Second series of A diary in America, with remarks on its institutions

SECOND SERIES

OF A

DIARY IN AMERICA,

WITH

REMARKS ON ITS INSTITUTIONS.

BY

CAPT. MARRYAT, C.B.,

AUTHOR OF

"PETER SIMPLE," "JACOB FAITHFUL,"
"FRANK MILDMAY," &c.

COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME.

PHILADELPHIA:
T. K. <fe P. G. COLLINS.

1840.

6 loo ?>

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

CHAPTER I.

TRAVELLING.

I BELIEVE that the remarks of a traveller in any country not his

own, let his work be ever so trifling or badly written, will point

out some peculiarity which will have escaped the notice of those

v'who were born and reside in that country, unless they happen to

7 be natives of that portion of it in which the circumstance alluded

to was observed. It is a fact that no one knows his own country;

from assuetude and, perhaps, from the feelings of regard which

- we naturally have for our native land, we pass over what never
theless does not escape the eye of a foreigner. Indeed, from the
consciousness that we can always see such and such objects of

r interest whenever we please, we very often procrastinate until we
» -never see them at all. I knew an old gentleman who having
always resided in London, every year declared his intention of
" seeing the Tower of London with its curiosities. He renewed
this declaration every year, put it off until the next, and has since
left the world without having ever put his intention into execution,
j That the Americans would cavil at portions of the first part of
my work, I was fully convinced, and as there are many observa
tions quite new to most of them, they are by them considered to
3 be false; but the United States, as I have before observed, com-
. prehend an immense extent of territory, with a population running
' from a state of refinement down to one of positive barbarism; and

- although the Americans travel much, they travel the well beaten

- paths, in which that which is peculiar is not so likely to meet the
eye or even the ear. It does not, therefore, follow that because
what I remark is new to many of them, that therefore it is false.
The inhabitants of the cities in the United States, (and it is those
who principally visit this country,) know as little of what is pass
ing in Arkansas and Alabama as a cockney does of the manners
and customs of Guernsey, Jersey, and the Isle of Man.

The other day, one American lady observed that "it was too
bad of Captain Marry at to assert that ladies in America carried
pigtail in their work-boxes to present to the gentlemen;" adding,
"I never heard or saw such a thing in all my life." Very pos-

VOL. i. — 1

2 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

sible; and had I stated that at New York, Philadelphia, Boston,
or Charleston, such was the practice, she then might have been
justifiably indignant. But I have been very particular in my
localities, both injustice to myself and the Americans, and if they
will be content to confine their animadversions to the observations
upon the State to which they belong, or my general observations
upon the country and government, I shall then be content; if, on
the contrary, their natural vanity will not allow any remarks to be
made upon the peculiarities of one portion of society without con
sidering them as a reflection upon the whole of the Union, all I
can say is that they must, and will be annoyed.

The* answer made to the lady who was "wrathy" about the
pigtail was, "Captain M. has stated it to be a custom in one
State. Have you ever been in that State1?"

"No, I have not," replied the lady, "but I have never heard of
it." So then, on a vast continent, extending almost from the Poles
to the Equator, because one individual, one mere mite of creation
among the millions (who are but a fraction of the population which
the country will support,) has not heard of what passes thousands
of miles from her abode, therefore it cannot be true? Instead of
cavilling, let the American read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest
all that I have already said, and all that I intend to say in these
volumes; and although the work was not written for them, but for
my own countrymen, they will find that I have done them friend
ly service.

There is much comprehended in the simple word "travelling"
which heads this chapter, and it is by no means an unimportant
subject, as the degree of civilization of a country, and many im
portant peculiarities, bearing strongly upon the state of society,
are to be gathered from the high road, and the variety of entertain
ment for man and horse; and 1 think that my remarks on this sub
ject will throw as much light upon American society as will be
found in any chapter which I have written.

In a country abounding as America does with rivers and rail-
loads, and where locomotion by steam, wherever it can be applied,
supersedes every other means of conveyance, it is not to be ex
pected that the roads will be remarkably good; they are, howev
er, in consequence of the excellent arrangements of the townships
and counties, in the Eastern States, as good, and much better,
than could be expected. The great objection to them is that they
are not levelled, but follow the undulations of the country, so that
you have a variety of short, steep ascents and descents which are
very trying to the carriage-springs and very fatiguing to the tra
veller. Of course in a new country you must expect to fall in
with the delightful varieties of Corduroy, &c., but wherever the
country is settled and the population sufficient to pay the expense,
the roads in America may be said to be as good as under circum
stances could possibly be expected. There are one or two roads,
I believe, not more, which are government roads; but, in general,
the expense of the roads is defrayed by the States.

But, before I enter into any remarks upon the various modes of
travelling in America, it may be as well to say a few words upon
the horses, which are remarkably good in the United States: they
appear to be more hardy, and have much better hoofs, than ours
in England; throwing a shoe therefore is not of the same conse
quence as it is with us, for a horse will go twenty miles after*
wards with little injury. In Virginia and Kentucky the horses
are almost all thorough-bred, and from the best English stock. —
The distances run in racing are much longer than ours, and speed
without bottom is useless.

The Americans are very fond of fast trotting horses; I do not
refer to rackers, as they term horses that trot before and gallop
behind, but fair trotters, and they certainly have a description of
horse that we -could not easily match in England. At New York,
the Third Avenue, as they term it, is the general rendezvous. I
once went out there mounted upon Paul Pry, who was once con
sidered the fastest horse in America; at his full speed he perform
ed a mile in two minutes and thirty seconds, equal to twenty-four
miles per hour. He took me at this devil of a pace as far as Hell
Gate; not wishing "to intrude," I pulled up there, and went home
again. A pair of horses in harness were pointed out to me who
could perform the mile in two minutes fifty seconds. They use
here light four-wheeled vehicles which they call wagons, with a
seat in the front for two persons and room for your luggage behind;
and in these wagons, with a pair of horses, they think nothing of
trotting them seventy or eighty miles in a day, at the speed of
twelve miles an hour; I have seen the horses come in, and they
did not appear to suffer from the fatigue. You seldom see a horse
bent forward, but they are all daisy cutters.

The gentlemen of New York give very high prices for fast
horses; 1,000 dollars is not by any means an uncommon price.
In a country where time is every thing, they put a proportionate
value upon speed. Paul Pry is a tall grey horse (now thirteen
years old); to look at, he would not fetch £10, — the English
omnibusses would refuse him.

Talking about omnibusses, those of New York, and the other
cities in America, are as good and as well regulated as those of
Paris; the larger ones have four horses. Not only their omni
busses, but their hackney coaches are very superior to those in
London; the latter are as clean as private carriages; and with
the former there is no swearing, no dislocating the arms of poor
females, hauling them from one omnibus to the other, — but civility
without servility.

The American stage-coaches are such as experience has found
out to be most suitable to the American roads, and you have not
ridden in them five miles before you long for the delightful spring
ing of four horses upon the level roads of England. They are
something between an English stage* and a French diligence,

* Miss Martineau in her work speaks of that most delightful of ajl

4 MARRYAT'S DIARY,

built with all the panels open, on account of the excessive heat
of the summer months. In wet weather these panels are covered
with leather aprons, which are fixed on with buttons, a very in
sufficient protection in the winter, as the wind blows through the
intermediate spaces, whistling into your ears, and rendering it
more piercing than if all was open. Moreover, they are no pro
tection against the rain or snow, both of which find their way in
to you. The coach has three seats, to receive nine passengers;
those on the middle seat leaning back upon a strong and broad
leather brace, which runs across. This is very disagreeable, as
the centre passengers, when the panels are closed, deprive the
others of the light and air from the windows. But the most dis
agreeable feeling arises from the body of the coach not being upon
springs, but hung upon leather braces running under it and sup
porting it on each side; and when the roads are bad, or you ascend
or rapidly descend the pitches (as they term short hills) the motion
is very similar to that of being tossed in a blanket, often throwing
you up to the top of the coach, so as to flatten your hat — if not
your head.

The drivers are very skilful, although they are generally
young men — indeed often mere boys — for they soon better them
selves as they advance in life. Very often they drive six in
hand; and if you are upset, it is generally more the fault of
the road than of the driver. I was upset twice in one half
hour when I was travelling in the winter time; but the snow
was very deep at the time, and no one thinks anything of

conveyances — an American stage-coach; but Miss M. is so very pe
culiar in her ideas, that I am surprised at nothing that she says. I
will, however, quote the Reverend Mr. Reid against her: —

"I had no sooner begun to enter the coach than splash went my
foot in mud and water. I exclaimed with surprise. 'Soon be dry,
sir,' was the reply; while he withdrew the light,' that I might not ex
plore the cause of complaint. The fact was, that the vehicle, like
the hotel and steam-boat, was not water-tight, and the rain had found
an entrance. There was, indeed, in this coach, as in most others, a
provision in the bottom, of holes, to let off both water and dirt; but
here the dirt had become mud, and thickened about the orifices, so
as to prevent escape. I found I was the only passenger; the morn
ing was damp and chilly; the state of the coach added to the sensa
tion; and I eagerly looked about for some means of protection. I
drew up the wooden windows; out of five small panes of glass in the
sashes three were broken. I endeavoured to secure the curtains;
two of them had most of the ties broken, and flapped in one's face.
There was no help in the coach, so I looked to myself. I made the
best use I could of my garments, and put myself as snugly as I could
in the corner of a stage meant to accommodate nine persons. My
situation just then was not among the most cheerful. I could see
nothing; every where I could feel the wind drawn in upon me; and
as for sounds I had the calls of the driver, the screeching of the
wheels, and the song of the bull-frog for my entertainment." — Rev.
Mr. Reid's Tour, vol. i. p. 100.— Very delightful, indeed!

MARRYAT'S DIARIT. 5

an upset in America. More serious accidents do, however,
sometimes happen. When I was in New Hampshire, a ne
glected bridge broke down, and precipitated coach, horses, and
passengers into a torrent which flowed into the Connecticut river.
Some of the passengers were drowned. Those who were saved,
sued the township and recovered damages; but these mischances
must be expected in a new country. The great annoyance of these
public conveyances is, that neither the proprietor or driver consider
themselves the servants of the public; a stage-coach is a specula
tion by which as much money is to be made as possible by the
proprietors; and as the driver never expects or demands a fee from
the passengers, they or their comforts are no concern of his. The
proprietors do not consider that they are bound to keep faith with
the public, nor do they care about any complaints.

The stages which run from Cincinnati to the eastward are very
much interfered with when the Ohio river is full of water, as the
travellers prefer the steam-boats; but the very moment that the
water is so low on the Ohio that the steam-boats cannot ascend
the river up to Wheeling, double the price is demanded by the
proprietors of the coaches. They are quite regardless as to the
opinion or good-will of the public; they do not care for either, all
they want is their money, and they are perfectly indifferent whether
you break your neck or not. The great evil arising from this state
of hostility, as you may almost call it, is the disregard of life which
renders travelling so dangerous in America. You are completely
at the mercy of the drivers, who are, generally speaking, very
good-tempered, but sometimes quite the contrary; and I have often
been amused with the scenes which have taken place between them
and the passengers. As for myself, when the weather permitted
it, I invariably went outside, which the Americans seldom do, and
was always very good friends with the drivers. They are full of
local information, and often very amusing. There is, however, a
great difference in the behaviour of the drivers of the mails, and
coaches which are timed by the post-office, and others which are
not. If beyond his time, the driver is mulcted by the proprietors;
and when dollars are in the question, there is an end to all urbanity
and civility.

A gentleman of my acquaintance was in a mail which was be
hind time, and the driver was proceeding at such a furious pace
that one jerk threw a lady to the top of the coach, and the teeth of
her comb entering her head, she fainted with pain. The passen
gers called out to the driver to stop. "What for?" "That last
jerk has struck the lady, and she has fainted." "Oh, that's all!
Well, I reckon I'll give her another jerk, which will bring her to
again." Strange to say, he prophecied right; the next jerk was
very violent, and the lady recovered her senses.

Mr. E., an employe of the American government, was travelling
in the state of Indiana — the passengers had slept at an inn, and the
coach was ready at the door, but Mr. E. had not quite finished his
1*

6 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

toilet; the driver dispatched the bar-keeper for him, and Mr. E*
sent word he would be down immediately.

"What is he about!" said the driver impatiently to the bar
keeper when he came down again.

"Cleaning his teeth."

"Cleaning his teeth!" roared the driver, indignantly; "by the
," and away went the horses at a gallop, leaving Mr. E. be
hind.

The other passengers remonstrated, but without avail; they told
him that Mr. E. was charged with government despatches — he
didn't care; at last, one of them offered him a dollar if he would
go back. They had proceeded more than a mile before the offer
was made; the man immediately wheeled his horses round, and
returned to the inn.

The Rev. Mr. Reid gives an anecdote very characteristic of
American stage-coach travelling, and proving how little the con
venience of the public is cared for.

"When we stopped at Lowell to change horses, a female wished
to secure a place onward. We were already, as the phrase is,
more than full; we had nine* persons, and two children, which are
made to go for nothing, except in the way-bill. Our saucy driver
opened the door, and addressing two men, who, 'with us, would
-have been outside passengers — 'Now, I say, I want one of you to
ride with me, and let a lady have your seat.' The men felt they
were addressed by a superior, but kept their places. 'Come, I say,'
he continued, 'you shall have a good buffalo and umbrel, and no
thing will hurt you.' Still they kept their places, and refused
him. His lordship was offended, and ready to lay hands on one
of them; but, checking himself, exclaimed, 'Well, if I can't get
you out, hang it if I'll take you on till one of you gets out.' And
there we stood for some time; and he gained his point at last, and
in civiller terms, by persuading the persons on the middle seat to
receive the lady; so that we had now twelve inside."

I once myself was in a stage-coach, and found that the window
glasses had been taken out; I mentioned this to the driver, as it
rained in very fast — "Well, nowj" replied he, "I reckon you'd
better ax the proprietors; my business is to drive the coach."
And that was all the comfort I could procure. As for speaking to
them about stopping, or driving slow, it is considered as an un
warrantable interference.

I recollect an Englishman at New York telling me, that when
in the Eastern States, he had expressed a wish to go a little faster
— "Oh," said the driver, "you do, do you; well, wait a moment,
and I'll go faster than you like." The fellow drove very slow
where the road was good; but as soon as he came to a bad piece,
he put his horses to the gallop, and, as my friend said, they were
so tossed and tumbled about, that they hardly knew where they
were. "Is that fast enough, Mister," said the driver, leering in
at the coach window.

As for stopping, they will stop to talk to any one on the road

MARRY AT's DIARY. 7

about the price of the markets, the news, or any thing else; and
the same accommodation is cheerfully given to any passenger who
has any business to transact on the way. The Americans are ac
customed to it, and the passengers never raise any objections.
There is a spirit of accommodation, arising from their natural
good temper.*

I was once in a coach when the driver pulled up, and entered
a small house on the road side; after he had been there some time,
as it was not an inn, I expressed my wonder what he was about.
"I guess I can tell you," said a man who was standing by the
coach, and overheard me; "there's a pretty girl in that house, and
he's doing a bit of courting, I expect." Such was the fact: the
passengers laughed, and waited for him very patiently. He re
mained about three-quarters of an hour, and then came out. The
time was no doubt to him very short; but to us it appeared rather
tedious.

Mrs. Jamieson, in her last work, says: "One'dark night, I re
member, as the sleet and rain were falling fast, and our Extra was
slowly dragged by wretched brutes of horses through what seem
ed to me 'Sloughs of Despond,' some package ill stowed on the
roof, which in the American stages presents no resting-place for
man or box, fell off. The driver alighted to fish it out of the mud.
As there was some delay, a gentleman seated opposite to me put
his head out of window to inquire the cause; to whom the driver's
voice replied, in an angry tone, 'I say, you mister, don't you sit
jabbering there; but lend a hand to heave these things aboard!'
To my surprise, the gentleman did not appear struck by the in
solence of this summons, but immediately jumped out and render
ed his assistance. This is merely the manner of the people. The
driver intended no insolence, nor was it taken as such; and my
fellow-travellers could not help laughing at my surprise."

I have mentioned these little anecdotes, as they may amuse the
reader; but it must be understood that, generally speaking, the
drivers are very good-natured and obliging, and the passengers
very accommodating to each other, and submitting with a good
grace to what cannot be ameliorated.

CHAPTER II.

TRAVELLING.

IN making my observations upon the rail-road and steam-boat

* This spirit of accommodation produces what would at first ap
pear to be rudeness, but is not intended for it. When you travel, or
indeed when walking the streets in the Western country, if you
have a cigar in your mouth, a man will come up — "Beg pardon,
stranger," and whips your cigar out of your mouth, lights his own,
and then returns your's. I thought it rather cool at first, but as I
found it was the practice, I invariably did the same whenever I
needed a light.

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

travelling in the United States, I shall point out some facts with
which the reader must be made acquainted. The Americans are
a restless, locomotive people: whether for business or pleasure,
they are ever on the move in their own country, and they move in
masses. There is but one conveyance, it may be said, for every
class of people, the coach, rail-road, or steam-boat, as well as
most of the hotels, being open to all; the consequence is that the
society is very much mixed — the millionaire, the well-educated
woman of the highest rank, the senator, the member of Congress,
the farmer, the emigrant, the swindler, and the pick-pocket, are
all liable to meet together in the same vehicle of conveyance.
Some conventional rules were therefore necessary, and those rules
have been made by public opinion — a power to which all must
submit in America. The one most important, and without which
it would be impossible to travel in such a gregarious way, is an
universal deference and civility shewn to the women, who may in
consequence travel without protection all over the United States
without the least chance of annoyance or insult. This deference
paid to the sex is highly creditable to the Americans; it exists
from one end of the Union to the other; indeed, in the Southern
and more lawless States, it is even more chivalric than in the more
settled. Let a female be ever so indifferently clad, whatever her
appearance may be, still it is sufficient that she is a female; she
has the first accommodation, and until she has it, no man will
think of himself. But this deference is not only shewn in travel
ling, but in every instance. An English lady told me, that wish
ing to be present at the inauguration of Mr. Van Buren, by some
mistake, she and her daughters alighted from the carriage at the
wrong entrance, and in attempting to force their way through a
dense crowd were nearly crushed to death. This was perceived,
and the word was given — 'Make room for the ladies.' The whole
crowd, as if by one simultaneous effort, compressed itself to the
right and left, locking themselves together to meet the enormous
pressure, and made a wide lane, through which they passed with
ease and comfort. "It reminded me of the Israelites passing
through the Red Sea with the wall of waters on each side of
them," observed the lady. "In any other country we must have
been crushed to death."

When I was on board one of the steam-boats, an American
asked one of the ladies to what she would like to be helped. She
replied, to some turkey, which was within reach, and off of which
a passenger had just cut the wing and transferred it to his own
plate. The American who had received the lady's wishes, im
mediately pounced with his fork upon the wing of the turkey and
carried it off to the young lady's plate; the only explanation given,
"For a lady, Sir!" was immediately admitted as sufficient.

The authority of the captain of a steam-boat is never disputed;
if it were, the offender would be landed on the beach. I was on
board of a steam-boat when, at tea time, a young man sat down
with his hat on.

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 9

"You are in the company of ladies, Sir," observed the captain
very civilly, "and I must request you to take your hat off."

"Are you the captain of the boat?" observed the young man, in
a sulky tone.

"Yes, Sir, I am."

"Well, then, I suppose I must," growled the passenger, as he
obeyed.

But if the stewards, who are men of colour, were to attempt to
enforce the order, they would meet with such a rebuff as I have
myself heard given.

"If it's the captain's orders, let the captain come and give them.
I'm not going to obey a Nigger like you."

Perhaps it is owing to this deference to the sex that you will
observe that the Americans almost invariably put on their best
clothes when they travel; such is the case whatever may be the
cause; and the ladies in America, travelling or not, are always
well, if not expensively dressed. They don't all swap bonnets
as the two young ladies did in the stage-coach in Vermont.

But, notwithstanding the decorum so well preserved as I have
mentioned, there are some annoyances to be met with from gre
garious travelling. One is, that occasionally a family of interest
ing young citizens who are suffering from the hooping-cough,
small-pox, or any other complaint, are brought on board, in con
sequence of the medical gentlemen having recommended change
of air. Of course the other children, or even adults, may take the
infection, but they are not refused admittance upon such trifling
grounds; the profits of the steam boat must not be interfered with.

Of all travelling, I think that by railroad the most fatiguing,
especially in America. After a certain time the constant coughing
of the locomotive, the dazzling of the vision from the rapidity with
which objects are passed, the sparks and ashes which fly in your
face and on your clothes become very annoying; your only conso
lation is the speed with which you are passing over the ground.

The railroads in America are not so well made as in England,
and are therefore more dangerous; but it must be remembered that
at present nothing is made in America but to last a certain time;
they go to the exact expense considered necessary and no further;
they know that in twenty years they will be better able to spend
twenty dollars than one now. The great object is to obtain quick
returns for the outlay, and, except in few instances, durability or
permanency is not thought of. One great cause of disasters is,
that the railroads are not fenced on the sides, so as to keep the
cattle off them, and it appears as if the cattle who range the woods
are very partial to take their naps on the roads, probably from,
their being drier than the other portions of the soil. It is impos
sible to say how many cows have been cut into atoms by the
trains in America, but the frequent accidents arising from these
causes has occasioned the Americans to invent a sort of shovel,
attached to the front of the locomotive, which takes up a cow,
tossing her off right or left. At every fifteen miles of the rail-

10 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

roads there are refreshment rooms; the cars stop, all the doors are
thrown open, and out rush the passengers like boys out of school,
and crowd round the tables to solace themselves with pies, patties,
cakes, hard-boiled eggs, ham, custards, and a variety of railroad
luxuries, too numerous to mention. The bell rings for departure,
in they all hurry with their hands and mouths full, and off they
go again, until the next stopping place induces them to relieve
the monotony of the journey by masticating without being hungry.

The Utica railroad is the best in the United States. The
general average of speed is from fourteen to sixteen miles an
hour; but on the Utica they go much faster.* A gentleman nar
rated to me a singular specimen of the ruling passion which he
witnessed on an occasion when the rail-cars were thrown off the
road, and nearly one hundred people killed, or injured in a greater
or less degree.

On the side of the road lay a man with his leg so severely frac
tured, that the bone had been forced through the skin, and project
ed outside his trowsers. Over him hung his wife, with the utmost
solicitude, the blood running down from a severe cut received on
her head, and kneeling by his side was his sister, who was also
much injured. The poor women were lamenting over him, and
thinking nothing of their own hurts; and he, it appears, was also
thinking nothing about his injury, but only lamenting the delay
which would be occasioned by it.

"Oh! my dear, dear Isaac, what can be done with your legV
exclaimed the wife in the deepest distress.

"What will become of my leg!" cried the man. "What's to
become of my business, I should like to know1?"

"Oh! dear brother," said the other female, "don't think about
your business now; think of getting cured."

"Think of getting cured — I must think how the bills are to be
met, and I not there to take them up. They will be presented as
sure as I lie here."

"Oh! never mind the bills, dear husband — think of your precious
leg."

"Not mind the bills! but I must mind the bills — my credit will
be ruined."

"Not when they know what has happened, brother. Oh! dear,
dear— that leg, that leg."

"D — n the leg; what's to become of my business," groaned the
man, falling on his back from excess of pain.

Now this was a specimen of true commercial spirit. If this
man had not been nailed to the desk, he might have been a hero.

I shall conclude this chapter with an extract from an American
author, which will give some idea of the indifference as to loss of
life in the United States.

*The railroads finished in America in 1835 amounted in length to
1,600 miles; those in progress, and not yet complete, to 1,270 miles
more. The canals completed were in length 2,687 miles; unfinished,
500 miles.

MARRY AT'S DIARY. 11

"Every now and then is a tale of railroad disaster in some part
of the country, at inclined planes, or intersecting points, or by
running off the track, making splinters of the cars, and of men's
bones; and locomotives have been known to encounter, head to
head, like two rams fighting. A little while previous to the
writing of these lines, a locomotive and tender shot down the in
clined plain at Philadelphia, like a falling star. A woman, with
two legs broken by this accident, was put into an omnibus, to be
carried to the hospital, but the driver, in his speculations, coolly
replied to a man, who asked why he did not go on? — that he was
waiting for a full load."*

CHAPTER III.

TRAVELLING.

THE most general, the most rapid, the most agreeable, and, at

the same time, the most dangerous, of American travelling is by

steam boats. It will be as well to give the reader an idea of the
extent of this navigation by putting before him the lengths of some
of the principal rivers in the United States.

MILES.

Missouri and Mississippi ----- 4490

Do. to its junction with the Mississippi ----- 3181

Mississippi proper, to its junction with the Missouri - - - 1600

Do. to the Gulf of Mexico 2910

Arkansas River, a branch of the Mississippi ----- 2170

St. Lawrence River, including the Lakes ------ 2075

Platte River, a branch of the Missouri 1600

Red River, a branch of the Mississippi ------- 1500

Ohio River, Do. - - - Do. 1372

Columbia River, empties into the Pacific Ocean - - - - 1315

Kan zas River, a branch of the Missouri 1200

Yellowstone Do. Do. 1100

Tennessee Do. - - - - Ohio - - -. 756

Alabama River, empties into the Gulf of Mexico - - - - 575

Cumberland River, a branch of the Ohio ------- 570

Susquehanna River, empties into Chesapeake Bay - - - 460

Illinois River, a branch of the Mississippi 430

Appalachicola River, empties into the Gulf of Mexico - - 425

St. John's River, New Brunswick, rises in Maine - - - - 415

Connecticut River, empties into Long Island Sound - - - 410

Wabash River, a branch of the Ohio 360

Delaware River, empties into the Atlantic Ocean - - - - 355

James River, empties into Chesapeake Bay 350

Roanoke River, - - - Albemarle Sound 350

Great Pedee River, - Atlantic Ocean ------ 350

Santee River, - - Do. ...... 340

Potomac River, - - Chesapeake Bay - - - - - - 335

Hudson River, - - Atlantic Ocean 320

Altamaha River, - Do. 300

Savannah River, - Do. 290

*Voice from America.

12

MARRY AT'S DIARV.

Many of the largest of these rivers are at present running
through deserts — others possess but a scanty population on their
banks; but, as the west fills up, they will be teeming with life,
and the harvest of industry will freight many more hundreds of
vessels than those which at present disturb their waters.

The Americans have an idea that they are very far a-head of us
in steam navigation, a great error which I could not persuade
them of. In the first place, their machinery is not by any means
equal to ours; in the next, they have no sea-going steam vessels,
which after all is the great desideratum of steam navigation.
Even in the number and tonnage of their mercantile steam vessels
they are not equal to us, as I shall presently show, nor have they
yet arrived to that security in steam navigation which we have.

The return of vessels belonging to the Mercantile Steam Marine
of Great Britain, made by the Commissioners on the Report of
steam-vessel accidents in 1839, is, number of vessels, 810; ton
nage, 157,840; horse power, 63,250.

Mr. Levi Woodbury's Report to Congress in December, 1838,
states the number of American steam vessels to be 800, and the
tonnage to be 155,473; horse power, 57,019.

It is but fair to state, that the Americans have the credit of
having sent the first steam vessel across the Atlantic. In 1819,
a steam vessel, built at New York, crossed from Savannah to
Liverpool in twenty-six days.

The number of sea- going steam vessels in England is two hun
dred and eighty-two, while in the United States they have not
more than ten at the outside calculation. In the size of our ves
sels also we are far superior to them. I here insert a table, shew
ing the dimensions of our largest vessels, as given in the Report
to the House of Commons, and another of the largest American
vessels collected from the Report of Mr. Levi Woodbury to Con
gress.

TABLE — Shewing some of the Dimensions of the Hull and Machinery
of the Five largest Ships yet built or building.

Dimensions.

Great
Western.

Liverpool.

British
Queen.

President.

United
Kingdom.

Extreme length - - - feet

236

223

275

265

_

Do. under deck „

212

216

245

238

Z06.

Do. keel „

205

209 Sin.

225

220

198

Breadth within the paddle-boxes
Do. including do. „

35 4 in.
59 8 in.

30 10 in.
56 3 in.

40
64

41
64

36 6 in.

Depth of hold at midships „

23 2 in.

19 8 In.

27 6 in.

23 6 in.

22

Tons of space „

6791-2

559 1-2

1,053

_

Tonnage of engine-room „
Total tonnage - - - tons
Power of engines • horses

641 1-2
1,321
450

581
1,140 1-2
468

2,016
500

1,840
540

1,400
450

Diameter of cylinders inches

73

75

771-2

80

73

Length of stroke - - feet

7

7

7

71-2

7

Diameter of paddle-wheel* „

28 9 in.

28 Sin.

30 6 in.

31

28

Total weight of engines, ) .
boilers, and water, - - \tons

480

450

500

500

450

Total weight of coals, 20 ?
days' consumption, - - J "
Total weight of cargo, - - „

600
250

,600
200

750
500

750
750

-

Draught of water, with •»

the above weight of }• feet
storei J

16 Sin.

16 6 in.

16 7 in.

17

- —

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

Tons.

Horse
Power.

Natchez . . .
Illinois . . .

860
755

30Q

(Between New York
\ and Mississippi.
Lake Erie.

Madison . .

700

»

Buffalo . . .

613

"

Massachusetts

626

})

Sound.

Uncle Sam

447

55

( Mississippi and Ohio
( Rivers.

Mogul . . .

414

JJ

Mediterranean

490

5)

North America

445

"

St. Louis . .

550

"

- But the point on which we are so vastly superior to the Ameri
cans, is in our steam vessels of war. They have but one in the
United States, named the Fulton the Second. The following is
a list of those belonging to the Government of Great Britain, with
their tonnage:—

Tons.

Tons.

Tons.

Acheron

722

Fearless

165

Myrtle

116

Adder

237

Firebrand

495

Otter

237

Advice

175

Fire Fly

550

Phoenix

809

African

295

Flamer

496

Pigmy

230

Alban

294

Fury

166

Pike

112

Ariel

149

Gleaner

306

Pluto

365

Asp (

112

Gorgon

1111

Prospero

244

Avon

361

Hecate

815

Redwing

139

Beaver

128

Hecla

815

Radamanthus

813

Blazer

527

Hermes

716

Salamander

818

Boxer

159

' Hydra

818

Shearwater

343

Carron

294

Jasper

230

Spitfire

553

Charon
Columbia

125

360

Kite
Lightning

300
296

Sprightly
Strombolo

234

966

Comet

238

Lucifer

387

Swallow

133

Confiance

295

Medea

835

Tartarus

523

Cuckoo

234

Medusa

889

Urgent

563

Cyclops

1190

Megaera

717

Vesuvius

966

Dasher

260

Merlin

889

Volcano

720

Dee

704

Messenger

733

Widgeon

164

Doterel

723

Meteor

296

Wildfire

186

Echo

298

Monkey

211

Zephyr

237

Government Steam Vessels Building.

Alecto

799

Lizard

282

Polyphemus

799

Ardent

799

Locust

282

Prometheus

799

Dover

Iron

Medina

889

I trust that the above statements will satisfy the Americans that
we are ahead of them in steam navigation. In consequence of
their isolation, and having no means of comparison with other
countries, the Americans see only their own progress, and seem

VOL. i. — 2

14

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

to have forgotten that other nations advance as well as themselves.
They appear to imagine that while they are going ahead all others
are standing still: forgetting that England with her immense re
sources is much more likely to surpass them than to be left behind.
We must now examine the question of the proportionate security
in steam boat travelling in the two countries. The following
table, extracted from the Report of the Commissioners on Steam
boat Accidents, will show the casualties which have occurred in
this country in ten years.

Vessels.

ABSTRACT OF JNINETY-TWO ACCIDENTS.

Ascertained
Number of
Lives lost.

40

92

Wrecked, foundered, or in imminent peril ...
Explosion of boilers ..........

Fires from various causes ........

Collisions

Computed number of persons lost on board the Erin,
Frolic, and Superb ---

From watermens' and coroners' lists in the Thames,
exclusive of the above, during the last three years

From a list obtained in Scotland, exclusive of the
above, being accidents in the Clyde during the
last ten years

308

77

2

66

453

120

40

21

634

The greatest ascertained number of lives lost at any one time occurred by
the wreck of the Rothsay Castle, when - -. - - 119 persons perished.
The greatest number at any one time from collision 62 Do.

The greatest number at any one time from explosion 24 Do.

The greatest number at any one time from fire 2 Do.

The principal portion of this loss of life has been occasioned by
vessels having been built for sale, and not sea-worthy; an occur
rence too common, I am afraid, in both countries.

The author of "A Voice from America" states the list of steam
boat disasters, on the waters of the United States, for twelve
months out of the years 1837-38, by bursting of boilers, burning,
wrecks, &c., besides numerous others of less consequence, com
prehends the total loss of eight vessels and one thousand and eighty
lives.

63.
In America, , one year, 1,080

The report of Mr. Woodbury to Congress is imperfect, which
is not to be wondered at, as it is almost impossible to arrive at
the truth; there is, however, much to be gleaned from it. He
states, that since the employment of steam vessels in the United
States, 1,300 have been built, and of them two hundred and sixty
have been lost by accidents.

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 15

The greatest loss of life by collision and sinking, was in the
Monmouth,* in 1837, by which three hundred lives were lost;
Oronoka, by explosion, by which one hundred and thirty or more
lives were lost; and Moselle, at Cincinnati, by which from one
hundred to one hundred and twenty lives were lost.

The greatest loss by shipwreck was in the case of the Home,
on the coast of South Carolina, when one hundred lives were lost;
the greatest by fire, the Ben Sherrod, in 1837, by which one
hundred and thirty perished.

The three great casualties which occurred during my stay in
America, were those of the Ben Sherrod, by fire; the Home, by
wreck; and the Moselle, by explosion: and as I have authentic
details of them, by Americans who were on board, or eye-wit
nesses, 1 shall lay them before my readers. The reader will ob
serve that there is a great difference in the loss of life mentioned
in Mr. Woodbury's report and in the statements of those who
were present. I shall hereafter state why I consider the latter as
the more correct.

LOSS OF THE BEN SHERROD,

BY A PASSENGER.

"On Sunday morning, the 6th of May 1837, the steam-boat Ben
Sherrod, under the command of Captain Castleman, was preparing
to leave the levee at New Orleans. She was thronged with pas
sengers. Many a beautiful and interesting woman that morning
was busy in arranging the little things incident to travelling, and
they all looked forward with high and certain hope to the end of
their journey. Little innocent children played about in the cabin,
and would run to the guards* now and then, to wonder, in infan
tine language, at the next boat, or the water, or something else
that drew their attention. "Oh, look here, Henry — I don't like
that boat Lexington." — "I wish I was going by her," said Henry,
musingly. The men too were urgent in their arrangements of the
trunks, and getting on board sundry articles which a ten days'
passage rendered necessary. . In fine all seemed hope, and joy,
and certainty.

"The cabin of the Ben Sherrod was on the upper deck, but
narrow in proportion to her build, for she was what is technically
called a Tennessee cotton boat. To those who have never seen a
cotton boat loaded, it is a wondrous sight. The bales are piled
up from the lower guards wherever there is a cranny until they
reach above the second deck, room being merely left for passen
gers to walk outside the cabin. You have regular alleys left

*Indians transporting to the West.

*The guards of an American steam-boat are an extension of the
deck on each side, beyond the paddle boxes; which gives great width
for stowage.

16 MARRY AT'S DIARY.

amid the cotton in order to pass about on the first deck. Such is
a cotton boat carrying from 1,500 to 2,000 bales.

"The Ben's finish and accommodation of the cabin was by no
means such as would begin to compare with the regular passenger
boats. It being late in the season, and but few large steamers
being in port in consequence of the severity of the times, the Ben
Sherrod got an undue number of passengers, otherwise she would
have been avoided, for her accommodations were not enticing.
She had a heavy freight on board, and several horses and carriages
on the forecastle. The build of the Ben Sherrod was heavy, her
timbers being of the largest size.

"The morning was clear and sultry — so much so, that umbrellas
were necessary to ward off the sun. It was a curious sight to see
the hundreds of citizens hurrying on board to leave letters, and to
see them coming away. When a steam-boat is going off on the
Southern and Western waters, the excitement is fully equal to
that attendant upon the departure of a Liverpool packet. — About
ten o'clock A. M. the ill-fated steamer pushed off upon the turbid
current of the Mississippi, as a swan upon the waters. In a few
minutes she was under way, tossing high in air, bright and snowy
clouds of steam at every half revolution of her engine. Talk not
of your northern steam-boats! A Mississippi steamer of seven
hundred tons burthen, with adequate machinery, is one of the
sublimities of poetry. For thousands of miles that great body
forces its way through a desolate country, against an almost re
sistless current, and all the evidence you have of the immense
power exerted, is brought home to your senses by the everlasting
and majestic burst of exertion from her escapement pipe, and the
ceaseless stroke of the paddle wheels. In the dead of night,
when amid the swamps on either side, your noble vessel winds
her upward way — when not a soul is seen on board but the officer
on deck — when nought is heard but the clang of the fire-doors
amid the hoarse coughing of the engine, imagination yields to the
vastness of the ideas thus excited in your mind, and if you have a
soul that makes you a man, you cannot help feeling strongly alive
to the mightiness of art in contrast with the mightiness of nature.
Such a scene, and hundreds such have I realised, with an inten
sity that cannot be described, always made me a better man than
before. I never could tire of the steam-boat navigation of the
Mississippi.

"On Tuesday evening, the 9th of May 1837, the steam-boat
Prairie, on her way to St. Louis, bore hard upon the Sherrod. It
was necessary for the latter to stop at Fort Adams, during which
the Prairie passed her. Great vexation was manifested by some
of the passengers, that the Prairie should get to Natchez first.
This subject formed the theme of conversation for two or three
hours, the captain assuring them that he would beat her anyhow.
The Prairie is a very fast boat, and under equal chances could
have beaten the Sherrod. So soon as the business was transacted

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 17

at Fort Adams, for which she stopped, orders were given to the
men to keep up their fires to the extent. It was now a little after
11 P.M. The captain retired to his berth, with his clothes on, and
left the deck in charge of an officer. During the evening a barrel
of whisky had been turned out, and permission given to the hands
to do as they pleased. As may be supposed, they drew upon the
barrel quite liberally. It is the custom on all boats to furnish the
firemen with liquor, though a difference exists as to the mode.
But it is due to the many worthy captains now on the Mississippi,
to state that the practice of furnishing spirits is gradually dying
away, and where they are given, it is only done in moderation.

"As the Sherrod passed on above Fort Adams towards the
mouth of the Homochitta, the wood piled up in the front of the
furnaces several times caught fire, and was once or twice imper
fectly extinguished by the drunken hands. It must be understood
by those of my readers who have never seen a western steam
boat, that the boilers are entirely above the first deck, and that
when the fires are well kept up for any length of time, the heat is
almost insupportable. Were it not for the draft occasioned by the
speed of the boat it would be very difficult to attend the fires. As
the boat was booming along through the water close in-shore, for,
in ascending the river, boats go as close as they can to avoid the
current, a negro on the beach called out to the fireman that the
wood was on fire. The reply was, "Go to h — 1, and mind your
own business," from some half intoxicated hand. "Oh, massa,"
answered ths negro, "if you don't take care, you will be in h — 1
before I will." On, on, on went the boat at a tremendous rate,
quivering and trembling in all her length at every revolution of
the wheels. The steam was created so fast, that it continued to
escape through the safety-valve, and by its sharp singing, told a
tale that every prudent captain would have understood. As the
vessel rounded the bar that makes off from the Homochitta, being
compelled to stand out into the middle of the river in consequence,
the fire was discovered. It was about one o'clock in the morning.
A passenger had got up previously, and was standing on the boiler
deck, when to his astonishment, the fire broke out from the pile
of wood. A little presence of mind, and a set of men unintoxicated,
could have saved the boat. The passenger seized a bucket, and
was about to plunge it overboard for water, when he found it
locked. An instant more, and the fire increased in volumes. The
captain was now awaked. He saw that the fire had seized the
deck. He ran aft, and announced the ill-tidings. No sooner were
the words out of his mouth, than the shrieks of mothers, sisters,
and babes, resounded through the hitherto silent cabin in the
wildest confusion. Men were aroused from their dreaming cots
to experience the hot air of the approaching fire. The pilot, being
elevated on the hurricane deck, at the instant of perceiving the
flames, put the head of the boat shoreward. She had scarcely
got under good way in that direction, than the tiller ropes were
2*

18 MARRY AT'S DIARY.

burnt asunder. Two miles at least, from the land, the vessel took
a sheer, and, borne upon by the current, made several revolutions,
until she struck off across the river. A bar brought her up for
the moment.

"The flames had now extended fore and aft. At the first alarm
several deck passengers had got in the yaul that hung suspended
by the davits. A cabin passenger, endowed with some degree of
courage and presence of mind, expostulated with them, and did all
he could to save the boats for the ladies. 'Twas useless. One
took out his knife and cut away the forward tackle. The next
instant and they were all, to the number of twenty or more, launch
ed into the angry waters. They were seen no more.

"The boat being lowered from the other end, filled and was
useless. Now came the trying moment. Hundreds leaped from
the burning wreck into the waters. Mothers were seen standing
on the guards with hair dishevelled, praying for help. The dear
little innocents clung to the side of their mothers and with their
tiny hands beat away the burning flames. Sisters calling out to
their brothers in unearthly voices — 'Save me, oh save me, brother!'
— wives crying to their husbands to save their children, in total
forgetfulness of themselves, — every second or two a desperate
plunge of some poor victim falling on the appalled ear, — the dash
ing to and fro of the horses on the forecastle, groaning audibly
from pain of the devouring element — the continued puffing of the
engine, for it still continued to go, — the screaming mother who
had leaped overboard in the desperation of the moment with her
only child, — the flames mounting to the sky with the rapidity of
lightning, — shall I ever forget that scene — that hour of horror and
alarm1? Never, were I to live till the memory should forget all
else that ever came to the senses. The short half hour that sepa
rated and plunged into eternity two hundred human beings has
been so burnt into the memory that even now I think of it more
than half the day.

"I was swimming to the shore with all my might, endeavoured
to sustain a mother and her child. She sank twice, and yet I
bore her on. My strength failed me. The babe was nothing — a
mere cork. 'Go, go,' said the brave mother, 'save my child, save
my ' and she sunk to rise no more. Nerved by the resolu
tion of that woman, I reached the shore in safety. The babe I
saved. Ere I had reached the beach, the Sherrod had swung off
the bar, and was floating down, the engine having ceased running.
In every direction heads dotted the surface of the river. The
burning wreck now wore a new, and still more awful appearance.
Mothers were seen clinging, with the last hope to the blazing
timbers, and dropping off one by one. The screams had ceased.
A sullen silence rested over the devoted vessel. The flames be
came tired of their destructive work.

"While I sat dripping and overcome upon the beach, a steam
boat, the Columbus., came in sight, and bore for the wreck. It

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 19

seemed like one last ray of hope gleaming across the dead gloom
of that night. Several wretches were saved. And still another,
the Statesman, came in sight. More, more were saved.

"A moment to me had only elapsed, when high in the heavens
the cinders flew, and the country was lighted all round. Still
another boat came booming on. I was happy that more help had
come. After an exchange of words with the Columbus, the cap
tain continued on his way under full steam. Oh, how my heart
sank within me! The waves created by his boat sent many a poor
mortal to his long, long home. A being by the name of Dougherty
was the captain of that merciless boat. — Long may he be re
membered!

"My hands were burnt, and now I began to experience severe
pain. The scene before me — the loss of my two sisters and
brother, whom I had missed in the confusion, all had steeled my
heart. I could not weep — I could not sigh. The cries of the
babe at my side were nothing to me.

"Again — another explosion! and the waters closed slowly and
sullenly over the scene of disaster and death. Darkness resumed
her sway, and the stillness was only interrupted by the distant
efforts of the Columbus and Statesman in their laudable exertions
to save human life.

"Captain Castleman lost, I believe, a father and child. Some
argue, this is punishment enough. No, it is not. He had the
lives of hundreds under his charge. He was careless of his trust;
he was guilty of a crime that nothing will ever wipe out. The
bodies of two hundred victims are crying out from the depth of the
father of waters for vengeance. Neither society nor law will give
it. His punishment is yet to come. May I never meet him!

"I could tell of scenes of horror that would rouse the indignation
of a stoic; but I have done. As to myself, I could tell you much
to excite your interest. It was more than three weeks after the
occurrence before I ever shed a tear. All the fountains of sympa
thy had been dried up, and my heart was as stone. As I lay on
my bed the twenty-fourth day after, tears, salt tears, came to my
relief, and I felt the loss of my sisters and brother more deeply
than ever. Peace be to their spirits! they found a watery grave.

"In the course of all human events, scenes of misery will occur.
But where they rise from sheer carelessness, it requires more than
Christian fortitude to forgive the being who is in fault. I repeat,
may I never meet Captain Castleman or Captain Dougherty!

"I shall follow this tale of woe by some strictures on the mode
of building steam-boats in the west, and show that human life has
been jeopardized by the demoniac spirit of speculation, cheating
and roguery. The fate of the Ben Sherrod shall be my text."

It will be seen from this narrative, that the loss of the vessel
was occasioned by racing with another boat, a frequent practice on
the Mississippi. That people should run such risk, will appear
strange; but if any of my readers had ever been on board of a steam

20

vessel in a race, they would not be surprised; the excitement pro
duced by it is the most powerful that can be conceived — I have
myself experienced it, and can answer for the truth of it. At first,
the feeling of danger predominates, and many of the passengers
beg the captain to desist: but he cannot bear to be passed by and
left astern. As the race continues, so do they all warm up, until
even those who, most aware of the danger, were at first most afraid,
are to be seen standing over the very boilers, shouting, huzzaing,

and stimulating the fireman to blow them up; the very danger

gives an unwonted interest to the scene; and females, as well as
men, would never be persuaded to cry out "Hold, enough!"

Another proof of the disregard of human life is here given in the
fact of one steam-boat passing by and rendering no assistance to
the drowning wretches; nay, it was positively related to me by
one who was in the water, that the blows of the paddles of this
stearn-boat sent down many who otherwise might have been saved.

"yVhen I was on the Lakes, the wood which was piled close to
the fire-place caught fire. It was of no consequence, as it hap
pened, for it being a well-regulated boat, the fire was soon extin
guished; but I mention it to show the indifference of one of the
men on board. About half an hour afterwards, one of his com
panions roused him from his berth, shaking him by the shoulder
to wake him, saying, "Get up, the wood's a-fire — quick." "Well,
I knew that 'fore I turn'd in," replied the man, yawning.

The loss of the Home occasioned many of the first families in
the states to go into deep mourning, for the major portion of the pas
sengers were highly respectable. I was at New York when she
started. I had had an hour's conversation with Professor Nott and
his amiable wife, and had made arrangements with them to meet
them in South Carolina. We never met again, for they were in
the list of those who perished.

LOSS OF THE HOME.

"The steam-packet Home, commanded by Capt. White, left
New York, for Charleston, S. C., at four o'clock, p. M., on Satur
day, the 7th Oct. 1837, having on board between eighty and nine
ty passengers, and forty-three of the boat's crew, including offi
cers, making in all about one hundred and thirty persons. The
weather at this time was very pleasant, and all on board appeared
to enjoy, in anticipation, a delightful and prosperous passage. On
leaving the wharf, cheerfulness appeared to fill the hearts and
enliven the countenances of this floating community. Already had
conjectures been hazarded, as to the time of their arrival at the
destined port, and high hopes were entertained of an expeditious
and pleasant voyage. Before six o'clock, a check to these delu
sive expectations was experienced, by the boat being run aground
on the Romer Shoal, near Sandy Hook. It being ebb tide, it was
found impossible to get off before the next flood; consequently, the

21

fires were allowed to burn out, and the boat remained until the
flood tide took her off, which was between ten and eleven o'clock
at night, making the time of detention about four or five hours. —
As the weather was perfectly calm, it cannot, reasonably, be sup
posed that the boat could have received any material injury from,
this accident; for, during the time that it remained aground, it had
no other motion than an occasional roll on the keel from side to
side. The night continued pleasant. The next morning, (Sun
day,) a moderate breeze prevailed from the north-east. The sails
were spread before the wind, and the speed of the boat, already
rapid, was much accelerated. All went on pleasantly till about
noon, when the wind had increased, and the sea became rough. —
At sunset, the wind blew heavily, and continued to increase dur
ing the night; at daylight, on Monday, it had become a gale. —
During the night, much complaint was made that the water came
into the berths, and before the usual time of rising, some of the
passengers had abandoned them on that account.

"The sea, from the violence of the gale, raged frightfully, and
caused a general anxiety amongst the passengers; but still, they
appeared to rely on the skill and judgment of the captain and offi
cers, — supposing, that every exertion would be used, on their part,
for the preservation of so many valuable lives as were then entrust
ed to those who had the charge of this frail boat. Early on Mon
day, land was discovered, nearly ahead, which, by many, was sup
posed to be False Cape, on the northern part of Hatteras. Soon
after this discovery, the course of the boat was changed from
southerly to south-easterly, which was the general course through
the day, though with some occasional changes. The condition of
the boat was now truly alarming; it bent and twisted, when struck
by a sea, as if the next would rend it asunder: the panels of the
ceiling were falling from their places; and the hull, as if united by
hinges, was bending against the feet of the braces. Throughout
the day, the rolling and pitching were so great, that no cooking
could be done on board.

"It has already been stated, that the general course of the boat
was, during the day, south-easterly, and consequently in what is
called the trough of the sea, — as the wind was from the north-east.
Late in the afternoon, the boat was reported to be in twenty-three
fathoms of water, when the course was changed to a south-wes
terly. Soon after this, it was observed that the course was again
changed, to north-westerly; when the awful truth burst upon us,
that the boat must be filling; for we could imagine no other
cause for this sudden change. This was but a momentary
suspense; for within a few minutes, all the passengers were
called on to bale, in order to prevent the boat from sinking. Im
mediately, all were employed, but with little effect; for, notwith
standing the greatest exertion on the part of the passengers, in
cluding even many of the ladies, the water was rapidly increasing,
and gave most conclusive evidence, that, unless we reached the

22 MARRY AT'S DIARY.

shore within a few hours, the boat must sink at sea, and probably
not a soul be left to communicate the heart-rending intelligence to
bereaved and disconsolate friends. Soon after the boat was headed
towards the land, the water had increased so much, as to reach
the fire under the boilers, which was soon extinguished. Gloomy
indeed was the prospect before us. With one hundred and thirty
persons in a sinking boat, far out at sea, in a dark and tempestuous
night, with no other dependence for reaching the shore than a few
small and tattered sails, our condition might be considered truly
awful. But, with all these disheartening circumstances, hope,
delusive hope, still supported us. Although it was evident that
we must soon sink, and our progress towards the land was very
slow, still we cherished the expectation that the boat would finally
be run on shore, and thus most of us be delivered from a watery
grave. Early in the afternoon, the ladies had been provided with
strips of blankets, that they might be lashed to such parts of the
boat as would afford the greatest probability of safety.

"In this condition, and with these expectations, we gradually,
but with a motion nearly imperceptible, approached, what to many
of us was an untried, and almost an unknown shore. At about eleven
o'clock, those who had been employed in baleing were compelled
to leave the cabin, as the boat had sunk until the deck was nearly
level with the water, and it appeared too probable that all would
soon be swallowed up by the foaming waves. The heaving of the
lead indicated an approach to the shore. Soon was the cheering
intelligence of 'Land! land!' announced by those on the look-out.
This, for a moment, aroused the sinking energies of all, when a
general bustle ensued, in the hasty, but trifling, preparations that
could be made for safety, as soon as the boat should strike. But
what were the feelings of an anxious multitude, when, instead of
land, a range of angry breakers were visible just ahead; and land,
if it could be seen at all, was but half perceptible in the distance
far beyond.

"As every particular is a matter of interest, — especially to those
who had friends and relatives on board, — it may not be improper
to state, that one individual urged the propriety of lowering the
small boats, and putting the ladies and children into them for safety,
with suitable persons to manage them, before we struck the break
ers. By this arrangement, had it been effected, it is believed that
the boats might have rode out the gale during the night, and have
been rescued in the morning by passing vessels, and thus all, or
nearly all, have been saved. But few supported this proposition,
and it could not be done without the prompt interference of those
who had authority to command, and who would be obeyed.

"Immediately before we struck, one or two passengers, by the
aid of some of the seamen, attempted to seek safety in one of the
boats at the quarter, when a breaker struck it, swept it from the
davits, and carried with it a seaman, who was instantly lost. A
similar attempt was made to launch the long-boat from the upper
deck, by the chief mate Mr. Mathews, and others. It was filled

23

with several passengers, and some of the crew; but, as we were
already within the verge of the breakers, this boat shared the fate
of the other, and all on board (about ten in number) perished.

"Now commenced the most heart-rending scene. Wives cling
ing to husbands, — children to parents, — and women who were
without protectors, seeking aid from the arm of the stranger; all
awaiting the results of a moment, which would bring with it either
life or death. Though an intense feeling of anxiety must, at this
time, have filled every breast, yet not a shriek was heard, nor was
there any extraordinary exclamation of excitement or alarm. A
slight agitation was, however, apparent in the general circle.
Some few hurried from one part of the boat to another, as if seeking
a place of greater safety; yet most, and particularly those who had
the melancholy charge of wives and children, remained quiet and
calm observers of the scene before them.

"The boat, at length, strikes, — it stops, — as motionless as a
bar of lead. A momentary pause follows, — as if the angel of
death shrunk from so dreadful a work of slaughter. But soon the
work of destruction commenced. A breaker with a deafening
crash, swept over the boat, carrying its unfortunate victims into
the deep. At the same time, a simultaneous rush was made to
wards the bows of the boat. The forward deck was covered.
Another breaker came, with irresistible force, — and all within its
sweep disappeared. Our numbers were now frightfully reduced.
The roaring of the waters, together with the dreadful crash of
breaking timbers, surpasses the power of description. Some of
the remaining passengers sought shelter from the encroaching dan
gers, by retreating to the passage, on the lee side of the boat, that
leads from the after to the forward deck, as if to be as far as pos
sible from the grasp of death. It may not be improper here to re
mark, that the destruction of the boat, and loss of life, was, doubt
less, much more rapid than it otherwise would have been, from
the circumstance of the boat heeling to windward, and the deck,
which was nearly level with the water, forming, in consequence,
an inclined plane, upon which the waves broke with their full
force.

"A large proportion of those who rushed into this passage, were
ladies and children, with a few gentlemen who had charge of
them. The crowd was so dense, that many were in danger of
being crushed by the irresistible pressure. Here were perHfeps
some of the most painful sights ever beheld. Before introducing
any of the closing scenes of individuals, which the writer witness
ed, or which he has gathered from his fellow passengers, he would
beg to be understood, that it is not for the gratification of the idle
curiosity of the careless and indifferent reader, or to pierce afresh
the bleeding wounds of surviving friends, but to furnish such
facts as may be interesting, and which, perhaps, might never be
obtained through any other channel.

"As the immediate connections of the writer are already inform
ed of the particulars relating to his own unhappy bereavement,

24

there is no necessity for entering in a minute detail of this melan
choly event.

"This passage contained perhaps thirty or more persons, con
sisting of men, women and children, with no apparent possibility
of escape; enclosed within a narrow aperture, over which was the
deck, and both ends of which were completely closed by the frag
ments of the boat and the rushing of the waves. While thus shut
up, death appeared inevitable. Already were both decks swept of
every thing that was on them. The dining cabin was entirely
gone, and every thing belonging to the quarter-deck was com
pletely stripped off, leaving not even a stanchion or particle of the
bulwarks; and all this was the work of about five minutes.

"The starboard wheel-house, and every thing about it, was soon
entirely demolished. As much of the ceiling forward of the star
board wheel had, during the day, fallen from its place, the waves
soon found their way through all that remained to oppose them,
and were in a few minutes' time forcing into the last retreat of
those who had taken shelter in the passage already mentioned.

"Every wave made a frightful encroachment on our narrow
limits, and seemed to threaten us with immediate death. Hope
less as was the condition of those thus hemmed in, yet not a shriek
was heard from them. One lady, unknown to the writer, begged
earnestly for some one to save her. In a time of such alarm, it is
not strange that a helpless female should plead with earnestness
for assistance from those who were about her, or even offer them
money for that aid which the least reflection would have convinced
her it was not possible to render. Another scene, witnessed at
this trying hour, was still more painful. A little boy was plead
ing with his father to save him. 'Father,' said the boy, 'you will
save me, won't you1? you can swim ashore with me, can't you,
father!' But the unhappy father was too deeply absorbed in the
other charges that leant on him, even to notice the imploring ac
cents of his helpless child. For at that time, as near as the wri
ter can judge, from the darkness of the place they were in, his
wife hung upon one arm, and his daughter of seventeen upon the
other. He had one daughter besides, near the age of this little
boy, but whether she was at that time living or not, is uncertain.

"After remaining here some minutes, the deck overhead was
split open by the violence of the waves, which alloived the writer
an Opportunity of climbing out. This he instantly did, and
assisted his wife through the same opening. As he had now left
those below, he is unable to say how they were finally lost; but,
as that part of the boat was very soon completely (destroyed, their
further sufferings could not have been much prolonged. We were
now in a situation which, from the time the boat struck, we had
considered as the most safe, and had endeavoured to attain.
Here we resolved to await our uncertain fate. From this place
we could see the encroachment of the devouring waves, every
one of which reduced our thinned numbers, and swept with
it parts of our crumbling boat. For several hours previous,
the gale had been sensibly abating; and, for a moment, the pale

25

moon broke through the dispersing1 clouds, as if to witness this scene
of terror and destruction, and to show to the horror-stricken vic
tims the fate that awaited them. How few were now left, of the
many who, but a little before, inhabited our bark! While the
moon yet shone, three men were seen to rush from the middle to
the stern of the boat. A wave came rushing1 on. It passed over
the deck. One only, of the three, was left. He attempted to gain
his former position. Another wave came. He had barely time
to reach a large timber, to which he clung, when this wave struck
him, — and he too was missing. As the wave passed away, the
heads of two of these men were seen above the water ; but they
appeared to make no effort to swim. The probability is, that the
violence with which they were hurled into the sea disabled them.
They sunk to rise no more.

" During this time, Mr. Lovegreen, of Charleston, continued to
ring the boat's bell, which added if possible to the gloom. It sound
ed, indeed, like the funeral knell over the departed dead. Never
before, perhaps, was a bell tolled at such a funeral- as this. While
in this situation, and reflecting on the necessity of being always
prepared for the realities of eternity, our attention was arrested by
the appearance of a lady, climbing upon the outside of the boat,
abaft the wheel near where we were. Her head was barely above
the deck on which we stood, and she was holding to it, in a most
perilous manner. She implored help, without which she must soon
have fallen into the deep beneath, and shared the fate of the many
who had already gone. The writer ran to her aid, but was unable
to raise her to the deck. Mr. Woodburn, of New' York, now came,
and, with his assistance, the lady was rescued; she was then lashed
to a large piece of timber, by the side of another lady, the only re
maining place that afforded any prospect of safety. The former lady
(Mrs. Shroeder) was washed ashore on this piece of wreck, one of
the two who survived. The writer having relinquished to this
lady the place he had occupied, was compelled to get upon a large
piece of the boat, that lay near, under the lee of the wheel ; this
was almost immediately driven from its place into the breakers,
which instantly swept him from it, and plunged him deep into the
water. With some difficulty he regained his raft. He continued
to cling to this fragment, as well as he could, but was repeatedly
washed from it. Sometimes when plunged deep into the water,
he came up under it. After encountering all the difficulties that
seemed possible to be borne, he was at length thrown on shore, in
an exhausted state. At the time the writer was driven from the
boat, there were but few left. Of these, four survived, viz. Mrs.
Shroeder and Mr. Lovegreen, of Charleston; Mr. Cohen, of Colum
bia ; and Mr. Vanderzee, of New York.

" On reaching the beach, there was no appearance of inhabitants;
but after wandering some distance, a light was discovered, which
proved to be from Ocracoke lighthouse, about six miles south-west
of the place where the boat was wrecked. The inhabitants of the
island, generally, treated us with great kindness, and, so far as
3

26 MARRY AT'S DIARY.

their circumstances, would allow, assisted in properly disposing
the numerous bodies thrown upon the shore.

" The survivors, after remaining on the island till Thursday aP-
ternoon, separated, some returning to New York, others proceeding-
on to Charleston. Acknowledgment is due to the inhabitants of
Washington, Newborn, and Wilmington, as well as of other places
through which we passed, for the kind hospitality we received, and
the generous offers made to us. Long will these favours be grate
fully remembered by the survivors of the unfortunate HOME."

Even if the captain of the Home was intoxicated, it is certain that
the loss of the vessel was not occasioned by that circumstance, but
by the vessel not having been built sea-worthy.

The narrative of the loss of the Moselle is the last which I shall
give to the reader. It is written by Judge Hall, one of the best of
the American writers.

LOSS OF THE MOSELLE.

"The recent explosion of the steam-boat Moselle, at Cincinnati,
affords a most awful illustration of the danger of steam navigation,
when conducted by ignorant or careless men : and fully sustains the
remark made in the preceding pases, that, ' the accidents are al
most wholly confined to insufficient or badly managed boats.'

" The Moselle was a new boat, intended to ply regularly between
Cincinnati and St. Louis. She had made but two or three trips,
but had already established a high reputation for speed; and, as is
usual in such cases, those by whom she was owned and command
ed, became ambitious to have her rated as a ' crack boat,' and spared
no pains to exalt her c haracter. The newspapers noticed the
quick trips of the Moselle, and passengers chose to embark in this
boat in preference to others. Her captain was an enterprising
young man, without much experience, bent upon gaining tor his
boat, at all hazards, the distinction of being the fastest upon the
river, and not fully aware, perhaps, of the inevitable danger which
attended this rash experiment.

" On Wednesday the 25th of April, between four and five o'clock
in the afternoon, this shocking catastrophe occurred. The boat
was crowded with passengers; and, as is usually the case on our
western rivers, in regard to vessels passing westerly, the largest
proportion were emigrants. They were mostly deck passengers,
many of whom were poor Germans, ignorant of any language but
their own, and the larger portion consisted of families, comprising
persons of all ages. Although not a large boat, there were eighty -
live passengers in the cabin, which was a much larger number than
could be comfortably accommodated ; the number of deck passen
gers is not exactly known, but, as is estimated, at between one hun
dred and twenty and one hundred and fifty, and the officers and crew
amounted to thirty, making in all about two hundred and sixty souls.

" It was a pleasant afternoon, and the boat, with steam raised,
delayed at the wharf, to increase the number — already too great —

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 27

of her passengers, who continued to crowd in, singly or in compa
nies, all anxious to hurry onwards in the first boat, or eager to take
passage in the fast-running Moselle. They were of all condi
tions — the military officer hastening to Florida to take command of
of his regiment — the merchant bound to St. Louis — the youth
seeking a iield on which to commence the career of life — and the
indigent emigrant with his wife and children, already exhausted
in purse and spirits, but still pushing onward to the distant fron
tier.

"On leaving the wharf, the boat ran up the river about a mile,
to take in some families and freight, and having touched at the
shore for that purpose, for a few minutes, was about to lay her
course down the river. The spot at which she thus landed was at
a suburb of the city, called Fulton, and a number of persons had
stopped to witness her departure, several of whom remarked, from
the peculiar sound of the steam, that it had been raised to an un
usual height. The crowd thus attracted — the high repute of the
Moselle — and certain vague rumours which began to circulate,
that the captain had determined, at every risk, to beat another boat
which had just departed — all these circumstances gave an unusual
£clat to the departure of this ill-fated vessel.

"The landing completed, the bow of the boat was shoved from
the shore, when an explosion took place, by which the whole of the
forepart of the vessel was literally blown up. The passengers
were unhappily in the most exposed positions — on the deck, and
particularly on the forward part, sharing the excitement of the
spectators on shore, and anticipating the pleasure of darting rapidly
past the city in the swift Moselle. The power of the explosion
was unprecedented in the history of steam; its effect was like that
of a mine of gunpowder. All the boilers, four in number, were
simultaneously burst; the deck was blown into the air, and the
human beings who crowded it hurried into instant destruction.
Fragments of the boilers, and of human bodies, were thrown both
to the Kentucky and the Ohio shore; and as the boat lay near the
latter, some of these helpless victims must have been thrown a
quarter of a mile. The body of Captain Perry, the master, was
found dreadfully mangled, on the nearest shore. A man was hurled
with such force, that his head, with half his body, penetrated the
roof of a house, distant more than a hundred yards from the boat.
Of the number who had crowded this beautiful boat, a few minutes
before, nearly all were hurled into the air, or plunged into the
water. A few, in the after part of the vessel, who were uninjured
by the explosion, jumped overboard. An eye-witness says that he
saw sixty or seventy in the water at one time, of whom not a dozen
reached the shore. nro

" The news of this awful catastrophe spread rapidly t Ugh the
city, thousands rushed to the spot, arid the most benevolent aid was
promptly extended to the sufferers— to such, we should rather say,
as were within the reach of human assistance — for the majority
had perished.

" The writer was among those who hastened to the neighbour
hood of the wreck, and witnessed a scene so sad that no language

28 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

can depict it with fidelity. On the shore lay twenty or thirty
mangled and still bleeding corpses, while others were in the act of
being dragged from the wreck or the water. There were men
carrying away the wounded, and others gathering the trunks, and
articles of wearing apparel, that strewed the beach.

" The survivors of this awful tragedy presented the most touch
ing objects of distress. Death had torn asunder the most tender
ties ; but the rupture had been so sudden and violent, that as yet
none knew certainly who had been taken, nor who had been
spared. Fathers were inquiring for children, children for parents,
husbands and wives for each other. One man had saved a son, but
lost a wife and five children. A father, partially deranged, lay
with a wounded child on one side, a dead daughter on the other,
and his wife, wounded, at his feet. One gentleman sought bis
wife and children, who were as eagerly seeking him in the same
crowd — they met, and were re-united.

" A female deck passenger, that had been saved, seemed incon
solable for the loss of her relations. To every question put to her,.
she would exclaim, * Oh my father ! my mother! my sisters!'1 A
little boy, about four or five years of age, whose head was much
bruised, appeared 1o be regardless of his wounds, but cried continu
ally for a lost father; while another lad, a little older, was weeping
for his whole family.

" One venerable looking man wept a wife and fiye children ;
another was bereft of nine members of his family. A touching dis
play of maternal affection was evinced by a lady who, on being1
brought to the shore, clasped her hands and exclaimed, ' Thank
God, I am safe !' but instantly recollecting herself, ejaculated in a
voice of piercing agony, ' where is my child !.' The infant, wJiich
had been saved, was brought to her, and she fainted at the sight
of it.

