  in  an 
imperious  and  overbearing  style,  they  felt  themselves 
nobodies.  But  that  is  all  over  now." 

Lord  and  Lady had  been  on  a  visit  to  the  Stowes 

the  week  before. 

"  Lady  —  -  is  a  thorough  Piadical,"  said  Mrs.  Stowe. 
"  She  declared  that  the  Church  of  England  was  a  mere 
sect.  His  Lordship  was  dreadfully  shocked." 

"  We  saw  a  funny  story  in  the  papers  one  morning 
about  a  commercial  traveller  who  got  into  the  same 
carriage  with  the  Duke  of  Northumberland  and  the 
Duke  of  Argyll,  and  conversed  with  them  freely,  not 
knowing  who  they  were.  The  Duke  of  Northumber 
land  got  out  at  Alnwick,  where  a  handsome  equipage 
was  in  waiting.  The  traveller  said  with  surprise,  '  I  '11 
bet  you  that's  some  big  nob  we've  been  talking  to/ 
'  It  is  the  Duke  of  Northumberland/  said  Argyll.  The 
traveller  stared  after  the  equipage  in  amazement.  '  By 
gum  !'  he  said,  when  he  had  recovered  himself,  '  who'd 
have  thought  that  a  Duke  would  have  talked  to  two 

little  snobs  like  us  !'  Lady laughed  immoderately 

at  the  story/'  said  Mrs.  Stowe.  "  I  think  she  laughed 


324  AT  HARTFORD. 

all  the  more,  because  Lord -is  such  a  little  fellow 

himself.  She  is  very  wicked  in  that  way." 

Both  Professor  and  Mrs.  Stowe  spoke  in  high  terms 
of  the  Duke  of  Argyll's  Reign  of  Law,  which  they  had 
just  been  reading.  "  He  is  a  remarkable  man,"  said 
Mrs.  Stowe ;  "  just  as  good  as  if  he  were  no  duke 
at  all !" 

I  have  given  Mrs.  Stowe's  opinion  of  the  Southerners. 
Between  her  and  them  not  much  love  is  lost.  As  for  her 
books  on  slavery,  the  Southern  people  denounce  them  as 
outrageous  misrepresentations  that  have  brought  upon 
it  and  upon  them  a  great  deal  of  unmerited  abuse. 

I  remember  a  striking  remark  made  in  conversation 
by  Charles  Campbell,  the  historian  of  Virginia  : — "  I 
have  never,"  he  said,  "  read  more  than  a  few  pages  of 
Uncle  Toms  Cabin,  but  I  read  enough  of  it  to  condemn 
it.  Uncle  Tom  is  a  pattern  of  virtue.  Now,  if  Tom  is 
not  a  representative  negro  the  book  is  false,  for  he  is 
the  negro  of  the  book.  If  Tom  is  a  representative  negro, 
what  a  compliment  this  is  to  the  South  that  we  have 
brought  that  race  from  barbarism,  and  raised  them 
higher  than  ourselves  ! — for  few  of  us  are  as  good  as 
Uncle  Tom.  That  book  and  old  John  Brown's  raid," 
added  Mr.  Campbell,  "  may  be  said  to  have  brought  on 
the  war." 

I  had  also  the  privilege  at  Hartford  of  meeting  Horace 
Bushnell,  well  known  in  this  country  through  his  pub 
lished  works,  and  especially  his  first  volume  of  sermons 
published  under  the  title  of  The  New  Life. 

I  found  Bushnell  sitting  in  his  parlour  alone,  correct 
ing  proofs  for  the  press.  The  first  thing  that  struck  me 
was  the  expression  of  his  dark,  anxious,  thoughtful  eyes. 


HORACE  BUSHNELL'S  TABLE-TALK.  325 

He  has  a  fine  intellectual  face,  sharp  features,  thin 
sensitive  lips,  and  a  nervous  contraction  of  the  brow 
towards  the  centre,  which  gives  a  peculiar  intensity  to 
his  gaze.  Though  scarcely  what  one  would  call  an  old 
man,  his  hair,  which  hangs  in  twining  masses  down 
both  sides  of  his  face,  and  the  strong  beard  which 
sprouts  down  from  his  lip,  are  almost  white ;  and  there 
is  a  stoop  in  his  spare  figure  and  a  feebleness  in  his 
step  when  he  walks. 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  sadness  and  care  in  his  face. 
He  has  the  look  of  one  who  has  thought  much  and 
deeply,  and  is  still  looking  forward  anxiously  for  some 
goal  which  he  cannot  see.  He  talks  earnestly,  says 
sometimes  a  funny  thing,  and  laughs,  but  his  laugh  is 
like  a  sungleani  across  the  darkness.  There  seems 
always  a  background  of  sorrowfulness  and  anxiety. 

Speaking  of  his  work  on  the  Atonement,  he  said, — 
"  My  views  have  been  completely  misunderstood, 
especially  by  those  who  have  condemned  my  book 
without  taking  the  trouble  to  read  it.  When  my  views 
began  to  be  talked  about  here,  I  had  a  letter  from  a 
prominent  Unitarian,  saying  that  I  had  evidently  split 
from  the  orthodox  party,  and  urging  me  to  come  and 
join  the  Unitarians.  He  said  my  doctrine  was  just 
theirs,  and  I  should  be  warmly  welcomed.  I  wrote 
back  saying  that  he  and  his  friends  had  misunderstood 
me  more  than  my  own  friends  had  done;  that  my 
view  was  not  only  at  variance  with  the  Unitarian 
position,  but  destructive  of  it,  and  would  by-and-by  be 
seen  to  be  so. 

"  That  keyed  him  up,"  said  Bushnell.  "  I  heard  no 
more  from  that  quarter." 

Speaking  of  his  reputation  in  Britain,  he  said, — "  It 


326  AT  HARTFORD. 

was  a  clique  here  that  got  up  the  cry  of  heresy  against 
me,  and  immediately  your  people  in  Scotland  turned  up 
their  eyes  in  horror  and  put  my  books  in  their  Index 
Expurgatorius.  But  they  will  find  that  they  have  done 
me  injustice."  He  added, — "  I  am  not  an  innovator ; 
I  am  one  of  the  most  conservative  of  men.  On  this 
question  of  the  Atonement  I  have  taken  up  the  true 
position,  and  can  hold  it.  Truth  will  assert  itself  in 
the  end." 

In  the  course  of  subsequent  conversation,  the  alleged 
deterioration  of  the  American  race  came  up.  He  said, 
— "  It  is  the  fashion  of  some  American  writers  to  talk 
in  that  strain.  But  I  don't  believe  a  word  of  it.  In 
vital  force,  in  energy,  in  muscular  power,  our  Americans 
excel  any  men  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  They  are 
thinner ;  but  look  at  a  Saxon  man  in  England,  fat  and 
sleek  ;  what  is  he  compared  to  a  man  of  nerve  ?  It  is 
not  the  heaviest  boys  that  are  bravest  or  strongest. 
A  little  fellow,  all  fibre,  has  more  work  in  him.  Our 
youths  are  often  magnificent  in  build,  and  could  be 
athletes  if  they  pleased. 

"  They  say  the  school  system  here  runs  the  mechan 
ism  too  fast,  and  hurts  the  children.  Well,  if  that  be 
so,  let  it  be  rectified.  But  education  is  progress ;  and 
I  want  all  the  brain  in  the  country  developed.  I 
would  have  a  servant  girl  with  a  head  as  big  as  a 
kettle.  She  would  manage  her  kitchen  all  the  better, 
and  be  fit  for  something  else  besides." 

When  -reference  was  made  to  those  who  thought 
education  made  the  poor  discontented  with  their  lot. — 

"  That  may  be  the  result,"  said  Bushnell,  "  if  you  fill 
a  boy's  head  with  nonsense — telling  him  that  if  he 
learns  to  read  and  write  he  will  be  fit  for  something 


327 

better  than  making  boots,  like  his  father.  That  boy 
may  become  discontented ;  but  if  he  does,  it  is  not 
because  he  is  educated,  but  because  nonsense  has  been 
talked  to  him.  Education  fits  a  man  for  anything  that 
may  open  up,  but  if  he  is  a  bootmaker,  it  makes  him  a 
happier  and  a  better  bootmaker  than  he  would  have 
been  without  it.  Look  at  these  Irish  servant  girls. 
They  come  uneducated,  and  cannot  do  two  things  at 
once.  An  educated  girl  will  do  thrice  as  much, 
because  she  brings  intelligence  and  adaptation  to  her 
work.  Every  class  benefits  by  education;  privileged 
classes  may  speak  against  it,  but  no  one  can  defend 
the  keeping  of  people  in  ignorance  on  Christian 
grounds." 

He  expressed  himself  strongly,  however,  against  the 
Woman's  Rights  movement.  He  said  its 'effect  would 
be  to  take  woman  from  her  own  position  and  make  an 
inferior  man  of  her.  "  I  believe  in  woman's  rights,"  he 
said,  "  but  her  right  and  her  glory,  too,  is  to  l>e  a  woman, 
and  not  a  mere  ditto  to  man." 

Over  the  subject  of  universal  suffrage  he  shook  his 
head  doubtfully.  "  It  has  grave  drawbacks,"  he  said. 
"  It  would  be  difficult  to  tell  whether  it  has  brought 
more  good  or  evil.  You  will  perhaps  find  in  England 
that  you  have  let  too  many  hands  loose  for  your  safety. 
But  all  nations  are  moving  to  this ;  all  that  can  be 
done  now  is  to  regulate." 

He  seemed  equally  doubtful  about  the  ultimate  issue 
of  the  temperance  and  prohibition  movements.  "  I 
have  most  hope,"  he  said,  "  from  light  wholesome 
wines.  It  is  no  use  advocating  moderation  with  our 
present  liquors.  If  you  invite  people  to  drink  mode 
rately  they  drink  to  the  bottom  of  the  glass,  to  see  if 


328  AT  HARTFORD. 

the  virtue  is  there."  He  had  little  faith  in  legislation. 
"  Legislation,"  he  said,  "  will  never  make  bad  men 
good." 

Speaking  of  the  freed  negroes  in  the  South,  he  said, — 
"  There  is  probably  a  necessity  for  black  labour  on 
the  poisonous  rice  fields  around  Savannah  and  Charles 
ton,  but  on  the  cotton  fields  a  Scotchman  could  do 
better  than  a  Georgian  negro.  The  white  man  brings 
more  mind  to  his  work.  If  he  cannot  do  it  with  his 
hands  he  will  invent  a  machine  to  do  it." 

Buslmell  is  no  longer  engaged  in  regular  ministerial 
work.  His  health  compelled  him  some  years  since  to 
dernit  his  charge,  and  his  work  now  is  chiefly  through 
the  press.  Only  at  intervals  he  occupies  his  old  pulpit, 
or  gives  a  day  to  a  brother  minister  in  some  of  the 
other  churches.  He  is  also  a  regular  attender  at  a 
meeting  which  about  thirty  of  the  Hartford  ministers 
have  amongst  themselves  every  Monday  evening,  for 
social  intercourse  and  friendly  discussion.  He  is 
much  loved  and  revered  by  Ms  brethren,  though  most 
of  them  are  opposed  to  his  peculiar  view  of  the 
Atonement.  The  man  who  has  succeeded  him  in  his 
own  pulpit  is  one  of  his  most  vigorous  opponents,  and 
grapples  with  his  views  in  his  sermons  sometimes, 
though  Bushnell  sits  listening  to  him  in  the  pew  below. 
But  they  are  good  friends,  and  Bushnell  has  said  that 
he  admires  his  brother  all  the  more  for  his  fearlessness 
and  fidelity. 


AMERICANISMS.  329 


XXVII. 

AMERICANISMS. 

AT  one  of  the  stations  on  the  way  from  Savannah  to 
Macon,  I  asked  a  man  who  was  selling  roasted  peanuts 
on  the  platform  what  place  this  was. 

"  Number  10,"  said  the  man. 

"  But  what  is  the  name  of  the  village  ?" 

"  Number  10,"  said  the  man. 

I  found  that  the  stations  along  a  great  part  of  the 
line  were  indicated  in  the  same  way  by  mere  numerals. 
It  is  so  also  with  the  islands  on  the  Mississippi. 
Instead  of  names  like  Arran,  Bute,  and  Cumbrae,  it  is 
"  Island,  No.  1,"  "  Island,  No.  2,"  and  so  on,  up  I  think 
to  Island  125.  New  York  and  other  cities  in  naming 
their  streets  have  followed  the  same  plan.  In 
Philadelphia,  the  first  street  back  from  the  river  is  First 
Street,  the  one  behind  it  Second  Street,  and  so  on ;  and 
in  numbering  the  houses,  a  new  hundred  begins  at 
every  corner.  As  soon  as  you  cross  First  Street  the 
numbers  begin  101,  102  ;  as  soon  as  you  cross  Second 
Street  they  begin  201,  202;  so  that  if  the  house  you 
want  is  1302  you  know  that  it  is  the  first  door  past 
Thirteenth  Street,  and  that  if  you  start  from  the  river  you 
have  exactly  thirteen  equi-distant  streets  to  cross  before 
getting  to  it.  The  system  is  ingenious,  and  looks  well 


330  AMERICANISMS. 

on  paper ;  but  does  not  seem  to  servg  much  purpose 
practically.1 

Numbers  are  prosaic,  but  they  are  not  vulgar.  So 
much  cannot  be  said  for  the  execrable  practice  of 
giving  a  new  place  the  name  of  any  man  located  there 
with  the  suffix  "villa"  This  is  bad  enough  when 
the  place  was  nameless  before,  but  it  is  worse  when 
some  beautiful  Indian  name  is  wiped  out  to  make  way 
for  this  vulgar  palimpsest.  Muggins,  for  instance,  may 
be  a  good  honest  name  in  its  own  place ;  and  Mr. 
Muggins  may  be  an  excellent  man,  and  an  invaluable 
settler.  But  one  feels  that  an  outrage  on  good  taste 
has  been  committed  when  this  gentleman,  having  set 
up  a  mill  on  the  banks  of  the  Wyano,  and  built  a  house 
—which  is,  perhaps,  to  be  the  nucleus  of  a  great  city- 
blots  out  the  name  Wyano,  and  calls  the  place  Muggin- 
ville.  The  States  and  Canada  are  full  of  these  names. 
Jonesville,  Smithville,  Brockville,  Barrelville,  Pottsville, 
Stottsville  are  all  bond  fide  names  of  places.  Nor  will 
one  of  each  suffice.  There  are  3  Millvilles,  4  Somer- 
villes,  7  Greenvilles,  and  8  Centervilles  besides  3  Cen 
ters,  3  Centrals,  and  1  Centralia.  This  repetition  of 
the  same  name  is  another  American  peculiarity,  and  is 
sometimes  bewildering  to  a  stranger.  You  have  a  note 
of  introduction,  let  us  suppose,  to  Dr.  Brown  of  New- 

1  This  system  has  been  attributed  one  family  in  Michigan  the   sons 

to  the  utilitarian  Quakers;  by  others  were  christened  One,  Two,  Three, 

to  the  methodical  Dutch,  who  have  the  daughters,  First,  Second,  Third 

a  craze  for  numerals,  and  use  them  — a  safer  method  than  was  adopted 

in  some  of  their  cemeteries  for  in-  by  the  Vermont  couple  who  called 

dicating    the    dead.     To  speak  of  their  second  child  Finis,  thinking 

"  poor    dear    departed    No.    15,"  it   would    be   the    last,  and  who, 

must  indeed,  as  Dr.  Macleod  once  when  a  girl  and  two  boys  appeared 

remarked,  be  the  prose  of  sentiment.  afterwards,  had  to   call  them  Ad- 

The  living  in  America  are  sometimes  denda,  Supplement,  and  Last  Ap- 

indicated  in  the  same  fashion.     In  pendix. 


VILLES.  331 

port.  You  turn  up  the  guide-book,  and  find  that  there 
are  seven  places  of  that  name  scattered  up  and  down 
the  continent.  Or  you  have  an  old  friend,  who  is  now 
settled  in  a  place  called  Florence,  and  whom  you  wish 
particularly  to  see.  You  consult  your  guide-book  to 
ascertain  how  you  are  to  get  to  him,  and  find,  to  your 
dismay,  that  there  are  Florences  all  over  the  Union — 
in  the  north,  in  the  south,  in  the  east,  and  in  the  west 
— nine  of  them  in  all,  scattered  over  an  area  of  two  or 
three  thousand  miles.  These  cases  are  not  all  excep 
tional.  There  are  10  Franklins,  besides  a  Franklinton, 
and,  of  course,  a  Franklin ville  ;  8  Middletowns  and  1 2 
Salems.  There  are  1 1  Washingtons,  1 4  Summits,  with 
2  Summitvilles ;  1 9  Unions,  with  3  Unionvilles,  4 
Tremonts,  and  8  Trentons.  Through  some  special  in 
terposition  of  Providence,  there  are  only  2  Gorhams, 
and  no  Gorhamville.  No  wonder  that,  in  addressing 
letters,  it  has  become  necessary  in  every  case  to  add 
the  name  of  the  State  to  the  name  of  the  town. 
Happily,  some  of  the  Indian  names,  like  Ontario, 
Wyonine,  Ohio,  Susquehanna,  Minnehaha,  Alabama, 
and  Wyaconda,  have  been  allowed  to  remain.1 


1  The  Indian  names  are  not  all  so  at  Kingston,  but  of  which  I  can  only 

musical.     Probably  the  hardier  life  remember  the  lines — 

and  bleaker  realms  of  Nova  Scotia 

"  Simon  Frazer,  of  Tabusmtack, 
and  Newfoundland  account  for  the  Built  the  church  of  Cushybequak.» 

harsher    names    of    Cushybequak, 

Chebukto,  and  Tobby-gozzel.     One  The  territory  of  Alaska  is  opening 

would  imagine  that  these  would  be  up  a  still  more  interesting  field  for 

hard  nuts  for  a  poet  to  crack.     It  poetical  enterprise.     Amongst  the 

would    seem,    however,    that    Dr.  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  that  icy 

Norman  Macleod,  during  his  visit  region  there  is  said  to  be  a  tribe  of 

to  Canada  many  years  ago,  com-  Yatukskylitmicks,  dwelling  on  the 

posed  something  of  the  nature  of  a  banks   of  a  river  that  rejoices  in 

religious  war-chant,  which  was  re-  the  name  of  Atutoacoolakuchargut. 
cited  to  me  by  one  of  his  old  friends 


332 


AMERICANISMS. 


Probably  the  immense  number  of  new  places  wliicli 
are  continually  springing  up  and  demanding  names  has 
something  to  do  with .  this  repetition  and  use  of  mere 
numbers.  It  may  also  help  to  account  for  another 
feature  in  American  nomenclature — the  wholesale  ap 
propriation  of  ready-made  names  from  the  old  world. 
It  is  doubtful  if  there  is  a  single  European  city  or  town, 
noted  either  in  ancient  or  modern  history,  that  has  not 
a  namesake  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  There  are 
2  Edinburghs,  7  Bristols,  a  Glasgow,  and  a  Liverpool, 
7  Berlins,  7  Waterloos,  9  Manch esters,  and  10  Oxfords. 
The  Americans  have  a  special  fondness  for  the  names 
of  antiquity.  Amongst  their  "  cities  "  are  to  be  found 
Sparta  and  Memphis,  4  Homes,  3  Athens,  5  Troys,  6 
Lebanons,  and  7  Palmyras.1 


1  Their  fondness  for  classical 
names,  and  for  high-sounding 
names,  whether  classical  or  not, 
amounts  to  a  weakness,  and  is 
amusingly  conspicuous  in  some  of 
the  names  they  give  to  their  chil 
dren.  I  noted  the  following  names 
in  a  single  family  in  North  Caro 
lina  : — 

Lyssisanici  Vietta  M/Lean. 

Albums  Sidelphus  M'Lean. 

Leila  Anstrici  M'Lean. 

Morrettus  Sellers  M'Lean. 
Such  names  swarm  all  over 
America.  Plenty  of  them  are  to 
be  found  among  the  public  men. 
President  Ulysses  Grant,  General 
Tecumseh  Sherman,  ex-minister 
Cassius  Marceilus  Clay,  are  only 
specimens. 

In  Puritan  New  England,  it  was 
long  the  practice  to  take  Scriptural 
and  pious  names  ;  and  little  Faiths, 
Godspeeds,  Hopestills,  Delights, 
and  Tranquillities,  not  to  mention 


vulgar  Abrahams,  Ruths,  Jobs, 
and  Jacobs,  are  still  to  be  found 
playing  with  minute  Daniel  Web- 
sters  and  Napoleons.  But  the 
rage  in  the  meantime  is  for  fancy 
names,  and  a  string  of  them  for 
each  child. 

The  most  extraordinary  for  length 
that  I  came  in  contact  with  myself 
was  owned  by  a  black  woman  in  one 
of  the  night  classes  at  the  Beech 
Institute,  Savannah,  whose  full 
signature  was  "  Corinthia-Marigold- 
Wilkison-  Ball-Wemyss-Alexander- 
Jones  Mitchell.  The  teacher  said 
they  called  her  Cora  Mitchell  "  for 
short."  But  her  name,  had  a  mean 
ing.  It  was  the  practice  with  slaves 
to  assume  the  name  of  their  owner, 
and  this  woman  had  been  owned  by 
half-a-dozen  families  in  succession. 
She  had  retained  the  name  of  each, 
and  therefore  emerged  into  freedom 
with  the  formidable  name  given 
above. 


PRONUNCIATION.  333 

Let  me  enumerate  now  a  few  of  the  peculiarities  of 
American  pronunciation  and  expression  that  attracted 
my  attention.  Mrs.  Stowe's  way  of  pronouncing 
"  Duke/'  common  enough  in  some  parts  of  England,  is 
universal  in  America.  In  almost  all  the  words  which 
with  us  have  the  sound  of  "  u,"  the  Americans  give 
the  sound  of  "  oo."  They  speak  about  "  noospapers  ;" 
about  "  Noo  York"  and  "  Noo  Orleans;"  about  the 
"  doo  "  having  fallen  last  night ;  and  about  giving  the 
devil  his  "  doo."  Several  times  in  New  England,  even 
amongst  educated  people,  I  heard  "  does "  pronounced 
"  dooz."  One  New  England  lady,  whose  name  would 
be  familiar  to  most  readers,  said,  when  I  asked  if  her 
husband  went  to  such  and  such  meetings,  "  Oh  yes,  he 
dooz."  Horizon  is  often  pronounced  "  horizon,"  with 
the  "  i "  short  and  the  accent  on  the  first  syllable ; 
while  "  European "  is  pronounced  with  the  "  o  "  long 
and  accented,  "  European."  The  Americans  are  amused 
just  as  much  at  our  provincialisms, — at  the  Cockney 
"  hasking  for  heggs,"  at  the  Scotchman's  "  brode " 
accent,  and  at  the  pronunciation  given  here  to  some  of 
their  proper  names.  The  first  friend  to  whom  I  spoke 
of  the  river  Potomac  (emphasizing  the  "  Pot ")  fairly 
roared.  The  correct  pronunciation  is  Potomac — a  far 
finer  word.  Again,  Appomatfcox  is  pronounced  "  Ap'po- 
mattox;"  Connecticut  is  pronounced  as  if  it  had  no 
"  c  "  in  the  second  syllable,  "  Connetticut ;"  Illinois  is 
pronounced  "Illinoy;"  Arkansas  is  generally  "A'rk- 
ansaw  ;"  Mohican  is  "Mohic-an;"  Alleghany  is  "  Ally- 
gayny,"  and  Cincinnati  almost  always  "  Cincin 
nati." 

But   to   pass  to  terms    and  expressions.     Eailway 


334  AMERICANISMS. 

carriages  are  called  "  cars"  in  America,  and  stations 
"  depots."  The  guard  is  called  the  conductor,  and  the 
cry  is  "All  aboard,"  instead  of  "Take  seats."  They 
carry  the  analogy  further,  and  speak  of  shipping  goods 
by  train. 

Shops  are  called  "stores."  The  only  places  the 
Americans  call  shops  are  work- shops — places  where 
things  are  manufactured;  all  places  where  goods  are 
sold  are  stores.  Servants  are  "  helps."  Masters  are 
either  "  governors "  or  "  bosses."  "  Is  the  boss  to 
hum?"  you  will  hear  a  country  girl  say  when  in 
quiring  if  the  master  is  at  home.  A  stranger  will  ask 
you  "What's  the  time,  boss?"  But  "boss"  is  a 
vulgarism.  "  Captain  "  is  often  used  in  place  of  "  boss," 
where  we  should  simply  say  "  sir."  People  often  said 
to  me,  "Guess  you 're  a  stranger  here,  cap'n?"  The 
same  term  is  applied  officially  to  every  man  who  has 
charge  of  anything.  Hotel-keepers,  stage -drivers,  rail 
way-guards,  are  all  "  captains."  Perhaps  this  usage 
dates  from  the  militia  days,  when  almost  everybody 
had  some  military  title,  the  rank  most  wanting  being 
the  rank  and  file.  These  titles  mean  more  now  than 
before  the  war,  and  are,  if  possible,  even  more  abundant. 
In  some  parts  of  the  South  everybody  is  either  a  general, 
colonel,  or  major;  and  the  best  rule  perhaps,  if  you 
don't  know  exactly  what  a  man  is,  is  to  call  him 
"  General."  If  he  is  a  general,  you  are  right ;  and  if 
he  isn't,  he  will  excuse  the  mistake. 

The  title  of  "  Professor "  is  often  absurdly  em 
ployed  in  the  States.  Tailors  are  sometimes  called 
professors.  I  observed  that  a  barber  in  Chicago  was 
advertising  himself  as  a  professor  of  hair-cutting.  A 
corn- cutter  called  himself  a  professor  of  corns  and 


ODD  EXPRESSIONS.  335 

bunions.     Another  man  with  a  patent  called  himself  a 
professor  of  soap. 