"A public meeting was called in Cincinnati, at which the mayor
presided, when the facts of this melancholy occurrence were dis
cussed, and among other resolutions passed, was one deprecating*
' the great and increasing carelessness in the navigation of steam
vessels,' and urging this subject upon the consideration of Congress.
No one denied that this sad event, which had filled our city with
consternation, sympathy, and sorrow, was the result of a reckless
and criminal inattention to their duty, on the part of those having
the care of the Moselle, nor did any one attempt to palliate their
conduct. Committees were appointed to seek out the sufferers, and
perform the various duties which humanity dictated. Through the
exertions of the gentlemen appointed on this occasion, lists were
obtained and published, showing the names of the passengers as, far
as could be obtained, and giving the following result: —

Killed 81

Badly wounded ... ......... 13,

Missing 55

Saved 117,

HARRYAT'S DIARY. 29

"As many strangers entered the boat but a few minutes before
its departure, whose names were not registered, it is probable that
the whole number of souls on board was not less than two hundred
mid eighty. Of the missing, many dead bodies have since been
found, but very few have been added to the list of saved. The ac
tual number of lives lost, therefore, does not vary much from one
hundred andjifty"

The following observations are made in the Report of the Com
mittee, relative to the tremendous force of the steam:

"Of the immense force exerted in this explosion, there is abun
dant evidence; still in this extraordinary occurrence in the history
of steam, I deem it important to be particular in noting the facts,
and for that purpose I have made some measurements and calcula
tions. The boat was one hundred and sixteen feet from the water's
«dge, one hundred and ninety-two from the top of the bank, which
was forty-three feet in perpendicular height above the water. The
situations of projected bodies ascertained were as-follows: Part of
the body of a man, thrown nearly horizontally into a skiff at the
water's edge, one hundred and sixteen feet. The body of the cap
tain thrown nearly to the top of the bank, two hundred feet. The
body of a man thrown through the roof of a house, at the distance
of one hundred and twelve feet, and fifty-nine feet above the wa
ter's edge. A portion of the boiler, containing about sixty square
feet, and weighing about four hundred and fifty pounds, thrown one
hundred and seventy feet, and about two-thirds of the way up the
bank. A second portion of the boiler, of about thirty-five square
feet, and weighing about two hundred and forty-five pounds, thrown
four hundred and fifty feet on the hill side, and seventy feet in alti
tude. A third portion of the boiler, twenty-one square feet, one
hundred and forty-seven pounds, thrown three hundred and thirty
feet into a tan yard. A fourth portion,, of forty-eight square feet,
and weighing three hundred and thirty-six pounds, thrown four
hundred and eighty feet into the garret of a back-shop of a tan-
yard ; having broken down the roof and driven out the gable-end.
The last portion must have been thrown to a very great height, as
it had entered the roof of an an^le of at least sixty degrees.. A fifth
portion, weighing two hundred and thirty-six pounds, went oblique
ly np the river eight hundred feet, and passing over the houses,
landed on the side walk, the bricks of which had been broken and
driven deeply into the ground by it. This portion had encountered
some individual in its course as it came stained with blood. Such was
the situation of the houses that it must have fallen at an angle as
high as forty-five degrees. It has been stated, that bodies of per
sons wore projected quite across the river into Kentucky. I can
find no evidence of the truth of this: on the contrary, Mr. Kerr in
forms mp, that he made inquiries of the people on the opposite shore,
tmd 'could not learn that any thing was seen to fall farther than
half way across the river,1 which is at that place about sixteen
hundred feet wide."

I was at Cincinnati some time after the explosion, and examined
3*

30

the wreck which still lay on the Ohio shore. After the report was
drawn up it was discovered that the force of the explosion had beeii
even greater than was supposed, and that portions of the engine
and boilers had been thrown to a much greater distance. It is to
be remarked, that Mr. Woodbury's report to Congress states from
one hundred to one hundred and twenty persons as having been
killed. Judge Hall, in the report of the committee, estimates it
atone hundred and fifty; but there is reason to believe that the
ioss on this occasion, as well as in many others, was greater than
even in the report of the committee. The fact is, it is almost im
possible to state the loss on these occasions; the only data to go
upon are the books in which the passengers' names are taken down
when the fare is paid, and this is destroyed. In a country like
America, there are thousands of people unknown to any body, mi
grating here and there, seeking the far west to settle in; they come
and go, and nobody knows any thing of them; there might have
been one hundred more of them, on board the Moselle at the time
that she exploded ; and as I heard from Captain Pearce, the harbour
master, and others, it is believed that such was the case, and that
many more were destroyed than was at first supposed.

The American steam-boats are very different from our's in ap
pearance, in consequence of the engines being invariably on deck.
The decks also are carried out many feet wider on each side than
the hull of the vessel, to give space"; these additions to the deck
are called guards. The engine being on the first deck, there is a
second deck for the passengers, state-rooms, and saloons; and above
this deck there is another, covered with a white awning. They
have something the appearance of two-deckers, and when filled with
company, the variety of colours worn by the ladies have a very
novel and pleasing effect. The boats which run from New York
to Boston, and up the Hudson river to Albany, are very splendid
vessels; they have low-pressure engines, are well commanded, and
I never heard of any accident of any importance taking place ; their
engines are also very superior — one on board of the Narangassett,
with a horizontal stroke, was one of the finest I ever saw. On the
Mississippi, Ohio, and their tributary rivers, the high-pressure en
gine is invariably used ; they have tried the low-pressure, but have
found that it will not answer, in consequence of the great quantity
of mud contained in solution on the waters of the Mississippi, which
destroys all the valves and leathers; and this is the principal cause
of the many accidents which take place. At the same time it must
be remembered, that there is a recklessness — an indifference to
life — shown throughout all America;, which is rather a singular
feature, inasmuch as it extends East as well as West. It can only
be accounted for by the insatiate pursuit of gain among a people
who consider that time is money, and who are blinded by their ea
gerness in the race for it, added to that venturous.spirit so naturally
imbibed in a new country at the commencement of its.occupation.
It is communicated to the other sex, who appear equally indifferent.
The Moselle had not been blown up two hours, before the other
eteamboats were crowded with women, who followed their relations

31

on business or pleasure, up and down the river. " Go a-head," is
the motto of the country; both sexes join. in the cry; and they do
go a-head— that's a fact!*

I was amused with a story told me by-an American gentleman:
a steamboat caught lire on the Mississippi, and the passengers had
to jump overboard and save themselves by swimming. One of those
reckless characters, a gambler, who, was on hoard, having appa
rently a very good idea of his own merits, went aft, and before he
leapt overboard, cried out, '' Now, gallows, claim your own!"

The attention of the American legislature has at length been di
rected to the want of security in steam navigation; and in July,
1838, an act was passed to provide for the better security of the
passengers. Many of the clauses are judicious, especially as far
as the inspecting of them is regulated; but that of iron chains or
rods for tiller ropes is not practicable on a winding river, and will
be the occasion of many disasters. Had they ordered the boats to
be provided with iron chains or rods, to be used as preventive wheel-
ropes, it would have answered the purpose. In case of fire they
could easily be hooked on; but to steer with them in tide-ways and
rapid turns is almost impossible. The last clause, No. 13, (page
170, Report) is too harsh, as a flue may collapse at any time, with
out any want of care or skill on the part of the builders or those on
board,

It is to be hoped that some good effects will be produced by this
act of the legislature. At present, it certainly is more dangerous
to travel one week in America than to cross the Atlantic a dozen
times. The number of lives lost in one year by accidents in steam
boats, rail-roads, and coaches, was estimated, in a periodical which
I read in America, at one thousand seven, hundred and fifty I >

CHAPTER IV.
TRAVELLING.

To one who has been accustomed to the extortion of the inns
•and hotels in England, and the old continent, nothing at first is more
remarkable than to find that there are more remains of the former
American purity of manners-aad primitive simplicity to be observed
in their .establishments for the entertainment of man and horse,

* When t!».5 water in the rivers is low, the large steam vessels very
often sun aground, and are obliged to discharge their, cargoes and pas.
sengers. AHhq&e times, the smaller steam boats ply up and down the
rivers to take advantage of these misfortunes, by picking up passengers,,
and making most .exorbitant charges for taking them or the goods out,
.because you, must paj them, or remain where you are. This species
of cruizing they themselves designate as "going a pirating." I will
.say this for the Americans, that, if a person, who considers that he is
»ot .doing wrong, does t?*f do wrong, they are a very honest people.

32 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

than in any portion of public or private life. Such is the case, and
the causes of the anomaly are to be explained.

I presume that the origin of hotels and inns has been much the
same in all countries, At first the solitary traveller is received,
welcomed, and hospitably entertained ; but as the wayfarers multi
ply, what was at first a pleasure becomes a tax. For instance, let
us take Western Virginia, through which the first irruption to the
Far West may be said to have taken place. At first every one was
received and accommodated by those Who had settled there; but as
this gradually became inconvenient, not only from interfering with
their domestic privacy, but from their not being prepared to meet
the wants of the travellers, the inhabitants of any small settlement
met together and agreed upon one of them keeping the house of re
ception; — this was not done with a view of profit, the travellers
being only charged the actual value of the articles consumed.
Such is still the case in many places in the Far West; a friend of
mine told me that he put up at the house of a widow woman; he
supped, slept, had his breakfast, and his horse was also well sup
plied. When he was leaving, he inquired what he had to pay? the
woman replied — " Well, if I don't charge something, I suppose you
will be affronted. Give me a shilling;" a sum not sufficient to pay
for the horse's corn.

The American innkeeper, therefore, is still looked upon in the
light of your host; he and his wife sit at the head of the table-d'hote
at meal times; when you arrive he greets you with a welcome,
shaking your hand; if you arrive in company with those who know
him, you are introduced to him; he is considered on a level with
you; you meet him in the most respectable companies, and it is
but justice to say that, in most instances, they are a very respecta
ble portion of society. Of course, his authority, like that of the
captains of the steam- boats, is undisputed; indeed the captains of
these boats may be partly considered as classed under the same
head.

This is one of the most pleasing features in American society,
and I think it is likely to last longer than most others in this land
of change, because it i& upheld by public opinion, which is so des
potic. The mania for travelling, among the people of the United
States, renders it most important that every thing connected with
locomotion should be well arranged; society demands it, public
opinion enforces it, and therefore, with few exceptions, it is so.
The respect shown to the master of a hotel induces people of the
highest character to embark in the profession ; the continual stream
of travellers which pours through the country, gives sufficient sup
port by moderate profit?, to enable the innkeeper to 'abstain from
excessive charges; the price of every thing is known by all, and
no more is charged to the President of the United States than to
other people. Every one knows his expenses; there is no sur
charge, and fees to waiters are voluntary, and never asked for. At
first, I used to examine the bill when presented, but latterly I
looked only at the sum total at the bottom and paid it at once, re
serving the examination of it for my leisure, and I never in one
instance found that I had been imposed upon. This is very ra-

33

-markable, and shows the force of public opinion in America; for it
can produce, when required, a very scarce article all over the
world, and still more scarce in the profession referred to, — Honesty.
Of course there will be exceptions, but they are very few, and
chiefly confined to the cities. I shall refer to them afterwards,
and at the same time to some peculiarities, which I must not omit
to point out, as they affect society. Let me first describe the in
terior arrangements of a first-rate American hotel.

The building is very spacious, as may be imagined when I state
that in the busy times, from one hundred and fifty to two, or even
three hundred, generally sit down at the dinner-table. The upper
stories contain an immense number of bed-rooms, with their doors
opening upon long corridors, with little variety in their furniture
and arrangement, except that some are provided with large beds
for married people, and others with single beds. The basement of
the building contains the dinner-room, of ample dimensions, to re
ceive the guests, who at the sound of a gong rush in, and in a few
minutes have finished their repast. The same room is appropriated
to breakfast and supper. In most hotels there is but one dining-
room, to which ladies and gentlemen both repair, but in the more
considerable, there is a smaller dining-room for the ladies and their
connexions who escort them. The ladies have also a large parlour
to retire to; the gentlemen have the reading-room, containing
some of the principal newspapers, and the Bar, of which hereafter.
If a gentleman wants to give a dinner to a private party in any of
these large hotels, he can do it; or if a certain, number of families
join together, they may also eat in a separate room (this is fre
quently done at Washington;) but if a traveller wishes to seclude
himself a /' Anglaise, and dine in his own room, he must make up
hjs mind to fare very badly, and, moreover, if he is a foreigner, he
will give great offence, and be pointed out as an aristocrat — almost
as serious a charge with the majority in the United States, as it
was in France during the Revolution.

The largest hotels in the United States are Astor House, New
York; Tremont House, Boston; Mansion House, Philadelphia; the
hotels at West Point, and at Buffalo; but it is unnecessary to enu
merate them all. The two pleasantest, are the one at West Point,
which was kept by Mr. Cozens, and that belonging to Mr. Head,
the Mansion House at Philadelphia; but the latter can scarcely be
considered as a hotel, not only because Mr. Head is, and always
was, a gentleman with whom it is a pleasure to. associate, but be*
cause he is very particular in whom he receives, and only gentle
men are admitted. Jt is more like a private club than any thing
else I can compare it to, and I passed some of my pleasantest time
in America at his establishment, and never bid farewell to him or
his sons, or the company, without regret. There are some hotels
in New York upon the English system : tjie Globe is the best, and
J always frequented it;* and there is an excellent French restau*
rateur's (Delmonico's.)

* The Americans are apt to boast that they have not to pay for civi.
ijUj, as we do in England, by feeing waiters, coachmen, &c. In some

34 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

Of course, where the population and traffic are great, and the
travellers who pass through numerous, the hotels are large arid
good; where, on the contrary, the road is less and less frequented,
so do they decrease in importance, size, and respectability, until
you arrive at the farm-house entertainment of Virginia and Ken
tucky; the grocery, or mere grog-shop, or the log-house of the
Far West. The way-side inns are remarkahle for their uniformity;
the furniture of the bar-room is invariably the same: a wooden
clock, map of the United States, map of the State, the Declaration
of Independence, a looking-glass, with a hair-brush and cornb hang
ing to it by strings, pro bono publico;* sometimes with the extra
embellishment of one or two miserable pictures, such as General
Jackson scrambling upon a horse, with fire or steam coming out of
his nostrils, going to the battle of New Orleans, &c. &c.

He who is of the silver-fork school, will not find much comfort
out of the American cities and large towns. There are no neat,
quiet little inns, as in England. It is all the " rough and tumble "
system, and when you stop at humble inns you must expect to eat
peas with a two-pronged fork, and to sit down to meals with people
whose exterior is any thing but agreeable, to attend upon yourself,
and to sleep in a room in which there are three or four other beds ;
(I have slept in one with nearly twenty,) most of them carrying
double, even if you do not have a companion in your own.

A New York friend of mine travelling in an Extra with his fa
mily, told me that at a western inn he had particularly requested
that he might not have a bed-fellow, and was promised that he
should not. On his retiring, he found his bed already occupied, and
he went down to the landlady, and expostulated. " Well," replied

respects this is true, but in the cities the custom has become very pre
valent. A man who attends a large dinner-table, will of course pay
more attention to those who give him something1, than to those who
<lo not; one gives him something, and another, if he wishes for atten
tion and civility, is obliged to do the same thing. In some of the
hotels at New York, and in the principal cities, you not only must
fee, but you must fee much higher than you do in England, if you
want to be comfortable.

* If I am rightly informed, there are very unpleasant cutaneous dis
eases to which the Americans are subject, from the continual use of
the same brush and comb, and from sleeping together, &c., but it is a
general custom. At Philadelphia, a large ball was given, (called, I
think, the Fireman's Ball,) and at which about 1,500 people were pre
sent, all the fashion of Philadelphia; yet even here there were six
combs, and six brushes, placed in a room with six looking-glasses for
the use of all the gentlemen. An American has come into my room in
New York, an sans ceremonie taken up my hair-brush, and amused
himself with brushing his head. They are certainly very unrefined in
the toilet as yet. When I was travelling, on my arrival at a city I
opened my dressing case, and a man passing by my room when the
door was open, attracted by the glitter, I presume, came in and looked
at the apparatus which is usually contained in such articles — " Pray,
Sir," said he, "are you a dentist?"

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

35

she, " it's only your own driver ; I thought you wouldn't mind
him !"

Another gentleman told me, that having arrived at a place called
Snake's Hollow, on the Mississippi, the bed was made on the kit
chen-floor, and the whole family and travellers, amounting in all to
seventeen, of all ages and both sexes, turned into the same bed al
together. Of course this must be expected in a new country, and
is a source of amusement, rather than of annoyance.

I must now enter into a very important question, which is that
of eating and drinking. Mr. Cooper, in his remarks upon his own
countrymen, says, very ill-naturedly — "The Americans are the
grossest feeders of any civilized nation known. As a nation, their
food is heavy, coarse, and indigestible, while it is taken in the least
artificial forms that cookery will allow. The predominance of
grease in the American kitchen, coupled with the habits of hearty
eating, and of constant expectoration, are the causes of the diseases
of the stomach which are so common in America."

This is not correct. The cookery in the United States is exact
ly what it is and must be every where else — in a ratio with the de
gree of refinement of the population. In the principal cities, you
will meet with as good cookery in private houses as you will in
London, or even Paris; indeed, considering the great difficulty
which the Americans have to contend with, from the almost impos
sibility of obtaining good servants, I have often been surprised that
it is so good as it is. At Delmonico's, and the Globe Hotel at New
York, where you dine from the Carte, you have excellent French
cookery ; so you have at Astor House, particularly at private par
ties; and, generally speaking, the cooking at all the large hotels
may be said to be good ; indeed, when it is considered that the Ame
rican table-d'h6te has to provide for so many people, it is quite sur
prising how well it is done. The daily dinner, at these large ho
tels, is infinitely superior to any I have ever sat down to at thejp«6-
lic entertainments given at the Free-Masons' Tavern, and others
in London, and the company is usually more numerous. The bill
of fare of the table-d'hote of the Astor House is printed every day.
I have one with me which I shall here insert, to prove that the eat
ing is not so bad in America as described by Mr. Cooper. '

ASTOR HOUSE, Wednesday, March 21, 1838.
Tailed Hole.

Vermicelli Soup

Boiled Cod Fish and Oysters

Do. Corn'd Beef

Do. Ham

Do. Tongue

Do. Turkey and Oysters

Do. Chickens and Pork

Do. Leg of Mutton
Oyster Pie

Caisse de Poulet Sauce Tomate
Poitrine de Veau au Blanc

Salade de Volaille
Ballon de Mouton au Tomate
Tete de Veau en Marinade
Casserolle de Pomme de Terre

garnie

Compote de Pigeon
Rolleau de Veau i la Jardiniere
Cotellettes de Veau Saute
Filet de Mounton Piqu6 aux Og-

nons
Ronde de Bceuf

36 MARRY AT' S DIARY.

Fricandeau de Veau aux Epi-
nards

Cotelettes de Mouton Panee

Macaroni au Parmesan

Roast Beef
Do. Pig-
Do. Veal
Do. Leg of Mutton

Roast Goose
Do. Turkey

Roast Chickens
Do. Wild Ducks
Do. Wild Goose
Do. Guinea Fowl

Roast Brandt

Queen Pudding

Mince Pie

Cream Puffs

DESSEKT.

There are some trifling points relative to eating which I shall
riot remark upon until I speak of society, as they will there be bet
ter placed. Of course, as you advance into the country, and po
pulation recedes, you run through all the scale of cookery until
you come to the "corn bread, and common doings," (i. e, bread
made of Indian meal, and fat pork,) in the far West. In a new
country, pork is more easily raised than any other meat, and the
Americans eat a great deal of pork, which renders the cooking in
the small taverns very greasy ; with the exception of the Virginian
farm taverns, where they fry chickens without grease in a way
which would be admired by tide himself; but this is a State receipt,
handed down from generation to generation, and called chicken
fixings. The meat in America is equal to the best in England ;
Miss Martineau does indeed say that she never ate good beef during
the whole time she was in this country; but she also says that an
American stage-coach is the most delightful of all Conveyances,
'and a great many other things, which I may hereafter quote, to
prove the idiosyncracy of the lady's disposition; so we will let that
pass, with the observation that there is no accounting for taste.
The American markets in the cities are well supplied. I have
been in the game market, at New York, arid seen at onetime near
ly three hundred head of deer, with quantities of bear, rackoons,
wild turkies, geese, ducks, and every variety of bird in countless
profusion. Bear I abominate ; rackoon is pretty good. The wild
turkey is excellent; but the great delicacies in America are the
terrapin, and the canvas-back ducks. To like the first I consider as
rather an acquired taste. I decidedly prefer the turtle, which are
to be had in plenty, all the year round; but the canvas-back duck
is certainly well worthy of its reputation. Fish is well supplied.
They have the sheep's head, shad, and one or two others, which we
have not. Their salmon is not equal to ours, and they have no tur-
bot. Pine-apples, and almost all the tropical fruits, are hawked
about in carts in the Eastern cities; but I consider the fruit of the
temperate zone, such as grapes, peaches, &c., inferior to the Eng
lish. Oysters are very plentiful, very large, and, to an English pa
late, rather insipid. As the Americans assert that the English and
French oysters taste of copper, and that therefore they cannot eat
them, I presume they do ; and that's the reason why we do not like
the American oysters, copper being better than no flavour at all.
-.1 think, after this statement, that the English will agree with me
that there are plenty of good things for the table in America; but
the old proverb says, "God sends meat, and the devil sends cooks 5'*

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 37

and such is, and unfortunately must be the case for a long while,
in most of the houses in America, owing to the difficulty of obtain
ing-, or keeping- servants. But I must quit the subject of eating,
for one of much more importance in America, which is that of
drinking.

I always did consider that the English and the Swiss were the
two nations who most indulged in potations ; but on my arrival in
the United States, I found that our descendants, in this point most
assuredly, as they fain would be thought to do in all others, sur
passed us altogether.

Impartiality compels me to acknowledge the truth ; we must, in
this instance, submit to a national defeat. There are many causes
for this: first, the heat of the climate, next the coldness of the cli
mate, then the changeableness of the climate; add to these, the
cheapness of liquor in general, the early disfranchisement of the
youth from all parental control, the temptation arising from the bar
and association, and, lastly, the pleasantness, amenity, and variety
of the potations.

Reasons, therefore, are as plentiful as blackberries, and habit be
comes second nature.

To run up the whole catalogue of the indigenous compounds in
America, from " iced water" to a " stone fence," or "streak of
lightning," would fill a volume; I shall first speak of foreign impor
tations.

The Port in America is seldom good; the climate appears not to
agree with the wine. The quantity of Champagne drunk is enor
mous, and would absorb all the vintage of France, were it not
that many hundred thousand bottles are consumed more than are
imported.

The small state of New Jersey has the credit of supplying the
American Champagne, which is said to be concocted out of turnip
juice, mixed with brandy and honey. It is a pleasant and harmless
drink, a very good imitation, and may be purchased at six or seven
dollars a dozen. I do not know what we shall do when America
fills up, if the demand for Champagne should increase in proportion
to the population; we had better drink all we can now.

Claret, and the other French wines, do very well in America,
but(where the Americans beat us out of the field is in their Madei
ra, which certainly is of a quality which we cannot procure in Eng
land. This is owing to the extreme heat and cold of the climate,
which ripens this wine ; indeed, I may almost say, that I never
tasted good Madeira, until I arrived in the United States. The
price of wines, generally speaking, is very high, considering what
a trifling duty is paid, but the price of good Madeira is surprising.
There are certain brands, which if exposed to public auction, will
be certain to fetch from twelve to twenty, and I have been told
even forty dollars a bottle. I insert a list of the wines at Astor
House, to prove that there is no exaggeration in what I have as
serted. Even in this list of a tavern, the reader will find that the
best Madeira is as high as twelve dollars a bottle, and the list is
curious from the variety which it offers.
4

38

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

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MARRY AT' S DIARY.

39

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MARRYAT S DIARY.

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MARRYAT'S DIARY. 41

But the Americans do not confine themselves to foreign wines
or liquors; they have every variety at home, in the shape of com-
pounds, such as mint-julep and its varieties; slings in all their va
rieties; cock-tails, — but I really cannot remember, or if I could, it
would occupy too much time to mention the whole battle array
against one's brains. I must, however, descant a little upon the
mint-julep; as it is, with the thermometer at 100°, one of the most
delightful and insinuating potations that ever was invented, and
may be drank with equal satisfaction when the thermometer is as
low as 70°. There are many varieties, such as those composed of
Claret, Madeira, &c. ; but the ingredients of the real mint-julep
are as follows. I learnt how to make them, and succeeded pretty
well. Put into a tumbler about a dozen sprigs of the tender shoots
of mint, upon them put a spoonful of white sugar, and equal pro
portions of peach and common brandy, so as to fill it up one third,
or perhaps a little less. Then take rasped or pounded ice, and fill
up the tumbler. Epicures rub the lips of the tumbler with a piece
of fresh pine-apple, and the tumbler itself is very often incrusted
outside with stalactites of ice. As the ice melts, you drink. I
ence overheard two ladies talking in the next room to me, and one
of them said, " Well, if I have a weakness for any one thing, it is
for a mint-julep — " a very amiable weakness, and proving her good
sense and good taste. They are, in fact, like the American ladies,
irresistible.

The Virginians claim the merit of having invented this su
perb compound, but I must dispute it for my own country, although
it has been forgotten of late. In the times of Charles I. and II. it
must have been known, for Milton expressly refers to it in his Co
rn us: —

"Behold the cordial julep here
Which flames and dances in its crystal bounds
With spirits of balm and fragrant syrups mixed-
Not that Nepenthes, which the wife of'Thone
In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena
Is of such power to stir up joy like this,
To life so friendly, or so cool to thirst.'11

If that don't mean mint-julep, I don't know the English language.

The following lines,, however, which I found in an American-
newspaper, dates its origin very far back, even to the period whea
the heathen gods were not at a discount as they are now.

ORIGIN OF MINT-JULEP.

•• 'Tis said that the gods, on Olympus of old,

(And who, the bright legend profanes, with a doubt,)
One night, 'mid their revels, by Bacchus were told
That his last butt of nectar had somewhat run out!

But determined to send round the goblet once more*
They sued to the fairer immortals for aid
4*

42 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

In composing a draught which, till drinking were o'er,
Should cast every wine ever drank in the shade.

Grave Ceres herself blithely yielded her corn,

And the spirit that lives in each amber-hued grain,

And which first had its birth from the dews of the morn,
Was taught to steal out in bright dew drops again.

Pomona, whose choicest of fruits on the board,
Were scattered profusely in every one's reach,

When called on a tribute to cull from the board,
Expressed the mild juice of the delicate peach.

The liquids were mingled while Venus looked on
With glances so fraught with sweet magical power,

That the honey of Hybla, e'en when they were gone,.
Has never been missed in the draught from that hour.

Flora, then, from her bosom of fragrancy shook,
And with roseate fingers pressed down in the bowl,

All dripping and fresh as it came from the brook,
The herb whose aroma should flavour the whole.

The draught was delicious, each god did exclaim,
Though something yet wanting they all did bewail,

But JULEPS the drink of immortals became,
When Jove himself added a handful of hail."

I have mentioned the principal causes to which must be assigned
the propensity to drink, so universal in America. This is an unde
niable fact, asserted by every other writer, acknowledged by the
Americans themselves in print, and proved by the labours of their
Temperance Societies. It is not confined to the lower classes, but
pervades the whole mass: of course, where there is most refinement,
there is less intoxication, and in the Southern and Western States,
it is that the custom of drinking is most prevalent..

I have eaid that in the American hotels there is a parlour for the
ladies to retire to : there is not one for the gentlemen, who have
only the reading-room, where they stand and read the papers, which
are laid out on desks, or the bar.

The bar of an American hotel is generally a very large room on
the basement, fitted up very much like our gin palaces in London,
not so elegant in its decorations indeed, but on the same system.
A long counter runs across it, behind which stand two or three bar
keepers to wait upon the customers, and distribute the various
potations, compounded from the contents of several rows of bottles
behind them. Here the eye reposes on masses of pure crystal ice,
large bunches of mint, decanters of every sort of wine, every variety
of spirits, lemons, sugar, bitters, segars and tobacco; it really makes
one feel thirsty, even the going into a bar.* Here you meet every
body and every body meets you. Here the senator, the member of
Congress, the merchant, the store-keeper, travellers from the Far

* Every steam-boat has its bar. The theatres, all places of public
amusement, and even the capitol itself, as I have observed in my Diary,.

43

West, and every other part of the country, who have come to pur
chase goods, all congregate.

Most of them have a segar in their mouth, some are transacting
business, others conversing, some sitting down together whispering
confidentially. Here you obtain all the news, all the scandal, all the
politics, and all the fun ; it is this dangerous propinquity, which
occasions so much intemperance. Mr. Head has no bar at the
Mansion-House in Philadelphia, and the consequence is, that there
is no drinking, except wine at dinner; but in all the other hotels, it
would appear as if they purposely allowed the frequenters no room
to retire to, so that they must be driven to the bar, which is by far
the most profitable part of the concern.

The consequence of the bar being the place of general resort, is,
that there is an unceasing pouring out, and amalgamation of al
cohol, and other compounds, from morning, to late at night. To
drink with a friend when you meet him is good .fellowship, to drink
with a stranger is politeness, and a proof of wishing to be better

Tainted,
r. A. is standing at the bar, enter B. " My dear B. how are
you1?"— " Quite well, and you ?"—" Well, what shall it be T'—
" Well, I don't care — a gin sling." — " Two gin slings, Bar-keeper."
Touch glasses, and drink. Mr. A. has hardly swallowed his gin
sling, and replaced his segar, when, in comes Mr. D. "A. how are
youi" — *• Ah ! B. how goes it on with you T — " Well, I thankey
— what shall we have f' — Well, I don't care ; I say brandy cock
tail." — " Give me another," both drink, and the shilling is thrown
down on the counter.

Then B. comes up again. " A. you must allow me to introduce
my friend C." — " Mr. A." — shake hands — " Most happy to make
the acquaintance. I trust I shall have the pleasure of drinking
something with you T' — " With great pleasure, Mr. A., I will lake
a julep. Two juleps, bar-keeper." — " Mr. C. your good health —
Mr. A. yours; if you should come our way, most happy to see you,"
— drink.

Now, I will appeal to the Americans themselves, if this is not a
fair sample of a bar-room.

They say that the English cannot settle any thing properly, without
a dinner. I am sure the Americans can fix nothing, without a drink.
If you meet, you drink; if you part, you drink; if you make acquaint
ance, you drink ; if you close a bargain you drink ; they quarrel in
their drink, and they make it up with a drink. They drink, because it
is hot; they drink because it is cold. If successful in elections, they
drink and rejoice; if not, they drink and swear; — they begin to drink
early in the morning, they leave off late at night; they commence it
early in life, and they continue it, until they soon drop into the grave.
To use their own expression, the way they drink, is "quite a
caution."* As for water, what the man said, when asked to be
long to the Temperance Society, appears to be the general opinion,
"it's very good for navigation."

So much has it become the habit to cement all friendship, and

* It was not a bad idea of a man who, generally speaking, was very
low-spirited, on being asked the cause, replied, that he did uot know,

44 MARRY AT'S DIARY;

commence acquaintance by drinking, that it is a cause of serious of
fence to refuse, especially in a foreigner, as the Americans like to cal?
the English. I was always willing to accommodate the Americans.
in this particular, as far as I could; (there at least, they will do me
justice;) that at times I drank much more than I wished is certain,
yet still I gave most serious offence, especially in the West, be
cause I would not drink early in the morning, or before dinner,
which is a general custom in the States, although much more pre
valent in the South and West, where it is literally, " Stranger,
will you drink or fight 1" This refusal on my part, or rather ex
cusing myself from drinking with all those who were introduced to
me, was eventually the occasion of much disturbance and of great
animosity towards rne — certainly, most unreasonably, as I was in
troduced to at least twenty every forenoon ; and had I drunk with
them all, I should have been in the same state as many of them
were — that is, not really sober for three or four weeks at a time.

That the constitutions of the Americans must suffer from this
habit is certain ; they do not, however, appear to suffer so much:
as we should. They say that you may always know the grave
of a Virginian; as from the quantity of juleps he has drunk, mint
invariably springs up where he has been buried. But the Vir
ginians are not the greatest drinkers, by any means. I was once
looking for an American, and asked a friend of his, where I should
find him. " Why," replied he, pointing to an hotel opposite, " that
is his licking place, (a term borrowed from deer resorting to lick
the salt :) we will see if he is there." He was not; the bar-keep
er said he had left about ten minutes. " Well, then, you had bet
ter remain here, he is certain to be back in ten more — if not sooner."
The American judged his friend rightly ; in five minutes he was
back again, and we had a drink together, of course.

I did not see it myself, but I was told that somewhere in Mis
souri, or thereabouts, west cf the Mississippi, all the bars have what
they term a kicking-board, it being the custom with the people
who live there, instead of touching glasses when they drink to
gether, to kick sharply with the side of the foot against the board,
and that after this ceremony you are sworn friends. I have had it
mentioned to me by more than one person, therefore I presume it is
the case. What the origin of it is I know not, unless it intends to
imply, "I'm your's to the last kick"*

Before I finish this article on hotels, I may as well observe here
that there is a custom in the United States, which I consider very
demoralizing to the women, which is that of taking up permanent
residence in large hotels.

but he thought " that he had been born with three drinks too little in
him."

* In a chapter which follows this, I have said that the women of
America are physically superior to the men. This may appear contra
dictory, as of course they could not be born so; nor are they, for I have
often remarked how very fine the American male children are, especi
ally those lads who have grown up to the age of fourteen or sixteen.
One could hardly believe it possible that the men are the same youtba*

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 45

There are several reasons for this : one is, that people marry BO
very early that they cannot afford to take a house with the atten
dant expenses, for in America it is cheaper to live in a large hotel
than to keep a house of your own ; another is, the difficulty of ob
taining servants, and, perhaps, the unwillingness of the women to
have the fatigue and annoyance which is really occasioned by an
establishment in that country: added to which is the want of so
ciety, arising from their husbands being from morning to night plod
ding at their various avocations. At some of the principal hotels
you will find the apartments of the lodgers so permanently taken,
that the plate with their name engraved on it is fixed on the door.
I could almost tell whether a lady in America kept her own esta
blishment or lived at an hotel, the difference of manners was so
marked ; and, what is worse, it is chiefly the young married couples
who are to be found there. Miss Martineau makes some very just
comments upon this practice : —

" The uncertainty about domestic service is so great, and the
economy of boarding-house life so tempting to people who have not
provided themselves with house and furniture, that it is not to be
wondered at that many young married people use the accommoda
tion provided. But no sensible husband, who could beforehand be
come acquainted with the liabilities incurred, would willingly ex
pose his domestic peace to the fearful risk. I saw enough when I
saw the elegantly dressed ladies repair to the windows of the com
mon drawing-room, on their husbands' departure to the counting-
house after breakfast.

" I have been assured that there is no end to the difficulties in
which gentlemen have been involved, both as to their commercial
and domestic affairs, by the indiscretion of their thoughtless young
wives, amidst the idleness and levities of boarding-house life. As
for the gentlemen, they are much to be pitied. Public meals, a
noisy house, confinement to one or two private rooms, with the ab
sence of all gratifications of their own peculiar convenience and
taste, are but a poor solace to the man of business, after the toils
and cares of the day. When to these are added the snares to which
their wives are exposed, it may be imagined that men of sense and
refinement would rather bear with any domestic inconvenience
from the uncertainty and bad quality of help, than give up house
keeping."

advanced in life. How is this to be accounted for? lean only sup
pose that it is from their plunging too early into life as men, having
thrown off parental control, and commencing the usual excesses of
young men in every country at too tender an age. The constant sti
mulus of drink must, of course, be another powerful cause; not that the
Americans often become intoxicated, on the contrary, you will see
many more in this condition every day in this country than you will in.
America. But occasional intoxication is not so injurious to the consti
tution as that continual application of spirits, which must enfeeble the
stomach, and, with the assistance of tobacco, destroy its energies. The
Americans are a drinking but not a drunken nation, and, as I have be
fore observed, the climate operates upon them very powerfullv.

46

If such is the case in boarding-houses, what must it be in hotels,,
where the male company is ever changing. It is one constant life
of scandal, flirting, eating, drinking, and living in public; the sense
of delicacy is destroyed, and the women remind you of the flowers
that have been breathed upon till they have lost their perfume.

Miss M. observes : —

"I can only say, that I unavoidably knew of more cases of lapse
in highly respectable families in one State than ever came to my
knowledge at home ; and that they were got over with a disgrace
far more temporary and superficial than they could have been visi
ted with in England."

If this observation is correct, it must, in my opinion, be consider
ed as referring to that portion of the sex who live in hotels, cer
tainly not to the mass, for reasons which I shall hereafter point
out.

Indeed, what I have seen at some of the large hotels fully bears
out her assertion. Miss M. talks of young ladies being taken to
the piano in a promiscuous company. I have seen them go to the
piano without being taken there, sit down and sing with all the
energy of peacocks, before total strangers, and very often without
accompaniment. In the hotels, the private apartments of the
boarders seldom consist of more than a large bed-room, and although
company are admitted into it, still it is natural that the major por
tion of the women's time should be passed down below in the ge
neral receiving room. In the evening, especially in the large
western cities, they have balls almost every night; indeed it is a
life of idleness and vacuity of outward pretence, but of no real good
feeling.

Scandal rages — every one is busy with watching her neighbour's
affairs ; those who have boarded there longest take the lead, and
every new comer or stranger is canvassed with the most severe
scrutiny ; their histories are ascertained, and they are very often
sent to Coventry, for little better reason than the will of those who,
as residents, lay down the law.

Indeed, I never witnessed a more ridiculous compound of pre
tended modesty, and real want of delicacy, than is to be found with
this class of sojourners on the highway. Should any of their own
sex arrive, of whom some little scandal has been afloat, they are up
in arms and down they plump in their rocking-chairs; and although
the hotel may cover nearly an acre of ground, so afraid are they of
contamination, that they declare they will not go down to dinner,
or eat another meal in the hotel, until the obnoxious parties "clear
out." The proprietors are summoned, husbands are bullied, and,
rather than indignant virtue should starve in her rocking-chair, a
committee is formed, and the libelled parties, guilty or not guilty,
are requested to leave the hotel. As soon as this purification is an
nounced, virtue, appeased, recovers her appetite, and they all eat
drink, talk scandal, flirt, and sing without invitation as before.

I have been severe upon this class of society in America, not only
-because I consider that it deserves it, but because I wish to point
out that Miss Martineau's observations must be considered as re
ferring to it, and not to the general character of the American womeo..

47

CHAPTER V.
EMIGRATION AND MIGRATION.

IN this chapter I shall confine myself to the emigration to the
United States, reserving that to Canada until I remark upon that
colony. In discussing this question I have no statistics to refer to,
and must, therefore, confine myself to general observations.

What the amount of emigration from the Old Continent to the
United States may be at present I do not think the Americans them
selves can tell, as many who arrive at New York go on to the Ca-
nadas. The emigrants are, however, principally English, Irish, and
German ; latterly, the emigration to New South Wales, New Zea
land, and particularly Texas, has reduced the influx of emigrants
to the United States.

It ought to be pointed out, that among the emigrants are to be
found the portion of the people in the United States the most disaf
fected and the most violent against England and its monarchical in
stitutions; and who assist very much to keep up the feelings of dis
like and ill-will which exist towards us. Nor is this to be won
dered at; the happy and the wealthy do not go into exile; they are
mostly disappointed and unhappy men, who attribute their misfor
tunes, often occasioned by their own imprudence, to any cause but
the true one, and hate their own country and its institutions because
they have been unfortunate in it. They form Utopian ideas of li
berty and prosperity to be obtained by emigration ; they discover
that they have been deceived, and would willingly, if possible, re
turn to the country they have abjured, and the friends they have left
behind. This produces an increase of irritation and ill-will, and
they become the more violent vituperative in proportion as they
feel the change.*

I have had many conversations with English emigrants in the
United States, and I never 'yet found one at all respectable, who did
not confess to me that he repented of emigration. One great cause
of this is honourable to them; they feel that in common plain-deal
ing they are no match for the keen-witted, and I must add unprin
cipled, portion of the population with which they are thrown in
contact. They must either sacrifice their principle or not succeed.

* I was once conversing with one who was formerly very popular
with the democrats, but who was likely to be outset by another dema
gogue, who " went the whole hog-," down to the Agrarian system.
"Captain," said he, with his fist clenched, " I'm the very personifica
tion of democracy, but I'm out-Heroded by this fellow. The emigrants
are a pack of visionaries, who don't know what they want. The born
Americans I can deal with, but with these new coiners democracy is
not sufficient; they want a mobocracy, and I suppose we must have
it." — "You have it now," replied I. — "Well, captain, I believe you're
right."

48 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

Many have used the same expression to me. "It is no use, sir,
you must either turn regular Yankee and do as they do, or you have
no chance of getting on in this country."

These people are much to be pitied ; I used to listen to them with
feelings of deep compassion. Having torn themselves away from
old associations, and broken the links which should have bound them
to their native soil, with the expectation of finding liberty, equali
ty, and competence in a new country, they have discovered when
too late that they have not a fraction of the liberty which is en
joyed in the country which they have left; that they have severed
themselves from their friends to live amongst those with whom they
do not like to associate; that they must now labour with their own
hands, instead of employing others ; and that the competence they
expected, if it is to be obtained, must be so by a sacrifice of those
principles of honesty and fair-dealing imbibed in their youth, ad
hered to in their manhood, but which now that they have trans
planted themselves, are gradually, although unwillingly, yielded up
to the circumstances of their position.

I was once conversing with an Irishman ; he was not very well
pleased with his change ; I laughed at him, and said, " But here
you are free, Paddy."—" Free?" replied he, " and pray who the
devil was to buy or sell me when I was in Ireland1! Free! och !
that's all talk; you're free to work as hard as a horse, and get but
little for so doing."

The German emigrants are by far the most contented and well-
behaved. They trouble themselves less about politics, associate
with one another as much as possible, and when they take a farm,
always, if they possibly can, get it in the neighbourhood of their
own countrymen.

The emigrants most troublesome, but, at the same time, the most
valuable to the United States, are the Irish. Without this class of
people the Americans would not have been able to complete the
canals and rail-roads, and many other important works. They are,
in fact, the principal labourers of the country, for the poor Germans
who come out prefer beingemployed in anyother way than inagricul-
ture, until they amass sufficient to obtain farms of their own. As
for the Irish, there are not many of them who possess land in the
United States, the major portion of them remain labourers, and die
very little better off than when they went out. Some of them set
up groceries (these are the most calculating and intelligent,) and
by allowing their countrymen to run in debt for liquor, &.c. they
obtain control over them, and make contracts with the government
agents, or other speculators (very advantageous to themselves,) to
supply so many men for public works; by these means a few ac
quire a great deal of money, while the many remain in compara
tive indigence.

We have been accustomed to ascribe the turbulence of the Irish
lower classes to ill-treatment and a sense of their wrongs, but this
disposition appears to follow them every where. It would be sup
posed that, having emigrated to America and obtained the rights
of citizens, they would have amalgamated and fraternized to a cer
tain degree with the people: but such is not the case; they hold

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 49

themselves completely apart and distinct, living with their families
in the same quarter of the city, and adhering to their own manners
and customs. They are just as little pleased with the institutions
of the United States as they are with the government at home; the
fact is, that they would prefer no government at all, if (as Paddy
himself would say) they knew where to find it. They are the
leaders in all the political rows and commotions, and very power
ful as a party in all elections, not only on account of their numbers
(if I recollect rightly, they muster 40,000 at New York,) but by
their violence preventing other people from coming to the poll ; and,
farther, by multiplying themselves, so as greatly to increase their
force, by voting several times over, which they do by going from
one ward to another. I was told by one of them that, on the last
election he had voted seven times.*

An American once said to me that the lower Irish ruled the
United States, and he attempted to prove his assertion as follows:
The New York election is carried by the Irish ; now the New
York election has great influence upon the other elections, and
often carries the State. The State of New York has great influ
ence upon the elections of other States, and therefore the Irish of
New York govern the country. — Q. E. D.

The Irish, in one point, appear to improve in the United States
— they become much more provident, and many of them hoard their
money. They put it into the Savings Banks, and when they have
put in the sum allowed by law to one person, they deposite in other
names.

A captain of one of the steam-boats told me an anecdote or two
relative to the Irish emigrants, by which it would appear that they
are more saving of their money than is quite consistent with ho
nesty.

He constantly received them on board, and said that sometimes,
if they were very few, they would declare at the end of the trip
that they had no money, although when detained they never failed
to produce it; if they were very numerous they would attempt to
fight their way without paying. In one instance, an Irishman de
clared that he had no money, when the captain, to punish him,
seized his old jacket, and insisted upon retaining it for payment.
The Irishman suffered it to be taken off, expecting, it is to be pre
sumed, that it would be returned to him as valueless, when the
captain jerked it overboard. "Oh! murder! — captain, drop the
boat," cried Paddy; "pick my jacket up, or I'm a ruined man.
All my money's in it." The jacket was fortunately picked up be
fore it sank, and, on ripping it up, it was found to contain, sewed
up in it, upwards of fifty sovereigns and gold eagles. The same
captain narrated to me the particulars of one instance in which,
about one hundred Irish were on board, who when asked for pay
ment, commenced an attack upon the captain and crew with their
bludgeons; but, having before experienced such attempts, he was
prepared for them, and receiving assistance from the shore, the

* I don't know why, but there is no scrutiny of the votes in Ameri
can elections, or if there be, I never heard of one being made.

50 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

Irishmen were worsted, and then every man paid his fare. The
truth is that they are very turbulent, and the lower orders of the
Americans are very much enraged against them. On the 4th of
July there were several bodies of Americans, who were out on the
look-out for the Irish, after dark, and many of the latter were severe
ly beaten, if not murdered; the Irish, however, have to thank them
selves for it.

The spirit of the institutions of the States is so opposed to ser
vitude, that it is chiefly from the emigrants that the Americana
obtain their supply of domestics; the men servants in the private
houses may be said to be, with few exceptions, either emigrants or
free people of colour. Amongst other points upon which the Ame
ricans are to be pitied, and for which the most perfect of theoreti
cal governments could never compensate, is the misery and annoy
ance to which they are exposed from their domestics. They are
absolutely slaves to them, especially in the western free. States;
there are no regulations to control them. At any fancied affront
they leave the house without a moment's warning, putting on their
hats or bonnets, and walking out of the street-door, leaving their
masters and mistresses to get on how they can. I remember when
I was staying with a gentleman in the west, that, on the first day
of my arrival, he apologized to me for not having a man servant,
the fellow having then "been drunk for a week ; a woman had been
hired to help for a portion of the day, but most of the labour fell
upon his wife, whom I found one morning cleaning rny room.
The fellow remained ten days drunk, and then (all his money be
ing spent) sent to his master to say that he would come back on
condition that he would give him a little more liquor. To this
proposition the gentleman was compelled to assent, and the man
returned as if he had conferred a favour. The next day, at dinner,
there being no porter up, the lady said to her husband, " Don't

send for it, but go yourself, my dear; he is so very cross

again that I fear he will leave the house." A lady of my acquaint
ance in New York told her coachman that she should give him
warning; the reply from the box was — " I reckon I have been too
long in the woods to be scared with an owl." Had she noticed
this insolence, he would probably have got down from the box, and
have left her to drive her own cattle. The coloured servants are,
generally speaking, the most civil; after them the Germans; the
Irish and English are very bad. At the hotels, &c. you very often
find Americans in subordinate situations, and it is remarkable that
when they are so, they are much more civil than the imported
servants. Few of the American servants, even in the large cities,
understand their business, but it must be remembered that few of
them have ever learnt it, and, moreover, they are expected to do
three times as much as a servant would do in an English house.
The American houses are much too large for the number of ser
vants employed, which is another cause for service being so miich
disliked.

It is singular that I have not found in any one book, written by
English, French, or German travellers, any remarks made upon a
custom which the Americans have of almost entirely living, I may
say, in the basement of their houses; and which is occasioned by

MARRY AT' S DIARY. 51

their difficulties in housekeeping with their insufficient domestic
establishments. I say custom of the Americans, as it is the case
in nine houses out of ten; only the more wealthy travelled, and
refined portion of the community in their cities deviating from the
general practice.

I have before observed that, from the wish of display, the Ame
rican houses are generally speaking, too large for the proprietors
and for the domestics which are employed. Vying with each other
in appearance, their receiving rooms are splendidly furnished, but
they do not live in them.

The basement in the front area, which with us is usually appro
priated to the housekeeper's-room and offices, is in most of their
nouses fitted up as a dining-room; by no means a bad plan, as it is
cool in summer, warm in winter, and saves much trouble to the
servants. The dinner is served up in it, direct from the kitchen,
with which it communicates. The master of the house, unless he
dines late, which is seldom the case in American cities, does not
often come home to dinner, and the preparations for the family are of
course not very troublesome. But although they go on very well
in their daily routine, to give a dinner is to the majority of the
Americans really an effort, not from the disinclination to give one,
but from the indifference and ignorance of the servants; and they
may be excused without being taxed with want of hospitality. It
is a very common custom, therefore, for the Americans to invite
you to come and " take wine " with them, that is to come after din
ner, when you will find cakes, ices, wine, and company, already
prepared. But there is something unpleasant in this arrangement;
it is too much like the bar of the tavern in the west, with — " Stran
ger, will you drink?" It must, however, be recollected that there
are many exceptions to what I have above stated as the general
practice. There are houses in the principal cities of the States
where you will sit down to as well-arranged and elegant a dinner
as you will find in the best circles of London and Paris; but the
proprietors are men of wealth, who have in all probability been on
the old continent, and have imbibed a taste for luxury and refine«
ment generally unknown and unfelt in the new hemisphere.

I once had an instance of what has been repeatedly observed by
other travellers of the dislike to be considered as servants in this
land of equality.

I was on board of a steam-boat from Detroit to Buffalo, and en
tered into conversation with a young woman who was leaning over
the taffrail. She had been in service, and was returning home.

"You say you lived with Mr. W."

"No, I didn't," replied she, rather tartly; "I said I lived with
Mrs. W."

" Oh ! I understand. In what situation did you live ?"

"I lived in the house."

"Of course you did, but what as 7"

" What as? As a gal should live."

"I mean what did you do?"

"I helped Mrs. W."

"And now you are tired of helping others ***

" Guess I am."

52

'•Who is your father?"

" He's a doctor."

" A doctor ! and he allows you to go out!"

"He said I might please myself."

"Will he be pleased at your coming home again V*

" I went out to please myself, and I come home to please myself.
Cost him nothing for four months; that's more than all gals can say.

" And now you're going home to spend your money 1"

"Don't want to go home for that, it's all gone."

I have been much amused with the awkwardness and noncha
lant manners of the servants in America. Two American ladies
who had just returned from Europe, told me that shortly after their
arrival at Boston, a young man had been sent to them from Vermont
to do the duty of footman. He had been a day or two in the house,
when they rang the bell and ordered him to bring up two glasses
of lemonade. He made his appearance with the lemonade, which
had been prepared and given to him on a tray by a female servant,
but the ladies, who were sitting one at each end of a sofa and con
versing, not being ready for it just then, said to him — "We'll take
it presently, John." — "Guess I can wait," replied the man, delibe
rately taking his seat on the sofa between them, and placing the
tray on his knees.

When I was at Tremont House, I was very intimate with a fa
mily who were staying there. One morning we had been pasting
something, and the bell was rung by one of the daughters, a very
fair girl with flaxen hair, who wanted some water to wash her
hands. An Irish waiter answered the bell. " Did you ring, ma'am "?"
— "Yes, Peter, I want a little warm water." "Is it to shave with,
miss!" inquired Paddy, very gravely.

But the emigration from the old continent is of little importance
compared to the migration which takes place in the country itself.

As I have before observed, all America is working west. In the
north, the emigration by the lakes is calculated at 100,000 per an
num, of which about 30,000, are foreigners; the others are the na
tives of New England and the other eastern States, who are ex
changing from a sterile soil to one " flowing with milk and honey."
But those who migrate are not all of them agriculturalists; the
western States are supplied from the north-eastern with their mer
chants, doctors, schoolmasters, lawyers, and, I may add, with their
members of congress, senators, and governors. New England is a
school, a sort of manufactory of various professions, fitted for all pur
poses — a talent bazaar, where you have every thing at choice; in
fact, what Mr. Tocqueville says is very true, and the States fully
deserve the compliment: —

" The civilization of New England has been like a beacon lit
upon a hill, which, after it has diffused its warmth around, tinges
the distant horizon with its glory."

From the great extent of this emigration to the west, it is said
that the female population in the New England states is greater
than the male. In the last returns of Massachusetts the total popu
lation was given, but males and females were not given separately,
an omission which induces one to believe that such was the truth.*

* "The young men of New England migrate in large numbers to

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 53

But it is not only from the above States that the migration takes
place; the fondness for "shifting right away," the eagerness for
speculation, and the by no means exaggerated reports of the rich
ness of the western country, induce many who are really well set
tled in the States of New York, Pennsylvania, and other fertile
States, to sell all and turn to the west. The State of Ohio alone is
supposed to have added many more than a million to her population
since the last census. An extensive migration of white population
takes place from North and South Carolina and the adjacent States,
while from the eastern Slave States, there is one continual stream
of black population pouring in, frequently the cavalcade headed by
the masters of their families.

As the numerous tributary streams pour their waters into the
Mississippi, so do rivers of men from every direction continually
and unceasingly flow into the west. It is indeed the promised land,,
and that the whites should have been detained in the eastern States
so long without a knowledge of the fertile soil beyond the Allegha-
nies, reminds you of the tarrying of the Jewish nation in the wil
derness before they were permitted to take possession of their inhe
ritance.

Here there is matter for deep reflection. I have already given
my opinion upon the chances of the separation of the northern and
Southern.States upon the question of slavery; but it appears to me,
that while the eyes of their legislators have been directed with so
much interest to the prospects arising from the above question, that
their backs have been turned to a danger much more imminent,
. and which may be attended by no less consequences than a convul
sion of the whole Union.

The Southern and Northern States may separate on the question
of slavery, and yet be in reality better friends than ihey were be
fore : but what will be the consequence, when the Western States
become, as they assuredly will, so populous and powerful, as to
control the Union; for not only population, but power and wealth,,
are fast working their way to the west. New Orleans will be the
first maritime port in the universe, and Cincinnati will not only be
the Queen of the West, but Queen of the Western World. Then
will come the real clashing of interests, and the Eastern States
must be content to succumb and resign their present power, or the
Western will throw them off, as an useless appendage to her might-
This may at present appear chimerical to some, and would be con
sidered by many others as too far distant; but be it remembered,
that ten years in America, is as a century; and even allowing the
prosperity of the Uuited States to be checked^ as very probably it
may soon be, by any quarrel with a foreign nation, the Western
States will not be those who will suffer. Far removed from strife,
the population hardly interfered with, when the Eastern resources
are draining, they will continue to advance in population, and to
increase in wealth. I refer not to the Slave States bordering on

the west, leaving an over proportion of female population, th« amount,
of which I never could learn. Statements were mada to me, but so in
credible that I withhold them. Suffice it, that there were more women» •
!iian men in from six to nine States in. the Union.'WJMiss. Mortineau^

5*

54 MARRYAT^S DIART.

the Mississippi, although I consider that they would suffer little
from a war, as neither England, nor any other nation, will ever be
so unwise in future as to attack in a quarter, where she would
have extended the olive branch, even if it were not immediately
accepted. Whether America is engaged in war, therefore, or re
mains in peace, the Western States must, and will soon be the arbi
ters, and dictate as they please to the Eastern.

At present, they may be considered as infants, not yet of age.
and the Eastern States are their guardians; the profits of their pro
duce are divided between them and the merchants of the Eastern
cities, who receive at least thirty per cent, as their share. This
must be the case at present, when the advances of the Eastern
capitalists are required by the cotton growers, who are precisely in
the same position with the Eastern States, as the West India plant-
ters used to be with the merchants of London and Liverpool, to
whom they consigned their cargoes for advances received. But the
Western States (to follow up the metaphor) will soon be of age,
and no longer under control : even last year, vessels were freighted
direct from England to Vicksburg, on the Mississippi; in a few
years, there will be large importing houses in the far West, who
will have their goods direct from England at one half the price
which they now pay for them, when forwarded from New York, by
canal, and other conveyances.* Indeed, a very little inquiry will
prove, that the prosperity of the Eastern free States depends in a

freat measure upon the Western and Southern- The Eastern
tates are the receivers and transporters of goods, and the carriers
of most of the produce of the Union. They advance money on the
crops, and charge high interest, commissions, &c. The transport
and travelling between the Eastern, Southern, and Western
States, are one great source of this prosperity, from the employ
ment on the canals, rail roads, and steam boats.

All these are heavy charges to the Western States, and can be
avoided by shipping direct from, and sending their produce direct
to, the Old Continent. As the Western States advance in wealth,
so will they advance in power, and in proportion as they so do, will
the Eastern States recede, until they will be left in a small mino
rity, and will eventually have little voice in the Union.

Here, then, is a risk of convulsion ; for the clashing of interests,
next to a war, is the greatest danger to which a democracy can be
exposed. In a democracy, every one legislates, and every one legis
lates for his own interests. The Eastern States will still be
wealthy and formidable, from their population ; but the commerce
of the principal Eastern cities will decrease, and they will have
little or no staple produce to return to England, or elsewhere ;
whereas the Western States can produce every thing that the
heart of man can desire, and can be wholly independent of them.
They have, in the West, every variety of coal and mineral, to a
boundless extent; a rich alluvial soil, hardly to be exhausted by
bad cultivation, and wonderful facilities of transport; independent

* To give the reader some idea of the price of European articles in
the Western country, I will mention cloth. A coat which costs .£4
in England, is charged £1, 10s* at New York ; and at Cincinnati, in
the West, upwards of £1 0.

55

of the staple produce of cotton, they might supply the whole world
with grain; sugar they already cultivate; the olive flourishes;
wine is already produced on the banks of the Ohio, and the prospect
of raising silk is beyond calculation. In a few days, the manufac
tures of the Old World can find their way from the mouth of the
Mississippi by its thousand tributary streams, which run like veins
through every portion of the country, to the confines of Arkansas
and Missouri, to the head of navigation at St. Peter's, on again to
Wisconsin, Michigan, and to the northern lakes, at a much cheaper
rate than they are supplied at present.

One really is lost in admiration when one surveys this great and
glorious Western country, and contemplates the splendour and
riches to which it must ultimately arrive.

As soon as the Eastern States are no longer permitted to remain
the factors of the Western, they must be content to become manu
facturing states, and probably will compete with England. The
Western States, providentially, I may say, are not likely to be ma
nufacturers to any great extent, for they have not water powers;
the valley of the Mississippi is an alluvial flat, and although the
Missouri and Mississippi are swift streams, in general the rivers are
sluggish, and, at all events, they have not the precipitate falls of
water necessary for machinery, and which abound in the North
eastern States; indeed, if the Western States were to attempt to
manufacture, as well as to produce, they would spoil the market
for their own produce. Whatever may be the result, whether the
Eastern States submit quietly to be shorn of their greatness, (a
change which must take place,) or to contest the point until it ends
in a separation, this is certain, that the focus of American wealth
and power will eventually be firmly established in the Free States
on the other side of the Alleghany mountains.

CHAPTER VI.
NEWSPAPER PRESS.

MR. TOCQUEVILLE observes, " that not a single individual of the
twelve millions who inhabit the territory of the United States has
as yet dared to propose any restrictions upon the liberty of the
press." This is true, and all the respectable Americans acknow
ledge that this liberty has degenerated into a licentiousness which
threatens the most alarming results; as it has assumed a power,
which awes not only individuals, but the government itself. A due
liberty allowed to the press, may force a government to do right,
but a licentiousness may compel it into error. The American au
thor, Mr. Cooper, very justly remarks: " It may be taken as a rule,
that without the liberty of the press there can be no popular liber
ty in a nation, and without its licentiousness, neither public hones
ty, justice, or a proper regard for character. Of the two, perhaps,
that people is the happiest which is deprived altogether of a free
press, as private honesty and a healthful tone of the public mind-

56 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

are not incompatible with narrow institutions, though neither can
exist under the corrupting action of a licentiousness press."
And again —

" As the press of this country now exists, it would seem to be ex
pressly devised by the great agent of mischief, to depress and de
stroy all that is good, and to elevate and advance all that is evil in
the nation. The little truth which is urged, is usually urged
coarsely, weakened and rendered vicious by personalities, while
those who live by falsehoods, fallacies, enmities, partialities, and the
schemes of the designing, find the press the very instrument that
devils would invent to effect their designs."

A witty, but unprincipled statesman of our own times, has said,
that "speech was bestowed on man to conceal his thoughts;"
judging from its present condition, he might have added — " the
press, in America, to pervert truth."

But were I to quote the volumes of authority from American and
English writers, they would tire the reader. The above are for
the present quite sufficient to establish the fact, that the press in
the United States is licentious to the highest possible degree, and
defies control; my object is to point out the effect of this despotism
upon society, and to show how injurious it is in every way to the
cause of morality and virtue.

Of course, the newspaper press is the most mischievous, in con
sequence of its daily circulation, the violence of political animosity,
and the want of respectability in a large proportion of the editors.
The number of papers published and circulated in Great Britain,
among a population of twenty-six millions, is calculated at about
three hundred and seventy. The number published in the United
States, among thirteen millions, are supposed to vary between nine
and ten thousand. Now the value of newspapers may be fairly
calculated by the capital expended upon them ; and not only is not
one-quarter of the sum expended in England, upon three hundred
and seventy newspapers, expended upon the nine or ten thousand
in America; but I really believe that the expense of the 'Times'
newspaper alone, is equal to at least five thousand of the minor pa
pers in the United States, which are edited by people of no literary
pretension, and at an expense so trifling as would appear to us not
only ridiculous, but impossible. As to the capabilities of the ma
jority of the editors, let the Americans speak for themselves.

"Every wretch who can write an English paragraph (and many
who cannot,) every pettifogger without practice, every one whose
poverty or crimes have just left him cash or credit enough to pro
cure a press and types, sets up a newspaper."
Again —

" If you be puzzled what to do with your son, if he be a born
dunce, if reading and writing be all the accomplishments he can
acquire, if he be horribly ignorant arid depraved, if he be indolent
and an incorrigible liar, lost to all shame and decency, and incurably
dishonest, make a newspaper editor of him. Look around you, and
see a thousand successful proofs that no excellence or acquirementf
moral or intellectual, is requisite to conduct a press. The more
defective an editor is, the better he succeeds. We could give a,
thousand instances."— Boston News*

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 57

These are the assertions of the Americans, not my own ; that
in many instances they are true, I have no doubt. In a country
so chequered as the United States, such must be expected; but I can
also assert, that there are many very highly respectable and clever
editors in the United States. The New York papers are mostof them
very well conducted, and very well written. The New York Courier
and Enquirer, Colonel Webb; the Evening Star, by Noah; the Albion,
by Doctor Bartlett; Spirit of the Times, and many others, which
are too numerous to quote, are equal to many of the English news
papers. The best written paper in the States, and the happiest in
its sarcasm and wit, is the Louisville Gazette, conducted by Mr.
Prentice of Kentucky; indeed, the western papers, are, generally
speaking, more amusing and witty than the eastern; the New Or
leans Picayune, by Kendall, is perhaps, after Prentice's, the most
amusing; but there are many more, which are too numerous to
mention, which do great credit to American talent. Still the ma
jority are disgraceful not only from their vulgarity, but from their
odious personalities and disregard to truth. The bombast and ig
norance shown in some of these is very amusing. Here is an ex
tract or two from the small newspapers published in the less popu
lous countries. An editor down East, speaking of his own merits,
thus concludes —

" I'm a real catastrophe — a small creation ; Mount Vesuvius at
the top, with red hot lava pouring out of the crater, and routing
nations — my fists are rocky mountains — arms, whig liberty poles,
with iron springs. Every step I take is an earthquake — every
blow I strike is a clap of thunder — and every breath I breathe
is a tornado. My disposition is Dupont's best, and goes off at a
flash— when I blast there'll be nothing left but a hole three feet
in circumference and no end to its depth."

Another writes the account of a storrn as follows : —

"On Monday afternoon, while the haymakers were all out
gathering in the hay, in anticipation of a shower from the small
cloud that was seen hanging over the hilly regions towards the
south-east, a tremendous storm suddenly burst upon them, and
forced them to seek shelter from its violence. The wind whistled
outrageously through the old elms, scattering the beautiful foli
age, and then going down into the meadow, where the men had
just abruptly left their work unfinished, and overturning the half-
made ricks, whisked them into the air, and filled the whole after
noon full of hay."

1 copied the following from a western paper:

" Yes, my countrymen, a dawn begins to open upon us; the ere-
pusculous rays of returning republicanism are fast extending over
the darkness of our political horizon, and before their brightness,
those myrmidons shall slink away to the abode of the demons who
have generated them, in the hollow caves of darkness."

Again —

"Many who have acquired great fame and celebrity in the
world, began their career as printers. Sir William Blackstone,
the learned English commentator of laws, was a printer by trade,
King Charles III. was a printer, and not unfrequently worked at
the trade after he ascended the throne of England,"

58 MARRY AT'S DIARY.

Who Charles III. of England was I do not know,'as he is not yet
mentioned in any of our histories.

The most remarkable newspaper for its obscenity, and total dis
regard for all decency and truth in its personal attacks, is the
Morning Herald of New York, published by a person of the name
of Bennett, and being published in so large a city, it affords a con
vincing proof with what impunity the most licentious attacks upon
private characters are permitted. But Mr. Bennett is sui generis;
and demands particular notice. He is indeed a remarkable man,
a species of philosopher, who acts up to his tenets with a moral
courage not often to be met with in the United States. His maxim
appears to be this — " Money v/ill find me every thing in this world,
and money I will have, at any risk, except that of my life, as, if I
lost that, the money would be useless." Acting upon this creed,
he has lent his paper to the basest and most malignant purposes, to
the hatred of aH that is respectable and good, defaming and invent
ing lies against every honest man, attacking the peace and happi
ness of private families by the most injurious and base calumny.
As may be supposed, he has been horse-whipped, kicked, trodden
under foot, and spat upon, and degraded in every possible way ; but
all this he courts, because it brings money. Horse-whip him, and
he will bend his back to the lash, and thank you, as every blow is
worth so. many dollars. Kick him, and he will remove his coat
tails, that you may have a better mark, and he courts the applica
tion of the toe, while he counts the total of the damages which he
may obtain. Spit upon him, and he prizes it as precious ointment,
for it brings him the sovereign remedy for his disease, a fever for
specie.

The day after the punishment, he publishes a full and particular
$ccount of how many kicks, tweaks of the nose, or lashes he may
•have received. He prostitutes his pen, his talent, every thing for
•money. His glory is, that he has passed the rubicon of shame; and
jail he regrets is, that the public is at last coming to the unanimous
opinion, that he is too contemptible, too degraded, to be even
touched. The other, and more respectable editors of newspapers,
avoid him, on account of the filth which he pours forth ; like a pole
cat, he may be hunted down; but no dog will ever attempt to worry
.him, as soon as he pours out the contents of his foetid bag.

It is a convincing proof of the ardent love of defamation in this
-country, that this modern Thersites, who throws the former of that
name so immeasurably into the back ground, has still great sway
over men in office ; every one almost, who has a character is afraid
of him, and will purchase his silence, if they cannot his good
will.

During the crash at New York, when even the suspicion of in
solvency was fata], this miscreant published some of the most re
spectable persons of New York as bankrupts, and yet received no
punishment. His paper is clever, that is certain; but I very much
doubt if Bennett is the clever man — and my reason is this, Bennett
was for some time in England, and during that time the paper, so
far from falling off, was Better written than before. I myself, be-

59

fore I had been six weeks in the country, was attacked by this
wretch, and, at the same time, the paper was sent to me with this
small note on the margin : — " Send twenty dollars, and it shall be
stopped." — " I only wish you may get it," said I to myself.*

Captain Hamilton, speaking of the newspaper press in America,
says —

" In order to form a fair estimate of their merit, I read newspa
pers from all parts of the union, and found them utterly contemp
tible, in point of talent, and dealing in abuse so virulent, as to ex
cite a feeling of disgust, not only with the writers, but with the
public which afforded them support. Tried by this standard — and
J know not how it can be objected to — the moral feeling of this
people must be estimated lower than in any deductions from other
circumstances I have ventured to rate it."

In the following remarks, also, I most cordially agree with him.

"Our newspaper and periodical press is bad. enough. Its sins
against propriety cannot be justified, and ought-not to be defended.
But its violence is meekness, its liberty restraint, and even its atro
cities are virtues, when compared with that system of brutal and
ferocious outrage which distinguishes the press in America. In
England, even an insinuation against personal honour is intolerable.
A hint — a breath — the contemplation even of a possibility of tarnish
— such things are sufficient to poison the tranquillity, and, unless
met by prompt vindication, to ruin the character of a public man;
but in America, it is thought necessary to have recourse to other
weapons. The strongest epithets of a ruffian vocabulary are put in
requisition."

It may be asked, how is it possible that an " enlightened nation "
can permit such atrocity. It must be remembered, that newspapers
are vended at a very low price throughout the States, and that the
support of the major portion of thern is derived from the ignorant
and lower classes. Every man in America reads his newspaper,
and hardly any thing else; and while he considers that he is assist
ing to govern the nation, he is in fact, the dupe of those who pull
the strings in secret, and by flattering his vanity, and exciting his
worst feelings, make him a poor tool in their hands. People are
too apt to imagine that the newspapers echo their own feelings;
when the fact is, that by taking in a paper, which upholds certain
opinions, the readers are, by daily repetition, become so impressed
with these opinions, that they have become slaves to them. I have
before observed, that learning to read and write is not education,
and but too often is the occasion of the demoralization of those, who
might have been more virtuous and more happy in their ignorance.
The other day when I was in a steam-vessel, going down to Graves-
end, I observed a foot-boy sitting on one of the benches — he was
probably ten or eleven years old, and was deeply engaged in reading
a cheap periodical, mostly confined to the lower orders of this coun
try called the Penny Paul Pry. Surely it had been a blessing to

* Some of the invented calumnies against me found their way to this
country. I consider the contents of this chapter to be a sufficient re-
Jutalion, not only of what has been, but of what will in all probability
be hereafter asserted against me by the American press.

60 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

the lad, if he had never learnt to read or write, if he confined his
studies, as probably too many do, from want of farther leisure, to such
an immoral and disgusting publication.

In a country where every man is a politician, and flatters himself
that he is assisting to govern the country, political animosities must
of course be carried to the greatest lengths, and the press is the
vehicle for party violence; but Captain Hamilton's remarks are so
forcible, and so correct, that I prefer them to any I could make my
self.

" The opponents of a candidate for office, are generally not con
tent with denouncing his principles, or deducing from the tenor of
his political life, grounds for questioning the purity of his motives.
They accuse him boldly of burglary or arson, or at the very least,
of petty larceny. Time, place and circumstances, are all stated.
The candidate for Congress or the Presidency, is broadly asserted to
have picked pockets, or pocketed silver spoons, or to have been guil
ty of something equally mean and contemptible. Two instances of
this, occur at this moment to my memory. In one newspaper, a
member of Congress was denounced as having feloniously broken
open a scrutoire, and having thence stolen certain bills and bank
notes; another was charged with selling franks at twopence a
piece, and thus coppering his pockets at the expense of the public."

But let me add the authority of Americans. Mr, Webster, in his
celebrated speech on the public lands, observes in that powerful
and nervous language for which he is so celebrated: — "It is one
of the thousand calumnies with which the press teemed, during an
excited political canvass. It was a charge, of which there was
not only no proof or probability, but which was, in itself, wholly im
possible to be true. No man of common information ever believed
a syllable of it. Yet it was of that class of falsehoods, which by
continued repetition, through all the organs of detraction and abuse,
are capable of misleading those who are already far misled, and of
farther fanning passion, already kindled into flame. Doubtless, it
served in its day, and, in greater or less degree, the end designed
by it. Having done that, it has sunk into the general mass of stale
and loathed calumnies. It is the very cast-off slough of a polluted
and shameless press." And Mr. Cooper observes — " Every honest
man appears to admit that the press in America is fast getting to be
intolerable. In escaping from the tyranny of foreign aristocrats,
we have created in our bosoms a tyranny of a character so insup
portable, that a change of some sort is getting indispensable to
peace."

Indeed, the spirit of defamation, so rife in America, is so inti
mately connected with its principal channel, the press, that it is
impossible to mention one, without the other, and I shall, therefore,
at once enter into the question.

Defamation is the greatest curse in the United States, and
its effects upon society I shall presently point out. It appears
to be inseparable from a democratic form of government, and
must continue to flourish in it, until it pleases the Supreme
to change the hearts of men. When Aristides inquired of the
countryman, who requested him to write down his own name on

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 61

£h§ oyster-shell, what cause of complaint he had against Aris-
tides ; the reply given was, " I have none ; except, that I do not
like to hear him always called the Just." So it is with the free
and enlightened citizens of America. Let any man rise above
his fellows by superior talent, let him hold a consistent, honest
career, and he is exalted only into a pillory, to be pelted at, and be
defiled with ordure. False accusations, the basest insinuations,
are industriously circulated, his public and private character
are equally aspersed, truth is wholly disregarded : even those
who have assisted to raise him to his pedestal, as soon as they
perceive that he has risen too high above them, are equally in
dustrious and eager to dragliim down again. Defamation exists
all over the world, but it is incredible to what an extent this
vice is carried in America. It is a disease which pervades the
land ; which renders every man suspicions and cautious of his
neighbour, creates eye-service and hypocrisy, fosters the bitterest
and most malignant passions, and unceasingly irritates the
morbid sensibility, so remarkable among all classes of the
American people.

Captain Hamilton, speaking of the political contests, says,
"From one extremity of the Union to the 9ther, the political
war slogan is sounded. No quarter is given on either side ;
every printing press in the United States is engaged in the
conflict. Reason, justice, anu charity; the claims of age and
of past services, of high talents and unspotted integrity, are for
gotten. No lie is too malignant to be employed in this unhal
lowed contest, if it can but serve the purpose of deluding, even
for a moment, the most ignorant of mankind. No insinuation
is too base, no equivocation too mean, no artifice too paltry.
The world affords no parallel to the scene of political depravity
exhibited periodically in this free country."

Governor Clinton, in his address to the legislature in 1828,
says, — "Party spirit has entered the recesses of retirement,
violated the sanctity of female character, invaded the tranquillity
of private life, and visited with severe inflictions the peace of
families. Neither elevation nor humility has been spared, nor
the charities of life, nor distinguished public services, nor the
fire-side, nor the altar, been left free from attack ; but a licentious
and destroying spirit has gone forth, regardless of everything,
but the gratification of malignant feelings and unworthy aspira
tions." And in the New York Annual Register, quoted by
Captain Hamilton, we have the following remarks : "In con
ducting the political discussions which followed the adjourn
ment of Congress, both truth and propriety were set at defiance.
The decencies of private life were disregarded ; conversations
and correspondence which should have been confidential, were
brought before the public eye; the ruthless warfare was carried
into the bosom of private life ; neither age nor sex were spared,
the daily press teemed with ribaldry and falsehood ; and even
6

62 MARRYAT'S DIARY

the tomb was not held sacred from the rancorous hostility
which distinguished the presidential election of 1828."

I have considered it necessary thus to heap authority upon
authority, as the subject is one of the most vital importance;
and I must first prove the extent of this vice, without the chance
of the shadow of contradiction, before I point out its fatal con
sequences.

That the political animosities arising from a free and enlight
ened people governing themselves, have principally engendered
and fostered this vice, is most certain ; and it would be some
satisfaction, if, after the hostile feelings had subsided, the hydra
also sank to repose.

But this cannot be the case. A vice, like detraction, so con
genial to our imperfect natures, is not to be confined to one
channel, and only resorted to, as a political weapon, when re
quired. It is a vice which when once called into action, and
unchecked by the fear of punishment or shame, must exist and
be fed. It becomes a confirmed habit, and the effect upon society
is dreadful. If it cannot aim its shafts at those who are in high
places, if there is no noble quarry for its weapons, it will seek
its food amongst smaller game, for it never tires. The conse
quence is, that it pervades and feeds upon society — private life
is embittered ; and, as Mr. Cooper most justly observes, " ren
dering men indifferent to character^ and indeed rendering character
of little avail."

Indeed, from the prevalence of this vice, society in America
appears to be in a state of constant warfare — Indian warfare, as
.every one is crouched, concealed, watching for an opportunity
to scalp the reputation of his neighbour ! They exist in fear
and trembling, afraid to speak, afraid to act, or follow their own
will, for in America there is no free will. When I have asked
why they do not this or that, the reply has invariably been, that
they dare not. In fact, to keep their station in society, they
must be slaves— not merely slaves, for we are all so far slaves,
that if we do that which is not right, we must be expelled from
it; but abject and cowardly slaves, who dare not do that which
is innocent, lest they should be misrepresented. This is the
cause why there is such an attention to the outward forms of
religion in the United States, and which has induced some
travellers to suppose them a religious people, as if it were possi
ble that any real religion could exist, where morality is at so
low an ebb. When I first went to Boston, I did not go to church
on the following day. An elderly gentleman called upon and
pointed out to me that I had omitted this duty ; " but," continued
he, " I have had it put into one of the newspapers that you
attended divine service at such a church, so all is right." All
was right; yes, all was right, according to the American's ideas
of" all was right." But I thought at the time, that my sin of
omission was much more venial than his of commission.

63

When at Detroit, I was attacked in the papers because I re
turned a few calls on a Sunday. I mention this, not because I
was justified in so doing, but because I wish to show the cen
sorship exercised in this very moral country.

The prevalence of this evil acts most unfortunately upon
society in other ways. It is the occasion of your hardly ever
knowing whom you may, or whom you may not be on terms of
intimacy with, and of the introduction of many people into so
ciety, who ought to be wholly excluded. Where slander is so
general, when in the space of five minutes you will be informed
by one party, that Mr. So and So is an excellent person, and by
another that he is a great scoundrel, just as he may happen to
be on their side or the opposite, in politics, or from any other
cause, it is certain that you must be embarrassed as to the per
son's real character ; and as a really good man may be vitupe
rated, so the reports against one who is unworthy, are as little
credited : the fact is, you never know who you are in company
with.

Almost all the duels which are so frequent in America, and I
may add all the assassinations in the western country, arise
principally from defamation. The law gives no redress, and
there is no other way of checking slander, than calling the par
ties to account for it. Every man is therefore ready and armed
against his fellow.

Inadvertently affront any party, wound his self-love, and he
will immediately coin some malignant report, which is sure to
be industriously circulated. You are at the mercy of the mean
est wretch in the country ; for although praise is received with
due caution, slander is everywhere welcomed. An instance
occurred with respect to myself. I was at Lexington, and re
ceived great kindness and civility from Mr. Clay. One day I
dined at his table ; there was a large party, and at the further
end, at a distance where he could not possibly have heard
Avhat passed between Mr. Clay and me, there sat a young man,
whose name is not worth mentioning. When he returned to
Louisville, he spread a report that I had grossly insulted Mr.
Clay at his own table. Now the catalogue of enormities circu
lated against me was already so extensive, that I was not in
very good odour; but Mr. Clay is so deservedly the idol of this
State, and indeed of almost the whole Union, that there could
not be a more serious charge against me — even those who were
most friendly avoided me, saying, they could forgive me what
I had formerly done, but to insult Mr. Clay was too bad. So
high was the feeling, and so industriously was the calumny
circulated, that at last I was compelled to write to Mr. Clay on
the subject, and I received in return a most handsome letter, ac
quitting me of the malicious charge. This I showed to some,
and they were satisfied ; and they advised me to print it, that
it might be better known. This was a compliment I did not

64

choose to pay them ; and the impression of the majority still i$7
that I insulted Mr. Clay. The affair being one of the many
connected with myself, I should not have mentioned it, except
to prove how lightly such a practice is estimated.

Whatever society permits, people will do, and moreover, will
not think that they are wrong in so doing. In England, had a
person been guilty of a deliberate and odious lie, he would have
been scouted from society, his best friends would have cut him;
but how was this person treated for his conduct? When I
showed Mr. Clay's letter, one said, " Well now, that was very
wrong of A." — Another, "I did not believe that A. would have
done so" — A third, " that A. ought to be ashamed of himself;"
but they did not one of them, on account of this falsehood, think
it necessary to avoid him. On the contrary, he was walking
arm-in-arm with the men, dancing and flirting with the women
just as before, although his slander, and the refutation of it, were
both well known.

The reader will now perceive the great moral evil arising
from this vice, which is, that it habituates people to falsehood.
The lie of slander, is the basest of all lies ; and the practice of
it, the most demoralizing to the human heart. Those who will
descend to snch deliberate and malignant falsehood, will not
scruple at any other description. The consequence is, that what
the Americans have been so often taxed with, is but too preva
lent, "a disregard to truth."

To what must we ascribe the great prevalence of this demo
ralizing habit in the United States 1 That the licentiousness of
the press feeds it, it is true; but I am rather inclined to imagine
that the real source of it is to be found in the peculiarity of their
institutions. Under a democracy, there are but two means by
which a man can rise above his fellows — wealth and character;
and when all are equal, and each is struggling to rise above the
other, it is to the principle that if you cannot rise above another
by your own merit, you can at least so far equalize your condi
tion by pulling him down to your own level, that this inordinate
appetite for defamation must be ascribed. It is a state of un
generous warfare, arising from there being no gradation, no
scale, no discipline, if I may use the term, in society. Every one
asserts his equality, and at the same time wishes to rise above
his fellows ; and society is in a state of perpetual and disgrace
ful scuffle. Mr. Tocqueville says, " There exists in the hu
man heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak
to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level, and induces
men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom."

In politics, especially, character becomes of much more import
ance than wealth, and if a man in public life can once be ren
dered odious, or be made suspected, he loses his supporters, and
there is one antagonist removed in the race for pre-eminence.
Such is one of the lamentable defects arising from a democrati-

65

cal form of Government. How different from England, and the
settled nations of the old world, where it may be said that
everything and everybody is comparatively speaking in his
place !

Although many will, and may justifiably, attempt to rise
beyond his circumstances and birth, still there is orderand regu
larity; each party knows the precise round in the ladder on
which he stands, and the majority are content with their
position.

ft is lamentable to observe how many bad feelings, how many
evil passions, are constantly in a state of activity from this
unfortunate chaoUcal want of gradation and discipline, where all
would be first, and every one considers himself as good as his
neighbour.

The above-mentioned author observes —

" The surface of American society is, if I may use the expres
sion, covered with a layer of democracy, from beneath which
the aristocratic colours sometimes peep."

In a moral sense, this is also true, the nobler virtues which
are chiefly produced in the fertile field of aristocracy do occa
sionally appear; but the whole surface is covered with a layer
of democracy, which like the lava which the volcano continually
belches forth, has gradually poured down, and reduced the
country round it to barrenness and sterility.*

* This chapter was in the press, when a paragraph, cut out of the
Baltimore Chronicle, was received from an anonymous hand at New
York. Whether with a friendly intention or otherwise, I am equally
obliged to the party, as it enables me to further prove, if it were
necessary, the vituperation of the American press.

"Many persons in our country had an opportunity of becoming
acquainted with the Captain. The fast-anchored isle never gave
birth to a more unmitigated blackguard. His awkward, unwieldly
misshapen body, was but a fair lodging for a low, depraved, licentious
soul. Although liberally educated, he seemed insensible to any other
enjoyments than those of sense. No human being could in his de
sires or habits approach more near to the animal than him. No
gentleman ever sat down with him an hour without a sensation of
loathing and disgust. 'What kind of man is Captain Marryat?'
was once asked in our presence of a distinguished member of Con
gress, who had sojourned with him at the White Sulphur 'Springs.
' He is no man at all,' was the reply, ' he is a beast.' "

This is really " going the whole hog'7 himself, and making me go
it too. Now, if I receive such abuse for my first three volumes, in
which I went into little or no analysis, what am I to expect for those
which are about to appear 1 To the editor of the Baltimore Chroni
cle / feel indebted : but I suspect that the respectable portion of the
American community will be very much annoyed at my thus giving
his remarks more extensive circulation than he anticipated.
6*

66

CHAPTER VII.

AUTHORS, ETC.

THE best specimens of American writing are to be found in
their political articles, which are, generally speaking, clear,
argumentative, and well arranged. The President's annual mes
sage is always masterly in composition, although disgraced by
its servile adulation of the majority. If we were to judge of the
degrees of enlightment of the two countries, America and Eng
land, by the President's message and the King's speech, we
should be left immeasurably in the back-ground — the message,
generally speaking, being a model of composition, while the
speech is but too often a farrago of bad English. This is very
strange, as those who concoct the speech are of usually much
higher classical attainments than those who write the message.
The only way to account for it, is, that in the attempt to con
dense the speech, they pare and pare away till the sense of it is al
most gone ; his Majesty's ministers perfectly understanding what
they mean themselves, but forgetting that it is necessary that
others should do the same. But in almost all branches of liter
ature the Americans have no cause to be displeased with the
labours of their writers, considering that they have the disad
vantage of America looking almost entirely to the teeming press
of England for their regular supply, and how few in that country
can be said at present to be men of leisure and able to devote
themselves to the pursuit. An author by profession would gain
but a sorry livelihood in the United States, unless he happened
to be as deservedly successful as Washington Irvino- or Cooper.
He not only has to compete against the best English authors,
but as almost all the English works are published without any
sum being paid for the copyright, it is evident that he must sell
his work at a higher price if he is to obtain any profit. An
English work of fiction, for instance, is sold at a dollar and a
quarter, while an American one costs two dollars.

This circumstance would alone break down the American
literature if it were not for the generosity of England in granting
their authors a copyright in this country ; indeed, the American
public pay that tacit compliment to us that they will hardly look
at a work by one of their own citizens, until it has first been
published in England, and received the stamp of approbation.
Those American authors who have obtained a reputation look,
therefore, chiefly to the English copyright for remuneration; and
if it were not for this liberality on our part, the American litera-
ture'- would not receive sufficient support from its own country
to make it worth the while of any one to engage in it. Tho
number of English works republished in America is very great,

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 67

but the number of each work sold is much smaller than people
here imagined.

The periodical literature of the United States is highly credi
table. The American Quarterly Review; the New York Mir
ror, by George P. Morris ; the Knickerbocker, by Clarke ; and
the Monthly Magazine ; all published at New York, are very
good ; so, indeed, are the magazines published at Philadelphia,
and many others. It may be said that, upon the whole, the
periodical press of America is pretty well on a par with that of
this country. Periodical literature suits the genius of the
Americans, and it is better supported by them than any other
description.

The Americans are jealous of our literature, as they are,
indeed, of everything connected with this country; but they
do themselves injustice in this respect, as I consider that they have
a very fair proportion of good writers. In history, and the heavier
branches of literature, they have the names of Sparks, Prescott, Ban
croft, Schoolcraft, Butler, Carey, Pitkin, &c. In general litera
ture, they have Washington Irving, Fay, Hall, Willis, Sanderson,
Sedgwick, Leslie, Stephens, Child and Neal. In fiction, they
have Cooper, Paulding, Bird, Kennedy, Thomas, Ingraham, and
many others. They, notwithstanding the musquitoes, have pro-
ducedl some veryt good poets: Bryant, Halleck, Sigourney,
Drake, &c. ; and have they not, with a host of polemical writers,
Dr. Channing, one of their greatest men, and from his moral
courage in pointing out their errors, the best friend to his country
that America has ever produced ! Indeed, to these names we
might fairly add their legal writers — Chancellor Kent and Judge
Story, as well as Webster, Clay, Everett, Cass, and others, who
are better known from their great political reputations than from
their writings. Considering that they have but half our popula
tion, and not a quarter of the time to spare that we have in this
country, the Americans have no want of good writers, although
there are few of them well known to the British public. It must
be pointed out that the American writers are under another dis
advantage which we are not subject to in this country, which is,
that freedom of opinion is not permitted to them ; the majority
will not allow it, except on points of religion, and in them they
may speculate as much as they please, and publish their opinions,
whether Deistical, Atheistical, or worse, if they can find worse
out. It is true than an author may, and some will, publish what
they please, but if he does not wish to lose his popularity, and
thereby lose his profits, he must not only not offend, but he must
conciliate and flatter the nation : and such is the practice with
the majority of American authors. Whether it be a work of
fiction or one of history his countrymen must be praised, and, if
it be possible to introduce it, there must be some abuse of Eng
land. This fact will account for the waning popularity of Mr.
Cooper; he has ventured to tell his countrymen the truth in

68 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

more than of his later works, and now the majority are against
him. The work, which 1 have often quoted in these pages,
called " The Democrat," fell dead from the press. I think it
fortunate for Mr. Cooper that it did, as people have been lynched
who have not said half sd much as he did in that 'work. His
"Naval History" will reinstate him, and I suspect it -has been
taken up with that view, for, although Mr. Cooper has shown a
go'od deal of moral courage, he has not remained consistent. At
one moment he publishes " The Democrat," and gives his coun
trymen a good whipping, and then he publishes his "Naval His
tory," and soft sawders them. But, with the exception of Dr.
Channing, he almost stands alone in this particular.

One ot the best authors of America is Judge Hall ; he proves
himself by his writings to be a shrewd, intelligent man, and
yet in his " Statistics of the West " I was surprised to find the
following paragraph, the substance of which was more than once
repeated in the work. Speaking of the Indian hostilities, he

The mother country (England) never ceased to indulge in
the hope of reuniting the colonies (that is the United States) to
her empire, until the war of eighteen hundred and twelve crushed
the last vestige of her delusive anticipations."

Such is his preposterous assertion, the absurdity of which
will make an Englishman laugh ; but the corollaries drawn from
it are serious, as they are intended to feed the hostile feeling
still existing against this country; for he attempts to prove that
from the time the Independence was ratified by George III. that
we have ever been trying to reduce America again to our sway ;
and that all the hostile attempts of the various Indian tribes, all
the murders of women and children, and scalping, since that
date, were wholly to be ascribed to the agency and bribes of
England, \viio hoped by such means to drive the Americans
back to the sea coast, where they could be assailed by her
navy.

A little reflection might satisfy any reasonable American,
that when they wrestled by main force, and without regard to
justice, those lands from the Indians which they had hunted
over for so many generations, and which were their own pro
perty, it was very natural that the Indians should not surrender
them without a struggle. But the wish of Judge Hall was to
satisfy his countrymen that their exterminating wars against
the Indians have been those of self defence, and not of unpardon
able aggression. At that period there were many white men
who had either joined, or, having been captured, had been
adopted into, the Indian tribes. All these Judge Hall would
make out to be English emissaries, especially one whom he
very correctly designates as the " infamous Girty." Unfortu
nately for Judge Hall the infamous Girty was an American, and
born in Philadelphia, as is proved by American authority.

i

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 69

This obligation to write for their own countrymen, and for
them alone, has very much injured the sale of American works
in England, for publishers having read them find no many
offensive and untrue remarks upon this country, that they will
not print them. But it does more harm, as it cramps genius,
narrows their idear,, and instead of leading in the advance, and
the people looking up to them, they follow in the rear, and look
up to the people, whom they flatter to obtain popularity ; and
thus the pen in America, as a moral weapon, is at present tlnid-
dering"

The remarks of Miss Martineau on American literature are,
as all her other remarks, to be received with great caution.
Where she obtained her information I know very well, and
certain it is that she has been most egregiously deceived. An
American critic observes very truly : —

" It is the misfortune of professed book writers, when they
arrive in the United States, to fall into the hands of certain
cliques in our principal cities and town, who make themselves
the medium of interpretation — their own modes of life, the re
presentation of those of the elite of the country ; their own
opinions, the infallible criterion by which all others must be
estimated. They surround the traveller with an atmosphere of
their own, and hope to shine through it on the future pages of
the grateful guest.

" This accounts satisfactorily for many things which are to be
found in Miss Martineau's work, for her numerous misapprehen
sions as to the character, taste, and occupations of the American
women.

" She evidently mistakes the character of our merchants, and
does our literature but meagre justice. To hold up some obscure
publications from the pens of mere literary adventurers as the
best works she has seen, and at the same time pronounce Mr.
Cooper 'a much regretted failure,' is a stretch of boldness, quite
unwarranted by anything Miss Martineau has yet achieved in
the republic of letters."

Such was really the case ; Miss Martineau fell into what was
termed the Stockbridge clique, and pinned her faith upon the
oracles which they poured into her ears. She says that in
America, Hannah More is best known; on the contrary, Hannah
More is hardly known in the United States.

She says that Wordsworth is much read. Mr. Wordsworth
has never even in this country been appreciated as he ought to
be. In America it may almost be said that he has not been read ;
and she adds to this, that Byron is little known ; this is really
too bold an assertion. Miss Martineau was everywhere in the
best society in America; and I believe that in nine drawing-
rooms out often, she must have seen a copy of Byron lying on
the table.

She says Mr. Cooper is a failure. With the exception of

70 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

Washington Irving, there never was an American writer so
justly popular in America as Cooper. It is true that latterly he
has displeased the majority, by pointing out to them their faults,
and that he is not always in a good humour when he writes
about England. But to state the author of such works as the
Pilot, the Last of the Mohicans, and the Prairie, a failure, is
really too absurd. The cause of this remark is said to be that
Mr. Cooper had a quarrel with Miss Martineau's particular

friend Mr. S . There is only one remark in the whole of

her observations which is in itself true. She says Bulwer is
much read. Here she is correct : but the cause which she gives
for his being so much read, is not the real one. She asserts it is
on account of his liberal opinions ; it is not on that account, it is
from the interest of his stories, and the beauty of his writing.

But the assertion that seemed to me the most strange in Miss
Martineau's work, was, that Mr. Carlisle, the author of Sartor
Resartus, was- the most read of any English author. Without
intending to depreciate the works of Mr. Carlisle, I felt con
vinced from my own knowledge, that this could not be a fact,
for Mr. Carlisle's works are not suited to the Americans. I,
therefore, determined to ascertain how far it was correct. I
went to the publishers, and inquired how many of Mr. Carlisle's
works had been printed. They replied that they had printed
one edition of six hundred copies, which they had nearly sold ;
and were considering whether it would be worth their while to
print a second ; and in consequence of Miss Martineau's asser
tion, that Byron was little known, 1 applied to the largest pub
lishers in New Yerk and Philadelphia, to ascertain, if I could,
how many copies of Byron had been published. The reply was,
that it was impossible to say exactly, as there had been so many
editions issued, by so many different publishers, but that they
considered that from one hundred and fifty to two hundred
thousand copies, must have been sold ! so much for the accu
racy of Miss Martineau.*

I am afraid, that notwithstanding the eloquent and energetic
exertions of the author of " Ion," we shall never be able to make
the public believe that the creations of a man's brain are his own
property, or effect any arrangement with foreign countries, so as
to secure a copyright to the English author. As on my arrival
in America it was reported in the newspapers that I had come

* Miss Martineau talks of Dr. Follett as one of the greatest men
in America. I was surpised at this, as I never heard of his name,
so 1 inquired — " Who is Dr. Follett 1" " I don't know." — " Do you
know Dr. Follett 1" " Never heard of him."—" Do you 1" « No."
I asked so many people that at last I became quite tired ; at last I
found a man who knew him, his answer was — " Oh, yes ; he's an
Abolitionist f" As the American critic justly observes, " He shines
in the future pages of his grateful guest."

71

out to ascertain what could be done in that respect, and to follow
up the petition of the English authors. The subject was, there
fore, constantly introduced and canvassed ; and I naturally took
an interest in it. Every .one almost was for granting it; but, at
the same time, every one told me that we should not obtain it.

The petition of the English authors to Congress was warmly
espoused by Mr. Clay, who invariably leads the van in every
thing which is liberal and gentlemanlike. A select committee,
of which Mr. Clay was chairman, was formed to consider upon
it, and the following was the result of their inquiry, and a bill
was brought in, upon the report of the committee : —

" In Senate afthe United States, Feb. 16, 1837.
" Mr. Clay made the following report:

" The select committee to whom was referred the address of
certain British and the petition of certain American authors,
have, according to order, had the same under consideration, and
beg leave now to report :

" That, by the act of Congress of 1831, being the law now in
force regulating copyrights, the benefits of the act are restricted
to citizens or residents of the United States; so that no foreigner,
residing abroad, can secure a copyright in the United States for
any work of which he is the author, however important or valu
able it may be. The object of the address and petition, there
fore, is to remove this restriction as to British authors, and to
allow them to enjoy the benefits of our law.

" That authors and inventors have, according to the practice
among civilized nations, a property in the respective productions
of their genius is incontestible; and that this property should he
protected as effectually as any other property is, by law, follows
as a legitimate consequence. Authors and inventors are among
the greatest benefactors of mankind. They are often dependent,
exclusively, upon their own mental labours for the means of
subsistence ; and are frequently, from the nature of their pur
suits, or the constitutions of their minds, incapable of applying
that provident care to worldly affairs which other classes of
society are in the habit of bestowing. These considerations
give additional strength to their just title to the protection of the
law.

" It being established that literary property is entitled to legal
protection, it results that this protection ought to be afforded
wherever the property is situated. A British merchant brings
or transmits to the United States a bale of merchandize, and the
moment it comes within the jurisdiction of our laws they throw
around it effectual security. But if the work of a British author
is brought to the United States, it may be appropriated by any
resident here, and republished, without any compensation what
ever being made to the author. We should be all shocked if
the law tolerated the least invasion of the rights of property, in
the case of the merchandize, whilst those which justly belong to

MARRTAT'S DIART.

the works of authors are exposed to daily violation, without the
possibility of their invoking the aid of the laws.

•• The committee think that this distinction in the condition of
the two descriptions of property is not just ; and that it ought to
be remedied by some safe and cautious amendment of the law.
Already the principle has been adopted in the patent laws, of
extending their benefits to foreign inventions and improvements.
It is but carrying out the same" principle to extend the benefit
of our copyright laws to foreign authors. In relation to the
subject of Great Britain and France, it will be but a measure of
reciprocal justice; for, in both of those countries, our authors
may enjoy that proteotion of their laws for literary property
which is denied to their subjects here.

•• Entertaining these views, the committee have been anxious
to devise some measure which, without too great a disturbance
of interests or affecting too seriously arrangements which have
grown out of the present state of things, may, without hazard,
be subjected to the test of practical experience. Of the works
which have heretofore issued from the foreign press, many have
* already been republished in the United States ; others are in a
progress of republication, and some probably have been stereo
typed. A copyright law which should embrace any of these
works, might injuriously aifeci American publishers, and lead
to collision and litigation between them and foreign authors.

"Acting, then, on the principles of prudence and caution, by
which the committee have thought it best to be governed, the
bill which the committee intend proposing provides that the
protection which it secures shall extend to those works only
which shall be published after its passage. It is also limited
to the subjects of Great Britain and France; among other
reasons, because the committee have information that, by their
laws, American authors can obtain there protection for their
productions ; but they have no information that such is the cise
in any other foreign country. But, in principle, the committee
perceive no objection to considering the republic of letters as
one great community, and adopting a system of protection for
literary property which should be common to all parts of it.
The bill also provides that an American edition of the foreign
work for which an American copyright has been obtained,
shall be published within reasonable time.

" If the bill should pass, its operation in this country would
be to leave the public, without any charge for copyright, in the
undisturbed possession of all scientific and literary works pub
lished prior to its passage — in other words, the great mass of
the science and literature of the world ; and to entitle the British
or French author only to the benefit of every copyright in re
spect to works which may be published subsequent to the pas
sage of the law.

" The committee cannot anticipate any reasonable or just ob-

73

jection to a measure thus guarded and restricted. It may, in
deed, be contended, and it is possible that a new work, when
charged with the expense incident to the copyright, may come
into the hands of the purchaser at a small advance beyond what
would be its price, if there were no such charge; but this is by
no means certain. It is, on the contrary, highly probable that,
when the American publisher has adequate time to issue care
fully an edition of the foreign work, without incurring the
extraordinary expense which he now has to sustain to make a
hurried publication of it, and to guard himself against dangerous
competition, he will be able to bring it into the market as
cheaply as if the bill were not to pass. But, if that should not
prove to be the case, and if the American reader should have to
pay a few cents to compensate the author for composing a work
by which he is instructed and profited, would it not be just in
itself? Has any reader a right to the use, without remunera
tion, of intellectual productions which have not yet been brought
into existence, but lie buried in the mind of genius 1 The com
mittee think not; and they believe that no American citizen
would not feel it quite as unjust, in reference to future publica
tions, to appropriate to himself their use, without any considera
tion being paid to their foreign proprietors, as he would to take
the bale of merchandise, in the case stated, without paying for
it; and he would the more readily make this trifling contribution,
when it secured to him, instead of the imperfect and slovenly
book now often issued, a neat and valuable work, worthy of
preservation.

" With respect to the constitutional power to pass the pro
posed bill, ihe committee entertain no doubt, and Congress, as
before stated, has acted on it. The constitution authorizes
Congress « to promote the progress of science and useful arts,
by securing, for limited times, to authors and inventors, the ex
clusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.' There
is no limitation of the power to natives or residents of this
country. Such a limitation would have been hostile to the
object of the power granted. That object was to promote the
progress of science and useful arts. They belong to no particu
lar country, but to mankind generally, And it cannot be doubled
that the stimulus which it was intended to give to mind and
genius, in other words, the promotion of the progress of science
and the arts, will be increased by the motives which the bill
offers to the inhabitants of Great Britain and France.

** The committee conclude by asking leave to introduce the bill
which accompanies this report."

Let it not, however, be supposed that Mr. Clay was unsup
ported by the American press ; on the contrary, a large portion
of it espoused the cause of the English author in the most liberal
manner, indeed the boon itself, if granted, would in reality be
of more advantage to America than to us; as many of them
7

74

argued. The New York Daily Express observes, " But another
great evil resulting from the present law is, that most of the
writers of our own country are utterly precluded from advancing
our native literature, since they can derive no emolument or
compensation for their labours; and it is idle to urge that the
devotees of literature, any more than the ingenious artizan or
mechanic, can be indifferent to the ultimate advantages which
should result alike to both from the diligent use and studious
application of their mental energies. \Ve patronize and read
the works of foreign writers, but it is at the expense of bur own,
— the books of the English author being procured free of all
cost, supersede those which would otherwise be produced by
our own countrymen, — thus the foreigner is wronged, while the
same wrong acts again as a tariff upon our American author: —
and all this manifest injury is perpetuated without its being
qualified by the mcst remote advantage to any of the parties
concerned."

The Boston Atlas responded to this observation HI almost th
same language.

"This systematic, legalized depredation on English authors,
is perfectly ruinous to all native literature. What writer can
devote himself to a literary work, which lie must offer on its
completion, in competition with a work of the same description,
perhaps, furnishing printed copy to the compositors, and to be
had for the expense of a single London copy. What publisher
would give its worth for a novel, in manuscript, supposing it to
be equal to Bulwer's best, when he would get a novel of Bulwer
himself, for a few shillings— with an English reputation at the
back of it 1 This is the great reason that'we have so few works
illustrative of our own history — whether of fact or fiction. Ou
booksellers are supplied for nothing."

I extract the following from a very excellent article on th«
snbject, in the North American Review.

" Another bad consequence of the existing state of things is,
that the choice of books, which shall be offered us, is in the
wrong hands. Our publishers have, to no small extent, the di
rection of our reading, inasmuch as they make the selection o
books for reprinting. They, of course, will choose those works
which will command the readiest and most extensive sale; bu
it must be remembered, that in so doing, while they answer the
demand of the most numerous class of readers, they neglect the
wants of the more cultivated and intelligent class. Besides
his, there are many admirable works, which might come into
general use if they were presented to our reading public, but
which are left unnoticed by the publishers, because their suc
cess is doubtful. Supposing Abbott's * Young Christian,' for
instancy a book which has had a more extensive circulation than
any work of the present times, had been first published in Eng
land, at the same moment that a good novel appeared, the Ameri~

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 75

«an publishers would have given us immediately ajiorrid reprint
of the novel ; but we should have heard nothing of Abbott's
book, till its success had been abundantly tried abroad; nor even
then, if some ephemeral novel had started up which promised
lo sell better.

"Nor is it certain that the price of books would be seriously
augmented by the passage of the copyright law. It must be
remembered, that a great number of writers would thus be called
into the field at once, English as well as American writers; for,
if English authors could enjoy this benefit, they would soon
begin to write expressly for America; and the competition would
become so great, as to regulate the prices of books to a proper
-standard. But, even supposing the price to be considerably
raised, it would certainly be better to pay two dollars for a hand
some volume, which is worth keeping, and worth reading again,
than to pay only one dollar for a book, which in five years will
be worth no more than the same amount of brown paper. And,
finally, there is the consideration of a native literature, which
will, we presume, be placed by all reasonable and intelligent
persons above that of cheap books."

Nevertheless, a large portion of the press took up the other
side of the question, as may be inferred from a reply which I
have inserted in the note beneath.*

* " THE INTERNATIONAL COPYUIOHT QUESTION. — One of the
most important questions, upon principle, that ever was mooted, has
for some time placed in juxtaposition the various editors of the corps
•critical, accordingly as their interests or feelings have been' worked
upon. Our chief object in these remarks is to hold up to the scorn
and derision that it richly merits the ussamption of an editor, that an
author has no right to the emanations of his own mind — to the pro
ductions of his own pen. We do not mean to answer the many and
gross absurdities whic-h this talented gentleman's sophiitry has palmed
.upon the public, it would be a work of supererogation, inasmuch ashia
' airy vision' has already been completely ' dissolved' by the breath of
that eminent gentleman, well known to us, who has so completely
annihilated the wrong which he is so anxious to continue. But the
shameful assumption that a writer, universally allowed to be the
worst paid artist in creation, should not have — is not entitled to have,
by every principle of courtesy and honour, a sole and undivided right
to, and in his own productions is so monstrous, that every editor
imbued with those feelings, which through life, should be the rule of
his conduct, is in duty hound to come forward and express his dissent
from such a doctrine, and his abhorrence of a principle so flagitious.

" We avail ourselves of the opportunity this number affords of up~
.holding the poor author's right, of censuring the greedy spoliation of
the publishing tribe, who would live, batten, and fatten upon the
despoiled labours of those whom their piracy starves— snatching the
•canty crust from their needy mouths to pamper their own insatiate
jnaws.

" This matter lies between the publisher and the author. Th0

76 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

The bill brought in was lost. Strange to say, the Southerners
voted against, on the grounds that they would not give a copy
right to Miss Martineau, to propagate her abolition doctrines in
that country— forgetting, that as a copyright would increase the
price of a work, it would be the means of checking its circulation,
rather than of extending it.

When I arrived at Washington, I thought it would be worth
while to ascertain the opinion of any of the members of Congress
I might meet ; and one fine morning, I put the question to one of
the Loco foco delegates; when the following conversation took
place : —

" Why, Captain, there is much to be said on this subject.
Your authors have petitioned our Congress, I perceive. The
petition was read last session."

(Many of the Americans appeared to be highly gratified at
the idea of an English petition having been sent to Congress.)

" I believe it was."

" Well, now, you see, Captain — you will ask us to let you have
your copyright in this country, as you allow our authors their
copyright in yours ; and I suppose you mean to say that if we
do not, that our authors shall have no copyright in your country.
We'll allow that, but still I consider you 'ask too much, as the
balance is on our side most considerably. Your authors are very
numerous — ours are not. It is very true, that you can steal our
copyrights, as well as we can yours. But if you steal ten, we
steal a hundred. Don't you perceive that you ask us to give up
the advantage 1

"Oh, certainly," replied I, "I have nothing more to say on
the subject. I'm only glad of one thing."

author claims a right to his own productions, wherever they may be.
The publishers, like the Cornwall wreckers, say no. the moment
your labours touch our fatal shore they are ours ; you have no right
to them, no title in them. Good heavens ! shall such a cruel despoila-
tion be permitted ! The publishers, with consummate cunning, turn
to the public, and virtually say, ' support us in our theft, and we will
share the spoil with you; we will give you standard works at a price
immeasurably below their value/ As well might a thief, brought
before the honest and worthy recorder say : If your honour will wink
at the crime, you will make me a public benefactor, for whilst I rob
one man of an hundred watches, I can sell them to an hundred per
sons for one-third of their prime cost ; and thus injure one and benefit
a hundred, you shall have one very cheap. What would this recorder
say ? He would say, the crime is apparent, and I spurn with indig
nation and contempt your offer to part with to me that which is noi
your own. And should not this be the reply of the public to the
publishers ? Yes, and it will be too. And the vampires who have so
long lived upon the spirits of authors, will have to tax their own to
yield themselves support."

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 77

"And what may that be, Captain 1"

•*' That I did not sign the petition."

"No, we observed that your name was not down, which rather
surprised us."

To this cogent argument of the honourable member, I had no
reply; and this was the first and last lime that I broached the
subject when at Washington ; but after many conversations with
Americian gentleman on the subject, and examination into the
real merits of the case, I came to the conclusion, that the English
authors never would obtain a copyright in the United States,
and as long as the present party are in power.

Their principal argument raised against the copyright, is as
follows :-—

•' It is only by the enlightening and education of the people,
that we can expect our institutions to hold together. You ask
us to tax ourselves, to check the circulation of cheap literature,
so essential to our welfare for the benefit of a few English au
thors? Are the interests of thirteen millions of people to be
sacrificed'? the foundation of our government and institutions to
be shaken for such trivial advantages as would be derived by a
few foreign authors. Your claim has the show of justice we
admit, but when the sacrifice to justice must be attended with
such serious consequences, must we not adhere to expediency?"

Now, it so happens that the very reverse of this argument has
always proved to 'be the case from the denial of copyright. The
enlightening of a people can only be produced by their hearing
the truth, which they cannot and do not under existing regula
tions receive from their own authors, as I have already pointed
out ; and the effects of their refusal of the copyright to English
authors, is, that the American publishers will only send forth
such works as are likely to have an immediate sale, such as the
novels of the day, which may be said at present to comprise
nearly the whole of American reading. Such works as might
enlighten the Americans are not so rapidly saleable as to induce
an American publisher to risk publishing when there is such
competition. What is the consequence that the Americans are
amused, but not instructed or enl ghtened?

According to the present system of publication in America,
the grant of copyright would prove to be of advantage only to a
few authors — of course, I refer to the most popular. I had free
admission to the books of one of the largest publishing houses in
the United States, and I extracted from them the profits receiv
ed by this house for works of a certain reputation. It will be
perceived, that the editions published are not large. The profits
of the American houses chiefly resulting from the number oj
works published, each of them yielding a moderate profit, which,
when collected together, swell into a large sum total.
7*

78 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

Copies printed. Trade price.

Fielding 2,500 104 cents, many left unsold.

Prior's Life of Gold
smith 750 200 " sold.

Arethusa 1,250 70 " all sold.

Abel Allnut .... 1,250 52 " almost all sold.

Fellow Commoner 2,000 70 " many on hand.

Rifle Brigade . . . 2,000 37 " many on hand.

Sharpens Essays . . 1,000 54 " one half sold.

Now, as there are one hundred cents to a dollar, and the
expenses of printing, paper, and advertising have to be deducted,
as well as the copies left on hand, it will be evident, that the
profit on each of the above works, would be too small to allow
the publishers in America to give even £20 for the copyright;
the consequence of a copyright would therefore be, that the
major portion of the works printed would not be published at all,
and better works would be substituted. Of course, such authors
as Walter Scott, Byron, Bulwer, &c., have a most extensive
sale ; and the profits are in proportion, but then it must be re
membered that a great many booksellers publish editions, and
the profits are divided accordingly. Could Sir Walter Scott
have obtained a copyright in the United States, it would have
been worth IQ him by this time at least £100,000.

The Americans talk so much about their being the most
enlightened nation in the world, that it has been generally re
ceived to be the case. 1 have already stated my ideas on this
subject, and I think that the small editions usually published, of
works not standard or elementary, prove, that with the exception
of newspapers, they are not a reading nation. The fact is, they
have no time to read ; they are all at work ; and if they get
through their daily newspaper, is quite as much as most of
them can effect. Previous to my arrival in the United States,
and even for some time afterwards, I had an idea that there
was a much larger circulation of every class of writing in
America, than there really is. It is only the most popular
English authors, as Walter Scott, or the most fashionable, as
Byron, which have any extensive circulation ; the works which
at present the Americans like best, are those of fiction in which
there is anything to excite or amuse them, which is very natural,
considering how actively they are employed during the major
portion of their existence, and the consequent necessity of
occasional relaxation. When we consider the extreme cheap
ness of books in the United States, and the enormous price of
them in this country, the facilities of reading them there, and
the difficulty attending it here from the above causes, I have no
hesitation in saying, that as a reading nation, the United States
caniaot enter into comparison with us.

As I am upon this subject, I cannot refrain from making a
few remarks upon it, as connected with this country. The price
of a book now published is enormous, when the prime cost of

79

paper and printing is considered ; the actual value of each three
Tolumes of a moderate edition, which are sold at a guinea and a
half, being about four shillings and sixpence, and when the edition
is large, as the outlay for putting up the type is the same in both,
of course it is even less ; but the author must be paid, and upon
the present small editions he adds considerably to the price charged
upon every volume; then c*mes the expense of advertising, which
is very heavy ; the profits of the publisher, and the profits of the
trade in general ; for every book for which the public pay a guinea
and a half, is delivered by the publisher to the trade, that is, to the
booksellers, at £l Is. 3d. The allowance to the trade, there
fore, is the heaviest tax of all ; but it is impossible for book
sellers to keep establishments, clerks, &c., without having in
demnification. In all the above items, which so swells up the
price of the book, there cannot well be any deduction made.

Let us examine into the division of profits. I am only
making an approximation, but it is quite near enough for the
purpose.

An edition of 1,000 copies at £1 11s. 6d. will give £1,575,

Positive Expenses to Publisher.
Trade allowance of 10s. 3d. per~^ £. 's.

copy . . £512 10s. \ ™ 1O
Extra allowance 25 for 24—40 f

copies . . . £63 J
Printing and paper, 4s. 6 d. per copy 225 0
Advertising, equal to 2s. per copy 100 0
Presentations to Universities and

Reviewers, say 30 copies 47 5

The author if he is well known,

may be said to receive 7s. per

copy 250 0

Leaving for the publisher . . 277 0

Total £1,575 0

All the first expenses being positive, it follows that the strug
gle is between the publisher and the author, as to what division
shall be made of the remainder. The publisher points out the
risk he incurs, and the author his time and necessities ; and when
it is considered that many authors take more than a year to write
a book, it must be acknowledged that the sum paid to them, as I
have put it down, is not too great. The risk, however, is with
the publisher, and the great profits with the trade, which is per
haps the reason why booksellers often make fortunes, and pub
lishers as often become bankrupts. Generally speaking, however,
the two are combined, the sure gain of the bookseller being as a
set off against the speculation of the publisher.

But one thing is certain, the price of books in this country is
much too high, and what are the consequences ! First, that in
stead of purchasing books, and putting them into their libraries,
people have now formed themselves into societies and book-

80 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

clubs, or trust entirely to obtaining them from circulating libra
ries. Without a book is very popular, it is known by the pub
lisher what the sale is likely to be, within perhaps fifty copies ;
for the book-clubs and libraries will, and must have it, and hardly
anybody else will ; for who will pay a guinea and a half for a
book which may, after all, prove not worth reading ! Secondly,
it has the effect of the works being reprinted abroad, and sent
over to this country; which, of course, decreases the sale of the
English edition. At the Custom-House, they now admit English
works printed in Paris, at a small duty, when brought over in a
person's luggage for private reading ; and these foreign editions
are smuggled, and are to be openly purchased at most of the
towns along the coast. This cannot be prevented — and as for
any international copyright being granted by France or Belgium,
I do not think that it ever will be; and if it were, it would be of
no avail, for the pirating would then be carried on a little further
off in the small German States ; and if you drove it to China, it
would take place there. We are running after a Will-o'-the-
Wisp in that expectation. The fault lies in ourselves ; the books
are too dear, and the question now is, cannot they be made
cheaper 7

There is a luxury in printing, to which the English have
been so long accustomed, that it would not do to deprive them
of it. Besides, bad paper and bad type would make but little
difference in the expense of the book, as my calculation will
show; but if a three volume work* could be delivered to the
public at ten shillings, instead of a guinea and a half, it would
not only put a stop to piracy abroad, but the reduced price
would induce many hundreds to put it into their library, and be
independent of the hurried reading against time, and often against
inclination, to which they are subject by book-clubs and circu
lating libraries ; and that this is not the case, is the fault of the
public itself, and not of the author, publisher, or any other party.

It is evident that the only way by which books may be made
cheap, is by an extended sale — and Nicholas Nickleby, and
other works of that description, have proved that a cheap work
will have an extended sale — always provided it is a really good
one.

But it is impossible to break through the present arrange-

* I ought here to remark, that the authors are much injured by the
present system. It having been satisfactorily proved, that a three-
volume work is the only one that can be published at the minimum
of expense, and the magnum of profits, no publisher likes to publish
any other. There is the same expense in advertising, &c., a two
volume, or a one octavo book, as a three. The author, therefore,
has to spin out to three volumes, whether he has matter or not; and
this is the reason why the second volume, like the fourth act of a five
act play, is, generally speaking, so very heavy. Publishers, now-a-
days, measure works with a foot rule, as the critic did in Sterne.

MARRYAT'S DIARY. $1

raents which confine the sale of books, unless the public them
selves will take it in hand — if they choose to exert themselves,
the low prices may be firmly established with equal benefit to
all parties, and with an immense increase in the consumption
of paper. To prove that any attempt on the part of an author
or publisher will not succeed unaided, it was but a few months
ago, that Mr. Bentley made the trial, and published the three
volumes at one guinea ; but he did not sell one copy more — the
clubs and libraries took the usual number, and he was compelled
to raise his price. The rapid sale of the Standard Novels,
which have been read over and over again, when published at
the price of five shillings, is another proof that the public has
no objection to purchase when the price is within its means.

I can see but one way by which this great desideratum is to
be effected; which is, by the public insuring by subscription
any publisher or bookseller from loss, provided he delivers the
works at the reduced price. At present, one copy of a book
may be said to serve for thirty people at least ; but say that it
serves for ten, or rather say that you could obtain five thousand,
or even a less number, of people to put down their names as
subscribers to all new works written by certain named authors,
which should be published at the reduced price often shillings
per copy. Let us see the result.

A ten shilling work under such auspices would be delivered
to the trade at eight shillings.

The value of the five thousand copies to the pub
lisher would be 2,000 0

The expenses of printing and paper would be re
duced to about 3s. a copy, which would be £750

Advertising, as before . . . . 100

Extra Is. 3d., 4s., 5s., about . ,. . 16— 866 0

Leaving a profit for author and publisher of . 1,134 0
Whereas, in the printing of a thousand copies, the

profits of author £350, and of publisher £277 5s.,

equalled only ...... 627 5

Ex*ra profit to author and publisher . . . 506 15

Here the public would gain, the author would gain, and the
publisher would gain : nor would any party lose ; the profits of
the trade would not be quite so great, being £500, instead of
£575 ; but it must be remembered, that there are many who, not
being subscribers, would purchase the book as soon as they found
that it was approved of — indeed, there is no saying to what
extent the sale might prove to be.

If any one publisher sold books at this price, the effect would
be of reducing the price of all publications, for either the authors
must apply to the cheap publisher, or the other publishers sell at
the same rate, or they would not sell at all. Book-clubs and

82

circulating libraries would then rapidly break up, and we should
obtain the great desideratum of cheap literature.

And now that I have made my statement, what will be the
consequence ? Why, people will say, " that's all very well,
all very true" — and nobody will take the trouble — the conse
quence is, that the public will go on, paying through the nose as
before — and if so, let it not grumble ; as it has no one to thank
but itself for it.*

The paper and printing in America is, generally speaking, so
very inferior, that the books are really not worth binding, and are
torn up or thrown away after they are read — not that they cannot
print well ; for at Boston particularly they turn out very excel
lent workmanship. Mr. Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella, is a
very good specimen, and so are many of the Bibles and Prayer
books. In consequence of their own bad printing, and the tax
upon English books, there are very few libraries in America :
and in this point, the American government should make some
alteration, as it will be beneficial to both countries. The En*
glish editions, if sent over, would not interfere with the sale of
their cheap editions, and it would enable ttie American gentle
men to collect libraries. The duty, at present, is twenty-six
cents per pound, on books in boards and thirty cents upon bound
books.

Now, with the exception of school books, upon which the duty
should be retained, this duty should be very much reduced.

At present, all books published prior to 1775, are admitted
upon a reduced duty of five cents. This date should be extended
to 1810, or 1815, and illustrated works should also be admitted
upon the reduced duty. It would be a bonus to the Americans
who wish to have libraries, and some advantage to the English
booksellers.

I cannot dismiss this subject without pointing out a most dis
honest practice, which has latterly been resorted to in the United
States, and which a copyright only, I am afraid, can prevent the
continuance of. Works which have become standard authority
in England, on acount of the purity of their Christian principles,
are republished in America with whole pages altered, advantage
being taken of the great reputation of the orthodox writers, to
disseminate Unitarian and Socinian principles. A friend of mine,
residing in Halifax, Nova Scotia, sent to a religious book society
at New York for a number of works, as presents to the children
attending the Sunday school. He did not examine them, having
before read the works in England, and well knowing what ought
to have been the contents of each.

* The members of the peerage and baronetage of Great Britain —
the members of the untitled aristocracy — the staff officers of the army
and navy — the members of the different clubs — are eaeh of them suf
ficiently numerous to effect this object; arul if any subscription was
opened, it could not fail of being filled up.

83

To his surprise, the parents came to him a few days after'
Wards to return the books, stating that they presumed that he
could not be aware of the nature of their contents; and on ex
amination, he found that he had been circulating Unitarian prin
ciples among the children, instead of those Which he had wished
to inculcate.*

The press of America, as I have described it, is all powerful :
but still it must be borne in mind, that it is but the slave of the
majority ; which, in its turn, it dare not oppose.

Such is its tyranny, that it is the dread of the whole commu
nity. No one can — no one dare oppose it; whosoever falls
under its displeasure, be he as innocent and as pure as man can
be, his doom is sealed. Hut this power is only delegated by
the will of the majority, for let any author in America oppose
that will, and he is denounced. You must drink, you must
write, not according to your own opinions, or your own thoughts,
but as the majority will.f

Mr. Tocqueville observes, "I know no country in which there
is so little true independence of mind, and freedom of discussion,
as in America."

CHAPTER VIII.

THE MISSISSIPPI.

I HAVE headed this chapter with the name of the river which
flows between the principal States in which the society I am
about to depict is to be found ; but, at the same time, there are
other southern States, such as Alabama and Georgia, which
must be included. I shall attempt to draw the line as clearly
as I can. for although the territory comprehended is enormous,
the population is not one-third of that of the United States, and
it would be a great injustice if the description of the society I
am about. to enter into should be supposed to refer to that of .the
States in general. It is indeed most peculiar, and arising from
circumstances which will induce me to refer back, that the
causes may be explained to the reader. Never, perhaps, in the

* One of those works was Abbott's Young Christian, or some other
work by author.

f Indeed, one cannot help being reminded of what Beaumarchai*
makes Figaro say upon the liberty of the press in another country.
" On me dit que pendant ma retraite £conomique il s'est etabli dans
Madrid un systeme de liberlc sur la vente des productions, qui s'£tend
me me & celles de le presse; et que, pourvu que je ne parle en mes
Merits, ni de 1'autorite, ni du culte, ni de la politique, ni de la morale,
Mi des gens en place, ni des corps en credit, ni de 1'opera, ni des autres
Spectacles, ni de personne qui tienne a quelque chose, je puis tout
koprimor librement sous ('inspection de deux on troit censeurs,"

84

records of nations was there an instance of a century of sech
unvarying and unmitigated crime as is to be collected from the
history of the turbulent and blood-stained Mississippi. The
stream itself appears as if appropriate for the deeds which have
been committed. It is not like most rivers, beautiful to the
sight, bestowing fertility in its course; not one that the eye
loves to dwell upon as it sweeps along, nor can you wander on
its bank, or trust yourself without danger to its stream. It is a
furious, rapid, desolating torrent, loaded with alluvial soil ; and
few of those who are received into its waters ever rise again, or
can support themselves long on its surface without assistance
from some friendly log. It contains the coarsest and most
uneatable of fish, such as the cat-fish and such genus, and as
you descend its banks are occupied with the fetid alligator,
while the panther basks at its edge in the cane-brakes, almost
impervious to man. Pouring its impetuous waters through
wild tracks, covered with trees of little value except Tor fire
wood, it sweeps down whole forests in its course, which die-
appear in tumultuous confusion, whirled away by the stream
now loaded with the masses of soil which nourished their roots,
often blocking up and changing for a time the channel of the
river, which, as if in anger at its being opposed, inundates and
devastates the whole country round ; and as soon as it forces its
way through its former channel, plants in every direction the
uprooted monarchs of the forest (upon whose branches the bird
will never again perch, or the racoon, the opossum, or the
squirrel, climb) as traps to the adventurous navigators of its
waters by steam, who, borne down upon these concealed dan
gers which pierce through the planks, very often have not time
to steer for and gain the shore before they sink to the bottom.
There are no pleasing associations connected with the great
common sewer of the western America, which pours out its mud
into the Mexican Gulph, polluting the clear blue sea for many
.miles beyond its mouth. It is a river of desolation ; and in
stead of reminding you, like other beautiful rivers, of an angel
which has descended for the benefit of man, you imagine it a
dovil, whose energies has been only overcome by the wonderful
power of steam.

The early history of the Mississippi is one of piracy and bucca
neering ; its mouths were frequented by these marauders, as in
the bayous and creeks they found protection and concealment
for themselves and their ill-gotten wealth. Even until after the
war of 1814 these sea-robbers still to a certain extent flourished,
and the name of Lafitte, the last of their leaders, is deservedly
renowned for courage and for crime; his vessels were usually
secreted in the land-locked bay of Barataria, to the westward of
the mouth of the river. They were, however, soon extirpated by
the American government. The language of the adjacent
States is still adultered with the slang of those scoundrels,
proving how short a period it is since they disappeared, and how

MARRYAT'S DIARF. 85

they must have mixed up with the reckless population, whose
head-quarters were then at the mouth of the river.

But as the hunting-grounds of Western Virginia, Kentucky,
and the northern banks of the Ohio, were gradually wrested
from the -Shawnee Indians, the population became more dense,
and the Mississippi itself became the means of communication
and of barter with the more northern tribes. Then another race
of men made their appearance, and flourished for half a century,
varying indeed in employment, but in other respects little better
than the buccaneers and pirates, in whose ranks they were pro
bably first enlisted. These were the boatmen of the Mississippi,
who with incredible fatigue forced their "keels" with poles
against the current, working against the stream with the
cargoes entrusted to their care by the merchants of New
Orleans, labouring for many months before they arrive at
their destination, and returning with the rapid current in
as many days as it required weeks for them to ascend.
This was a service of great danger and difficulty, requiring
men of iron frame and undaunted resolution: they had
to contend not only with the stream, but when they ascended
the Ohio with the Indians, who, taking up the most favour
able positions, either poured down the contents of their rifles
into the boat as she passed, or, taking advantage of the
dense fog, boarded them in their canoes, indiscriminate slaughter
being the invariable result of the boatmen having allowed them
selves to be surprised. In these men was to be found, as there
often is in the most no principled, one redeeming quality (inde
pendent of courage and perseverance), which was, that they
were, generally speaking, unscrupulously honest to their em
ployers, although they made little ceremony of appropriating to
their own use the property, or, if necessary, of taking the life
of any other parties. Wild, indeed, are the stories which are
still remembered of the deeds of courage, and also of the fearful
crimes committed by these men, on a river which never gives
up its dead. I say still remembered, for in a new country they
readily forget the past, and only look forward to the future,
whereas in an old country the case is nearly the reverse — we love
to recur to tradition, and luxuriate in the dim records of history.

The following description of the employment of this class of
people is from the pen of an anonymous American author: —

"There is something inexplicable in the fact, there could be
men found, for ordinary wages, who would abandon the syste
matic but not laborious pursuits of agriculture to follow a life,
of all others except that of the soldier, distinguished by the
greatest exposure and privation. The occupation of a boatman
was more calculated to destroy the constitution and to shorten
life than any other business. In ascending the river it was a
continued series of toil, rendered more irksome by the snail-like
rate at which they moved. The boat was propelled by pbles,
against which the shoulder was placed, and the whole strength
and skill of the individual were applied in this manner. As

8

86 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

the boatmen moved along the running board, with their heads
nearly touching the plank on which they walked, the effect
produced on the mind of an observer was similar to that on be
holding the ox rocking before an overloaded cart. Their bodies,
naked to their waist for the purpose of moving with greater
ease and of enjoying the breeze of the river, were exposed to
the burning suns of summer and to the rains of autumn. After
a hard day's push they would take their 'fillee,' or ration of
whisky, and, having swallowed a miserable supper of meat
half burnt, and of bread half baked, stretched themselves,
without covering, on the deck, and slumber till the steersman's
call invited them to the morning 'fillee.' Notwithstanding this,
the boatman's life had charms as irresistible as those presented
by the splendid illusions of the stage. Sons abandoned the
comfortable farms of their fathers, and apprentices fled from the
service of their masters. There was a captivation in the ideai
of 'going down the river,' and the youthful boatman who had
4 pushed a keel' from New Orleans felt all the pride of a young
merchant after his first voyage to an English sea-port. From
an exclusive association together they had formed a kind of
slang peculiar to themselves; and from the constant exercise of
wit with * the squatters' on shore, and crews of other boats, they
acquired a quickness and smartness of vulgar retort that was
quite amusing. The frequent battles they were engaged in with
the boatmen of different parrs of the river, and with the less-
civilized inhabitants of the lower Ohioand Mississippi, invested
them with that furious reputation which has made them spoken
of throughout Europe.

" On board of the boats thus navigated our merchants entrust
ed valuable cargoes, without insurance, asd with no other
guarantee than the receipt of the steersman, who possessed no
propert y but his boat ; and the confidence so reposed was seldom
abused.'"

Every class of men has its hero, as those always will be who,
from energy ef character and natural endowment, are superior
to their fellows. The most remarkable person among these peo
ple was one Mike Fink, who was their acknowledged leader
for many years. His fame was established from New Orleans
to Pittsburg. He was endowed with gigantic strength, courage,
and presence of mind — his rifle was unerring, and his conscience
never troubled his repose. Every one was afraid of him ; every
one was anxious to be on good terms with him, for he was a
regular freebooter; and although he spared his friends, he gave
no quarter to the lives or properties of others. Mike Fink was
not originally a boatmen : at an early age he had enlisted in the
company of scouts, another variety of employment produced by
circumstances — a species of solitary rangers employed by the
American government, and acting as spies, to watch the mo
tions of the Indians on the frontiers. This peculiar service is
thus described by the author I have before quoted : —

" At that time, Pittsburg was on the extreme verge of white

87

population, and the spies, who were constantly employed, gener
ally extended their reconnaissance forty or fifty miles to the
west of this post They went out singly, lived as did the In
dian, and in every respect became perfectly assimilated in habits,
taste, and feeling, with the red men of the desert. A kind of
border warfare was kept up, and the scout thought it as praise
worthy to bring in the scalp of a Shawnee, as the skin of a pan
ther. He would remain in the woods for weeks together, using
parched corn for bread, and depending on his rifle for his meat
— and slept at night in perfect comfort, rolled in his blanket."

In this service Mike Fink acquired a great reputation for cool
ness and courage, and many are the stories told of his ad ventures
with the Indians. It has been incontestably proved, that the
white man, when accustomed to the woods, is much more acute
than the Indian himself in that woodcraft of every species, in
which the Indian is supposed to be such an adept; such as dis
covering a trail by the print of a Mocassin, by the breaking of
twigs, laying of the grass, &c. ; and in the practice of the rifle
he is very superior. As a proof of Fink's dexterity with his
rifle, he is said one day, as they were descending the Ohio in
their boat, to have laid a wager, and won it, that he would from
mid-stream with his rifle balls cut off at the stumps the tails of
five pigs which were feeding on the banks. One story relative
to Mike Fink, when he was employed as a scout, will be inter
esting to the reader.

*'As he was creeping along one morning, with the stealthy
tread of a cat, his eye fell upon a beautiful buck browsing on
the edge of a barren spot, three hundred yards distant. The
temptation was too strong for the woodsman, and he resolved
to have a shot at every hazard. Repriming his gun, and picking
his flint, he made his approaches in the usual noiseless maaner.
At the moment he reached the spot from which he meant to
take his aim, he observed a large savage, intent upon the same
object, advancing from a direction a little different from his
own. Mike shrunk behind a tree with the quickness of thought,
and keeping his eye fixed on the hunter, waited the result with
patience. In a few moments the Indian halted within fifty
paces, and levelled his piece at the deer. In the meanwhile
Mike presented his rifle at the body of the savage, and at the
moment the smoke issued from the gun of the latter, the bull et
of Fink passed through the red man's breast. He uttered a
yell, and fell dead at the same instant with the deer. Mike
re-loaded his rifle, and remained in his covert for some minutes
to ascertain whether there were more enemies at hand. He
then stepped up to the prostrate savage, and having satisfied
himself that life was extinguished, turned his attention to the
buck, and took from the carcase those pieces suited to the pro
cess of jerking."

As the country filled up the Indians retreated, and the corps
of scouts was abolished : but after a life of excitement in the
woods, they were unfitted for a settled occupation. Some of

them joined the the Indians, others, and am ong them Mike Fin lev
enrolled themselves among the fraternity of boatmen on the Mis
sissippi.

The death of Mike Fink was befitting his life. One of his
very common exploits with his rifle was^hitting for a wager, at
thirty yards distance, a small tin pot, used by the boatmen,
which was pot on the head of another man. Such was his repu
tation, that no one hardly objected to being placed in this pre
carious situation. It is even said that his wife, that is, his Missis
sippi wife, was accustomed to stand the fire ; this feat was always
performed for a wager of a quart of spirits, made by some stran
ger, and was a source of obtaining the necessary supplies. One
day the wager was made as usual, and a rrran with whom Mike
had at one time been at variance (although the feud was now
supposed to have been forgotten) was the party who consented
that the pot should be placed on his head. Whether it was
that Mike was not quite sober, or that he retained his ill-will
towards the man, certain it is, that in this instance, instead of
his hittrngthe mark, his bullet went below it and through the brain
of the man, who instantly fell dead ; but his brother, who was
standing by, and probably suspecting treachery, had his loaded
rifle in his hand, levelled, fired, and in a second the soul of Mike
was despatched after that of his victim.

Here endeth the history o£ Mike Fink, Esq.