Where  we  should  say  "  I  think "  or  "  I  suppose/' 
the  Northern  man  says,  "  I  guess,"  and  the  Southern 
man  "  I  reckon."  It  was  a  Yankee's  way  of  explain 
ing  the  difference,  that  a  Yankee's  guess  was  as  good  as 
a  Southern  man's  reckoning.  These  expressions  are 
attached  to  all  tenses.  "  I  guess  we  got  wet  that  day," 
"  I  reckon  we  '11  have  rain,"  "  I  guess  it 's  warm,"  "  I 
reckon  it  is,  considerable."  Some  of  the  Western 
people  prefer  calculating  to  either  guessing  or  reckon 
ing  ;  "  I  calculate  there  ain't  anything  like  this  in  your 
country."  Still  stranger  is  their  use  of  "  expect," 
with  reference  to  past  as  well  as  future  events.  You  will 
sometimes  hear  a  man  say  "  I  expect  they  came."  As 
in  the  other  cases,  however,  the  oddity  is  the  result  of 
elision.  The  whole  sentence  would  be,  "  I  expect  that 
if  we  go  into  the  evidence  we  shall  find  that  they 


o 

came." 


"  Plenty  near  "  and  "  plenty  much  "  are  not  uncom 
mon.  I  remember  a  farmer  remarking  that  his  place 
was  "  plenty  near "  the  river,  and  another  that  a  cer 
tain  stove  though  small  was  "  plenty  large  for  the 
room."  "  Mighty  "  in  the  sense  of  "  very  "  is  common 
in  the  South.  A  road  is  "  mighty  bad,"  and  a  sermon 
"  mighty  slow."  The  Western  man  uses  the  same 
expression,  but  is  fonder  of  "  powerful."  He  is 
"  mighty  glad "  to  see  you,  and  "  powerfully  sorry " 
that  you  can't  wait. 

Candidates  stand  for  office  in  this  country,  in  America 
they  "  run  "  for  office.  And  they  really  do.  One  man 
runs  for  a  judgeship  ;  another  man  is  run  for  the  Pre- 


336  AMERICANISMS. 

sidency.  Things  are  also  run  in  America  that  are  con 
ducted  here.  Mr.  Smith  runs  a  dry  goods'  business ; 
Colonel  Brown  runs  a  hotel.  If  it  is  large  and  pros 
perous  it  is  "  a  whole  team ; "  if  small,  it  is  only  "  a 
one-horse  concern."  I  heard  people  speak  of  a  one- 
horse  college  and  a  one-horse  church. 

Americans  are  much  given  to  the  verbalizing  of 
nouns.  They  speak  of  "mailing"  letters,  and  of  two 
people  "  rooming  "  together ;  and  a  man  who  is  looking 
out  for  a  "  location  "  is  "  prospecting."  I  once  heard  a 
lady  say  that  she  "  suspicioned  "  another.  But  if  it  be 
true,  as  alleged,  that  the  Metropolitan  Eailway  Company 
in  London  once  announced  that,  in  spite  of  an  accident 
which  had  occurred,  they  would  continue  "  to  function 
along  the  line/'  we  can  hardly  blame  an  American  for 
suspicioning. 

A  "  bug "  in  America  generally  means  a  fly — any 
thing  with  wings,  and  not  restricted  as  to  the  number 
of  its  legs.  They  have  tumble-bugs,  lightning-bugs, 
and  other  varieties  innumerable.  The  term  "  big  bug  " 
is  sometimes  applied  to  a  prominent  man.  A  Virginian, 
in  a  glow  of  enthusiasm,  described  General  Lee  as  the 
biggest  bug  alive. 

Streams  in  America  are  called  "  creeks,"  small  rivers 
are  "runs," — as  Bull  Eun,  Hatcher's  Eun,  and  so  on. 
The  autumn  is  "  the  fall ; "  the  sunset  is  "  sundown." 
You  sometimes,  not  often,  hear  "sun-up."  You  will 
hear  people  (commercial,  I  should  think)  speak  of 
"  elegant  Goffee,"  an  "  elegant  moon,"  an  "  elegant  sky," 
a  "handsome  night."  In  the  South  they  speak  of 
having  "  a  misery  in  the  head,"  meaning  a  pain.  They 
retain  our  old  use  of  the  word  "  dizzy,"  meaning  giddy  ; 
but  they  speak  of  a  giddy  girl  as  we  do.  In  Vermont 


USING  WORDS  IN  DIFFERENT  SENSE.  337 

they  speak  about  tall  girls,  meaning  gay.  Tall  speak 
ing,  tall  stealing,  are  expressions  more  common,  and 
better  understood.  In  New  England  you  hear  "cun 
ning  "  used  in  the  sense  of  neat  and  pretty — "  such  a 
cunning  little  boy,"  in  admiration.  "Clever"  means 
good-natured.  An  American  would  say,  "He  has  no 
mind,  no  ingenuity,  but  he's  clever,  sir,  very  clever." 
They  rarely  attach  to  the  word  our  idea  of  intellectual 
acuteness.  Their  word  for  ability  is  smartness — "  Yes, 
sir,  he 's  a  smart  preacher  " — "  General  Grant  is  a  smart 
man,  sir."  The  word  "  around  "  is  oddly  used — "  I  '11 
be  around,"  for  I  '11  be  near — "  Shall  you  be  around  ? " 
— "  Is  there  any  ink  around  ? "  and  so  on.  One  lady 
said,  "  Our  girls  begin  very  soon  to  think  of  beaux,  and 
flirt  around."  A  Texan  whom  I  met  at  New  Orleans 
said  he  was  merely  "  gassing  around  "  for  a  day  or  two. 
But  oddest  of  all  is  the  use  of  the  word  "  fix."  With 
the  Americans  everything  is  fixed.  They  fix  the  fire 
and  fix  the  dinner.  Your  wife  goes  to  fix  her  hair,  or 
gets  her  maid  to  fix  her  generally.  If  the  clock  runs 
down,  it  wants  fixing.  Eeturning  from  a  ride  with  a 
Southern  officer,  he  said,  before  going  to  the  drawing- 
room,  "  1 11  go  and  fix  my  hands  first,"  meaning  wash 
them !  I  was  driving  round  with  a  clergyman  one 
day  when  a  farmer's  wife,  on  whom  he  made  a  call, 
said,  "  Do  stop  to  dinner ;  we  've  got  chicken  fixings  to 
day."  I  suggested  to  my  friend  that,  as  a  stranger  in 
the  country,  it  would  be  desirable  to  see  the  style  in 
which  chickens  were  fixed.  So  we  stopped  and  had  a 
delightful  dinner,  but  no  chickens.  I  mentioned  my 
difficulty  on  the  subject.  "  Oh,"  said  our  host,  laugh 
ing,  "chicken  fixings  here  mean  anything  out  of  the 
common;  we  expected  friends,  and  wife  had  an  un- 

VOL.  II.  Y 


338  AMERICANISMS. 

common  good  dinner  to-day,  that 's  all."  "  Chicken 
with  fixings,"  "  lamb  with  fixings,"  meaning  along  with 
things  that  complete  and  give  a  relish  to  the  dish — is 
common  enough  everywhere ;  but  "  chicken  fixings,"  in 
the  sense  understood  by  the  farmer's  wife,  I  never 
heard  used  except  in  the  west.  There,  too,  they  speak 
of  a  "square  meal,"  meaning  one  that  is  filling  and 
satisfactory.  A  Chicago  lady  said  one  day  at  table, 
"  This  is  the  first  square  meal  I  Ve  had  since  I  left 
home."  "Fix"  has  many  more  applications  than  I 
have  mentioned.  They  speak  of  the  fixings  of  a  house, 
meaning  everything  in  it — movable  furniture  as  well 
as  what  we  call  "  fixtures."  They  even  call  the  house 
a  "  fix."  "  You  Ve  got  a  nice  fix,"  I  heard  one  say  to 
a  friend  at  whose  house  we  were  visiting.  Another 
gentleman,  speaking  to  a  newly-married  friend,  and 
referring  to  his  wife,  said,  with  enthusiasm,  "  She 's  a 
delightful  little  fix  ! "  I  had  been  forming  an  induction 
as  to  the  general  meaning  of  this  extraordinary  word ; 
but  when  I  heard  a  lady  called  a  little  fix,  it  became  a 
mere  conundrum,  and  I  gave  it  up. 


CANADIAN  WINTEK.  339 


XXVIII. 

CANADIAN  WINTER. 

AN  invitation  to  the  Scottish  celebrations  at  Mon 
treal  on  St.  Andrew's  Day,  took  me  to  Canada  in  the 
beginning  of  winter,  and  gave  me  a  touch  of  Canadian 
cold.  They  tell  a  story  about  somebody  who  took  an 
old- country  thermometer  out  there,  but  found  it  of  no 
use.  At  the  first  nip  of  Canadian  frost,  the  mercury 
ran  down  into  the  bulb,  and  never  showed  face  again 
till  the  spring.  If  I  had  been  the  mercury  on  that  St. 
Andrew's  Day  in  Montreal,  it  was  exactly  what  I  should 
have  felt  disposed  to  do  myself.  I  don't  know  in  what 
relation  to  zero  the  thermometers  stood,  but  the  cold 
was  intense,  roads  and  ponds  were  hard  as  flint,  the 
great  St.  Lawrence,  freezing  fast,  was  giving  off  its  heat 
in  clouds,  like  a  hot  horse  on  a  cold  day ;  and  a  cutting 
wind,  that  seemed  to  have  come  direct  from  the  North 
Pole,  sharpening  itself  against  icebergs  all  the  way, 
went  through  one's  bones  like  a  knife.  I  had  never 
felt  such  cold.  It  caught  the  breath ;  it  made  the 
moustache  freeze  instantly,  and  feel  as  if  it  would  have 
crackled  off  like  fibres  of  sealing-wax.  It  got '  its  hand 
under  the  hat,  and  passed  its  cold  fingers  through  the 
roots  of  the  hair ;  it  tweaked  the  nose  with  its  frosty 
pincers,  and  brought  drops  of  ice- water  into  the  eyes. 

But  nobody  knows  what  Scottish  fervour  is  till  he 


340  CANADIAN  WINTER. 

sees  Scotchmen  celebrating  a  national  festival  two  or 
three  thousand  miles  away  from  home.  The  Caledonian 
and  St.  Andrew's  Societies  of  Montreal,  with  a  patriotism 
that  disregarded  the  thermometer  and  defied  the  seve 
rities  of  nature,  turned  out  that  day  into  the  frost,  and 
marched  in  long  procession  through  the  hyperborean 
streets  with  colours  flying,  and  five  bare-knee'd,  blue- 
nosed,  but  dauntless  pipers  of  the  gallant  78th  blowing 
pibrochs  at  the  head  of  the  column,  leading  it  to  a 
Scotch  church  to  hear  the  praises  of  Scotland  from  a 
Scotch  minister,  and  facing  the  withering  wind  on  their 
way  back  again  as  gallantly  as  they  would  have  faced 
the  Fenians. 

At  night  came  the  Caledonian  public  meeting,  crowded 
to  the  door  with  ardent  patriots  ;  also  the  St.  Andrew's 
dinner,  at  which  the  gentlemen  wore  sprigs  of  heather 
grown  upon  Scottish  hills,  and  brought  to  America  for 
the  express  purpose  of  being  worn  that  night.  I  cannot 
trust  myself  now  to  conjecture  how  many  dishes  there 
were  at  that  national  dinner.  I  know  there  was  "  plenty 
much  to  eat"  (as  the  Yankees  say),  and  a  great  deal  too 
much  to  drink;1  but  I  remember  that  the  great  event 
of  the  evening  was  the  introduction  of  the  immortal 
haggis.  The  entry  of  Garibaldi  into  London,  or  John 
Bright  landing  at  New  York,  might  give  one  an  idea  of 

1  Reporters  should  be  required  to  papers  he  was  made  to  say  that  he 

sign  the  pledge  before  entering  upon  had  come  to  live  in  Canada,  with 

their  duties  at  such  meetings.     One  his  head  on  the  mountains  and  his 

gentleman  that  night  wound  up  an  feet  on  the  setting  sun  !    I  was  glad 

eloquent  speech  with  the  remark,  to  see  that  next  St.  Andrew's  day 

that  he  hoped  to  spend  his  life  in  he  repeated  his  remark,  to  allow  a 

Canada,  and  be  laid  at  last  in  the  sober  reporter  to  extricate  him  from 

cemetery  behind  the  mountain,  with  the  magnificently  American,  but  ex- 

his  head  to  the  setting  sun,  to  sleep  tremely  uncomfortable  attitude  in 

his  last  sleep  in  the  land  of  his  which  the  previous  year's  reporter 

adoption.     In  one  of  the  morning  had  left  him. 


"TOBOGGANS."  341 

it.  With  pipers  blowing  in  front,  with  pipers  bringing 
up  the  rear,  in  came  the  "  king  o'  pudding  race,"  borne 
aloft  by  the  excited  waiter,  amidst  the  deafening  cheers 
of  the  assembled  patriots,  who  stood  watching  and 
cheering  it  as  it  moved  round  the  room,  till  they  saw 
it  deposited  triumphantly  in  front  of  the  chairman.  It 
may  be  safely  asserted  that  no  Scotchman  in  America 
ever  thinks  of  tasting  haggis  at  any  other  time;  but 
any  one  failing  to  show  due  honour  to  that  mighty 
symbol  of  Scottish  nationality  at  the  St.  Andrew's 
dinner,  would  be  branded  as  a  renegade  and  apostate 
from  the  national  faith. 

Within  a  few  days  of  my  arrival  in  Lower  Canada 
the  snows  came,  and  the  whole  land  was  buried  deep 
under  its  white  winter  covering,  never  to  show  its  face 
again  till  the  following  spring.  Everything  running  on 
wheels  now  disappeared,  and  in  the  busy  streets  of 
Montreal  all  the  vehicles — carts,  vans,  omnibuses,  wag 
gons,  and  drays — were  to  be  seen  sliding  on  skates. 
The  very  butchers'  boys  ran  their  baskets  on  little  sleds. 
Every  now  and  then,  on  Beaver  Hill,  one  would  flash 
past,  shooting  down  the  incline,  sitting  sideways  on  his 
basket,  with  his  leg  sticking  out  behind  for  steering 
purposes.  Innumerable  sleighs,  with  their  beautiful 
buffalo  robes  and  silver-jingling  bells,  sped  to  and  fro 
in  hundreds,  filling  the  streets  with  music  and  gaiety. 

Hundreds  of  youths  were  also  out  by  this  time  with 
their  "  toboggans,"  to  begin  the  most  glorious  of  winter 
sports.  The  "  toboggan"  (Indian  name)  is  a  thin  slip 
of  wood  about  a  foot  and  a  half  wide,  and  four  to  six 
feet  long.  The  end  that  goes  foremost  is  curled  up,  to 
prevent  it  from  catching  the  snow,  or  being  checked  by 
any  protuberance ;  and  the  slider,  when  using  it,  either 


342  CANADIAN  WINTER. 

sits  on  it,  facing  forwards,  or  lies  with  his  side  upon  it, 
as  011  a  couch,  resting  on  one  elbow,  that  he  may  see 
ahead.  This  kind  of  sledge,  light  as  a  feather,  is  taken 
to  the  top  of  some  incline — the  clear  slope  of  the 
mountain  is  a  favourite  place  at  Montreal,  as  the  Mont- 
inorency  Fall  is  at  Quebec — the  slider  heads  it  down 
wards,  throwing  himself  on  it  in  the  posture  described, 
launches  himself  head-foremost  over  the  brow  of  the 
slope,  and  flies  down  with  the  velocity  of  a  cannon- 
ball.  "  Lightning  is  nowhar,"  as  the  Yankee  said,  "  and 
you  have  to  hold  your  scalp  on." 

The  Montreal  people  have  also  skating-rinks,  such  as 
are  seen  also  in  New  York.  The  skating-rink  is  a 
beautiful  square  pond,  forming,  as  it  were,  the  floor  of 
a  large  airy  hall,  which  is  open  from  morning  to  night, 
and  is  lighted  up  in  the  evening.  In  the  entry-room 
every  subscriber  has  his  own  little  pigeon-hole  where 
his  skates  are  kept,  so  that  he  can  step  in  and  have  a 
skate  as  often  as  he  feels  disposed ;  and  as  the  ice  lasts 
in  Canada  for  five  months,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  the  Canadian  skaters,  ladies  as  well  as  gentlemen, 
and  indeed  the  Canadians  generally,  for  they  almost 
all  live  within  reach  of  river  or  lake,  should  display 
such  incomparable  skill  upon  the  ice.  One  of  the 
loveliest  sights  to  be  seen  in  America  is  a  skating 
rink  on  a  masquerade  night,  when  the  place  is  bril 
liantly  illuminated  with  many- coloured  lights,  and  the 
skaters  are  all  in  costume. 

One  wlio  spends  any  part  of  the  winter  in  Canada, 
soon  begins  to  understand  why  it  is  that,  in  spite  of  its 
length  and  severity,  the  Canadians  speak  of  it  with  such 
enthusiasm.  It  is  the  great  season  for  social  life  and 
enjoyment.  Jack  Frost  has  locked  up  the  rivers  and 


COST  OF  FUEL.  343 

ports,  and  buried  the  country  deep  under  the  snow. 
Work  is  therefore  over  for  a  season,  and  the  time  for 
pleasure  is  come.  In  the  backwoods,  where  roads  are 
almost  impassable  in  summer,  the  ice  has  converted 
every  river  and  stream  into  a  smooth  and  polished 
pathway  for  the  fast-flickering  skate  or  the  flying  sledge, 
and  people  think  nothing  of  a  run  of  fifty  or  sixty  miles 
to  see  their  friends.  It  is  thus  that  the  very  severity  of 
the  season  brings  compensation  with  it. 

The  houses  in  Lower  Canada  are  built  with  a  special 
eye  to  winter  comfort.  They  have  double  doors  and 
double  windows,  and  are  heated  with  stoves,  or  hot-air 
pipes  instead  of  open  fires.  People  from  this  country 
often  go  out  with  a  prejudice  against  stoves,  and  begin 
with  open  fires,  but  the  first  winter,  sometimes  the  first 
week  of  winter,  converts  them.  Many  houses  heated 
with  stoves  have  also  open  fires  in  the  public  rooms 
for  the  cheerfulness  and  home  associations,  but  the 
comfort  of  the  house  has  to  depend  on  the  stoves  and 
hot-air  pipes.  These,  in  the  better  class  of  dwellings, 
keep  the  whole  house  so  equably  heated,  that  the  bed 
rooms  are  as  comfortable  as  the  sitting-rooms,  and  the 
hall  and  lobbies  as  comfortable  as  either.  With  the 
outside  temperature  ten  degrees  below  freezing-point,  I 
have  sat  in  the  house,  sometimes  in  one  room,  some 
times  in  another,  reading  or  writing,  with  all  the  doors 
to  the  lobby  open,  and  have  felt  far  more  comfortable 
than  sitting  over  a  fire  at  home,  with  a  screen  behind 
me,  and  every  door  closed.  All  this  of  course  costs 
money.  The  friend  with  whom  I  lived  at  Montreal 
said  that  fuel  cost  him  about  £100  a  year,  but  his  house 
was  large,  and  had  a  conservatory  outside.  A  small 
house  of  four  or  five  rooms  will  burn  up  half  a  cord  of 


344  CANADIAN  WINTER. 

wood  in  a  week — half  a  cord  costing  about  10s.  in  the 
city,  and  4s.  or  5s.  in  the  country.  But  then  the  house 
is  really  warmed.  The  change,  no  doubt,  is  all  the 
greater  when  one  goes  out  of  doors,  but  the  people  dress 
well,  and  warmly ;  and  the  hardy  Canadian,  wrapt  in 
his  furs,  laughs  and  rejoices  in  a  degree  of  cold  that 
would  make  us  shiver  even  to  hear  of.  The  ladies, 
besides  their  furs,  wear  a  scarf  called  a  "  cloud,"  that 
comes  down  over  the  ears  and  ties  under  the  chin.  The 
capuchin,  a  hood  attached  to  the  neck  of  the  cloak  or 
overcoat,  and  capable  of  being  drawn  completely  over 
the  head,  is  also  common.  You  sometimes  see  a  waggon- 
driver  walking  beside  his  horse  wrapped  in  a  thick  coat, 
his  hands  in  huge  gloves,  and  his  head  so  completely 
enveloped  in  the  pointed  hood,  that  nothing  is  visible 
under  it  but  the  bowl  of  his  pipe,  and  perhaps  the  point 
of  his  nose,  if  he  has  a  long  one.1 

Occasionally,  about  New  Year  time,  there  is  a  day  or 
two  of  change,  with  showers  of  sleet,  but  even  then  the 
frost  is  sometimes  so  keen  that  the  sleet  freezes  the 
instant  it  touches  the  clothes,  plating  the  unprotected 
traveller  with  ice.  A  Canadian  minister  told  me  that, 

1  The  Canadian,   in  his  fur-cap  and  with  immense  hairy  gloves  on 

and  huge  hairy  coat,  presents   so  his  hands,  stepped  forward  in  the 

shaggy  an  appearance  that  mistakes  snow  and  began  feeling  the  harness. 

are  apt  to  occur.     I  was  told  at  The  woman  of  the  house  coming  to 

Doune,  in  Upper  Canada,  that  the  the  door,  and  looking  out  through 

late  Dr.  Burns  of  Toronto  was  on  the  thick  -  falling  snow,   discerned 

one  occasion  nearly  shot  for  a  bear.  this  strange  object,  and  cried  out 

He  was  driving  with  a  friend  through  that  a  bear  had  attacked  the  horse. 

a  snow-storm,  when  something  went  Her  husband  came  running  out  with 

wrong  with  the  harness.     His  com-  his  gun,   and  was  taking  a  sight, 

panion  went  into  a  farm-house  which  when  he  cried,  dropping  his  piece 

they  were  passing,  for  a  bit  of  rope,  suddenly,  "  Losh,  womman,  that 's 

while  the  stout  little  doctor,  dressed  Dr.  Burns ! " 
in  his  huge  bearskin-coat  and  cap, 


FISHING  THROUGH  THE  ICE.  345 

at  one  of  their  Presbytery  meetings,  where  an  important 
motion  was  to  be  made  by  an  elder,  the  members  of 
Presbytery,  having  to  drive  through  a  heavy  shower  of 
sleet,  arrived  in  shining  panoplies  of  ice.  The  elder, 
who  had  to  drive  a  longer  way,  was  very  late  of  appear 
ing,  and  at  length  arrived  with  his  immense  beard  con 
verted  into  a  solid  mass,  frozen  like  a  piece  of  rock  to 
his  overcoat,  so  that  he  could  turn  his  head  neither  to 
the  right  nor  to  the  left.  When  he  essayed  to  speak,  he 
found  that  his  moustache  was  frozen  firmly  to  his  beard, 
making  it  impossible  for  him,  in  spite  of  the  most  fright 
ful  distortions  of  his  face,  to  get  his  lips  separated.  The 
Presbytery  had  therefore  to  wait  for  half-an-hour,  while 
the  elder  sat  down  beside  the  stove  and  thawed  himself. 

These  sleet  storms  are  very  rare.  In  general,  all 
through  the  winter,  the  sky  is  clear  and  blue,  the  frost 
keen,  and  the  air  deliciously  crisp  and  calm.  So  dry  is 
the  atmosphere,  that  newly-  fallen  snow,  not  caked  by 
the  sun,  lies  like  dust.  A  kick  of  the  foot  sends  it  up 
like  a  little  cloud  of  smoke.  I  have  taken  some  up, 
and,  after  rubbing  it  between  my  warm  hands,  have 
found  that  it  still  shook  off  as  dry  as  flour. 

Although  for  five  months  the  great  lakes  are  frozen 
and  converted  into  a  level  tract  of  country,  fishing 
does  not  altogether  cease.  The  fishermen  go  out  on 
the  ice,  build  huts  with  stoves  in  them,  cut  holes  in  the 
ice-floor,  and  fish  through.  Salt-sea  fish,  however,  can 
be  had  in  Canada  all  through  the  winter,  the  frost  pre 
serving  them.  If  you  go  to  the  fishmonger's,  he  takes 
an  axe  and  chops  off  a  cod  for  you  from  a  huge  mass  of 
frozen  fish.  If  you  only  require  a  piece,  he  saws  it  off 
just  as  he  might  saw  a  log  of  wood.  It  is  the  practice 
with  many  housewives,  when  tfie  frost  comes  on,  to 


346  CANADIAN  WINTER. 

have  their  chickens  killed  and  put  in  a  barrel,  where 
they  freeze  and  keep  fresh  all  through  the  winter.  One 
is  taken  as  wanted,  steeped  a  day  in  water  to  thaw  it, 
and  then  cooked  in  the  usual  way.  This  gives  fresh 
pullet  all  winter,  and  saves  the  cost  of  keeping  the 
fowls.  The  expense  of  feeding,  when  the  country  is 
under  snow,  from  December  to  March,  would  of  course 
be  considerable. 


DR.  TODD  AMONG  THE  PROPHETS.  347 


XXIX. 

• 

"  THE  OLD  MAN  OF  THE  MOUNTAINS." 