The invention of the steam-engine, and its application to
nautical purposes, deprived the boatmen of employment; they
were again thrown upon their own resources, and as it may
be supposed, did not much assist in the amelioration of Mis
sissippi society. The country gradually increasd its popula
tion, but as a majority of those who migrated were of the
worst description, being composed of those who had fled from
the more settled States to escape the punishment due to their
crimes, it may be said, that so far from improving, the morals of
the Mississippi became worse, as the mean and paltry knave,
the swindler, and the forger were now mingled up with the more
daring spirits, producing a more complicated and varied class of
crime than before. The steam-boats were soon crowded by a
description of people who were termed gamblers, as such was
their ostensible profession, although they were ready for any
crime which might offer an advantage to them,* and the increase
of commerce and constant inpouring cf population daily offer to

* " Jackson, Mississippi, Oct. 13.

" POSTSCRIPT. — By yesterday evening's northern mail, we learn
from the Argus of 9th inst., that during the last week the gamblers
in Columbus, Mississippi, have kept the town in great excitement.
Armed men paraded the streets, and were stationed at corners, with
double-barrelled guns, Bowie knives, &c. ; and every day a general
light was anticipated. The gamblers put law and public indignation
at defiance. The militia were called out to aid the civil authority ia
preserving peace."< — »$ttn.

89

them some new dupe for their vilhny. The state of society
was much worse than before — the knife was substituted for the
rifle, and the river buried many a secret of atrocious murder. To
prove the extent to which these deeds of horror were perpetrated,
I shall give to the English reader, in as succinct a form as 1
can, the history of John Murel, the land pirate, as he was termed.
There is an octavo volume, published in the United States,
giving a whole statement of the affair; it was not until the
year 1833 that it was exposed and Murel sent to the Penitentiary.
Murel was at the head of a large band, who had joined under
his directions, for the purposes of stealing horses and negroes
in the southern States, and of passing counterfeit money. He
appears to have been a most dexterous as well as consummate
villain. When he travelled, his usual disguise was that of an
itinerant preacher; and it is said that his discourses were very
" soul moving" — interesting the hearers so much that they forgot
to look after their horses, which were carried away by his con
federates while he was preaching. But the stealing of horses in
one State, and selling them in another, was but a small portion
of their business; the most lucrative was the enticing slaves to
run away from their masters, that they might sell them in some
other quarter. This was arranged as follows; they would tell a
negro that if he would run away from his master, and allow
them to sell him, he should receive a portion of the money paid
for him, and that upon his return to them a second time they
would send him to a free State, where he would be safe. The
poor wretches complied with this request, hoping to obtain money
and freedom ; they would be sold to another master, and run
away again to their employers ; sometimes they would be sold in
this manner three or four times until they had realized three or
four thousand dollars by them ; but as, after this, there was fear
of detection, the usual custom was to get rid of the only witness
that could be produced against them, which was the negro him
self, by mudering him, and throwing his body into the Mississippi.
Even if it was established that they had stolen a negro before he
was murdered, they were always prepared to evade punishment,
for they concealed the negro who had run away until he was ad
vertised, and a reward offered to any man who would catch him.
An advertisement of this kind warrants the person to take the
property, if found, and then the negro becomes a property in trust.
When, therefore, they sold the negro, it only became a breach of
trust, not stealing ; and for a breach of trust, the owner ?f
the property can only have redress by a civil action, which
was useless, as the damages were never paid. It may be
inquired, how it was that Murel escaped Lynch law under
such circumstances'! This will be easily understood when it
is stated that he had more than a thousand sworn con
federates, all ready at a moment's notice to support any of the
gang who might be in trouble. The names of all the principal
confederates of Murel were obtained from himself, in a manner
which I shall presently explain. The gang was composed of

8*

90

two classes : the heads or council, as they were called, who
planned and concerted but seldom acted ; they amounted to about
four hundred. The other class were the active agents, and
were termed Strikers, and amounted to about six hundred and
fifty: These were the tools in the hands of the others ; they ran
all the risk, and received but a small proportion of the money ;
they were in the power of the leaders of the gang, who would
sacrifice them at any time by handing them over to justice, or
sinking their bodies in the Mississippi. The general rendezvous
of this gang of miscreants was on the Arkansaw side of the
river, where they concealed their negroes in the morasses and
cane-brakes.

The depredations of this extensive combination were severely
felt: but so well were their plans arranged, that although
Murel, who was always active, was everywhere suspected, there
was no proof to be obtained. It so happened, however, that a
young man of the name of Stewart, who was looking after two
slaves which Murel had decoyed away, fell in with him and ob
tained his confidence, took the oath, and was admitted into the
gang as one of the general council. By this means all was dis
covered ; for Stewart turned traitor, although he had taken the
oath, and having obtained every information, exposed the whole
concern, the names of all the parties, and finally succeeded in
bringing home sufficient evidence against Murel, to procure his
conviction and sentence to the Penitentiary ; where he now is.
(Murel was sentenced to fourteen years' imprisonment ; but as he
will, upon the expiration of his time, be immediately prosecuted
and sentenced again for similar deeds in other States, he will
remain imprisoned for life). So many people who were supposed
to be honest, and bore a respectable name in the different States,
were found to be among the list of the Grand Council as pub
lished by Stewart, that every attempt was made to throw dis
credit upon his assertions — his character was vilified, and more
than one attempt was made to assassinate him. He was obliged
to quit the Southern States in consequence. It is however now
well ascertained to have been all true ; and although some
blame Mr. Stewart for having violated his oath, they no longer
attempt to deny that his revelations were not correct. To un
derstand, to the full amount, the enormities committed by this
miscreant and his gang, the reader must read the whole account
published at New York ; I will however just quote one or two
portions of MurePs confessions to Mr. Stewart, made to him
when they were journeying together. I ought to have observed,
that the ultimate intentions of Murel and his associates were by
his own account on a very extended scale; having no less an
object in view than raising the blacks against the whites, taking
possession of, and plundering New Orleans, and making them
selves possessors of the territory. The following are a few ex
tracts from the published work : —

" I collected all my friends about New Orleans at one of our
friend's houses in that place, and we sat in council three days

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 91

before we got all our plans to our notion ; we then determined
to undertake the rebellion at every hazard, and make as many
friends as we could for that 'purpose. Every man's business
being1 assigned him, I started to Naichez on foot, having sold my
horse in New Orleans, with the intention of stealing another
after I started : I walked four days, and no opportunity offered
for me to get a horse. The fifth day, about twelve, I had become
tired, and stopped at a creek to get some water and rest a little.
While I was sitting on a log, looking down the road the
way that I had come, a man came in sight riding on a
good-looking horse. The very moment I saw him, I was
determined to have his horse, if he was in the garb of a
traveller. He rode up, and I saw from his equipage that he
was a traveller. I arose from a seat, and drew an elegant
rifle pistol on him and ordered him to dismount. He did so, and
I took his horse by the bridle and pointed down the creek, and
ordered him to walk before me. He went a few hundred yards
and stopped. I hitched his horse, and then made him undress
himself all to his shirt and drawers, and ordered him to turn his
back to me. He said, " If you are determined to kill me, let me
have time to pray before I die." I told him I had no time to
hear him pray. He turned round and dropped on his knees, and
I shot him through the back of the head. I ripped open his belly
and took out his entrails, and sunk him in the creek. I then
searched his pockets, and found four hundred dollars and thirty-
seven cents, and a number of papers that I did not take time to
examine. I sunk the pocket-book and papers, and his hat, in the
creek. His boots were brand new, and fitted me genteelly ; and
I put them on and sunk my old shoes in the creek, to atone for
them. I rolled up his clothes and put them into his portmanteau,
as they were brand new cloth of the best quality. I mounted as
fine a horse as ever I straddled, and directed my course for
Natchez in much better style than I had been for the last five
days.

" Myself and a fellow by the name of Crenshaw gathered four
good horses and started for Georgia. We got in company with
a young South Carolina just before we got to Cumberland moun
tain, and Crenshaw soon knew all about his business. He had
been to Tennessee to buy a drove of hogs, but when he got there
pork was dearer than he had calculated, and he declined pur
chasing. We concluded he was a prize. Crenshaw winked at
me, I Understood his idea. Crenshaw had travelled the road be
fore, but I never had; we had travelled several miles on the
mountain, when he passed near a great precipice ; just before we
passed it Crenshaw asked me for my whip, which had a pound
of lead in the butt; I handed it to him, and he rode up by the
side of the South Carolinian, and gave him a blow on the side of
the head and tumbled him from his horse ; we lit from our horses
and fingered his pockets; we got twelve hundred and sixty-two
dollars. Crenshaw said he knew of a place to hide him, and he
gathered him under his arms, and I by his feet, and conveyed

92

him to a deep crevice in the brow of the precipice, and tumbled
him into it, he went out of sight; we then tumbled in his sad
dle, and took his horse with us, which was worth two hundred
dollars.

" We were detained a few days, and during that time our
friend went to a little village in the neighbourhood and saw the
negro advertised, and a description of the two men of whom he had
been purchased, and giving his suspicions of the men. It was
rather squally times, but any port in a storm : we took the negro
that night on the bank of a creek which runs by the farm of our
friend, and Crenshaw shot him through the head. We lookout
his entrails and sunk him in the creek.

" He sold him the third time on Arkansaw river for five hun
dred dollars ; and then stole him and delivered him into the hand
of his friend, who conducted him to a' swamp, and veiled the
tragic scene and got the last gleanings and sacred pledge of
secresy, as a game of that kind will not do unless it ends in a mys
tery to all but the fraternity. He sold that negro for two thou
sand dollars, and then put him foi ever out of the reach of all
pursuers; and they can never graze him unless they can find
the negro ; and that they cannot do, for his carcass has fed many
a tortoise and cat-fish before this time, and the frogs have sung
this many a long day to the silent repose of his skeleton."

It will be observed that in the account of his murders, by the
cold-blooded villain, whenever he conceals hisvictim in thewater,
he takes out the entrails. This is because when the entrails
are removed, the body will not rise again to the surface from the
generation of gas, occasioned by putrefaction.

As it is but five years since the conviction of Murel, it may
be supposed that society cannot be much improved in so short
a period. But five years is a long period, as I have before
observed in American history; and some improvement has
already taken place, as I shall hereafter show; still the state of
things at present is most lamentable, as the reader will acknow
ledge, when he has heard the facts which I have collected.

The two great causes of the present lawless state of society
in the South are a mistaken notion of physical courage, and a
total want of moral courage. Fiery and choleric in his dispo
sition, intemperate in his habits, and worked upon by the pe
culiarity of the climate, the Southerner is always ready to enter
into a quarrel, and prepared with pistol and bowie-knife to
defend himself. For the latter he cannot well be blamed, for
in the present state of things, it is only being prepared in self-
defence; but at the same time, the weapons being at hand, is
one great cause of such frequent bloodshed. To give the lie,
or to use opprobious language, is considered sufficient justifica
tion for using the knife ; and as public opinion is on the side of
the party who thus retaliates on an affront, there is no appeal to
law, as if there was, the majority would never permit the law
to be put in force: the consequence is, that if a man is occa
sionally tiied for murder, if any witness will come forward to
prove that the party murdered made use of an offensive epithet

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 93

to the prisoner, (and there are always to be found plenty of
people to do this act of kindness,) he is invariably acquitted.
The law therefore being impotent, rs hardly ever resorted to;
every man takes the law into his own hands, arid upon the least
affront, blood is certain to be shed. Strange to say, I have heard
the system of the South defended by very respectable indi
viduals. They say that, taking summary measures at the time
that the blood is up, is much preferable to the general custom
of fighting a duel the next day, which is murder in cold blood ;
that this idea is supported by the laws of England is certain,
as it resolves murder into manslaughter. But, unfortunately,
the argument is not borne out, from the simple fact, that the
quarrels do not with the cooling down of the blood, and if not
settled on the spot, they remain as feuds between the parties,
and revenge takes the place of anger; years will sometimes
pass away, and the insult or injury is never forgotten; and de
liberate, cold-blooded murder is the result; for there is no
warning given.

When I was in Kentucky, a man walked up to Mr. Prentice,
the talented editor of the Louisville Journal, and without a word
passing, fired a pistol at his head. Fortunately the ball missed
him ; no notice was taken of this attempt to murder. But I
have had many other examples of this kind, for if you quarrel
with a person and the affair is not decided at once, it is consid
ered perfectly justifiable to take your revenge whenever you
meet him, and in any way you can. An American gentleman
told me that he happened to arrive at a town in Georgia with a
friend of his, who went with him to the post-office for letters.
This person had had a quarrel with another who resided in the
town ; but they had not met with each other for seven years.
The town resident was looking out of his window, when they
went to the post-office on the opposite side of the street ; he
recognised his enemy, and closing his shutters that he might
not be seen, passed the muzzle of his rifle between them, and
shot him dead, as he was with his back to him paying for his
letters.

But a more curious instance of this custom was narrated to
me by an eye-witness ; a certain general had a feud with another
person, and it was perfectly understood that they were to fight
when they met. It so happened, that the general had agreed to
dine at the public table of the principal hotel in the town with
some friends. When the gong sounded, and they all hastened
in, as they do, to take their places, he found his antagonist
seated with a party of his own friends directly opposite to5 him.
Both their pistols were out in a moment, and were presented.
«* Would you prefer dining first1?" said the general, who was
remarkable for coolness and presence of mind. " I have no ob
jection," replied the other, and the pistols were withdrawn.
Some observation, however, occasioned the pistols to be again
produced before the dinner was over ; and then the friends inter*

94 MARRY AT '$ DIARY.

fered, each party removing so many feet above and below, ao as
to separate them.

A day or two afterwards they again met at the corner of a
street, and the weapons were produced ; but the general, who
had some important business to transact, said, "I believe, sir, I
can, and you know I can, cock a pistol as soon as any man. I
give you your choice; shall it be now, or at some future meet
ing?" *« At some future meeting'then," replied his antagonist,
" for, to confess the truth, general, I should like to have you, at
an advantage ; that is to say, I should like to shoot you, when
your back is turned."

I have observed that there is a total want of moral courage on
the part of the more respectable population, who will quietly
express their horror and disgust at such scenes, but who will
never interfere, if the most barbarous murder is committed close
to where they are standing. I spoke to many gentlemen on this
subject, expressing my surprise ; the invariable answer was,
" If we interfered we should only hurt ourselves, and do no
good; in all probability we should have the quarrel fixed upon
ourselves, and risk our own lives, for a man whom we neither
know nor care about."

In one case only, the Southerners hang together, which is if
the quarrel is with a stranger. Should the stranger have the
best of it, all the worse for him; for, by their own understand
ing, the stranger must be whipped. (Whipping is the term for
being conquered, whether the contest is with or without weapons.)
No stranger can therefore escape, if he gets into a quarrel ; al
though they fight with each other, on this point the Southerners
are all agreed, and there is no chance of escape.

A striking proof of indifference to human life shown by the
authorities took place when I was in the West. Colonel C.
returning with his regiment from Florida, passed through a town
in the State of Tennessee. In a quarrel, one of his soldiers
murdered a citizen ; and the coloneJ, who respected the laws,
immediately sent the soldier as a prisoner, with a corporal's
guard, to be handed over to the authorities. The authorities
returned their thanks to the colonel for his kind attention, were
very much obliged to him : but as for the man, they did not want
him, — so the soldier marched off with the rest of the detachment.
It must not be supposed that in this representation of society,
I chiefly refer to the humbler classes. I refer to those who are
considered as, and who, if wealth, and public employment may
be said to constitute gentility, are the gentlemen of the States
bordering on the Mississippi. My readers may perhaps recol
lect a circumstance which occurred but a short time ago, when
a member of the House of Legislature in the State of Arkansas,
who had a feud with the Speaker of the House, upon his enter
ing the hall, was rushed upon by the Speaker, and stabbed to
the heart with a bowie-knife. What was the result? What
steps were taken on the committal of such a foul murder in the
very hall of legislature ! such a precedent of example shown to

95

the State, by one of its most important members ? The follow
ing American account, will show what law, what justice, and
•what a jury is to be found in this region of unprecedented
barbarism !

" Ji most Disgraceful Affair.

" Our readers will perhaps recollect the circumstance which
occurred in the legislature of Arkansas, when a member was
killed by the Speaker. The Little Rock Gazette gives the
following picture of the stale of public feeling in that most
civilized country : —

«• Three days had elapsed before the constituted authorities
took any notice of this terrible, this murderous deed, and not
even then until a relaticn of the murdered Anthony had de
manded a warrant for the apprehension of Wilson. Several
days then elapsed before he was brought before an examining
court; he then, in a carriage and four, came to the place ap
pointed for his trial. Four or five days were employed in the
examination of witnesses, and never was a clearer case of
murder proved than on that occasion. Notwithstanding, the
court (Justice Brown dissenting) admitted Wilson to bail, and
positively refused that the prosecuting attorney for the State
should introduce the law, to show that it was not a bailable
case, or even to hear an argument from him, and the counsel
associated with him to prosecute Wilson for the murder.

"At the time appointed for the session of the Circuit Court,
Wilson appeared agreeably to his recognizance ; a motion was
made by Wilson's counsel for a change of venue, founded on the
affidavits of Wilson and two other men. One stated in his
affidavit, that * nine-tenths of the people of Pulaski had made
up and expressed their opinions, and that therefore it would be
unsafe for Wilson to be tried in Pulaski ;' and the other, that,
* from the repeated occurrence of similar acts within the last
four or five years in this country, the people were disposed to
act. rigidly, and that it would be unsafe for Wilson to be tried
in Pulaski.' The court thereupon removed Wilson to Saline
county, and ordered the sheriff to take Wilson into custody, and
deliver him over to the sheriff of Saline county.

"The sheriff of Pulaski never confined Wilson one minute,
but permitted him to go where he pleased, without a guard or
any restraint imposed upon him whatever. On his" way to
Saline he entertained him freely at his own house, and the next
day delivered him over to the sheriff of that county, who con
ducted the prisoner to the debtors' room in the jail and gave him
the key, so that everybody else had free egress and ingress at
all times. Wilson invited everybody to call on him, and he
wished to see his friends, and his room was crowded with
visitors, who called to drink grog and laugh and talk with him.
But this theatre was not sufficiently large for this purpose; he
afterwards visited the dram-shops, where he freely treated all
that would partake with him, and went fishing and hunting
with others at pleasure, and entirely without restraint; he also
ate at the same table with the judge while on trial.

96

" When the court met at Saline, Wilson was put on his trial.
Several days were occupied in examining witnesses in the case;
after the examination was closed, while Colonel Taylor was
engaged in a very able, lucid, and argumentative speech on the
part of the prosecution, some man collected a parcel of the rab
ble, and came within a few yards of the court-house door, and
bawled, in a loud voice, * Part them— -part them !' Everybody
supposed there was an affray, and ran to the door and windows
to see, and behold there was nothing more than the man and the
rabble he had collected round him for the purpose of annoying
Colonel Taylor while speaking. A few minutes afterwards this
same person brought a horse near the court-house door, and
commenced crying the horse, as though he were for sale, and
continued for ten orfifteen minutes to ride before the court-house
door, crying the horse in a loud and boisterous tone of voice.
The judge sat as a silent listener to the indignity thus offered
the court and counsel by this man, without interposing his
authority

" To show the depravity of the times and the people, after
the verdict had been delivered by the jury, and the court in
formed Wilson that he was discharged, there was a rush to
wards him ; some seized him by the hand, some by the arm, and
there was great and loud rejoicing and exultation directly in the
presence of the court, and Wilson told the sheriff to take the
jury to a grocery that he might treat them, and invited every
body that chose to go. The house was soon filled to overflow
ing, and it is much to be regretted that some men who have
held a good standing in society followed the crowd to the gro
cery and partook of Wilson's treat. The rejoicing was kept up
till near supper time; but, to cap the climax, soon after supper
was over a majority of the jury, together with many others,
went to the room that had been occupied for several days by the
friend and relation of the murdered Anthony, and commenced a
scene of the most ridiculous dancing (as it is believed) in tri
umph for Wilson, and as a triumph over the feelings of the re
lation of the departed Anthony. The scene did not end here.
The party retired to a dram-shop, and continued their rejoicings
until about half-after ten o'clock. They then collected a parcel
of horns, trumpets, &c., and marched through the streets blow
ing them till near day, when one of the company rode his horse
into the porch adjoining the room which was occupied by the
relation of the deceased.

"These are some of the facts that took place during the pro
gress of the trial, and after its close. The whole proceedings
have been conducted more like a farce than anything else, nnd
it is a disgrace to the country in which this fatal, this horrible
massacre has happened, that there should be in it men so lost to
every virtue, of feeling and humanity, to sanction and give
countenance to such a bloody deed. Wilson's hand is now
stained with the blood of a worthy and unoffending man.
The seal of disapprobation must for ever rest upon him in

97

the estimation of the honest, well-meaning portion of the com
munity. Humanity shudders at the bloody deed, and ages can
not wipe away the stain which he has brought upon his country.
Arkansas, therefore, the mock of the other States on account of
the frequent murders and assassinations which have marked her
character, has now to be branded with the stain of this horrible,
this murderous deed, rendered still more odious from the circum
stance that a jury of twelve men should have rendered u verdict
of acquittal contrary to law and evidence. '

To quote the numerous instances of violation of all law and
justice in these new States would require volumes. 1 will, how
ever, support my evidence with that of Miss JVlartineau, who,
speaking of the State of Alabama, says —

" It is certainly the place to become rich in, but the state of
society is fearful. One of my hosts, a man of great good-nature,
as he shows in the treatwient of his slaves and in his family rela
tions, had been stabbed in the back, in the reading-room of the
town, two years before, and no prosecution was instituted. An
other of my hosts carried loaded pistols for a fortnight, just before
I arrived, knowing that he was lain in wait for by persons against
whose illegal practices he had given information to a magistrate,
whose carriage was therefore broken in pieces and thrown into
the river. A lawyer, with whom we were in company one after
noon, was sent to take the deposition of a dying man, who had
been sitting with his family in the shade, when he received three
balls in the back from three men who took aim at him from be
hind trees. The tales of jail-breaking and rescue were number
less; and a lady of Montgomery told me, that she had lived
there four years, during which time no day, she believed, had
passed without some one's life having been attempted either by
duelling or assassination."

The rapid increase of population in the far West, and the
many respectable people who have lately migrated there, to
gether with the Texas having now become the refuge of those
whose presence even the Southern States will no longer toler
ate, promise very soon to produce a change. The cities have
already set the example by purifying thunselves. Natchez, the
lower town of which was a Pandemonium, has cleansed herself
to a very great extent. Vicksburg has by its salutary Lynch
law relieved herself of the infamous gamblers, and New Orleans,
in whose streets murders were daily occurring, is now one of the
safest towns in the Union.

This regeneration in New Orleans was principally brought
about by the exertions of the English and American merchants
from the Eastern States, who established an effectual police, and
having been promised support by the State legislature, deter
mined- to make an example of the very first party who should
commit a murder. It so happened, that the first, person who
was guilty, was a Colonel or Mr. Whittaker of Louisiana, a per
son well connected, and of a wealthy family. In a state . of in
toxication he entered the bar of an hotel, and affronted at the
bar-keeper not paying immediate attention to his wishes, be
9

98

rushed upon the unfortunate man, and literally cut him to pieces
with his heavy Bowie knife.

He was put in prison, tried and condemned. Every effort
was made to save him, both by force and perseverance, but in
vain, Finding that he must really suffer the penalty of the law,
his friends to avoid the disgrace of a public execution, provided
him with the means, andhe destroyed himself in the prison the
night before his execution. So unexpected was this act of jus
tice, that it created the greatest sensation ; it was looked upon
as a legal murder; his body being made over to his relations,
was escorted to his home with great parade; the militia were

turned out to receive it with military honours, and General ,

who set up for the governorship of Louisiana, pronounced the
funeral eulogy !!!

But this decided and judicious step was attended with the best
results; and now that there is an active police, and it is known
that a murderer will bo executed, you may safely walk tjie streets
of New Orleans on the darkest nights.

To show, however, how difficult it is to eradicate bad habits, a
gentleman told me that it being the custom when the Quadroon
balls were given at New Orleans, for the police to search every
person on entering, and taking away his bowie-knife, the young
man would resort to the following contrivance. The knives of a
dozen perhaps were confided to one, who remained outside ; the
others entered, and being searched were passed ; they then
opened one of the ball-room windows, and let down a string, to
which the party left outside fastened all their knives as well as
hisovvn ; they were hauled up, he thenentered'himself, and each
person regained his knife. The reason for these precautions
being taken by the police was, that the women being all of
colour, their evidence was not admissible in a court of justice ;
and no evidence could be obtained from the young men, should
a murder have been committed.

But although some of the towns have, as I have pointed out,
effected a great reformation, the state of society in general in
these States is still most lamentable ; and there is little or no
security for life and property ; and what is to be much deplored,
the evil extends to other States which otherwise would much
sooner become civilized.

This arises from the Southern habits of migrating to the other
States during the unhealthy months. During the rest of the year
they remain on their properties, living perhaps in a miserable
log-house, and almost in a state of nature, laying up dollars and
attending carefully to their business. But as soon as the autumn
comes, it is the time for holiday, they dress themselves in their
best clothes, and set off to amuse themselves; spend their money
and pass off for gentlemen. Their resorts are chiefly the States
of Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio; where the springs, Cincinnati,
Louisville, arid other towns are crowded with them; they pass
their time in constant revelling, many of them being seldom free
from the effects of liquor; aad I must say, that I i ever in my
life heard such awful swearing as many of them are guilty of.
Every sentence is commenced with some tremendous oath, which

MAR;

99

really horrifies you ; in fact, although in the dress of gentlemen,
in no other point can they lay any pretensions to the title. Of
course, I am now speaking of the mass; there are many excep
tions, but even these go with the stream, and make no efforts to
resist it. Content with not practising these vices themselves,
they have not the courage to protest against them in others.

In the Eastern States the use of the knife was opposed to
general feeling, as it is, or as I regret, to say, as it used to be in
this country. I was passing down Broadway in New York,
•when a scoundrel of a carman flogged with his whip a young
Southern who had a lady under his protection. Justly irritated,
and no match for the sturdy ruffian in physical strength, the
young man was so imprudent as to draw his knife, and throw it
Indian fashion ; and for so doing, he was with difficulty saved
from the indignation of the people.

Ohio is chiefly populated by Eastern people; yet to my sur
prise when at Cincinnati, a row took place in the theatre, bowie-
knives were drawn by several. 1 never had an idea that there
was such a weapon worn there ; but as I afterwards discovered,
they were worn in self defence, because the Southerners carried
them. The same may be said of the States of Virginia and
Kentucky, which are really now in many portions of them civil
ized States ; but the regular inroad of the Southerners every
year keeps- up a system, which would before this have very
probably become obsolete; but as it is, the duel at sight, and
the knife, is resorted to in these States, as well as in the Missis
sippi. This lamentable state of society must exist for some
time yet, as civilization progresses but slowly in some of the
slave States. Some improvement has of late been made, as I
have pointed out ; but it is chiefly the lower class of miscreants
who have been rooted out, not the gentleman assassins ,- for lean
give them no other title.

The women of the South appear to have their passions equal
ly violent with the men. When I was at Louisville, a married
lady for some fancied affront insisted upon her husband whipping
another gentlemen. The husband not wishing to get a broken
head, expostulated, upon which she replied, that if he did not
she would find some othe gentleman to do it for her. The hus
band who probably was aware that these services are not with
out their reward, went accordingly, and had a turn-up in obe
dience to the lady's wishes.

It appears to me, that it is the Southern ladies, and the ladies
alone, who can affect any reformation in these points. They have
great sway, and if they were to form an association, and declare
that they would not marry or admit into their company any
man who carried a bowie-knife or other weapons, that they would
prevail, when nothing else will. This would be a glorious
achievement, and I am convinced from the chivalry towards
women shown by the Southerners on every occasion, that they
might be prevailed upon by them to leave off customs so disgrace
ful, so demoralizing, and so incompatible with the true princi
ples of honour and Christianity.

100

CHAPTER IX.

SOCIETY. — WOMEN.

THE women of America are unquestionably, physically, as
far as beauty is concerned, and morally, of a higher standard
than the men ; nevertheless they have not that influence which
they ought to possess. In my former remarks upon the women
of America I have said, that they are the prettiest in the world,
arid I have put the word prettiest in italics, as I considered it a
term peculiarly appropriate to the American women. In many
points the Americans have, to a certain degree, arrived at that
equality which they profess to covet; and in no one, perhaps,
more than in the fair distribution of good looks among the
women. This is easily accounted for: there is not to be found,
on the one hand, that squalid wretchedness, that half-starved
growing up, that disease and misery, nor on the other, that
hereditary refinement, that inoculation of the beautiful, from the
constant association with the fine arts, that careful nurture; and
constant attention to health and exercise, which exist in the
dense population of the cities of the Old World ; and occasion
those variations from extreme plainness to the perfection of
beauty which are to be seen, particularly in the metropolis of
England. In the United States, where neither the excess of
misery nor of luxury and refinement are known, you have,
therefore, a more equal distribution of good looks, and, although
you often meet with beatiful women, it is but rarely that you
find one that may be termed ill-favoured. The coup-cTazil is,
therefore, more pleasing in America — enter society, and turn
your eyes in any direction, you will everywhere find cause for
pleasure, although seldom any of annoyance. The climate is
not, however, favourable to beauty, which, compared to the
English, is very transitory, especially in the Eastern States ;
and when a female arrives at the age of thirty, its reign is,
generally speaking, over.

The climate of the Western States appears, however, more
favourable to it, and I think I saw more handsome women at
Cincinnati than in any other city of the Union ; their figures
were more perfect, and they were finer grown, not receiving the
sudden checks to which the Eastern women are exposed.

Generally speaking, but a small interval elapses between the
period of American girls leaving school and their entering upon
their duties as wives ; but during that period, whetever it may
be, they are allowed more liberty than the young people in our
country ; walking out whhoul chaperons, and visiting their friends
as they please. There is a reason for this: the matrons ar«
compelled, from the insufficiency of their domestics, to attend
personally to all the various duties of housekeeping; their fathers
and brothers are all employed in their respective money-making
transactions, and a servant cannot be spared from American
establishments ; if, therefore, they are to walk out and take exer
cise, it must be alone, and this can be done in the United States

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 101

with more security than elsewhere, from the circumstance of
everybody being actively employed, and there being no people
at leisure who are strolling or idling about. I think that the
portion of time which elapses between the period of a young girl
leaving school and being married, is the happiest of her exist
ence. I have already remarked upon the attention and gallantry
shown by the Americans to the women, especially to the un
married. This is carried to an extent which, in England, would
be considered by our young women as no compliment; to a
certain degree it pervades every class, and even the sable dam
sels have no reason to complain of not being treated with the
excess of politeness ; but in my opinion, (and I believe the ma
jority of the American women will admit the correctness of it,)
they do not consider themselves flattered by a species of homage
which is paying no compliment to their good sense, and after
which the usual attentions of an Englishman to the sex are by
some considered as amounting to hauteur and neglect.

Be it as it may, the American women are not spoiled by this
universal adulation which they receive previous to their mar
riage. It is not that one is selected for her wealth or extreme
beauty to the exception of all others; in 'such a case it might
prove dangerous; but it is a flattery paid to the whole sex, given
to all, and received as a matter of course by all, and therefore it
does no mischief. It does, however, prove what I have said at
the commencement of this chapter, which is, that the women
have not that influence which they are entitled to, and which,
for the sake of morality, it is to be lamented that they have not;
when men respect women they do not attempt to make fools of
them, but treat them as rational and immortal beings, and this
general adulation is cheating them with the shadow, while they
withhold from them the substance.

I have said that the period between her emancipation from
school and her marriage is the happiest portion of an American
woman's existence ; indeed it has reminded me of the fetes and
amusements given in a Catholic country to a young girl previ
ous to her taking the veil, and being immured from the world ;
for the duties of a wife in America are from circumstances very
onerous, and I consider her existence after that period as but one
of negative enjoyment. And yet she appears anxious to abridge
even this small portion of freedom and happiness, for marriage is
considered almost as a business, or, I should say, a duty, an idea
probably handed down by the first settlers, to whom an
increase of population was of such vital importance.* How
ever much the Americans may wish to deny it, I am in-

* Bigamy is not uncommon in the United States from the wo-
men being in too great a hurry to marry, and not obtaining suffi
cient information relative to their suitors. The punishment is chip
ping stone in Sing Sing for a few years. It must, however, be ad
mitted, that when a foreigner is the party, it is rather difficult to as
certain whether the gentlemen has or has not left an old wife or twq
in the Old World.

102 MARRYAT'S DIARV.

rlined to think that there are more marriages ofconvenance in the
United States than in most other countries. The men begin to
calculate long before they are of an age to marry, and it is not
very likely that they would calculate so well upon all other
points, and not upon the value of a dowry ; moreover, the old
oeople "calculate some," and the girls accept an offer without
their hearts being seriously compromised. Of course there are,
exceptions: but I do not think that there are many love matches
made in America, and one reason for my holding this opinion is,
my having discovered how quietly matches are broken off and
new engagements entered into ; and it is, perhaps, from a know
ledge of this fact, arising from the calculating spirit of the gen
tlemen, who are apt to consider 20,000 dollars as preferable to
10,000, that the American girls are not too hasty in surrender
ing their hearts.

I knew a young lady who was engaged to an acquaintance of
mine ; on my return to their city a short time afterwards, I found
that the match was broken off, and that she was engaged to an
other, and nothinor was thought of it. I do not argue from this
simple instance, but because I found, on talking about it, that it
was a very common circumstance, and because, where scandal
is so rife, no remarks were made. If a young lady behaves in
a way so as to give offence to the gentleman she is engaged to,
and sufficiently indecorous to warrant his breaking off the match,
he is gallant to the very last, for he writes to her, and begs that
she will dismiss him. This I knew to be done by a party I was
acquainted with; he told me that it was considered good taste,
and I agreed with him. On the whole, I hold it very fortunate
that in American marriages there is, generally speaking, more
prudence than love on both sides, for from the peculiar habits
and customs of the country, a woman who loved without pru
dence would not feel very happy as a wife.

Let us enter into an examination of the married life in the
United States.

All the men in America are busy; their whole time is en
grossed by their accumulation of money ; they breakfast early
and repair to their stores or counting-houses ; the majority of them
do not go home to dinner, but eat at the nearest tavern or oyster-
cellar, for they generally live at a considerable distance from the
business part of the town, and time is too precious to be thrown
away. It would be supposed that they would be home to an early
tea; many are, hut the majority are not. After fagging, they
require recreation, and the recreations of most Americans are
politics and news, besides the chance of doing a little more busi
ness, all of which, with drink, are to be obtained at the bars of
the principal commercial hotels in the city. The consequence
it, that the major portion of them come home late, tired, and go
to bed; early the next morning they are off to their business
again. Here it is evident that the women do not have much of
their husband's society ; nor do I consider this arising from any
want of inclination on the part of the husbands, as there is an
absolute necessity that they should work as hard as others if
they wish to do well, and what one does, the other must do.

MABRYAT'S DIARY. 103

Even frequenting1 the bar is almost a necessity, for it is there
that they obtain all the information of the day. But the result
is that the married women are left alone ; their husbands are not
their companions, and if they could be, still the majority of the
husbands would not be suitable companions for the following1
reasons. An American starts into life at so early an age that
what he has gained at school, with the exception of that portion
brought into use from his business, is lost. He has no time for
reading, except the newspaper ; all his thoughts and ideas are
centred in his employment; he becomes perfect in that, acquires a
great deal of practical knowledge useful for making money, but for
little else. This he must do if he would succeed, and the major
portion confine themselves to such knowledge alone. But with the
momen it is different; their education is much more extended
than that of the men, because they are more docile, and easier to
control in their youth ; and when they are married, although
their duties are much more onerous than with us, still, during
the long days and evenings, during which they wait for the
return of their husbands, they have time to finish, I may say,
their own educntions and improve their minds by reading. The
consequence of this with other adjuncts, is that their minds
become, and reslly are, much more cultivated and refined than
those of their husbands ; and when the universal practice of using
tobacco and drinking among the latter is borne in rnind, it wilt
be readily admitted that they are also much more refined in
their persons.

These are the causes why the American women are so uni
versally admired by the English and other nations, while they
do not consider the men as equal to them either in manners or
personal appearance. Let it, be borne in mind that I am now
speaking of the majority, and that the exceptions are very nu-
merons ; for instance, you may except one whole profession,
that of the lawyers, among whom you will find no want of gen
tlemen or men of highly cultivated minds; indeed, the same
may be said with respect to most of the liberal professions, but
only so because their profession allows that time for improving
themselves which the American in general, in his struggle on
the race for wealth, cannot afford to spare.

As I have before observed, the ambition of the American is
from circumstances mostly directed to but one object — that of
rapidly raising himself above his fellows by the accumulation
of a fortune; to this one great desideratum all his energies are
directed, all his thoughts are bent, and by it all his ideas are en
grossed. When I first arrived in America, as I walked down
Broad way, it appeared strange to me that there should be such a
remarkable family likeness among the people. Every man I
met seemed to me by his features to be a brother or a connec
tion of the last man who had passed me ; I could not at first
comprehend this, but the mystery was soon revealed. It was
that they were all intent and engrossed with the same object;
all were, as they passed, calculating and reflecting; this pro
duced a similar contraction of the brow, knitting- of the eye
brows, and compression of ths lips — a similarity of feeling had

104 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

produced a similarity of expression, from the same muscles be
ing- called into action. Even their hurried walk assisted the
error: it is a saying in the United States, " that a New York
merchant always walks as if he had a good dinner before him,
and a bailiffbehind him," and the metaphor is not inapt.

Now, a man so wholly engrossed in business cannot be a
very good companion if he were at home ; his thoughts would
be elsewhere, and therefore perhaps it is better that things should
remain as they are. But the great evil arising- from this is, that
the children are left wholly to the management of thefr mothers,
and the want of paternal control I have already commented
upon. The Americans have reason to be proud of their women,
for they are really good wives — much too good for them ; I have
no hesitation in asserting this, and should there be any unfortu
nate difference between any married couple in America, all the
lady has to say is, "The fact is, Sir, I'm much too good for you,
and Captain Marryat says so." (I flatter myself there's a little
mischief in that last sentence.)

It appears, then, that the American woman has little of her
husband's society, and that in education and refinement she is
much his superior, notwithstanding which she is a domestic
slave. For this the Americans are not to blame, as it is the
effect of circumstances, over which they cannot be said to have
any control. But the Americans are to blame in one point, which
is, that they do not properly appreciate or value their wives,
who have not half the influence which wives have in England,
or one quarter that legitimate influence to which they are entitled.
That they are proud of them, flatter them, and are kind to them
after their own fashion, I grant, but female influence extends no
farther. Some authors have said, that by the morals of the wo
men you can judge of the morals of a country ; generally speak
ing, this is true, but America is an exception, for the vomeri
are more moral, more educated, and more refined than the men,
and yet have at present no influence whatever in society.

What is the cause of this 1 It can only be ascribed to the one
great ruling passion which is so strong that it will admit of no
check, or obstacles being thrown in its way, and will listen to no
argument or entreaty ; and because, in a country when every
thing is decided by public opinion, the women are as great slaves
to it as the men. Their position at present appears to be that
the men will not raise themselves to the standard of the women,
and the women will not lower themselves to the standard of the
men ; they apparently move in different spheres, although they
repose on the same bed.

It is, therefore, as I have before observed, fortunate that the
marriages in America are more decided by prudence than by
affection; for nothing could be more mortifying to a woman of
sense and feeling, than to awake from her dream of love, and dis
cover that the object upon which she has bestowed her affection,
is indifferent to the sacrifice which she has made.

If the American women had their due influence, it would be
fortunate ; they might save their country, by checking the tide

MARRY AT S DIARY.

of vice and immorality, and raising the men to their own standard.,
Whether they ever will effect this, or whether they will con
tinue as at present, to keep up the line of demarcation, or gra
dually sink down to the level of the other sex, is a question which
remains to be solved. 9

That the American women have their peculiarities, and in
some respects they might be improved, is certain. Their priwci-
pal fault in society is, that they do not sufficiently modulate,
their voices. Those faults arising from association, and to
which both sexes are equally prone, are a total indifference to
or rather a love of change, " shifting1 right away," without the
least regret, from one portion of the Union to another ; a remark
able apathy as to the sufferings of others, an indifference to loss
of life, a fondness for politics, all of which are unfeminine ; and
lastly, a passion for dress carried to too great an extent; but this
latter is easily accounted for, and is inseparable from a society
where all would be equal. But, on the other hand, the American
women have a virtue which the rnen have not, which is moral
courage, and one also which is not common with the sex, physi
cal courage. The independence and spirit of an American
woman, if left a widow without resources, is immediately shown ;
she does not sit and lament, but applies herself to some employ
ment, so that she may maintain herself and her children, and
seldom fails in so doing. Here are faults and virtues, both
proceeding from the same origin.

I have already in my Diary referred to another great error in
a portion of the American women. Lady Blessington, in one of
her delightful works, very truly observes, "I turn with disgust
from that affected prudery, arising, if not from a participation, at
least from a knowledge of evil, which induces certain ladies to
cast down their eyes, look grave, and show the«xtent of their
knowledge, or the pruriency of their imaginations, by discover
ing in a harmless jest nothing to alarm their experienced feel
ings. I resoect that woman whose innate purity prevents those
around her from uttering aught that can arouse it, much more
than her whose sensitive prudery continually reminds one, that
she is au fait of every possible interpretation which a word of
doubtful meaning admits." »

The remarks of Miss Martineau upon the women of America
are all very ungracious, and some of them very unjust. That
she met with affectation and folly in America, is very pro
bable— where do you not? There is no occasion to go to the
United States to witness it. As for the charge of carrying in
their hands seventy-dollar pocket-handkerchiefs, I am afraid it is
but too true ; but when there is little distinction, except by dress,
ladies will be very expensive. I do not know why, but the
American ladies have a custom of carrying their pocket-hand
kerchiefs in their hands, either in a room, or walking out, or
travelling; and moreover, they have a custom of marking their
names in the corner, at full length, and when in a steamboat
or rail-car, I have, by a little watching, obtained the names of

106 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

ladies sitting near me, in consequence of this custom, which of
course will be ascribed by Miss Martineau to a wish to give infor
mation to strangers.

The remark upon the Washington belles,* I am afraid is too
true, as T have already pointed out that the indifference to human
life in America extends to the softer sex ; and I perfectly well
remember, upon my coming into a room at New York with the
first intelligence of the wreck of the * Home,' and the dreadful
loss of life attending it, that my news was received with ''a dear
me !" from two or three of the ladies, and there the matter
dropped. There is, however, much truth in what Miss Martineau
says, relative to the manner in which the women are treated by
their lords and masters, in this new country. The following
quotation from the work is highly deserving of attention: —

" If a test of civilization be sought, none can be so sure as
the condition of that half of society over which the other half
has power, — from the exercise of the right of the strongest.
Tried by this test, the American civilization appears to be of a
lower order than might have been expected from some other
symptoms of its social state. The Americans have, in the
treatment of women, fallen below, not only their own demo
cratic principles, but the practice of some parts of the Old
World.

" The unconsciousness of both parties as to the injuries suffered
by women at the hands of those who hold the power, is a suffi
cient proof of the low degree of civilization in this important par
ticular at which they rest. While woman's intellect is confined,
her morals crushed, her health ruined, her weakness encouraged,
and her strength punished, she is told that her lot is cast in the
paradise of women: and there is no country in the world where
there is so much boasting of the 'chivalrous' treatment she en
joys. That is to say, — she has the best place in stage-coaches :
when there are not chairs enough for every body, the gentle
men stand: she hears oratorical flourishes on public occasions
about wives and home, and apostrophes to woman : her husband's
hair stands on end at the idea of her working, and he toils to in
dulge her with money : she has liberty to get her brain turned
by religious excitements, that her attention may be diverted
from morals, politics, and philosophy ; and, especially, her morals
are guarded by the strictest observance of propriety in her pre
sence. In short, indulgence is given her as a substitute for
justice."

If Miss Martineau had stopped here, she had done well ; but
she follows this up by claiming for her sex all the privileges of
our own, and seems to be highly indignant, that they are not

* " A Washington belle related to me the sad story of the death of
a young man who fell from a small boat into the Potomac in the
night, — it is supposed in his sleep. She told me where and how his
body was found ; and what relation she had left ; and finished with " he
will be much missed at parties."

MAKRYAT'S DIARY. 107

permitted to take their due share of the government of the coun
try, and hold the most important situations. To follow up her
ideas, we should have a "teeming" prime minister, and the
Lord Chancellor obliged to leave the wool-sack to nurse his
baby; Miss M. forgets that her prayer has been half granted
already, for we never yet had a ministry without a certain pro
portion of old women in it; and we can, therefore, dispense with
her services.

There is, however, one remark of Miss Martineau's which I
cannot pass over without expressing indignation ; I will quote
the passage.

44 It is no secret on the spot, that the habit of intemperance
is not unf'requent among women of station and education in the
most enlightened parts of the country. I witnessed some in
stances, and heard of more. It does not seem to me to be re
garded with all the dismay which such a symptom ought to ex
cite. To the stranger, a novelty so horrible, a spectacle so
fearful, suggests wide and deep subjects of investigation. If
women, in a region professing religion more strenuously than
any other, living in the deepest external peace, surrounded by
prosperity, and outwardly honoured more conspicuously than in
any other country, can ever so far cast' off self-restraint,
shame, domestic affection, and the deep prejudices of education,
as to plunge into the living hell of intemperance there must be
something fearfully wrong in their position."

Miss Martineau is a lady ; and, therefore, it is difficult to use
the language which I would, if a man had made such an asser
tion. 1 shall only state, that it is one of the greatest libels
that ever was put into print: for Miss Martineau implies that
it is general habit, among the American women j so far from it,
the American women are so abstemious that they do not drink
sufficient for their health. They can take very little exercise,
and did they take a little more wine, they would not suffer from
dyspepsia, as they now do, as wine would assist their digestion.
The origin of this slander I know well, and the only ground for
it is, that there are two or three ladies of a certain city, who having
been worked upon by some of the Evangelical Revival Ministers,
ha;ve had their rninds crushed by the continual excitement to
which they have been subjected. The mind affects the body,
and they have required, and have applied to, stimulus, and if
you will inquire into the moral state of any woman among the
higher classes, either in America or England, who has fallen
into the vice alluded to, nine times out often you will find that
it has been brought about by religious excitement Fanaticism
and gin are remarkable good friends all over the world. It is
surprising to me that, when Miss Martineau claims for her sex
the same privilege as ours, she should have overlooked one sim
ple fact which ought to convince her that they are the weaker
vessels. I refer to what she acknowledges to be true, which is,
that the evangelical preachers invariably apply to women for
proselytes, instead of men ; not cnly in America but everywhere
else ; and that for one male, they may reckon at least twenty
females among their flocks. According to Miss Martineau's

108 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

published opinions, there can be no greater weakness than the
above.

In the United States, divorces are obtained without expense,
and without it being necessary to commit crime, as in England.
The party pleads in forma pauperis, to the State Legislation,
and a divorce is granted upon any grounds which may be con
sidered as just and reasonable.

Miss Martineau mentions a divorce having been granted to a
wife, upon the plea of her husband being a gambler; and I was
myself told of an instance in which a divorce was granted upon
the plea of the husband being such an " awful swearer ;" and
really, if any one heard the swearing in some parts of the West
ern country, he would not be surprised at a religious woman
requesting to be separated. I was once on board of a steam
boat on the Mississippi, when a man let off such a volley of
execrations, that it was quite painful to hear him. An Ameri
can who stood by me, as soon as the man had finished, observed,
" Well, I'm glad that fellow has nothing .to do with the engines:
I reckon he'd burst the biler."

Miss Martineau observes, " In no country I believe are the
marriage laws so iniquitous as in England, and the conjugal re
lation, in consequence, so impaired. Whatever may be thought
of the principles which are to enter into laws of divorce, whether
it be held that pleas for divorce should be one, (as narrow inter
preters of the New Testament would have it;) or two, (as the law
of England has it;) or several, (as the -Continental and U. States'
laws in many instances allow,) nobody defends the arrange
ment by which, in England, divorce is obtainable only by the very
rich. The barbarism of granting that as a privilege to the ex
tremely wealthy, to which money bears no relation whatever,
and in which all married persons whatever have an equal in
terest, needs no exposure beyond the mere statement of the fact.
It will be seen at a glance how such an arrangement tends to
vitiate marriage : how it offers impunity to adventurers, and en
couragement to every kind of mercenary marriages ; how abso
lute is its oppression of the injured party, and how, by vitiating
marriage, it originates and aggravates licentiousness to an incal
culable extent. To England alone belongs the disgrace of such
a method of legislation. I believe that, while there is little to
be said for the legislation of any part of the world on this head,
it is DO where so vicious as in England."

I am afraid that these remarks are but too true; and it is the
more singular, as not only in the United States, but in every
other Protestant community that I have ever heard of, divorce
can be obtained upon what are considered just and legitimate
grounds. It has been supposed, that should the marriage tie be
loosened, that divorces without number would take place.

It was considered so, and so argued, at the time that Zurich
(the only Protestant canton in Switzerland that did not
permit divorce, except for adultery alone,) passed laws
similar to those of the other cantons ; but so far from
such being the case, only one divorce took place, with
in a year after the laws were amended. What is

MARRY AT'S DIARY. 109

Itie reason of this! It can, in my opinion, only be ascribed to
the chain being worn more lightly, when yon know that if it
oppresses you, it may be removed. Men are naturally tyrants,
and they bear down upon the woman who cannot escape from,
their thraldom; but, with the knowledge that she can appeal
against them, they soften their rigor. On the other hand, the
woman, when unable to escape, frets with the feeling that she
must submit, and that there is no help or hope in prospect; but
once aware that she has her rights, and an appeal, she bears with
more, and feels less than otherwise she would. You may bind,
and from assuetude and time, (putting the better feelings out of
the question,) the ties are worn without complaint, but if you
bind too tight, you cut into the flesh, and after a time the pain
becomes insupportable. In Switzerland, Germany, and, I be
lieve, all the protestant communities of the old world, the
grounds upon which divorce is admissible ar,e as follows: —
adultery, condemnation of either party to punishment considered
as infamous, madness, contagious chronic diseases, desertion
and incompatibility of temper.

The last will be considered by most people as no ground for
divorce. Whether it is or not, 1 shall not pretend to decide,
but this is certain, that it is the cause of the most unhappiness,
and, ultimately, of the most crime.

All the great errors, all the various schisms in the Christian
church, have arisen from not taking the holy writings as a great
moral code, (as I should imagine they were intended to be,)
which legislates upon broad principles, but selecting particular
passages from them upon which to pin your faith. And it cer
tainly appears to me to be reasonable to suppose that those laws
by which the imperfection of our natures were fairly met, and
which tended to diminish the aggregate of crime, must be more
acceptable to our Divine Master than any which, however they
might be in spirit more rigidly conformable to his precepts,
were found in their working not to succeed. And here I cannot
help observing, that the heads of the church of England appear
not to have duly weighed this matter, when an attempt was lately
made to legislate upon it. Do the English bishops mean to
assert that they know better than the heads of all the other pro-
testant communities in the world — that they are more accurate
expounders of the gospel, and have a more intimate knowledge
of God's will? Did it never occur to them, that when so many
good and virtuous ecclesiastics of the same persuasion in other
countries have decided upon the propriety of divorce, so as to
leave them in a very small minority, that it might be possible
that they might be wrong, or do they intend to set up and claim
the infallibility of the papistical hierarchy?

Any legislation to prevent crime, which produces more crime,
must be bad and unsound, whatever may be its basis: witness
the bastardy clause in the New Poor Law Bill. That the
former arrangements were defective is undeniable, for by them,
there was a premium for illegitimate children. This required
10

HO MARRY AT'S DIARY.

amendment: but the remedy has proved infinitely worse than
the disease. For what has been the result] That there have
been many thousands fewer illegitimate children born, it is true;
but has the progress of immorality been checked? On the
contrary, crime has increased, for to the former crime has been
added one much greater, that of infanticide, or producing abor
tion. Such has been the effect of attempting to legislate for the
affections; for in most cases a woman falls a sacrifice to her bet
ter feelings, not to her appetite.

In every point connected with marriage, has this injurious
plan been persevered in; the marriage ceremony is a remarkable
instance of this, for, beautiful as it is as a service, it is certainly
liable to this objection, that of making people vow before God
that which it is not in human nature to control. The woman
vows to love, and to honor, and to cherish; the man to love and
cherish until death doth them part.

Is it right that this vow should be made? A man deserts his
wife for another, treats her cruelly, separates her from her chil
dren. Can a woman love, or honor, or cherish such a man? —
nevertheless, she has vowed before God that she will. Take
the reverse of the picture when the fault is on the woman's side,
and the evil is the same; can either party control their affec
tions? surely not, and therefore it would be better that such
TOWS should not be demanded.

There is another evil arising from one crime being the only
allowable cause of divorce, which is that the possession of one
negative virtue on the part of the woman, is occasionally made
an excuse for the practice of vice, and a total disregard of her
duties as a wife. I say negative virtue, for chastity very often
proceeds from temperament, and as often from not being tempted.

A woman may neglect her duties of every kind— but she is
chaste; she may make her husband miserable by indulgence of
her ill-temper— but she is chaste; she may squander his money,
ruin him by expense — but she is chaste; she may, in short, drive
him to drunkenness and suicide — but still she is chaste; and
chastity, like charity, covers the whole multitude of sins, and is
the scape-goat for every other crime, and violation of the mar
riage vow.

It must, however, be admitted, that although the faults may
occasionally be found on the side of the women, in nine times
out often it is the reverse; and that the defects of our marriage
laws have rendered English women liable to treatment which
ought not to be shown towards the veriest slaves in existence.

I must now enter into a question, which I should have had
more pleasure in passing over lightly, had it not been for the
constant attacks of the Americans upon this subject, during the
time that I was in the country, arid the remarks of Mr. Carey in
his work, in which he claims for the Americans pre-eminence
in this point, as well as upon all others.

Miss Martineau says, "The ultimate and very strong impres
sion on the mind of a stranger, pondering on the morals of so-

Ill

ciety in America, is that human nature is much the same every
where." Surely Miss Martineau need not have crossed the At
lantic to make this discovery; however I quote it, as it will
serve as a text to what is to follow.

The Americans claim excessive purity for their women, and
taunt us with the exposees occasionally made in our newspapers.
In the first place — which shows the highest regard for morality,
a country where any deviation from virtue is immediately made
known, and held up to public indignation? or one which, from
national vanity, and a wish that all should appear to be correct,
instead of publishing, conceals the facts, and permits the guilty
parties to escape without censure, for what they consider the
honor of the nation1?

To suppose there is no conjugal infidelity in the United States
is to suppose that human nature is not the same every where.
That it never, to my knowledge, was made public, but invaria
bly hushed up when discovered, I believe; so is suicide. But
one instance came to my knowledge, during the time that I was
in the States, which will give a very fair idea of American feel
ing on this subject. It was supposed that an intrigue had been
discovered, or, it had actually been discovered, I cannot say
which, between a foreigner and the wife of an English gentle
man. It was immediately seized upon with ecstacy, circulated
in all the papers with every American embellishment, and was
really the subject of congratulation among them, as if they had
gained some victory over this country. It so happened that an
American called upon the lady, and among other questions put
to her, inquired in what part of England she was bornl She
replied, "that she was not an English-woman, but was born in
the States, and brought up in an American city."

It is impossible to imagine how this mere trifling fact affected
the Americans. She was then an American — they were aghast
— and I am convinced that they would have made any sacrifice,
to have been able to have recalled all that they had done, and
have hushed up the matter.

The fact is, that human nature is the same every where, and I
cannot help observing, that if their community is so much more
moral, as they pretend that it is, why is it that they have consi
dered it necessary to form societies on such an extensive scale,
for the prevention of a crime from which they declare themselves
(comparatively with us and other nations) to be exempt] I once
had an argument on this subject with an elderly American gen
tleman, and as I took down the minutes of it after we parted, I
think it will be as well to give it to my readers, as it will show
the American feeling upon it.

** Why, Captain M., you must bear in mind that we are not
so vicious and contaminated here, as you are in the old country.
You don't see our newspapers filled, as yours are, with crim.
cons, in high life. No, sir, our institutions are favourable to
virtue and morality, and our women are as virtuous as our men
arc brave."

112 MARRY AT'S DIARY.

" I have no reason to deny either one assertion or the other,
as far as I am acquainted with your men and women ; but still
I do not judge from the surface, as many have done who have
visited you. Because there are no crim. cons, in your papers,
it does not prove that conjugal infidelity does not exist. There
are no suicides of people of any station in society ever published
in your newspapers, and yet there is no country where suicide is
more common."

" 1 grant that, occasionally, the coroner does bring in a verdict
so as to save the feelings of the family."

" That is more than a coroner would venture to do in England,
let the rank of the party be of the highest. But if you hush up
suicides, may you no.t also hush up other offences, to save the
feelings of families? I have already made up my mind upon
one point, which is, that you are content to substitute the appear
ance for the reality in your moral code—the fact is, you fear one
another — you fear society, but you do not fear God."

" I should imagine, captain, that when you have conversed,
and mixed up with us a little more, you will be inclined to re
tract, and acknowledge what I have said to be correct. I have
lived all my life in the States, and I have no hesitation in saying
that we are a very moral people. Recollect that you have prin
cipally confined yourself to our cities, during your stay with us ;
yet even there we may proudly challenge comparison."

" My opinion is, that unless you can show just cause why you
should be more moral than other nations, you are, whether in
cities or in the country, much the same as we are. I do not
require to examin-e on this point, as I consider it to be a rule-of-
three calculation. Give me the extent of the population, and I
can estimate the degree of purity. Mankind demoralize each
other by collision ; and the larger the numbers crowded together,
the greater will be the demoralization, and this rule will hold
good, whether in England or the United States, the Old World
or the New."

" That argument would hold good if it were not for our insti
tutions, which are favourable to morality and virtue."

" I consider them quite the contrary. Your institutions are
beautiful in theory, but in practice do not work well. I suspect
that your society has a very similar defect."

" Am I then to understand, captain, that you consider the
American ladies as not virtuous?"

" I have already said that I have had no proofs to the contra
ry; all I wish is to defend my own country, and I say that I
consider the English women at all events quite as moral as the
Americans."

*' I reckon that's no compliment, captain. Now, then, do
you mean to say that you think there is as much conjugal infi
delity in New York, in proportion to the population, as there is
in London? Now, captain, if you please, we will stick to that
point."

MARRY AT*S DIARY. 113

" I answer you at once. No, I do not believe that there is;
but "

" That's all I want, captain — never mind the buts."

"But you must have the buts. Recollect, I did not say that
your society was more moral, although 1 said that there was in
my opinion less infidelity."

" Weil, how can that be]"

" Because, in the first place, conjugal infidelity is not the only
crime which exists in society; and, secondly, because there are
causes which prevent its being common. That this vice should
be common, two things are requisite — time and opportunity;
neither of which is to be found in a society like yours. You have
no men of leisure, every man is occupied the whole day with his
business. Now, suppose one man was to stay away from his
business for merely one day, would he not be missed, and inqui
ries made after him; and if it were proved that he stayed away
to pass his time with his neighbour's wife, would not the scan
dal be circulated all over the city before night! I recollect a
very plain woman accusing a very pretty one of indiscretion; the
reply of the latter, when the former vaunted her own purity, was,
4 Were you ever asked]' Thus it is in America; there is neither
time nor opportunity, and your women are in consequence sel
dom or never tempted. I do not mean to say that if they were
tempted they would fall; all I say is, that no parallel can in this
instance be drawn between the women of the two countries, as
their situations are so very different. I am ready to do every
justice to your women; but I will not suffer you to remain in the
error, that you are more moral than we are."

" Why, you have admitted that we are from circumstances, if
not from principle."

•* In one point only, and in that you appear to be, and I have

fiven you a reason why you really should be so; but we can
raw no inference of any value from what we know relative to
your better classes of society. If we would examine and calcu
late the standard of morality in a country, we must look else
where]"
" Where]"

" To the lower class of society, and not to the highest. I pre
sume you are aware that there is a greater proportion of unfortu
nate females in New York, taking the extent of the populations,
than in London or Paris] I have it from American authority,
and I have every reason to believe that it is true."

" I am surprised that any American should have made such
an admission, captain; but for the sake of argument let it be so.
But first recollect that we have a constant influx of people from
the Old Country, from all the other States in America, and that
we are a sea port town, with our wharves crowded with ship
ping,"

" I admit it all, and that is the reason why you have so many.
The supply in all countries is usually commensurate with the
10*

114 MARRY At' S DIARY.

demand; but tho numbers have nothing- to do with the argu
ment."

" Then T cannot see what you are driving at; for allow me to
say that, admitting the class to be as numerous as you state
from American authority, still they are very orderly and well
behaved. You nevor see them drunk in the streets; you never
hear swearing or abusive language; and you do in London and
your sea-ports. There is a decorum and sense of propriety about
them which, you must admit, speaks well, even for those unfor
tunate persons, and shows some sense of morality and decency
even in our most abandoned."

" You have brought forward the very facts which I was about
to state, and it is from these facts that I draw quite contrary con
clusions. If your argument is good, it must follow that the
women of Paris are much more virtuous than the women of
London. Now, I consider that these facts prove that the stand
ard of morality is lower in America and France than it is in
England. A French woman who has fallen never drinks, or
uses bad language; she follows her profession, and seldom sinks,
but rises in it. The grisette eventually keeps her carriage, and
retires with sufficient to support her in her old age, if she does
not marry. The American women of this class appear to me to
be precisely the same description of people; whereas, in Eng
land, a woman who falls, falls never to rise again — sinking down
by degrees from bad to worse, until she ends her days in rags
and misery. But why sol because, as you say, they become
reckless and intemperate — they do feel their degradation, and
cannot bear up against it — they attempt to drown conscience,
and die from the vain attempt. Now, the French and the
American women of this class apparently do not feel this, and,
therefore, they behave and do better. This is one reason why
I argue that the standard of morality is not so high in your
country as with us, although from circumstances, conjugal infi
delity may be less frequent."

" Then, captain, you mean to say that cursing, swearing, and
drinking, is a proof of morality in your country?"

" It is a proof, not of the morality of the party, but of the high
estimation in which virtue is held, shown by the indifference
and disregard to every thing else after virtue is once lost."

This is a specimen of many arguments held with the Ameri
cans upon that question, and when examining into it, it should
be borne in mind that there is much less excuse for vice in
America than in the Old Countries. Poverty is but too often
the mother of crime, and in America it may be said that there is
no poverty to offer up in extenuation.

Mr. Carey appears to have lost sight of this fact when he so
triumphantly points at the difference between the working classes
of both nations, and quotes the Report of our Poor Law Com
missioners to prove the wretchedness and misery of ours. I
cannot, however, allow his assertions to pass without observa-

115

tion, especially as English and French travellers have been
equally content to admit without due examination the claims of
the Americans; I refer more particularly to the large manufac
tory at Lowell, in Massachusetts, which from its asserted purity
has been one of the boasts of America. Mr. Carey says —

"The following passage from a statement, furnished by the
manager of one of the principal establishments in Lowell, shows
a very gratifying state of things: — ' There have only occurred
three instances in which any apparently improper connection or
intimacy had taken place, and in all those cases the parties were
married on the discovery, and several months prior to the birth
of their children; so that, in a legal point of view, no illegiti
mate birth has taken place among the females employed in the
mills under my direction. Nor have I known of but one case
among all the females engaged in Lowell. I have said known
— I should say heard of one case. I am just informed, that that
was a case where the female had been employed but a few days
in any mill, and was forthwith rejected from the corporation, and
sent to her friends. In point of female chastity, 1 believe that
Lowell is as free from reproach as any place of an equal popula-
lation in the United States or the world.' V

And he winds up his chapter with the following remark: —

" The effect upon morals of this state of things, is of the most
gratifying character. The number of illegitimate children born
in the United States is small; so small, that we should suppose
one in fifty to be a high estimate. In the great factories of the east
ern states there prevails a high degree of morality, presenting a
most extraordinary contrast to the immorality represented to ex
ist in a large portion of those of England."

Next follows Miss Martineau, who says —

"The morals of the female factory population may be expected
to be good when it is considered of what class it is composed.
Many of the girls are in the factories because they have too
much pride for domestic service. Girls who are too proud for
domestic service as it is in America, can hardly be low enough
for any gross immorality, or to need watching, or not to be
trusted to avoid the contagion of evil example. To a stranger,
their pride seems to have taken a mistaken direction, and they
appear to deprive themselves of a respectable home and station,
and many benefits, by their dislike of service; but this is alto
gether their own affair, they must choose for themselves their
way of life. But the reasons of their choice indicate a state of
mind superior to the grossest dangers of their position."

And the Rev. Mr. Reid also echoes the praise of the factory
girls given by others, although he admits that their dress was
above their state and condition, and that he was surprised to see
them appear " in silks, with scarfs, veils, and parasols."

Here is a mass of evidence opposed to me, but the American evi
dence must be received with all due caution; and as for the Eng
lish, I consider it rather favorable to my side of the question than
otherwise. Miss Martineau says that " the girls have too much

116

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

pride for domestic service," and therefore, argues that they will
not he immoral; now, the two great causes of women falling off
from virtue, are poverty and false pride. What difference there
is between receiving money for watching a spinning-jenny, and
doing household work, I do not see; in either case if is sevitude,
although the former may be preferred, as being less under con
trol, and leaving more time at your own disposal. I consider the
pride, therefore, which MissMartineau upholds, to be false pride,
which will actuate them in other points; and when we find the
factory girls vying with each other in silks and laces, it be
comes a query whether the passion for dress, so universal in
America, may not have its effect there as well as elsewhere. I
must confess that I went to Lowell doubting all I had heard — it
was so contrary to human nature that five hundred girls should
live among a population of fifteen hundred, or more, all pure and
virtuous, and all dressed in silks and satin.

When I went to Lowell I travelled with an American gentle~
man, who will, 1 have no doubt, corroborate my statement, and
I must say that, however pure Lowell may have been at the time
when the encomiums were passed upon it, I have every reason
to believe, from American authority as well as my own observa-
tion, that a great alteration has taken place, and that the manu
factories have retrograded with the whole mass of American
society. In the first place, 1 never heard a more accomplished
swearer, east of the Alleghanies, than one young lady who ad
dressed me and my American friend, and as it was the only instance
of swearing on the part of a female that I ever met with in the
United States, it was the more remarkable. I shall only observe,
that two days at Lowell convinced me that " human nature was
the same every where," and thus I dismiss the subject.

Mr. Carey compels me to make a remark which I would
gladly have avoided, but as he brings forward his comparative
statements of the number of illegitimate children born in the two
countries as a prodf of the superior morality of America, I must
point out to him what I suspect he is not aware of. Public
opinion acts as law in America; appearances are there substi
tuted for the reality, and provided appearances are kept up,
whether it be in religion or morality, it is sufficient; but should
an exposure take place, there is no mercy for the offender. A»
those who have really the least virtue in themselves are always
the loudest to cry out at any lapse which may be discovered in
others, so does soeitXy in America pour out its anathemas in the
inverse ratio of its real purity. Now, although the authority I
speak from is undoubted, at the same time I wish to say as little
as possible. That there are fewer illegitimate children born in
the United States is very true. But why so? because public
opinion there acts as the bastardy clause in the new poor law
bill has done in this country; and if Mr. Carey will only inquire
in his own city, he will find that I should be justified if 1 said
twice as much, as I have been compelled in defence of my own
country to say, upon so unpleasant a subject.

MARRY AT'S DIARY. 117

CHAPTER X.

PUBLIC OPINION, OR THE MAJORITY.

THE majority are always in the right, so says Miss Mar
tineau, and so have said greater people than even Miss Mar-
tineau; to be sure Miss Martineau qualifies her expression after
wards, when she declares that they always will be right in the
end. What she means by that I do not exactly comprehend;
the end of a majority is its subsiding into a minority, and a mi
nority is generally right, But I rather think that she would
imply that they will repent and see their folly when the conse
quences fall heavily upon them. The great question is, what is
a majority? must it be a whole nation, or a portion of a nation,
or a portion of the population of a city; or, in fact, any plus
against any minus, be they small or be they large. For instance,
two against one are a majority, and, if so, any two scoundrels
may murder an honest man and be in the right; or it may be the
majority in any city, as in Baltimore, where they rose and mur
dered an unfortunate minority;* or it may be a majority on the
Canada frontier, when a set of miscreants defied their own go
vernment, and invaded the colony of a nation with whom they
were at peace — all of which is of course right. But there are
other opinions on this question besides those of Miss Martineau,
and we shall quote them as occasion serves.

* A striking instance of the excesses which may be occasioned by
the despotism of the majority, occurred at Baltimore in 1812. At that
time the war was very popular in Baltimore. A journal, which had
taken the other side of the question, excited the indignation of the in
habitants by its opposition. The populace assembled, broke the printing-
presses, and attacked the houses of the newspaper editors. The militia
was called out, but no one obeyed the call, and the only means of
saving the poor wretches, who were threatened by the freniy of the
mob, were to throw them into prison as common malefactors. But
even this precaution was ineffectual; the mob collected again during
the night, the magistrates again made a vain attempt to call out the
militia, the prison was forced, one of the newspaper editors was killed
upon the spot, and the others were left for dead; when the guilty par
ties were brought to trial, they were acquitted by the jury.

118

MARRY AT'S DIARY.

I have before observed, that Washington left America a re
public; and that in the short space of fifty years it has sunk into
a democracy.

The barrier intended to be raised against the encroachments
of the people has been swept away; the senate (which was in
tended, by the arrangements for its election, to have served as
the aristocracy of the legislature, as a deliberative check to the
impetus of the majority, like our House of Lords) having latterly
become virtually nothing more than a second congress, receiving
instructions, and submissive to them, like a pledged representa
tive. This is what Washington did not foresee.

Washington was himself an aristocrat; he showed it in every
way. He was difficult of access, except to the higher classes.
He carried state in his outward show, always wearing his uni
form as general of the forces, and attended by a guard of honor.
Indeed, one letter of Washington's proves that he was rather
doubtful as to the working of the new government shortly after
it had been constituted. He says —

"Among men of reflection few will be found, I believe, who
are not beginning to think that our system is better in theory
than in practice, and that notwithstanding the boasted virtue of
America, it is more than probable we shall exhibit the last melan
choly prorf, that mankind are incompetent to their own govern
ment without the means of coercion in the sovereign"*

This is a pretty fair admission from such high authority; and
fifty years has proved the wisdom and foresight of the observa
tion. Gradually as the aristocracy of the country wTore out, (for
there was an aristocracy at that time in America,) and the peo
ple became less and less enlightened, so did they encroach upon
the constitution. President after president gradually laid down
the insignia and outward appearance of rank, the senate became
less and less respectable, and the people more and more autho
ritative.

M. Tocqueville says, " When the American revolution broke
out, distinguished political characters arose in great numbers;
for public opinion then served, not to tyrannise over, but to di
rect the exertions of individuals. Those celebrated men took a
full part in the general agitation of mind common at that period,
and they attained a high degree of personal fame, which was
reflected back upon the nation, but which was by no means bor
rowed from it."

It was not, however, until the presidency of General Jackson,
that the democratic party may be said to have made any serious
inroads upon the constitution. Their previous advances were
indeed sure, but they were, comparatively speaking, slow; but
raised as he was to the office of President by the mob, the de
magogues who led the mob obtained the offices under govern-

Washington's letter to Chief Justice Jay, 10th March, 1787.

119

ment, to the total exclusion of the aristocratic party, whose doom
was then seated. Within the last ten years the advance of the
people has been like a torrent, sweeping and levelling all before
it, and the will of the majority has become not only absolute
with the government, but it defies the government itself, which
is too weak to oppose it.

Is it not strange, and even ridiculous, that under a govern
ment established little more than fifty years, a government which
was to be a lesson to the whole world, we should find political
writers making use of language such as this: " We are for re
form, sound progressive reform, not subversion and destruction."
Yet such is an extract from one of the best written American
periodicals of the day. This is the language that may be ex
pected to be used in a country like England, which still legis
lates under a government of eight hundred years old; but what
a failure must that government be, which in fifty years calls forth
even from its advocates such an admission!!

M. Tocqueville says, " Custom, however, has done even more
than laws. A proceeding which will in the end set all the
guarantees of representative government at nought, is becoming
more and more general in the United States: it frequently hap
pens that the electors who choose u delegate, point out a certain
line of conduct to him, and impose upon him a certain number
of positive obligations, which he is pledged to fulfil. With the
exception of the tumult, this comes to the same thing as if the
majority of the populace held its deliberations in the market
place."

Speaking of the majority as the popular will, he says, "no
obstacles exist which can impede, or so much as retard its pro
gress, or which can induce it to heed the complaints of those
whom it crushes upon its path. This state of things is fatal in
itself, and dangerous for the future."

My object in this chapter is to inquire what effect has been
produced upon the morals of the American people by this ac
knowledged dominion of the majority1?

1st. As to the mass of the people themselves. It is elear, if
the people not only legislate, but, when in a state of irritation or
excitement, they defy even legislation, that they are not to be
compared to restricted sovereigns, but to despots, whose will
and caprice are law. The vices of the court of a despot are,
therefore, practised upon the people; for the people become, as
it were, the court, to whom those in authority, or those who
would be in authority, submissively bend the knee. A despot
is not likely ever to hear the truth, for moral courage fails where
there is no law to protect it, and where honest advice may be
rewarded by summary punishment. The people, therefore, like
the despot are never told the truth; on the contrary, they receive
and expect the most abject submission from their courtiers, to
wit, those in office, or expectants.

Now, the President of the United States may be considered

120

MARRY AT's DIARY.

the Prime Minister of an enlightened public, who govern them
selves, and his communication with them is in his annual^nes-
sage.

Let us examine what Mr. Van Buren says in his last mes
sage.

First, he humbly acknowledges their power.

"A national hank," he tells them, " would impair the rightful
supremacy of the popular will."

And this he follows up with that most delicate species of flat
tery, that of praising them for the very virtue which they are
most deficient in; telling them they are "A people to whom the
truth, however unpromising, can always be told with safety."

At the very time when they were defying all law and all
government, he says, " It was reserved for the American Union
to test the advantage of a government entirely dependent on the
continual exercise of the popular will, and our experience has
shown that it is as beneficent in practice, as well as it is just in
theory."

At the very time when nearly the whole Union were assisting
the insurrection in Canada with men and money, he tells them
"That temptations to interfere in the intestine commotions of
neighboring countries have been thus far successfully resisted."

This is quite enough; Mr. Van Buren's motives are to be re-
elected as president. That is very natural on his part; but how
can you expect a people to improve wTho never hear the truth?

Mr. Cooper observes, " Monarchshave incurred more hazards
from follies of their own that have grown up under the adulation
of parasites, than from the machinations of their enemies; and
in a democracy, the delusion that still would elsewhere be poured
into the ears of the prince, is poured into those of the people.

The same system is pursued by all those who would arrive at
or remain in place and power; and what must be the conse
quence"? That the straight-forward, honorable upright man is
rejected by the people, while the parasite, the adulator, the de
magogue, who flatters their opinion, asserts their supremacy,
and yields to their arbitrary demands, is the one selected by
them for place and power. Thus do they demoralize each other;
and it is not until a man has, by his abject submission to their
will, in contradiction to his own judgment and knowledge,

K roved that he is unworthy of the selection which he courts, that
e is permitted to obtain it. Thus it is that the most able and
conscientious men in the States are almost unanimously rejected.
M. Tocqueville says, " It is a well-authenticated fact, that at
the present day the most talented men in the United States are
very rarely placed at the head of affairs; and it must be acknow
ledged that such has been the result in proportion as democracy
has outstepped all its former limits; the race of American states
men has evidently dwindled most remarkably in the course of
the last fifty years."

Indeed, no high-minded consistent, man will now offer himself,
and this is one cause among many why Englishmen and fo-

121

reigners have not done real justice to the people of the United
States. The scum is uppermost, and they do not see below it.
The prudent, the enlightened, the wise, and the good, have all
retired into the shade, preferring to pass a life of quiet retirement,
rather than submit to the insolence and dictation of a mob.

M. Tocqueville says, " Whilst the natural propensities of de
mocracy induce the people to reject the most distinguished citi
zens as its rulers, these individuals are no less apt to retire from
a political career, in which it is almost impossible to retain their
independence, or to advance without degrading themselves."

Again, " At the present day the most affluent classes of society
are so entirely removed from the direction of political affairs in
the United States, that wealth, far from conferring a right to the
exercise of power, is rather an obstacle than a means of attaining
to it. The wealthy members of the community abandon the
lists, through unwillingness to contend, and frequently to con
tend in vain, against the poorest classes of their fellow-citizens.
They concentrate all their enjoyments in the privacy of their
homes, where they occupy a rank which cannot be assumed in
public, and they constitute a private society in the state which
has its own tastes and its own pleasures. They submit to this
state of things as an irremediable evil, but they are careful not
to show that they are galled by its continuance. It is even not
uncommon to hear them laud the delights of a republican go
vernment, and the advantages of democratic institutions, when
they are in public. Next to hating their enemies, men are most
inclined to flatter them. But beneath this artificial enthusiasm,
and these obsequious attentions to the preponderating power, it
is easy to perceive that the wealthy members of the community
entertain a hearty distaste to the democratic institutions of their
country. The populace is at once the object of their scorn and
of their fears. If the maladministration of the democracy ever
brings about a revolutionary crisis, and if monarchical constitu
tions ever become practicable in the United States, the truth of
what I advance will become obvious/'

It appears, then, that the more respectable portion of its citi
zens have retired, leaving the arena open to those who are least
worthy: that the majority dictate, and scarcely any one ventures
to oppose them; if any one does, he is immediately sacrificed;
the press, obedient to its masters, pours out its virulence, and it
is incredible how rapidly a man, unless he be of a superior mind,
falls into nothingness in the United States, when once he has
dared to oppose the popular will. He is morally bemired, be
spattered, and trod under foot, until he remains a lifeless carcase.
He falls, never to rise again, unhonored and unremembered.

Captain Hamilton, speaking to one of the federalist, or aristo-
cratical party, received the following reply. I have received
similar ones in more than fifty instances. " My opinions, and I
believe those of the party to which I belonged, are unchanged;
and the course of events in this country has been such as to im-
tl

122 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

press only a deeper and more thorough conviction of their wis
dom; but, in the present state of public feeling, we dare not
express them. An individual professing- such opinions would
not only find himself excluded from every office of public trust
within the scope of his reasonable ambition, but he would be
regarded by his neighbors and fellow-citizens with an evil eye.
His words and actions would become the objects of jealous and
malignant scrutiny, and he would have to sustain the unceasing
attacks of a host of unscrupulous and ferocious assailants."

Mr. Cooper says, " The besetting, the degrading vice of Ame
rica, is the moral cowardice by which men are led to truckle to
what is called public opinion, though nine times in ten these
opinions are mere engines set in motion by the most corrupt and
least respectable portion of the community, for the most unwor
thy purposes. The English are a more respectable and constant
[unconstant?] nation than the Americans, as relates to this
peculiarity."

To be popular with the majority in America, to be a favourite
with the people, you must first divest yourself of all freedom of
opinion; you must throw off all dignity; you must shake hands
and drink with every man you meet; you must be, in fact, slo
venly and dirty in your appearance, or you will be put down as
an aristocrat. 1 recollect once an American candidate asked me if
I would walk out with him'? I agreed ; but he requested leave
to change his coat, which was a decent one, for one very shabby;
" for," says he, " I intend to look in upon some of my constitu
ents, and if they ever saw me in that other coat, I should lose
my election." This cannot but remind the reader of the custom
of candidates in former democracies — standing up in the market
place as suppliants in tattered garments, to solicit the "voices"'
of the people.

That the morals of the nation have retrograded from the total
destruction of the aristocracy, both in the government and in
society, which has taken place within the last ten years, is most
certain.

The power has fallen into the hands of the lower orders, the of
fices under government have been chiefly filled up by their favor
ites, either being poor and needy men from their own class, or
base and dishonest men, who have sacrificed their principles and
consciences for place. I shall enter more fully into this subject
hereafter; it is quite sufficient at present to say, that during Mr.
Adams' presidency, a Mr. Benjamin Walker was a defaulter to
the amount of $18,000, and was in consequence incarcerated for
two "years. Since the democratic party have come into power,
the quantity of defaulters, and the sums which have been em
bezzled of government money, are enormous, and no punishment
of any kind has been attempted. They say it is only a breach
of trust, and that a breach of trust is not punishable, except by
a civil action; which certainly in the United States is of little
avail, as the payment of the money can always be evaded. The

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 123

consequence is that you meet with defaulters in, I will not say
ihe very be.:t society generally, but in the very best society of
some portions of the United States. I have myself sat down to
a dinner party to which I had been invited, witli a defaulter to
government on each side of me. I knew one that was setting
up for Congress, and, strange to say, his delinquency was not
considered by the people as an objection. An American author*
states, '-On" the 17th June, 1838, the United States treasurer
reported to Congress sixty-three defaulters; the total sums
embezzled amounting to one million twenty thousand and odd
dollars."

The tyranny of the majority has completely destroyed the
moral courage of the American people, and without moral cour
age what chance is there of any fixed standard of morality1?

M. Tocqueville observes, " Democratic republics extend the
practice of currying favour with the many, and they introduce it
into a greater number of classes at once; this is one of the most
serious reproaches that can be addressed to them. In democra
tic States organized on the principles of the American republics
this is more especially the case, where the authority of the ma
jority is so absolute and irresistible, that a man must give up his
rights as a citizen, and almost abjure his quality as a human
being, if he intends to stray from the track which it lays down.
" In that immense crowd which throngs the avenues to power
in the United States, I found very few men who displayed any
of that manly candor, and that masculine independence of
opinion, which frequently distinguished the Americans in former
times, and which constitutes the leading feature in distinguished
characters wheresoever they may be found. It seems, at first
sight, as if all the minds of the Americans were formed upon one
model, so accurately do they correspond in their manner of
judging. A stranger does, indeed, sometimes meet with Ameri
cans who dissent from these rigorous formularies; with men who
deplore the defects of the laws; the mutability and the ignorance
of democracy; who even go so far as to observe the evil ten
dencies which impair the national character, and to point out
such remedies as it might be possible to apply; but no one is
there to hear these things beside yourself, and you, to whom
these secret reflections are confided, are a stranger and a bird of
passage. They are very ready to communicate truths which are
useless to you, but they continue to hold a different language in
public."*

* Voice from America.

t Mr. Carey in his introduction says: u Freedom of discussion is
highly promolive of the power of protection. The free expressions of
opinion in relation to matters of public interest is indispensable to
security."

He denies that we have it in England, and would prove that thia
exists in America; and how?

124 MARRYAT'S DIARY".

There are a few exceptions — Clay and Webster are men of
such power as to be able, to a certain degree, to hold their inde
pendence. Dr. Channing has proved himself an honour to his
country and to the world. Mr. Cooper has also great merit in
this point: and no man has certainly shown more moral courage,
let his case be good or not, than Garrison, the leader of the
abolition party.

But with these few and remarkable exceptions, moral courage
is almost prostrate in the United States. The most decided
specimen I met with to the contrary was at Cincinnati, when a
large portion of the principal inhabitants ventured to express
their opinion, contrary to the will of the majority, in my defence,
and boldly proclaimed their opinions by inviting me to a public
dinner. I told them my opinion of their behaviour, and I gave
them my thanks. I repeat rny opinion and my thanks now;
they had much to contend with; but they resisted boldly; and
not only from that remarkakle instance of daring to oppose pub
lic opinion when all others quailed, but from many other circum
stances, I have an idea that Cincinnati will one day take an im
portant lead, as much from the spirit and courage of her citizens,
as from her peculiarly fortunate position. I had a striking in
stance to the contrary at St. Louis, when they paraded me in
effigy through the streets. Certain young Bostonians, who
would have been glad enough to have seized my hand when in
the Eastern States, before I had happened to affront the majority,
kept aloof, or shuffled away, so as not to be obliged to recog
nize me. Such have been the demoralizing effects of the tyranny
of public opinion in the short space of fifty years, and I will now
wind up this chapter by submitting to the reader extracts from
the two French authors, one of whom describes America in 1762,.
and the other in 1835.

AMERICA IN 1782.

" Je vais, disais-je, mettre a la voile aujourd'hui; je m'eloigne
avec un regret infini d'un pays ou 1'on est, sans obstacle et sans
inconvenient, ce qu'on devrait etre partout, sincere et libre." —
" On y pense, on y dit, on y fait ce q'on veut. Rien ne vous
oblige d'y etre ni faux, ni bas, ni flatteur. Personne ne se
choque de la singularite de vos manieres ni de vos gouts." —
Memoires ou Souvenirs de M. de Segur, vol. i. p. 409.

AMERICA IN 1835.

" L'Amerique est done un pays de liberte, ou pour ne blesser
personne, on ne doit parler librement, ni des gouverans, ni des

1st. By the permission of every man to be of any religion ho
pleases! !

2d. By the freedom of the press in the United States! »

125

gouvernes, ni des entreprises publiques, ni des entreprises pri-
vees; de rien, enfin, de ce qu'on y rencontre si non peut-etre du
climat et du sol; encore trouve-t-on des Americains prets a de-
fendre Pun et 1'autre, comme s'ils avaient concouru a les for
mer." — M. de Tocqueville sur la Democratic aux Etats Unis de
i vol. ii. p. 118.

11*

126

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

CHAPTER XL

PATRIOTISM.

THIS is a word of very doubtful meaning; and until we have
the power to analyze the secret springs of action, it is impossi
ble to say who is or who is not a patriot. The Chartist, the
White Boy, may really be patriots in their hearts, although they
are attempting revolution, and are looked upon as the enemies of
good order. Joseph Hume may be a patriot, so may O'Connell,

so may ; but never mind; I consider that if, in most cases,

in all countries, the word egotism were substituted it would be
more correct, and particularly so in America.

M. Tocqueville says, "The inhabitants of the United States
talk a great deal of their attachment to their country; but I con
fess that I do not rely upon that calculating patriotism which is
founded upon interest, and which a change in the interests at
stake may obliterate."

The fact is, that the American is aware that what affects the
general prosperity must affect the individual, and he therefore
is anxious for the general prosperity; he also considers that he
assists to legislate for the country, and is therefore equally in
terested in such legislature being prosperous; if, therefore, you
attack his country, you attack him personally — you wound his
vanity and self-love.

In America, it is not our rulers who have done wrong or right:
it is we (or rather I) who have done wrong or right, and the
consequence is, that the American is rather irritable on the sub
ject, as every attack is taken as personal. It is quite ridiculous
to observe how some of the very best of the Americans are
tickled when you praise their country and institutions; how
they will wince at any qualification in your praise, and actually
writhe under auy positive disparagement. They will put ques
tions, even if they anticipate an unfavorable answer; they can
not help it. What is the reason of this? Simply their better
sense wrestling with the errors of education and long-cherished
fallacies. They feel that their institutions do not work as they
would wish; that the theory is not borne out by the practice,
and they want support against their own convictions. They

MARR VAT'S DIARY. 127

cannot bear to eradicate deep-rooted prejudices, which have been
from their earliest days a source of pride and vain-glory; and to
acknowledge that what they have considered as most perfect,
what they have boasted of as a lesson to other nations, what they
have suffered so much to uphold, in surrendering their liberty
of speech, of action, and of opinion, has after all proved to be a
miserable failure, and instead of a lesson to other nations — a
warning.

Yet such are the doubts, the misgivings which fluctuate in,
and irritate the minds of a very large proportion of the Ameri
cans; and such is the decided conviction of a portion who retire
into obscurity and are silent; and every year adds to the number
of both these parties. They remind one of a husband who,
having married for love, and supposed his wife to be perfection,
gradually finds out she is full of faults, and renders him any
thing but happy; but his pride will not allow him to acknow
ledge that he has committed an error in his choice, and he con
tinues before the world to descant upon her virtues, and to conceal
her errors, while he feels that his home is miserable.

It is because it is more egotistical that the patriotism of the
American is more easily roused and more easily affronted. He
has been educated to despise all other countries, and to look
upon his own as the first in the world; he has been taught that
all other nations are slaves to despots, and that the American
citizen only is free, and this is never contradicted. For although
thousands may in their own hearts feel the falsehood of their
assertions, there is not one who will venture to express his
opinion. The government sets the example, the press follows
it, and the people receive the incense of flattery, which in other
countries is offered to the court alone, and if it were not for the
occasional compumtions and doubts, which his real good sense
will sometimes visit him with, the more enlightened American
would be happy in his own delusions, as the majority most cer
tainly may be said to be.

M. Tocqueville says, " For the last fifty years no pains have
been spared to convince the inhabitants of the United States that
they constitute the only religious, enlightened, and free people.
They perceive that, for the present, their own democratic insti
tutions succeed, while those of other countries fall; hence they
conceive an overweening opinion of their superiority, and they
are not very remote from believing themselves to belong to a
distinct race of mankind."

There are, however, other causes which assist this delusion
an the part of the majority of the Americans; the principal of
which is the want of comparison. The Americans are too far
removed from the old continent, and are too much occupied even
if they were not, to have time to visit it, and make the com
parison between the settled countries and their own. America
is so vast, that if they travel in it, their ideas of their own im
portance become magnified. The only comparisons they are able

128 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

to make are only as to the quantity of square acres in each coun
try, which, of course, is vastly in their favor.

Mr. Sanderson, the American, in his clever Sketches of Paris,
observes, " It is certainly of much value in the life of an Ameri
can gentleman to visit these old countries, if it were only to form
a just estimate of his own, which he is continually liable to mis
take, and always to overrate without objects of comparison;
4 nimium se asstimet necesse est, guise nemini comparatS He will
always think himself wise who sees nobody wiser; and to know
the customs and institutions of foreign countries, which one
cannot know well without residing there, is certainly the com
plement of a good education."

After all, is there not a happiness in this delusion on the part
of the American majority, and is not the feeling of admiration
of their own country borrowed from ourselves1? The feeling may
be more strong with the Americans, because it is more egotistical;
but it certainly is the English feeling transplanted, and growing
in a ranker soil. We may accuse the Americans of conceit, of
wilful blindness, of obstinacy; but there is after all a great good
iu being contented with yourself and yours. The English show
it differently; but the English are not so good tempered as the
Americans. They grumble at every thing; they know the faults
of their institutions, but at the same time they will allow of no
interference. Grumbling is a luxury so great, that an English
man will permit it only to himself. The Englishman grumbles
at his government, under which he enjoys more rational liberty
than the individual of any other nation in the world. The
American, ruled by the despotism of the majority, and with
out liberty of opinion or speech, praises his institutions to the
skies. The Englishman grumbles at his climate, which, if we
were to judge from the vigor and perfection of the inhabitants,
is, notwithstanding its humidity, one of the best in the world.
The American vaunts his above all others, and even thinks it
necessary to apologise for a bad day, although the climate, from
its sudden extremes, withers up beauty, and destroys the nervous
system. In every thing connected with, and relating to America,
the American has the same feeling. Calculating, wholly mat
ter-of-fact and utilitarian in his ideas, without a poetic sense of
his own, he is annoyed if a stranger does not express that rap
ture at their rivers, waterfalls, and woodland scenery, which he
himself does not feel. As far as America is concerned, every
thing is for the best in this best of all possible countries. It is
laughable, yet praiseworthy, to observe how the whole nation
will stoop down to fan the slightest spark which is elicited of
native genius — like the London cit., who is enraptured with his
own stunted cucumbers, which he has raised at ten times the
expense which would have purchased fine ones in the market.
It were almost a pity that the American should be awakened
from his dream, if it were not that the arrogance and conceit
arising from it may eventually plunge him into difficulty.

UARRYAT'S DIARY. 129

But let us be fair; America is the country of enthusiasm and
hope, and we must not be too severe upon what from a virgin
soil has sprung up too luxuriantly. It is but the English amor
patriae, carried to too great an excess. The Americans are great
boasters; but are we far behind them] One of our most popular
songs runs as follows: —

" We ne'er see our foes, but we wish them to stay;
They never see u?, but they wish us away."

What can be more bragging, or more untrue, than the words
of these lines? In the same way in England the common people
hold it as a proverb, that "one Englishman can beat three
Frenchmen," but there are not many Englishmen who would
succeed in the attempt. Nor is it altogether wrong to encourage
these feelings; although arrogance is a fault in an individual, in
a national point of view, it often becomes the incentive to great
actions, and, if not excessive, insures the success inspired by
confidence. As by giving people credit for a virtue which they
have not, you very often produce that virtue in them, I think it
not unwise to implant this feeling in the hearts of the lower
classes, who, if they firmly believe that they can beat three
Frenchmen, will at all events attempt to do it. That too great
success is dangerous, and that the feeling of arrogance produced
by it may lead us into the error of despising our enemy, we our
selves showed an example of in our first contest with America
during the last war. In that point America and England have
now changed positions, and from false education, want of com
parison, and unexpected success in their struggle with us, they
are now much more arrogant than we were when most flushed
with victory. They are blind to their own faults and to the
merits of others, and while they are so, it is clear that they will
offend strangers, and never improve themselves. 1 have often
laughed at the false estimate held by the majority in America as
to England. One told me, with a patronizing air, that "in a
short time, England would only be known as having been the
mother of America."

" When you go into our interior, captain," said a New York
gentleman to me, " you will see plants, such as rhododendrons,
magnolias, and hundreds of others, such as they have no con
ception of in your own country."

One of Jim Crow's verses in America is a fair copy from us:

" Englishman he beat
Two French or Portugee;
Yankee-doodle come down,
Whip them. all three."

But an excellent specimen of the effect of American education
was given the other day in this country, by an American lad of

130 MVRRYAT'S DIARY.

fourteen or fifteen years old. He was at a dinner party, and
after dinner the conversation turned upon the merits of the Duke
of Wellington. After hearing the just encomiums for some time
with fidgetty impatience, the lad rose from his chair, " You
talk ahout your Duke of Wellington, what do you say to Wash
ington: do you pretend to compare Wellington to Washington"?
Now, I'll just tell you, if Washington could be standing here
now, and the Duke of Wellington was only to look him in the

face; why, Sir, Wellington would drop down dead in an

instant." This I was told by the gentleman at whose table it
occurred.

Even when they can use their eyes, they will not. I over
heard a conversation on the deck of a steam-boat between a man
who had just arrived from England and another. *' Have they
much trade at Liverpool1?" inquired the latter. " Yes, they've
some." "And at London!" " Not much there, I reckon. New
York, Sir, is the emporium of the whole world."

This national vanity is fed in every possible way. At one of
the museums, I asked the subject of a picture representing a
naval engagement; the man (supposing I was an American, I
presume) replied, " that ship there," pointing to one twice as big
as the other, "is the Macedonian English frigate, and that other
frigate," pointing to the small one, "is the Constitution Ameri
can frigate, which captured her in less than five minutes." In
deed, so great has this feeling become from indulgence, that
they will not allow any thing to stand in its way, and will sa
crifice any body or any thing to support it. It was not until I
arrived in the United States that I was informed by several
people that Captain Lawrence, who commanded the Chesapeake,
was drunk when he went into action. Speaking of the action,
one man shook his head, and said, "Pity poor Lawrence had
his failing; he was otherwise a good officer." I was often told
the same thing, and a greater libel was never uttered; but thus
was a gallant officer's character sacrificed to sooth the national
vanity. I hardly need observe, that the American naval officers
are as much disgusted with the assertion as I was myself. That
Lawrence fought under disadvantages — that many of his ship's
company, hastily collected together from leave, were not sober,
and that there was a want of organisation from just coming out
of harbor — is true, and quite sufficient to account for his defeat;
but I have the evidence of those who walked with him down tb
his boat, that he was perfectly sober, cool, and collected, as he
always had proved himself to be. But there is no gratitude
in a democracy, and to be unfortunate is to be guilty.

There is a great deal of patriotism of one sort or the other in
the American women. I recollect once, when conversing with
a highly-cultivated and beautiful American woman, I inquired
if she knew a lady who had been sometime in England, and
who was a great favourite of mine. She replied, "Yes."
"Don't you like her!" "To confess the truth, I do not," re-

MARRY AT'S DIARY. 131

plied she; " she is too English for me." " That is to say, she
likes England and the English." "That is what 1 mean." 1
replied, that "had she been in England, she would probably
have become too English also; for, with her cultivated and ele
gant ideas, she must naturally have been pleased with the re
finement, luxury, and established grades in society, which it had
taken eight hundred years to produce." " If that is to be the
case, I hope I may never go to England."

Now, this was true patriotism, and there is much true patriotism
among the higher classes of the American women; with them
there is no alloy of egotism.

Indeed, all the women in America are very patriotic; but I do
not give them all the same credit. In the first place, they are
controlled by public opinion as much as the men are; and with
out assumed patriotism they would have no chance of getting
husbands. As you descend in the scale, so are they the more
noisy; and, I imagine, for that very reason the less sincere.

Among what may be termed the middling classes, I have
been very much amused with the compound of vanity and igno
rance \vhich I have met with. Among this class they can read
and write, but almost all their knowledge is confined to their
own country, especially in geography, which I soon discovered.
It was hard to beat them on American ground, but as soon as
you got them off that they were defeated. I wish the reader to
understand particularly, that I am not speaking now of the well-
bred Americans, but of lhat portion which would with us be
considered as on a par with the middle class of shop-keepers; for
I had a very extensive acquaintance. My amusement was, .to
make some comparison between the two countries, which I knew
would immediately bring on the conflict I desired; and not with
out danger, for I sometimes expected, in the ardor of their pa
triotism, to meet with the fate of Orpheus.

I soon found that the more I granted, the more they demanded:
and that the best way was never to grant any thing. I was onc^
in a room full of the softer sex, chiefly girls, of all ages; when
the mamma of a portion of them, who was sitting on the sofa, as
we mentioned steam, said, " Well now, captain, you will allow
that we are a-head of you there."

" No," replied I, " quite the contrary. Our steam-boats go all
over the world— your's are afraid to leave the rivers."

"Well now, captain, I suppose you'll allow America is a bit
bigger country than England ]"

" It's rather broader — but, if I recollect right, it's not quite so
long."

"Why, captain!"

" Well, only look at the map."

"Why, isn't the Mississippi a bigger river than you have in
England 1"

" Bigger 1 Pooh ! haven't we got the Thames ?"

" The Thames 1 why that's no river at all."

132 MARRVAT'S DIARY.

"Isn't if? Just look at the map, and measure them."

" Well now, captain, I tell you what, you call your Britain
the mistress of the seas, yet we whipped you well, and you
know that."

"Oh! yes — you refer to the Shannon and Chesapeake, don't
you1?"

"No! not that time, because Lawrence was drunk, they say;
but didn't we whip you well at New Orleans?"

"No, you didn't."

"No? oh, captain!"

" I say you did not. If your people had come out from behind
their cotton bales and sugar casks, we'd have knocked you all
into a cocked hat; but they wouldn't come, so we walked away
in disgust."

" Now, captain, that's romancing — that won't do." Here the
little ones joined in the cry, "We did beat you, and you know
it." And hauling me into the centre of the room, they joined
hands in a circle, and danced round me, singing,

" Yankee doodle is a tune,
Which is nation handy,
All the British ran away
At Yankee doodle dandy."

I shall conclude by stating that this feeling, call it patriotism,
or what you please, is so strongly implanted in the bosom of the
American by education and association, that wherever, or when
ever, the national honor or character is called into question, there-
is no sacrifice which they will not make to keep up appearances.
It is this which induces them to acquit murderers, to hush up
suicides, or any other offence which may reflect upon their as
serted morality. I would put no confidence even in an official
document from the government, for I have already ascertained
how they will invariably be twisted, so as to give no offence to
the majority; and the base adulation of the government to thp
people is such, that it dare not tell them the truth, or publish
any thing which mi^ht wound its self-esteem.

I shall conclude with two extracts from a work of Mr. Cooper,
the American: —

"We are almost entirely wanting in national pride, though
abundantly supplied with an irritable vanity, which might ris<»
to pride had we greater confidence in our facts."

" We have the sensitiveness of provincials, increased by the
consciousness of having our spurs to earn on all matters of glory
and renown, and our jealousy extends even to the reputations of the
cats and dogs."

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 133

CHAPTER XII.

ENGLAND AND THE UNITED STATES.

CAPTAIN HAMILTON has, in his work, expressed his opinion
that the Americans have no feeling of ill-will against this coun
try. If Captain Hamilton had stated that the gentlemen and
more respectable portion of the Americans, such as the New
York merchants, &c., had no feeling against this country, and
were most anxious to keep on good terms with us, he would
have been much more correct. You will find all .the respecta
ble portion of the daily press using their best endeavours to re
concile any animosities, and there is nothing which an Ameri
can gentleman is more eloquent upon, when he falls in with an
Englishman, than in trying to convince him that there is no hos
tile feeling against this country.* I had not been a week at
New York before I had this assurance given me at least twenty
times, and I felt inclined at first to believe it: but I soon dis
covered that this feeling was only confined to a small minority,
and that the feelings towards England of the majority, or demo
cratic party, were of deep irreconcilable hatred. I arn sorry to
assert this; but it is better that it should be known, that we may
not be misled by any pretended good-will on the part of the gov
ernment, or the partial good will of a few enlightened individ
uals. Even those who have a feeling of regard and admiration
for our country do not venture to make it known, and it would
place them in so very unpleasant a situation, that they can
scarcely be blamed for keeping their opinions to themselves.
With the English they express it warmly, and I believe them to
be sincere; but not being openly avowed by a few, it is not com
municated or spread by kindling similar warmth in the hearts of
others. Indeed it is not surprising, when we consider the na
tional character, that there should be an ill-feeling towards Eng-

* Soon after I arrived at Nc\v York, the naval officers very kindly
sent me a diploma as honorary member of their Lyceum, over at Brook
lyn. I went over to visit the Lyceum, and among other portraits,
in the most conspicuous pnrt of the room, was that of William IV.,
with the "Sailor King1' written underneath it in large capitals. As
for the present Queen, her health has been repeatedly drank in my
presence ; indeed her accession to our throne appeared to have put a
large poition of the Americans in good homour with monarchy. Up
to the present she lias been quite a pet of theirs, and they arc con
tinually asking questions concerning her. Tlio fact is, that the Ameri
cans show such outward deference to the other sex, that I do not
think they wouid have any objection themselves to be governed by it;
and if ever a monarchy were attempted in the United States, the first
reigning sovereign ought to be a very pretty woman.
12

134 MARRY AT'S DIARY.

land; it would be much more strange if the feeling did not ex
ist. That the Americans should, after their struggle for inde
pendence, have felt irritated against the mother country, is natu
ral; they had been oppressed— they had successfully resented
the oppression, and emancipated themselves. But still the feel
ing at that time was different from the one which at present ex
ists. Then it might be compared to the feeling in the heart of a
younger son of an ancient house, who had been compelled by
harsh treatment to disunite from the head of the family, and pro
vide for himself — still proud of his origin, yet resentful at the
remembrance of injury—at times vindictive, at others full of ten
derness and respect. The aristocratical and the democratical
impulses by turns gaining the ascendant it was then a manly,
fine feeling. The war of 1814, the most fatal event in the short
American history, would not have been attended with any in
crease of ill-will, as the Americans were satisfied with their suc
cessful repulse of our attempts to invade the country, and their
unexpected good fortune in their naval conflicts. They felt that
they had consideration and respect in the eyes of other nations,
and, what was to them still more gratifying, the respect of En
gland herself. In every point they were fortunate, for a peace
was concluded upon honourable terms just as they were begin
ning to feel the bitter consequences of the war. But the effect
of this war was to imbue the people with a strong idea of their
military prowess, and the national glory became their favourite
theme. Their hero, General Jackson, was raised to the presi
dency by the democratical party, and ever since the Americans
have been ready to bully or quarrel with anybody and about
everything.

This feeling becomes stronger every day. They want to whip
the whole world. The wise and prudent perceive the folly of
this, and try all they can to produce a better feeling; but the ma
jority are now irresistible, and their fiat will decide upon war or
peace. The government is powerless in opposition to it; all it
can do is to give a legal appearance to any act of violence.

This idea of their own prowess will be one cause of danger
to their institutions, for war must ever be fatal to democracy.
In this country, during peace, we become more and more demo
cratic; but whenever we are again forced into war, the reins will
be again tightened from necessity, and thus war must ever in
terfere with free institutions. A convincing proof of the idea
the Americans have of their own prowess was when General
Jackson made the claim for compensation from the French.
Through the intermediation of England the claim was adjusted,
and peace preserved; and the Americans are little aware what a
debt of gratitude they owe to this country for its interference.
They were totally ignorant of the power and resources of France.
They had an idea, and I was told so fifty times, that France paid
the money from fear, and that if she had not, they \\ould have
*' whipped her into the little end of nothing."

I do not doubt that the Americans would have tried their best;

MARRY AT'S DIARY. 135

but lam of opinion, (notwithstanding the Americans would have
been partially, from their acknowledged bravery, successful,)
that in two years France, with her means, which are well known
to, and appreciated by, the English, would (to use their own
terms again,) have made "an everlasting smash" of the United
States, and the Americans would have had-to couclude an igno
minious peace. I am aware that this idea will be scouted in
America as absurd; but still I am well persuaded that any pro
tracted war would not only be their ruin in a pecuniary point of
view, but fatal to their institutions. But to return.

There are many reasons why the Americans have an invete
rate dislike to this country. In the first place, they are educated
to dislike us and our monarchical institutions; their short history
points out to them that we have been their only oppressor in the
first instance, and their opponent ever since. Their annual cele
bration of the independence is an opportunity for vituperation of
this country which is never lost sight of. Their national vanity
is hurt by feeling what they would fain believe, that they are
not the "greatest nation on earth;" that they are indebted to us,
and the credit we give them, for their prosperity and rapid ad
vance; that they must still look to us for their literature and the
fine arts, and that, in short, they are still dependent upon Eng
land. I have before observed, that this hostile spirit against us
is fanned by discontented emigrants, and by those authors who,
to become popular with the majority, laud their own country and
defame England; but the great cause of this increase of hostility
against us is the democratic party having come into power, and
who consider it necessary to excite animosity against this coun
try. Whenever it is requisite to throw a tub to the whale, the
press is immediately full of abuse; everything is attributed to
England, and the machinations of England; she is, by their ac
counts, here, there, and everywhere, plotting mischief and injury,
from the Gulf of Florida to the Rocky Mountains. If we are
to believe the democratic press, England is the cause of every
thing offensive to the majority — if money is scarce, it is England
that has occasioned, it— if credit is bad, it is England— if eggs
are not fresh or beef is tough, it is, it must be, England. They
remind you of the parody upon Fitzgerald in Smith's humorous
and witty " Rejected Address," when he is supposed to write
against Buonaparte: —

" Who made the quartern loaf and Luddites rise,
Who fills the butchers' shops with large blue flies;
With a foul earthquake ravaged the Carraccas,
Arid raised the price of dry goods and tobaccos?"

Why, England. And all this the majority do steadfastly be
lieve, because they wish to believe it.

How, then, is it possible that the lower classes in the United
States, (and the lower and unenlightened principally compose
the majority,) can have other than feelings of ill-will towards
this country] and of what avail is it to us that the high-minded
and sensible portion, think otherwise, when they are in such a

136 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

trifling minority, and afraid to express their sentiments'? When
we talk about a nation, we look to the mass, and that the mass
are hostile, and inveterately hostile to this country, is a most
undeniable fact.

There is another cause of hostility which I have not adverted
to, the remarks upon them by travellers in their country, such
as I am now making; but as the Americans never hear the truth
from their own countrymen, it is only from foreigners* that they
can. Of course, after having been accustomed to flattery from
their earliest days, the truth, when it does come, falls more
heavily, and the^injury and insult which they consider they have
received are never forgotten.

Among the American authors who have increased the ill-will
of his countrymen towards this country, Mr. Cooper stands pre
eminent. Mr. Bulwer has observed that the character and
opinions of an author may be pretty fairly estimated by his wri
tings. This is true, but they may be much better estimated by
one species of writing than by another. In works of invention
or imagination, it is but now and then, by an incidental remark,,
that we can obtain a clue to the author's feelings. Carried
away by the interest of the story, and the vivid scene presented
to the imagination, we are apt to form a better opinion of the
author than he deserves, because we feel kindly and grateful to
him for the amusement which he has afforded us; but when a
writer puts off the holiday dress of fiction, and appears before
us in his every day costume, giving us his thoughts and feelings-
upon mattsrs of fact, then it is that we can appreciate the real
character of the author. Mr. Cooper's character is not to be
gained by reading his " Pilot," but it may be fairly estimated by
reading his "Travels in Switzerland," and his remarks upon
England. If, then, we are to judge of Mr. Cooper by the above
works, I have no hesitation in asserting that he appears to be
a disappointed democrat, with a determined hostility to England
and the English. This hostility on the part of Mr. Cooper can
not proceed from £«ny want of attention shown him in thia
country, or want of acknowledgment of his merits as an author.
It must be sought for elsewhere. The attacks upon the English
in a work professed to be written upon Switzerland, prove how
rancorous this feeling is on his part; and not all the works pub
lished by English travellers upon America have added so much
to the hostile feeling against us, as Mr. Cooper has done by his
writings alone. Mr. Cooper would appear to wish to detach
his countrymen, not only from us, but from the whole European
Continent. He tells them in his work on Switzerland, that they
are not liked or esteemed anywhere, and that to acknowledge
yourself an American is quite sufficient to make those recoil who
were intending to advance. Mr. Cooper is, in my opinion, very

* A proof that the feeling against England is increasing, is the
singular fact thut latterly they insist on calling the English foreign
ers, a term which they formerly applied to other nations* but not to
QUT selves.

MARRY AT'S DIARY. 137

much mistaken in this point; the people of the Continent do not as
yet know enough of the Americans to decide upon their national
character. He ohserves very truly, that no one appears to think
any thing ahout the twelve millions; why so] because in Swit
zerland, Germany, and other nations in the heart of the Continent,
they have no interest about a nation so widely separated from
them, and from intercourse with which they receive neither
profit nor loss. Neither do they think about the millions in
South America, and not caring- or hearing about them they can
have formed no ideas of their character as a nation. If, then,
the Americans are shunned, (which I do not believe they are,
for they are generally supposed to be a variety of Englishmen,)
it must be from the conduct of those individuals of the American
nation who have travelled there, and not because, as Mr. Cooper
would imply, they have a democratic form of government. Have
not the Swiss something similar, and are they shunned] Who
cares what may be the form of government of a country divided
from them by three or four thousand miles of water, and of
whom they have only read] Every nation, as well as every in
dividual, makes its own character; but Mr. Cooper would prove
that dislike shown to the Americans abroad is owing to the
slander of them by the English, and he points out that in t)ie
books containing the names of travellers, he no less than twenty-
five times observed offensive remarks written beneath the names
of those who acknowledged themselves Americans. These
books were at different places, places to which all tourists in
Switzerland naturally repair. Did it never occur to Mr. Cooper
that one young fool of an Englishman, during his tour, might
have been the author of all these obnoxious remarks, and is the
folly of one insignificant individual to be gravely commented
upon in a widely disseminated work, so as to occasion or in
crease the national ill-will] Sun»y there is little wisdom and
much captiousness in this feeling.

How blinded by his ill-will must Mr. Cooper be, to enter into
a long discussion in the work I refer to, to prove that England
deserves the title, among other national characteristics, of a
black-guarding nation! founding his assertion upon the language
of our daily press. If the English, judged by the press, are a
black-guarding nation, what are the Americans, if they are to be
judged by the same standard] we must be indebted to the
Americans themselves for an epithet. To wind up, he rnoie
than once pronounced the English to be parvenus. There is an
old proverb which says, "A man whose house is built of glass
should not be the first to throw stones;" and that these last two
charges should be brought against us by an American, is cer
tainly somewhat singular and unfortunate.

That there should be a hostile feeling when Englishmen go
over to America to compete with them in business or in any
profession, is natural; it would be the same every where; this
feeling, however, in the United States is usually shown by an
attack upon the character of the party, so as to influence the

12*

138

MARRY AT'

public against him. There was an American practising phre
nology, when a phrenologist arrived from England. As this
opposition was not agreeable, the American immediately circu
lated a report that the English phrenologist had asserted that he
had examined the skulls of many Americans, and that he had
never fallen in with such thick-headed fellows in his life. This
was quite sufficient — the English operator was obliged lo clear
out as fast as he could, and try his fortune elsewhere.

The two following placards were given me; they were pasted
all over the city. What the offence was I never heard, but they
are very amusing documents. It is the first time, I believe, that
public singers were described as aristocrats and Englishmen of
the first stamp.

" AMERICANS :

" It remains with you to say whether or not you will be im
posed upon by these base aristocrats, who come from England
to America in order to gain a livelihood, and despise the land
that gives them bread.

" Some few years since there came to this country three
4 gentlemen players,' who were received with open arms by the
Americans, and treated more as brothers than strangers ; when
their pockets were full, ia requital to our best endeavours to
raise them to their merit, the ungrateful dogs turned round and
abused us. It is useless, at present, to give the names of two
of those gentlemen, as they are not now candidates for public
favour; but there is one, Mr. HODGES, who is at present engaged
at the PAVILION THEATRE. This thing has said publicly that
the Americans were all 'a parcel of ignoramuses,' and that ' the
yankee players' \vere ' perfect fools, not possessing the least
particle of talent,' &c. We must be brief— should we repeat all
we have heard, it would fill a page of the NEWS.

" fv'ill the Americans be abused in this way without retalia
tion] We are always willing to bestow that respect which is
due to strangers; but when our kindness is treated with con
tempt, and in return receive base epithets and abuse, let us
4 block the game.'

" Once for all — will you permit this thing in pantaloons and
whiskers, this brainless, uniduaed cub, whom a thousand years
will not suffice to lick into a bear, longer to impose upon your
good natures 1 If so, we shall conclude you have lost all of that
spirit so characteristic of true born Americans.

"A word to Mr. (1} HODGES. — When these meet your eye, a
dignified contempt will most opportunely swell your breast — such
is ever the case with the coward! In affected scorn you will
seek a shelter from the danger you dare not brave, but we warn
you that one day must overtake you.

" SEVERAL AMERICANS."

"AMERICANS ATTEND!

"AMERICANS: — If there is a spark of that spirit in your blood
with which your forefathers bequeathed you, I hope you will

MARRY AT'S DIARY. 139

show it when men come among us from a foreign shore to get a
living1, and while here to speak in terms towards our country
and ourselves, derogatory to the feelings of an American to listen
to. These men that I speak of are Mr. Hodges and Mr. Corri,
Englishmen of theirs/ stamp, who declare that the YANKEES,
(as we are all termed, and proud of the name I dare say,) ' are
a parcel of ignoramuses — cannibals — don't know how to appre
ciate talent' — they possess very little I am certain. However,
the thing stands thus: they have slandered our country — they
have slandered us,- and if they are permitted to play upon the
boards of the Eagle Theatre, I shall conclude that we have lost
all that spunk so characteristic in a TRUE BORN AMERICAN."

There certainly is no good feeling in the majority towards
England, and this is continually shown in a variety of instances,
particularly if there is any excitement from distress or other
causes. At the time that the great commercial distress took
place, the abuse of England was beyond all bounds; and in a
public meeting of democrats at Philadelphia, the first resolution
passed was "that they did not owe England one farthing," and
this is the general outcry of the lower orders when any thing
was wrong. I have often argued with them on this subject, and
never could convince them. This country has now Jiffy-Jive
millions sterling invested in American securities, which is a large
sum, and the majority consider that a war will spunge out this
debt, Their argument which they constantly urged against me,
has more soundness in it than would be supposed: — *' If you
declare war with us, what is the first thing you do1? You seize
•all American vessels and all American property that you can lay
hold of, which have entered into your ports on the faith of peace
between the two countries. Now, why have we not an equal
right to seize all English property whenever we can find it in
this country!" But this, as 1 have observed, is the language of
the democrats and locofocos. There are thousands of honorable
men in America, not only as merchants, but in every other class,
who are most anxious to keep on good terms with us, and have
the kindest feelings towards England. Unfortunately they are
but few compared to the majority, and much as they may regret
the hostile feelings towards us, I am afraid that it is wholly out
of their power to prevent their increase, which will be in exact
proportion with the increase of the popular sway.

CHAPTER XIII.

SOCIETY. — GENERAL CHARACTER, &C.

THE character of the Americans is that of a restless, uneasy
people — they cannot sit still, they cannot listen attentively, un-

140

MARRY AT'S DIARY.

less the theme be politics or dollars— they must do something,
and, like children, if they cannot do any thing else, they will do
mischief — their curiosity is unbounded, and they are very ca
pricious. Acting upon impulse, they are very generous at one
moment, and without a spark of charity the next. They are
good-tempered, and possess great energy, ingenuity, bravery,
and presence of rnind. Such is the estimate I have formed of
their general character, independent of the demoralising effects
of their institutions, which renders it so anomalous.

The American author, Mr. Sanderson, very truly observes of
his countrymen, that "they have grown vicious without the
refinements and distractions of the fine arts and liberal amuse
ments." The Americans have few amusements; they are too
busy. Athletic sports they are indifferent to; they look only to
those entertainments which feed their passion for excitement.
The theatre is almost their only resort, and even that is not so
well attended as it might be, considering their means. There
are some very good and well-conducted theatres in America: the
best are the Park and National at New York, the Tremont at
Boston, and the Chesnut Street Theatre at Philadelphia. The
American stock actors, as they term those who are not considered
as stars, are better than our own; but were the theatres to depend
upon stock actors they would be deserted — the love of novelty
is the chief inducement of the Americans to frequent the theatre,
and they look for importations of star actors from this country
as regularly as they do for our manufactured goods, or the
fashions from Paris. In most of the large cities they have two
theatres, one for legitimate drama, and the other for melo-drama,
£c.; as the Bowery Theatre at New York, and the Walnut
Street Theatre in Philadelphia; these latter are seldom visited
by the aristocratical portion of the citizens.

The National Theatre at New Yoek was originally built as an
opera house, and the company procured from the Havannah; but
the opera, from want of support, was a failure. It has since
been taken by Mr. James Wallack, in opposition to the Park
Theatre. The first two seasons its success was indifferent; the
Park having the advantage in situation, as well as of a long
standing reputation. But latterly, from the well-known talent
and superior management of Mr. Wallack, and from his unwea
ried exertions in providing novelties for the American public,
it has been very successful; so much so, that it is said this
last year to have decidedly obtained the superiority over its
rival. I have seen some splendid representations in the National
Theatre, with a propriety in scenery and costume which is sel
dom exceeded even in our great theatres.

Indeed, in three seasons, Mr. Wallack has done much to im
prove the national taste; and from his exertions, the theatres in
general in America may be said to have been much benefitted.
But there is one objection to this rivalry between the Park and
National; which is, that the stars go out too fast, and they will
soon be all expended. Formerly things went on very regularly;
Mr. Price sent out to Mr. Simpson, duly invoiced, a certain

141

portion of talent for every season; and Mr. Simpson, who is a
very clever manager, first worked it up at New York, and then
despatched it to Boston, Philadelphia, and the other theatres in
the Union. But, now. if Mr. Simpson has two stars sent to
him, James Wallack comes home, and takes out three; where
upon, Mr. Price sends out a bigger star; and so they go on;
working up the stars so fast, that the supply will never equal
the demand. There are not more tlian two or three actors of
eminence in England, who have not already made their appear
ance on the American boards; and next season will probably use
them up. It is true, that some actors can return there again and
again; as Power, who is most deservedly a favourite with them,
and Ellen Tree, who is equally so. Celeste has realised a large
fortune. Mrs. Wood, and the Keeleys, were also very great
favourites; but there are not many actors who can venture there
a second time; at least, not until a certain interval has elapsed
for the Americans to forget them. When there are no longer
any stars, the theatres will not be so well attended; as, indeed,
is the case every where. To prove how fond the Americans are
of any thing that excites them, I will mention a representation
which I one day went to see — that of the " Infernal Regions.'*
There were two or three of these shown'in the different cities in
the States. I saw the remnants of another, myself; but, as the
museum-keeper- very appropriately observed to me, "It was a
fine thing once, but now it had all gone to h— 11" You entered
a dark room; where, railed off with iron railings, you beheld a
long perspective of caverns in the interior of the earth, and a
molten lake in the distance. In the foreground were the most
horrible monsters that could be invented — bears with men's heads,
growling — snakes darting in and out hissing — here a man lying
murdered, with a knife in his heart; there a suicide, hanging by
the neck — skeletons lying about in all directions, and some
walking up and down in muslin shrouds. The machinery was
very perfect. At one side was the figure of a man sitting down,
with a horrible face; boar's tusks protruding from his mouth,
his eyes rolling, and horns on his head; I thought it was me
chanism as well as the rest; and was not a little surprised when
it addressed me in a hollow voice: " We've been waiting some
time for you, captain." As I found he had a tongue, I entered
into conversation with him. The representation wound up with
showers of fire, rattling of bones, thunder, screams, and a regu
lar cascade of the d— d, pouring into the molten lake. W'hen it
was first shown, they had an electric battery communicating
with the iron railing; and whoever put his hand on it, or went
too near, received a smart electric shock. But the alarm created
by this addition was found to be attended with serious conse
quences, and it had been discontinued.

The love of excitement must of course produce a love of gam
bling, which may be considered as one of the American amuse
ments: it is, however, carried on very quietly in the cities. In.
the south, and on the Mississippi, it is as open as the noon day;
and the gamblers may be said to have there become a profea-

1-12 MAHRYAT'S DIARY.

sional people. I have already mentioned them, and ihe attempts
which have been made to get rid of them. Indeed, they are not
only gamesters who practise on the unwary, bat they combine
with gambling the professions of forgery, and uttering of base
money. If they lose, th<?y only lose forged notes. There is no
part of the world where forgery is carried on to such an extent
as it is in the United States; chiefly in the western country. The
American banks are particularly careful to guard against this
evil, but the ingenuity of these miscreants is surprising, and
they will imitate so closely as almost to escape detection at the
banks themselves. Bank-note engraving is certainly carried to
the highest state of perfection in the United States, but almost
in vain. I have myself read a notice, posted up at Boston,
which may apper strange to us. " Bank notes made here to any
pattern." But the eastern banks are seldom forged upon. Coun
terfeit money is also very plentiful. When I was in the west, I
had occasion to pay a few dollars to a friend: when 1 saw him a
day or two afterwards, he said to me, "• Do you know that three
dollars you gave me were counterfeits 7" I apologised, and
offered to replace them. " Oh ! no," replied he; "it's of no con
sequence. 1 gave them in payment to my people, who told me
that they were counterfeit; but they said it was of no consequence,
as they could easily pass them." In some of the states lotteries
have been abolished, in others they are still permitted. They are
upon the French principle, and are very popular.

There is one very remarkable point in the American character,
which is, that they constantly change their professions. I know
not whether it proceeds simply from their love of change, or
from their embracing professions at so early a period, that they
have not discovered the line in which from natural talents they
are best calculated to succeed. I have heard it said, that it is
seldom that an American succeeds in the profession which he
had first taken up at the commencement of his career. An Ame
rican will set up as a lawyer; quit, and go to sea for a year or
two; come back, set up in another profession; get tired again, go
as clerk or steward in a steam-boat, merely because he wishes
to travel; then apply himself to something else, and begin to
amass money. It is of very little consequence what he does,
the American is really a jack of all trades, and master of any
to which he feels at last inclined to apply himself.

In Mrg. Butler's clever journal there is one remark which
really surprised rne. She says, "The absolute absence of im
agination is of course the absolute absence of humor. An
American can no more understand a fanciful jest than a poetical
idea; and in society and conversation the strictest matter of fact
prevails," &c.

If there was nothing but "matter of fact" in society and con
versation in America or elsewhere, 1 imagine that there would
not be many words used: but I refer to the passage, because she
says that the Americans are not imaginative; whereas, I think
that there is not a more imaginative people existing. It is true
that they prefer broad humor, and delight in the hyperbole, but

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 143

this is to be expected in a young nation; especially as their
education is, generally speaking, not of a kind to make them
sensible to very refined wit, which, I acknowledge, is thrown
away upon the majority. What is termed the under current of
humor, as delicate raillery, for instance, is certainly not under
stood. When they read Sam Slick, they did not perceive that
the author was laughing at them: and the letters of Major Jack
Downing are much more appreciated in this country than they
are in America. But as for saying that they are not imagina
tive, is a great error, and I have no doubt that Mrs. B. has dis
covered it by this time.

Miss Martineau says, and very truly, " The Americans appear
to me an eminently imaginative people." Indeed, it is only ne
cessary to read the newspapers to be convinced it is the case.
The hyperbole is their principal forte, but what is lying but
imagination? and why do you find that a child of promising
talent is so prone to lying] Because it is the first effort of a
strong imagination. Wit requires refinement, which the Ame
ricans have not: but they have excessive humor, although it is,
generally speaking, coarse.

An American, talking of an ugly woman with a very large
mouth, said to me, " Why, sir, when- she yawns, you can see
right down to her garters;" and another, speaking of his being
very sea-sick, declared "That he threw every thing up, down to
his knee-pans."

If there required any proof of the dishonest feeling so preva
lent in the United States arising from the desire of gain, it would
be in the fact, that almost every good story which you hear of
an American is an instance of great ingenuity and very little
principle. So many have been told already, that I hesitate to
illustrate my observation, from fear of being accused of uttering
stale jokes. Nevertheless I will venture upon one or two.

"An American' (down east, of course,) when his father died,
found his patrimony to consist of several hundred dozen of
boxes of ointment for the cure of a certain complaint, said (by
us) to be more common in the North than in England. He
made up his pack, and took a round of nearly one hundred miles,
going from town to town and from village to village, .offering
his remedy for sale. But unfortunately for him no one was
afflicted with the complaint, and they would not purchase on the
chance of any future occasion for it. He returned back to his
inn, and having reflected a little, he went out, inquired where he
could find the disease, and having succeeded, inoculated himself
with it. When he was convinced that he had it writh sufficient
virulence, he again set forth, making the same round, and taking
advantage of the American custom, which is so prevalent, he
shook hands with every body whom he had spoken to on his
former visit, declaring he was * 'tarnal glad to see them again.'
Thus he went on till his circuit was completed, when he repair
ed to the first town again, and found that his ointment, as he
expected, was now in great request; and he continued his route
as before, selling every box that he possessed."

144 MARRY Af's DIARY,

There is a story of a Yankee clock-maker's ingenuity, that I
have not seen in print. He also " made a circuit, having a hun
dred clocks when he started; they were all very had, which he
well knew; but by 'soft sawder and human natur,' as Sam Slick
says, he contrived to sell ninety-nine of them, and reserve the
last for his intended '•ruse.'1 He went to the house where he had
sold the first clock, and said, ' Well, now, how does your clock
go? very well, I guess.' The answer was as he anticipated,
4 No, very bad.' ' Indeed! Well, now, I've found it out at last.
You see, I had one clock which was I know a bad one, and I
said to my boy, 'you'll put that clock aside, for it won't do to
sell such an article.' Well, the boy didn't mind, and left the
clock with the others; and I found out afterwards that it had
been sold somewhere. Mighty mad I was, I can tell you, for
I'm not a little particular about my credit; so I have asked here
and there, everywhere almost, how my clocks went, and they all
said that 'they actually regulated the sun.' But I was deter
mined to find out who had the bad clock, and I am most partic
ular glad that I have done it at last. Now, you see I have but
one clock left, a very superior article, worth a matter often dol
lars more than the others, and I must give it you in change,
and I'll only charge )rou five dollars difference, as you have been
annoyed with the bad article.' The man who had the bad clock
thought it better to pay five dollars more to have a good one; so
the exchange was made, and then the Yankee, proceeding with
the clock, returned to the next house. 'Well, now, how does
your clock go? very well, I guess.' The same answer — the
same story repeatell— and another five dollars received in ex
change. And thus did he go round, exchanging clock for clock,
until he had received an extra five dollars for every one which
he had sold."

LOGIC. — "A Yankee went into the bar of an inn in a country
town: ' Pray what's the price of a pint of shrub1?' 'Haifa dol
lar,* was the reply of the man at the bar. 'Well, then, give it
me.' The shrub was poured out, when the bell rang for dinner.
' Is that your dinner-bell]' ' Yes.' ' What may you charge for
dinner]' ' Half a dollar.' ' Well, then, I think I had better not
take the shrub, but have some dinner instead.' This was con
sented to. The Yankee went in, sat down to his dinner, and
when it was over, was going out of the door without paying.
* Massa,' said the negro waiter, 'you not paid for your dinner.'
4 1 know that; I took the dinner instead of the shrub.' ' But,
massa, you not pay for the shrub.' ' Well, I did not have the
shrub, did I, you nigger?' said the Yankee, walking away. The
negro scratched his head; he knew that something was wrong,
as he had got no money; but he could not make it out till the
Yankee was out of sight."

I do not think that democracy is marked upon the features of
the lower classes in the United States; there is no arrogant bear
ing in them, as might be supposed from the despotism of the
majority; on the contrary, I should say that their lower classes
are much more civil than our own. 1 had a slap of equality on

MARRY AT'S D1ART. 145

my first landing at New York. I had hired a truckman to take
up my luggage from the wharf; I went a-head, and missed him
when I came to the corner of the street where I had engaged
apartments, and was looking round for him in one direction,
when I was saluted with a slap on the shoulder, which was cer
tainly given with good-will. I turned, and beheld my carman,
who had taken the liberty to draw my attention in this forcible
manner. He was a man of few words; he pointed to his truck
where it stood with the baggage, and then went on.

This civil bearing is peculiar, as when they are excited by
politics, or other causes, they are most insolent and overbearing.
In his usual demeanour, the citizen born is quiet and obliging.
The insolence you meet with is chiefly from the emigrant class
es. I have before observed, that the Americans are a good-
tempered people; and to this good temper I ascribe their civil
bearing. But why are they good-tempered] It appears to me
to be one of the few virtues springing from democracy. When
the grades of society are distinct, as they are in the older insti
tutions, when difference of rank is acknowledged and submitted
to without murmur, it is evident that if people are obliged to
control their tempers in presence of their superiors or equals,
they can also yield to them with their inferiors; and it is this
yielding to our tempers which enables them to master us. But
under institutions where all are equal, where no one admits the
superiority of another, even if he really be so, where the man
with the spade in his hand will beard the millionaire, and where
you are compelled to submit to the caprice and insolence of a
domestic, or lose his services, it is evident that every man must
from boyhood have learnt to control his temper, as no ebullition
will be submitted to, or unfollowed by its consequences. I con
sider that it is this hnbitual control, forced upon the Americans
by the nature of their institutions, which occasions them to be so
good-tempered, when not in a state of excitement. The Ameri
cans are in one point, as a mob, very much like the English;
make them laugh, and they forget all their animosity immediately.

One of the most singular points about the lower classes in
America is, that they will call themselves ladies and gentlemen,
and yet refuse their titles to their superiors. Miss Martineau
mentions one circumstance, of which 1 very often met with simi
lar instances. " I once was with a gentleman who was build
ing a large house; he went to see how the men were getting on;
but they had all disappeared but one. ' Where are the people!'
inquired he. ' The gentlemen be all gone to liquor? was the re
ply."

I bought one of the small newspapers just as I was setting off
in a steamboat from New York to Albany. The boy had no
change, and went to fetch it. He did not come back himself,
but another party made his appearance. " Are you the wan who
bought the newspaper!" " Yes," replied I. " The young gen
tleman who sold it to you has sent me to pay you four cents."

A gentleman was travelling with his wife, they had stopped
13

146

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

at an inn, and during the gentleman's momentary absence the
lady was taken ill. The lady wishing1 for her husband, a man
re-ry good-naturedly went to find him, and when he had succeed
ed he addressed him, "I say, Mister, your woman wants you;
but I telled the young lady of the house to fetch her a glass of
water."

There was no insolence intended in this; it is a peculiarity to
be accounted for by their love of title and distinction.

It is singular to observe human nature peeping out in the
Americans, and how tacitly they acknowledge by their conduct
how uncomfortable a feeling there is in perfect equality. The
respect they pay to a title is much greater than that which is
paid to it in England; and naturally so; we set a higher value
upon that which we cannot obtain. I have been often amused at
the variance on thte point between their words and their feelings,
which is shown in their eagerness for rank of some sort among
themselves. Every man who has served in the militia carries
his title until the day of his death. There is no end to gene
rals, and colonels, and judges; they keep taverns and grog shops,
especially in the Western States; indeed, there are very few who
have not brevet rank of some kind; and I being only a captain,
was looked upon as a very small personage, so far as rank went.
An Englishman, who was living in the State of New York, had
sent to have the chimney of his house raised. The morning'
afterwards he saw a labourer mixing mortar before the door.
" Well," said the Englishman, " when is the chimney to be
finished"?" " I'm sure I don't know, you had better ask the
colonel." " The colonel? What colonel?" " Why, I reckon
that's the colonel upon the top of the house, working away at
the chimney."

After all, this fondness for rank, even in a democracy, is very
natural, and the Americans have a precedent for it. His Satanic
Majesty was the first democrat in heaven, but as soon as he was
dismissed to his abode below, if Milton be correct, he assumed
his title.

CHAPTER XIV.

ARISTOCRACY.

IF the Americans should imagine that I have any pleasure in
writing the contents of this chapter, they will be mistaken; I
have considered well the duty of and pondered over it. I would
not libel an individual, much less a whole nation; but I must
speak the truth, and upon due examination, and calling to my
mind all that I have collected from observation and otherwise, I
consider that at this present time the standard of morality is
newer in America than in any other portion of the civilised globe.

MARRY AT'S DIARY. 147

I say at this present time, for it was not so even twenty years
ago, and possibly may not be so twenty years hence. There is
a change constantly going on in every thing below, and I believe,
for many reasons, that a change for the better will soon take place
in America. There are even now many thousands of virtuous,
honourable, and enlightened people in the United States, but at
present virtue is passive, while vice is active.

The Americans possess courage, presence of mind, perse
verance, and energy, but these may be considered rather as en
dowments than as virtues. They are propelling powers which
will advance them as a people, and, were they regulated and
tempered by religious and moral feeling, would make them great
and good, but without these adjuncts they can only become great
and vicious.