AMONGST  the  myriads  of  little  hearts  which  that 
incomparable  sermon- writer  for  the  young,  John  Todd, 
author  of  the  Student's  Manual,  had  touched  with  his 
magic  wand,  mine  was  one.  I  still  recall,  with  pecu 
liar  fondness,  that  little  Sunday  book  at  home — Todd's 
Truth  made  Simple — over  which  I  used  to  pore  in  the 
years  of  my  childhood,  and  some  pathetic  stories  in 
which  I  could  never  read  aloud  without  bursting  into 
tears.  I  remember  my  utter  amazement  when  I  learned, 
years  afterwards,  that  Todd  was  still  alive.  From  his 
lectures  being  so  much  associated  with  Bible  stories  in 
that  sunny  haze  of  infancy,  he  had  become  associated 
in  my  mind  with  the  patriarchs,  prophets,  and  apostles. 
If  I  had  heard  that  he  belonged  to  the  time  of  John 
Bunyan,  it  might  have  seemed  less  incredible,  the  Pil 
grim's  Progress  and  Todd's  Lectures  being  companion 
volumes  in  our  infant  library.  But  to  hear  that  the 
man  who  wrote  Todd's  Lectures  still  walked  the  earth, 
and  taught,  and  wrote,  and  preached,  and  could  be  seen 
somewhere  in  America  with  the  living  eye,  was  like 
hearing  that  a  whale  had  disgorged  the  veritable  prophet 
Jonah  alive  on  the  coast  of  France,  or  that  Paul  and 
Barnabas,  on  a  preaching  tour,  had  just  arrived  in 
London. 


348       "  THE  OLD  MAN  OF  THE  MOUNTAINS." 

I  saw  Todd  for  the  first  time  in  Boston,  where  he  had 
come  from  his  home  at  Pittsfield,  on  the  Green  Moun 
tains,  to  preach  the  opening  sermon  in  his  son's  church. 
His  appearance,  as  he  came  upon  the  platform,  is  very 
fresh  in  my  memory.  I  can  still  see  him  take  his  seat 
on  the  sofa  at  the  back,  and,  while  his  son  is  reading 
the  opening  hymn,  take  out  his  handkerchief  and  begin 
to  breathe  upon  his  spectacles  and  wipe  them,  and  see 
if  they  are  clear.  Perhaps  it  was  his  lingering  associa 
tion  in  my  mind  with  apostolic  times  that  made  me 
surprised  that  he  did  not  look  older.  '  His  short  hair, 
standing  straight  up  from  his  head,  was  only  beginning 
to  turn  grey ;  his  rugged  face  had  a  bronzed  and  weather- 
beaten  look ;  and  when  he  rose  and  laid  aside  his  cloak, 
and  took  his  place  at  the  desk,  with  one  hand  planted 
against  his  side  and  the  other  on  the  Bible,  he  stood  up 
straight  and  vigorous  as  a  man  of  thirty.  His  counte 
nance,  in  repose,  has  a  heavy  and  almost  sullen  expres 
sion,  but  there  is  a  beautiful  and  kindly  light  in  his 
grey  eyes  that  glimmers  through  his  square  spectacles 
and  sheds  a  pleasant  radiance  over  his  whole  face. 

When  he  read  the  chapter  and  gave  out  his  text,  I 
saw  that  he  was  going  to  address  himself  to  the  time 
and  the  place.  The  subject  was  Paul  at  Athens ;  "  and 
Athens,"  said  he,  "  was  to  Greece  just  what  Boston  is 
to  Massachusetts."  He  took  for  his  text  the  inscrip 
tion,—"  To  THE  UNKNOWN  GOD  ;"  and  the  sermon  that 
followed  was  a  fearless,  strong,  and  yet  affectionate 
protest  against  the  Unitarianism  and  intellectual  con 
ceit  of  "  the  Hub." 

Todd  is  unmistakably  American  in  the  inflections  of 
his  voice  and  in  his  pronunciation.  You  notice  that 
mercy  is  "  mussy,"  God's  work  is  "  God's  wuk,"  Eternal 


DK.  TODD  AT  HOME. 


349 


is  "  Etunnul,"  and  so  forth.  But  he  speaks  with  strong, 
precise,  deliberate  utterance,  as  one  who  is  master  of  his 
word  and  thought. 

The  cordial  invitation  he  gave  me  to  come  and  see 
"the  Old  Man  of  the  Mountains"  (as  he  grimly  called 
himself)  at  his  own  home,  took  me  a  few  weeks  after 
to  Pittsfield.1  The  joyous  fortnight  I  spent  there  I  shall 
never  forget.  The  Doctor  himself,  with  his  home- spun 
shrewdness,  his  fund  of  anecdote,  his  hearty  sympathy, 
and  his  love  of  fun  and  innocent  sport,  was  a  perpetual 
enjoyment.  It  was  Saturday  when  I  arrived,  and,  after 
tea  and  prayers  (which,  as  is  usual  in  New  England  for 
the  sake  of  the  children,  immediately  followed  tea)  the 
Doctor  took  me  to  what  he  called  his  den.  When  I 
suggested  that  a  minister's  study  should  never  be  in- 


1  In  Pittsfield  stands  "  the  old- 
fashioned  country-seat"  which  Long 
fellow  has  immortalized  in  his  beau 
tiful  poem  entitled  "  The  Old  Clock 
on  the  Stairs."  In  the  days  of  Long 
fellow's  connection  with  it,  it  be 
longed  to  the  Appletons,  and  from 
under  its  hospitable  roof,  many  years 
ago  now,  the  poet  took  his  bride. 
It  is  a  large  white  frame-house  with 
green  lattices  and  dark  shingle  roof, 
separated  from  the  road  by  a  sloping 
lawn.  It  has  passed  into  other 
hands  now,  but  "  free-hearted  hos 
pitality  "  is  still  there,  to  welcome 
the  stranger  at  his  board.  Other 
wise,  the  place  is  a  good  deal 
changed.  The  tall  poplar-trees  no 
longer  throw  their  shadows  across 
the  antique  portico.  They  were  cut 
down  because  found  too  near  the 
house,  and  because  they  scattered 
their  seed  over  the  lawn,  making  it 
impossible  to  keep  it  clean.  "  But 


you  see,"  said  one  of  the  young 
ladies,  directing  our  attention  to 
the  foot  of  the  lawn,  "  we  have  a 
row  of  poplars  and  elms  along  the 
road.  Papa  says  it  is  less  poetic, 
but  more  healthy.  The  antique 
portico,  too,  was  taken  down,  and 
this  modern  one  put  in  its  place. 
Papa  says  it  is  less  poetic,  but  more 
convenient." 

The  old  clock  on  the  stairs  is  also 
gone  ;  but  a  counterpart  of  it— a 
large  heavy  eight-day  clock,  with 
pale  face  and  massive  frame,  made 
to  correspond  in  every  particular, 
has  been  set  in  its  place. 
"  Half-way  up  the  stairs  it  stands, 

And  points    and    beckons    with   its 
hands." 

The  original  was  removed  by  the 
Appleton  family,  for  preservation, 
only  a  few  years  since.  Dr.  Todd 
said  he  had  seen  it  often. 


350  "THE  OLD  MAN  OF  THE  MOUNTAINS." 

vaded  on  a  Saturday  night—"  Oh,"  said  he,  "  my  pre 
parations  are  all  over.  I  like  to  have  my  sermons 
through  on  Friday.  If  I  could,  I  would  hunt  and  fish 
on  Saturday,  and  go  to  the  pulpit  on  Sunday  fresh  and 
vigorous." 

Of  sermon  preparation,  he  said,  "  I  never  sit  down  to 
prepare  a  sermon.  I  think  it  out  beforehand,  and  let 
the  thoughts  roll  in  my  mind  like  pebbles  in  a  brook, 
till  they  are  washed  and  rolled  smooth  and  round.  So 
when  I  sit  down  to  my  desk  I  write  with  ease.  I  never 
wrote  a  thing  twice  over." 

Looking  round  the  apartment,  with  its  high  book 
cases,  I  observed  near  the  window  a  tiny  marble  foun 
tain,  with  three  little  marble  boys  standing  on  the  edge 
and  looking  down  into  the  basin,  from  the  centre  of 
which,  covered  by  a  dome  of  glass,  rose  a  jet  of  water 
that  scattered  about  half  way  to  the  dome,  and  fell  back 
with  a  sweet  tinkling  sound  into  its  marble-bed.  The 
Doctor  went  to  the  corner  where  the  stop -cock  was,  to 
show  me  how  he  could  make  the  little  fountain  leap 
higher  and  higher  till  the  crystal  drops  pattered  and 
rained  against  the  glass.  He  said  that  in  hot  weather 
the  very  sound  of  the  water  kept  him  cool. 

Over  the  archway  that  led  into  a  little  alcove  walled 
with  books,  I  saw  some  fire-arms  and  bayonets,  and 
asked  him  where  these  strange  ornaments  for  a  minister's 
study  had  come  from  ?  "  Some  of  them,"  he  said,  "  are 
relics  of  the  war  captured  from  the  rebels.  They  were 
sent  me  by  members  of  my  congregation  who  fought 
and  fell  in  the  war.  They  sent  these,  but  did  not  live 
to  come  back  themselves." 

He  got  up  and  brought  down  one— a  Spencer  rifle — 
which  could  be  loaded  in  the  stock  with  eight  ball- 


HIS  IMPRESSIONS  OF  CANADA.  351 

cartridges,  fired  eight  times  as  fast  as  you,  could  pull 
the  trigger,  and  loaded  again  in  a  few  seconds. 

"  When  our  boys  were  armed  with  these,"  said  the 
Doctor,  grimly,  "  the  rebels  had  no  chance,  and  ran. 
They  used  to  say  that  we  loaded  on  Sunday  and  fired 
all  the  rest  of  the  week." 

He  spoke  with  delight  of  the  holidays  he  had  spent 
the  summer  before  in  Canada.  "  It  made  me  feel  like 
a  boy  again,"  he  said ;  "  and  I  laughed  more  in  those 
three  weeks  than  I  usually  do  in  three  years.  We  had 
fine  fishing  on  the  great  lakes.  I  won't  tell  you  the 
size  of  some  of  the  fish  we  caught,  or  you  will  want 
affidavits." 

When  I  asked  his  impression  of  Canada,  he  said, — 
"  Oh,  a  fine  country — immense,  bigger  than  the  United 
States.  Why,  think  of  one  of  these  vast  lakes  with 
18,000  islands  already  on  the  map!  We  saw  the 
lumberers  at  work,  and  their  mills  busy,  each  mill  eat 
ing  up  a  log  every  five  minutes,  day  and  night.  At  one 
place  we  saw  120,000  dollars'  worth  of  lumber  piled  up ; 
and  yet  they  have  only  touched  the  hem  of  the  forest, 
as  if  a  child  had  gone  in  to  cut  a  walking-stick.  You 
get  land  out  there  for  sixpence  an  acre.  Population 
is  going  in  fast — for  lumber  first,  and  farming  after 
wards.  There  are  streams  and  falls  enough  to  create 
10,000  towns  and  villages.  Canada  is  a  great  country. 
I  was  not  prepared  for  it." 

Happening  to  tell  him  one  day  of  the  vivid  impres 
sion  his  ffafed's  Dream  had  made  upon  me  when  I  was 
a  child,  and  the  peculiar  enjoyment  there  was  in  being 
allowed  to  read  so  funny  a  thing  on  Sunday,  he  said 
the  idea  of  that  story  flashed  into  his  head  one  day 
walking  in  the  streets  of  New  York.  He  could  not  tell 


352      "  THE  OLD  MAN  OF  THE  MOUNTAINS." 

how,  but  it  came  like  a  vision,  and  he  wrote  it  off  in  a 
couple  of  hours. 

Talking  of  Scotch  churches  and  their  opposition  to 
instrumental  music,  he  said, — "  Every  change  in  your 
country  is  like  pulling  a  tooth ;  but  it  is  only  a  ques 
tion  of  time.  I  wonder  your  people  have  endured  what 
they  have  so  long.  The  singing  I  heard  in  some  of  the 
country  churches  in  Scotland  was  noise,  not  music." 

Speaking  of  the  old  Puritan  strictness,  and  of  the  so- 
called  Blue  Laws  of  Connecticut,  the  Doctor  said, — "  I 
have  been  amused  to  see  that  some  of  your  writers 
imagine  that  there  really  were  such  laws  in  New  Eng 
land.  The  whole  thing  is  an  absurd  fiction,  got  up  by 
an  English  officer  who  lived  for  some  time  in  Connec 
ticut,  but  who  disliked  so  much  its  strict  Sabbath  ob 
servances,  that  when  he  went  to  New  York  he  drew  up 
these  pretended  laws  out  of  spite,  and  passed  them  off 
for  real  enactments.  It  was  not  wonderful,  perhaps, 
that  people  so  ignorant  about  us  as  the  English  were 
should  have  been  hoaxed  into  the  belief  that  there  had 
really  been  laws  in  Connecticut  making  it  penal  for  a 
man  to  kiss  his  wife  on  Sundays,  and  all  that  nonsense ; 
but  to  find  some  of  your  living  writers  still  falling  into 
an  error  so  preposterous,  is  very  melancholy.  What 
would  you  think  of  an  American  writing  about  England 
and  quoting  Jack  and  the  Bean  Stalk  as  an  authentic 
historical  work  !" 

Speaking  of  the  facts  of  New  England  life,  the  Doctor 
said, — "  When  I  was  a  boy  we  used  to  observe  the 
Sabbath  from  sunset  to  sunset ;  and  it  was  far  better. 
Saturday  was  preparation  day.  Now,  people  run  the 
world's  business  and  pleasure  up  to  midnight  on  Satur 
day,  and  then  on  Sunday  they  are  sleepy  arid  can't  go 


TODD'S  MINISTRY.  353 

to  church.  The  old  way  was  better  and  more  scriptural : 
'  From  sunset  to  sunset  shall  your  Sabbath  be/  I  re 
member  in  my  childhood  the  bell  used  to  ring  before 
sun-down,  warning  people  to  stop  work.  In  some  parts 
of  Vermont  and  Connecticut  where  the  railway  hasn't 
gone,  and  where  the  people  are  simple  and  virtuous,  the 
Sabbath  is  from  sunset  to  sunset  still." 

He  had  seen  something  about  the  Decalogue  contro 
versy  in  this  country,  and  asked  particulars. 

"  Depend  upon  it,"  said  he,  "  if  we  give  up  Divine 
authority  for  it,  the  Sabbath  will  go  by  the  board.  The 
Germans  here  gave  it  up,  and  they  hunt  and  fish  on  the 
Sabbath,  and  are  the  lowest  of  our  population  in  spiri 
tuality.  If  recognition  of  Divine  authority  went  in 
among  them  it  would  elevate  them  year  by  year. 

"  It  amazes  me,"  he  added,  "  that  your  people  don't 
look  across  to  the  Continent  and  see  what  they  make 
of  the  Sabbath  there.  I  scarcely  saw  a  shop  shut  in 
Paris  that  was  open  during  the  week. 

"  As  for  the  Decalogue,  '  Thou  slialt  not'  has  a  mighty 
power  over  the  people.  No  mistake  about  it.  Give 
Dr.  Macleod  my  compliments,  and  tell  him  it  is  all 
very  well  to  speak  of  Christian  principle,  but  we  cannot 
do  without  the  law." 

I  spent  two  Sundays  at  Pittsfield,  and  heard  Dr. 
Todd  preach  both  times  in  his  own  church.  His  con 
gregation  is  large  and  prosperous—  the  largest,  I  believe, 
in  Pittsfield — and  the  Sunday-school,  to  which  he  has 
always  paid  special  attention,  seemed  to  be  attended  by 
nearly  a  third  of  the  whole  congregation — even  the 
elderly  people  forming  themselves  into  classes  for  the 
study  and  discussion  of  the  Scriptures.  This  practice, 
almost  unknown  here,  is  very  common  in  America. 

VOL.  n.  z 


354  "  THE  OLD  MAN  OF  THE  MOUNTAINS." 

Todd  was  first  settled  at  Northampton,  and  Dr. 
Lyman  Beecher  (the  father  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher  and 
Mrs.  Stowe)  preached  his  ordination  sermon.  He  has 
been  a  minister  now  for  forty-four  years,  and,  besides 
discharging  his  pastoral  duties  with  extraordinary  ac 
ceptance,  has  written  thirty  books,  large  and  small, 
some  of  which  have  been  translated  into  different  lan 
guages.  The  Student's  Manual  has  gone  through  a 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  editions. 

His  public  life — so  long  and  so  eminently  useful — is 
now  near  its  close.  He  means  to  retire  when  he  reaches 
the  age  of  seventy  ;  and  he  is  now  within  a  year  of  the 
goal.  No  minister,  he  thought,  should  remain  in  active 
service  after  reaching  that  age ;  he  deserved  rest,  and 
holding  on  longer,  till  his  powers  began  to  fail,  was  apt 
to  destroy  his  influence,  and  undo  the  work  it  had  taken 
him  perhaps  all  his  life  to  accomplish. 

Since  returning  from  America,  I  have  seen  that  Dr. 
Todd  was  present  at  the  opening  of  the  great  Pacific 
Eailway,  and  offered  up  the  opening  prayer,  which, 
from  the  Eocky  Mountains  where  he  stood,  was  tele 
graphed  all  over  the  United  States  as  the  words  were 
being  uttered.  The  rails  had  been  run  towards  the 
centre  of  the  continent  from  both  sides,  and  met  on 
the  Eocky  Mountains,  where  "  the  mountain  wedding" 
was  consummated,  the  last  blow  upon,  the  golden  spike 
setting  the  bells  of  the  whole  continent  ringing  in 
jubilee. 


A  DAY  WITH  THE  SHAKERS.  355 


XXX. 

A  DAY  WITH  THE  SHAKERS. 

DURING  my  sojourn  at  Pittsfield  I  paid  a  visit  to  a 
settlement  of  Believers  in  the  Second  Appearing,  more 
commonly  known  as  Shakers.  These  singular  people 
("  singular "  in  more  senses  than  one,  for  they  neither 
marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage)  live  in  small  com 
munities  that  lie  scattered  about  New  England  and 
the  State  of  New  York.  Like  the  Quakers,  they  are 
distinguished  by  a  peculiar  and  extremely  simple  dress. 
No  brocaded  vests,  no  shirt  fronts  resplendent  with 
diamond  studs,  no  fashionable  coats,  no  stove-pipe  hats 
are  ever  seen  on  the  Believing  Brethren  ;  no  chignons, 
no  crinolines  or  trailing  skirts,  no  brooches,  bracelets, 
or  sparkling  ear-rings  adorn  the  Believing  Sisters.  The 
women  attire  themselves  like  the  Quakers,  but  in 
homespun  cloth  of  plainer  texture ;  the  men  dress  in 
coarse  pale-blue  surtouts  and  broad -brimmed  hats, 
made  of  straw  or  felt,  according  to  the  season  of  the 
year.  They  also  cut  their  hair  short  across  the  fore 
head  and  let  it  grow  long  behind. 

Much  more  remarkable  than  their  costume  are  their 
social  arrangements.  They  live  and  work  not  on  the 
competitive  but  on  the  co-operative  system.  Every 
community  is  a  family  with  a  common  purse,  into 
which  go  the  profits  of  everybody's  labour,  and  out  of 


356  A  DAY  WITH  THE  SHAKERS. 

which  the  wants  of  all  are  equally  supplied.  If  two 
persons  join  the  community,  one  of  them  with  a 
thousand  pounds  the  other  with  not  so  many  pence, 
it  makes  no  difference  in  their  after  condition.  They 
throw  their  money  into  the  common  fund,  and  are 
thereafter  brethren  standing  on  a  footing  of  absolute 
equality.  They  feed  at  the  same  table,  live  in  the 
same  house,  dress  in  the  same  fashion,  share  equally  in 
the  common  work,  and  benefit  equally  by  the  common 
wealth.1 

Further,  as  I  have  hinted,  the  Shakers  are  all  celi 
bates.  The  idea  of  marriage  is  banished  from  the 
community  as  something  belonging  to  a  lower  plane  of 
existence.  The  pattern  of  life  with  them  is  that  of 
sons  and  daughters  in  a  family — men  and  women 
living  together  exactly  like  brothers  and  sisters.  If  a 
man  and  his  wife  join  the  community,  they  dissolve 
the  marriage  tie,  and  become  thenceforth  brother  John 
and  sister  Jane.  If  they  have  brought  their  children 

1  There  are  earlier  stages  of  con-  money  you  brought,  you  can  de- 
nection  Avith  the  society  not  involv-  mand  no  interest, 
ing  this  cession  of  private  property.  These,  however,  are  rudimentary 
You  can  "novitiate,"  accepting  stages,  from  which  you  are  expected 
the  faith,  but  living  at  home  and  to  pass  (if  you  have  not  passed  at 
managing  your  own  affairs.  In  that  once)  into  the  third  or  senior  class, 
case  you  are  owned  as  a  brother  or  in  which  you  are  admitted  to  the 
sister  in  the  gospel,  so  long  as  church  order,  have  your  vote  in  the 
you  live  a  pure  and  Christian  life.  government  of  the  society,  and  have 
Or  you  may  go  further,  and  take  all  things  in  common  with  the  other 
your  place  in  the  second  or  junior  members.  If  you  are  bringing  pro- 
class  ;  living  in  the  society,  work-  perty  with  you,  you  are  not  per- 
ing  for  it,  receiving  the  benefits  of  mitted  to  enter  this  order  till  you 
it,  and  yet  retaining  the  ownership  have  settled  all  just  and  lawful 
of  any  property  you  have  brought  claims,  both  to  your  heirs  and 
with  you.  But  if  you  leave  the  creditors  ;  so  that  the  property  you 
community  you  can  claim  no  wages ;  now  dedicate  for  ever  to  the  Lord 
and  though  you  can  take  out  the  may  be  really  and  truly  your  own. 


DRIVE  TO  THE  SETTLEMENT.  357 

with  them,  the  children  cease  to  be  theirs  in  particular, 
are  handed  over  to  the  gentle  "  care-takers,"  and  are 
taught  to  look  upon  all  their  elders  with  equal  eye,  and 
to  forget  that  they  are  connected  with  brother  John 
and  sister  Jane  any  more  than  with  the  others. 

It  was  to  visit  one  of  these  singular  communities 
that  I  left  Pittsfield  one  bright  December  day.  It  was 
intensely  cold,  the  thermometer  standing  sixteen  degrees 
below  zero,  and  the  whole  country  white  and  thickly 
crusted  with  snow.  But  the  sky  and  air  were  clear  as 
crystal ;  not  a  zephyr  stirred  in  the  blue  ether.  It  was 
one  of  those  glorious  winter  days  of  which  America  has 
almost  a  monopoly.  I  was  wrapped  up  for  the  journey 
as  I  had  never  been  in  all  my  life  before.  I  forget 
how  much  underclothing  I  had  on,  how  many  pairs  of 
stockings,  and  how  many  coats  and  shawls,  not  to 
speak  of  a  huge  pair  of  padded  and  hairy  gloves,  a  size 
too  large  for  the  polar  bear.  And  yet  I  thought  the 
keen  cold  that  caught  my  breath  as  we  flew  over  the 
snow,  and  held  its  icy  fangs  upon  my  face,  would 
have  made  an  end  of  me  before  we  got  to  the  Shaker 
village. 

There  was  a  little  excitement  attending  the  drive, 
which  probably  helped  to  keep  my  blood  in  circulation. 
It  was  the  first  time  for  the  winter  that  the  sleigh  had 
been  out ;  and  what  with  the  jingling  of  the  sleigh 
bells,  and  the  dazzling  whiteness  of  the  snow,  the  horse 
was  excited  to  frenzy,  and  darted  off  several  times  like 
a  flash  of  lightning  or  Tarn  o'  Shanter's  Meg  with  the 
witches  at  her  tail. 

This  brought  us  to  the  Shaker  village  much  sooner 
than  we  had  expected  ;  but  the  prospect  of  getting  our 


358  A  DAY  WITH  THE  SHAKERS. 

half-frozen  feet  to  a  stove  made  us  very  glad  to  find 
ourselves  in  the  village  square,  in  front  of  a  neat,  prim, 
sharp-cut  frame-house,  over  the  door  of  which  was 
painted  the  word  "  OFFICE." 

The  Shakers  have  no  hotels.  The  "  office  "  is  the 
place  where  business  is  transacted  with  strangers,  and 
where  friends  and  brethren  from  other  settlements  are 
entertained  without  charge. 

When  we  pulled  up,  there  was  no  human  being 
visible  out  of  doors  ;  but  with  everything  buried  under 
the  snow,  and  the  thermometer  so  many  degrees  below 
zero,  we  were  not  surprised  at  this.  Suddenly,  however, 
a  man,  in  the  invariable  broad-brimmed  felt  hat  and 
rough  bluish  surtout,  made  his  appearance  from  some 
place  on  the  other  side  of  the  square,  and  came  running 
across  the  snow  towards  us.  In  the  meantime,  in 
answer  to  our  knock,  the  door  of  the  office  had  been 
opened  by  a  pale,  thin,  elderly  sister,  with  very  prim 
chin  and  very  watchful  dark  eyes.  She  recognised  my 
companion,  who  had  been  there  once  before,  and,  in  the 
quiet,  gentle,  unimpassioned  way,  characteristic  of  these 
people,  invited  us  to  enter,  while  the  man,  on  learning 
our  errand,  took  charge  of  the  horse  and  sleigh. 

We  followed  the  Shakeress  (Sister  Silby,  as  she  was 
called)  within  doors,  and  found  ourselves  in  a  large 
bright  entrance  room,  part  of  which  behind  a  barrier 
seemed  to  be  used  as  a  shop.  Everything  was  scrupu 
lously  (almost  painfully)  clean,  from  the  white  pine 
floor  and  the  neat  wooden  chairs  to  the  homespun  dress 
and  cold  white  gauzy  cap  of  the  Shakeress  herself. 
Passing  into  another  room,  where  equal  cleanliness  and 
primness  reigned,  and  where  Sister  Silby  had  been 
sewing  when  we  arrived,  she  set  chairs  for  us  beside 


SISTER  SILBY  AND  BROTHER  IRA.  359 

the  polished  stove,  and  proceeded  with  the  duties  of 
hospitality,  so  sacred  amongst  the  Shakers,  by  covering 
a  little  table  with  a  snowy  little  cloth,  and  preparing 
to  give  us  something  to  eat. 