I have observed in my preface that the virtues and vices of a
nation are to be traced to the form of government, the climate,
and circumstances, and it will be easy to show that to the above
may be ascribed much of the merit as well as the demerits of the
people of the United States.

In the first place, I consider the example set by the govern
ment as most injurious: as I shall hereafter prove, it is insatiable
in its ambition, regardless of its faith, and corrupt to the highest
degree. This example I consider as the first cause of the de
moralization of the Americans. The errors incident to the volun
tary system of religion are the second: the power of the clergy
is destroyed, and the tyranny of the laity has produced the effect
of the outward form having been substituted for the real feeling,
and hypocrisy has been but too often substituted for religion.

To the evil of bad example from the government is superadded
the natural tendency of a democratic form of government, to
excite ambition without having the power to gratify it morally
or virtuously; and the debasing influence of the pursuit of gain
is every where apparent. It'shows itself in the fact that money
is in America every thing, and every thing else nothing; it is
the only sure possession, for character can at any time be taken
from you, and therefore becomes less valuable than in other
countries, except so far as mercantile transactions are concerned.
Mr. Cooper says — not once, but many times — that in America
all the local affections, indeed every thing, is sacrificed to the
spirit of gain. Dr. Channing constantly laments it, and he very
truly asserts, "A people that deems the possession of riches its
highest source of distinction, admits one of the most degrading
of all influences to preside over its opinions. At no time should
money be ever ranked as more than a means, and he who lives
as if the acquisition of property were the sole end of his exist
ence, betrays the dominion of the most sordid, base, and grovel
ling motive that life offers;" and ascribing it to the institutions,
he says, " In one respect our institutions have disappointed us
all.- they have not wrought out for us that elevation of character
which is the most precious, and, in truth, the only substantial
blessing of liberty."

I have before observed, that whatever society permits, men

148 MARRY AT'S DIARY.

will do and not consider to be wrong, and if the government con
siders a breach of trust towards it as not of any importance, and
defaulters are permitted to escape, it will of course become no
crime in the eyes of the majority. Mr. Cooper observes, " An
evident dishonesty of sentiment pervades ihepublic itself, which is
beginning to regard acts of private delinquency with a dangerous
indifference; acts too that are inseparably connected with the
character, security, and right administration of the state."

Such is unfortunately the case at present; it may be said to
have commenced with the Jackson dynasty, and it is but a few
years since this dreadful demoralisation has become so appa
rent and so shamelessly avowed. In another work the American
author above quoted observes:

" We see the effects of this baneful influence in the openness
and audacity with which men avow improper motives and im
proper acts, trusting to find support in a popular feeling, for
while vicious influences are perhaps more admitted in other
countries than in America, in none are they so openly avowed."

Surely there is sufficient of American authority to satisfy any
reader that I am not guilty of exaggeration in my remarks.
Nor am I the only traveller who has observed upon what is in
deed most evident and palpable. Captain Hamilton says: " I
have heard conduct praised in conversation at a public table,
which, in England, would be attended, if not with a voyage to
Botany Bay, at least with total loss of character. It is impossi
ble to pass an hour in the bar of the hotel, without being struck
with the tone of callous selfishness which pervades the conver
sation, and the absence of all pretensions to pure and lofty prin
ciple."

It may indeed be fairly said, that nothing is disgraceful with
the majority in America, which the law cannot lay hold of.*

* ENGLISH CAPITAL INVESTED. — It is but fair to give the English
who have invested their money in American securities, some idea of"
what their chance of receiving their principal or receiving their inte
rest may be. As long as it depends upon the faith of those who have
contracted the debt, their money is safe, but as soon as the power is
taken out of their hands, and vested in the majority, they may consider
their money as gone. I will explain this — at present the English have
vested their capital in canals, rail-roads, and other public improve
ments. The returns of these undertakings are at present honorably
employed in paying1 interest to the lenders of the capital, and if the
returns are not sufficient, more money is borrowed to meet the de
mands of the creditor; but there is a certain point at which credit fails,
and at which no more money can be borrowed; if then no more mo
ney can be borrowed, and the returns of their rail-roads, canals, and
other securities fall off, where is the deficiency to be made good?
Jn this country it would be made good by a tax being imposed upon
the population to meet the deficiency, and support; he credit of the
nation. Here is the question: — Will the majority in America consent
to be taxed ? I say, no — if they do, I shall be surprised, and be most
happy to recant, but it is my opinion that they will not, and if so the
English capital will be lost ; and if the reader will call to mind what

MARRY AT's DIARV. 149

You ate either in or out of the penitentiary; if once in, you are
lost for ever, but keep out and you are as good as your neigh
bor. Now one thing is certain, that where honesty is absolutely
necessary, honesty is to be found, as for example, among the
New York merchants, who are, as a body, highly honorable
men. When, therefore, the Americans will have moral courage
sufficient to drive away vice, and not allow virtue to be in bond
age, as she at present is, the morals of society will be instantly
restored— and how and when will this be effected ! I have said
that the people of the United States, at the time of the declara
tion of independence, were perhaps the most moral people exist
ing, and I now assert that they are the least so; to what cause
can this change be ascribed! Certainly not wholly to the spirit
of gain, for it exists every where, although perhaps nowhere so
strongly developed as it is under a form of government which
admits of no other claim to superiority. I consider that it arises
from the total extinction, or if not extinction, absolute bondage,
of the aristocracy of the country, both politically as well as so
cially. There was an aristocracy at the time of the independence
— not an aristocracy of title, but a much superior one; an aristo
cracy of great, powerful, and leading men, who were looked up
to and imitated; there was, politically- speaking, an aristocracy
in the senate which was elected by those who were then inde
pendent of the popular will; but although a portion of it remains,
it may be said to have been almost altogether smothered, and in
society it no longer exists. It is the want of this aristocracy
that has so lowered the standard of morals in America, and it is
the revival of it that must restore to the people of the United
States the morality they have lost. The loss of the aristocracy
has sunk the Republic into a democracy — the renewal of it will
again restore them to their former condition. Let not the Ame
ricans start at this idea. An aristocracy is not only not incom
patible, but absolutely necessary for the duration of a democratic
form of government. It is the third estate, so necessary to pre
serve the balance of power between the executive and the people,
and which has unfortunately disappeared. An aristocracy is as
necessary for the morals as for the government of a nation.
Society must have a head to lead it, and without that head there
will be no fixed standard of morality, and things must remain in
the chaotic state in which they are at present.

Some author has described the English nation as resembling
their own beer — froth at the top, dregs at the bottom, and in the
middle excellent. There is point in this observation, and it has
been received without criticism, and quoted without contradic-

I have peinted out as to the probable effect of the power of America
working to the westward, and the direct importation which in a few
years must take place, he will see that there is every prospect of a
rapid decrease in the value of all their securities, and that the only
ultimate chance of their recovering the money is by this country com
pelling payment of it by the federal government.

13*

150 MARRY AT'S DIARY.

tion : but it is in itself false; it may be said that the facts are
directly the reverse, there being more morality among1 the lower
class than in the middling, and still more in the higher than in
the lower. We have been designated as a nation of shopkeepers,
a term certainly more applicable to the Americans, where all are
engaged in commerce and the pursuit of gain, and who have no
distinctions or hereditary titles. Trade demoralizes ; there are
so many petty arts and frauds necessary to be resorted to by
every class in trade, to enable them to compete with each other;
so many lies told, as a matter of business, to tempt a purchaser,
that almost insensibly and by degrees the shopkeeper becomes
dishonest. ' These demoralizing practices must be resorted to,
even by those who would fain avoid them, or they have no
chance of competing with their rivals in business. It is not the
honest tradesman who makes a rapid fortune ; indeed, it is
doubtful whether he could carry on his business ; and yet, from
assuetude and not being taxed with dishonesty, the shopkeeper
scarcely ever feels that he is dishonest. Now, this is the worst
state of demoralization, where you are blind to your errors and
conscience is never awakened, and in this state may be consi
dered, with few exceptions, every class of traders, whether in
England, America, or elsewhere.

Among the lower classes, the morals of the manufacturing
districts and of the frequenters of cities, will naturally be at a
low ebb, for men when closely packed demoralize each other;
but if we examine the agricultural classes, which are by far the
most numerous, we shall find that there is much virtue and good
ness in the humble cottage ; we shall there find piety and resig
nation, honesty, industry and content more universal than would
be imagined, and the Bible pored over, instead of the day-book
or ledger.

But it is by the higher classes of the English nation, by the
nobility and gentry of England, that the high tone of virtue and
morality is upheld. Foreigners, especially Americans, are too
continually pointing out, and with evident satisfaction, the scan
dal arising from the conduct of some few individuals in these
classes as a proof of the conduct of the whole ; but they mistake
the exceptions for the rule. If they were to pay attention, they
would perceive that these accusations are only confined to some
few out of a class comprehending many, many thousands in our
wealthy isle, and that the very circumstance of their rank being
no shield against the attacks made upon them, is a proof that
they are exceptions, whose conduct is universally held up to
public ridicule or indignation. A crim. con. in English high life
is exulted over by the Americans ; they point to it and exclaim,
" See what your aristocracy are!" forgetting that the crime is
committed by one out of thousands, and that it meets with the
disgrace which it deserves, and that this crime is, to a certain
degree, encouraged by our laws relative to divorce. Do the
Americans imagine that there is no crim. con. perpetrated in the
United States ? Many instances of suspicion, and some of actual
discovery, came to my knowledge even during my short resi-

MARRY AT's DIARY. 151

dence there, but they were invariably, and perhaps judiciously,
hushed up, for the sake of the families and the national credit.
I do not wish, nor would it be possible, to draw any parallel
between the two nations on this point; I shall only observe that
in England we have not considered the vice to have become so
prevalent as to think it necessary to form societies for the pre
vention of it, as they have done in the United States.

It has been acknowledged by other nations, and I believe it to
be true, that the nobility and gentry of England are the most
moral, most religious, and most honorable classes that can be
found not only in our country, but in any other country in the
world, and such they certainly ought from circumstances to be.

Possessed of competence, they have no incentives to behave
dishonestly. They are well educated, the finest race of men
and women that can be produced, and the men are brought up to
athletic and healthy amusements. They have to support the
honor of an ancient family, and to hand down the name untar
nished to their posterity. They have every inducement to noble
deeds, and are, generally speaking, above the necessities which
induce men to go wrong. If the Americans would assert that
luxury produces vice, I can only say that luxury infers idleness
and inactivity, and on this point the women of the aristocracy in
this country have the advantage over the American women, who
cannot, from the peculiarity of the climate, take the exercise so
universally resorted to by our higher classes. I admit that some
go wrong, but is error confined to the nobility alone; are there
no spendthrifts, no dissolute young men, or ill brought up young
women, among other classes'? Are there none in America1? More
over, there are some descriptions of vice which are meaner than
others and more debasing to the mind, and it is among the mid
dling and lower classes that these vices are principally to be found.

The higher classes invariably take the lead, and give the tone
to society. If the court be moral, so are the morals of the nation
improved by example, as in the time of George III. If the court
be dissolute, as in the time of Charles II., the nation will plunge
into vice. Now, in America, there is no one to take the lead;
morals, like religion, are the concern of nobody, and therefore it
is that the standard of morality is so low. I have heard it argued
that allowing one party to have a very low standard of morality
and to act up to that standard, and another to have a high standard
of morality and not to act up to it, that the former is the really
moral man, as he does act up to his principles such as they are.
This may hold good when we examine into the virtues and vices
of nations: that the American Indian who acts up to his own
code and belief, both in morality and religion, may be more
worthy than a Christian who neglects his duty, maybe true; but
the question now is upon the respective morality of two enlight
ened nations, both Christian, and having the Bible as their guide
— between those who have neither of them any pretence to lower
the standard of morality, as they both know better. M. Tocque-
ville observes, speaking of the difference between aristocratical
and democratical governments — .

1521 MARRY AT's DIARY r

" In aristocratic governments, the individuals who are placed
at the head of affairs are rich men, who are solely desirous of
power. In democracies statesmen are poor, and they have their
fortunes to make. The consequence is, that in aristocratic states
the rulers are rarely accessible to corruption, and have very little
craving for money; whilst the reverse is the case in democratic
nations."

This is true, and may be fairly applied to the American de
mocracy:, as long as you will not allow the good and enlightened
to rule, you will be governed by those who will flatter and cheat
you, and demoralise society. When you allow your aristocracy
to take the reins, you will be better governed, and your morals
will improve by example. What is the situation of America at
present] the aristocracy of the country are either in retirement or
have migrated, and if the power of the majority should continue
as it now does its despotic rule, you will have still further emi
gration. At present there are many hundreds of Americans who
have retired to the old continent, that they may receive that re
turn, for their wealth which they cannot in their own country;
and if not flattered, they are at least not insulted and degraded.
M. Sanderson, in his " Sketches from Paris," says —
" The American society at Paris, taken altogether, is of a good
composition. It consists of several hundred persons, of families
of fortune, and young men of liberal instruction. Here are lords
of cotton from Carolina, and of sugar-cane from the Missis
sippi, millionaires from all the Canadas, and pursers from all the
navies; and their social qualities, from a sense of mutual de
pendence or partnership in absence, or some such causes, are
more active abroad than at home.

" They form a little republic apart, and when a stranger ar
rives he finds himself at home; he finds himself also under the
censorial inspection of a public opinion, a salutary restraint not
always the luck of those who travel into foreign countries. One
thing only is to be blamed: it becomes every day more the fashion
for the elite of our cities to settle themselves here permanently.
We cannot but deplore this exportation of the precious metalsr
since our country is drained of what the supply is not too abund
ant. They who have resided here a few years, having fortune
and leisure, do not choose, as I perceive, to reside any where
else."

This is the fact; and the wealth of America increases every
day, so will those who possess it swarm off as fast as they can
to other countries, if there is not a change in the present society,
and a return to something like order and rank. Who would re
main in a country where there is no freedom of thought or ac
tion, and where you cannot even spend your money as you
please"? Mr. Butler the other day built a house at Philadelphia
with a porte-cochere, and the consequence was that they called
him an aristocrat, and would not vote for him. In short, will
enlightened and refined people live to be dictated to by a savage
and ignorant majority, who will neither allow your character nor
your domestic privacy to be safe!

153

The Americans, in their fear of their institutions giving way,
and their careful guard against any encroachments upon the lib
erty of the people, have fallen into the error of sacrificing the
most virtuous portion of the community, and driving a large por
tion of them out of the country. This will eventually be found
to be a serious evil; absenteeism will daily increase, and will be
as sorely felt as it is in Ireland at the present hour. The Ameri
cans used to tell me with exultation, that they never could have
an aristocracy in their country, from the law of entail having been
abolished. They often asserted, and with some truth, that in
that country property never accumulated beyond two generations,
and that the grandson of a millionaire was invariably a pauper.
This they ascribe to the working of their institutions, and argue
that it will always be impossible for any family to be raised above
the mass by a descent of property. Now the very circumstance
of this having been invariably the case, induces me to look for
the real cause of it, as there is none to be found in their institu
tions why all the grandsons of millionaires should be paupers.
It is not owing to their institutions, but to moral causes, which,
although they have existed until now, will not exist for ever. In
the principal and wealthiest cities in the Union, it is difficult to
spend more than twelve or fifteen thousand dollars per annum,
as with such an expenditure you are on a par with the highest,
and you can be no more. What is the consequence1? a young
American succeeds to fifty or sixty thousand dollars a year, the
surplus is useless to him; there is no one to vie with — no one who
can reciprocate— he must stand alone. He naturally feels care
less about what he finds to be of no use to him. Again, all his
friends and acquaintances are actively employed during the
whole of the day in their several occupations; he is a man of
leisure, and must either remain alone or associate with other men
of leisure; and who are the majority of men of leisure in the
towns of the United States'? Blacklegs of genteel exterior and
fashionable appearance, with whom he associates, into whose
snares he falls, and to whom he eventually loses property about
which he is indifferent. To be an idle man when every body
else is busy, is not only a great unhappiness, but a situation of
great peril. Had the sons of millionaires, who remained in the
States and left their children paupers, come over to the old Con
tinent, as many have done, they would have stood a better
chance of retaining their property.

All I can say is, that if they cannot have an aristocracy, the
worse for them; I am not of the opinion, that they will not have
one, although they are supported by the strong authority of M.
Tocqueville, who says:

" I do not think a single people can be quoted, since human
society began to exist, which has, by its own free will and by
its own exertions, created an aristocracy within its own bosom.
All the aristocracies of the Middle Ages were founded by mili
tary conquest: the conqueror was the noble, the vanquished be
came the serf. Inequality was then imposed by force; and after
it had been introduced into the manners of the country, it main-

154

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

tained its own authority, and was sanctioned by the legislation.
Communities have existed which were aristocatric from their
earliest origin, owing to circumstances anterior to that event, and
which became more democratic in each succeeding age. Such
was the destiny of the Romans, and of the barbarians after them.
But a people, having taken its rise in civilisation and democracy,
which should greatly establish an inequality of conditions, until
it arrived at inviolable privileges and exclusive castes, would be
a novelty in the world; and nothing intimates that America is
likely to furnish so singular an example."

I grant that no single people has by its own free will created
an aristocracy, but circumstances will make one in spite of the
people; and if there is no aristocracy who have a power to check,
a despotism may be the evil arising from the want of it. At
present America is thinly peopled, but let them look forward to
the time when the population shall become denser; what will
then be the effect] why a division between the rich and the poor
will naturally take place; and what is that but the foundation if
not the formation of an aristocracy. An American cannot entail
his estate, but he can leave the whole of it to his eldest son if he
pleases; and, in a few years, the lands which have been pur
chased for a trifle, will become the foundation of noble fortunes;*

* "At the time of the first settlement of the English in Virginia,
when land was to be had for little or nothing, some provident persons
having obtained large grants of it, and being desirous of maintaining
the splendor of their families, entailed their property on their descend
ants. The transmission of these estates from generation to generation,
to men who bore the same name, had the effect of raising up a distinct
class of families, who, possessing by law the privilege of perpetuating
their wealth, formed by these means a sort of patrician order, distin
guished by the grandeur and luxury of their establishments. From
this order it was that the king usually chose his councillors of slate.

"In the United States, the principal clauses of the English law re
specting descent have been universally rejected. The first rule that
we follow, says Mr. Kent, touching inheritance is the following: — If
a man dies intestate, his property goes to his heirs in a direct line. If
he has but one heir or heiress, he or she succeeds to the whole. If
there are several heirs of the same degree, they divide the inheritance
equally amongst them, without distinction of sex.

"This rule was prescribed for the first time in the State of New
York, by a statute of the 23d of February, 1786. (See Revised Sta
tutes, vol. iii,' Appendix, p. 48.) It has since been adopted in the
revised statutes of the same State. At the present day this law holds
good throughout the whole of the United States, with the exception of
the State of Vermont, where the male heir inherits a double portion.
Kent's Commentaries, vol. iv. p. 370. Mr. Kent, in the same work,
vol. iv. p. 1 — 22, gives an historical account of American legislation
on the subject of entail; by this we learn that previous to the revolu
tion the colonies followed the English law of entail. Estates tail were
abolished in Virginia in 1776, on motion of Mr. Jefferson. They were
suppressed in New York in 1786; and have since been abolished in
North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Missouri. In
Vermont, Indiana, Illinois, South Carolina and Louisiana, entail was

MARRY AT1' S DIARY. 155

but even now their law of non-entail does not work as they would
wish.

M: Tocqueville says —

"The laws of the United States are extremely favorahle to
the division of property; but a cause which is more powerful
than the laws, prevents property from being divided to excess.*
This is very perceptible in the States which are beginning to be
thickly peopled. Massachusetts is the most populous part of the
Union, but it contains only eighty inhabitants to the square mile,
which is much less than in France, where a hundred and sixty-
two are reckoned to the same extent of country. But in Massa
chusetts estates are very rarely divided; the eldest son takes the
land, and the others go to seek their fortune in the desert. The
law has abolished the rights of primogeniture, but circumstances
have concurred to re-establish it under a form of which none can
complain, and by which no just rights are impaired."

And Chancellor Kent, in his " Treatise upon American Law,"
observes —

" It cannot be doubted that the division of landed estates must
produce great evils when it is carried to such excess as that
each parcel of land is insufficient to support a family; but these
disadvantages have never been felt in the United States, and
many generations must elapse before they can be felt. The extent
of our inhabited territory, the abundance of adjacent land, and
the continual stream of emigration flowing from the shores of the
Atlantic towards the interior of the country, suffice as yet, and
will long suffice, to prevent the parcelling out of estates."

never introduced. Those States which thought proper to preserve the
English law of entail, modified it in such a way as to deprive it of its
most aristocratic tendencies. ' Our general principles on the subject
of government,' says Mr. Kent, 'tend to favor the free circulation of
property.

"it cannot fail to strike the French reader who studies the law of
inheritance, that >n these questions, the French legislation is infinitely
more democratic even than the American.

" The American law makes an equal division of the father's pro
perty, but only in the case of his will not being known, ' For every
man,' says the law, * in the State of New York, (Revised Statutes, vol.
iii., Appendix, p. 51,) has entire liberty, power and authority, to dis
pose of his property by will, to leave it entire, or divided in favor of
any persons he chooses as his heirs, provided he do not leave it to a
political body or any corporation.' The French law obliges the tes
tator to divide his property equally, or nearly so, among his heirs.

"Most of the American republics still admit of entails, under cer
tain restrictions; but the French law prohibits entail in all cases.

" If the social condition of the Americans is more democratic than
that of the French, the laws of the latter are the most democratic of
the two. This may be explained more easily than at first appears to
be the case. In France, democracy is still occupied in the work of
destruction; in America, it reigns quietly over the ruins it has made."
— Democracy in America, ly A. De Tocqueville.

* In New England the estates are exceedingly small, but they are
rarely subjected to further division.

156

MARRY AT'S DIARY.

There is, therefore, no want of preparation for an aristocracy
in America, and, although at present the rich are so much in the
minority that they cannot coalesce, such will not be the case,
perhaps, in twenty or thirty years; they have but to rally and
make a stand when they become more numerous and powerful,
and they have every chance of success. The fact is, that an aris
tocracy is absolutely necessary for America, both politically and
morally, if the Americans wish their institutions to hold together,
for if some stop is not put to the rapidly advancing power of the
people, anarchy must be the result. I do not mean an aristo
cracy of title; I mean such an aristocracy of talent and power
which wealth will give — an aristocracy which shall lead society
and purify it. How is this to be obtained in a democracy] —
simply by purchase. In a country where the suffrage is con
fined to certain classes, as in England, such purchase is not to
be obtained, as the people who have the right of suffrage are not
poor enough to be bought; but in a country like America, where
the suffrage is universal, the people will eventually sell their
birth-right; and if by such means an aristocratical government
is elected, it will be able to amend the constitution, and pass
what laws it pleases. This may appear visionary, but it has
been proved already that it can be done, and if it can be done
now, how much more easily will it be accomplished when the
population has quadrupled, and the division commences between
the rich and the poor. I say it has been done already, for it was
done at the last New York election. The democratic party
made sure of success: but a large sum of money was brought
into play, and the whole of the committees of the democratic party
were bought over, and the Whigs carried the day.

The greatest security for the duration of the present institu
tions of the United States is the establishment of an aristocracy.
It is the third power which was intended to act, but which has
been destroyed and is now wanting. Let the senate be aristo
cratical — let the congress be partially so, and then what would
be the American government of president, senate, and congress,
but mutato nomine, kings, lords, and commons'?

I cannot, perhaps, find a better opportunity than of pointing
out what ought to be made known to the English, as it has done
more harm to the American aristocracy than may be imagined j
I refer to the carelessness and facility with which letters of in
troduction to this country are given, and particularly by the
American authorities. I have drawn the character of Bennett,
the editor of the Morning Herald of New York, and there is not
a respectable American but will acknowledge that my sketch of
him is correct; will it not surprise the English readers when I
inform them that this man obtained admittance to Westminster
Hall at the coronation, and was seated among the proudest and
purest of our nobility! ! Such was the fact. But it will be as
well to revert back a little to what has passed.

During the time that England was at war with nearly the
whole of Europe, the Americans were to a great degree iso
lated and unknown, except as carriers of merhcandize under the

157

neutral flag; but they were rapidly advancing in importance and
wealth. At the conclusion of the last American war, during which,
by their resolute and occasionally successful struggles, they had drawn
the eyes of Europe towards them, and had advanced many degrees in
the general estimation of their importance as a nation, the Americans
occasionally made their appearance as travellers, both on the Continent
and in England ; but they found that they were not so well received
as their own ideas of their importance induced them to imagine they
were entitled to be; especially on the Continent.

The first great personage who shewed liberality in this respect, was
George the Fourth. Hearing that some American ladies of good
family had complained that, having no titles, no standing in society
they did not meet with that civility to which, from descent and educa
tion, they were entitled, he received them at Court most graciously
and those very ladies are new classed among the peeresses of Great
Britain. Still the difficulty remained, as it was almost impossible for
the aristocracy, abroad or at home, to ascertain the justness of the
claims which were made by those of a nation who professed the equali
ty of all classes, and of whom many of the pretenders to be well re-
ceived did not by their appearance warrant the supposition that their
claims were valid. It being impossible to give any other rank but that
of office, the American Government hit upon a plan which was at
tended with very evil consequences. They granted supernumerary
attache -ships to those Americans who wished to travel ; and as, on the
Old Continent, the very circumstance of being an attache to a foreign
minister warranted the respectability of the party, those who obtained
this distinction were well received, and, unfortunately, sometimes did
no credit to their appointments. The fact was that these favours were
granted without discrimination, and all who received them being put
down as specimens of American gentlemen, the character of the Ameri
cans lost ground by the very efforts made to establish it. The true
American gentlemen who travelled (and there is no lack of them)
were supposed to be English, while the spurious were put down as
samples of the gentility of the United States.

That the principles of equality were one great cause of the indis
criminate distribution of those marks of distinction by the highest
quarters in the Union, and of the facility of obtaining letters of recom
mendation from them there is no doubt; but the principal and still ex
isting causes, are the extended and domineering power of the press,
and the high state of excitement of the political parties. Those in
power are positively afraid to refuse literary men, or those who have
assisted them in their political career ; they have not the moral cou
rage to do so, however undeserving the parties may really be. But,
as is generally the case, they really do not know the parties ; it is suf
ficient that the favour, considered trifling, is demanded, and it is in-
14

158

MARRY AX'S DIARY.

stantly granted. Now, as at the accession of General Jackson, and
the subsequent raising of Mr. Van Buren to the presidency, the demo-
cratical, or Loco Foco party came into power, it is to their friends and
supporters the least respectable portion of the American community,
to whom these favours have been granted ; which of course has not
assisted the claims of the Americans to respectability. An instance
of this sort occurred to me after I had been a few months in America.
One of the most gentleman-like and well-informed men in New York,
requested that I would give a letter of introduction to a friend of his
who was going to England. Taking it for granted that such a request
would not be made without the party deserving the recommendation,
I immediately assented. The party who obtained my letters (an editor
of a paper, as I afterwards discovered), on his arrival in England,
considering that he was not treated with that attention to which, in
his own vain-gloriousness, he thought himself entitled, actually sent a
hostile letter to one of the gentlemen to whom he had been introduced,
and otherwise proved himself by his conduct to be a most improper
person. I was informed of this by letters from England; and imme
diately went to the gentleman who had requested the introduction from
me, and stated the conduct of the party. " I really am very sorry,"
said he, " but / knew nothing of him." " Knew nothing of him ?"
replied I. "No, indeed; but my friend Mr. C., of Philadelphia,
introduced him by letter, and requested me to ask for introductions
for him." " Then you will oblige me by writing to your
friend Mr. C. and ask him why he did so, as I find myself
very much compromised by this affair." He wrote to Mr. C.,
of Philadelphia, who replied that he was very sorry, but that really he
knew nothing of him. He had been introduced to him by letter, by
Mr. O., and that he was a staunch supporter of their party. Now, how
many grades this person had climbed up by letters of introduction it is
impossible to say, but this is sufficient to prove that letters of introduc
tion which are, you may say, demanded, and not refused from the fear
of offending a political agent or penny-a-liner, must ever be received
with due caution ; and it is equally certain, that those from the Presi
dent himself are the most easy to be obtained.

I have entered freely into this question, as it is important that it
should be known, not only to the English, but the Americans them
selves. A letter of introduction from a gentleman of Carolina, Vir
ginia, or Boston, I should be infinitely more induced to take notice of
than from the President of the United States?, unless the President stated
that he was personally acquainted with the party who delivered it ; and
I make this statement in justice to the American gentlemen, and not
with the slightest wish to check that intercourse which will every day
increase, and, I trust, to the advantage of both nations.*

•„ * It may also be here observed, that the Americans have little opportunity of

159

Indeed, now that sach rapid communication has taken place between
the two countries, since the Atlantic has been traversed by steam, it be
comes more imperative that these facts should be known. Every fort
night a hundred and sixty passengers will arrive by the Great Western,
or some other steamer. Most of them are American citizens, armed
with their letters of recommendation, and the situation of the Ameri
can minister has become one of peculiar difficulty.

By one steam-packet alone he has had seventy-five people, or families,
with letters of introduction to him, mostly obtained by the means which
I have described ; and there is not one of these parties who does not
expect as much attention as if the American minister had nothing
else to do but to be at his command. They leave their cards with
him ; if the cards are not returned in two or three days, they send a
letter to know why he has not called upon them? and if the visit is
returned, send a letter to know whether the minister called in person,
or not ? With a stipend from his own government, quite inadequate
to the purpose, he is expected, to the great detriment of his private for
tune, to receive and entertain all these people. I have it from the best
authority, that some of these parties have called and inquired whether
the minister was at home ; being answered in the negative, they have
gone into-a room, taken a chair, and declared their determination not
to leave the house until they had seen him. Most of them expect him
to obtain admittance for them into the Houses of Lords and Commons,
and to present them at Court. In some instances, when the minister
has stated the necessity of a Court dress, they have remonstrated,
thinking it an expense wholly unnecessary. " They were American
citizens, and would be introduced as such ; they had nothing to do
with Court dresses, and all that nonsense." And thus, since the steam-
vessels have increased the communication between the two countries,
has the American minister been in a state of annoyance, to which it is
impossible that he, or any other who may be appointed in his place,
can possibly submit.

Let the Americans understand, that those only go to Court in this
country who have claims, as the nobility, the oldest commoners, people
in office, the army and navy, and other liberal professions. There are
thousands of families in England, by descent, fortune, and education,
very superior to those of America, who never think of going to Court,
being aware that such is not their sphere ; and yet every American
who comes over here with four or five introductions in his pocket

judging favourably of the English by the usual importations to their country.
They all call themselves English gentlemen, and are too often supposed to bes
and are received as such. 1 have often been told that I should meet with an
Englishman or an English merchant, and the parties mostly proved to be
nothing but travellers, bagsmen, or even worse. If the sterling Americans stay
at home, and send the bad ones to ufej and we do the same, neither party will
be likely to form u very favourable opinion of the other for some time_to come.

160

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

must, forsooth, be presented. If the minister refuses, why then there
is an attack upon him in the American prints, and his name and his
supposed misdemeanors are bandied about from one end of the Union
to the other. It is hardly credible to what a state of slavery they
would reduce the American representative. One man says, " I under
stand I can have a Court dress at a cloathes shop." " Yes, you can,
I believe." "Well, now, suppose we step down together; you may
cheapen it a bit for me, may be.*' These facts are known to the re
spectable and gentleman-like Americans, who, after the sampler which
have come over, and have obtained admission into society and gone to
Court, will not shew themselves, but prefer to stay at home.

All this is wrong, and a remedy must soon be found, as the evil in
creases every day. The Americans cannot take the English Court by
storm, or force us to acknowledge their equality in this country.
There are but certain classes in this country who have any pretension
to be received at Court ; and unless the Americans can prove that they
are by their situation, or descent, of a sufficient rank to qualify them
to be admitted, they must be content to be excluded, as the major por
tion of our countrymem are. Even an American being a member of
Congress does not qualify him, although being a member of the Senate
certainly should. The members of the American Congress are not in
the mass equal by any means in respectability to the members of the
English House of Commons ; and there have been many members of
the English House of Commons, since the passing of the Reform Bill,
who could not, and cannot, gain admittance into society.

If the harmony and good feeling between the two countries is to
continue uninterrupted, and our intercourse to be extended, as there is
every probability that it will be, it appears to me that there is more
importance to be attached to this question than at the first view of it
might be supposed. The Americans are more ambitious of birth and
aristocracy than any other nation, which is very natural, if it were only
from the simple fact that we always most desire what is out of our
reach. Since the Americans have come over in such numbers to this
country, our Herald's Office has actually been besieged by them, in their
anxiety to take out the arms and achievments of their presumed forefa
thers ; this is also very natural and proper, although it may be at variance
with their institutions. The determination to have an aristocracy in
America gains head every day : a conflict must ensue, when the increase
of wealth in the country adds sufficiently to the strength of the party.
But some line must be drawn in this country, as to the admission of
Americans to the English Court, or, if not drawn, it will end in a total,
and therefore unjust exclusion. As but few of the Americans can
claim any right to aristocracy in their own country from acknow
ledged descent, I should not be su prised if in a few years, now that the
two countries are becoming so intimately connected, a reception at the

161

English Court of this country be considered as an establishment of
their claim. If so, it will be a curious anomaly in the history of a
republic, that, fifty years after it was established, the republicans should
apply to the mother country whose institutions they had abjured, to
obtain from her a patent of superiority, so as to raise themselves above
that hated equality which, by their own institutions, they profess.

CHAPTER XV.

GOVERNMENT.

IT is not my intention to enter into a lengthened examination of the
American form of government. I have said that, as a government,
" with all its imperfections, it is the best suited to the present condition
of America, in so far as it is the one under which the country has made,
and will continue to make, the most rapid strides ;" but I have not said
that it was a better form of government than others. Its very weakness
is favourable to the advance of the country ; it may be compared to a
vessel which, from her masts not being wedged, and her timbers being
loose, sails faster than one more securely fastened. Considered merely as
governments for the preservation of order and the equalization of
pressure upon the people, I believe that few governments are bad, as
there are always some correcting influences, moral or otherwise, which
strengthen those portions which are the weakest. A despot, for in
stance, although his power is acknowledged and submitted to, will not
exercise tyranny loo far, from the fear of assassination.

I have inserted in an Appendix the Form of the American Consti
tution, and if my readers wish to examine more closely into it, I must
refer them to M. Tocqueville's excellent work. The first point
which must strike the reader who examines into it is, that it is ex-
trernely complicated. It is, and it is not. It is so far complicated
that a variety of wheels are at work ; but it is not complicated, from
the circumstance that the same principle prevails throughout, from the
Township to the Federal Head, and that it is put in motion by one
great and universal propelling power. It may be compared to a cot
ton-thread manufactory, in which thousands and thousands of reels and
spindles are all at work, the labour of so many smaller reels turned
over to larger, which in their turn yield up their produce, until the
whole is collected into one mass. The principle of the American Gov
ernment is good ; the puwer that puts it in motion is enormous, and.
14*

162 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

therefore, like the complicated machinery I have compared it to, it re*
quires constant attention, and proper regulation of the propelling pow
er, that it may not become out of order. The propelling power is the
sovereignty of the people, otherwise the will of the majority. The
motion of all propelling powers must be regulated by a fly-wheel, or
corrective check, if not, the motion will gradually accelerate, until the
machinery is destroyed by the increase of friction. But there are
other causes by which the machinery may be deranged ; as, although
the smaller portions of the machine, if defective, may at any time be
taken out and repaired without its being necessary for the machine to
stop ; yet if the larger wheels are by chance thrown out of their equi
librium, the machinery may be destroyed just as it would be by a loo
rapid motion, occasioned by the excess of propelling power. Further,
there are external causes which may endanger it : and the machine may
be thrown out of its level by a convulsion, or shock, which will cause
it to cease working, if even it does not break it into fragments.

Now, the dangers which threaten the United States are, the Federal
Government being still weaker than it is at present, or its becoming,
as it may from circumstances, too powerful.

The present situation of the American Government is that the fly
wheel, or regulator of the propelling power (that is to say the aristoc
racy, or power of the senate,) has been nearly destroyed, and the con
sequences are thai the motion is at this moment too much accelerated,
and threatens in a few years to increase its rapidity, at the risk of the
destruction of the whole machinery.

But, although it will be necessary to point out the weakness of the
Federal Government, when opposed to the States or the majority, inas
much as the morality of the people is seriously affected by this weak
ness, my object is not to enter into the merits of the government of
the United States as a working government, but to enquire how far the
Americans are correct in their boast of its being a model for other
countries.

Let us consider what is the best form of government. Certainly
that which most contributes to security of life and property, and ren-.
ders those happy and moral who are submitted to it. This I believe
will be generally acknowledged, and it is upon these grounds that the
government of the United States must be tested. They abjured our
monarchy, and left their country for a distant land, to obtain freedom.
They railed at the vices and imperfections of continental rule, and pro
posed to themselves a government which should be perfect, under
which every man should have his due weight in the representation,
and prove to the world that a people could govern themselves. Dis
gusted with the immorality of the age and the disregard to religion,
they anticipated an amendment in the state of society.. This new,
and supposed perfect, machinery has been working for upwards of

-

sixty years, and Jet us now examine how far tbe theory has been sup
ported and borne out by the practical result.

I must first remind the reader that I have already shewn the weak-
ness of the Federal Government upon one most important point, which
is, that there is not sufficient security for person and property.. \\ hen
such is the case, there cannot bu that adequate punishment for vice so
necessary to uphold the morals of a people. I will new proceed to
prove the weakness of the Federal Government whenever it has to
combat with the several States, or with the will of the majority.

It will be perceived, by an examination into the Constitution of the
United States, that the States have reserved for themselves all the real
power, and that the Federal Union exists but upon their sufferance. —
Ench State still insists upon its right to withdraw itself from the Union
whenever it pleases, and the consequence of this right is, that in every
conflict with a State, the Federal Government has invariably to suc-
comb. M. Tocqueville observes, " If the sovereignty of the Union
were to engage in a struggle with that of the States, at its present day,
its defeat may be confidently predicted; and it is not probable that
such a struggle would be seriously undertaken. As often as a steady
resistance is offered to the Federal Government, it will be found to
yield. Experience has hitherto she\vn that whenever a State has de
manded any thing with perseverance and resolution it has invariably
succeeded ; and that if a separate government has distinctly refused to
act, it was left to do as it thought fit.*

" But even if the government of the Union had any strength inhe
rent in itself, the physical situation of the country would render the
exercise uf that strength very difficult.! The United States cover an
immense territory ; they are separated from each other by great dis
tances; and the population is disseminated over the surface of a coun
try which is still half a wilderness. If the I 'nion were to undertake
to enforce the allegiance of the confederate Stntes by military means,
it would be in a position very analagous to that of England at the time
of the War of Independence."

The Federal Government never displayed more weakness than in
the question of the tariff put upon English goods to support the manu
facturers of the Northern States. The Southern States,, as producers
and exporters, complained of this as prejudicial to their interests.
South Carolina, one of the smallest States,, led the van, and the storm

* See the conduct of the Northern States in the war of 1812. " During that
war," says Jefferson in a letter to General Lafayette, " four of the Eastern
States were only attached to the Unionr like so many inanimate bodies to living
men."

t The profound peace of the Union affords no pretext for a standing army ;
and without a standing army a governnmet is not prepared to profit by a fa
vourable opportunity to conquer resistance, and take the sovereign power by
surprise.

164 MARRY AT's DIARY.

rose. This Slate passed an act by convention, annulling the Federal
Act of the tariff, armed her militia, and prepared for war. The conse
quence was that the Federal Government abandoned the principle of
the tariff, but at the same time, to save the disgrace of its defeat, it
passed an act warranting the President to put down resistance by force,
or, in other words, making the Union compulsory. South Carolina
annulled this law of the Federal Government, but as the State gained
its point by the Federal Government having abandoned the principle of
the tariff, the matter ended.

Another instance in which the Federal Government showed its
weakness when opposed to a State, was in its conflict with Georgia,
The Federal Government had entered into a solemn, and what ought
to have been an inviolable treaty, with the Cherokee Indians, securing
to them the remnant of their lands in the State of Georgia. The
seventh Article of that treaty saysr " The United States solemnly
guarantee to the Cherokee nation all their lands not hitherto ceded."
The State of Georgia, when its population increased, did not like the
Indians to remain, and insisted upon their removal. What was the
result ? — that the Federal Government, in violation of a solemn treaty
and the national honour, submitted to the dictation of Georgia, and the
Indians were removed to the other side of the Mississippi.

These instances are sufficient to prove the weakness of the Federal
Government when opposed to the States; it is still weaker when op
posed to the will of the majority. I have already quoted many in
stances of the exercise of this uncontrolled will. I do not refer to
Lynch law, or the reckless murders in the Southern States, but to the
riots in the most civilized cities, such as Boston, New York, and Balti
more, in which outrages and murders have been committed without
the Government ever presuming to punish the perpetrators ; but the
strongest evidence of the helplessness of the Government, when opposed
to the majority, has been in the late Canadian troubles, which, I fear,
have only for the season subsided. If many have doubts of the sin
cerity of the President of the United States in his attempts to prevent
the interference of the Americans, there can be no doubt but that
General Scott, Major Worth, and the other American officers sent to
the frontiers, did their utmost to prevent the excesses which were com
mitted, and to allay the excitement ; and every one is aware how un
availing were their efforts. The magazines were broken open, the
field-pieces and muskets taken possession of; large subscriptions of
money poured in from every quarter ; farmers sent waggon-loads of
pigs, corn, and buffalo?, to support the insurgents. No one would, in
deed no one could, act against the will of the majority, and these offi
cers found themselves left to their individual and useless exertions.

The militia at Detroit were ordered out : they could not refuse to
obey the summons, as they were individually liable to fine and irnpri-

165

sonment; but as they said, very truly, "You may call its out, but
when we come into action we will point our muskets in which direc
tion we please." Indeed, they did assist the insurgents and fire at our
people; and when the insurgents were defeated, one of the drums
which they had with them, and which was captured by our troops, was
marked with the name of the militia corps which had been called out
to repel them.

When the people are thus above the law, it is of very little conse
quence whether the law is more or less weak ; at present the Federal
Government is a mere cypher when opposed by the majority. Have,
then, the Americans improved upon us in this point ? It is generally
admitted that a strong and vigorous government, which can act when
it is necessary to restrain the passions of men under excitement, is
most favourable to social order and happiness; but, on the contrary,
when the dormant power of the executive should be brought into ac
tion, all that the Federal Government can do is to become a passive
spectator or a disregarded suppliant.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE next question to be examined into is, has this government of
the United States set an example of honour, good, faith and moral
principle, to those who are subjected to it ? — has it, by so behaving,
acted favourably upon the morals ot'the people, and corrected the vices
and errors of the monarchical institations which the Americans hold
up to such detestation ?

The Americans may be said to have had, till within the last twenty
years, little or no relation with other countries. They have had few
treaties to make, and very little diplomatic arrangements with the old
Continent. But even if they had had, they must not be judged by
them ; a certain degree of national honour is necessary ta every nation,
if they would have the respect of others, and a dread ot'the consequences
would always compel them to adhere to any treaty made with great
and powerful countries. The question is, has the Federal Govern
ment adhered to its treaties ami promises made with and to those
who have been too weak to defend themselves ? Has it not repeat-
edly, in the short period of their existence as a nation, violated
the national honour whenever without being in fear of retaliation
or exposure it has been able to do si>. Let, this question be an
swered by an examination into their conduct towards the unhappy In
dians, who, to use their own expression, are " now melting away like
snow before the whito men." We are not to estimate the morality of

166

a government by its strict adherence to its compacts with the powerful,
but by its strict moral sense ot justice towards the weak and defence
less; and it should be borne in mind, that one example of a breach of
faith on the part of a democratic government, is more injurious to the
morals of the people under that government than a thousand instances of
breach of faith which may occur in society ; for a people who have no
aristocracy to set the example, must naturally look to the conduct of their
rulers and to their decisions, as a standard for their guidance- To
enumerate the multiplied breaches of faith towards the Indians would
swell out this work to an extra volume. It was a bitter sarcasm ( of the
Seminole chief, who, referring to the terms used in the treaties, told
the Indian agents that the white man's "/or ewer" did not last long
enough. Even in its payment of the trifling sums for the lands sold
by the Indians and re-sold at an enormous profit, the American Go
vernment has not been willing to adhere to its agreement ; and two
years ago, when the Indians came for their money, the American Go
vernment told them, like an Israelite dealer, that they must take half
money and half goods. The Indians remonstrated ; the chiefs replied,
" Our young men have purchased upon credit, as they are wont to do;
they require the dollars, to pay honestly what they owe."

" Is our great father so poor ?" said one chief to the Indian agent ;
" I will lend him some money ;" and he ordered several thousand dol
lars to be brought, and offered them to the agent.

In the Florida war, to which I shall again refer, the same want of
faith has been exercised. Unable to drive the Indians out of their
swamps and morasses, they have persuaded them to come into a coun
cil, under a flag of truce. This flag of truce has been violated, and
the Indians have been thrown into prison until they could be sent away
to the Far West, that is, if they survived their captivity, which the gal
lant Osceola could not. Let it not.be supposed that the officers employed
are the parties to blame in these acts ; it is, generally speaking, the In
dian agents, who are employed in these nefarious transactions. Among
these agents there are many honourable men, but a corrupt govern
ment will always find people corrupt enough to do anything it may
wish. But any language that I can use as to the conduct of the
American Government towards the Indians would be light, compared
to the comments made in my presence by the officers and other Ame
rican gentlemen upon this subject. Indeed, the indignation expressed
is so general, that it proves there is less morality in the Government
than there is in the nation.

With the exception of the Florida war, which still continues, the
Jast contest which the American Government had with the Indians was
with the Sacs and Foxes, commanded by the celebrated chief, Black
Hawk. The Sacs and Foxes at that period held a large tract of land
on Rock river, in the teritory of loway, on the east side of the Missis
sippi, which the Government wished, perforce, to take from them.

MARRY AT' S DIARY . 1 67

The following is Black Hawk's account of the means, by which this
land was obtained. The war was occasioned by Black Hawk disown
ing the treaty and attempting to repossess the territory.

" Some moons after this young chief (Lieutenant Pike) descended the
Mississippi, one of our people killed an American, and was confined in
the prison at St. Louis for the offence. We held a council at our vil
lage to see what could be done for him, which determined that Quash-
qua-me, Pa-she-paho, Ou-che.qua-ha, and Ha-she-quar-hi-qua, should go
down to St. Louis, and see our American father, and do all they could
to have our friend released ; by paying for the person killed, thus
covering the blood and satisfying the relations of the man murdered !
This being the only means with us of saving a person who had killed
another, and we then thought it was the same way with the whites.

" The party started with the good wishes of the whole nation, hop
ing they would accomplish the object of their mission. The relations
of the prisoner blacked their faces and fasted, hoping the Great Spirit
would take pity on them, and return the husband and the father to his
wife and children.

" Quash-qua-me and party remained a long time absent. They at
length returned, and encamped a short distance below the village, but
did not come up that day, nor did any person approach their camp.
They appeared to be dressed in fine coats and had medals. From
these circumstances, we were in hopes they had brought us good news.
Early the next morning, the council lodge was crowded; Quash-qua-
me and party came up, and gave us the following account of their
mission : —

"On their arrival at St. Louis, they met their American father, and
explained to him their business, and urged the release of their friend.
The American chief told them he wanted land, and they agreed to give
him some on the west side of the Mississippi, and some on the Illinois
side, opposite the Jeffreon. When the business was all arranged, they
expected to have their friend released to come home with them. But
about the time they were ready to start, their friend, who was led out
of prison, ran a short distance, and was shot dead. This is all they
could recollect of what was said and done. They had been drunk tha
greater part of the time they were in St. Louis.

"This is all myself or nation knew of the treaty of 1804. It has
been explained to me since. I find by that treaty, all our country
east of the Mississippi, and south of the Jeffreon, was ceded to the
United States for one thousand dollars a year! I will leave it to the
people of the United States to say, whether our nation was properly
represented in this treaty ? or whether we received a fair compensation
for the extent of country ceded by those four individuals. I could say
much more about this treaty, but I will not at this time. It has been
the origin of all our difficulties."

168 MARRY AT' 8 DIARY.

Indeed, I have reason to believe that the major portion of the land
obtained from the Indians, has been ceded by parties who had no power
to sell it, and the treaties with these parties have been enforced by the
Federal Government

In a Report for the protection of the Western Frontier, submitted to
Congress by the Secretary of War, we have a very fair expose of the
conduct and intentions of the American Government towards the In
dians. Although the Indians continue to style the President of the
United States as their Great Father, yet, in this report, the Indian feel
ing which really exists towards the American peeple is honestly avowed;
it says in its preamble —

"As yet no community of feeling, except of deep and lasting hatred
to the white man, and particularly to the Anglo-Americans, exists
among them, and, unless they coalesce, no serious difficulty need be
apprehended from them. Not so, however, should they be induced to
uuite for purposes offensive and defensive ; their strength would then
become apparent, create confidence, and in all probability induce them
to give vent to their long-suppressed desire to revenge past wrongs,
which is restrained, as they openly and freely confess, by fear alone."

And speaking of the feuds between the tribes, as in the case of the
Sioux and Chippeways, which, as I have observed in my Journal, the
American Government pretended to be anxious to make up; it appears
that this anxiety is not so very great, for the Report says —

" Should it however prove otherwise, the United States will, whenever
they choose, be able to bring the whole of the Sioux force (the hereditary
and irreclaimable enemy to every other Indian) to bear against the
hostiles; or vice versa, should our difficulty be with the Sioux nation.
And the suggestion is made, whether prudence does not require, that
those hereditary feelings should not rather be maintained than destroyed
by efforts to cultivate a closer reunion between them."

This Report also very delicately points out, when speaking of the
necessity of a larger force on the frontier, that " it is merely adverted
to in connexion with the heavy obligations which rest upon the Go
vernment, and which have been probably contracted from time to time,
without any very nice calculation of the means which would be neces
sary to a faithful discharge of them,"

I doubt whether this Report would have been presented by Congress
had there been any idea of its finding its way to the Old Country. By-
and-by I shall refer to it again. I have made these few extracts merely
to shew that expediency, and not moral feeling, is the principle alone
which guides the Federal Government of the United States.

The next instance which I shall bring forward to prove the want
of principle of the Federal Government is its permitting, and it may be
said tacitly acquiescing, in the seizure of the province of Texas, arid
allowing it to be ravished from the Mexican Government, with whom

MARRY AT 'S DIARY. 169

were on terms of amity, but who was unfortunately too weak to
help herself. In this instance the American Government had no ex
cuse, as it actually had an army on the frontier, and could have com
pelled the insurgents to go back ; but no ; it perceived that the Texas,
if in its hands, or if independent of Mexico, would become a mart for
their extra slave population, that it was the finest country in the world
for producing cotton, and that it would be an immense addition of
valuable territory. Dr. Channing's letter to Mr. Clay is so forcible on
this question, enters so fully into the merits of the case, and points out
so clearly the nefariousness of the transaction, that I shall now quote
a few passages from this best of American authority. Indeed, I con
sider that this letter of Dr. Charming is the principal cause why the
American Government have not as yet admitted Texas into the Union.
The efforts of lire Northern States would not have prevented it, but it
has actually been shamed by Dr. Channing, who says —

"The United States have not been just to Mexico. Our citizens did
not steal singly, silently, in disguise into that land. Their purpose of
dismembering Mexico, and attaching her distant province to tin's coun
try, was not wrapt in mystery. It was proclaimed in our public prinU.
Expeditions were openly fitted out within our borders for the Texan
war. Troops were organized, equipped, and marched for the scene of
action. Advertisements for volunteers, to be enrolled and conducted to
Texas at the expense of that territory, were inserted in our newspaper?.
The Government, indeed, issued its proclamation, forbidding these
hostile preparations; but this was a dead letter. Military companies,
with officers and standards, in defiance of proclamations, and in the
face of day, directed their steps to the revolted province. We had,
indeed, an army near the frontiers of Mexico. Did it turn back these
invaders of a land with which we were at peace 1 On the contrary,
did not its presence give confidence to the revolters 1 After this, what
construction of our conduct shall we force on the world, if we proceed,
especially jat this moment, to receive into our Union the territory, which
through our neglect, has fallen a prey to lawless invasion 1 Are \ve
willing to take our place among robber-states? As a people have we
no self-respect 1 Have we no reverence for national morality ? Have
we no feeling of responsibility to other nations, and to Him by whom
the fates of nations are disposed ?"

Dr. Channing then proceeds : —

41 Some crimes by their magnitude have a touch of the sublime ; and
to this dignity the seizure of Texas by our citizens is entitled. Modern
times furnish no example of individual rapine on so grand a scale. It
is nothing less than the robbery of a realm. The pirate seizes a ship.
The colonists and their coadjutors can satisfy themselves with nothing
short of an empire. They have left their Anglo-Saxon ancestors behind
them. Those barbarians conformed to the maxims of their age, to the
15

170

MARRY AT' S DIARY/

rude code of nations in time of thickest heathen darkness. They
invaded England under their sovereigns, and with the sanction of the
gloomy religion of the North. But it is in a civilized age, and amidst
refinements of manners; it is amidst the lights of science and the
teachings of Christianity : amidst expositions of the law of nations and
enforcements of the law of universal love ; amidst institutions of re
ligion, learning, and humanity, that the robbery of Texas has found
its instruments. It is from a free, well ordered, enlightened Christian
country, that hordes have gone forth, in open day, to perpetrate this
mighty wrong."

I shall conclude my remarks upon this point with one more extract
from the same writer.

" A nation, provoking war by cupidity, by encroachment, and, above
all, by efforts to propagate the curse of slavery, is alike false to itself,
to God, and to the human race."

Having1 now shewn how far the Federal Government may be con
sidered as upholding the purity of its institutions by the example of its
conduct towards others, let us examine whether in its domestic manage-
ment it sets a proper example to the nation. It cries out against the
bribery and corruption of England. Is it itself free from this imputa
tion.

The author of a ' Voice from America' observes, " In such an un
authorized, unconstitutional, and loose state of things, millions of the
public money may be appropriated to electionering and party purposesr
and to buy up friends of the administration, without being open to
'pi oof or liable to account. It is a simple matter of fact, that all the
public funds lost in this way. have actually gone to buy up friends to
the government, whether the defalcations were matters of understand
ing between the powers at Washington and these parties, or not.
The money is gone, and is going ; and it goes to friends. So much
is true, whatever else is false. And what has already been used up in
this way, according to official report, is sufficient to buy the votes of a
large fraction of the population of the United States, — that is to say,
sufficient to produce an influence adequate to seeure them. On the
17th of January, 1838, the United States treasurer reported to Con
gress sixty-three defalcators (individuals), in all to the amount of up
wards of a million of dollars, without touching the vast amounts lost
in the local banks, — a mere beginning of the end."

As I have before observed, when Mr. Adams was Presidsrit, a Mr.
B. Walker was thrown into prison for being a defaulter to the extent of
eighteen thousand dollars. Why are none of these defaulters to the
amount of upwards of a million of dollars punished ? If the govern
ment thinks proper to allow them to remain at liberty, does it not
virtually wink at their dishonesty. Neither the defaulters nor their
wecarities are touched. It would appear as if it were an understood

MARRYAT S DIARY.

171

arrangement ; the government telling these parties, who have assisted
them, " we cannot actually pay you money down for your services ; but
we will put money under your control, and you may, if you please,
help yourself." What has been the result of this conduct upon
society? — that as the government does not consider a breach of faith as
deserving of punishment, society does not think so either; and thus
are the people demoralized, not only by tht example of government in
its foreign relations, but by its leniency towards those individuals who
are regardless of faith as the government has proved to be itself.

Indeed, it may be boldly asserted, that in every measure taken by
the Federal Government, the moral effect of that measure upon the
people has never been thought worthy of a moment's consideration.

CHAPTER XVII.

WE must now examine into one or two other points. The Ameri
cans consider that they are the only people on earth who govern them
selves; they assert that we have not a free and perfect representation.
We will not dispute that point; the question is, not what the case in
England may be, but what America may have gained. This is certain,
that if they have not a free impartial representation, they do not, as
they suppose, govern themselves. Have they, with universal suffrage,
obtained a representation free from bribery and corruption ? If they
have, they certainly have gained their point ; if they have not they
have sacrificed much, and have obtained nothing.

By a calculation which I made at the time I was in the United
States of all the various elections which took place annually, bienni
ally, and at longer dates, including those for the Federal Government,
the separate governments of each State, and many other elective of
fices, there are about two thousand five hundred elections of different
descriptions every year ; and if I were to add the civic elections, which
are equally political, I do not know what amount they would arrive at.
In this country we have on an average about two hundred elections
per annum, so that, in America, for thirteen millions, they have two
thousand five hundred elections, and in England for twenty-seven mil
lions, two hundred, on the average, during the year.

It must, however, be admitted, that the major portion of these
elections in the United States pass off quietly, probably from the com-
paritive want of interest excited by them, and the continual repetition
which takes place ; but when the important elections are in progress
the case is very different; the excitement then becomes universal ; the

172

MARRY AT' S DIARY.

coming election is the theme t>f every tongue, the all-engrossing topic,
and nothing else is listened or paid attention to.

It must be remembered, that the struggle in America is for place, not
for principle ; for whichever party obtains power, their principle of ac
ting is much the same. Occasionally a question of moment will come
forward and nearly convulse the Union, but this is very rare ; the ge
neral course of legislation is in a very narrow compass, and is seldom
more than a mere routine of business. With the majority, who lead
a party, (particularly the one at present in power), the contest is not,
therefore, tor principle, but, it may almost be said, for bread ; and this
is one great cause of the virulence accompanying their election strug
gles. The election of the President is of couEse the most important.
M. Tocqueville has well described it, tt For a long while before the ap
pointed time is at hand, the election becomes the most important and
the all-engroseing topic of discussion. The ardour of faction is re
doubled ; and all the artificial passions which the imagination can
create in the bosom of a happy and peaceful land are agitated and
brought to light. The President^ on the other hand, is absorbed by the
cares of self-defence. He no longer governs for the interest of the
State, but for that of his re-election ; he does homage to the majority,,
and instead of checking its passipns, as his duty commands him to dc>
he frequently courts its worst caprices. As the election draws near.
the activity of intrigue and the agitation 9f the populace increase ; the
citizens are divided into hostile camps, each of which assumes the
name of its favourite candidate ; the whole nation glows with feverish
excitement ; the election is the daily theme of the public papers, the
subject of private conversation, the end of every thought and every
action, the sole interest of the present"

Of course the elections in the large cities are those which next oc
cupy the public attention. I have before stated, that at the last election
in New York the committees of the opposite party were brought over
by the Whig?, and that by this bribery the election was gained ; but I
will now quote from the Americans themselves, and let the reader then
decide in which country, England or America, there is most purity of
election.

"On the 9th, 10th, and llth instant, a local election for mayor and
charter-officers was held in this city. It resulted in the defeat of the
Whig party. The Loco-focos had a majority of about one thousand
and fifty for their mayor. Last April the Whigs had a majority of
about five hundred. There are seventeen wards, and seventeen polls
were opened. The out, or suburb, wards presented the most disgraceful
scenes of riot, fraud, corruption, and perjury, that were ever witnessed
in this or any other country on a similar occasion. The whole num.
ber of votes polled was forty-one thousand three hundred. It is a no
torious fact, that there are not forty thousand legal voters residing in

MARRTAT'S DIARY. 173

the city. In the abstract this election is but of little importance. Its
moral influence on other sections of the country remains to be seen.
Generally, the effect of such a triumph is unfavourable to the defeated
party in other places ; and it would be so in the present instance, if the
contest had been an ordinary contest, but the circumstances to which I
have referred of fraud, corruption, and perjury, may, or may not, re
act upon the alleged authors of these shameless proceedings."

Again, "The moderate and thinking men of both parties — indeed,
we mdy say every honourable man who has been a spectator of recent
events — feel shocked at the frauds, perjury, and corruption, which too
evidently enabled the administration party to poll so powerful a vote.
What are we coming to in this country? A peaceable contest at the
polls in a peaceable test of party — it is to ascertain the opinions and
views of citizens entitled to vote — it is a fair and honourable party ap
peal to the ballot-box. We are all Americans — living under the same
constitution and laws ; each boasting of his freedom and equal rights —
our political differences are, after all, the differences between members
of the same national family. What, therefore, is to become of our free
dom and rights, our morals, safety, and religion, if the administration
of our government is permitted to embark in such open, avowed, pal
pable schemes of fraud and corruption as those recently exhibited in
this city ? More than five thousand strangers, having no interest and
no domicil, are introduced by the partisans of the administration into
the city, and brought up to the polls to decide who shall make our
municipal laws. More than four hundred votes over and above the
ascertained votes of a ward, are polled in such ward. Men moved
from ward to ward to sleep one night as an evasive qualification. More
than two hundred sailors, from United States' vessels of war, brought
over to the city to vote — sloops and small craft, trading down the north
and east rivers, each known never to have more than three hands,
turning out thirty or forty voters from each vessel. Men turned from
the polls for want of legal qualifications, brought back by administra
tion partisans and made to swear in their vote. Hundreds with the
red clay of New Jersey adhering to their thick-soled shoes, presenting
themselves to vote as citizens of New York, and all this fraud and per
jury set on foot and justified to enable Mr. Van Buren to say, ' I have
recovered the city.' But he has been signally defeated, as he ought to
be, notwithstanding all his mighty efforts. There is this day a clearly
ascertained Whig majority in this city of five thousand.

" It is, therefore, a mockery to call a contest with persons from other
States, hired for the occasion, an election. We mvst have a registry of
cotes, in order to sweep away this vast system of perjury and fraud;
and every man who has an interest at stake in his person, his children,
or his property, must demand it of the legislature, as the only means
of coming to a fair decision on all such matters. This charter election
15*

174 MARRY AT *S DIARY.

should open the eyes of the honourable of all parties to the dangers that
menace us, and a redress provided in time."

Again, " The Atlas, Monday Morning, April 16, 1838 — (Triumphant
Result of the Election in New York). — We have rarely known an elec
tion which, during its continuance, has excited so lively a degree of in
terest as has been felt in regard to the contest just terminated in New
York. From numerous quarters we have received letters requesting
us to transmit the earliest intelligence of the result, and an anxiety ha?
been evinced among the Whigs of the country, which we have hardly
seen surpassed. The tremendous onset of the Loco-focos upon the
first day increased this anxiety, and fears began to be entertained that
the unparalleled and unscrupulous efforts of our opponents — their
shameless resort to every species of fraud, violence, and corruption —
their importation of foreign, perjured voters, and the lavish distribution
of the public money might possibly overpower the legitimate voioe of the
majority of the citizens of New York. But gloriously have these fears
been dispelled. Nobly have the Whigs of the great metropolis done
their duty. Gladly does old Massachusetts respond to their pseans ot
triumph !

" We learn from the New York papers that there was considerable
uneasiness in that city on Friday among the Whigs with regard to the
result. Never was the struggle of the administration party so despe
rate and convulsive. Hordes of aliens and illegal voters were driven
into the city —

' In multitudes like which the populace North
Poured never from her frozen loins, to pass
Rhine or the Danube.'

" The most reasonable calculation admits that there must have been
at least four thousand illegal votes polled at the different wards. Squat
ters and loafers from the Croton Water- Works, from Brooklyn and
Long Island, and from Troy to Sing Sing, took up their line of march
for the doubtful wards, to dragoon the city into submission to Mr. Van
Buren. Some of the wards threw from four hundred to six hundred
more votes than there were known to be residents in them. Double
voting was practised to a great extent. The Express says, the whole-
spirit of the naturalization laws was defied, and an utter mockery was
made of the sacred right of suffrage. What party is likely to be most
guilty of these things, may be judged from the fact, that the Loco-foco
party resist every proposition for a registry law, or any other law ilia)
will give the people a fair and honest and constitutional system of voting."

When I was one day with one of the most influential of the Whig
party at New York, he was talking about their success in the con
test — " We beat them, sir, literally with their own weapons." " How
so," replied I. " Why, sir, we bought over all their bludgeon men at

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 175

so many dollars a head, and the very sticks intended to be used to keep
us from the roll were employed upon the heads of the Loco-focos !"
So much for purity of election.

Another point which is worthy of inquiry is, how far is the govern
ment of the United States a cheap government; that is, not as to the
amount of money expended in that country as compared to the amount
of money paid in England or France, but cheap as to the work done
for the money paid ? And, viewing it in this light, I rather think it
will be found a very expensive one. It is true that the salaries are
low, and the highest officers are the worst paid, but it should be re
collected that every body is paid.* The expenses of the Federal
Government, shown np to the world as a proof of cheap government,
is but a portion of the real expenses which are paid by the several
States. Thus the government will promulgate to the world that they
have a surplus revenue of so many millions, bat at the same time it
will be found that the States themselves are borrowing money and are
deeply in debt. The money that disappears is enormous; I never
could understand what has' become of the boasted surplus revenue
which was lodged in the pet banks, as they were termed. The paid
officers in the several States ar% very numerous ; take, for instance the
State of New York alone. An American newspaper has the following
article : —

" The Standing Army.

44 The following is given in the Madisonian as the rank and file of the
executive standing army of office-holders in the State of New York.
How hardly can the freedom of elections be maintained against the
natural enemies of that freedom, when their efforts are seconded by the
assaults of such an army of placemen, whose daily bread, under the
rule and reign of the spoilers, is dependent on their partizan exer
tions !

" 1880 Postmasters.

217 Mail Contractors . •

59 C.iftks in the New York Post-office.
25 Lighthouse Keepers.
500 Custorn-House Officers.
M These," says the Madisonian, " constitute a regiment of the King's

* I cannot here refrain from making an extract from M. Tocqueville'a clever
work, well worthy the attention of those who rule in this country, as probably
they may not be aware of what they are doing:—" When a democratic repub
lic renders offices which had formerly been remunerated gratuitous, it may
safely be believed that the State is advanci g to monarchical institutions; and
when a monarchy begins to remunerate such officers as had hitherto been un
paid, it is a sure sijn that it is approach. ng towards a despotic or a republican
form of government. The substitution of paid for unpaid functionaries, is ol"
itself, in my opinion, sufficient to constitute a serious revolution"

176 MARRY AT'S DIARY.

own, well drilled in the system of terrorism and seduction, and of dra
gooning1 voters !"

And it should be remarked, that in the United States, upon any one
party losing an election, the whole of that party in office, even down
to the lamplighters, are turned out, and replaced by partizans of the
successful party ; capability for office is never considered, the only object
is to reward political services. That the work cannot be well carried
on when there are such constant changes, attended with ignorance of
the duties imposed, is most certain. The long list of defaulters proves
that the party at present in power is supported by needy and un
principled men ; indeed, there is a waste of money in almost every de
partment which would be considered monstrous in this country. The
expenses of the Florida war are a proof of this. The best written ac
counts from America are those written by a party who signs himself
" A Genevese Traveller," and whose letters very often appear in the
Times newspaper. I have invariably observed the correctness not
only of his statements of facts, but of the opinions drawn from them.
Speaking of the Florida war, he has the following observations : —

" As to the expenditure, it is yet more astounding. Not less than
20,000,000 dollars have already be§n lavished upon favourites, or
plundered from the treasury by marauders, whose profligacy and in
justice caused the war. Army contractors, government agents, &c.
are wallowing in wealth obtained by the worst means ; and these are
the men that condemn a peace, and will do all in their power to pro
duce and keep up an excitement. But unless they can reach the
treasury of the United States, their sympathy for the murdered inhabi
tants will soon evaporate. I hope, however, and believe that the war
for the present is at an end. But the peace will only be temporary,
for the rapacity of the avaricious land speculator will not be satisfied
until the red man is deprived of every acre of land."