Presently  the  man — "  Brother  Ira/'  as  the  Shakeress 
called  him — came  in  and  sat  down.  He  was  a  healthy- 
looking  man,  with  plump  rosy  cheeks,  hair  cut  straight 
across  the  brow,  and  small  black  shrewd  twinkling 
eyes. 

He  said,  in  reply  to  my  questions,  that  this  was  the 
family  of  Hancock,  that  there  were  a  hundred  and  fifty 
persons  in  the  community,  and  that  the  number  had 
not  increased  for  fifteen  years. 

It  has,  of  course,  to  be  remembered  that,  in  a  society 
where  there  is  no  marriage,  the  number  can  only  be 
increased  or  even  maintained  by  accessions  from  the 
outer  world. 

"  But  we  live  long,"  said  Ira.  "  The  average  age 
at  death  here  is  sixty.  One  sister  is  ninety-nine.  We 
have  no  doctors,  and  illness  is  almost  unknown  amongst 
us." 

"  One  reason  of  that  is,"  said  the  Shakeress,  "  that  all 
of  us  have  work,  but  no  one  has  too  much.  And  we 
are  all  comfortably  housed  and  comfortably  fed." 

"And  another  reason  is,"  said  Brother  Ira,  "there  is 
no  drinking  here.  You  might  live  here  a  hundred 
years  but  you  would  never  see  a  drunkard.  We  use 
no  rum,  no  tobacco,  and  no  strong  tea." 

"Who  legislate  and  carry  out  the  laws  ?"  I  asked. 

"  We  have  the  lead  ;  a  ministry  of  four — two  of  each 
sex.  These  are  chosen  by  the  society." 

"  Have  you  any  police — any  one  to  keep  order  in 
your  villages  ? " 


300  A  DAY  WITH  THE  SHAKERS. 

"Nay,"  said  Ira,  with  a  soft  smile,  "we  all  keep 
order." 

He  added,  "There  is  no  crime  amongst  us.  Why 
should  there  be  ?  There  is  no  temptation  here  to  steal 
or  do  wrong.  No  one  is  in  want.  No  one  lacks  any 
thing  that  another  has.  Every  one  shares  equally." 

"  But  other  people  might  interfere  with  you.  What 
do  *  you  do  then  ?  Suppose  I  ran  away  with  some  of 
your  things,  would  you  make  no  attempt  to  apprehend 
me?" 

"  Everything  here  is  the  Lord's,"  said  Ira,  tranquilly. 
"  If  you  ran  away  with  anything  you  would  be  stealing 
from  the  Lord,  and  we,  as  faithful  stewards,  should 
want  it  back." 

"  You  would  appeal  to  the  law  ? " 

"  Yea ;  we  appeal  for  protection  when  it  is  necessary. 
But  it  is  very,  very  rare.  It  is  almost  unknown." 

After  some  further  talk  I  went  out  with  Brother 
Ira  to  see  the  village.  The  Shakers  are  all  workers. 
In  summer  the  males  are  chiefly  employed  in  the 
fields  and  gardens,  which  they  cultivate  with  assiduous 
and  loving  care,  drawing  more  from  the  soil,  it  is  said, 
than  any  other  farmers  in  the  States.  The  women  do 
the  home  work — cooking,  washing,  weaving,  knitting, 
making  the  beds,  and  keeping  the  house  clean;  they 
also  distil  rose-water  and  other  essences,  and  prepare 
preserved  fruit  for  the  market.  It  was  winter  now, 
and  brethren  as  well  as  sisters  were  all  at  work  within 
doors. 

The  feature  that  at  once  marked  out  this  little 
Shaker  settlement  from  all  ordinary  villages  was  the 
total  absence  of  separate  dwelling-houses,  cottages,  and 
little  shops.  No  separate  households  were  here :  all 


THE  WORKSHOPS.  3d 

the  inhabitants  lived  as  one  family,  and  one  large 
workshop  took  the  place  of  several  small  ones.  There 
was  one  broomshop,  where  all  the  men  engaged  in  this 
branch  of  industry  were  at  work  together.  There  was 
the  dairy  house,  the  granary,  the  seed  shop,  the  boys' 
shop,  the  aged  brethren's  shop,  and  so  on.  The  largest 
building  of  all  was  the  dwelling-house — a  vast,  plain 
red  building,  containing  the  public  rooms  and  dormi 
tories  of  the  whole  society — one  wing  (as  in  many 
hydropathic  establishments)  being  occupied  by  the 
males,  the  other  by  the  females,  all  of  whom  assemble 
at  meal  hours  and  at  their  religious  and  social  meetings. 
They  have  three  meals  a  day — at  six,  twelve,  and  six 
again — each  one  engaging  in  silent  prayer  before  be 
ginning,  and  then  eating  in  silence.  The  men  sit  at 
one  end  of  the  table,  the  women  at  the  other. 

Ira,  walking  briskly — for  the  Shakers  are  an  active 
people,  who  lose  no  time  over  their  work — led  me  to  an 
immense  round  building  with  stalls  for  fifty  cattle,  and 
great  quantities  of  hay  stored  above.  He  called  my 
attention  to  the  long  sloping  platform  rising  to  the 
level  of  the  upper  floor,  allowing  waggons  to  drive  right 
up  into  the  barn. 

We  looked  into  the  beautifully-kept  stalls,  where  the 
cows  were  feeding.  "  We  care  for  these  too,"  said  Ira, 
clapping  one  of  the  cows  with  affectionate  tenderness. 
"  We  have  our  duties  to  them  as  well  as  to  each  other. 
Every  creature  deserves  in  its  own  order." 

The  same  feeling  is  cherished  for  plants.  If  a  Shaker 
sees  a  plant  drooping,  because  perhaps  it  is  on  the 
wrong  side  of  a  wall,  he  will  shift  its  position  as  if  it 
were  a  child,  simply  to  make  it  more  comfortable  and 
happy. 


3G2  A  DAY  WITH  THE  SHAKERS. 

We  next  visited  the  broomshop,  where  we  found  a 
number  of  men  at  work — all  of  them  with  the  same 
tranquil  and  subdued  expression.  No  excitement,  no 
friction,  no  competition  enter  these  abodes  of  fellowship 
and  peace. 

One  old  man,  busy  at  his  broom-making,  was  sitting 
with  his  back  to  us. 

"  That  is  brother  Joseph,"  said  Ira.  "  Joseph  was 
married  when  in  the  world.  His  wife  is  here  also. 
But  they  are  no  more  to  one  another  now  than  brother 
and  sister.  He  is  happier.  Ask  him." 

Joseph  was  so  dull  of  hearing  that  I  had  to  go  to 
him  and  speak  close  to  his  ear.  I  asked  him  if 
he  really  felt  happier  here  than  he  had  done  in  the 
world. 

"  Yea,"  he  said  with  a  gentle  smile.  "  It  was  hard 
for  the  first  year,  but  I  am  happier  now." 

When  the  old  man  asked  me  where  I  came  from,  and 
I  said  "  Scotland,"  Brother  Ira  said,  "  We  have  two 
Scotchmen  in  the  society." 

A  tall,  thin,  dark- eyed  man,  with  his  hair  cut  short 
across  the  forehead,  and  hanging  long  behind,  and  with 
a  touch  of  the  spirituelle  in  the  cast  and  expression  of 
his  face,  sat  in  his  rocking-chair  listening.  When  he 
saw  me  looking  at  him  he  said,  "  Mother  Ann  came 
from  your  side  of  the  water ;  this  society  was  founded 
by  her."1 

1  Ann  Lee  was  born  in  1736,  of  fancy.    Along  with  her  parents,  she 

poor  parents,  in  Manchester.      In  had  become  connected  with  a  society 

girlhood  she  was    employed   in  a  fonned  of  Quakers,  who  had  been 

cotton  factory.    She  was  afterwards  brought  under  the  influence  of  the 

(much  against  her  inclination,  it  is  revivals  which  agitated  Europe  in 

said)  induced  to  marry  a  blacksmith,  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 

named  Stanley,  by  whom  she  had  tury.     This  society  boldly  testified 

four  children,  who  all  died  in  in-  the  near  approach  of  the  second 


MOTHER  ANN.  363 

I  asked  if  it  was  the  case,  as  was  alleged,  that  they 
prayed  to  Mother  Ann. 

"  Nay,"  he  said,  "  we  do  not  pray  to  Mother  Ann  in 
particular.  We  pray  to  God.  But  we  desire  the  good 
will  of  all  departed  spirits.  The  spirits  of  the  departed 
are  everywhere.  There  are  some  here  just  now." 

He  looked  tranquilly  round  as  if  he  saw  them. 

I  said  I  understood  they  regarded  Mother  Ann  as 
divine. 

"  She  was  divine,"  said  he,  "  as  Jesus  was  divine. 
God  appeared  first  in  Jesus.  But  God  is  dual.  Just 
as  man  whom  He  made  in  His  image  is  male  and 
female,  so  God  is  father  and  mother.  God  the  Father 
was  revealed  in  Jesus :  God  the  Mother  was  revealed 
in  Mother  Ann.  This  was  the  Second  Appearing."1 

He  said  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  was  begun  on  earth 
— that  the  Resurrection  was  going  on — that  he  himself 
and  all  those  I  saw  around  me  had  risen  again,  because 
they  had  believed  and  were  living  the  new  life.  Death 
to  them  was  nothing.  It  was  merely  the  putting  aside 
of  the  visible  garment  of  the  flesh. 

appearing  of  Christ.     In  1770,  Ann  New  Lebanon  and  Hancock.    She 

Lee  began  to  speak  like  one  inspired,  died  in  1784. 

and  from  her  revelations  of  God's  *  The  similarity  between  this  and 
will  and  purposes,  the  society  be-  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  Virgin 
lieved  that  Christ  had  reappeared  Mary  is  very  apparent.  The  celi- 
in  her.  Hence  the  name  given  her  bacy  of  the  Shakers  also  is  the 
of  Mother  in  Christ,  or  Mother  same  in  principle  with  the  celibacy 
Ann.  In  1774,  she  declared  that  of  the  priests  and  nuns ;  and  the 
she  had  received  a  revelation  direct-  Catholic  doctrine  of  purgatory  con 
ing  her  to  go  to  America,  where  the  nects  itself  with  the  Shaker  doctrine 
Church  of  the  Second  Appearing  that  the  future  state  is  a  state  of 
was  to  be  established.  She  accord-  probation,  that  souls  are  purified 
ingly  sailed  for  New  York,  and,  after  by  suffering,  and  that  ultimately 
many  vicissitudes,  she  and  her  fol-  all  will  be  saved.  The  Shakers  also 
lowers  established  a  settlement  at  hold  confession  before  men  to  be 
Water  Vliet,  in  the  State  of  New  essential  to  forgiveness. 
York ;  and  others  subsequently  at 


364  A  DAY  WITH  THE  SHAKERS. 

After  visiting  some  of  the  other  shops,  where  the 
same  soft  sweet  air  of  brotherhood  reigned,  we  went 
and  saw  the  schoolmaster.  Brother  Calvin — Calvin 
Fairchilds  he  would  be  called  in  the  world — was  attired 
in  the  uniform  dress  of  the  brotherhood,  and  was  a 
youth  of  singularly  prepossessing  appearance.  There 
was  a  fine  intellectuality  about  his  fair,  handsome  face ; 
his  blue  eye  beamed  with  gentleness,  and  was  not 
without  a  pleasant  glimmer  of  half-suppressed  merri 
ment.  He  was  just  at  the  age  when  the  passions  of 
love  and  ambition  burn  most  ardently ;  but  one  could 
see  from  the  sweet  serenity  that  showed  itself  in  every 
look  and  tone  and  gesture  of  this  young  Shaker  how 
completely  the  principles  and  life  of  the  strange  people 
to  whom  he  belonged  had  permeated  and  subdued  his 
whole  nature. 

When  I  asked  if  he  had  been  amongst  the  Shakers 
long,  he  said,  "  Yea ;  since  I  was  two  years  old."  When 
I  inquired  if  he  had  seen  much  of  the  world,  he  said, 
— "  Nay ;  and  I  think  the  less  we  see  of  it  the  better. 
None  of  us  travel  much.  We  have  plenty  to  do  at 
home." 

When  I  asked  about  his  duties,  he  said, — "  We  have 
school  for  four  months  in  winter.  The  scholars  work 
in  the  fields  in  summer ;  so  do  I.  We  all  work  here. 
If  you  joined  us  you  would  have  to  work  too.  The 
girls  get  their  schooling  in  summer.  They  are  taught 
by  a  female  teacher." 

When  I"  said  that  four  months'  schooling  in  the  year 
was  not  much,  "  Oh,"  said  he,  "  intellectual  culture  does 
not  go  for  much  here.  We  don't  care  about  producing 
intellectual  drones,  and  lumbering  up  the  mind  with 
the  thoughts  of  other  people.  We  go  in  for  the  useful." 


A  SHAKER'S  DEFENCE  OF  CELIBACY.  365 

"  Do  you  read  much  ?" 

"  We  have  the  Bible,"  he  said,  "  and  a  few  other 
books  ;  and  about  a  dozen  newspapers  come  to  the 
society." 

I  asked  him  if  he  had  seen  what  Hepworth  Dixon 
had  said  about  the  Lebanon  Shakers.  He  said  he  had 
not  seen  the  book,  but  he  had  once  seen  an  extract  in 
a  newspaper.  All  he  saw  was  very  good  and  true. 

He  seemed  perfectly  satisfied  of  the  soundness  of 
Shaker  principles,  and  spoke  eloquently  in  their  defence. 
"  We  are  only  following  Christ,"  he  said.  "  He  and 
His  disciples  had  a  common  purse.  They  ate  of  the 
same  bread  and  drank  of  the  same  cup ;  and  after  His 
death  all  that  believed,  we  are  told,  were  tor/ether,  and 
had  all  things  common." 

He  gave  his  views  on  the  marriage  question  with 
equal  frankness.  "I  think  it  very  plain,"  he  said,  "that 
we  are  right  and  the  world  is  wrong.  If  it  is  good  to 
marry,  why  did  Christ  not  marry  and  show  an  example? 
If  it  is  better  to  have  a  wife  than  not,  why  did  Paul 
never  have  one,  and  why  did  he  advise  those  who  had 
to  be  as  though  they  had  none  ?" 

I  asked  him  what  he  made  of  God's  command  to 
Noah  to  multiply  and  replenish  the  earth.  "  That,"  he 
replied,  "  was  the  earthly  order  of  things  according  to 
the  first  Adam ;  but  Christ  came  to  introduce  a  new 
and  higher  order — the  children  of  the  resurrection,  who 
neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage.  You  re 
member  what  He  said  to  Peter — There  is  no  one  that 
leaves  house  or  brethren  or  sisters  or  wife  for  My 
sake,  but  he  shall  receive  an  hundredfold,  even  in  the 
present  time  —  houses  and  brethren  and  sisters  and 
lands,  '  with  persecutions.'  No  wife  you  see,"  said  the 


366  A  DAY  WITH  THE  SHAKERS. 

young  Shaker,  with  a  comical  wink.  "'In  the  recompense, 
the  wife  is  left  out  and  '  persecutions '  put  in  her  stead. 
But  perhaps  you  think  that  is  only  another  word  for 
the  same  thing !" 

When  I  asked  him  if  he  expected  their  principles  to 
spread,  he  said  with  a  serious  air, — "  They  will  spread 
in  God's  good  time." 

I  asked  how  it  would  be  if  the  whole  world  became 
Shakers,  and  marriage  ceased — where  the  next  genera 
tion  of  Shakers  was  to  come  from  ? 

"  Ah  !"  he  said,  "  that  is  not  our  concern.  Let  us  do 
right,  and  leave  the  consequences  to  God.  Out  of  the 
stones,  we  are  told,  God  could  raise  up  children  unto 
Abraham  if  he  pleased.  Besides,"  he  said,  with  that 
quizzical  look  in  his  eye  again,  "  you  know  the  world 
has  to  come  to  an  end  some  time.  Your  people  say  it 
will  be  burnt  up ;  seems  to  me  our  way  would  be 
pleasanter  than  that !" 

Before  I  left  the  settlement  he  gave  me  a  little 
history  of  Ann  Lee.  Opening  the  book  to  see  what  it 
looked  like,  I  came  upon  a  slip  of  paper  covered  with 
verses  in  manuscript.  They  turned  out  to  be  some  of 
the  verses  composed  by  the  young  Shaker  himself,  to 
be  sung  at  their  meetings.  I  wanted  to  have  them  as 
a  specimen  of  Shaker  hymnology,  but  could  not  per 
suade  the  author  either  to  part  with  them  or  let  me 
take  a  copy. 

Most  of  the  hymns  sung  by  the  Shakers  at  religious 
services  are  original,  and  are  supposed  to  be  inspirations 
from  the  spirit-land.  When  I  asked  the  schoolmaster 
what  ground  they  had  for  supposing  so,  he  said  that 
persons  of  no  education  and  no  gifts  either  of  music  or 
versification  would  sometimes,  at  their  meetings,  break 


SHAKER  WORSHIP.  567 

forth  into  song,  in  which  both  the  air  and  the  words 
were  entirely  new.  This  kind  of  inspiration,  he  said, 
was  very  common  amongst  them.1  They  meet  for 
worship  on  four  nights  every  week,  and  twice  every 
Sunday.  They  have  no  public  prayers  or  preaching 
from  texts.  They  sing  their  hymns,  and  sometimes 
have  a  little  speaking  if  any  brother  or  sister  has  any 
thing  special  to  say;  then  they  begin  their  strange 
"  march  "  or  dance  (whence  the  nickname  of  Shakers)— 
the  singers  in  the  middle  and  all  the  others  going  up 
and  down  the  room  at  a  trot,  keeping  time  to  the  music. 
They  found  this  peculiar  practice  in  the  accounts  of 
David  dancing  before  the  Lord,  and  they  believe  that 
during  this  dance  the  Spirit  of  God  comes  and  takes 
possession  of  them. 

The  Shakers  take  nothing  to  do  with  politics — never 
even  use  the  electoral  votes  that  belong  to  them.  They 
are  like  the  Quakers  in  their  peace  principles,  strict 
truthfulness,  and  objection  to  oath-taking;  and  their 
commercial  integrity  might  be  advantageously  imitated 
by  many  of  those  who  are  most  ready  to  speak  of  them 

1  Poor  Calvin  !  he  is  now  in  the  old.     The  sound  of  carriage-wheels 

spirit-land  himself.      While  these  hastening  away  as  the  church  door 

sheets  were  going  through  the  press  was  opened  was  the  only  indication 

I  received  a  letter  from  the  friend  of  how  he  came  there,  and  was  to 

who  was  with  me  at  the   Shaker  him  the  last  echo  from  the  outer 

village,  in  which,  referring  to  our  world.     He  was  taken  care  of  by 

visit,   she    says, — "  I  noticed  the  the  Shakers,  and  got  his  name  by 

other  day  the  end  of  Calvin  Fair-  Shaker  authority.     As  he  grew  up 

child's  sacrifice  in    the    brief   an-  to  manhood  he  became  an  enthusiast 

nouncement  of  his  death  from  pul-  in  the  stern  and  dreary  life  to  which 

inonary  complaint,  at  the  early  age  he  had   been  consigned.      Whence 

of  twenty-seven.     His  parentage  is  he  came  and  whither  he  has  gone 

not  known.     It.  seems  that  he  was  no  one  can  tell.     But  let  us  hope 

left  at  the  door  of  the  Shaker  church  that  he  has  at  last  found  a  Father 

at  Hancock  by  parties  unknown,  and  a  home  in  the  better  land. " 
when  he  was  a  child  of  two  years 


3G8  A  DAY  WITH  THE  SHAKERS. 

with  derision.  If  you  buy  a  Shaker  brush  or  cart  or 
chair,  or  Shaker  vegetables  or  rose-water  or  preserved 
fruit,  you  may  rely  on  its  being  of  the  best,  and  never 
anything  but  what  it  professes  to  be.  Hence  Shaker 
goods  are  everywhere  in  demand.  Even  in  regard  to 
the  practice  of  celibacy,  we  may  admire  self-restraint 
and  self-discipline,  even  if  they  proceed  from  an  errone 
ous  view  of  duty.  That  was  a  memorable  saying  of 
John  Sterling's,  "  The  worst  education  that  teaches 
self-denial,  is  better  than  the  best  that  teaches  every 
thing  else  and  not  that." 

One  feels  the  more  free  to  admire  this  quality  in  the 
Shakers  that  it  is  not  likely  at  its  present  rate  of  pro 
gress  to  precipitate  the  end  of  the  world.  There  are 
only  some  eighteen  Shaker  communities  in  the  States  ; 
arid  these  are  very  small,  giving  in  the  aggregate  an 
almost  stationary  Shaker  population  of  about  6000  souls. 
This,  in  a  rapidly  increasing  population  of  nearly  forty 
millions,  is  like  one  unproductive  stalk  in  a  field  of 
corn,  or  a  thimbleful  of  sand  taken  from  the  sea- shore. 
It  says  something  for  so  small  a  handful  of  people  that 
they  have  made  themselves  a  name  for  incorruptible 
honesty  throughout  the  whole  country. 


NEWSPAPERS.  369 


XXXI 

NEWSPAPERS. 

AMERICA  is  a  world  of  newspapers.  More  dailies 
are  published  in  the  single  State  of  New  York  than 
in  all  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland  put  together — the 
number  in  Britain  being  about  60,  and  in  New  York 
State  over  70.  Even  South  Carolina  in  1861  had  over 
50,  and  Louisiana  over  100.1 

The  newspaper  is  half  the  life  of  an  American.  Even 
in  some  prisons  they  supply  each  criminal  with  the 
morning  prints.  A  ruffian  may  be  deprived  of  his 
liberty,  may  be  locked  up  in  a  cell,  may  be  cut  down 
as  to  his  victuals,  but  to  deprive  him  of  the  morning 
papers  is  too  shocking  a  cruelty  for  Americans  to  think 
of  inflicting.  They  tell  a  story  in  North  Carolina  about 
a  minister  who  preached  the  terrors  of  the  law  for  a 
whole  hour  to  a  godless  congregation  without  producing 

1  The  total  number  of  papers  of  hours  in  crossing  the  Atlantic.  In 
all  kinds  published  in  the  States  the  New  York  Exchange  I  have 
approaches  5000,  while  in  1704  there  read  telegrams  at  nine  in  the  morn- 
was  but  one.  That  one  was  the  ing  which  were  dated  "  Liverpool, 
Boston  News  Letter,  which  has  a  noon."  If  a  great  explosion  takes 
speech  of  Queen  Anne's,  four  months  place  in  London  this  evening,  the 
old,  amongst  its  "Latest  News!"  New  York  people  have  read  about 
Now,  the  Queen's  Speech  is  read  in  it  in  their  afternoon  papers  two  or 
New  York  several  hours  by  the  three  hours  by  the  clock  before  its 
clock  before  we  have  it  here.  The  occurrence, 
telegraph  outstrips  the  sun  by  five 

VOL.  II.  2  A 


370 


NEWSPAPERS. 


the  slightest  impression.  But  when  he  announced  that 
bad  people  when  they  died  went  to  a  place  where 
there  were  no  newspapers,  a  thunderbolt  seemed  to  fall 
amongst  them.  They  turned  pale,  and,  according  to  the 
story,  were  all  converted. 

Every  small  town  or  smaller  "city"  must  have 
its  own  newspaper,  or  if  not  one  then  two,  which 
fight  each  other,  and  by  exciting  local  interest  in 
their  squabbles,  contrive  to  live  where  one  would 
die. 

The  language  with  which  these  editors  fight  one 
another  is  more  remarkable  for  its  force  than  for  its 
elegance.  To  call  the  other  man  a  vampire,  miscreant, 
and  liar,  and  his  adherents  a  pack  of  vagabonds  and 
thieves,  is  considered  by  many  the  most  spirited  way 
of  dealing  with  his  arguments.1 

An  Alabama  editor,  who  showed  me  his  paper  one 


1  Even  the  New  York  papers  are 
not  guiltless  of  this  kind  of  writ 
ing.  When  the  Louisville  Journal 
charged  the  New  York  Herald's 
reporter  with  stealing  its  despatches, 
the  Herald  responded  by  calling 
the  Journal  "  an  impudent  one- 
horse  Kentucky  concern,  conducted 
by  a  walking  whisky-bottle."  The 
Journal,  while  edited  by  Prentice, 
gained  a  name  for  the  pungency  of  its 
personalities.  Here  is  a  specimen 
or  two  :  "  The  editor  of  the  Star 
says  there  is  reason  in  all  things. 
He  had  forgotten  his  own  skull." 
— "The  editor  of  the  Eastern  Argus 
is  melancholy  in  his  reflections  upon 
the  close  of  the  year,  and  says  he 
will  soon  be  lying  in  his  grave. 
We  thought  he  would  have  stopped 
lying  when  he  got  there.  But  the 
ruling  passion  is  no  doubt  strong  in 


death."  Owing  to  personalities  of 
this  sort,  Prentice  often  got  into 
fights,  and  was  several  times  at 
tacked  and  severely  wounded.  He 
died  in  January  of  this  year  (1870). 
Brick  Pomeroy,  of  the  La  Crosse 
Democrat,  now  stands  at  the  head 
of  this  class  of  writers.  He  lacks 
Prentice's  wit,  but  excels  him  in 
abuse.  One  specimen  will  satisfy 
most  readers.  Here  are  his  com 
ments  on  a  photograph  of  General 
Butler:  —  "We  behold  here  the 
hideous  front  of  hell's  blackest  imp  ; 
Apollyon's  twin  brother ;  the  Grand 
High  Priest  of  Pandsemonium  ;  the 
unclean,  perjured,  false-hearted  pro 
duct  of  Massachusetts  civilisation ; 
the  meanest  thief,  the  dirtiest  knave 
God  ever  gave  breath  to  :  total  de 
pravity  personified;  that  baggy-faced 
fruit  of  perdition,  Beast  Butler  !" 


THE  SCISSORS.  371 

day,  asked  what  I  thought  of  the  leading  article.  I 
told  him  candidly  that  in  this  country  such  language 
would  ruin  any  respectable  paper  in  a  month.  He 
seemed  to  accept  this  testimony  to  the  strength  of  his 
diction  as  the  highest  compliment  I  could  have  paid 
him. 

While  this  sort  of  writing  is  the  thing  that  from  its 
novelty  strikes  a  stranger  from  this  country  most,  it 
must  not  be  supposed  that  it  is  the  ordinary  pabulum 
which  these  papers  provide.  On  the  contrary,  the  mass 
of  American  journals  crowd  from  five  to  fifty  columns 
every  day  with  information  of  all  kinds,  much  of  it 
collected  from  other  papers  not  accessible  to  local 
readers.  Editors  in  country  districts,  who  have  not 
only  to  edit,  but  sometimes  to  print  and  publish  their 
own  papers,  or  who  have  cigar  and  stationery  shops  to 
attend  to  as  well,  have  little  time,  and  often  as  little 
ability  for  the  production  of  original  matter.  In  such 
cases  the  scissors  are  more  in  use  than  the  pen ;  and 
the  paper  is  frequently  filled  from  high-class  journals 
with  material  of  far  greater  value  than  the  editor  could 
have  himself  written  or  paid  for. 

The  practice  of  making  exchanges,  which  is  carried 
on  to  an  extraordinary  extent  over  the  whole  length 
and  breadth  of  the  United  States,  greatly  assists  this 
work.  The  editor  of  every  respectable  paper,  in  even 
the  smallest  village,  gets  ten,  twenty,  fifty,  or  a  hundred 
other  papers  from  different  parts  of  America  in  exchange 
for  copies  of  his  own.  The  Government  carries  all  these 
through  the  post-office  free  of  charge.  It  knows  how 
much  the  safety  of  a  republic  depends  on  having  the 
sovereign  people  well-informed ;  it  knows  how  impor 
tant  an  educator  the  newspaper  is ;  and  every  day  in 


372  NEWSPAPERS. 

the  year  it  floods  the  country  with  hundreds  of  thou 
sands  of  these  "  exchanges/'  pouring  into  every  editor's 
office  a  cargo  of  newspapers  gathered  from  other  quar 
ters,  helping  him  in  this  way  to  keep  himself  and  his 
readers  "  posted  up "  (as  the  expression  is)  in  the  affairs 
of  the  State  and  the  nation. 

The  New  York  journals  still  hold  the  foremost  place 
in  the  country.  Three  of  the  most  prominent  are  the 
Tribune  (Kadical),  the  Herald  (rotatory),  and  the  World 
(Democratic) — otherwise  distinguished  from  each  other 
as  the  World,  the  Devil,  and  the  Flesh.  The  Tribune 
earned  its  carnal  title  by  at  one  time  advocating  Free 
Love.  Its  editor,  Horace  Greeley,  one  of  the  most 
eccentric,  but  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  most  able  of 
American  journalists,  has  in  his  time  advocated  almost 
every  reform  made  or  attempted  in  the  States.  His 
Recollections  of  a  Busy  Life  would  be  well  worth  perusal 
on  that  ground  alone.  He  was  long  a  champion  of 
Female  Suffrage,  but  has  given  it  up,  because  he  declares 
that  women  don't  want  it  themselves. 

The  Tribune  probably  circulates  over  a  wider  area 
than  any  other  paper  in  America.  I  found  it  every 
where,  even  in  the  South,  where  its  principles  were 
most  detested.  But  the  Herald  is  understood  to  have 
the  larger  circulation,  and  the  daily  issue  of  the  two 
combined  is  so  immense  as  to  exceed  the  circulation 
of  all  the  daily  papers  in  Scotland  put  together.  In 
1862  the  circulation  of  the  Herald  was  up  to  123,000 
a  day,  or  about  three-quarters  of  a  million  every 
week. 

The  editorial  "  we,"  however,  is  not  so  omnipotent  in 
America  as  here.  The  New  York  Herald,  with  double 
the  circulation  of  the  London  Times,  has  scarcely  a 


NEW  YORK  PAPERS.  373 

tithe  of  its  influence.  Had  the  position  of  the  press, 
and  specially  the  position  of  the  Herald,  been  better 
known  in  this  country  during  the  war,  the  disastrous 
mistake  would  never  have  been  made  of  supposing 
that  its  bluster  against  Great  Britain  was  the  voice  of 
America.  Its  immense  circulation  had  quite  another 
meaning.  People  bought  the  Herald  then  as  they  buy 
it  now,  less  for  its  politics  than  for  its  news.  As  a 
caterer  of  news  it  deserves  credit  for  being  the  most 
active  and  enterprising  in  New  York — perhaps  in  the 
world.  It  spares  neither  trouble  nor  expense  to  be 
first  and  fullest.1  It  has  its  agents  and  correspond 
ents  everywhere,  all  of  them  empowered  to  make 
the  freest  possible  use  of  the  telegraph.  Its  tele 
graphic  reports  of  the  Abyssinian  war — though  the 
war  was  British,  not  American,  and  though  the  news 
had  to  come  by  England  and  through  the  Atlantic 
cable — were  longer,  and  often  made  public  sooner,  than 
our  own. 

The  New  York  Times  is  another  influential  journal. 
The  Post,  edited  by  the  venerable  poet,  William  Cullen 
Bryant,  is  an  evening  paper.  Amongst  the  legion  of 
weeklies,  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  is  the  In 
dependent,  even  more  radical  than  the  Tribune,  and 
edited  by  Theodore  Tilton,  a  brilliant  writer,  whose 
talents  were  first  recognised  and  brought  before  the 

1  Most  people  have  heard  of  its  Bennett.     It  was  done  at  a  cost  of 

spirited    monopoly    of    the    wires  $700,  and  still  the  Prince  was  not 

when  the  Prince  of  Wales  visited  come.     "What  now?"  telegraphed 

Niagara.     The  Prince  was  behind  Mr.  House.    "  Book  of  Revelation," 

time.      Mr.    House    (Herald's    re-  replied  Mr.  Bennett.     The  Apoca- 

porter)   telegraphed  to  the   editor  lypse  was  instantly  begun  and  was 

— "  What  is  to  be  done  to  keep  the  in  course  of  being  transmitted  when 

wires  in  our  hands  ?"     "  Telegraph  the  Prince  arrived,  and  the  Herald's 

the  Book  of  Genesis,"  replied  Mr.  triumph  secured. 


374  NEWSPAPERS. 

public  by  Beecher.  Beecher  himself  writes  for  the 
Independent,  and  edits  The  Christian  Union,  a  new 
weekly,  which  is  already  taking  a  foremost  place 
amongst  the  religious  periodicals.  Several  German 
and  Irish  papers  are  published  in  New  York  ;  also  the 
Scottish  American  Journal,  the  only  representative  of 
Scottish  nationality  in  the  States. 


CHURCHES.  375 


XXXII. 

CHURCHES. 

IN  America  a  broader  distinction  is  drawn  between 
the  Church  and  the  world  than  here.  In  some  de 
nominations,  nobody  is  called  a  Christian  until  he 
becomes  a  church  member.  I  heard  a  lady  say  of  her 
niece,  "  She  is  going  to  become  a  Christian  next  week." 
Membership  in  such  cases  means  a  great  deal — the 
renunciation  of  much  that  is  not  forbidden  to  others,  a 
higher  profession,  and  the  undertaking  of  some  active 
Christian  work.  In  many  churches,  the  first  question 
to  a  fresh  communicant  is,  "  What  are  you  prepared  to 
do  ?  Can  you  visit  the  sick  ?  Can  you  conduct  a  prayer- 
meeting  ?  Can  you  teach  in  the  Sunday-school  ? "  and 
work  is  assigned  accordingly.  This  develops  Christian 
activity,  and  makes  the  Church  a  greater  power  for 
good.  In  religion,  as  in  politics,  the  Americans  are 
go-ahead,  full  of  work,  plans,  and  projects,  preferring 
the  risk,  of  rushing  into  errors  to  the  irksomeness  of 
standing  still. 

The  clergy  occupy  a  somewhat  different  position  in 
America  from  what  they  do  in  this  country.  There  is 
no  such  distinction  there  as  Churchman  and  Dissenter 
— no  sect  lifted  up  by  the  civil  power  to  a  position 
from  which  it  can  look  down  on  others.  The  State 
secures  to  no  American  clergyman  that  glorious  in- 


376  CHURCHES.  ' 

dependence  which  a  minister  of  the  Establishment 
enjoys  here,  and  which  is  alwa}7s  so  comfortable  a 
thing  for  him,  and  sometimes  so  uncomfortable  a  thing 
for  his  flock.  The  American  clergyman,  whether  he  be 
Presbyterian  or  Baptist,  Episcopalian  or  Independent, 
has  to  depend  entirely  on  his  ability  to  supply  the 
spiritual  wants  of  his  people.  If  he  prove  himself 
indisposed  or  unable  to  do  that,  no  respect  is  shown 
him  on  account  of  his  cloth ;  he  is  paid  off  with  as 
little  ceremony  as  a  bungling  lawyer  or  a  useless  clerk. 

This  dependence  on  the  people  has  its  disadvantages. 
It  tends  to  make  dumb  dogs  of  many  who  would  like 
to  bark,  and  who  see  plenty  to  bark  at,  but  who  want 
the  courage  to  offend  the  people  on  whom  they  depend 
for  their  salary.  As  a  practical  restraint,  however,  this 
acts  far  less  than  might  be  expected,  as  is  evident  from 
the  fact,  that  American  ministers  (like  many  ministers 
of  Voluntary  churches  here)  are  found  speaking  out 
quite  as  boldly  as  any  ministers  of  the  Establishment. 

But  even  in  regard  to  salary,  no  American  minister  of 
ability  needs  to  fear.  If  he  loses  one  congregation  he 
gets  another,  and  if  he  cannot  preach  he  can  take  out  a 
patent. 

Some  of  the  American  clergy  are  paid  very  hand 
somely.  Beecher  is  said  to  get  $15,000,  and  probably 
makes  $2000  more  by  his  lectures,  not  to  speak  of  his 
books.  Dr.  Hall,  formerly  of  Dublin,  now  of  New  York, 
gets  $GOOO  in  gold,  and  a  free  house,  making  his  stipend 
equivalent  to  $9000 — the  largest  given  by  any  Presby 
terian  church  in  America.  Eobertson  of  Brooklyn  is 
said  to  have  nearly  as  much.  In  Dr.  Mackleroy's  church 
in  New  York  (Scotch  Presbyterian)  there  are  two  pas 
tors,  each  receiving  a  stipend  (or  salary,  as  the  Ameri- 


AMERICANS  TAUGHT  TO  SPEAK.  377 

cans  call  it)  of  $5000  ;  but  $5000  in  New  York  at 
present  is  not  worth  much  more  than  $3000  here.  In 
other  words,  a  minister  in  any  English  or  Scotch  city, 
with  a  stipend  of  £500,  is  as  well  off  as  a  minister  in 
New  York  with  a  salary  of  $4000.  Moreover,  the 
salaries  I  have  named  are  what  may  be  called  the  prizes 
of  the  Church.  The  average  income  of  a  minister  is 
only  $800  or  $900,  equal  to  about  £100  or  £150 
here  ;  so  that  very  few  American  ministers  will  be 
called  upon  to  make  the  experiment  of  the  camel  getting 
through  the  eye  of  the  needle,  though  it  is  just  the  kind 
of  experiment  which  an  ingenious  Yankee  would  be 
glad  to  try. 

In  American  preaching,  there  is  little  of  what  is 
called  exposition  of  Scripture.  Almost  all  sermons  are 
"  topical," — a  text  being  put  up  as  a  peg  on  which  the 
minister  hangs  his  own  views  of  the  subject.  I  scarcely 
ever  heard  Scripture  expounded  verse  by  verse,  as  is  so 
much  the  practice  in  Scotland.  Northern  and  Southern 
preaching  differ  somewhat.  Northern  preaching  is  more 
interesting,  with  a  tendency  to  be  less  orthodox,  and 
perhaps  less  reverent.  But  it  is  one  of  the  effects  of 
the  Voluntary  system,  both  North  and  South,  to  make 
it  almost  impossible  for  a  very  bad  preacher  to  earn  his 
livelihood  in  the  church.  American  sermons,  if  not 
often  profound,  are  generally  earnest  and  instructive, 
and  never  contemptible.  In  manner  and  delivery, 
the  preachers,  and  public  speakers  of  all  kinds,  con 
trast  favourably  with  ours.  Every  child  there  is  en 
couraged  to  speak  up  before  its  seniors ;  and  at  school 
it  is  the  constant  practice  to  make  children  rise  and 
explain  things  at  length,  not  to  answer,  as  with  us,  by 
a  mere  word.  They  are  also  called  to  the  platform,  and 


378  CHURCHES. 

taught  to  recite  before  the  whole  school.  This  helps  to 
account  for  the  remarkable  ease  of  address  which  dis 
tinguishes  the  Americans  as  a  people.  This  very  facility 
no  doubt  tends  to  wordiness  and  inflation  of  language. 
One  Pennsylvania  minister  began  in  prayer, — "  0  ever- 
revered  !  on  this  serene  morning,  when  we  may  con 
template  the  divine  manipulations  of  Thy  hand."  This 
sort  of  thing  is  not  so  often  heard  in  the  sermons,  which 
are  generally  written  and  read.1 

Great  attention  is  paid  in  America  to  the  psalmody. 
Every  church  that  can  afford  it  has  an  organ  or  a  choir, 
or  both.  Where  there  is  only  an  organ,  the  congregation 
generally  sing ;  where  there  is  a  quartette  choir,  it  is 
common  for  the  people  to  remain  silent  and  listen.  I 
have  seen  a  fashionable  congregation  of  fifteen  hundred 
people,  while  a  hymn  was  being  sung,  sitting  like  an 
audience  at  an  opera,  many  of  them  turned  half  round 
to  watch  the  choir.  The  finest  professional  singers  are 
often  engaged,  and  fill  the  church,  whatever  be  the 

1  In  ministers  as  in  newspapers,  especially  those  on  slavery,  was 
New  York  (counting  Brooklyn  as  more  terrible  than  they  could  de 
part  of  it)  bears  the  palm.  After  scribe.  "  Even  on  his  way  to  the 
Beecher,  in  celebrity,  come  Hall,  pulpit/'  said  one,  "  his  visage  seem- 
Cuyler,  and  Storrs  ;  Frothing!) am,  eel  sharpened  into  an  arrow-point 
the  Unitarian,  and  Chapin,  the  Uni-  dipped  in  gall.  His  pictures  of  the 
versalist.  Cheever,  whose  name  is  sin  of  slavery  burned  into  the 
better  known  in  this  country  than  brain." 

most  of  these,  has  sunk  into  com-  Some  of  his  own  people  said  he 
parative  obscurity.  Twelve  years  went  mad  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 
ago  he  was  a  power.  He  had  a  The  whole  Bible  became  in  his  hand 
large  congregation  of  his  own,  and  a  thunderbolt  against  the  South.  It 
crowds  assembled  to  hear  the  po-  was  all  fire  and  sword.  Not  a  single 
litical  sermons  which  he  used  to  text,  from  the  first  of  Genesis  to  the 
preach  on  the  Sunday  evenings,  and  last  of  Revelation,  that  he  did  not 
which  were  regularly  advertised  in  barb  and  dart  at  the  accursed  system 
the  papers.  I  was  told  by  many  and  all  who  upheld  it .  This  became 
who  heard  him,  that  the  impression  too  much  even  for  ardent  Abolition- 
made  by  some  of  these  sermons,  ists,  and  his  congregation  dwindled. 


THE  GREATER  AND  LESSER  LIGHTS.  379 

quality  or  creed  of  the  minister.  The  singing  in  such 
churches  tends  to  become  the  most  important  part  of 
the  service.  One  gentleman,  a  Unitarian  in  Boston, 
told  me  that  he  had  to  change  his  seat  from  near  the 
door,  to  avoid  the  disturbance  caused  by  people  going 
out  when  the  choral- singing  was  over,  and  before  the 
sermon  began.  They  tell  a  story  about  some  minister, 
who  announced  that,  as  the  singing  had  occupied  longer 
than  usual,  the  sermon  would  be  postponed  till  some 
more  convenient  season.  Some  of  these  choirs  are  main 
tained  at  great  cost.  In  one  Presbyterian  church  in 
Fifth  Avenue,  New  York,  the  leader  has  a  salary  of 
$1500  for  singing  during  two  services.  Another  Pres 
byterian  congregation  in  the  same  city  pays  its  quartette 
choir  $3200  annually.  In.  some  churches  the  choir  costs 
more  than  the  minister.  These,  of  course,  are  extreme 
cases ;  but  in  all  the  churches  the  service  of  praise  is 
receiving  increased  attention. 

In  building  and  fitting  up  their  churches,  the  Ame 
ricans   are   very   careful  to   make   them   comfortable. 

Still  he  had  clone  his  work.    People  was  being  dismantled.     On  passing 

could  not  forget  those  pictures  he  one  day,  I  found  brokers'  bills  plas- 

had  drawn.     Some  of  the  men  who  tered  over  the  front  walls,  announc- 

f oil  owed  M'Clellan  into  the  swamps  ing  that  the  windows,  doors,  seats, 

of  Chickahominy,  and  streamed  over  and  fixings  generally  were  for  sale, 

the  breastworks  at  Petersburg,  were  Few  people  seemed  to  know  where 

set  on  fire  by  Cheever.    But  slavery  or  how  he  was  now  employed.   Ame- 

went  down,  and  Cheever  is  left  like  ricans  live  too  much  in  the  present 

an  Armstrong  gun  after  peace  has  and  in  the  future  to  trouble  them- 

been  proclaimed.     I  found  that  he  selves  long  about  any  man  whose 

was  living  in  retirement  away  far  work  is  done.    A  living  dog  is  better 

out  of  the   city,   somewhere  near  than  a  dead  lion,  and  the  unknown 

Sixtieth  Street.     The  handful  that  man  who  has  something  new  and 

remained  of  his  former  congregation  practical  to  propose,  has  more  atten- 

still  met,  I  think,  in  some  hall ;  but  tion  paid  him   than  the  man,   no 

the  big  grey  church,  the  scene  of  matter  how  great  a  power  he  once 

Cheever's  glory  before  the  war,  was  was,   who   can  only  point  to  the 

last  abandoned,  and  when  I  was  there  past. 


380  CHURCHES. 

You  have  never  to  sit  through  a  long  sermon  on  the 
sharp  edge  of  a  hard  plank  seat,  or  stand  through  a  long 
prayer  in  a  cramped  position,  with  the  seat  against  the 
back  of  your  knees,  and  a  hard  bookboard  making  an 
impression  on  your  stomach.  The  pews  are  all  wide, 
the  seats  cushioned,  the  floor  carpeted,  and  the  whole 
church  comfortably  heated. 

The  same  rule  is  observed  in  the  lecture-hall  attached 
to  almost  every  church,  —  used  for  prayer-meetings 
and  social  gatherings.  It  is  a  common  complaint  in 
this  country  that  people  will  not  come  out  to  prayer- 
meetings.  The  inference  drawn  is  that  they  are  indif 
ferent  to  the  interests  of  their  souls.  But  it  ought  to 
be  remembered  that  man  is  a  composite  being,  with  not 
only  a  soul  but  a  body.  A  person  who  goes  once  to  a 
prayer-meeting,  and  sits  listening  for  an  hour  in  a  dim, 
cold,  echoey  church,  with  one  draught  blowing  on  the 
nape  of  his  neck  and  another  on  his  feet,  must  be  in 
spired  with  the  heroism  of  an  ancient  martyr  if  he 
returns  again.  The  Americans  very  wisely  take  care 
that  the  place  in  which  they  hold  their  prayer-  meetings 
shall  be  well  heated,  well  lighted,  well  carpeted,  and 
well  furnished,  so  that  the  body  shall  be  comfortable 
while  the  soul  is  being  fed.  It  makes  attendance  at 
the  prayer-meeting  a  less  conclusive  test  of  spirituality 
than  it  is  with  us ;  but  it  brings  the  people  out  who 
are  most  wanted.  More  variety  is  also  introduced  into 
the  exercises.  I  have  attended  such  meetings,  where 
not  only  the  minister,  but  half-a-dozen  of  the  people 
took  part  in  the  proceedings — one  praying,  another 
reading,  another  giving  some  experience  in  his  mission- 
work,  hymns  coming  in  between,  and  no  person  being 
allowed  to  speak  for  more  than  five  minutes  at  a  time. 


SPIRITUALIST  SUNDAY-SCHOOL.  381 

One  goes  to  such  a  meeting  with  pleasure,  and  comes 
away  refreshed. 

The  same  wisdom  is  seen  in  the  arrangements  con 
nected  with  the  Sunday-schools.  To  these  schools 
great  importance  is  attached  in  America ;  and  the 
buildings  are  often  designed  and  furnished  expressly 
for  Sunday-school  purposes.  I  remember  one  in  Lee 
Avenue,  Brooklyn,  which,  by  means  of  sliding  glass 
walls  or  doors,  can  be  changed  at  any  moment  from  one 
school  into  four,  or  from  four  into  one.  The  purpose  of 
this  is  to  allow  of  different  exercises  being  carried  on  in 
each  department  without  disturbing  any  of  the  others. 
At  the  beginning  the  whole  school  is  one,  and  joins  in 
the  same  hymn  and  prayer.  As  soon  as  these  are  over, 
the  superintendent  touches  a  bell,  and  the  glass  walls 
run  together,  shutting  off  from  sound,  not  from  sight, 
the  wings  and  further  end  of  the  building.  Lessons 
then  begin  in  all  departments,  the  infant  classes  in 
their  wing  behind  the  glass  wall,  singing  every  five  or 
ten  minutes,  without  disturbing  the  others.  When  the 
time  comes  for  the  closing  exercises,  the  bell  is  again 
touched,  the  glass  doors  slide  back,  and  the  school  is 
one  again.  The  superintendent  examines  or  addresses 
for  five  minutes  ;  and,  after  a  hymn  and  a  word  of 
prayer,  the  signal  is  given,  and  the  classes  one  by  one 
march  out. 

In  Philadelphia  I  visited  a  Spiritualist  Sunday- 
school,  or  as  it  is  technically  called,  a  Progressive 
Lyceum.  The  scholars  were  all  arranged  according  to 
age,  the  youngest  in  the  front ;  and  at  the  end  of  each 
row  stood  a  gilded  banneret  with  the  distinctive  title 
of  the  class,— as  "  Fountain  group,"  "  Eiver,"  "  Garland," 
"Vesper,"  and  giving  the  age  of  the  pupils  in  that 


382  CHURCHES. 

seat,  "four  years  old,"  "five  years  old,"  and  increas 
ingly,  "back  to  the  seats  where  the  young  ladies  might 
not  care  to  have  their  ages  specified,  and  where,  there 
fore,  there  was  nothing  on  the  banneret  but  the  name 
of  the  group.  The  exercises  began  with  arm  and  step 
gymnastics,  on  Dio  Lewis's  system ;  after  which  a 
march  was  struck  up  on  the  piano,  and  class  after 
class  marched  past  the  front  of  the  platform,  where 
little  flags  were  handed  to  them.  In  five  minutes  the 
whole  300  or  400  pupils  were  marching  and  counter 
marching  through  the  school,  with  200  or  300  flags 
flying,  presenting  a  scene  of  extraordinary  animation 
and  beauty.  As  the  marching  drew  to  a  close,  each 
class  re-passed  the  platform,  handing  back  its  flags ; 
and,  in  five  minutes  more,  was  in  its  place  again. 
The  superintendent  explained  to  me  that  their  idea 
was  the  education  of  the  whole  being — body,  soul,  and 
spirit.  In  accordance  with  this  plan,  the  physical 
exercises  were  followed  by  songs,  recitations,  and 
questions  ;  and  these  by  hymns  and  prayers  recited 
by  the  whole  school.  The  younger  children  then  dis 
persed,  and  their  places  were  taken  by  their  parents, 
when  a  sermon  was  delivered  by  one  of  their  female 
trance-speakers,  and  the  service  closed.  This  system 
was  devised  by  Andrew  Jackson  Davis,  a  spiritual 
visionary  after  the  order  of  Jacob  Behmen  and 
Emmanuel  Swedenborg,  and  author  of  the  most  re 
markable  books  produced  by  this  class  of  religionists 
in  America.  - 

The  great  success  of  Sunday-schools  in  the  States  is 
partly  due  to  the  fact  that  the  very  best  and  most 
competent  people  in  the  church  are  amongst  the 
teachers,  including  thousands  of  persons  occupying 


OBSERVANCE  OF  LORD'S  DAY.  383 

high  social  positions.  You  find  merchant-princes,  gene 
rals,  and  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  as  attentive 
to  Sunday-school  work  as  to  their  week-day  employ 
ments.  No  work  is  considered  nobler,  or  worthy  of 
more  careful  study.  I  have  lived  with  merchants  who 
spent  an  hour  every  day  in  preparing  for  their  Sunday- 
schools  and  classes.  Is  it  wonderful  that,  with  en 
thusiasm  and  serious  preparation  like  this,  these 
schools  should  have  so  far  outstripped  ours  in  effi 
ciency  and  success  ? 