To enter into any estimate of expense would be impossible ; all I
assert is, that there is a much greater waste of public money in the
United States than in other countries, and that for the work done they
pay very dearly. I shalP therefore conclude with an extract from M.
Tocqueville, who attempts in vain to come to any approximation.

" Wherever the poor direct public affairs, and dispose of the national
resources, it appears certain, that as they profit by the expenditure of
the State, they are apt to augment that expenditure.

" I conclude, therefore, without having recourse to inaccurate com
putations, and without hazarding a comparison which might prove in
correct, that the democratic government of the Americans is not a
cheap government, as is sometimes asserted ; an,d I have no hesitation
in predicting, that if the people of the United States are ever involved in
serious difficulties, its taxation will speedily be increased to the rate of
that which prevails in the greater part of the aristocracies and the
monarchies of Europe."

MARRY AT' 3 DIARY. 177

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE Americans, and with justice, hold up Washington as one of the
first of mCn, ifso,why will they not pay attention to his opinions ? because
ihejirst of men must not interfere with their prejudices, or, if he does,
he immediately in their eyes becomes the last. Nevertheless, Wash
ington proved his ability when he made the following observation, in
his letter to Chief Justice Jay, dated 10th of March, 1787 ; even at
that early period he perceived that the institutions of America, although
at the time much less democratical than at present, would not stand.
Hear the words of Washington, for they were a prophecy —

" Among men of reflection, few will be iound, I believe, who are
not beginning to think that our system is better in theory than in prac
tice; and that, notwithstanding the boasted virtue of America, it is more
than probable that we shall exhibit the last melancholy proof, that
mankind are incompetent to their own government without the means
of coercion in the sovereign"

Now, if you were to put this extract into the hands of an American,
his admiration of Washington would immediately fall down below
Zero, and in all probability he would say, as they do of poor Captain
Lawrence — "Why, sir, Washington was a great man, but great men
have their failings. I guess he wrote that letter after dinner"

But Washington has been supported in this opinion by a modem
American patriot, Dr. Channing, who, asserting that " Our institutions
have disappointed us all," has pointed out the real effects of democracy
upon the morals of the nation ; and there are many other good and
honest men in America who will occasionally tell the truth, although
they seldom venture to put their names to what they write. In a
manifesto, published when I was in the States, the following bitter pills
for the democrats were inserted. Speaking of dependence on the vir
tue and intelligence of the people, the manifesto says : —

" A form of government which has no better corrective of public
disorders than this, is a burlesque on the reason and intelligence of men ;
it is as incompatible with wisdom as it is with public prosperity and
happiness.

" The people are, by principle and the Constitution, guarded against
the tyranny of kings, but not against their own passions, and ignorance,
and delusions."

178 MARRY AT'S DIARY.

The necessity of relying on some other power than the people is
therefore enforced :

" Such facts have induced nations to abandon the practice of elec
ting their chief magistrate ; preferring to receive that officer by here
ditary succession. Men have found that the chances of having a good
chief magistrate by birth, are about equal to the chances of obtaining
one by popular election. And, boast as we will, that the superior intel
ligence of our citizens may render this government an exception, time
will show that this is a mistake. No nation can be an exception, till
the Almighty shall change the whole character of man.

" It is a solemn truth, that when executive officers are dependent
for their offices on annual or frequent elections, there will be no impar
tial or efficient administration of the laws.

" It is in vain that men attempt to disguise the truth ; the fact, be
yond all debate, is that the disorders in our political affairs are the
genuine and natural consequences of defects in the Constitution, and of
the false and visionary opinions which Mr. Jefferson and his disciples
have been proclaiming for forty years.

" The mass of the people seem not to consider that the affairs of a
great commercial nation require for their correct management talents
of the first order.

11 Of all this, the mass of our population appear to know little or
nothing.

" The mass of the people, seduced and disciplined by their leaders,
are still farther deceived, by being taught that our public disorders are
to ba ascribed to other causes than the ignorance and perversity of
their party.

" And yet our citizens are constantly boasting of the intelligence of
the people ! Intelligence! The history of nations cannot present an
example of such total want of intelligence as our country now exhibits:
and what is more, a want of integrity is equally surprising."

This is strong language to use in a republic, but let us examine a
little.

The great desideratum to be attended to in the formation of a
government is to guard against man preying upon his fellow-creature.
Call a government by any name you will, prescribe what forms you
may, the one great point to be adhered to, is such a code of laws as
will put it out of the power of any one individual, or any one party,
from oppressing another. The despot may trifle with the lives of his
people; an aristocracy may crush the poorer classes into a state of
bondage, and the poorer classes being invariably the most numerous,
may resort to their physical force to control those who are wealthy, and
despoil them of their possessions. Correctly speaking, the struggle is
between the plebeian and the patrician, the poor and the rich, and it is
therefore that a third power has, by long experience, been considered as

179.

necessary (an apex, or head to the pyramid of society), to prevent and
check the disorders which may arise from struggles of ambition
among the upper classes.

Wherever this apex has been wanting, there has been a continual
attempt to possess it ; whenever it has been elective, troubles have in
variably ensued ; experience has, therefore, shown that, for the benefit
of all classes, and the maintenance of order, the wisest plan was to
make it hereditary* It is not to be denied that despotism, when it falls
into good hands, has rendered a nation flourishing and happy, that an
oligarchy has occasionally, but more rarely, governed with mildness
and a regard to justice ; but there never yet was a case of a people
having seized upon the power, but the result has been one of rapacity
and violence, until a master-spirit has sprung up and controlled them
by despotic rule. But, although one despot* or one oligarchy may
govern well, they are exceptions to the general rule ; and, therefore, in
framing a government^ the rule by which you must be guided, is on
the supposition that each class will encroach, and the laws must be so
constituted as to guard against the vices and passions of mankind.

To suppose that a people can govern themselves, that is to say
directly, is absurd. History has disproved it They may govern
themselves indirectly by selecting from the mass the more enlightened
and intelligent, binding themselves to adhere to their decisions, and, at
the same time, putting that due and necessary check to the power in
vested 4in their delegates, which shall prevent their making an improper
use of it. The great point to arrive at, is the exact measure and weight
of their controlling influences, so as to arrive at the just equipoise; nor
can these proportions be always the same, but must be continually
added to or reduced, according to the inveriable progressions or reces
sions which must ever take place in this world, where nothing stands
still.

The history of nations will shew, that although the just balance has
often been lost, that if either the aristocracy or the ruling power gained
any advantage^ the evil, if too oppressive, Was capable of being cor
rected ; but any advance gained by the democratic parly, has never
been retraced, and that it has been by the preponderance of power
being thrown into its hands that nations have fallen. Of all the at
tempts at republics^ that of the Spartan, perhaps, is the most worthy
of examination, as Lycurgus went to work radically, and his laws
were such as to obtain that equality so much extolled. How far the
term republic was applicable to the Spartan form of government I will
not pretend to say, but when Lycurgus was called upon to re-construct
its legislation, his first act was to make the necessary third power, and
ke appointed a senate.

But Lycurgus was wise enough to perceive that he must amend the

•I SO MARRYAT'S DIARY.

morals of his countrymen, and that to preserve an equality of condition
he must take away all incentives to ambition, or to the acquisition of
wealth. He first divided the lands into equal portions, compelled, all
classes, from the kings downwards, to eat al the same table, brought
up all the children in the same hardy manner, and obliged every citizen
after a certain age to carry arms, But more sacrifices were necessary ;
Lycurgus well new,

Quid leges sine moribus vanse proficiunt.

Horace, Ode 24, lib. 3.

To guard against the contagion of corruption, he prohibited wain-
galion and commerce ; he permitted no intercourse with foreigners ; he
abolished the gold and silver coin as current money, that every stknulus
to any one individual to exalt himself above his neighbour should be
removed. If ever there was a system calculated to produce equality,
it was that planned by the wisdom of Lycurgus ,' but I doubt if the
Americans would like to follow in his footsteps.

What occasioned the breaking up and the downfal of this republic ?
An increase of power given to the democratic party, by the creation
out of their ranks of the magistrates, termed Ephora, which threw an
undue weight and preponderance into the hands of the people. By this
breach in the constitution, faction and corruption were let in and
fomented. Plutarch, indeed, denies this, but both Polybius and Aris
totle are of a different opinion ; the latter says, that the power of the
Ephori was so great as to amount to a perfect tyranny ; the kings
themselves were necesssiated to court their favour by such methods as
greatly to hurt the constitution, which from an aristocracy degenerated
into absolute democracy. Solon was called in to rc-rnodel the consti-
tion of the Athenian republic. He had a more difficult task than
Lycurgus, and did not so well succeed. He left too much power in
the hands of the democracy, the decisions of the superior courts being
liable to appeal, and to be rescinded by the mass of the people. Ana-
chasis, the Scythian philosopher, when he heard some points first
debated in the Senate, and afterwards debated in the Assembly of the
people, very properly observed, that at Athens " Wise men debated, but
fools decided." The whole history of the Athenian republic is, there
fore, one of outrageous bribery and corruption among the higher class;
tyranny, despotism, and injustice on the part of the lower, or majority.

The downfal of the Roman empire may equally be traced to the
undue weight obtained by the people by the appointment of the tribunes,
and so it will be proved in almost every instance : the reason why the ex
cess of power is more destructive when in the hands of the people is, that
€ither they, by retaining the power in their own hands, exercise a demo-

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 181

ralising despotism, or if they have become sufficient venal, they
sell themselves to be tyrannised over in their turn.

I have made these remarks, because I wish to corroborate my
opinion, that " power once gained by the people is never to be
recovered, except by bribery and corruption, and that until then,
every grant is only the forerunner of an extension ; and that al
though the undue balance of power of the higher classes occa
sionally may be, that in the hands of the people is invariably at
tended by the downfall of the institution.

At the same time, I do not intend to deny the right of the
people to claim an extension of their privileges, in proportion as
they rise by education to the right of governing themselves;
unfortunately these privileges have been given, or taken, pre
vious to their being qualified. A republic is certainly, in theory,
the most just form of government, but, up to the present day,
history has proved that no people have been prepared to receive
it.

That there is something very imposing in the present rapid
advance of the United States, I grant, but this grandeur is not
ascribed by the Americans to its true source : it is the magnifi
cent and extended country, not their government and institutions,
which has been the cause of their prosperity. The Americans
think otherwise, and, as I have before observed, they are happy
in their own delusions — they do not make a distinction between
what they have gained by their country, and what they have
gained by their institutions. Every thing is on a vast and mag
nificent scale, which at first startles you ; but if you examine
closely and reflect, you are convinced that there is at present
more show than substance, and that the Americans are actually
existing (and until they have sufficient labourers to sow and
reap, and gather up the riches of the land, must continue to
exist) upon the credit and capital of England.

The American republic was commenced very differently from
any other, and with what were real advantages, if she had not
been too ambitious and too precipitate in seizing upon them. A
republic has generally been considered the most primitive form
of rule ; it is, on the contrary, the very last pitch of refinement
in government, and the cause of its failure up to the present has
been, that no people have as yet been sufficiently enlightened
to govern themselves. Republics, generally speaking, have at
their commencement been confined to small portions of territory
having been formed by the extension of townships after the in
habitants had become wealthy and ambitious. In America, on
the contrary, the republic commenced with unbounded territory
— a vast field for ambition and enterprise, that has acted as a
safety-valve to carry off the excess of disappointed ambition,
which, like steam, is continually generating under such a form
of government. And, certainly, if ever a people were in a situ
ation, as far as education, knowledge, precepts and lessons for

VOL. II. 16

182 MARRY AT'S DIARY.

guidance and purity of manners could enable them, to govern
themselves, those were so who first established the American
independence.

Fifty years have passed away, and the present state of -Ame
rica I have already shown. From purity of manners, her moral
code has sunk below that of most other nations. She has at
tempted to govern herself — she is dictated to by the worst of
tyrannies. She has planted the tree of liberty ; instead of its
flourishing, she has neither freedom of speech nor of action. She
has railed against the vices of monarchical forms of government,
and every vice against which she has raised up her voice, is still
more prevalent under her own. She has cried out against cor
ruption — she is still more corrupt : against bribery — "her people
are to be bought and sold : against tyranny — she is in fetters.
She has proved to the world that, with every advantage on her
side, the attempt at a republic has been a miserable failure, and
that the time is not yet come when mankind can govern them
selves. Will it ever come ] In my opinion, never !

Although the horizon may be clear at present, yet I consider
that the prospect of the United States is any thing but cheering.
It is true that for a time the States may hold together, that they
may each year rapidly increase in prosperity and power, but
each year will also add to their demoralisation and to their
danger. It is impossible to say from what quarter of the com
pass the clouds may first rise, or which of the several dangers
that threaten them they will have first to meet and oppose by
their energies. At present, the people, or majority, have an un
due power, which will yearly increase, and their despotism will
be more severe in proportion. If they sell their birthright (which
they will not do until the population is much increased, and the
higher classes are sufficiently wealthy to purchase, although
their freedom will be lost) they will have a better chance of
happiness and social order. But a protracted war would be the
most fatal to their institutions, as it would, in all probability,
end in the dismemberment of the Union, and the wresting of
their power from the people by the bayonets of a dictator.

The removal of the power and population to the West, the
rapid increase of the coloured population, are other causes of
alarms and dread ; but, allowing that all these dangers are steer
ed clear of, there is one (a more remote one indeed, but more
certain), from which it has no escape — that is, the period when,
from the increase of population, the division shall take place be
tween the poor and the rich, which no law against entail will
ever prevent, and which must be fatal to a democracy.
Mr. Sanderson, in his " Sketches of Paris," observes —
" If we can retain our democracy when our back woodlands
are filled up ; when New York and Philadelphia have bceome
a London and Paris ; when the land shall be covered with its
multitudes, struggling for a scanty living, or with passions ex-

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 183

cited by luxurious habits and appetites. If we can then main
tain our universal suffrage and our liberty, it will be fair and 5
reasonable enough in us to set ourselves up for the imitation of j
others. Liberty, as far as we yet know her, is not fitted to the
condition of these populous and luxurious countries. Her house
hold gods are of clay, and her dwelling where the icy gales of
Alleghany sing through the crevices of her hut."

I have observed, in my introduction to the first two volumes
of this work, that our virtues and our vices are mainly to be
traced to the form of government, climate, and circumstances,
and I think I can show that the vices of the Americans are
chiefly to be attributed to their present form of government.

The example of the Executive is most injurious. It is insa
tiable in its ambition, regardless of its faith, corrupt in the
highest degree ; never legislating for morality, but always for
expediency. This is the first cause of the low standard of
morals ; the second is the want of an aristocracy, to set an exam
ple and give the tone to society. These are followed by the
errors incident to the voluntary system of religion, and a demo-
cratical education. To these must be superadded the want of
moral courage, arising from the dread of public opinion, and the
natural tendency of a democratic form of government to excite
the spirit of gain, as the main-spring of action, and the summum
bonum of existence.

Dr. Channing observes —

" Our present civilization is characterized and tainted by a
devouring greediness of wealth ; and a cause which asserts
right against wealth, must stir up bitter opposition, especially

in cities where this divinity is most adored."

*' The passion for gain is every where sapping pure and generous
feeling, and everywhere raises up bitter foes against any reform
which may threaten to turn aside a stream of wealth. I some
times feel as if a great social revolution were necessary to break
up our present mercenary civilisation, in order that Christianity,
now repelled by the almost universal worldliness, may come into
new contact with the soul, and may reconstruct society after its
own pure and disinterested principles."*

All the above evils may be traced to the nature of their insti
tutions ; and I hold it as an axiom, that the chief end of govern
ment is the happiness, social order, and morality of the people ;
that no government, however perfect in theory, can be good
which in practice demoralises those who are subjected to it.
Never was there a nation which commenced with brighter pros
pects ; the experiment has been made and it has failed ; this is
not their fault. They still retain all the qualities to constitute
a great nation, and a great nation, or assemblage of nations, they
will eventually become. At present, all is hidden in a futurity

* Channing's letter to Bimey, 1837.

184 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

much too deep for any human eye to penetrate ; they progress
fast in wealth and power, and as their weight increases, so will
their speed be accelerated, until their own rapid motion will
occasion them to split into fragments, each fragment sufficiently
large to compose a nation of itself. What may he the eventual
result of this convulsion, what may be the destruction, the loss
of life, the chaotic scenes of strife and contention, before the
portions may again be restored to order under new institutions,
it is as impossible to foresee as it is to decide upon the period at
which it may take place ; but one thing is certain, that come it
will, and that every hour of increase of greatness and prosperity
only adds to the more rapid approach of the danger, and to the
important lesson which the world will receive.

I have not written this book for the Americans ; they have
hardly entered my thoughts during the whole time that I have
been employed upon it, and I am perfectly indifferent either to
their censure or their praise. I went over to America well-in
clined towards the people, and anxious to ascertain the truth
among so many conflicting opinions. I did expect to find them a
people mare virtuous and moral than our own, but I confess on
other points I had formed no opinions ; the results of my obser
vations I have now laid before the English public, for whom only
they have been written down. Within these last few years,
that is, since the passing of the Reform Bill, we have made
rapid strides towards democracy, and the cry of the multitude is
still for more power, which our present rulers appear but too
willing to give them. I consider that the people of England
have already as much power as is consistent with their happi
ness and with true liberty, and that any increase of privilege
would be detrimental to both. My object in writing these pages
is, to point out the effects of a democracy upon the morals, the
happiness, and the due apportionment of liberty to all classes ; to-
show that if, in the balance of rights and privileges, the scale
should turn on one side or the other, as it invariably must in this
world, how much safer it is, how much more equitable I may
add, it is that it should preponderate in favour of the intelligent
and enlightened portion of the nation. I wish that the contents
of these pages may render those who are led away by generous
feelings, and abstract ideas of right, to pause before they con
sent to grant to those below them what may appear to be a boon,
but will in reality prove a source of misery and danger to all
parties — that they may confirm the opinions of those who are
wavering, and support those who have true ideas as to the na
ture of government. If I have succeeded in the most trifling-
degree in effecting these ends, which I consider vitally import
ant to the welfare of this country — if I have any way assisted
the cause of Conservatism — I am content, and shall consider
that my time and labour have not been thrown away.

185

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

WE, the people of the United States, in order to form a more
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, pro
vide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and
secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do
ordain and establish this Constitution for, the United States of
America.

Article 1. — Section 1.

1. All legislative powers herein granted, shall be vested in a
Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate
and a House of Representatives.

Section 2.

1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of mem
bers chosen every second year by the people of the several
States ; and the electors in each State shall have the qualifica
tions requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the
State legislature.

2. No person shall be a representative who shall not have at
tained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a
citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected,
be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned
among the several States which may be included within this
Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be
determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, in
cluding those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding
Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual
enumeration shall be made within three years after the first
meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every
subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by
law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed
one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least
one representative; and until such enumeration shall be made,
the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three ;
Massachusetts eight; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
one ; Connecticut five ; New York six ; New Jersey four ; Penn
sylvania eight ; Delaware one ; Maryland six ; Virginia ten ;
North Carolina five ; South Carolina five ; and GeorgFa three.

4. When vacancies happen in the representation of any State,
the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to
fill up such vacancies.

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker
and other officers, and shall have the sole power of impeachment

Section 3.

1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two
16*

186 MAERYAT'S DIARY.

senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for
six years ; and each senator shall have one vote.

2. Immediately after they shall be first assembled, in conse
quence of the first election, they shall be divided, as equally as
may be, into three classes. The seats of the senators of the first
class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year ; of
the second class, at the expiration of the fourth year; and of the
third class, at the expiration of the sixth year ; so that one-third
may be chosen every second year ; and if vacancies happen, by
resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of
any State, the executive thereof may make temporary appoint
ment until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then
fill such vacancies.

3. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained
to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant
of that State for which he shall be chosen.

4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President
of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally di
vided.

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a
president, pro tempore, in the absence of the vice-president, or
when he shall exercise the office of President of the United
States.

6. The senate shall have the sole power to try all impeach
ments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or
affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried,
the chief justice shall preside ; and no person shall be convicted
without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.

7. Judgment in case of impeachment, shall not extend further
than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and en
joy any office of honour, trust, or profit, under the United States ;
but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject
to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to
law.

Section 4.

1. The times, places, and manners of holding elections for
senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each State
by the legislature thereof, but the Congress may, at any time, by
law, make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of
choosing senators.

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year,
and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, un
less they shall by law appoint a different day.

Section 5.

1. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns,
and qualifications of its own members ; and a majority of each

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 187

shall constitute a quorum to do business ; but a smaller number
may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorised to compel
the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under
such penalties as each House may provide.

2. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings,
punish its members for disorderly behaviour, and, with the con
currence of two-thirds, expel a member.

3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and
from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as
may in their judgment require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays
of the members of either House, on any question, shall, at the
desire of ona-fiflh of those present, be entered on the journal.

4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, with
out the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days,
nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall
be sitting.

Section 6.

1. The senators and representatives shall receive a compen
sation for their services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out
of the treasury of the United States. They shall, in all cases,
except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged
from arrest during their attendance at the session of their re
spective houses, and in going to or returning from the same ;
and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be
questioned in any other place.

2. No senator or representative shall, during the time for
which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the
authority of the United States which shall have been created,
or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased, during
such time ; and no person holding any office under the United
States shall be a member of either House during his continu
ance in office.

Section 7.

1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House
of Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with
amendments, as on other bills.

2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Repre
sentatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be pre
sented to the President of the United States ; if he approve,
he shall sign it ; but if not, he shall return it, with his objec
tions, to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall
enter the objection at large on their journal, and proceed to re
consider it. If, after such re-consideration, two-thirds of that
House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with
the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise
be re-considered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House,
it shall become a law. But in all such cases, the votes of both
Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of

188

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on
the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be
returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted)
after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a
law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress,
by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which cases it shall
not be a law.

3. Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence
of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary,
(except on a question of adjournment,) shall be presented to the
President of the United States ; and before the same shall take
effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him,
shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate arid House of Re
presentatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed
in the case of a bill.

Section 8.
The Congress shall have power —

1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises; to
pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general
welfare of the United States ; but all duties, imposts, a nd ex
cises, shall be uniform throughout the United States.

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States.

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the
several States, and with the Indian tribes.

4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalisation, and uni
form laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United
States.

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and .of foreign
coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures.

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the secu
rities and current coin of the United States.

7. To establish post-offices and post-roads.

8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by se
curing, for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive
right to their respective writings and discoveries.

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court : to
define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high
seas, and offences against the law of nations.

10. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and
make rules concerning captures on land and water.

11. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of
money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years.

12. To provide and maintain a navy.

13. To make rules for the government and regulation of the
land and naval forces.

14. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws
of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.

15. To provide for organising, arming, and disciplining the

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 189

militia, and for governing such part of them as may be em
ployed in the service of the United States, reserving to the
States respectively the appointment of the officers, and the
authority of training the militia according to the discipline pre
scribed by Congress.

16. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever
over such district (not exceeding ten miles square,) as may, by
cession of particular States, and" the acceptance of Congress, be
come the seat of government of the United States, and to exer
cise like authority over all places purchased, by the consent of
the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the
erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other
needful buildings ; and,

17. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for
carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other
powers vested by this constitution in the Government of the
United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

Section 9.

1. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the
States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be pro
hibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hun
dred and eight ; but a tax or duty may be imposed on such im
portation not exceeding ten dollars for each person.

2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be
suspended, unless when, 'in cases of rebellion or invasion, the
public safety may require it.

3. No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, shall be passed.

4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in
proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to
be taken.

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any
State. No preference shall be given to any regulation of com
merce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another :
nor shall vessels bound to or from one State, be obliged to enter,
clear, or pay duties in another.

6. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in con
sequence of appropriations made by law ; and a regular state
ment and account of the receipts and expenditure of all public
money shall be published from time to time.

7. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States,
and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them,
shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present,
emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, from any king,
prince, or foreign state.

Section 10.

1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confedera
tion grant letters of marque or reprisal ; coin money ; emit

190 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

bills of credit ; make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender
in payment of debts ; ^pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto
law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts ; or grant any
title of nobility.

2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay
any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be
absolutely necessary for executing its inspecting laws ; and the
neat produce of all duties and imposts laid by any state on im
ports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the
United States, and all such laws shall be subject to the revision
and control of the Congress. No state shall, without the con
sent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships
of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact
with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war,
unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not
admit of delay.

Article 2. — Section 1.

1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the
United States of America. He shall hold his office during the
term of four years, and together with the Vice-President, cho
sen for the same term, be elected as follows :

2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legisla
ture thereof may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole
number of senators and representatives to which the State may
be entitled in the Congress; but no senator or representative, or
person holding any office of trust or profit under the United
States, shall be appointed an elector.

3. The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote
by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an
inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall
make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of
votes for each ; which list they shall sign and certify, and trans
mit sealed to the seat of the Government of the United States,
directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the
Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Re
presentatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then
be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes
shall be President, if such number be a majority of the whole
number of electors appointed ; and if there be more than one
who have such a majority, and have an equal number of
votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately
choose, by ballot, one of them for President ; and if no person
have a majority, then, from the five highest on the list, the said
House shall, in like manner, choose the President. But, in
choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the
representation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for
this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-
thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 191

necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the
President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the
electors, shall be the Vice-President. But if there should re
main two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall
choose from them, by ballot, the Vice-President.

4. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the
electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes ;
which day shall be the same throughout the United States.

5. No person, except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of
the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitu
tion, shall be eligible to the office of President : neither shall
any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained
to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident
within the United States.

6. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of
his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and
duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-
President, and the Congress may, by law, provide for the case
of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President
and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as
President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disa
bility be removed, or a President shall be elected.

7. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his ser
vices a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor di
minished during the period for which he shall have been elected,
and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument
from the United States, or any of them.

8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall
take the following oath or affirmation : —

9. " I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully exe
cute the office of President of the United States, and will to the
best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution
of the United States."

Section '2.

1. The President shall be command er-in-chief of the army
and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several
States, when called into the actual service of the United States ;
he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer
in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating
to the duties of their respective offices; and he shall have power
to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United
States, except in cases of impeachment.

2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent
of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the sena
tors present concur: and he shall nominate, and by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors,
other public ministers and consuls, judges of the supreme court,
and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments

192

MARK VAT'S DIARY.

are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be es
tablished by law. But the Congress may, by law, vest the ap
pointment of such inferior officers as they think proper, in the
President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of de
partments.

3. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies
that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting
commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.

Section 3.

1. He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress informa
tion of the state of the Union, and recommend to their considera
tion such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ;
he may on extraordinary occasions convene both Houses, or
either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with
respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such
time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive ambassadors and
other public ministers ; he shall take care that the laws be faith
fully executed ; and shall commission all the officers of the
United States.

Section 4.

1. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the
United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for,
and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other crimes and mis
demeanours.

Article 3.— Section 1.

1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in
one supreme court, and in such inferior courts, as the Congress
may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both
of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during
good behaviour; and shall at stated times receive for their ser
vices a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their
continuance in office.

Section 2.

1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and
equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United
States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their
authority ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public mi
nisters and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime juris
diction ; to controversies to which the United States shall be a
party; to controversies between two or more States; between a
State and citizens of another State; between citizens of different
States; between citizens of the same State claiming lands under
grants of different States; and between a State or the citizens
thereof, and foreign States, citizens or subjects.

2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers
and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the

MARR VAT'S DIARY. 193

supreme court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other
cases before mentioned, the supreme court shall have appellate
jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and
under such regulations, as the Congress shall make.

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment,
shall be by jury, and such trial shall be held in the State where
the said crimes shall have been committed ; but when not com
mitted within any State, the trial shall be at such places as the
Congress may by law have directed.

Section 3.

1. Treason against the United States shall consist only in
levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies,
giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of
treason, unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same
overt act, or on confession in open court.

2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment
of treason ; but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of
blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted.

Article 4. — Section 1.

1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other
State. And the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the
manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings, shall be
proved, and the effect thereof.

Section 2.

1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges
and immunities of citizens in the several States.

2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or
other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another
State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State
from which he has fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the
State having jurisdiction of the crime.

3. No person held to service or labour in one State under the
laws thereof, escaping to another, shall, in consequence of
any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service
or labour; but shall be delivered upon the claim of the party to
whom such service or labour may be due.

Section 3.

1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this
union but no new State shall be formed or erected within the
jurisdiction of any other State, nor any State be formed by the
junction of two or more Spates, or parts of States, without the
consent of the legislatures of the States concerned, as well as of
the Congress.

2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of, and make all

194 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

needful rules and regulations respecting, the territory or other
property belonging to the United States ; and nothing in this
Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of
the United States, or of any particular State.

Section 4.

1. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this
Union a republican form of Government, and shall protect each
of them against invasion ; and, on application of the legislature,
or of the executive, (when the legislature cannot be convened)
against domestic violence.

Article 5.

1. The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall
deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitu
tion ; or, on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of
the several States, shall call a convention for proposing amend
ments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and
purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legis
latures of three-fourths of the several States, or by conventions
of three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratifica
tion may be proposed by the Congress ; provided, that no amend
ment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight
hundred and eight, shall in any manner affect the first and fourth
clauses in the ninth section of the first article : that and no
State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage
in the Senate.

Article 6.

1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before
the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the
United States under this Constitution, as under the Confedera
tion.

"2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which
shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or
which shall be made, under the authority of the United States,
shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the judges in every
State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or
laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

3. The senators and representatives before mentioned, and
the members of the several State legislatures, and all executive
and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the seve
ral States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this
Constitution ; but no religious test shall ever be required as a
qualification to any office or public trust under the United
States.

Article 7.
1. The ratifications of the conventions of nine States shall be

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

195

sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the

States so ratifying the same.

Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent of the States
present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty -seven, arid of
the Independence of the United States of America, the
twelfth. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed
our names.

GEORGE WASHINGTON,
President and Deputy from Virginia.

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

John Lang-don,
Nicholas Gilman.

MASSACHUSETTS.

Nathaniel Gorman,
Rufus King.

CONNECTICUT.

William Samuel- Johnson,
Roger Sherman.

NEW YORK.

Alexander Hamilton.

NEW JERSEY.

William Livingston,
David Bearly,
William Paterson,
Jonathan Dayton.

PENNSYLVANIA.

Benjamin Franklin,
Thomas Mifflin,
Robert Morris,
George Clymer,
Thomas Fitzsimons,
Jared Ingersoll,
James Wilson,
Governeur Morris.

DELAWARE.

George Read,
Gunning Bedford, jun.
John Dickenson,
Richard Bassett,
Jacob Broom.

MARYLAND.

James M'Henry,

Daniel of St. Tho. Jenifer,

Daniel Carrol.

VIRGINIA.

John Blair,

James Madison, jun.

NORTH CAROLINA.

William Blount,
Richard Dobbs Spaight,
Hugh Williamson.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

John Rutledge,
Chas. Cotesworth Pinckney,
Charles Pinckney,
Pierce Butler.

GEORGIA.

William Few,
Abraham Baldwin.

Attest, WILLIAM JACKSON,

Secretary.

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.

Art. 1. Congress shall make no law respecting an establish
ment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech or of the press ; or of the right
of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Govern
ment for a redress of grievances.

Art. 2. A well regulated militia being necessary to the secu
rity of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear
arms shall not be infringed.

Art. 3. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any

196

MARRY AX'S DIARY.

house without the consent of the owner ; nor in time of war,
but in a manner prescribed by law.

Art. 4. The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and
seizures, shall not be violated ; and no warrants shall issue but
upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and par
ticularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or
things to be seized.

Art. 5. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or
otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indict
ment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or
naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time
of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject for the
same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life and limb ; nor
shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against
himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due
process of law ; nor shall private property be taken for public
use, without just compensation.

Art. 6. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy
the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the
State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed,
which district shall have been previously ascertained by law,
and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ;
to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have com
pulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favour ; and to
have the assistance of counsel for his defence.

Art. 7. In suits at common law, where the value in contro
versy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall
be preserved ; and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-
examined in any court of the United States, than according to
the rules of common law.

Art. 8. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive
fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Art. 9. The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by
the people.

Art. 10. The powers not delegated to the United States by
the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved
to the States respectively, or to the people.

Art. 11. The judicial power of the United States shall not be
construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or
prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of ano
ther State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State.

Art. 12. 1. The electors shall meet in their respective States,
and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of
whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with
themselves ; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for
as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-
President ; and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted

MARRYAT'S DJARY. 197

for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President,
and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign
and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the Government
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;
the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate
and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the
votes shall then be counted ; the person having the greatest
number of votes for President shall be President, if such of the
number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed :
and if no person have such a majority, then from the persons
having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of
those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall
choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But, in choosing
the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the represen
tation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this pur
pose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of
the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to
a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose
a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon
them, before the fourth day of March next following, the Vice-
President shall act as President, as in the case of the death, or
constitutional disability of the President.

2. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-
President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a ma
jority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if no per
son have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the
list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President : a quorum for
the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of
senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary
to a choice.

3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of
President, shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the
United States.

17*

CANADA

CHAPTER I.

OF what advantage are the Canadas to England 7

This question has been put to me, at least one hundred times
since my return from America. It is argued that the Canadas
produce and export nothing except timber, and that the protect
ing duty given to Canada timber is not only very severely felt
by the mother-country, but very injurious to her foreign relations.
These observations are undeniable ; and I admit that, as a mere
colony compelled to add to the wealth of England, (sending to her
all her produce, and receiving from her all her supplies), Canada
has been worth less than nothing. But, admitting this for the
present, we will now examine whether there are no other
grounds for the retention of the Canadas under our control.

Colonies are of value to the mother-country in two ways.
The first is already mentioned, and in that way, the present ad
vantage of the Canadas as colonies is abandoned. The other
great importance of colonies is, that they may be considered as
outports, as stepping-stones, as it were, over the whole world ;
and for the present I shall examine into the value of these pos
sessions merely in this point of view. We have many islands
or colonies under our subjection which are in themselves not
only valueless, but, moreover, extremely expensive to us ; and if
every colony or island is to be valued merely according to the
produce derived from it by the mother-country, we must abandon
Heligoland, Ascension, St. Helena, Malta, and even Gibraltar
itself. All these, and some others, are, in point of commerce,
valueless; yet they add much to the security of the country and
to our dominion of the seas. This will be admitted, and we
must therefore now examine how far the Canadas may be con
sidered as valuable under this second point of view.

I have already shown that the ambition for territory is one of
the diseases, if I may use the term, of the American people. On
that point they are insatiable, and that they covet the Canadas is
undeniable. Let us inquire into the reasons why the Americans
are so anxious to possess the Canadas.

There are many. In the first place, they do not like to have
a people subjected to a monarchical form of government as their
neighbours : they do not like that security of person and pro
perty, and a just administration of the law, should be found in a
thinly-peopled province, while they cannot obtain those advan-

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 199

v

tages under their own institutions. It is a reproach to them. They
continually taunt the Canadians that they are the only portion
of the New World who have not thrown off the yoke — the only
portion who are not yet free ; and this taunt has not been with
out its effect upon the unthinking portion of the community.
What is the cause of this unusual sympathy 1 The question is
already answered.

Another important reason which the Americans have for the
possession of the Canadas is, that they are the means of easy
retaliation on the part of England in case of aggression. They
render them weak and assailable in case of war. Had they pos
session of the Canadas, and our other provinces, the United
States would be almost invulnerable. As it is, they become de
fenceless to the north, and are moreover exposed to the attack
of all the tribes of Indians concentrated on the western frontier.
Indeed, they never will consider their territory as complete " in
a ring fence," as long as we have possession of the mouths of
the St. Lawrence. They wish to be able to boast of an inland
navigation from nearly the Equator to the Pole — from the en
trance of the Mississippi to the exit of the St. Lawrence. Our
possession of the Canadas is a check to their pride and ambition,
which are both as boundless as the territory which they covet.

But there are other reasons equally important. It is their
anxiety to become a manufacturing as well as a producing na
tion. Their object is, that the north should manufacture what
the south produces; and that, instead of commercial relations
with England, as at present, that American cotton manufactures
should be borne in American bottoms over all the world. This
they consider is the great ultimatum to be arrived at, and they
look forward to it as the source of immense wealth and in
creased security to the Union, and of their wresting from Eng
land the sceptre and dominion of the seas.

It may be said that the United States, if they want to become
a manufacturing nation, have now the power ; but such is not
the case. Until they can completely shut out English manufac
tures, they have not. The price of labour is too dear. Should
they increase the tariff, or duty, upon English goods, the Cana
das and our other provinces will render their efforts useless, as
we have a line of coast of upwards of 2,000 miles, by which we
can introduce English goods to any amount by smuggling, and
which it is impossible for the Americans to guard against; and
as the West fills up, this importation of English goods would
every year increase. As long, therefore, as we hold the Canadas,
the Americans must be content to be a very inferior manufac
turing nation to ourselves; and it may be added that now or
never is the time for the Americans to possess themselves of
the Canadas. They perceive this; for when once the Western
States gain the preponderance in wealth and power, which they
will in a few years, the cause of the Eastern, or manufacturing

200 MARRY AT'S DIARY.

States will be lost. The Western States will riot quarrel with
England on account of the Eastern, but will import our goods
direct in exchange for their produce. They themselves cannot
manufacture and they will go to market where they^can pur
chase cheapest.

But do the views of the Americans extend no further 1 Would
they be satisfied if they obtained the Canadas 1 Most assuredly
not. They are too vast in their ideas — too ambitious in their
views. If Canada fell, Nova Scotia would fall, and they would
obtain what they most covet — the harbour of Halifax. New
Brunswick would fall, and they would have then driven us out
of our Continental possessions. Would they stop then 1 No :
they never would stop until they had driven the English to the
other side of the Atlantic. Newfoundland and its fisheries
would be their next prey ; for it, as well as our other possessions,
would then be defenceless. They would not leave us the West
Indies, although useless to them. Such is their object and their
earnest desire — an increase of territory and power for themselves,
and the humiliation of England. The very eagerness with
which the Americans bring up this question on purpose that they
may disavow their wishes, is one of the strongest proofs of their
anxiety to blind us on the subject; but they will never lose sight
of it; and if they thought they had any chance of success, there
is no expense which \hey would not cheerfully incur, no war
into which they would not enter. Let not the English be de
ceived by their asseverations. What I have now asserted is
the fact. The same spirit which has actuated them in dispos
sessing the Indians of territories which they cannot themselves
populate, which prompted the " high handed theft" of the Texas
from Mexico, will induce them to adopt any pretext, as soon as
they think they have a chance, to seize upon the Canadas and
our other transatlantic possessions.

If what 1 have stated be correct, and I am convinced of its
truth myself, it will be evident that the Canadas, independent of
every other consideration, become a most important outpost
which we must defend and hold possession of. Let it be remem
bered that every loss to us, is an increase to the power of Ame
rica — an increase of her security and to her maritime strength ;
that whatever her assertions may be, she is deadly hostile to us,
from the very circumstance that she considers that we prevent
her aggrandizement and prosperity. America can only rise to
the zenith which she would attain, by the fall of England, and
every disaster to this country is to her a source of exultation.
That there are many Americans of a contrary opinion I grant ;
that the city of New York would prefer the present amicable
relations is certain; but I have here expressed the feelings of the
majority, and it must be remembered that in America it is the
majority who decide all questions.

To prove that I am not too severe upon the Americans in the
above remarks, let me refer to their own printed documents.

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 201

The reader must be informed that the Canadian rebels, with
their American ^auxiliaries, made incursions into our territory
near, the boundary line, burnt the houses, took away the cattle,
and left destitute those parties who were considered as loyal
and well affected, or, in fact, those who refused to arm and join
the rebels. When pursued by the militia, or other forces, the
rebel parties hastened over the boundary-line, where they were
secure under the American protection. This system of protec
tion naturally irritated the loyal Canadians, who threatened to
cross the boundary and attack the Americans in return. It was,
however, only a threat, never being- put into execution : but upon
the strength of this threat, application was made to the Gover
nor in the State of Vermont, requesting that the arms in the
American arsenals might be supplied to the citizens for their
protection. The Governor very properly refused, and issued a
proclamation warning the citizens of Vermont not to interfere.
This offended the majority, who forthwith called a meeting at
St. Albans, the results of which were ordered to be pri»ted and
circulated. I have a copy of these reports and resolutions, from
which I shall now give some extracts. Let it be observed that
these are not the resolutions of a few lawless and undisciplined
people, bordering on the lakes, as the sympathisers are stated to
have been. The title of Honourable denotes that the parties are
either Members of the State or Federal Governments ; and,
indeed, the parties whose names appear on the committee, are
all of the first respectability in the State.

" Meeting of the Freemen at St. Albans.

" Agreeable to a notice circulated throughout the county,
about forty-eight hours previous to the meeting, two thousand of
the freemen from the different towns in the county assembled to
take into consideration a recent proclamation of the Governor,
and an extraordinary letter accompanying the same, and also to
express their sentiments on Canadian affairs, especially such as
have recently transpired in the neighbourhood of latitude forty-
five degrees.

" Jeptha Bradley, Esq., of St. Albans, was called to the chair,
and, agreeable to a resolve of the meeting, appointed the Hon.
S. S. Brown, Hon. Timothy Foster, and G. W. Kendall, Esq.,
a committee to nominate officers.

" The following gentlemen were nominated and appointed : —
Hon. Austin Fuller, of Enosburgh, President.
Vice Presidents.

Col. S. B. Hazeltine, Bakersfield ; Hon. Horace Eaton, Enos
burgh ; Doctor I. S. Webster, Berkshire ; William Green, Esq.,
Sheldon; Martin Wires, Esq., Cambridge; Hon. Timothy Fos
ter, Swanton.

Secretaries.

J. J. Beardsley, Sheldon ; Zoroaster Fisk, Swanton.

202 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

" The following gentlemen were appointed a committee to pre
pare a report and resolutions for the meeting : — •

" Henry Adams, Esq., St. Albans ; N. L. Whittemore, Esq.T
Swanton; R. A. Shattuck, Esq., Sheldon; Bradley Barlow,
Esq., Fairfield; I. B. Bowdish, Esq., Swanton.

" The letter of certain citizens of Burlington, and the procla
mation of his Excellency, Silas H. Jennison, were then read by
the Secretary, J. J. Beardsley, Esq. After the reading of the
letter and the proclamation the meeting was addressed by se
veral gentlemen, in an eloquent and impressive manner, and
their remarks severally called forth great applause.

" The committee, on resolutions by Henry Adams, Esq., chair
man, then presented the following report and resolutions, which
were unanimously adopted"

After having in the report stated that threats have been made,
they then attack the legality of the Governor's proclamation and
conduct, as follows : —

" The committee have no evidence to show that the execution
of the threats above mentioned, or that any invasion of the
rights of American citizens, would knowingly be permitted by
the existing government in Canada, or approved of by a majority
of the citizens in the Canadian townships ; but when they bear
in mind, that civil law is suspended in Canada, and in its place
are substituted the summary proceedings of military courts and
the capricious wills of petty military officers; when they con
sider the excited and embittered feelings which prevail along the
frontier, and which some have studied to inflame, and also the
character of a portion of the population which borders upon our
territory, they deem it not improbable that acts of violence might
be attempted, and even that a gang of marauders might be ga
thered together, and led to make some petty invasion into our
territory, disturbing the public peace, and committing acts of
outrage. If this be deemed improbable, still a state of suspense
and doubt is not to be endured. Every family on the frontier
should live in a state of undisturbed repose. The ability not
only to resist aggression, but to redress injuries with summary
justice, furnishes a certain, if not the only guarantee of perfect
quiet.

" With these views at recent meetings of the people, a com
mittee was appointed to wait upon the Governor and request the
use of a part of the arms in the State arsenal. This request
has been denied ; and the reason assigned by his Excellency is,
that he has doubts whether by law he can loan out the arms of
the State to be used by the people of the State for their own
defence. Without commenting on the technicalities which so
much embarrass his Excellency, or inquiring into the wisdom of
that construction of the law which infers, that because the State
arms are to be kept fit for use, therefore they are not to be used,
the committee would beg leave respectfully to suggest to the

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 203

people that, inasmuch as they are to receive no aid from the
State, it is their duty at once to arm themselves, and to rely
upon themselves.

" While the governor has thus declined furnishing any aid
for the security of the frontier, he has issued a proclamation en
joining1 upon the citizens of this State the observance of a strict
neutrality between the hostile parties in Canada. The propri
ety of our Governor's issuing a proclamation on an occasion like
the present, merely advisory, may well be questioned. It nei
ther creates any new obligations, nor adds force to those already
resting on our citizens. When it is considered that our rela
tions with foreign powers are solely confided to the general go
vernment, and that if the people of this State should boldly
break the obligations of neutrality, the governor of the State
has no power to restrain or to punish, it must be admitted, that
a proclamation of neutrality issuing from our State executive
seems to be over-stepping the proprieties of the office, and
should be exercised, if at all, only in case of a general and
glaring violation of the laws of nations; and even then it may
reasonably be questioned whether the ordinary process of law
would not be sufficient, and whether gratuitous advice to the
people on the one hand, and gratuitous interference with the
exclusive functions of the general government on the other,
would become pertinent by being stamped with the official Seal
of State. We are not aware of any express authority in our
constitution or laws for the exercise of this novel mode of ad
dressing the people ; and it can only be justified on the ground,
that the chief magistrate has something of fact or doctrine of
importance to communicate, of which the people are supposed
to be ignorant. In neither point of view is there any thing strik
ing in this otherwise extraordinary document.

" No facts are set forth before unknown to the public, except
that a representation has been made to his Excellency that
4 hostile forces had been organised within this State,' of which
organisation our citizens are profoundly ignorant.

" To the doctrine of this proclamation, — that the declaration
of martial law, by Lord Gosford, changes the relations between
the United States and Canada, we cannot assent. Our relations
with Great Britain and her colonies rest upon treaties, and the
general law of nations, which, it is believed, her Majesty's
Governor in Chief of Lower Canada can neither enlarge nor
restrict.

" To assume that our citizens are ignorant of their rights and
obligations as members of a neutral independent power, is to
take for granted that they have forgotten the repeated infrac
tions of those rights which have so often agitated our country
since the adoption of the Federal Constitution, which led to the
late war with Great Britain, and which have given rise to
claims of indemnity that are still due from various powers 01

204

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

Europe. Every page of the history of our country portrays
violations of her neutral rights by the despotic and haughty
powers of Europe, among whom England has ever been fore
most. Your committee do not deem it necessary to enlarge
upon this subject."

After the report came the resolutions, a portion of which I
subjoin : —

" Resolved — that the safety of the people is the supreme law,
and we recommend to our citizens to arm themselves for the
maintenance of this law.

" Resolved — That the proclamation of martial law in Canada,
and placing arms in the hands of people unaccustomed to their
use, hostile to our institutions, and heated by intestine dissen
sions, have a direct tendency to disturb the peace of our citi
zens, and demands the immediate interference of the general
government.

" Resolved — That our government ought to take immediate
measures to obtain redress for the injuries and insults perpe
trated on our citizens by the people of Canada.

" Resolved — That as friends of human liberty and human
rights, we cannot restrain the expression of our sympathy, when
we behold an oppressed and heroic people unfurl the banner of
freedom.

" Resolved — That we hope that time will soon come when the
bayonet shall fail to sustain the last relic of royalty which now
lingers on the western continent.

" Resolved — That we concur in the opinions which have been
fully and freely expressed in the British parliament by eminent
English statesmen; that 'in the ordinary course of things,
Canada must soon be separated from the mother country/

" Resolved — That it is the duty of every independent Ame
rican to aid in every possible manner, consistent with our laws,
the exertions of the patriots in Lower Canada, against the ty
ranny, oppression, and misrule of a despotic government."

CHAPTER II.

THE next question to be considered is, whether, independent
of their being important to us as an outpost to defend our trans
atlantic possessions, the Canadas are likely to be useful to us, as
a colony, in a commercial point of view. This requires much
consideration.

It must be admitted that, up to the present, we may consider
the Canadas to have been a heavy burden to this country. From
what I am now going to state, there are many, who agreeing
with me in most other points, will be likely to dissent. That I
cannot help; I may be in error, but, at all events, I shall not be
in error from a too hasty decision.

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 205

That it is wise and proper for a mother country to assist and
support her colonies in their infancy is undoubted. In so doing1,
the mother country taxes herself for the advantages to be here
after derived from the colony; but it may occur that the tax
imposed upon the people of the mother country may be too oner
ous, at the same time that no advantages at all commensurate
are derived from the colony. When such is the case, the tax
is not fair ; and the colony for whose benefit that tax has been
imposed, is looked upon with ill-will. This is the precise situa
tion of the Canadas, and this is the cause why there is so
strong an outcry against our retaining possession of these pro
vinces.

The bonus of forty-five shillings on a load of timber, which
is given to the Canadas by our present duties, is much too
great; and has pressed too heavily on the people of the mother
country. Jt has, in fact, created a monopoly; and when it is
considered how important and necessary an article timber is in
this country, — how this enormous bonus on Canadian timber af
fects the shipping, house-building, and agricultural interests — it
is no wonder that people wish to get rid of the Canadas and the
tax at one and the same time. It is also injurious to us in our
commercial relations with the northern countries, who refuse
our manufactures because we have laid so heavy a duty upon
their produce. This tax for the benefit of the Canadian pro
duce was put on during the war, without any intention that it
should remain permanent : and I think I shall be able satisfac
torily to establish, that, not only is it unjust towards our own
people, but that, instead of benefiting, it will be, now that the
Canadas are fast increasing in population, an injury to the Ca
nadas themselves.

Up to the present period, timber has been the only article of
export from Canada : we certainly have had the advantage of a
large carrying trade, and the employment of many thousand tons
of shipping; but, with this exception, the timber trade has been
injurious, not only to the mother country, but to the colony it
self, as? it has prevented her real prosperity, which must ever
depend upon the culture of the land and the increase of popula
tion. The first point to which the attention of a colony should
be directed, is its own support, the competence and supply of all
the necessaries of life to its inhabitants; it is not until after this
object has been obtained, that it must direct its attention to the
gain which may accrue from any surplus produce. In what
way has the timber trade benefited the Canadas] Has it
thrown any wealth into the provinces 1 most certainly not ; the
timber has been cut down, either by those Canadians who would
have been much better employed in tilling the land, for every
acre cleared is real wealth ; or by Americans who have come
over to cut down the timber and have returned to their own
country to spend the money. That the profits of the timber
18

trade have been great is certain ; but have these profits remain
ed in the Canadas 1 — have the sums realised been expended
there1? — no; they have been realised in, or brought over to
England, shared among a few persons of influence who have, to
a certain degree, obtained a monopoly by the bonus granted, but
the Canadas have benefited little or none, and the mother-country
has received serious injury. That the parties connected with
the Canada timber trade will deny this, and endeavour to ridi
cule my arguments, I am aware ; and that they are an influential
party I well know ; but I trust before I have concluded, to prove
to every disinterested person, that 1 am correct in my view of
the case, and that the prosperity of the Canadas is a very differ
ent question from the prosperity of the Canadian timber mer
chants, or even the proprietors on the Ottawa.

When the protecting duty was first imposed, there was no
idea of its being a permanent duty : it was intended as an en
couragement for ships to go to Canada for timber, when it could
not be got in the Baltic. Tt was, in fact, a war measure, which
should have been removed upon the return to peace. The rea
son why it was not, is, the plea brought for ward, that the taking
off the protecting duty would be a serious loss to the emigrant
settler, who would have no means of disposing of his timber
after he had felled it, and that the emigrant looked to his timber
as his first profits ; moreover, that it gave employment to the
emigrant in the long winters. That those who have never been
in the country were led away by this assertion I can easily ima
gine, but I must say that a more barefaced falsehood was never
uttered. There are varieties of emigrants, and those with capi
tal speculate in timber as well as other articles ; but J,et us ex
amine into the proceedings of the emigrant settler, that is, the
man who purchases an allotment and commences as a farmer —
for this is the party to whom the supposed philanthropy was to
extend. He builds his cottage and clears two or three acres,
that is, he fells the trees ; as soon as he has done this, if the
weather permit, he burns them where they lie, the branches and
smaller limbs being collected round the trunks as fuel to con
sume them. This he is compelled to do, for the land having
been so long smothered by the want of air and sunshine, arising
from the denseness of the forest, has a degree of acidity in it,
which the alkali of the wood and ashes are required to correct,
previous to his obtaining a crop. I do not believe that a settler
ever sold a tree when he was clearing, although if water-car
riage was convenient, he may afterwards, when he was in com
petent circumstances, have done so. Having raised his crop
from the first year's clearing, what is his employment during
the winter,-^-cuttingdown timber on the Ottawa for the English
market 1 no ; cutting down timber on his own property as fast as
he can, so as to have it ready for burning in the early spring,
and having a crop off' this, his second clearing. And so he con-

MARRY AT'S DIARY. 207

tinues, with full employment on his own farm, until he has
cleared sufficient for the growing of his corn and the pasture for
his cattle. When he has become independent and comfortable,
and has a few thousand dollars to spare, then he will erect a
saw-mill, and work up his own trees into lumber for sale, but by
that time he must be considered as a rich man for a settler. The
timber trade, therefore, is hurtful to the Canadas, in so much as
it prevents them from clearing land and becoming independent
people, who by other means would become so. The timber
which is cut down for exportation, is chiefly from the forests on
or near the Ottawa river, and the emigrant settler has neither
interest or concern in it.

It may be argued that, as settlers do, as soon as they are in
better circumstances, erect saw-mills, and work up their trees
into lumber, that it would be unfair to deprive them of that ad
vantage. I will grant that ; but the fact is, that you will not do
so ; for of the quantity of timber and lumber exported from the
Canadas, it is only one-half which is sent to the British market,
the other half is divided between the West Indies, the United
States, and their own consumption; and the demand of the United
States will so rapidly increase, that, in a few years, the Cana
dians will care little for sending their timber to England, even
if the present duty were kept on. I consider that this bounty
upon cutting timber is very injurious to the American provinces,
as it distracts their attention from the real source of wealth,
which must consist in clearing the country ; for, to show how
great a difference this makes to them, it must be observed, that
a farm which was only worth two dollars an acre when the
settler first came to it, will, as soon as others have cleared
around him, rise to twenty or thirty dollars per acre. Every
man, therefore, who settles and clears land, not only benefits
himself, but increases the value of the property of those all
around him ; while the feller of timber on the Ottawa only puts
a few dollars into his own pocket, and does no good to the pro
vince, as the timber-dealers in England reap all the harvest.

It would appear very strange that the ship owners should have
joined the Canadian timber merchants in persuading the govern
ment to continue these duties, were it not from the fact that the
ship owners appear, invariably, to oppose any measure advanta
geous to their own interests. That the carrying trade to the
Canadas is of importance is certain ; but of how much more im
portance to the ship owner is the reduction of expense in build
ing his ship, which must ensue if the timber duties were re
duced. The ship owner complains that he cannot sail his ship
at as low a rate as foreigners ; that he must be protected, or
that he cannot compete with them in any way; and yet he op
poses the very measure which would materially assist him in so
doing. But the fact is, that, as I shall eventually show, the car
rying trade with Canada would not be lost, though the cargo

208

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

would not be the same ; and there is every reason to suppose
that the employment of the shipping would very soon amount to
the same tonnage as at present.

The next consideration is, to what should the duty be reduced,
so as not to affect our revenue ] This is a question easily an
swered.

In the Report on Timber Duties, Appendix No. 10, we haver
in round numbers, for the year 1833 : —

Timber exported from Canada and Ame
rican provinces, calculated in loads. -
Timber from the north of Europe, in ditto.

Loads, duty paid.
719,000 £300,000
444,000 985,000

1,163,000 1,285,000

Now it is certain that, wherever the timber may come from,
the same quantity will be required ; we have, therefore, to fix
a duty upon timber coming from all parts of the world, by which
the revenue will not suffer. A duty of 25s. per load will give,
upon the whole importation, a revenue of £1,453,000, not only
an increase of revenue upon the timber at present imported; but
there is every reason to suppose that it would occasion a much
greater consumption of timber, and of course a great increase of
revenue. I do not consider that it would be advisable to make
this reduction immediately. There is a large tonnage employed
in the Canada trade, which might as well wear out in it ; and
it would be but fair to allow those who have embarked their ca
pital in the trade, to have time to withdraw it. As the Canadas
are not yet prepared to send other produce to the market, we
can, with great propriety, confer this boon upon the present tim
ber trade. The reduction of the duty should be gradual, and
extended over ten years, at which period the final reduction to
25s. per load should take place ; by which time, if Canada be
cherished, she will have other produce for the market.

The more I consider the question, the more I am convinced
that this alteration would be a benefit to all parties. We then
should be able to build ships at a moderate price ; we should
have a fall in house-rent; and, indeed, it would be of advantage
to every class in this country ; and, however interested people
may argue, the removal of this protecting duty would be the
greatest boon and kindness which we could confer on our trans
atlantic possessions.

Let us now inquire what are likely to be made the future
prospects and produce of the Canadas as the population in
creases, and the resources of the country will be developed.

Lower Canada is a sterile country ; not that the land is in
itself bad, but from the severity and length of the winters.
The climate of Lower Canada is precisely the same as that of
Russia, and so might be its produce. The winters are tedious,
but not unhealthy, as they are dry. The summers, like all the-

MARRY AT'S DIARY. 209

summers in the northern regions, although short, are excessively
hot. It is owing to this excessive heat of the summer that the
maize, or Indian corn, which will not ripen in this country, can
be grown in Lower Canada, and it is the principal corn which
is raised. The French Canadians who inhabit Lower Canada
are but indifferent and careless farmers, yet still they contrive to
live in apparent comfort : but the question is not whether the
inhabitants of Lower Canada can support themselves, but whether
they are likely to be able to produce any thing which might be
come an article of export to England. I should say yes : they
may produce tar and hemp, two very important articles, and for
which we are almost wholly dependent upon Russia. Tar they
can most assuredly produce; and, with the same climate as Russia,
why not hemp ? Hemp will grow in any climate, and almost
in any soil, except very stiff clay, and I consider the soil of
Lower Canada admirably adapted to it. Up to the present time
the French Canadians have merely vegetated, but as the country
fills up, and they gradually amalgamate with the other settlers,
there is no doubt that they will rapidly improve.

Upper Canada has been, and is still, but little known. At the
close of the war, there was not a population of 40,000 upon the
whole province : even now there is but 400,000 upon a territory
capable of receiving and supporting many millions. It is, with
out exception, the most favoured spot in North America, having
all the fertility of the Southern and Western States, without
being subject to the many and fatal diseases which are a draw
back upon the latter. Although so far north, its climate is pe
culiarly mild, from its being so wholly surrounded with water,
which has the effect of softening down both the cold of the
winter and the heat of the summer. It abounds with the most
splendid timber; is well watered; the land is of the richest
quality ; the produce is very great, and the crops are almost
certain. I particularly notice this as I consider Upper Canada
to be the finest corn country in the world.

At present the resources of the Canadas are unknown ; the
country has not been explored ; it is without capital, and I may
add without credit, but its prospects are very favourable. The
timber trade to England will in a few years, even allowing the
present bonus to be continued, be of little advantage to Upper
Canada ; they will find a much better market as the Western
States fill up, as then there will be a great demand for lumber,
which will be obtained cheaper from Canada than from any
portion of the United States. Even now lumber is sent over
from Upper Canada to those portions of the United States bor
dering on the lakes. I have pointed out the want of timber in
the Western States, that is, of timber fit for building ; they have
some in the State of Wisconsin, which will soon be absorbed,
and then the Canada timber and lumber will be in demand, and
18*

210 MARRY AT'S DIARV.

I have no doubt that there will be a. very extensive exportation
of it.

The next article of produce to which the Canadians should
direct their attention is the fisheries on the lake, which may be
carried on to any extent and with great profit. The trout and
white fish, both very superior to the Newfoundland cod, are to
be taken with the greatest ease, and in vast quantities. I have
mentioned that the Americans have already commenced this
fishery, and the demand is rapidly increasing. As the West fills
up, the supply would hardly keep pace with the demand ; besides
that it would also be an article of exportation to this country.

There are millions and millions of acres to the north and about
Lake Superior, fit for little else than the increase of the animals
whose furs we obtain, and which will probably never be brought
into cultivation ; yet these lands are rich in one point, which
is, that the maple-tree grows there, and any quantity of sugar
may be collected from it, as soon as the population is thick
enough to spare hands for its collection. A maple-tree, carefully
tapped, will yield for forty years, and give six or seven pounds
of sugar, fully equal to the best East-India produce, and refining
well. A few tons are collected at present, but it may become
a large article of export.

The United States appear to be rich in most metals, but par
ticularly in lead and iron ;* the metal which they are most de-

* The following description of the iron mines at Marmora are worthy the
attention of the reader. It is from the engineer who was sent to survey them,
" To Isaac Fraser, Esq.

" The water power at Marmora, and its sufficiency for all hydraulic pusposes,
may be better imagined than explained to you by me, from the fact, that the
falls occur upon the Crow River, at the foot of untold lakes falling into Crow
Lake, the deepest inland lake in the province, and just below the junction of
the Beaver River, which latter has its source in the Ottawa or Grand River, or
the waters flowing parallel therewith, and by the outlet at the Marmora Falls :
these head waters, on the confluence with the waters of the Otonabee, and Rice
Lake in Crow Bay, six miles below the works, form the great River Trent,
second in importance and magnitude only to the St. Lawrence. It is sufficient
for me to add, that I deem the water power at the works abundantly equal to
all the purposes of machinery and manufacture, which can for centuries be es
tablished there.

" Immediately adjoining the works there is an ore bed, from the partial de-
velopement of which, and from the opinions \ have received of its superior
quality, it would appear to be of the purest kind of iron ore, except native
iron, in the same veins with which is an admixture of red paint and yellow
ochre, and in separate veins and beds at this locality, those paints occur in
some quantities, several barrels of which, especially the red paint, Mr. Hayes
disposed of at 25s. per barrel, at the works, and it seems probable they would
become profitable articles of commerce. Here also there is a bed of purely
white marble, not seemingly stratified, but in large blocks; and a quarry of
superior stone for lithographic purposes, the quality of which has been tested
and reported favourably upon. This ore bed would be from its situation within
any wall constructed for the custody of the convicts, but from the great jumble
of mineral substances, which the careless opening of those veins has occasioned,
it is not possible to hazard an opinion as to the probable extent of minerals
here, but from, if I may judge by appearances and from geological analogy, the
few acres surrounding, it is probable they are sufficiently extensive to be an
object of consideration— several hundred tons of ore have already been taken
out fot the furnaces. There is at this place a well-built bridge and a wharf

'

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 211

ficient in is copper. It is said that the copper mines in New
Jersey are good ; those in the West have not yet proved to be
worth working. Canada, as I have before said, is as yet unex
plored, but I have every reason to believe that it will be found
rich in minerals, especially copper. I argue, first, from its ana
logy with Russia, which abounds in that metal ; and secondly,
because there is at this time, on the shores of Lake Superior, a
mass of native copper weighing many tons, a specimen of which
I have had in my hand. We must not forget to reckon, among
the other products and expected resources of Canada, the furs
obtained by the Hudson Bay Company. Of course, if the
Canadas are wrested from us, we shall have to depend upon the
Americans for our supply of this necessary article. The value
in Canada of the furs exported to this country, by the company,
amounts, as I have observed in my Diary, to about a million and
a half of dollars.

I now come to what T consider will be the most important ex
port from the Canadas. I have stated it to be my opinion that
Upper Canada will be the first corn country in the world, and
in a very few years we may expect that she will export largely
into this country ; already having had a surplus which has been
sold to the Americans. It must be recollected that America,
who used to supply the West-Indies and other parts of the
world with her flour, has, for these last few years, in her mania
for speculating, neglected her crops, and it is only during these
last two years that she has redirected her attention to the tillage

at which the ore brought from the lake ore beds is landed, and from thence
carted or wheeled up to the ore bank.

" At a distance of four miles by water, that is at the Crow Lake, in the town
ship of Belmont, Newcastle District, the principal ore bed occurs. I may confine
my observations respecting this ore bed to the qualities and varieties of the
ores to be found there, and of the extent of the deposit give you an idea, by
fancying my feelings when I first saw the mountain. My surprise was great,
and my first conclusion was, that it would be more than sufficient to supply the
world with iron for ever. The ore here is in great variety of magnetic ore,
easily quarried ; and, in fact, it can be quarried, loaded, and transported to the
works, roasted on the ore bank, broken up into particles, and put upon the
furnace, at an expense not exceeding 2s. Gd. per ton ; as I observed it is strongly
magnetic, and although mixed considerably with sulphur, it is easily freed
from that deleterious mineral by exposure to the atmosphere, and to the action
of air and frost, and by this species of evaporation, a new and valuable com
modity could be procured in great quantities, namely, the copperas of com
merce.

" With a boat of fifty tons burthen — and there is depth of water enough for a
74 gun ship from the wharf at the works, to this mountain of ore — navigated by
four men, 150 tons of ore could be brought down in two days— so readily is it
quarried, and so handily put on board. Intermediate to this bed and the works,
several other deposites of iron are discovered— one of a superior quality, sur
passing in magnetic power any other ore yet discovered, possessing what mine
ralogists call polarity ; — and near to this, meadow and bog ore, not a mile
distant from the works, is to be found in great quantities. The works are to
the north-north-east and eastward, surrounded by beds of ore, of which five
have been tried and brought into use — but as they are inland, and consequently
more expensively procured, they merit but this passing observation, that in
quantity and quality they are valuable.

" For the present I am, Sir,

" Your obedient servant,

" Engineer ."

^12 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

of her land. She will now no longer require assistance from
Upper Canada, and the yearly increasing corn-produce of that
province must find a market elsewhere. After supplying the
wants of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, this surplus will find
its way into this country. As the population of Upper Canada
increases, so will of course her growth of wheat be greater, and
in a very few years, we have reason to expect that there will
be not only a constant, but even a more than requisite, exporta
tion of corn to this country. Now what will be the effect 1
Corn from Canada is admitted at a fixed duty of 5s. per quarter,
therefore as soon as the supply from thence is sufficient, the corn
laws will be virtually repealed, that is to say, they will be ex
changed for a permanent duty of 5s. per quarter.