The  fact  that  common  school  education  must  be 
entirely,  or  almost  entirely  secular,  and  that  the 
religious  education  of  the  young  must  depend  on  the 
parents  and  the  Church,  has  greatly  stimulated  the 
movement,  and  invested  it  with  a  national  importance. 
The  Sunday-school  teachers  in  each  county  meet 
regularly  in  convention,  to  arrange  plans  for  the  better 
working  of  the  system ;  all  these  conventions  send 
delegates  to  a  convention  for  the  State,  and  the  con 
ventions  of  the  various  States  send  delegates  to  the 
National  Convention,  which  meets  in  Washington  or 
Philadelphia,  and  which  may  be  called  the  United 
States  Sunday -School  Congress.  The  movement  is 
thus  assuming  rapidly  the  form  of  a  great  national 
system  for  the  religious  upbringing  of  the  young.  It 
is  reckoned  that  5,000,000  scholars  are  being  trained  in 
these  schools.  The  Methodists  alone  have  more  than 
a  million  and  a  half  of  children  in  theirs. 

Sunday  observance  in  America  is  much  the  same  as 
in  England,  with  a  few  differences  arising  out  of  the 
peculiarities  of  the  country.  The  steamers  sail  on  the 
great  lakes  and  rivers  on  Sunday  and  Saturday  just  as 
ours  do  on  the  open  sea,  a  few  trains  run,  and  in  all  the 


384  CHURCHES. 

cities  the  street- cars  ply  as  usual — the  distances  in 
American  towns  being  greater  than  in  ours,  and  the 
Americans  being  very  averse  to  long  walks,  especially 
in  90  degrees  of  summer  heat,  or  20  degrees  of  winter 
cold.  Newspapers  printed  on  Saturday  night  are  pub 
lished  on  Sunday,  even  in  places  where  none  are  printed 
as  ours  are  on  Sunday  to  be  published  on  Monday  morn 
ing.  Where  the  German  element  is  strong  the  Sunday 
laws  are  laxer,  and  halls  and  pleasure-gardens  are  open, 
where  the  Teutons  are  wont  to  assemble,  with  their 
wives  and  little  ones,  to  talk,  smoke,  drink  lager-beer, 
and  listen  to  music  from  an  instrumental  band.  But  over 
almost  the  whole  continent,  even  in  vast  cities  like  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  and  Chicago,  business  is  suspended, 
and  shops  and  public-houses  closed — all  this  by  the  de 
cision  of  the  sovereign  people  legislating  for  themselves. 

The  circumstances  of  America  have  been  in  many 
respects  peculiarly  unfavourable  to  moral  and  spiritual 
development.  There  has  been  much  in  her  history  to 
foster  the  delusion  that  the  regeneration  of  mankind 
may  be  accomplished  through  material  comfort,  free 
schools,  and  the  ballot,  with  or  without  religion.  And 
yet  nowhere  in  the  world  has  Christianity  been  making 
more  progress.  In  1800,  when  the  population  was 
5,000,000,  the  church  membership  was  350,000;  in  1860, 
when  the  population  was  30,000,000,  the  church  mem 
bership  was  found  to  have  increased  to  5,000,000.  In 
other  words,  the  proportion  of  avowed  Christians  to  the 
entire  population  had  far  more  than  doubled — having 
increased  from  one  in  every  fifteen  to  one  in  every  six.1 

1  The  principal  evangelical  churches      byterian,   Episcopal,    Baptist,    and 
in  America  are  the  Methodist,  Pres-      Congregational.    The  following  list, 


CHURCH  PROPERTY. 


385 


From  Maine  to  California  more  than  45,000  places  of 
Christian  worship,  capable  of  accommodating  20,000,000 
people,have  been  erected  by  voluntary  contributions;  and 
represent  church  property  to  the  value  of  £40,000,000 
sterling. 

It  must  be  very  amusing  to  the  Americans  and  to 
any  person  who  has  visited  that  country,  to  see  the 


based  on  the  census  of  1860,  indi 
cates   their  relative   strength  and 
position  : — 
Protestant  Episcopalians — 


Churches, 

Members, 
Congregationalists — 

Clmrches, 

Members, 
Presbyterians — 

Churches, 

Members, 
Baptists — 

Churches, 

Members, 
Methodists — 

Ministers, 

Members, 


2,110 
135,700 

2,500 

257,600 

6,000 
550,000 

17,000 

1,490,000 


14,000 
.  2,000,000 
The  Roman  Catholics  number 
about  4,000,000 ;  but  it  has  to  be 
remembered  that  the  Romish  Church 
counts  not  by  membership",  but  by 
population.  For  its  four  millions 
of  people,  it  has  only  4000  churches 
and  chapels  ;  while  the  Presby 
terians,  for  their  half-a-million  of 
members  have  6000.  The  member 
ship  in  a  Presbyterian  Church  re 
presents  but  a  fraction  of  its  people. 
The  Methodists,  with  2,000,000 
members,  claim  8,000,000  hearers. 
The  Spiritualists  are  very  numerous 
in  the  States,  but  being  for  the  most 
part  mixed  up  with  other  denomina 
tions,  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  their 

VOL.  II. 


real  strength.  There  are  said  to 
be  60,000  public  and  private  me 
diums,  500  public  speakers,  many 
of  them  women ;  2000  places  open 
for  public  circles  and  conferences  ; 
2,000,000  "decisive  believers,"  and 
5,000,000  nominal.  But  this  com 
putation  has  been  made  by  Spiri 
tualists  themselves,  and  the  last 
items  are  very  likely,  from  the  way 
they  have  of  reckoning,  to  be  huge 
exaggerations.  Besides  the  deno 
minations  mentioned,  there  are 
numerous  little  sects — Perfection- 
•  ists,  Tunkards,  Cosmopolites,  Demo 
cratic  Gospelites,  Ebenezer  Social 
ists,  Sand-hillers,  Soul-sleepers, 
Gome-outers,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.  There 
are  also  Avowed  Atheists — a  class 
once  numerous,  but  apparently 
dwindling.  An  American  corre 
spondent  of  the  Scotsman,  whose 
letters  contain  much  valuable  in 
formation  on  America,  reported, 
last  November,  that  a  NATIONAL 
CONVENTION  of  Atheists,  Infidels, 
and  Secularists  had  assembled  at 
Philadelphia.  This  National  Con 
vention  was  attended  by  seventeen 
persons,  including  one  female  !  The 
Committee  reported  several  meet 
ings  got  up  at  a  loss  of  £10  ;  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  sale  of  infidel 
pamphlets  had  yielded  18s.  6d.  for 
the  year  ! 

2  B 


386  CHURCHES. 

terror  of  some  people  here  that  the  Church  will  come 
down  if  State  support  is  withdrawn.  The  entire 
support  given  to  the  Established  Church  in  Great 
Britain,  amounts  to  less  than  five  million  pounds,  while 
the  support  voluntarily  given  to  their  churches  by  the 
Americans  amounts  to  seven  millions  and  a  quarter. 
Nor  do  they  stop  with  supporting  themselves.  All  over 
the  world  American  missionaries  are  to  be  found  main 
tained  by  these  voluntary  Churches, — one  of  which 
(the  Methodist  Episcopalian)  has  raised  for  home  and 
foreign  missions  £200,000  in  a  single  year,  besides  a 
centenary  thank-offering  of  £1,000,000  for  collegiate 
and  charitable  purposes.  Such  facts  furnish  a  reason 
able  hope  that  in  this  country  also,  even  without  the 
crutches  of  the  State,  the  Church  of  Christ  will  be  able 
to  stand. 


FREE  SCHOOLS.  387 


XXXIII. 

FREE  SCHOOLS. 

NOTHING  in  America  excited  my  admiration  more 
than  the  system  of  common  schools.  To  form  an  idea 
of  it  as  carried  out  in  the  North,  suppose  a  fisherman's 
net  spread  oat  upon  a  lawn;  suppose  the  lawn  to  be 
the  States ;  suppose  all  the  little  squares  made  by  the 
net  to  be  the  school  sections  into  which  the  States  are 
divided ;  you  have  there  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  whole 
country  as  divided  for  educational  purposes.  Every 
little  square  has  its  public  school  or  schools,  where  all 
the  children  in  that  section — the  children  of  the  poor 
as  well  as  of  the  rich — can  go,  free  of  charge,  and  get  a 
good  English  education.  To  the  regular  schools  over 
this  vast  area,  add  a  plentiful  sprinkling  of  Grammar 
and  High  Schools  also  free;  wherever  there  are 
centres  of  population  add  clusters  of  schools  and 
colleges,  and  you  have  before  you  a  picture  of  the  pro 
vision  made  by  America  for  the  education  of  her  people. 
It  is  a  magnificent  development  of  the  old  Scottish 
system  of  parochial  schools  and  endowed  colleges. 

The  system  is  supported  by  a  school-tax  imposed  by 
the  people  upon  themselves.  In  many  places  this  tax 
amounts  to  a  mere  trifle,  by  reason  of  the  large  amount 
of  land  originally  appropriated  for  school  purposes  and 
rising  in  value ;  and  also  by  donations  of  money  made 


388  FREE  SCHOOLS. 

by  private  persons.  But  even  at  the  heaviest  the 
school- tax  is  very  much  lighter  than  the  burden  we  in 
this  country  have  to  bear  in  supporting  a  system  much 
less  successful.1  Each  district  taxes  itself  according  to  its 
wants,  and  regulates  its  educational  affairs  through  a 
committee  acting  within  the  limits  of  the  general  laws 
affecting  schools.  It  follows  that  in  some  States  and 
townships  the  teachers  are  better  paid,  the  schools 
better,  and  education  carried  to  a  higher  point  than  in 
others.  In  many  of  the  States,  not  only  can  the 
poorest  child  enter  the  Common  School  and  get  instruc 
tion  in  all  the  branches  of  an  English  education,  but 
by  passing  the  requisite  examinations  he  can  proceed 
from  the  Common  School  to  the  High  School,  and  from 
the  High  School  to  the  College,  the  State  paying  for 
his  education  from  first  to  last. 

As  yet  the  system  is  only  working  itself  towards 
completeness.  It  has  failed  in  the  larger  cities  to  bring 
in  the  lowest  class  of  children  for  want  of  a  compulsory 
law;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  numerous  private 
academies  are  supported  by  people  who  pay  the  tax 
gladly  to  support  the  public  schools,  but  are,  or  profess 
to  be,  afraid  to  let  their  own  children  commingle  with 

1  Mr.   Zincke,    in  his  admirable  her    600,000    scholars  !      Even    in 

work  published  in  1869,  shows  by  Massachusetts,  where  the  education 

dividing  the  amount  of  school  taxa-  is    best,   it    costs  but  twenty-five 

tion  by  the  number  of  scholars,  that  shillings  a  year  for  each  ;   and  in 

the  average  cost  of  a  boy's  education  New  York,  where  the  tax  is  heaviest, 

in  America  _is  only  about   eleven  education  is  still  much  cheaper  than 

shillings    a    year,— less    than    the  with  us,— the  cost  per  pupil  being 

price  of  a  decent  hat  !    He  declares  thirty  shillings  a  year,  while  with 

that  the  two    English  schools    of  us  even   a  tradesman  to  give  his 

Eton  and  Harrow  cost  the  boys'  children  anything   like    the    same 

parents  more  than  the  whole  State  education,  will  have  to  pay  five  or 

of  Illinois  has  to  pay  for  her  10,000  ten  times  more, 
schools,  her  20,000  teachers,   and 


FEMALE  TEACHERS.  389 

other  classes.     The  great  mass  of  American  children, 
however,  are  educated  in  the  Common  Schools. 

The  system  in  Upper  Canada,  though  less  known,  is 
in  some  points  superior  even  to  that  of  the  States.  It 
is  under  the  control  of  a  central  board  at  Toronto, 
which  adds  vastly  to  the  efficiency  of  the  system,  and 
gives  it  harmony  and  completeness.  Amongst  other 
important  advantages,  it  secures  (1)  that  all  teachers 
qualify  themselves  and  graduate  at  the  Normal  School ; 
and  (2)  that  the  same  books  (and  these  the  best)  be 
used  throughout  the  Province.  Another  advantage 
claimed  by  Canada  is  that  she  has  a  larger  proportion 
of  male  teachers.  This  is  an  important  point  in  High 
Schools  and  Colleges ;  but  in  the  Common  Schools, 
where  the  pupils  are  mostly  children,  and  the  branches 
mostly  elementary,  the  superiority  of  male  teachers  is, 
at  least,  doubtful.  In  the  States,  almost  the  whole  system 
of  Common  School  education  is  carried  out  ly  female 
teachers,  and  yet  nowhere  perhaps  in  the  world  are 
children  educated  so  well.  It  was  from  no  belief  in  the 
superior  qualifications  of  women  for  this  work  that  the 
present  state  of  things  came  about.  It  arose  simply 
from  the  fact  that  women  were  ready  to  undertake  the 
work  at  lower  salaries;  and,  having  undertaken  it, 
proved  so  competent  that  they  have  been  allowed  to 
retain  almost  a  monopoly  of  it.  Even  in  Canada  the 
proportion  of  female  teachers  is  yearly  increasing.  The 
same  change  probably  awaits  us  here.  If  so,  our  girls 
will  have  to  be  specially  educated  for  the  work  as  they 
are  in  the  Normal  Schools  in  Canada  and  the  States ; 
but  when  so  educated  their  superior  qualifications  for 
managing,  refining,  and  training  the  young  are  likely  to 
be  recognised,  and  a  new  and  vast  field  opened  up  for 
the  employment  of  educated  women. 


390  FREE  SCHOOLS. 

For  the  sake  of  those  who  might  like  to  get  a  peep 
into  an  American  Free  School,  let  me  describe  one  of 
those  I  visited  in  New  York, — Ward  School,  No.  50, 
for  girls. 

On  entering  we  found  the  whole  school  engaged  in 
preliminary  exercises  "before  separating  to  the  different 
class-rooms.  The  large,  airy,  and  elegant  room  was  filled 
with  quite  a  sea  of  young  girls — five  or  six  hundred  of 
them,  of  from  five  to  twelve  years  of  age.  Many  of  them 
were  evidently  the  children  of  poor  people ;  but  they  were 
neatly  (many  of  them  beautifully)  dressed,  and  all  scrupu 
lously  clean — a  point  to  which  great  attention  is  paid  in 
American  schools.  Any  scholar  coming  with  untidy  clothes, 
or  with  unwashed  face  or  hands,  or  unbrushed  hair,  would 
be  sent  home  at  once.  When  a  song  had  been  sung  to  the 
accompaniment  of  the  piano,  the  Lady  Principal  took  her 
station  at  the  desk  on  the  platform,  and  touched  a  spring- 
bell.  The  children  were  all  attention. 

"  What  are  you  to  do  when  you  see  any  object  V9 

"  We  are  to  think  of  its  qualities,  parts,  uses,  colours, 
and  form,"  answered  the  children. 

The  Principal  then  produced  a  common  clay  pipe,  and 
held  it  up.  There  was  an  instant  brightening  of  eyes  and 
a  titter;  but  the  titter  was  over  in  a  moment,  and  the 
children  ready. 

"  I  bring  some  new  object  every  morning,"  the  Prin 
cipal  said,  turning  to  us.  "  They  never  know  what  the 
object  is  to  be.  So  it  brings  out  their  general  informa 
tion,  and  teaches  them  to  have  their  knowledge  always  at 
command." 

She  now  began  to  ask  the  school  about  the  qualities  of 
the  pipe,  the  names  of  its  parts,  and  so  forth,  eliciting  all 
the  girls  knew  about  it. 

When  one  bright  little  girl  was  asked  what  pipes  were 
used  for,  she  replied,  "  For  blowing  soap-bubbles." 

"  I  wish,"  said  the  Principal,  with  a  smile,  "  that  was 
the  only  use  to  which  people  put  them." 

She  then  asked  what  they  could  tell  her  about  tobacco. 


SKETCH  OF  AN  AMERICAN  SCHOOL.  391 

One  girl  was  able  to  tell  where  it  was  grown,  another 
where  it  was  manufactured,  another  what  nations  used  it 
most,  and  another  got  up  to  state  that  12,000  dollars'  worth 
of  cigars  was  used  in  New  York  every  day.  When  a 
further  round  of  questions  had  been  put  as  to  the  effect  of 
smoking,  the  Principal  summed  up  all  the  information 
elicited,  laid  the  pipe  aside,  and  touched  the  spring-bell. 
Thereupon  a  march  was  struck  up  on  the  piano,  and  all 
the  five  or  six  hundred  girls  rose  and  moved  off  with 
military  precision  to  their  various  recitation  rooms. 

I  asked  the  Principal  how  she  contrived  to  maintain 
such  perfect  order. 

"  We  appeal,"  she  said,  "  to  the  self-respect  of  the  girls 
themselves,  and  the  older  show  an  example  to  the  younger. 
The  school  would  think  itself  disgraced  if  any  one  were 
impertinent  or  unruly." 

"  But  there  must  be  misconduct  sometimes.  What  do 
you  resort  to  then  1  Do  you  use  the  rod  V 

"  Never.  The  marks  suffice  in  ninty-nine  cases  out  of 
every  hundred.  But  if  the  child  continues  to  misbehave 
its  parents  are  spoken  to,  and,  as  a  last  resort,  it  is  sent 
home.  This  is  considered  such  a  disgrace  that  the  dread 
of  it  tames  the  most  ungovernable." 

On  looking  at  the  Registers  of  the  school,  I  found,  from 
the  column  giving  the  occupations  of  the  scholars'  parents, 
that  there  were  present  the  children  of  almost  all  classes 
of  people — importers,  plumbers,  seamstresses,  merchants, 
butchers,  nurses,  clerks,  cartmen,  physicians,  servants, 
bookbinders,  stage-drivers,  farmers,  typesetters,  labourers, 
lawyers,  masons,  waiters,  stationers,  private  watchmen,  and 
architects.  I  copied  these  at  random.  Here  and  there  a 
parent  or  guardian  was  entered  as  of  no  occupation — "  Mrs. 
Smith,  nothing;"  "Ezekiel  Jones,  nothing;"  showing  that 
some  of  the  fruges  consumere  nati  are  to  be  found  even  in 
that  busy,  Babel-tongued,  money-hunting  city  of  New  York. 

There  was  also  a  Visitors'  book.  The  practice  of  visit 
ing  schools  is  very  common  in  America,  and  very  beneficial. 
People  take  their  friends  ;  and  frequently,  when  a  profes 
sional  or  business  man  finds  half-an-hour  thrown  upon  his 


392  FREE  SCHOOLS. 

hands,  he  turns  his  steps  to  the  nearest  school,  listens  to 
some  of  the  examinations,  and  perhaps  says  a  word  of  en 
couragement  before  he  goes.  The  interest  which  is  thus  con 
tinually  shown  by  the  outside  world  in  the  success  of  the 
schools  not  only  stimulates  the  teachers  but  impresses  the 
scholars  with  the  vital  importance  of  their  work,  and  gives 
an  additional  incentive  to  regular  and  active  preparation. 

The  Principal  now  conducted  us  through  the  various 
departments  or  "  grades."  The  rooms  were  lofty,  well 
lighted,  and  well  ventilated.  The  scholars  sat  at  their 
neat  little  desks,  two  and  two,  in  long  columns  running 
back  from  the  platform.  The  school  equipment  is  much 
more  complete  than  with  us.  Every  scholar  has  her  own 
little  arm-chair  and  desk — the  latter  with  a  socket  into 
which  to  slip  her  slate,  a  groove  for  her  pencil,  and  a  little 
cup  for  the  sponge  used  in  blotting  out  her  figures.  Neat 
ness,  cleanliness,  and  order,  are  parts  of  American  education. 

We  waited  in  one  room — "recitation  rooms"  they  are 
all  called — to  see  the  girls  at  their  arithmetic.  The  excite 
ment  was  extraordinary,  and  reminded  me  of  annual  ex 
aminations  at  home.  The  teacher  gave  out  a  question,  the 
scholars  taking  it  down  on  their  slates.  The  instant  she 
ceased,  every  one  dashed  into  the  calculation  with  the 
rapidity  of  an  excited  terrier  chasing  a  ball.  The  first  one 
done  started  to  her  feet  and  cried  "First!"  Then  in 
quick  succession  came  "  Second  ! "  "  Third  ! "  "  Fourth  ! " 
"Fifth!"  followed  by  a  general  uprising  of  the  class. 
Answers  were  read,  and  next  moment  the  class  was  seated, 
and  another  question  being  given. 

In  the  next  recitation  room,  where  reading  and  spelling 
was  going  on,  I  observed  the  extreme  care  taken  to  give 
the  scholars  a  clear  and  sharp  articulation — an  accomplish 
ment  in  which,  owing  partly  to  this  early  training,  the 
Americans  greatly  excel.  Every  syllable  had  to  be  uttered 
with  as  much  distinctness  as  if  it  stood  alone.  "  E's  "  had 
to  be  trilled  with  more  than  even  Scottish  clearness,  making 
"tree"  sound  like  "  t'rree."  In  words  like  "when  "and 
"  which,"  the  girls  were  taught  to  take  a  mouthful  of  air, 
as  if  they  were  going  to  whistle,  causing  them  to  aspirate 


DISCIPLINE.  393 

the  words  with  a  force  that  would  have  blown  a  Cockney 
off  his  feet.  The  Principal  said  the  exaggeration  was  in 
tentional,  and  counteracted  the  common  tendency  to  sloven 
liness  and  the  running  of  syllables  together. 

I  noticed  one  dark- eyed  little  girl,  with  a  keen  face,  and 
hair  brushed  tightly  back  behind  her  ears,  who  wore  a 
silver  decoration  on  her  breast — the  badge  of  honour, 
indicating  that  she  had  stood  first  for  the  whole  of  the 
previous  month. 

I  could  not  help  observing  this  little  piece  of  precocity. 
No  error  seemed  to  escape  her.  "When  the  Principal  tried 
them  with  a  round  of  spelling,  and  it  came  to  little  Preco 
city's  turn,  she  first  pronounced  and  spelt  her  own  word, 
and  then  said  before  sitting  down,  "  And  please,  Miss  W — , 
when  you  said  to  the  second  girl  '  mourning,'  she  said 
'  morning,'  and  the  fifth  girl  when  spelling  '  urgent,'  said 
'  hew '  instead  of  '  u.'  " 

To  prevent  too  much  wear  and  tear  of  the  little  brains 
each  lesson  only  lasts  for  twenty  minutes,  after  which  comes 
an  interval  of  gymnastics  and  marching  to  music,  which 
gives  mental  rest  and  healthy  physical  exercise  at  the 
same  time. 


This  was  a  girls'  school.  But  in  boys'  schools,  and  in 
schools  where  boys  and  girls  are  taught  together,  the 
order  and  discipline  are  the  same.  Even  in  the  West, 
I  remember,  in  one  vast  free  school  with  about  800 
scholars,  looking  into  a  large  class-room  where  more 
than  100  boys  and  girls  had  been  left  alone  for  half-an- 
hour  to  study.  Perfect  silence  reigned.  They  were  all 
sitting  intent  over  their  books ;  and  the  eyes  that  wrere 
attracted  by  the  sound  of  our  footsteps  were  only  off 
the  page  for  a  moment.  When  the  half-hour  had  ex 
pired,  the  teacher  went  in  to  begin  the  next  "recita 
tion  ; "  but  first  asked  if  any  of  the  scholars  had  been 
"communicating," — i.e.,  talking,  whispering,  or  even 
making  si^ns  to  one  another.  Five  scholars  at  once 


394  FREE  SCHOOLS. 

rose,  said  they  had  communicated,  and  gave  their 
reasons.  In  two  cases  a  bad  mark  was  given ;  in  the 
other  three,  the  explanations  were  satisfactory.  This 
was  only  a  specimen  of  the  order  and  discipline  that 
prevailed  throughout  the  whole  school.  And  yet  the 
teachers  were  all  ladies,  and  the  scholars  were  under 
no  fear  of  corporal  punishment — such  punishment 
being  prohibited  by  law,  except  in  extreme  cases 
which  have  all  to  be  reported. 

From  such  schools  the  children  are  not  only  sent 
forth  instructed,  but  disciplined, — taught  how  to  be 
have  themselves  as  little  citizens  of  a  Eepublic,  in 
which  every  boy  is  to  be  a  gentleman,  and  every  girl  a 
lady. 

Whether  it  is  best  to  train  boys  and  girls  in  separate 
schools  or  together,  is  a  question  on  which  there  is 
great  diversity  of  opinion,  and  every  district  is  left  to 
settle  it  for  itself.  Oberlin  College,  Ohio,  has  long 
preached  the  doctrine  that,  from  first  to  last,  the  sexes 
should  be  trained  together  as  in  a  family  circle,  where 
the  influence  of  brother  and  sister  is  mutually  bene 
ficial.  This  principle  enters  into  its  own  constitution. 
In  its  class-rooms,  I  saw  hundreds  of  students  of  both 
sexes  sitting  together  listening  to  the  same  prelections, 
and  passing  the  same  examinations.  It  was  only  in  some 
of  the  medical  classes,  where  this  arrangement  would 
have  been  improper,  that  the  male  and  female  students 
were  taught  at  different  hours.  The  professional  course 
in  classes  and  philosophy  is  not  generally  taken  by  the 
ladies,  but  is  open  to  all  of  them  who  wish.  In  each 
class-room,  the  male  students  enter  by  one  door,  the 
female  students  by  another,  and  occupy  different  sides 
of  the  room,  facing  the  professor.  They  lodge  in  sepa 
rate  buildings — the  ladies'  hall  being  under  the  charge 


CO-EDUCATION  OF  SEXES.  395 

of  a  matron.  Except  in  the  class-rooms  they  only 
meet  at  dinner,  to  which  three  or  four  hundred  male 
arid  female  students  sit  down  together  every  day. 

When  1  asked  Principal  Fairchild  if  these  arrange 
ments  did  not  lead  to  love-making  between  the  students, 
he  said, — "  There  is  less  of  mere  flirtation  here  than 
amongst  any  equal  number  of  young  men  and  young 
women  brought  up  under  different  conditions.  But  the 
male  and  female  students  come  to  know  each  other,  and 
if  the  friendships  formed  in  college  should  lead  to  mar 
riage  afterwards,  as  is  often  the  case,  we  see  nothing  in 
that  to  be  deplored.  The  marriage  is  likely  to  be  all 
the  happier  that  the  youth  and  the  maid  have  become 
so  familiar  with  each  other's  tastes  and  abilities." 

The  effects  of  this  co-education  on  the  male  students 
is  in  many  respects  exceedingly  good.  The  presence  of 
the  other  sex  is  a  powerful  stimulus,  and  even  dullards 
are  quickened  into  activity  by  the  fear  of  falling  behind 
the  girls.  It  has  a  refining  influence  also  on  their  man 
ners.  Obeiiin  was  the  only  college  in  which  I  saw  no 
spittoons,  and  nobody  using  tobacco.1 

The  effect  of  co-education  on  the  female  students  is 
not  so  easily  determined.  They  undoubtedly  gain  by 
it  intellectually,  and  in  some  respects  morally.  How  it 
affects  the  delicate  modesty  and  refinement  which  con 
stitute  so  much  of  the  charm  of  women,  I  cannot  pre 
tend  to  say ;  but  it  may  be  to  the  point  to  repeat  what 
was  told  me  by  a  friend  who  studied  at  Oberlin,  and 
married  an  Obeiiin  girl : — "  The  idea,"  he  said,  "  of 

i  For  religion  and  morality  also,  leges,  with  a  card,—"  Apples,  one 

few  places  have  a  higher  reputation.  cent  each. "    On  her  return  she  found 

Amongst  the  stories  told  illustra-  only  a  handful  of  apples  left,  but  a 

tive  of  Oberlin  honesty,  is  one  of  cent  in  the  basket  for  every  apple 

a  woman  who  left  a  basket  of  apples  taken, 
at  the  entrance  to  one  of  the  col- 


396  FREE  SCHOOLS. 

kissing  a  girl  who  had  studied  anatomy,  and  knew 
quadratic  equations,  alarmed  me  at  first,  but  after  making 
the  experiment,  I  found  the  kiss  the  sweetest  I  had  ever 
got  in  my  life." 

The  example  of  Oberlin  in  opening  her  College  course 
to  both  sexes,  has  been  followed  by  the  Iowa  and 
Michigan  Universities,  and  seems  likely  to  be  followed 
by  others.  In  the  Common  and  High  Schools,  the  prac 
tice  of  educating  boys  and  girls  together  is  widely  pre 
valent,  and  in  small  towns  and  rural  districts  almost 
universal. 

The  religious  difficulty  which  has  kept  us  so  long  out 
of  a  national  system  of  education,  has  been  practically 
settled  by  the  Americans.  Their  position  is  this, — 
That  public  money  appropriated  for  public  education 
cannot  justly  be  expended  on  sectarian  education.  If 
half  the  people  are  Eomanists  and  half  are  Protestants, 
it  is  unjust  to  take  Protestant  money  to  build  Komish 
schools,  and  equally  unjust  to  take  Eomish  money  to 
build  Protestant  schools.  But  if  all  parties  are  agreed 
that  it  is  desirable  to  have  their  children  taught  to  read, 
write,  and  cipher,  here  is  a  kind  of  education  which, 
being  desired  by  the  whole  public,  can  justly  be  paid 
for  out  of  the  public  purse.  On  this  position  America 
has  reared  her  system  of  common  schools,  which  is 
putting  the  mass  of  her  people  so  far  in  advance  of  ours 
in.  point  of  education.  To  say  that  religion  shall  not 
be  taught  tHere,  is  not  to  say  that  religion  is  less  im 
portant  than  writing  or  ciphering,  but  simply  that  the 
public  are  at  one  on  the  subject  of  writing  and  cipher 
ing,  while  they  are  at  variance  on  the  subject  of 
religion. 

But  if  the  public  are  so  much  agreed  even  in  regard 


RELIGION  IN  COMMON  SCHOOLS.  397 

to  creed,  as  to  wish,  that  certain  religious  exercises 
should  be  engaged  in,  then  the  introduction  of  such 
exercises  involves  no  injustice,  as  it  drives  away  no 
section  of  the  public.  In  most  of  the  schools,  both  in 
Canada  and  the  States,  the  opening  exercises  include  a 
portion  of  Scripture  (read  without  comment),  the  Ten 
Commandments,  and  the  Lord's  Prayer.  To  prevent  any 
class  of  the  public  from  being  excluded  on  this  account 
from  schools  which  they  are  paying  to  support,  it  is 
arranged  that  parents  who  object  to  their  children  being 
present  at  these  exercises,  shall  notify  the  same  to  the 
Principal,  who  shall  not  require  the  presence  of  such 
children  until  after  these  exercises  are  over.  So  far  as 
I  could  discover,  scarcely  any,  except  here  and  there 
a  few  Eoman  Catholics,  were  availing  themselves  of  this 
exemption.  In  all  the  common  schools  I  visited,  the 
children  of  Catholics,  Jews,  Unitarians,  and  Infidels, 
joined  with  the  children  of  Baptists  and  Presbyterians 
in  offering  up  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  hearing  the  Scrip 
tures  read.  In  many  schools  and  colleges  it  is  further 
provided,  that  a  class-room  be  assigned  after  hours  to 
every  denomination  that  desires  it,  in  order  that  a 
minister  of  each  denomination  may  gather  the  pupils 
connected  with  it  into  a  class  and  instruct  them  in  their 
own  creed.  But  it  has  been  found  in  almost  all  such 
cases,  in  spite  of  the  outcry  made  about  it  beforehand, 
that  the  churches  are  content  to  let  this  opportunity  go 
by,  finding  that  they  have  ampler  and  far  more  satis  - 
factory  opportunities  of  giving  religious  instruction  in 
the  pulpit,  the  Sunday-school,  and  the  family  circle. 

An  agitation  is  now  afoot  in  some  cities  to  have 
religious  teaching  altogether  discontinued  in  schools 
paid  for  out  of  public  money.  If  this  agitation  should 
prove  successful,  the  effect  will  simply  be,  that  public 


398  FREE  SCHOOLS. 

schools  will  be  confined  to  their  proper  work,  while 
churches  and  parents  will  be  made  to  feel  the  responsi 
bility  of  providing  religious  education — a  duty  which 
America  has  already  declared  in  principle  belongs  to 
them,  not  to  the  State. 

The  term  "  secular  education "  may  be  a  convenient 
name  for  education  that  does  not  trench  on  religious 
ground ;  but  to  use  the  term  in  an  opprobrious  sense  as 
equivalent  to  infidel  education,  looks  like  the  blunder 
of  an  idiot  or  the  sophistry  of  a  partisan.  Nobody 
speaks  of  secular  arithmetic,  or  secular  gymnastics. 
Nobody  speaks  of  the  Lighting  and  Paving  Act  as  a 
secular  and  infidel  measure,  because  it  provides  for  the 
streets  being  cleaned  without  requiring  the  scavengers 
to  sign  the  Confession  of  Faith.  Nobody  speaks  of  a 
riding- school  as  secular,  because  the  pupils  are  taught 
horsemanship  without  the  Catechism.  And  yet  the 
term  would  be  just  as  applicable  to  them  as  to  common 
schools  established  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  children 
to  read,  write,  and  cipher,  and  confining  themselves 
to  this  work,  leaving  religion  to  be  taught  properly  by 
those  to  whom  the  religious  education  of  the  people 
properly  belongs. 


INDEX. 


ABORTIONISTS,  ii.  198,  note. 

Agassiz  and  Emerson,  ii.  243,  278. 

Alabama,  The :  Semmes,  on,  ii. 
122,  etc.  ;  question,  ii.  126 ; 
Beecher,  on,  i.  63,  note. 

American  Peculiarities  :  "boasting, 
Prelim,  xvii.  ;  features,  i.  15,  23  ; 
active  and  restless,  i.  16  ;  trading, 
i.  19  ;  eating,  i.  17,  24,  28  :  ii.  136 ; 
drinking,  ii.  304  ;  i'eet  up,  ii.  143 ; 
informality,  ii.  144  ;  whittling,  ii. 
147 ;  tobacco,  ii.  148  ;  carrying 
arms,  ii.  151  ;  socials,  i.  38 ; 
boarding,  i.  37  :  ii.  135  ;  number 
ing  of  streets  and  places,  ii.  329 ; 
pronunciation  and  terms,  ii.  333  ; 
talkers,  i.  26:  ii.  377;  experimental, 
Prelim,  xii.  ;  Republican  phases, 
i.  18,  35,  42:  ii.  145;  "cities," 
living  in  future,  ii.  164,  165 ; 
North  and  South,  i.  303,  305  ; 
boastfulness,  Prelim,  xvii.  See 
Woman  ;  Children  ;  Servants  ; 
Negro;  South;  West;  Vast- 
ness. 

Arms,  carrying,  ii.  151  ;  fighting 
editors,  i.  147. 

Atheism,  ii.  385,  note. 

BARNES,  ALBERT,  i.  89. 

Beaufort :  Mission  Home,  i.  228. 

Beauty,  American,  i.  23 :  ii.  132. 

Beauregard  :  appearance,  ii.  139  ; 
on  Lee  and  Jackson,  ii.  139  ;  on 
M'Clellan,  ii.  140  ;  on  the  war, 
ii.  140;  on  negro,  ii.  16,  141; 
railway  guard,  ii.  141. 


Beecher :  character,  i.  47,  etc.  ; 
helping  a  poor  boy,  i.  47  ;  South 
ern  opinion  of,  i.  48  ;  Southern 
lady,  i.  48 ;  popularity,  i.  50 ; 
Plymouth  Church,  i.  50 ;  slave- 
woman,  i.  51 ;  appearance,  i.  53  ; 
church  services,  i.  53 ;  manner,  i. 
56;  on  New  York,  i.  57,  59, 
note;  training,  i.  58  ;  odd  say 
ings,  i.  59 ;  his  examination,  i. 
60 ;  influence  on  American  pulpits, 
i.  61 ;  talk,  i.  64 ;  negro  suffrage, 
ii.  69 ;  temperance,  ii.  308,  note ; 
on  divorce,  ii.  201,  note;  his 
paper,  ii.  374. 

Bible  :  negro  love  of,  ii.  112-116. 

Births  :  small  families,  i,  29,  note; 
procuring  abortion,  ii.  198,  note; 
not  advertised,  ii.  286. 

Boastful  Americans :  Prelim,  xvii. 

Boston  :  "  The  Hub,"  ii.  224,  etc.  ; 
Unitarianism,  ii.  225 ;  Harvard, 
ii.  236  ;  Lowell,  ii.  236 ;  Emer 
son,  ii.  244,  270 ;  Agassiz,  ii. 
243 ;  Wendell  Phillips,  ii.  247 ; 
Dickens,  ii.  266 ;  shop-boys,  ii. 
256  ;  fire-alarm,  ii.  258  ;  polling- 
place,  ii.  261 ;  prohibition,  ii. 
265,  314,  317. 

Britain :  popular  notions  about 
Americans,  Prelim,  xi.  :  ii.  282  ; 
influenced  by  America,  Prelim. 
xvi.  ;  Anti-British  feeling,  Pre 
lim,  xxi. ;  the  George  Griswold, 
i.  132. 

Buggy-plough,  ii.  180. 

"Bummers:"    who  they  were,   i. 


400 


INDEX. 


289 ;  method,  i.  290  ;  keen  scent 
for  plunder,  i.  290  ;  heartlessness, 
i.  276,  293  ;  no  respect  to  ladies, 
i.  294  ;  exceeding  orders,  i.  295  ; 
Sherman's  policy,  i.  296. 

Bums,  Dr.,  mistaken  for  bear,  ii. 
344,  note. 

Buslmell,  Horace,  ii.  324;  sup 
ported  Beecher,  i.  60 ;  Barnes, 
on,  i.  190. 

Business  :  large  sales,  i.  16,  304  :  ii. 
189,  etc.  ;  children  trading,  i. 
19;  restlessness,  i.  20,  250; 
warning  to  those  going  out 
West,  ii.  177  ;  shop-boys,  ii.  257. 
See  Chicago. 

Butler,  Benjamin,  i.  159;  lecture, 
i.  160  ;  newspaper  abuse,  i.  161  : 
ii.  370  ;  charges  against  him,  i. 
156  ;  character,  i.  161  ;  repartee, 
i.  162 ;  self-possession,  i.  163  ; 
treatment  of  ladies,  i.  164 ;  abi 
lity,  i.  165. 

CANADA  :  different  nationalities,  i. 
2  ;  probable  destiny,  i.  6 ;  Catho 
lics,  i.  8 ;  Beecher  on,  i.  64 ; 
Liquor  Law,  ii.  312 ;  fire  telegraph, 
ii.  260  ;  winter,  ii.  339 ;  house- 
heating,  ii.  343 ;  toboggans,  ii. 
341 ;  skating-rink,  ii.  342 ;  school 
system,  ii.  389. 

Carolina,  North  :  resources,  i.  246  ; 
"  Tar-heels,"  i.  246  ;  turpentine, 
i.  247  ;  scuppernong,  i.  247  ;  want 
of  harbours,  i.  247 ;  negroes  in 
Convention,  i.  248 ;  General  D. 
H.  Hill,  i.  249 ;  Vance,  i.  250  ; 
Maffitt,  i.  256;  General  Ean- 
som,  i.  260  ;  Highlanders,  i. 
265. 

Carolina,  South  :  burning  of  Co 
lumbia,  i.  298,  299  ;  General  E. 
P.  Alexander,  i.  298  ;  Cardozo,  i. 
301 ;  Charleston,  i.  303 ;  Fort 
Sumter,  ii.  139 ;  property  acquired 


by  freedmen  in,  ii.  56 ;  no  di 
vorces,  ii.  201 ;  newspapers,  ii.  369. 

Charities :  Philadelphia,  i.  88 ; 
Charleston,  i.  303 ;  Chicago,  ii. 
203.  See  Sanitary  and  Christian 
Commissions. 

Cheever,  ii.  378,  note. 

Chicago  :  fast,  i.  16, 17  ;  bad  streets, 
ii.  172 ;  history,  ii.  189 ;  popula 
tion,  ii.  189;  business,  ii.  189, 
note;  lumber  and  grain,  ii.  190  ; 
house-moving,  ii.  190,  193 ;  ele 
vators,  ii.  194 ;  pig-killing,  ii. 
195;  abortions,  ii.  198,  note; 
divorces,  ii.  199 ;  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  ii.  203  ; 
Mr.  Moody,  ii.  204. 

Children  :  French  school,  i.  9  ; 
food,  i.  28  ;  trading,  i.  19 ;  pre 
cocity,  i.  29  ;  politicians  in  petti 
coats,  i.  30  ;  want  of  reverence, 
i.  31;  "Suppose  you  pray,"  i. 
34 ;  reason  of  independence,  i. 
35  ;  what  children  did  for  the 
soldiers,  i.  79,  128 ;  odd  prayer, 
ii.  153,  note ;  Southern  child's 
offering,  i.  316  ;  in  Highland  set 
tlement,  i.  277  ;  names,  ii.  75, 
332,  note.  See  Negro;  Schools; 
Births. 

Choate,  Rufus :  eloquence,  ii.  227, 
228  ;  compared  with  Webster,  ii. 
229. 

Christian  Commission  :  object,  i.  73 ; 
G.  H.  Stuart,  i.  74,  86;  contri 
butions,  i.  78 ;  children's  help,  i. 
79;  delegates,  i.  80;  dying  sol 
dier,  i.  82. 

Churches,  ii.  375  :  Voluntaryism, 
ii.  385  ;  denominations,  ii.  384  ; 
progress  of  Christianity,  ii.  384  ; 
"  Church  "  and  "  world,"  ii.  375, 
306  ;  status  of  clergy,  ii.  376 ; 
pay  of  clergy,  ii.  376  ;  preaching, 
ii.  377  ;  church  music,  ii.  378 ; 
comfort  of  churches  and  lecture- 


INDEX. 


401 


halls,  ii.  379;  soldiers,  i.  80; 
Highland  settlement,  i.  287  ; 
Chicago,  ii.  202  ;  Beecher's,  i.  50  ; 
Bushnell's,  ii.  328;  Todd's,  ii. 
353;  negro  services,  ii.  96-111. 
See  Religion;  Clergy;  Sunday- 
schools;  Sects. 

Clergy  :  female,  i.  22  ;  see  Beecher; 
Christian  Commission  delegates, 
i.  80  ;  Albert  Barnes,  i.  89 ;  in 
Highland  settlement,  i.  286 ;  de 
fending  slavery,  ii.  24,  27 ;  negro 
ministers'  spelling-class,  ii.  Ill  ; 
position  in  America,  ii.  376  ;  "  sa 
laries,"  ii.  376.  See  Churches; 
Religion. 

Climate  :  stimulating,  i.  17  ;  New 
Orleans'  heat,  ii.  137  ;  Canadian 
winters,  ii.  339  ;  three  springs  in 
one  year,  ii.  166,  note. 

Commissions,  United  States :  see 
Christian;  Sanitary. 

Confederates  :    navy,  cavalry,   and 

i  artillery,  i.  259,  298;  "  Co(r)n- 
fed,"i.  191.  See  South;  War. 

Connecticut :  divorces,  ii.  201 ;  Blue 
Laws,  ii.  352. 

Copyright,  international,  ii.  233  ; 
price  of  reprints,  ii.  269. 

Courage':  Jackson,  i.  208  ;  Maffitt, 
i.  256  ;  negro,  ii.  85. 

Customs :  see  American  Peculia 
rities. 

DAVIS,  JEFFERSON  :  coming  to  know 
Jackson,  i.  203 ;  Ransom's  re 
miniscence,  i.  263 ;  persistence  de 
fended,!.  314;  his  successor,  i.  322. 

Davis,  A.  Jackson,  the  Spiritualist, 
ii.  382. 

Deaths  :  Lincoln,  i.  100  ;  "  Stone 
wall"  Jackson,  i.  198;  obituary 
notices,  ii.  287.  See  Funerals. 

Dickens  :  tickets  for  readings,  ii. 
266,  269 ;  popularity,  ii.  269 ; 
refusing  Chicago,  ii.  268. 

VOL.  II. 


Dickinson,  Anna  :  history,  ii.  208  ; 
appearance,  ii.  210  ;  lecture,  ii. 
211 ;  lecture-fees,  ii.  214. 

Divorce,  ii.  201.     See  Marriage. 

Drinking  habits  :  not  at  table,  ii. 
304;  "bees,"  ii.  305;  bars,  ii. 
305,  306  ;  "bitters,"  ii.  306  ;  con 
sumption  of  spirits,  ii.  309  ;  num 
ber  of  places  licensed,  ii.  309  ; 
money  spent  on  liquor,  ii.  310 ; 
drunkenness  in  America  compared 
with  Britain,  ii.  310,  311.  See 
Liquor  Laws  ;  Temperance. 

Duelling,  i.  311 :  ii.  230,  note. 

EDUCATION:  in  South,  i.  307;  prac 
tical,  and  looks  to  returns,  ii.  174, 
175 ;  in  speaking,  ii.  377 ;  higher 
scholarship  rare,  ii.  174 ;  propor 
tion  of  students  graduating,  ii. 
175 ;  negro  anxiety  for,  ii.  61,  etc. ; 
manual  system  at  Hampton,  i. 
241 ;  course  at  Hampton,  i.  242, 
note  ;  free-school  system,  ii.  387  ; 
Spiritualist  Sunday-school,  ii.  381 ; 
co-education  of  sexes,  ii.  175,  note, 
394.  See  Schools;  Universities. 

Emancipation  :  war  not  begun  for, 
i.  123;  circumstances  unfavour 
able,  ii.  48  ;  Southern  views  of,  i. 
137  :  ii.  16,  24,  26  ;  "  Negro  do 
mination,"  ii.  13,  etc.  ;  Will  the 
negro  die  out?  ii.  16;  effect  on 
blacks,  ii.  48,  etc. ;  working  better, 
ii.  53 ;  cotton  raised,  ii.  53,  69 ; 
savings'  banks,  ii.  55 ;  education, 
ii.  57-68  ;  whites  emancipated, 
i.  151 ;  ii.  1-12 ;  white  energies 
liberated,  ii.  9 ;  West  Indies,  ii. 
30,  note.  See  Slavery;  Negro; 
Schools. 

Emerson,  ii.  244 ;  lecture,  ii.  271 ; 
style,  ii.  274 ;  talk,  ii.  275 ;  his- 
tory,  ii.  277;  theology,  ii.  277, 
note;  on  Southern  manners,  i.  306, 
note. 

•    2  C 


402 


INDEX. 


Emigration  :  Virginia  a  good  field, 
i.  153 ;  wanted  on  Lower  Missis 
sippi,  ii.  141 ;  the  kind  wanted 
out  West,  ii.  178. 

Experiments  :  political  and  social, 
Prelim,  xii.,  xiii.  (elective  judge- 
ships)  ;  xv.  (Government  offices)  ; 
negro  education,  i.  241  ;  negro 
suffrage,  ii.  69  ;  Liquor  Laws, 
ii.  312  ;  Shakers,  ii.  355.  See 
Churches;  Schools;  Emancipa 
tion. 

FARMING  :  in  Virginia,  i.  153 ;  Agri 
cultural  College,  i.  242  ;  in  South 
new  system  needed,  ii.  11 ;  out 
West,  ii.  178  ;  in  Iowa,  ii.  179 ; 
genteel  ploughing,  ii.  180 ;  New 
England,  ii.  279 ;  Shakers,  ii.  360. 

Fayetteville,  N.C.,  i.  283. 

Fire-telegraph,  ii.  258. 

First  impressions,  i.  15,  etc.  See 
American  Peculiarities. 

Freedmen  :  see  Emancipation. 

Funerals:  Jackson's,  i.  215,  note; 
negro,  ii.  101 ;  customs,  ii.  288. 

GAELIC  :  in  Canada,  i.  3 ;  in  North 
Carolina,  i.  284 ;  "  When  Greek 
meets  Greek,"  i.  285. 

Gaudry,  Sister,  i.  8. 

Germans  :  thrift,  i.  71 ;  in  St.  Louis, 
ii.  173 ;  Todd  on,  ii.  353. 

Gough,  John  B.,  ii.  295  ;  popu 
larity,  ii.  275,  297;  lectures,  ii. 
297  ;  home-life,  ii.  298 ;  character, 
ii.  301 ;  silver  wedding,  ii.  303. 

Government  offices  :  Prelim,  xv. 

Grant :  silent,  i.  85,  115  ;  refusing 
to  "  orate,"  n.  85;  appearance, 
i.  113  ;  conversation,  i.  114 ;  in 
corruptible,  i.  116 ;  observant,  i. 
117;  "unconditional  surrender," 
i.  118  ;  war-policy,  i.  120  ;  gener 
ous  in  victory,  i.  120,  121  ;  on 
negro,  i.  121 ;  Beauregard,  ii.  140. 


HARTFORD  :   Mrs.   Stowe,  ii.  320 ; 

Bushnell,  ii.  324. 
Harvard,  ii.  236. 
Highlanders  :  see  Scotch. 
Hill,  Gen.  A.  P.,  i.  173,  210. 
Hill,  Gen.  D.  H.,  i.  249,  250. 
Holmes,   Oliver  Wendell,   ii.   242, 

246 ;  lecture,  ii.  244. 
Hotels,  ii.  134 ;  boarders,  ii.  135  ; 

prices,   ii.  136  ;   bill  of  fare,  ii. 

136.     See  Drinking  Ha'rits. 
Howard,  General  0.  0.,  i.  92;  on 

negro  mortality,  ii.  17. 

INCIDENTS  :  Beecher,  i.  47,  ii.  308, 
note ;  Christian  Commission,  i. 
82 ;  Sanitary  Commission,  i.  127  ; 
Lincoln,  i.  103 ;  Grant,  i.  118  ; 
editors,  i.  149;  Butler,  i.  162; 
Petersburg  ladies,  i.  167;  Lee, 
i.  174 ;  saving  a  soldier's  life,  i. 
177 ;  Jackson,  i.  203 ;  buying 
herself  thrice,  i.  232  ;  fighting  the 
town- sergeant,  i.  236 ;  Vance 
jumping  into  office,  i.  251 ;  war 
jokes,  i.  190,  253 ;  quizzing  cav 
alry,  i.  261 ;  "  Them's  my  shoes," 
i.  263,  note  ;  Flora  Macdonald,  i. 
267,  note;  miraculous  escape,  i. 
271 ;  Little  Betty,  i.  277  ;  Gaelic 
speech,  i.  285  ;  Bummers,  i.  289  ; 
negroes  learning  to  read,  ii.  57, 
64, 113  (spelling  "Jesus") ;  negro 
thoughtlessness,  ii.  75,  82 ;  fide 
lity,  ii.  83  ;  negro  soldiers,  ii.  84- 
88 ;  visions,  ii.  92 ;  whittling,  ii. 
148 ;  Indians,  ii.  185 ;  a  queer 
photograph,  ii.  186  ;  Choate,  ii. 
228;  Wendell  Phillips,  i.  255; 
marriages,  ii.  290 ;  clergyman's 
fees,  ii.  293  ;  Gough,  ii.  301  ;  Gen 
eral  Gregory,  ii.  308,  note  ;  elder's 
beard  frozen,  ii.  344  ;  telegraph 
ing  the  Bible,  ii.  373,  note. 
Indians  :  Canada,  i.  3 ;  Iowa,  ii. 
182;  an  Indian's  complaint,  ii. 


INDEX. 


403 


182,  note;  drink,  ii.  184;  sensi 
tive,  ii.  185 ;  queer  photograph, 
ii.  186 ;  treatment  of,  ii.  187 ; 
Longfellow  on,  ii.  234. 

Iowa :  name,  ii.  181  ;  size,  ii.  179 ; 
land,  ii.  179 ;  buggy-plough,  ii. 
180  ;  prairie  on  fire,  ii.  181 ;  In 
dians,  ii.  182  ;  University,  ii.  175. 

Irish  :  politicians,  i.  67  ;  helps,  i. 
45 ;  hate  negroes,  i.  46 ;  com 
pared  with  negroes,  ii.  55 ;  with 
Germans,  i.  71 ;  shop-boys,  ii. 
257 ;  progeny,  ii.  286 ;  Scotch- 
Irish,  i.  222  ;  anti-British  feeling, 
Prelim,  xxii. 

JACKSON,  "STONEWALL,"  i.  194; 
descent  on  Hooker's  flank,  i.  197 ; 
death,  i.  198  ;  appearance,  i.  202 ; 
Jefferson  Davis,  i.  203;  popularity, 
i.  204 ;  habits,  i.  205  ;  endurance, 
i.  206 ;  resource,  i.  206  ;  mystery, 
i.  207  ;  policy,  i.  207 ;  courage, 
i.  208  ;  discipline,  i.  209 ;  sense 
of  duty,  i.  209,  215  ;  compared 
with  Lee,  i.  210  ;  ii.  139  ;  piety, 
i.  211 ;  his  grave,  i.  217. 

Jesus  :  spelling  the  name,  ii.  113. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  i.  110-112  ;  old 
employer,  ii.  146. 

Judgeships,  elective,  Prelim,  xiii. 

LABOUR:  Wages  in  New  York,  i. 
71 ;  degraded  in  South,  i.  311 ; 
kind  wanted  in  West,  ii.  178  ; 
New  England,  ii.  279,  281. 

Land  :  Beecher  on  property  in,  i. 
64;  Virginia,  i.  153  ;  Mississippi, 
ii.  141 ;  Missouri,  ii.  178 ;  Iowa, 
ii.  179  ;  proportion  cultivated  in 
South,  ii.  11 ;  bought  by  and  for 
freedmen,  ii.  56  ;  farmers  wanted, 
ii.  178. 

Lee,  Ann,  the  Shaker,  ii.  362. 

Lee,  Robert  E. :  College  at  Lexing 
ton,  i.  218;  his  duties,  i.  220; 


table-talk,  i.  222 ;  piety,  i.  176, 
223 ;  history,  i.  223 ;  devotion  to 
his  State,  i.  224;  Arlington,  i. 
225 ;  gradual  emancipationist,  i. 
139  ;  abstainer,  i.  224  :  ii.  308  ; 
Southern  lady  on,  i.  173 ;  in  bat 
tle,  i.  175  ;  character,  i.  174  ;  on 
Sunday-school,  i.  176  ;  surrender, 
i.  192  ;  "Stonewall"  Jackson,  i. 
210 ;  Beauregard  on,  ii.  139. 

Lee,  W.  H.  F.,  i.  139. 

Lexington  :  in  the  valley,  i.  215  ; 
journey  to,  ii.  169  ;  Lee  and  his 
College,  i.  218 ;  Jackson's  grave, 
i.  217. 

Lie  Bill,  i.  284,  note. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  i.  100. 

Liquor  Laws,  ii.  312  ;  in  Boston,  ii. 
265 ;  in  Portland,  ii.  318  ;  Wen 
dell  Phillips  on,  ii.  265  ;  Emer 
son,  ii.  276  ;  Bushnell,  ii.  327 ; 
Dunkin's  Permissive  Law,  ii.  312; 
traffic  restricted,  ii.  315 ;  evasions, 
ii.  315 ;  comparison  of  prohibition 
with  license,  ii.  316.  See  Drink 
ing  Habits ;  Temperance. 

Longfellow  :  meeting,  ii.  231 ;  on 
copyright  laws,  ii.  233 ;  on  "Evan- 
geline,"  ii.  235  ;  verses  to  Lowell, 
ii.  241,  note ;  dinner  to,  ii.  246 ; 
"Old  Clock"  at  Pittsfield,  ii. 
349,  note. 

Lowell :  lecture,  ii.  236  ;  progeni 
tors,  ii.  239  ;  Biglow  papers,  ii. 
240 ;  Longfellow's  verses  on 
Lowell's  wife's  death,  ii.  241, 
note. 

MACDONALD,  FLORA,  i.  266. 

Macrae,  General  William,  i.  269. 

Maffitt,  i.  258  ;  career,  i.  256  ;  coin 
cidence,  i.  257  ;  on  Confederate 
navy,  i.  259. 

Maine  :  Liquor  Law  and  its  effect, 
ii.  316 ;  prohibition  in  Portland, 
ii.  318. 


404 


INDEX. 


Manners :  odd  customs,  ii.  143 ; 
republican,  ii.  282;  polite  to 
ladies,  ii.  283 ;  Oberlin,  ii.  395. 
See  American  Peculiarities. 

Marriage :  customs,  ii.  290 ;  fees,  ii. 
293  ;  co-education  of  sexes,  ii.  395. 

Maryland  :  traversing,  i.  91 ;  liquor 
traffic  compared  with  Prohibition 
States,  ii.  316. 

Massachusetts : — See  New  England  ; 
Boston:  liquor  traffic  under 
license  and  prohibition,  ii.  313, 
316,  317. 

Mill-girls,  ii.  279. 

Missionary  Association,  American, 
i.  226,  240,  242 ;  first  school  for 
fugitive  slaves,  i.  227  ;  teachers, 
i.  227,  237  ;  schools,  i.  227,  240  ; 
colleges,  i.  227,  241  ;  Mission 
Home  at  Beaufort,  i.  226. 

Mississippi  Kiver  :  steamboat  tra 
velling,  ii.  154 ;  racing,  ii.  162  ; 
fuel,  ii.  163 ;  monotonous  scenery, 
ii.  158;  snags,  ii.  161 ;  cities,  ii. 
164, 165  ;  river  distances,  ii.  166. 

Missouri :  iron  mountains,  ii.  173  ; 
feverish  life,  ii.  177 ;  length  of 
river,  ii.  167. 

Mobile  :  Semmes,  ii.  118  ;  bay,  ii. 
130  ;  street-cars,  ii.  134. 

Montreal :  Sister  Gaudry's  school, 
i.  8 ;  Catholics,  i.  8 ;  fire-tele 
graph,  ii.  259  ;  drunkenness,  ii. 
310,  note;  skating-rink,  ii.  342  ; 
winter  fuel,  ii.  343. 

Morals  :  virtue  in  South,  i.  308  ; 
divorces,  ii.  201 ;  abortion,  ii. 
198,  note;  negro,  ii.  43,  45; 
Shakers,  ii.  359  ;  Oberlin  honesty, 
ii. 395,  note.  _Sze  South  ;  Negro; 
Indian, 
Mormons  :  Beecher  on,  i.  65. 

NAMES  :  Highland,  i.  2  ;  negro,  ii. 
75  ;  "  city,"  ii.  164 ;  numeral,  ii. 
329,330,  note;  "villes,"  ii.  330  ; 


repeated,  ii.  331,  332;  Indian,  ii. 
331  and  note;  "Iowa,"  ii.  181  ; 
Old  World,  ii.  332 ;  fancy,  ii.  332, 
note;  of  battles,  ii.  141,  note.  See 
Terms. 

Negro  :  "  Not  a  man  but  a  beast," 
ii.   21 ;   character,   strength  and 
weakness,  i.  243  :  ii.  78  ;  morals, 
ii.   42 ;  unreflective,  ii.   75 ;  dis 
position,  ii.  79  ;  fidelity,  i.  171 ; 
ii.  83 ;  courage,  ii.  85 ;  faith,  ii. 
95 ;    Mrs.    Stowe    on,    ii.    322 ; 
eagerness  to  learn,  ii.  63,   111 ; 
desire  for  Bible,  ii.  112  ;  religious 
peculiarities,  i.  244:  ii.  90-117; 
visions,  ii.   91  ;  church  services, 
ii.  97 ;   hymns,  ii.  99 ;    prayers, 
ii.    95,   105 ;    sermons,    ii.    108 ; 
schools  in   Washington,    i.    93 ; 
American     Missionary     Associa 
tion's,  i.   227,   240  ;   number  of 
scholars,  i.  227 :  ii.  61 ;  for  sol 
diers,  ii.  59 ;  black  men  and  women 
at  school,  i.  229 :  ii.  62 ;  ministers' 
spelling-class,  ii.   Ill  :  colleges, 
i.   241  ;    Agricultural   College  at 
Hampton,  i.  241,  242  ;  negro  suf 
frage,  ii.  69  ;   Grant  on,  i.  122. 
See  Slavery  ;  Emancipation. 
New  England:  soil,  ii.  279  ;  women, 
i.  24-26 ;  mill-girls,  ii.  279 ;  chil 
dren,  i.  29,  31,  34 ;  farmers,  ii. 
281 ;  brain,  ii.  284. 
Newspapers  :  number  and  progress, 
ii.   369,   and  note;  position,   ii. 
372;   indispensable,  ii.  369;  ex 
changes,  ii.  371 ;  New  York,  ii. 
372 ;  enterprise,  ii.  373 ;  person 
alities,  i.  161  :  ii.  370. 
New  Orleans  :  from  Mobile,  ii.  130  ; 
the  people,  ii.  132 ;  Sunday,  ii. 
132  ;  position,  ii.  133 ;  lower  than 
river,  ii.  133  ;  street-cars,  ii.  134  ; 
hotels,   ii.    134 ;    heat,    ii.    137 ; 
carrying  arms,   ii.   152 ;  General 
Butler,  i.  165. 


INDEX. 


405 


New  York :  size,  i.  66 ;  good  and 
bad,  i.  66  ;  foreign  elements,  i. 
64,  67,  69  ;  Germans  and  Irish,  i. 
71 ;  Scotch,  i.  67 ;  misgovernment, 
i.  57,  59,  62,  64,  67 ;  whisky-tax, 
i.  68  ;  official  dishonesty,  i.  62, 
68  ;  bad  streets,  i.  68  :  ii.  172  ; 
prices  and  wages,  i.  69  ;  rents,  i. 
70  ;  Savings'  Banks,  i.  71  ;  New 
Year's  Day,  ii.  171 ;  dry  goods' 
sales,  ii.  189,  note;  abortionists, 
ii.  198,  note  ;  newspapers,  ii.  370, 
372  ;  ministers,  ii.  378,  note. 

OBERLIN  COLLEGE  :  ii.  175,  394. 

Odd  Customs,  ii.  143. 

Orators.      See    Choate  ;    Webster  ; 

Beecher;  Phillips;  Vance;  Gough. 
Ormiston,  Dr.,  of  Canada,  ii.  198, 

note. 
Oysters  :  American,  i.  228. 

PALMER,  DR.:  defence  of  slavery, 
ii.  27. 

Parker,  Theodore,  ii.  226. 

Peculiarities  :  see  American. 

Petersburg,  Va.  :  war  memories,  i. 
166;  General  Lee,  i.  173  ;  saving 
a  soldier's  life,  i.  177  ;  ride  with 
Confederate  officer,  i.  185  ;  sol 
diers'  cemeteries,  i.  186  ;  Crater 
fight,  i.  187  ;  evacuation,  i.  191. 

Philadelphia,  i.  87  ;  Geo.  H.  Stuart, 
i.  73 ;  Albert  Barnes,  i.  89 ;  street- 
naming,  ii.  329. 

Phillips,  Wendell,  ii.  247  ;  oratory, 
ii.  248 ;  on  negro,  ii.  249 ;  on 
prohibition,  ii.  265 ;  career,  ii. 
251 ;  kindness,  ii.  255. 

Pittsfield,  Mass.  :  Todd,  ii.  349 ; 
"Old  Clock  on  the  Stairs,"  ii. 
349,  note. 

Political :  judges  elective,  Prelim. 
xiii. ;  Government  offices,  Prelim. 
xv.;  corruption  in  New  York,  i. 
67;  Canada  and  States,  i.  6; 


stimulus  of  Republicanism,  i.  18; 
owning  land,  i.  64  ;  polling-place, 
ii.  261 ;  nation  versus  State,  i. 
123,  136,  224,  268.  See  Suffrage. 
Prentice  of  Louisville  Journal,  ii. 
370,  note. 

QUAKERS  :  i.  88,  ii.  355,  362,  note. 

RAILWAYS,  ii.  215 ;  sleeping  cars,  ii. 
216;  train-boy,  ii.  217;  no  classes, 
ii.  219  ;  tickets,  ii.  221 ;  baggage- 
checks,  ii.  222 ;  street-railways, 
ii.  134,  189 ;  town-makers,  ii. 
179  ;  opening  of  Pacific  Railroad, 
ii.  354.  See  Travelling. 

Ransom,  General :  on  Confederate 
cavalry,  i.  260. 

Religion  :  active,  ii.  375 ;  support 
of,  ii.  376,  385  ;  in  schools,  ii . 
396.  See  Romanism  ;  Shakers  ; 
Churches  ;  Sects  ;  Clergy  ;  Chris 
tian  and  Sanitary  Commissions. 

Republicanism :  ambition  stimul 
ated,  i.  18 ;  principles  not  per 
sons,  i.  35  ;  service,  i.  42 ;  the 
man  not  the  tailor,  ii.  145  ;  judges 
elective,  Prelim,  xiii.  ;  manners, 
ii.  282,  301.  See  Political ;  Ex 
periments. 

Richmond :  entering,  i.  134 ;  W. 
H.  F.  Lee,  i.  139;  ruins,  i.  141  ; 
churches,  i.  142 ;  evacuation,  i. 
142  ;  "  mongrel  "  convention,  i. 
145 ;  fighting  editor,  i.  147 ;  to 
bacco  factory,  i.  150. 

Roman  Catholicism  :  in  Lower 
Canada,  i.  8 ;  schools,  i.  4,  9  ; 
among  the  freedmen,  ii.  117  ; 
in  New  Orleans,  ii.  134  ;  Shaker 
doctrines,  ii.  363;  strength  in 
States,  ii.  385,  note. 

SANITARY  COMMISSION,  i.  123  ;  help 
to  the  soldiers,  i.  125 ;  from 
police,  i.  126;  from  women,  i. 


406 


INDEX. 


126  ;  orgin,  i.  126;  aim,  i.  126  ; 
contributions,  i.  125-128  ;  won 
derful  sack,  i.  129 ;  fairs,  i.  130. 
Savings'  Banks  :  New  York,  i.  71 ; 
German  thrift,  i.  71  ;  freedmen's, 
ii.  55,  56,  66. 

Schools  :  French,  in  Montreal,  i.  4  ; 
Sister Gaudry's,i.  8;  negro  schools, 
i.  93  (at  Washington),  227,  240 
(American  Missionary  Associa 
tion's),  302  (in  Charleston)  :  ii. 
57-68 (through  South);  negro  min 
isters'  spelling-class, ii. Ill;  South 
against  free-schools,  i.  307 ;  in 
St.  Louis,  ii.  174  ;  in  Chicago,  ii. 
207;  free-school  system,  ii.  387; 
expense,  ii.  388 ;  sketch  of  free- 
school,  ii.  390  ;  discipline,  ii.  393 ; 
co-education  of  sexes,  ii.  394  ;  re 
ligious  difficulty,  ii.  396.  See 
Education ;  Negro;  Universities; 
Sunday-schools. 

Scotch  :  Highland  settlement  in 
Canada,  i.  2  ;  in  Carolina,  i .  265, 
272;  Flora  Macdonald,  i.  267, 
note;  Highlanders  in  war,  i.  268; 
Scotch  fair,  i.  282;  Scotch  in 
New  York,  i.  67 ;  St.  Louis,  ii. 
173;  General  Lee  on,  i.  222; 
whisky-drinking,  ii.  305 ;  rene 
gade,  Prelim,  xx.  ;  patriotism,  i. 
5  :  ii.  339  ;  St.  Andrew's  dinner, 
ii.  340  ;  church  music,  ii.  352  ; 
wanted,  i.  155 :  ii.  141. 

Sects:  Unitarians,  ii.  225;  Catho 
lics,  i.  8  :  ii.  117,  385  ;  Quakers, 
i.  88  ;  Shakers,  ii.  355 ;  relative 
strength  of  evangelical  denomina 
tions,  ii.  384.  See  Churches. 

Semmes,  Admiral,  ii.  118 ;  appear 
ance,  ii.  121 ;  on  Alabama,  ii. 
122,  124. 

Servants  :  discomfort  with,  i.  36 ; 
consequences,  i.  37,  38 ;  boot- 
brushing,  i.  40 ;  self-help,  i.  41 ; 
reasons,  i.  42  ;  servants  at  table, 


i.  43;  educated,   i.   44;  Irish,  i. 
45,  dress,  i.  46  ;  negro,  i.  45. 

Sherman  :  "  Bummers,"  i.  289  ; 
policy,  i.  296  ;  burning  Columbia, 
i.  299. 

Shakers  :  Beecher  on,  i.  65  ;  burials, 
ii.  289 ;  dress,  ii.  355,  358  ;  co 
operation,  ii.  355  ;  novitiates,  ii. 
356,  note;  family  life,  ii.  356; 
celibacy,  ii.  356  ;  a  Shaker's  de 
fence  of,  ii.  365;  Shaker  and 
Catholic  doctrines,  ii.  363,  note ; 
workshops,  ii.  364  ;  worship,  ii. 
367  ;  honesty,  ii.  367  ;  numbers, 
ii.  368  ;  the  Shaker  schoolmaster, 
ii.  364,  467,  note. 

Slavery :  how  it  moulded  the  South, 
i.  311 ;  repressed  white  energy, 
ii.  1  ;  threw  odium  on  South,  ii. 
7 ;  slovenly,  i.  91 :  ii.  11  ;  mix 
ture  of  races,  ii.  20  ;  position  it 
forced  the  South  into,  ii.  21  ; 
Beecher's  sermon,  i.  55 ;  fighting 
parson's  defence  of,  ii.  25  ;  divine, 
ii.  27  ;  good  and  bad  effects,  ii. 
32  ;  education  it  secured,  ii.  33 ; 
schools  prohibited,  ii.  5,  41 ;  ex 
ample  of  whites,  ii.  35  ;  sanitary, 
ii.  36  ;  made  work  a  disgrace,  ii. 
37,  52  ;  removed  responsibility, 
ii.  38;  gagged  Church,  ii.  39; 
morals,  ii.  43  ;  families  separated, 
ii.  44 ;  concubinage,  ii.  45.  See 
Emancipation;  Negro. 

South:  peculiarities,  i.  303,  305; 
devotion  to  State,  i.  136,  224, 
268  ;  Conservatism,  i.  308  ;  sense 
of  honour,  i.  310  ;  duelling,  i. 
311  ;  bitterness  of  feeling,  ii. 
153,  note;  Will  the  negro  do 
minate  ?  ii.  13  ;  views  of  negro, 
ii.  21 ;  wreck  made  by  war,  i. 
314 ;  irreparable  loss  in  class  of 
men,  i.  319  ;  first  last  and  last 
first,  i.  321  ;  Richmond,  i.  141, 
142 :  Petersburg,  i.  166,  etc.  ; 


INDEX. 


407 


Columbia,  i.  298.  See  War; 
Bummers  ;  Emancipation, 

Spiritualism  :  alleged  strength,  ii. 
385  ;  Sunday-school,  ii.  381. 

Steamers,  River :  Cape  Fear,  i. 
272  ;  Mississippi,  ii.  154  ;  fuel,  ii. 
163  ;  Hudson  River,  ii.  157.  See 
Travelling. 

Stowe,  Mrs  :  her  home  at  Hartford, 
ii.  320  ;  appearance  and  conversa 
tion,  ii.  321 ;  on  Southern  and 
English  aristocrats,  ii.  322 ; 
Southern  opinion,  i.  49  :  ii.  324. 

Stuart,  Geo.  H.,  i.  74,  86  ;  general 
ship  in  prayer,  i.  83.  See 
Christian  Commission. 

Stuart,  J.  E.  B.,  i.  264. 

Suffrage :  Bushnell  on  universal, 
ii.  327  ;  Beecher  on  negro,  ii.  69  ; 
Wendell  Phillips,  ii.  250  ;  Grant, 
i.  122 ;  Anna  Dickinson  on  female, 
ii.  211 ;  Bushnell,  ii.  327. 

Sumner,  Charles,  ii.  229;  Mrs. 
Stowe  on,  ii.  322. 

Sunday  observance,  ii.  383  ;  Ger 
mans,  ii.  173, 353  ;  New  England, 
ii.  352  ;  sunset  to  sunset,  ii.  353. 

Sunday-schools  :  number  of  scholars, 
ii.  383  ;  in  Chicago,  ii.  202  ;  adults 
attend,  ii.  353 ;  importance  at 
tached  to,  ii.  382  :  peculiarities, 
ii.  381  ;  Spiritualist,  ii.  381  ; 
General  Lee's  letter,  i.  176. 

TELEGRAPH  :  outstripping  the  sun, 
ii.  369  ;  New  York  Herald  and 
the  Book  of  Genesis,  ii.  373. 

Temperance  men  in  America,  ii. 
307  ;  notable,  i.  264 :  ii.  308,  309  ; 
Shakers,  ii.  359;  Beecher's 
church,  ii.  308,  note ;  General 
Gregory  and  the  liquor  order,  ii. 
308,  note.  See  Gough. 

Temperance  movement  :  new  form, 
ii.  309,  note.  See  Drinking  Habits; 
Liquor  Laws. 


Terms,  American,  ii.  333,  etc. ;  uses 
of  "  fix,"  ii.  337.  See  Names. 

Tobacco  factory,  i.  150 ;  chewing 
and  spitting,  ii.  148  ;  "  dipping," 
ii.  151. 

Todd,  Dr.  John,  author  of  Students' 
Manual,  ii.  347  ;  hearing  him  at 
Boston,  ii.  348  ;  at  home,  ii.  349  ; 
on  Canada,  ii.  351  ;  "  Hafed's 
Dream,"  ii.  351  ;  on  Scotch  sing 
ing,  ii.  352  ;  on  Blue  Laws,  ii. 
352 ;  on  Sabbath  observance,  ii. 
352  ;  his  career,  ii.  354. 

Travelling:  bad  roads,  ii.  168;  stages, 
ii.  169  ;  corduroy  roads,  ii.  170  ; 
prairie,  ii.  170 ;  railways,  ii.  215  ; 
street-cars,  ii.  133, 134 ;  Highland 
settlement,  i.  273,  281  ;  sleighs, 
ii.  341 ;  hotels,  ii.  134.  See  Rail 
ways;  Steamers. 

UNITARIANISM,  ii.  225.  See 
Churches. 

Universities  and  colleges :  Washing 
ton  College  (Lexington),  i.  218; 
negro,  i.  241 ;  Iowa,  ii.  175;  Har 
vard,  ii.  236,  and  note;  Oberlin, 
ii.  394. 

VANCE,  ZEBULON  B.,  stumping  the 

State,  i.  250. 
Vastness  of  America,  i.  1 :  ii.  351  ; 

river  distances,  ii.  166  ;  on  brain, 

Prelim,  xix. 
Vicksburg  :  Grant's  determination, 

i.  119. 
Virginia :  field  for  immigration,  i. 

153 ;  productiveness,  i.  153 ;  pride 

in,  i.  136,  224. 
Voluntary  churches,  ii.  384,  385. 

WAR,  THE  :  Northern  purpose,  i. 
123 ;  Southern  views,  i.  136  :  ii. 
27  ;  ameliorations — see  Christian 
and  Sanitary  Commissions;  me 
mories  of,  at  Washington,  i.  105 ; 


408 


INDEX. 


at  Richmond,  i.  142  ;  Petersburg, 
i.  166  ;  soldiers'  cemetery,  i.  186  ; 
jokes  in  face  of  death,   i.   191,    i 
253 ;  see  Grant  ;  Jackson  ;  Lee  ;   j 
Maffitt,  i.  256 ;  Confederate  navy,    j 
cavalry,  and  artillery,  i.  259,  298; 
Highlanders,!.  271;  "Bummers," 
i.  289 ;  Columbia,  i.  299  ;  devas-   i 
tations  in  South,   i.    314.      See 
South;  Emancipation  ;  Incidents. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  i.  92;  negro  ; 
school  in,  i.  93 ;  Lincoln,  i.  100  ;  i 
war  days,  i.  105. 

Webster  :  oratory,  ii.  227,  229. 

West,  The  :  Keokuk,  ii.  176  ;  cities  j 
too  fast  for  country,  ii.  177  ;  New  j 
Philadelphia,  ii.  177  ;  farmers  J 
not  clerks  wanted,  ii.  178  ;  prairie  : 
on  tire,  ii.  180  ;  sport  in  Iowa,  ii.  j 
181.  See  Indians. 


Whittling,  i.  252  :  ii.  147. 
Winter,  American,  ii.  339;  "tobog 

gans,"  ii.  341  ;  skating-rinks,  ii. 

342  ;   stoves,  ii.  343  ;  the  frozen 

elder,  ii.  344  ;  fishing,  ii.  345. 
Wit,  American,  Prelim,  xix. 
Women  :  professional,  i.  22  ;  "  Ba 

chelors  "  of  Arts,   ii.   175,  note; 

students,  i.  242  :  ii.  395  ;  teachers, 

ii.  389;   type  of  beauty,  i.   23; 

Anna  Dickinson,  ii.    208;    Mrs. 

Stowe,  ii.   320  ;   virtue,   i.   309  ; 

American  politeness  to,  ii.  283. 

See  Negro  ;  Education;  Suffrage. 


YALE  and  Harvard,  ii.  236. 

YANKEE  :  the  name,  ii.  182. 
American  Peculiarities. 


See 


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