I think that^he remarks I have made will incline the reader
to agree with me, that the reduction of the duties on timber will
be a real boon to all parties : to the Canadians, because at the
same time that the supplies of lumber to the West Indies and
elsewhere will give a certain profit, they will no longer have
the true interests of the colony sacrificed for the benefit of par
ties at home; to the mother country, because it will relieve the
expenses of the builder, lessen house-rent and agricultural ex
penses, and at the same time increase the revenue ; — to the
ship-owner, as it will enable him to build much cheaper, and to
compete more successfully with foreign vessels, with the pros
pect also of the carrying trade soon reviving, and the freight of
the corn proving an indemnification to him for the loss of that
on the timber. That a few interested individuals would com
plain is undoubted, but it is high time that a monopoly so inju
rious in every point, should be removed ; and the profits of a few
speculators are not to be for a moment considered, when opposed
both to the interests of the colony and of the nation.

I may as well here remark that it would only be an act of
justice to the provinces, and no less so to ourselves, to take off
the prohibitions at present in force against the importation of
g«oods from France and other countries. The boon itself would
be small, but still it would be a stimulus to enterprise, and the
time has gone by for England to impose such restrictions on her
colonies. I say that we should lose nothing, because all these
articles are imported by the Americans ; and if the Canadians
wish to procure them, they can obtain them immediately at
Buffalo, and other American towns bordering on the lakes. At
present, therefore, all the profits arising from these importations
go into the pockets of the Americans, who are the only parties
benefited by our restrictive laws. We should therefore remove
them.

I shall now support the arguments in this chapter, touching
the relative value of the corn and the timber trade to the Cana-
das, by some extracts from the evidence given in the Report of
the Committee on the Timber Duties.

Q. " Have you ever formed an opinion of what rate per quar-

MARRYAT S DIARY.

213

ter wheat could be exported to this country, so as to yield a
profit to the exporter! — A. I cannot call it to mind accurately,
but I think the estimate I once made was between 40s. and 50s.

Q. «* Would it not follow that, unless the price of wheat in
this country were to rise to 40s. or 50s. per quarter, the popula
tion that your former answer would transfer from the timber
trade to the agricultural would not be able advantageously to
employ themselves? — A. No; I do not think it follows neces
sarily. If all our population were devoted to agriculture, our
settlements wpuld be more dense, and their roads more perfect ;
in fact, all the social offices more perfectly fulfilled; which
would enable them to bring their wheat to market at a more
moderate price, and thus they might obtain a larger profit even
with a lower price. We should bear in mind, in relation to
their agricultural produce, that the farmer of course first feeds
his own family, and that price affects him so far as it relates to
his surplus produce, and that price rather affects his luxuries
than his means of subsistence. I am not aware that the present
prices would prevent a farmer obtaining that return which
would enable him to purchase at least all his necessaries.

Q. " What do you suppose is the average expense of the con
veyance of wheat from the remote parts of Canada to Montreal?
— A. I believe the cost of bringing wheat from Niagara to Mon
treal was about 15d. colonial currency, but I am not certain; it
is not now lower. I once made a table showing the cost of
taking produce of all kinds from three points on Lake Ontario
and on Lake Erie, and sending up articles to the same places.

Q. " What is the freight from Quebec to England I—A. The
ordinary rate has been from 8s. to 8s. 6d. a quarter for wheat.

Q. " Do you know the price of wheat in this country 7 — A. I
believe the last average was 40s.

Q " If at 40s. you would probably allow 10s. a quarter, by
your present statement, as a fair deduction for the expense of
bringing it into this market? — A. I 'should think so.

Q. " Do you think the price of 30s. would pay the agricultural
producer in Canada for the production of wheat; would afford a
return for the investment of capital in the production of wheat
in Canada ? — A. I should be loth to speak to a point on which I
have not sufficient knowledge.

Q. " Is it not indispensable to form an opinion upon that point
to justify the opinion you have already given ? — A. I think not.
I have that feeling, that the consequence of their not having the
timber trade would be, that they would produce other articles,
and that their condition would not be deteriorated. I am led to
that conclusion by seeing the present condition of the State of
New York, which once depended on the timber trade ; I look
also to Vermont ; and when every man tells me that he laments
and has lamented that he ever meddled with the timber trade, I
think that I am justified in my opinion, for no one will pretend
to state that the land of Vermont, or even of New York, equals

214

that of Canada. While speaking of the soil of Canada, I would
observe that Jacobs has estimated the average return for wheat
on the Continent at four to one, of Great Britain seven to one,
and Gourlay has estimated the return of Upper Canada at twenty
to one. Many state that Upper Canada is unrivalled in compa
rison with any other piece of land of equal extent.

Q. " Are you aware of the extent of exportation of agricul
tural produce from Canada? — A. I am ; I can state it from me
mory. The largest quantity of wheat exported in any year was
in 1831, and I think amounted to 1,300,000 bushels.

Q. " Can you make the same statement with reference to
corn and provisions as to other articles ? — A. Canada exports a
great deal of corn.

Q. " Which Canada ?— A. Both Upper and Lower Canada.

Q. " Does Lower Canada grow corn enough for her own con
sumption 1 — A. I should think Lower Canada did, arid more.

Q. " Does Upper Canada1? — A. Upper Canada a great deal
more.

Q. " Have you the amount of the exports ] — A. I have the
exports of 1833 ; the two Canadas exported 650,000 bushels of
wheat.

Q. " How much flour 1— A. About 91,000 barrels.

Q. " Have you any account of the imports of flour from the
United States into Lower Canada'? — A. I have not with me ;
but can give it very nearly.

Q. " Do those exports of which you have spoken just now
comprehend the United States flour 1 — A. No, they are exclu
sive of Colonial production.

Q. " Is not Lower Canada, as well as Upper Canada, in the habit
of supplying herself, to a certain degree, with American flour and
wheat, and exporting her own produce, on account of the state of
the corn laws last year 7 — A. Yes, it is done to a certain ex
tent. I have some indication as to the quantity which comes
from the United States into Upper and Lower Canada being-
small. In the returns of the traffic last year through our Wei-
land Canal, about 265,000 bushels of wheat passed through, of
which 18,000 British and 22,000 American only went to Mon
treal. All the rest went to Oswego, for the New York market:
but the destination in future will probably depend upon whether
the internal communication is improved in those colonies, and
on the state of the market in New York and in the Canadas.

Q. " If there is sufficient capital, is there any reason to sup
pose it would not be beneficial to engage in both? — A. I do not
think it is a question concerning the abundance of capital, but
the good to be derived from the preservation of the Canada tim
ber trade by enormous protecting duties. I am confident that
the timber trade is inimical to the best interests of the Canadas;
it would be possible to make the timber trade more beneficial
than any other pursuit in the country, and the way to render it
so would be to give immense protecting duties to the timber

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 215

trade of Canada, allowing all other articles of produce to be open
to general competition ; but, by such a course, England would
not be benefiting Canada.

Q. "Can you state the average prices of wheat at Quebec
the last four or five years? — A. I think 5s. or 6s. Canadian cur
rency ; the latter rate is equal to 5s. sterling, which is 40s. a
quarter ; but I do not suppose an average of several years would
be over 4s. 2fc7., that would be 33s. 4d. There are peculiar cir
cumstances that attended the last three or tour years.

Q. " Has it been higher the last three or four years than the
three or four years previously ? — A. Considerably higher than
the ten years previously.

Q. " Do you think 30s. a quarter would have been the ave
rage of the ten years preceding? — A. I should think so, but I
cannot now speak positively.

Q. " Are the committee to understand it to be your opinion,
that if the timber establishments were broken up and no more
timber exported from Canada, there would be no loss to that
country ? — A. There might be an immediate loss, and a very
great subsequent gain. I think there wouid be an immediate
loss attending on the mills, possibly £150,000 to £200,000.

Q. " Has it not been the fact that there has been a constant
and gradual increase of tonnage into Quebec for the last fifteen
years? — A. Yes.

Q. " Presuming that those establishments were to be broken
up and no more timber exported, do you think that gradual in
crease would still continue ? — A, No ; the first consequence, I
think, very possibly would be a very material decrease.

Q. " Subsequently the same tonnage would be required for
the carriage of corn as at present 1 — A. Some years hence, for
corn and other articles."

CHAPTER III.

To one who has a general knowledge of the various English
colonies, to which emigration is constantly taking place, it ap
pears very strange that people should emigrate to such coun
tries as New South Wales, Van Diernan's Land, and New Zea
land, when Upper Canada is comparatively so near to them, and
affording every advantage which a settler could wish. Of course
the persuasion of interested parties, and their own ignorance,
prevent them from ascertaining the truth. Indeed, the reports
upon Upper Canada are occasionally as highly coloured as those
relative to the other colonies, and nothing but an examination
of the country, I may say a certain period of residence in it, can
enable you to ascertain the real merits of the case. I have nei
ther land nor interest in Upper Canada, and, therefore, my evi
dence on the question may be considered as impartial ; and I do

216 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

not hesitate to assert that Upper Canada promises more advan
tages to the settler than any other English colony, or any por
tion whatever of the United States.

I shall now make a few remarks upon emigration to that pro
vince, and point out what the settler will have to expect. I
have read many works upon the subject ; they are very inaccu
rate, and hold out to the emigrant brilliant prospects, which are
seldom or never realised. The best work, independently of its
merits as a novel, is " Laurie Todd," by Mr. Gait. And first, I
address myself to the poor man who goes out with only twenty
or thirty pounds in his pocket.

If he credit the works written to induce people to emigrate,
all that he has to do is to build his log-hut, clear his land, and
in three years be an independent man.

It is true that he can purchase fifty acres of land for one hun
dred dollars, or twenty-five pounds ; that he has only to pay one-
tenth part of the sum down, which is two pounds ten shillings
sterling. It is true that he will collect a Bee, as it is termed,
or a gathering of neighbours to run up the frame of his house ;
but, nevertheless, possessing his fifty acres of land and his log-
house, he will in all probability be starved out the very first
year, especially if he has a family.

To a poor man, a family is eventually of immense value. As
soon as he has fairly settled, the more children he has the faster
he will become rich ; but on his first arrival, they will, if not
able to work for themselves, be a heavy burthen. If, however,
they can do any thing, so as to pay for their board and lodging,
he will not be at any expense for them, as there is employment
for every body, even for children.

The only article I should recommend him to take out from
England is a good supply of coarse clothing for his family ; if he
would take out a venture, let it be second-hand clothes, and he
will double his money if he sells them by auction, for clothes
are the most expensive article in Canada. I once saw some
cast-off clothes sold by an acquaintance of mine in Upper Cana
da ; a Jew in England would not have given five pounds for the
lot, yet, sold at auction, they cleared twenty-five pounds, all ex
penses paid. He cannot, therefore, take out too much clothing,
but the coarser and more common it is the better, Let him
supply himself from the old clothes shops, or the cheap stores.
New clothes will soon become old when he works hard. Hav
ing made this provision, let him buy nothing else ; but change
his money into sovereigns and keep it in his pocket.

As SOOH as he arrives at Quebec, he must lose no time in taking
the steamboat up the St. Lawrence, and landing near to where
he has decided upon locating. If he has made no decision, at
all events let him leave the city immediately, and get into the
country, for there he will get work and spend less money. In
stead of thinking of making a purchase of land, let him give up
all thoughts of it for a year or two ; but hire himself out, and

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 217

his wife and children also, if he can. If he is a good man, he
will receive four pounds a month, or forty-eight pounds a year,
with his board and lodging. The major part of this he will be
able to lay by. If his wife must stay at home to take care of
the children, still let her work ; work is always to be found, and
she may not only support herself and children, but assist his
fund. By the time that he has been eighteen months or two
years in the country, he will have his eyes open, know the value
of every thing, and will not be imposed upon as he would have
been had he taken a farm immediately upon his arrival. He
will have laid by a sufficient sum for him to begin with, and he
will have become acquainted with the mode of farmimg in the
country, which is very different from what he has been used
to in the old. He may then go on and prosper.

The next description of emigrant settler to which I shall ad
dress myself is he who comes out with a small capital, say from
two hundred to five hundred pounds ; a sum sufficient to enable
him to commence farming at once, but not sufficient to allow
him to purchase or stock a farm which has a portion of the land
already cleared. The government lands fetch at auction about
ten shillings an acre, and they are paid for by instalments, one-
tenth down, and one-tenth every year, with interest, until the
whole be paid ; of course, he may pay it all at once, if he pleases,
and save the interest. He must not purchase more than four
hundred acres. He can always procure more if he is success
ful. His first instalment to government for the purchase of four
hundred acres will be eighty dollars.

His next object is to have a certain portion of his land cleared
for him. The price varies according to the size and quantity of
the portion ; but you may say, at the highest, it will cost about
sixteen dollars an acre. Let him clear ten acres, and then
build his house and barns. I will make two estimates, between
which he may decide according to his means.

Estimate 1.

Dollars.

Instalment to Government. 80

Shingle-house 400

Furniture 100

Barns and sheds 400

Ten acres clearing ]60

Oxen 80

Cow 20

Pigs and Poultry 20

Plough, Harrow, &c. • - . - 20

Seed - . 50

Horse and Wagon. 100

About £300 1,430

To this (if you hnve no family able to work) for a man and his

wife 300

Expenses of living the first year £t)0

JC400 1.930

19

218 MARRY AT's DIARY.

Estimate 2.

Dollars

Instalment to Government 80

Log-house and Furniture 160

Barn 60

Clearing 160

Oxen 80

Cow - 20

Pigs and Poultry 20

Plough, Harrow, &.c. - 20

Seed 50

Horse and Wagon 100

JG150

But choosing between these two estimates, according to his
means, that is, by reserving, if possible, one hundred pounds
for contingencies, he has every chance of doing well. He
must bear in mind, that although every year his means will in
crease, he must not cripple himself by an outlay of all his
money at first starting. After the first year, he will be able to
support himself and family from the farm. I have put every
thing at the outside expense, that he may riot be deceived ; but
he must not expend all his capital at once ; his horse or oxen
may die — his crops may partially fail — he may have severe ill
ness — all these contingencies must be provided against.

But the settler who goes out under the most favourable cir
cumstances, is the one who has one thousand pounds or more,
and who can, therefore, purchase a farm of from two hundred
to four hundred acres, with a portion cleared, and a house and
offices ready built. These are always to be had, for there are
people in the Canadas, as in America, who have pleasure in
selling their cleared land, and going again into the bush. These
farms are often to be purchased at the rate of from five to ten
dollars per acre for the whole, cleared and uncleared. In this
case all the difficulties have been smoothed away for him, and
all that he has to do is, to be industrious and sober.

When I was at London, on the river Thames, (in Upper Ca
nada I .mean), I might have purchased a farm, lying on the
banks of that river, of four hundred acres, seventy of them
cleared, and the rest covered with the finest oak timber, with a
fine water-power, and a saw-mill in full work, a good house, barn,
and out-buildings and kitchen garden, for six hundred pounds. In
ten years this property will be worth more than six thousand
pounds ; and in twenty more, if the country improves as fast as
it does now, at least fifteen thousand pounds.

In looking out for a property in Canada, always try to obtain
a water-power, or the means of erecting one, by damming up
any swift stream ; its value will, in a few years, be very great ;
and never consider a few dollars an acre more, if you have
transport by water, or are close to a good market. You must
look forward to what the country will be, not to what it is at
present

Hajf-pay officers settle in Upper Canada with great advan-

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 219

tages, arising from the circumstance, that their annual pay is
always a resource to fall back upon. A very small capital is
sufficient in this case ; and, if prudent, they gradually rise to
independence, if not to wealth There are, however, one or two
cautions to be given to these gentlemen. Never go into the
bush if you can help it : accustomed to society, you will find
the total loss of it too serious. If you have a wife and large
family, they may partially compensate for the loss, but even then
it is better to locate yourself near a small town. If you are a
single man and sit down in the bush, you are lost. Hundreds
have done so, and the result has been, that they have resorted to
intemperance, and have died ruined men.

But the settlers most required in Upper Canada, and those
who would reap the most golden harvest, are men of capital ;
when I say capital, I mean those who possess a sum of four or
five thousand pounds — a sum very inadequate to support a per
son in England who has been born and bred as a gentleman ; but
in Canada, with such a sum, he can not only farm, but speculate
to great "advantage. At present the Americans go over there
every year, and realise large sums of money. Indeed, capital
is so much required in Upper Canada, and may be employed to
such advantage, that I wonder people, with what may be con
sidered as small capitals here, do not go over. The only caution
to give them is, not to be in a hurry ; in the course of a year or
two they will understand what they are about, and then they
will soon become wealthy.

When I arrived at Toronto, I was called upon by an old friend
who had often shot with me in Norfolk. His father had once set
him up in business, but the house failed. He resolved to go out
to Canada, and his father gave him a thousand pounds as a start,
and allowed him two hundred pounds a year afterwards. He
had been in the country seven years when we met again. I
accepted his invitation to dine and sleep at his house, which was
about seven miles from the town. He sent handsome saddle
horses over for three of us. I found him located on a beautiful
farm of about four hundred acres, the major portion of it cleared;
his house was a very elegantly built cottage ornee , every thing
had the appearance of a handsome English country residence ;
he had married a beautiful woman of one of the first families.
We sat down to an excellent dinner, and, in every respect, the
whole set-out was equal to what you generally meet with in
good society in England. He was really living in luxury. We
returned the next day, in a handsome carriage and as fine a pair
of horses as one would wish to see.

I could hardly credit that all this could have been accumulated
in seven years — yet such was the case, and it was not a singu
lar one ; for the whole road from his farm to Toronto was lined
with similar farms and handsome houses, belonging to gentlemen
who had emigrated, forming among themselves, a very exten
sive and most delightful society.

220 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

Although they do not go ahead as fast as some of the Ameri
can cities, (for instance, as Buffalo,) still Upper Canada has,
within the last ten or fifteen years, taken a surprising start, and
will now, if judiciously governed, increase in wealth almost as
fast as any of the American States. About Toronto, most of the
gentlemen have incomes of from seven hundred to fifteen hun
dred pounds per annum, and keep handsome equipages ; but there
are many other towns which have lately risen up very rapidly.
Peterborough is an instance of this. "Peterborough in 1825
contained but one miserable dwelling ; now, in 1838, may be
seen nearly four hundred houses, many of them large and hand
some, inhabited by about fifteen hundred persons; a very neat
stone church, capable of accommodating eight hundred or nine
hundred persons,* a Presbyterian church of stone, two dissenting
places of worship, and a Roman Catholic church in progress.
The town has in or near it, two grist, and seven saw-mills, five
distilleries, two breweries, two tanneries, eighteen or twenty
shops (called stores), carriage, sleigh, wagon, chair, harness,
and cabinet-makers and most other useful trades. Stages run
all the year, bringing mails five times a week ; and steamboats
whilst the navigation is open ; there is one good tavern (White's),
and two inferior ones. Families may now find houses of any
sizes to suit them, at moderate rents. The road^s in this neigh
bourhood are being greatly improved. The tow'ns of Cobourg,
Port Hope, Colborne, Grafton, Brighton, River Trent, and
Beaumont in the Newcastle district, are all equally prosperous,
and, like Peterborough, are surrounded by genteel families from
the United Kingdom ; in short, the advancement of this district
is almost incredible."

But there is one important subject relative to emigration which
must be considered ; if it be, as I trust my readers will be in
clined to think with me, a national question, it is highly expe
dient that it should be not only assisted, but controlled by go
vernment. At present the mortality is tremendous ; and I very
much question whether there are not more lives sacrificed in the
transport of the emigrants, than subsequently fall a prey to
disease in the western States, bordering on the Mississippi.
With those who would emigrate to the United States, we have
nothing to do, neither do they so much require our sympathy.
The American packets are good vessels, and they suffer little ;
and when they land at New York, Baltimore and Philadelphia,
the charity of the Americans is always ready for their relief.

* The building of this Church was undertaken by the inhabitants of Peter
borough and its vicinity, belonging to the Church of England. In 1835 it was
commenced, and, by great exertions, opened for Divine worship in December
J836, though not altogether finished. Nine hundred pounds was raised by
voluntary contributions, not one farthing having been given by any public
body to it. The gentlemen composing the building committee are responsible
for the remainder due, being five hundred pounds. An advertisement for sub
scriptions to liquidate this debt has been for some weeks past inserted in a
London newspaper.

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 2*21

But with the poor emigrants who would settle in Canada, the
case is very different. It must be understood, that the Quebec
trade is chiefly composed of worn-out and unseaworthy vessels,
which cannot find employment elsewhere; for a vessel which is
in sach a state that a cargo of dry goods could not he entrusted
to her, is still sufficiently serviceable for the timber trade — as,
* allowing her bottom to be out' with a cargo of timber she of
course cannot founder. But if these vessels are sufficiently safe
to bring timber home, they are not sufficiently good vessels to
receive three or four hundred emigrants on board. Leaky, bad
sailers, ill-found, the voyage is often protracted, and the suffer
ings of the poor people on board are dreadful. Fever and other
diseases break out among them, and they often arrive at Quebec
with sixty or seventy people who are carried to the hospital in
dependently of those who have died and been thrown overboard.

Sometimes their provisions do not last out the voyage, and
they are obliged to purchase of the captain or others on board,
(who have prepared for the exigence,) and thus their little sav
ings to recommence life with, are all swallowed up to support
existence. I believe that what they suffer is dreadful ; and if
ever there was a case which would call forth patriotism and
sympathy, it is the hardships of these poor people. Allowing
emigration not to be a national question, still it is a question for
national humanity, and all this suffering might be alleviated at
comparatively a very trifling expense.

If two or three of our smaller line-of-battle ships now lying
at their moorings, were to be jury-rigged, without any guns on
board, and manned with a sloop's ship's company, they would
not decay faster by running between Quebec and this country
than if they remained in harbour. One of those vessels would
carry out 2,500 men, women, and children. Let the emigrants
take their provisions on board, and should their provisions fail
them, let there be a surplus for their supply at the cost price.
Under this arrangement, you would have that order, cleanliness,
and ventilation which would insure them against disease, and
proper medical attendance if it should be required ; you would
save thousands of lives, and the emigrant, as he left the ship,
would feel grateful for the benefit conferred. But the assistance
of government must not end here: the emigrant, on his arrival,
is adrift; he knows not where to go; he has no resting-place;
he is a perfect stranger to the country and to every thing ; he
exhausts his means before he can find employment or settle :
other arrangements are therefore necessary, if the work of cha
rity is to be completed. Indeed, the want of these arrangements
is the cause of a very large proportion of the Canadian emi
grants leaving our provinces and settling in the United States,
where they can immediately find employment ; and Americans,
agents of the land speculators, are continually on the look-out
in Canada, persuading the emigrants, by all sorts of promises

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

and inducements, to leave the provinces and to take lands in the
States, belonging- to their employers. Every emigrant lost to us
is a gain to America ; and upon the increase of the English po
pulation depends the prosperity of the Canadas, and our best
chance of retaining them in our possession.

Both Upper and Lower Canada have one great advantage over
most of the other territories of the United States, which is, that
they are so very healthy ; the winters in both provinces are dry,
and, in Upper Canada, they are not severe ; and the summers
are cool, compared with those of the United States. Indeed, in
point of climate, they cannot be surpassed ; and I rather think,
•independently of its fine soil, which enables it to grow every
thing (for even tobacco grows well in Upper Canada), that in
mineral richness it is not to be exceeded. It abounds in water-
power, and has several splendid rivers. As soon as the roads
are made (for that is the present desideratum in the Upper Pro
vince), I have no hesitation in asserting, that it will be, of all
others, the most favourable spot for emigration. It is a man's
own fault if, with common industry, he does not, in a few years,
secure competence and the happiness arising from independence,
when it is accompanied by that greatest of all blessings —
health.

There has been so strange and continued a system of misrule
on the part of the mother-country with respect to these pro
vinces, that I am not surprised at any thing which takes place ;
but it is certain that the emigration to the Canadas has been
very much checked by the Government itself.

The price of land in the United States is fixed at a dollar and
a quarter per acre ; be it of the best quality, full of minerals, or
with any other important advantages, the price is still the same.
The set-up price in Canada is two dollars per acre. If no more
is offered it is sold at that sum, but at no less. Now, whatever
the Government may imagine, I can assure them that this dif
ference in the price is considered very important by those who
emigrate, and that thousands who would have settled in Canada,
have, in consequence, repaired to the United States, much to
our disadvantage; and this appears so contradictory, as the Go
vernment have very unwisely parted with enormous tracts of
the best land, selling them to a Company at a price which, with
facilities for payment, reduces the price paid per acre by this
Company, to, I think, about one shilling and three-pence, and for
which the Company now charge the same price as the Govern
ment ; thus giving a bonus to speculators which they refuse to
those who wish to become bona fide settlers. I never could
comprehend the grounds upon which they were persuaded to so
unwise an act as that. The lands were sold to the Company
before the present Government were in power, but why the
price of the land still in possession of the Crown should be
raised higher than in the United States I cannot imagine.
Sound policy would reduce it lower, for the increase of wealth

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 223

in the province must ever consist in the increase of its popula
tion.

There are in Upper Canada several villages of free p.egroes,
who have escaped from the United States, and should it be con
sidered at any time advisable to remove any of the West Indian
population, it would be very wise to give them land on the
Upper Canada frontiers. The negroes thrive there uncommonly
well, and have acquired habits of industry ; and, as may be sup
posed, are most inveterate against the Americans, as was proved
in the late disturbances, when they could hardly be controlled.
They imagine (and very truly) that if the Americans were to
obtain possession of Canada, that they would return to slavery,
and it is certain that they are not only brave, but would die ra
ther than be taken prisoners. This is a question worth consi
deration, as out of an idle and useless race in the West Indies
may be formed, at very little expense, a most valuable frontier
population to these provinces. I am happy to percieve that, in
the Report of Lord Durham, the importance of these provinces
to the mother country is fully acknowledged.

" These interests are indeed of great magnitude ; and on the
course which your Majesty and jour Parliament may adopt,
with respect to the North American colonies, will depend the
future destinies, not only of the million and a half of your Ma
jesty's subjects who at present inhabit those provinces, but of
that vast population which those ample and fertile territories are fit
and destined hereafter to support. No portion of the American
continent possesses greater natural resources for the maintenance
of large and flourishing communities. An almost boundless
range of the richest soil still remains unsettled, and maybe ren
dered available for the purposes of agriculture. The wealth of
inexhaustible forests of the best timber in America, and of ex
tensive regions of the most valuable minerals, have as yet been
scarcely touched. Along the whole line of sea-coast, around
each island, and in every river, are to be found the greatest and
richest fisheries in the world. The best fuel and the most abun
dant water-power are available for the coarser manufactures, for
which an easy and certain market will be found. Trade with
other continents is 'favoured by the possession of a large number
of safe and spacious harbours; long, deep, and numerous rivers,
and vast inland seas, supply the means of easy intercourse ; and
the structure of the country generally affords the utmost facility
for every species of communication by land. Unbounded mate
rials of agricultural, commercial and manufacturing industry are
there ; it depends upon the present decision of the Imperial
Legislature to determine for whose benefit they are to be ren
dered available. The country which has founded and maintain
ed these colonies at a vast expense of blood and treasure, may
justly expect its compensation in turning their unappropriated
resources to the account of its own redundant population : they
are the rightful patrimony of the English people, the ample ap-

224 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

panage which God and Nature have set aside in the New World
for those whose lot has assigned them but insufficient portion in
the Old. Under wise and free institutions, these great advan
tages may yet be secured to your Majesty's subjects ; and a con
nexion, secured by the link of kindred origin and mutual benefits,
may continue to bind to the British Empire the ample territories
of its North American provinces, and the large and flourishing
population by which they will assuredly be filled."

CHAPTER IV.

PREVIOUS to my entering into a further examination of the
Canada question, it will perhaps be better to recapitulate, in as
few words as possible, what has already occurred, and the prin
cipal causes of the late insurrection.

When the Canadian provinces were reduced by the British
arms, the inhabitants, being entirely French, were permitted to
retain their own laws, their own language in courts and public
offices, and all their vested rights which had been granted to
them by the French government. It was a generous, but, as it
has been proved, an unwise policy. The form of government,
as an English colony, was proposed, and acceded to by the
French population, who, gratified by the liberality of their new
rulers, cheerfully took the oath of allegiance. For many years,
indeed it may be said until the close of the war of 1814, the
population remained almost entirely French. England had been
so long engaged in war, and the annual expenditure of life in
her armies and her navies was so great, that she could not per
mit, much less encourage, emigration.

At the close of the war of 1814, the census of the population
in the two Canadian provinces was as follows: — In Lower
Canada, between three and four hundred thousand ; in Upper
Canada, from thirty to forty thousand, of which nineteen-twen-
tieths were of French extraction. But the emigration during
the last twenty-five years of peace has made a considerable
change. The population of Lower Canada has increased to six
hundred thousand, and that of Upper Canada now amounts to
upwards of four hundred thousand. As the emigration has been
almost wholly from the British dominions, it may be now fairly
assumed that, taking the two provinces together, the English
and French population are now on a par as to numbers ; the
English preponderate in the Upper province as much as the
French do in the Lower. But if we are to consider the two
nations of settlers as to their respective value as emigrants to
the provinces, on the point of capital, industry, and enterprise,
the scale will descend immediately in favour of the English po
pulation. The French are inactive, adverse to speculation, or
even improvement. Every habitant is content with his farm as

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 225

handed down to him by his progenitor, and the higher classes
who hold the seigneuries are satisfied with their seignorial rights
and the means of exaction which they afford to them. The pri
vileges of these seigneurs, or lords of the manor, in Lower
Canada, are very extensive, and a bar to all improvement or ad
vance. They hold the exclusive right of hunting and fishing;
all the water privileges, such as the erection of saw-mills, &c.,
are insured to them. The habitant is even compelled to send
his flour to be ground at the mill of the lord of the manor. At
the sale of every property, the lord of the manor receives one-
twelfth of the proceeds. Thus, if a farm worth a few hundred
pounds was to fall into the hands of an enterprising man, and he
was to raise it to the value of thousands, more than the prime-
cost would be deducted for the lord of the manor if he were
compelled to part with it. This, with the other impediments to
enterprise, has left Lower Canada in a state of quiescence, and
the emigrants who have gone over have passed it by that they
might settle on the more fertile and free province of Upper
Canada. • One of the writers in the daily press of New York has
rery truly remarked : —

" When the British first obtained the Canadas, its commerce
consisted of a few peltries, conveyed to France by the vessels
which brought out the troops and carried back the disbanded
regiments. The lumber trade was unknown. The importa
tions were a nonentity. While at present many hundreds of
vessels are engaged in the direct timber trade, and more than
one hundred and fifty vessels have been frequently counted
on the river St. Lawrence. These, it must be remembered,
are almost exclusively owned by British merchants; while
the French Canadians own the land in the same proportion
as the English do the trade."

It was the knowledge of these facts, and that the English
were every year rising in importance, (for they had not only
secured the whole trade, but were gradually occupying the
more fertile land of the Upper province,) which has created the
jealousy and ill-will, and has been such a source of irritation
to the French inhabitants of the Lower province. I have dwelt
upon these facts because there is a very general opinion (which
has most unfortunately been acted upon by our Government),
that the legislature of the province should be guided by the
interests of the majority, and this they have considered to be
in favour of the French population ; whereas in numbers they
are about equal, and in point of wealth and importance, the
English population are most decidedly in the advance ; besides
that, the former population would willingly separate them
selves from the mother-country, and therefore deserve but little
favour, while the latter are loyal and attached to it. The
French having the ascendancy of five to one in the Lower
province, have done all they can to check improvement. Public
works which have cost large sums, have remained uncompleted,

226 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

because the House of Assembly in the Lower province has
refused to allow them to be carried on. Indeed, had the Lower
province been allowed to continue in her career of opposition,
she would have eventually rendered difficult all communication
between the Upper province and the mother-country.

This is acknowledged in Lord Durham's report, which says —
v Without going so far as to accuse the Assembly of a delibe
rate design to check the settlement and improvement of Lower
Canada, it cannot be denied that they looked with considerable
jealousy and dislike on the increase and prosperity of what they
regarded as a foreign and hostile race ; they looked on the pro
vince as the patrimony of their own race ; they viewed it not as
a country to be settled, but as one already settled ; and instead
of legislating in the American spirit, and first providing for the
future population of the province, their primary care was, in the
spirit of legislation which prevails in the old world, to guard the
.interests and feelings of the present race of inhabitants, to whom
they considered the new comers as subordinate ; they refused to
increase the burthens of the country by imposing taxes to meet
the expenditure required for improvement, and they also refused
to direct to that object any of the funds previously devoted to
other purposes. The improvement of the harbour of Montreal
was suspended, from a political antipathy to a leading English
merchant who had been the most active of the commissioners,
and by whom it had been conducted with the most admirable
success. It is but just to say, that some of the works which the
Assembly authorised and encouraged, were undertaken on a
scale of due moderation, and satisfactorily perfected and brought
into operation. Others, especially the great communications
which I have mentioned above, the Assembly showed a great
reluctance to promote or even to permit. It is true that there
was considerable foundation for their objections to the plan
on which the Legislature of Upper Canada had commenced
some of these works, and to the mode in which it had carried
them on ; but the English complained that, instead of profiting
by the experience which they might have derived from this
source, the Assembly seemed only to make its objections a pre
text for doing nothing. The applications for banks, railroads,
and canals were laid on one side until some general measures
could be adopted with regard to such undertakings ; but the
general measures thus promised were never passed, and the par
ticular enterprises in question were prevented. The adoption
of a registry was refused, on the alleged ground of its inconsis
tency with the French institutions of the province, and no mea
sure to attain this desirable end in a less obnoxious mode, was
prepared by the leaders of the Assembly. The feudal tenure
was supported, as a mild and just provision for the settlement of
a new country ; a kind of assurance given by a committee of the
Assembly, that some steps should be taken to remove the most
injurious incidents of the seignorial tenure, produced no practi-

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 227

eal results ; and the enterprises of the English were still thwart
ed by the obnoxious laws of the country. In all these decisions
of the Assembly, in its discussions, and in the apparent motives
of its conduct, the English population perceived traces of a de
sire to repress the influx and the success of their race. A mea
sure for imposing a tax on emigrants, though recommended by
the Home Government, and warranted by the policy of those
neighbouring States which give the greatest encouragement to
emigration, was argued on such grounds in the Assembly, that
it was not unjustly regarded as indicative of an intention to ex
clude any further accession to the English population ; and the
industry of the English was thus retarded by this conduct of the
Assembly. Some districts, particularly that of the Eastern
Townships, where the French race have no footing, were se
riously injured by the refusal of necessary improvements ; and
the English inhabitants generally regarded the policy of the As
sembly as a plan for preventing any further emigration to the
province, of stopping the growth of English wealth, and of ren
dering precarious the English preperty already invested or ac
quired in Lower Canada."

It may be said, that latterly the French party, by the incon
siderate yielding of the Government at home, legislate for both
provkices; and finding that they never could compete with the
English in other points, their object has been to crush them as
much as possible.* The policy pursued by M. Papineau and his

* It was not long after the conquest, that another and larger class of English
settlers began to enter the province. English capital was attracted to Canada
by tlie vast quantity and valuable nature of the exportable produce of the
country, and the great facilities for commerce, presented by the natural means
of internal intercourse. The ancient trade of the country was conducted on a
much larger and more profitable scale ; and new branches of industry were ex
plored. The active and regular habits of the English capitalist drove out o'f all
the more profitable kinds of industry their inert and careless competitors of
the French race ; but in respect of the greater part (almost the whole) of the
commerce and manufactures of the couu.ry, the English cannot be said to
have encroached on the French; for, in fact, they created employments and
profits which had not previously existed. A few of the ancient race smarted
under the loss occasioned by the success of English competition ; but all felt
yet more acutely the gradual increase of a class of strangers in whose hands
the wealth of the country appeared to centre, and whose expenditure and in
fluence eclipsed those of the class which had previously occupied the first posi
tion in the country. Nor was the intrusion of the English limited to commer
cial enterprises By. degrees, large portions of land were occupied by them;
nor did they confine themselves to the unsettled and distant country of the
townships. The wealthy capitalist invested his money in the purchase of
seignorial properties ; and it is estimated, that at the present moment full half
of the more valuable seignories are actually owned by English proprietors.
The seigniorial tenure is one so little adapted to our notions of proprietary
rights, that the new seigneur, without any consciousness or intention to in
justice, in many instances exercised his rights in a manner which would appear
perfectly fair in this country, but which th»; Canadian settler reasonably re
garded as oppressive. The English purchaser found an equally unexpected and
just cause of complaint in that uncertainty of the laws, which rendered his
possession of property precarious, and in those incidents of the tenure which
rendered its alienation or improvement difficult. But an irritation, greater
than that occasioned by the transfer of the large properties, was caused by the
competition of the English with the French farmer. The English farmer car
ried with him the experience and habits of the most improved agriculture in

228 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

adherents, has therefore been to keep the Lower Province en
tirely in the hands of the French, and with this view they
have as much as possible, prevented British settlers from ob
taining- land in Lower Canada ; and that their rule might be
absolute, over the French population, they have prevented their
education, so that they might blindly follow those who guided
them. These two assertions will be fully borne out by an ex
amination into the public records.

The land being almost wholly in the possession of the French,
M. Papineau's first object was, to make the possession of landed
property the tenure by which any employment of the trust under
government could be held ; and in this great object he succeeded.
It must at once be perceived that, by this regulation alone, all
British residents were excluded, and that if possessed of capital
to any amount, whatever their stake in the colony might be,
they were ruled and dictated to by the French party. No per
son could be an officer in the militia unless he was a land
owner. The wealthy English merchant had to fall into the
ranks, and be ordered about by an ignorant French farmer, a
man who could not write or read, but made his cross to any
paper presented to him for his signature.

By another enactment the grand juries were to be selected
from those who were land-owners, and the consequence was,
that in two grand juries selected in two succeeding years, there
was only one man who could write or read out of the whole
number, and the others fixed their cross to the bills found.

What was still more absurd was, that the office of trustee for
the schools could only be held by the same tenure, and in the
Act passed, it is provided, that the trustees for national education
may be permitted to affix their cross to the school reports, a more
convincing proof of the state of ignorance in which the Cana
dian French population have been held and acknowledged to be
so by the French party, by the making such a proviso in the
statute. I had a convincing proof myself of the ignorance of
the French population during thejrebellion in Lower Canada. I
handed a printed circular to about four hundred prisoners who
were collected, for one of them to read aloud to the rest, and
there was not one who could read print.

Having secured the party in the province, the next object of
M. Papineau and his adherents was, to blind the Government

the world. He settled himself in the townships bordering on the seignories,
and brought a fresh soil and improved cultivation to compete with the worn-
out and slovenly farm of the habitant. He often took the very farm which
the Canadian settler had abandoned, and, by superior management, made that
a source of profit which had only impoverished hi? predecessor. The ascendancy
which an unjust favoritism had contributed to give to the English race ia the
government and the legal profession, their own superior energy, skill and capi
tal secured to them in evetjr branch of industry. They have developed the re
sources of the country ; they have constructed or improved its means of com
munication ; they have created its internal arid foreign commerce. The entire
wholesale, and a large portion of the retail trade of the province, with the
most profitable and flourishing farms, are now in the hands of this numerical
minority of the population.

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 229

at home: they sent home a list of grievances which required re
dress, and in this they were joined by the English republican
party. Among other demands, they insisted upon the right to
the Lower Assembly having the control of the colonial revenues.
So earnest was the Government at home to satisfy them, that
every concession was made, and even the last great question of
controlling their own expenditure was consented to, upon the
sole condition that the civil list, for the payment of the salary of
the governor and other state officers, was secured.

What was the conduct of M. Papineau and his party as soon
as they had gained their point 1 They immediately broke their
faith with the Government at home, and refused to vote the sum
for the civil list.

For three years, the governor and all the public officers were
without their salaries, which were at last provided for by a vote
of the English Parliament at home. This nefarious conduct of
the French Party had one good effect, it created a disunion with
the English republican party, who, although they wished for re
form, would be no participators in such a breach of honour.

That for many years there has been sad mismanagement on
the part of the Government at home, cannot be denied, but the
error has been the continual yielding to French clamour and
misreprentation, and the Government having lost sight of the
fact that the English population were rapidly increasing, and had
an equal right to the protection of the mother-country. It is
the Englit-h population who have had real cause of complaint,
and who are justified in demanding redress. The French have
been only too well treated, and their demands became more im
perious in proportion to the facility with which the Government
yielded to them in their earnest, but mistaken, desire to put an
end to the agitation of M. Papineau and his party. Mistaking
the forbearance of the English government for weakness, M.
Papineau issued his inflammatory appeals ; the people were in
cited to rebellion ; but even this conduct did not seem to rouse the
Government at home, who had probably formed the idea that the
French Canadian was too peaceful to have recourse to arms. Em
boldened by the conduct on the part of the Government, which
was ascribed to fear, and finding themselves supported by Mr.
Joseph Hume and Mr. Roebuck at home, the republican party
in Upper Canada openly declared itself, and a portion of the Ca
nadian press issued the most treasonable articles without moles
tation. The Americans were not idle in fomenting this ill-will
towards the mother country in the Upper Province, and the
Papineau party proceeded to more active measures. Arrange
ments were made for a general rising of the Lower Province;
the meeting of St. Charles took place, and resolutions were
passed of a nature which could no longer be overlooked by the
Provincial Government. For many months previous to the
meeting at St. Charles,, the Provincial Government had beea
aroused and aware of the danger, and Lord Gosford perceived the
necessity of acting contrary to the orders received from home.
20

230 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

Proofs had been obtained against those who were most active in
the intended rebellion, and at last warrants were issued by the
Attorney-General for their apprehension. It was this sudden
and unexpected issue of the warrants which may be said to have
saved the provinces. It defeated all the plans of the conspira
tors, who had not intended to have flown to arms until the next
Spring, when their arrangements would have been fully made
and organised. This fact I had from Bouchette, and three or
four of the ringleaders, whom I visited in prison. They intend
ed to have had the leaf on the tree, and the cold weather over,
before they commenced operations; and had they waited till
then the result might have been very serious, but the issue of
the warrants for the apprehension of the leaders placed them in
the awkward dilemma of either being deprived of them, or of hav
ing recourse to arms before their plans were fully matured. The
latter was the alternative preferred ; and the results of this un
successful attempt are well described in Lord Durham's re
port : —

" The treasonable attempt of the French party to carry its
political objects into effect by an appeal to arms, brought these
hostile races into general and armed collision. I will not dwell
on the melancholy scenes exhibited in the progress of the contest,
or the fierce passions which held an unchecked sway during the
insurrection, or immediately after its suppression. It is not
difficult to conceive how greatly the evils, which I have de
scribed as previously existing, have been aggravated by the war;
how terror and revenge nourished, in each portion of the popu
lation, a bitter and irreconcilable hatred to each other, and to
the institutions of the country. The French population, who
had for some time exercised a great and increasing power
through the medium of the House of Assembly, found their hopes
unexpectedly prostrated in the dust. The physical force which
they had vaunted was called into action, and proved to be utterly
inefficient. The hope of recovering their previous ascendancy
under a constitution similar to that suspended, almost ceased to
exist. Removed from all actual share in the government of their
smaller country, they brood in silence over the memory of their fall
en countrymen, of their burnt villages, of their ruined property, of
their extinguished ascendancy, and of their humbled nationality.
To the Government and the English they ascribe these wrongs,
and nourish against both an indiscriminating and eternal ani
mosity. Nor have the English inhabitants forgotten in * their
triumph, the terror with which they suddenly saw themselves
surrounded by an insurgent majority, and the incidents which
alone appeared to save them from the unchecked domination of
their antagonists. They find themselves still a minority in the
midst of a hostile and organised people ; apprehensions of secret
conspiracies and sanguinary designs haunt them unceasingly,
and their only hope of safety is supposed to rest on systematically
terrifying and disabling the French, and in preventing a majority
of that race from ever and again being predominant in any por
tion of the legislature of the province. I describe in strong

MARRY AT'S DIARY. 231

terms the feelings which appear to me to animate each portion
of the population ; and the picture which I draw represents a
state of things so little familiar to the personal experience of the
people of this country, that many will probably regard it as the
work of mere imagination ; but I feel confident that the accu
racy and moderation of my description will be acknowledged by
all who have seen the state of society in Lower Canada during
the last year. Nor do I exaggerate the inevitable constancy,
any more than the intensity of this animosity. Never again
will the present generation of French Canadians yield a loyal
submission to a British Government ; never again will the Eng
lish population tolerate the authority of a House of Assembly in
which the French shall possess or even approximate to a ma
jority."

Although M. Papineau and his party were very willing to fra
ternise with the discontented party in Upper Canada, and to call
forth the sympathy and the assistance of the Americans, their real
intentions and wishes were to have made the Canadas an inde
pendent -French province, in strict alliance with France.*

* " Nor does there appear to be the slightest chance of putting an end to this
animosity during the present generation. Passions inflamed during so long a
period, cannot speedily be calmed. The state of education which I have pre
viously described as placing the peasantry entirely at the mercy of agitators,
the total absence of any class of persons, or any organisation of authority that
could counteract this mischievous influence, and the serious decline in the dis
trict of Montreal of the influence of the clergy, concur in rendering it abso
lutely impossible for the Government to produce any better state of feeling
among the French population. It is even impossible to impress on a people so
circumstanced the salutary dread of the power of Great Britain, which the
presence of a large military force injhe province might be expected to produce.
I have been informed, by witnesses so numerous and trustworthy that I cannot
doubt the correctness of their statements, that the peasantry were generally
ignorant of the large amount of force which was sent into their country last
year. The newspapers that circulate among them had informed them that
Great Britain had no troops to send out; that in order to produce an impression
on the minds of the country-people, the same regiments were inarched back
wards and forwards in different directions, and represented as additional arri
vals from home. This explanation was promulgated among the people by the
agitators of each village ; and I have no doubt that the mass of the inhabi
tants really believed that the government was endeavouring to impose on them
by this species of fraud. It is a population with whom authority has no means
of contact or explanation. It is difficult even to ascertain what amount of
influence the ancient leaders of the French party continue to possess. [The
name of M. Papineau is still cherished by the people ; and the idea is current
that, at the appointed time, he will return, at the head of an immense army,
and re-establish " La Nation Canadienne."] But there is great reason to
doubt whether his name be not used as a mere watchword ; whether the people
are not in fact running entirely counter to his councils and policy ; and whe
ther they are not really under the guidance of separate petty agitators, who
have no plan but that of a senseless and reckless determination to show in
every way their hostility to the British Government and English race. Their
ultimate designs and hopes are equally unintelligible. Some vague expecta
tion of absolute independence still seems to delude them. The national vanity,
which is a remarkable ingredient in their character, induces many to flatter
themselves with the idea of a Canadian Republic; the sounder information
of others has led them to perceive that a separation from Great Britain must
be followed by a junction with the great Confederation on their southern fron
tier. But they seem apparently reckless of the consequences, provided they can
wreak their vengeance on the English. There is no people against which
early associations and every conceivable difference of manners and opinions
have implanted in the Canadian mind a more ancient and rooted national
antipathy than that which they feel against the people of the United States.
Their more discerning leaders feel that their chances of preserving their na-

232 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

The assistance of the Upper Canada party would have been ac
cepted until they were no longer required, and then there would
have been an attempt, and very probably a successful one, to
drive away by every means in their power the English settlers
in Upper Canada to the United States. The Americans, on the
other hand, cared nothing about the French or English grievances;
their sympathy arose from nothing less than a wish to add the
Canadas to their already vast territories, and to drive the Eng
lish from their last possessions in America ; but they also knew
how to wear the cloak as well as M. Papineau, and had the in
surrection been successful, both French and English would by
this time have been subjected to their control, and M. Papineau
would have found that he had only been a tool in the hands of
the more astute and ambitious Americans. Such is my convic
tion : but this is certain, that whatever might have been the re
sult of the former insurrection, or whatever may be the result
of any future one (for the troubles are not yet over,) the English
in Upper Canada must fall a sacrifice to either one party or the
other, unless they can succeed (which, with ther present num
bers and situation, will be difficult) in overpowering them both.
It maybe inquired, what were the causes of discontent which
occasioned the partial rising in Upper Canada. Strange to say,
although Mackenzie and his party were in concert and corres
pondence with M. Papineau, the chief cause of discontent arose
from the partiality shown by the English government to the
French Canadians in Lower Canada; their grievances were
their own, and they had no fellow-feeling with the French Ca
nadians. If they had any prepossession at all, it was in favour
of joining the American States, and to this they were instigated
by the number of Americans who had settled in Upper Canada.
There were several minor causes of discontent : the Scotch
emigrants were displeased because the government had decided
that the clergy revenues were to be allotted only for the support
of the Episcopal church, and not for the Presbyterian. But the
great discontent was because the English settlers considered
that they had been unfairly treated, and sacrificed by the go
vernment at home. But although discontent was general, a
wish to rebel was not so, and here it was that Mackenzie found
himself in error, and M. Papineau was deceived; instead of

tionality would be greatly diminished by an incorporation with the United
States ; and recent symptoms of Anti-Catholic feeling in New England, well
known to the Canadian population, have generated a very general belief
that their religion, which even they do not accuse the British party of assail
ing, would find little favour or respect from their neighbours. Yet none even
of these considerations weigh against their present all-absorbing hatred of
the English; and I am persuaded that they would purchase vengeance and a
momentary triumph by the aid of any enemies, or submission to any yoke.
This provisional but complete cessation of their ancient antipathy to the
Americans, is now admitted even by those who most stronsly denied it during
the last spring, and who then asserted that an American war would as com
pletely unite the whole population against the common enemy, as it did in
1813. My subsequent experience leaves no doubt in my mind that the views
which were contained in my despatch on the 9th of August are perfectly cor
rect; and that an invading American army might rely on the co-operation
of almost the entire French population of Lower Canada."

MARRYAT 8 DIARY.

233

being joined by thousands, as they expected, from the Upper
Province, they could only muster* a few hundreds, who were
easily dispersed : the feelings of loyalty prevailed, and those
whom the rebel-leaders expected would have joined the standard
of insurrection, enrolled themselves to trample it under foot.
The behaviour of the settlers in Upper Canada was worthy of
all praise; they had just grounds of complaint; they had been
opposed and sacrificed to a malevolent and ungrateful French
party in the Lower Province ; yet when the question arose as to
whether they should assist, or put down the insurrection, they
immediately forgot their own wrongs, and proved their loyalty
to their couniry.

The party who adhered to Mackenzie may well be considered
as an American party ; for Upper Canada had been so neglected
and uncared for, that the Americans had already obtained great
influence there. Indeed, when it is stated that Mathews and
Lount, the two members of the Upper House of Assembly who
were executed for treason, were both Americans, it is evident
that the Americans had even obtained a share in the legislation
of the province. When I passed through the Upper Province,
I remarked that, independently of some of the best land being
held by Americans, the landlords of the inns, tfie contractors
for transporting the mails, and drivers of coaches, were almost
without exception, Americans.

One cause of the Americans wishing that the Canadas should
be wrested from the English was that, by an Act of the Legis
lature, they were not able to hold lands in the province. It is
true that they could purchase them, but if they wished to sell
them, the title was not valid. Colonel Prince, whose name was
so conspicuous during the late troubles, brought in a bill to allow
Americans to hold land in Upper Canada, but the bill was
thrown out. It scarcely need be observed that Colonel Prince
is now as violent an opponent to the bill.* He has had quite
enough of Americans in Upper Canada.

* Colonel Prince is the gentleman who took with his own hands Ge
neral Sutherland and his aid-de-camp, and who ordered the Yankee
pirates to be shot. Mr. Hume has thought proper to make a motion in
the House of Commons, reprobating this act as one of murder. I be
lieve there is little difference whether a man breaks into your house, and
steals jour money ; or burns your house, and robs you of your cattle and
other property. One is as much a case of burglary as the other. In the
first instance you are justified in taking the robber's life, and why not in
the second? Those people who attacked the inhabitants of a country with
whom they were in profound peace, were disowned by their own govern
ment, consequently they were outlaws and pirates, and it is a pity that Su
therland and every other prisoner taken had not been immmediately shot.
Mr. Hume may flare up in the House of Commons, but I should like to know
what Mr. Hume's opinion would be if he was the party who had all his
property stolen and his house burnt over his head, in the depth of a Ca
nadian winter. I suspect he would say a very different say, as he has
no small respect for the meum ; indeed, I should be sorry to be the party
to be sentenced by Mr. Hume, if I had stolen a few ducks out of the
honourable gentleman's duck decoys near Yarmouth.

20*

234 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

It was fortunate for the country that there was such a man as
Sir John Colborne, and aided by Sir Francis Head, at that period
in the command of the two provinces. Of the first it is not
necessary that I should add my tribute of admiration to that
which Sir John Colborne has already so unanimously received.
Sir Francis Head has not been quite so fortunate, and has been
accused (most unjustly) of rashness and want of due precaution.
Now the only grounds upon which this charge can be preferred
is, his sending down to Sir John Colborne all the regular troops,
when he was requested if possible so to do. I was at this period
at Toronto, and as I had the pleasure of being intimate with Sir
Francis, I had full knowledge of the causes of this decision.
Sir Francis said, " I have but two hundred regular troops ; they
will be of great service in the Lower Province, when added to
those which Sir John Colborne already has under his command,
Here they are not sufficient to stern an insurrection if it be for
midable. I do not know what may be the strength of the rebels
until they show themselves, but I think I do know the number
who will support me. Should the rebels prove in great force,
these two companies of regular troops will be overwhelmed,
and what I consider is, not any partial success of the rebel party,
but the moral e^ffect which success over regular troops will create.
There are, I am sure, thousands who are at present undecided,
who, if they heard that the regular troops, of whom they have
such dread, were overcome, would join the rebel cause. This
is what I fear; as for any advantage gained over me, when I
have only militia to oppose to them, that is of little consequence,,
When Sir John Colborne has defeated them in Lower Canada,
he can then come up here, with the regular troops."

I believe these to be the very words used by Sir Francis
Head when he asked my opinion on the subject, and I agreed
with him most cordially ; but if any one is inclined to suppose,
from the light, playful, and I must say, undiplomatic style of Sir
Francis's despatches, that he had not calculated every chance,
and made every disposition which prudence and foresight could
suggest, they are very much mistaken. The most perfect confi
dence was reposed in him by all parties ; and the event proved
that he was not out in his calculations, for with the militia alone
he put down the rebellion. During the short time from Sir F.
Head's going out, until he requested to be recalled, he did more
good to that province, and more to secure the English dominion
than could be imagined, and had he not been governor of the
province for some time previous to the rebellion, 1 strongly sur
mise that it would have been lost to this country.

The events of the rebellion are too fresh in the reader's me
mory to be mentioned here. It is, however, necessary to exa
mine into the present state of affairs, for it must not be supposed
that the troubles have yet ceased.

First, as to the French Canadian party. If I am not very
much mistaken, this may be considered as broken up; the severe
lesson received from the English troops, and the want of confi
dence in their leaders from their cowardice and inability, will

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 235

prevent the French Canadians from again taking up arms. They
are naturally a peaceable, inoffensive, good-tempered people, and
nothing but the earnest instigation of a portion of their priests,
the notaries, and the doctors, (the three parties who most mix
with the habitans), would have ever roused them to rebellion.
As it is, I consider that they are efficiently quelled, and will be
quiet, at least for one generation, if the measures of the govern
ment at home are judicious. The cause of the great influence
obtained by the people I have specified over the habitans is well
explained in Lord Durham's Report. Speaking of the public
seminaries, he says : —

" The education given in these establishments greatly resem
bles the kind given in the English public schools, though it is
rather more varied. It is entirely in the hands of the Catholic
clergy. The number of pupils in these establishments is esti
mated altogether at about a thousand ; and they turn out every
year, as far as I could ascertain, between two and three hun
dred young men thus educated. Almost all of these are mem
bers of the family of some habitant, whom the possession of
greater quickness than his brothers has induced the father or the
curate of the parish to select and send to the seminary. These
young men, possessing a degree of information immeasurably
superior to that of their families, are naturally averse to what
they regard as descending to the humble occupations of their
parents. A few become priests; but as the military and naval
professions are closed against the colonist, the greater part can
only find a position suited to their notions of their own qualifica
tions in the learned professions of advocate, notary, and surgeon.
As from this cause these professions are greatly overstocked, we
find every village in Lower Canada filled with notaries and sur
geons, with little practice to occupy their attention, and living
among their own families, or at any rate among exactly the same
class. Thus the persons of most education in every village be
long to the same families, and the same original station in life,
as the illiterate habitans whom I have described. They are con
nected with them by all the associations of early youth, and the
ties of blocd. The most perfect equality always marks their in
tercourse, and the superior in education is separated by no bar
rier of manners, or pride, or distinct interests, from the singu
larly ignorant peasantry by which he is surrounded. He com
bines, therefore, the influences of superior knowledge, and social
equality, and wields a power over the mass, which I do not be
lieve that the educated class of any other portion of the world
possess."

The second party, which are the discontented, yet loyal Eng
lish of Upper Canada, are entitled to, and it is hoped will re
ceive the justice they claim : they well deserve it. It is the
duty, as well as the interest of the mother country to foster loy
alty, enterprise, and activity, and it is chiefly in Upper Canada
that it is to be found. One great advantage has arisen from the
late troubles, which is, that they have driven most of the
Americans out of the province, and have created such a feeling

236 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

of indignation and hatred towards them in the breasts of the
Upper Canadians, that there is no chance of their fraternising
for at least another half century. Nothing could have proved
more unfortunate to the American desire of obtaining the Ca-
nadas than the result of the late rebellions. Should the Upper
Canadians, from any continued injustice and misrule on the part
of the mother country, be determined to separate, at all events
it will not be to ally themselves with the Americans. In Lord
Durham's Report we have the following remarks : —

" I have, in despatches of a later date than that to which I
have had occasion so frequently to refer, called the attention of
the Home Government to the growth of this alarming state of
feeling among the English population. The course of the late
troubles, and the assistance which the French insurgents derived
from some citizens of the United States, have caused a most
intense exasperation among the Canadian loyalists against the
American government and people. Their papers have teemed
with the most unmeasured denunciations of the good faith of
the authorities, of the character and morality of the people, and
of the political institutions of the United States. Yet, under
this surface of hostility, it is easy to detect a strong under-cur
rent of an exactly contrary feeling. As the general opinion
of the American people became more and more apparent during
the course of the last year, the English of Lower Canada were
surprised to find how strong, in spite of the first burst of sym
pathy, with a people supposed to be struggling for independ
ence, was the real sympathy of their republican neighbours
with the great objects of the minority. Without abandoning
their attachment to their mother country, they have begun, as
men in a state of uncertainty are apt to do, to calculate the pro
bable consequences of a separation, if it should unfortunately oc
cur, and be followed by an incorporation with the United States.
In spite of the shock which it would occasion their feelings, they
undoubtedly think that they should find some compensation in
the promotion of their interests ; they believe that the influx
of American emigration would speedily place the English race
in a majority ; they talk frequently and loudly of what has oc
curred in Louisiana, where, by means which they utterly misre
present, the end nevertheless of securing an English predomi
nance over a French population has undoubtedly been attained ;
they assert very confidently, that the Americans would make a
very speedy and decisive settlement of the pretensions of the
French; and they believe that, after the first shock of an en
tirely new political state had been got over, they and their pos
terity would share in that amazing progress, and that great ma
terial prosperity, which every day's experience shows them
is the lot of the people of the United States. I do not believe
that such a feeling has yet sapped their strong allegiance to the
British empire ; but their allegiance is founded on their deep-
rooted attachment to British, as distinguished from French insti
tutions. And if they find that that authority which they have
maintained against its recent assailants, is to be exerted in such

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 237

a manner as to subject them to what they call a French domi
nion, 1 feel perfectly confident that they would attempt to avert
the result, by courting, on any terms, an union with an Anglo-
Saxon people."

Here I do not agree with his lordship. That such was the
feeling previous to the insurrection I believe, and notwithstand
ing the defeat of the insurgents, would have remained so, had it
not been for the piratical attacks of the Americans, which their
own government could not control. This was a lesson to the
Upper Canadians. They perceived that there was no security
for life or property — no law to check outrage — and they felt
severely the consequences of this state of things in the destruc
tion of theii property and the attempts upon their lives by a na
tion professing to be in amity with them. Fraternise with the
Americans the Upper Canadians will not. They may be sub
dued by them if they throw off the allegiance and protection of
the mother-country, as they would be hemmed in between two
hostile parties, and find it almost impossible, with their present
population^ to withstand their united efforts. But should a con
flict of this kind take place, and the Upper Canadians be al
lowed but a short period of repose, or could they hold the Ame
ricans in check for a time, they would sweep the whole race of
the Lower Canadians from the face of the earth. Their feelings
towards the Lower Canadians are well explained in Lord Dur
ham's Report : —

" In the despatch above referred to I also described the state
of feeling among the English population, nor can I encourage a
hope that that portion of the community is at all more inclined
to any settlement of the present quarrel that would leave any
share of power to the hostile race. Circumstances having
thrown the English into the ranks of the government, and the
folly of their opponents having placed them, on the other hand,
in a state of permanent collision with it, the former possess the
advantage of having the force of government, and the authority
of the laws on their side in the present state of the contest.
Their exertions during the recent troubles have contributed to
maintain the supremacy of the law, and the continuance of the
connexion with Great Britain; but it would, in my opinion, be
dangerous to rely on the continuance of such a state of feeling,
as now prevails among them, in the event of a different policy
being adopted by the Imperial government. Indeed the preva
lent sentiment among them is one of any thing but satisfaction
with the course which has been long pursued, with reference
to Lower Canada, by the British legislature and executive.
The calmer view, which distant spectators are enabled to take
of the conduct of the two parties, and the disposition which is
evinced to make a fair adjustment of the contending claims,
appear iniquitous and injurious in the eyes of men who think
that they alone have any claim to the favour of that government,
by which they alone have stood fast. They complain loudly
and bitterly of the whole course pursued by the Imperial Go
vernment, with respect to the quarrel of the two races, as

238 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

having been founded on an utter ignorance of, or disregard to
the real question at issue, as having fostered the mischievous
pretensions of French nationality, and as having, by the vacilla
tion and inconsistency which marked it, discouraged loyalty and
fomented rebellion. Every measure of clemency, or even jus
tice, towards their opponents, they regard with jealousy, as
indicating a disposition towards that conciliatory policy which
is the subject of their angry recollection; for they feel that
being a minority, any return to the due course of constitutional
government would again subject them to a French majority:
and to this I am persuaded they would never peaceably submit.
They do not hesitate to say that they will not tolerate much
longer the being made the sport of parties at home, and that if
the mother country forgets what is due to the loyal and enter
prising men of her own race, they must protect themselves. In
the signjficant language of one of their own ablest advocates,
they assert that 'Lower Canada must be English, at the ex
pense, if necessary, of not being British.' "

The third party, which is the American, is the only one at
present inclined to move, and in all probability they will com
mence as soon as the winter sets in ; for however opposed to
this shameful violation of the laws of nations the President,
officers, and respectable portion of the American Union may be.
it is certain that the majority are represented by these marau
ders, and the removal of our troops would be a signal for imme
diate aggression.

The Americans will tell you that the sympathy, as they term
it, only exists on the borders of the lakes ; that it extends no
further, and that they are all opposed to it, &c. Such is not the
case. The greatest excitement which was shown any where
was perhaps at Albany, the capital of the State of New York,
on the Hudson river, and two hundred miles at least from the
boundary ; but not only there, but even on the Mississippi the
feeling was the same ; in fact, it was the feeling of the majority.
In a letter I received the other day from a friend in New York,
there is the following remark :

" Bill Johnson (the pirate on lake Ontario) held his levees
here during the winter. They were thronged with all the best
people of the city."

Now, the quaiter from whence I received this intelligence is
to be relied upon ; and that it was the case I have no doubt
And why should they feel such interest about a pirate like Bill
Johnson ] Simply because he had assailed the English. This
may appear a trifle ; but a straw thrown up shows in what di
rection the wind blows.

At present, there is no want of troops to defend the Canadas
against a foreign attack, and little inclination to rebel in the
provinces themselves. That now required is, that the legisla
ture should be improved so as to do justice to all parties, and
such an encouragement given to enterprise and industry as to
induce a more extended emigration.

Lord Durham has very correctly observed, that it is not now

MARRY AT 8 DIARY.

239

a conflict of principles between the English and French, but a
conflict of the two races. He says : —

" I expected to find a contest between a government and a
people : I found two nations warring in the bosom of a single
state : I found a struggle, not of principles, but of races ; and I
perceived that it would be idle to attempt any amelioration of
laws or institutions until we could first succeed in terminating
a deadly animosity that now separates the inhabitants of Lower
Canada into the hostile divisions of French and English."

But why should this conflict between the two races have
taken place ] Firstly, because the French, by the injudicious
generosity of our Government in allowing them to retain their
language in public affairs, with all their ^customs and usages,
were allowed to remain a French colony, instead of amalgama
ting them with the English, as might have been done. Subse
quently, because the interests of the English colonists have been
sacrificed to the French, who, nevertheless, became disaffected,
and would have thrown off the English dominion. Lord Dur
ham veryx correctly adds : —

" Such is the lamentable and hazardous state of things pro
duced by the conflict of races which has so long divided the
province" of Lower Canada, and which has assumed the formida
ble and irreconcilable character which I have depicted."

In describing the nature of this conflict, I have specified the
causes in which it originated ; and though I have mentioned the
conduct and constitution of the colonial government, as modify
ing the character of the struggle, I have not attributed to politi
cal causes a state of things which would, I believe, under any
political institutions have resulted from the very composition of
society. A jealousy between two races, so long habituated to
regard each other with hereditary enmity, and so differing in
habits, in language, and in laws, would have been inevitable
under any form of government. That liberal institutions and
prudent policy might have changed the character of the strug
gle, I have no doubt; but they could not have prevented it; they
could only have softened its character, and brought it more
speedily to a more decisive and peaceful conclusion. Unhappily,
however, the system of government pursued in Lower Canada
has been based on the the policy of perpetuating that very sepa
ration of the races, and encouraging these very notions of con
flicting nationalities which it ought to have been the first and
chief care of Government to check and extinguish. From the
period of the conquest to the present time, the conduct has ag
gravated the evil, and the origin of the present extreme disorder
may be found in the institutions by which the character of the
colony was determined."

We have, therefore, to legislate between the two parties,
and let us, previous to entering upon the question, examine into
their respective merits. On the one hand we have a French
population who, after having received every favour which could
be granted with a due regard to freedom, have insisted upon,
and have obtained much more, and who in return for all the kind

240 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

ness heaped upon them, excited by envy and jealousy of an
energy and enterprise of which they were incapable, have risen
in rebellion, with the hopes of making themselves an independ-
ant nation.

On the other hand we have a generous, high-spirited race of
our own blood, and migrating from our own soil, who having been
unfairly treated, and having just grounds of complaint against
the mother-country, have nevertheless forgotten their own
wrongs, and, to a man, flown to arms, willing to shed their
blood in defence of the mother-country.

Add to this, we have the French inhabiting a comparatively
sterile country, without activity or enterprise; the English, in a
country fertile to excess, possessing most of the capital, and the
only portion of the colonists to whom we can safely confide the
defence of that which I trust I have proved to the reader to be
the most important outpost in the English dominions. Bearing
all this in mind, and also remembering that if the emigration to
Upper Canada again revive, that this latter population will in
a few years be an immense majority, and will ultimately wholly
swallow up all the former, we may now proceed to consider
what should be the policy of the mother-country.

CHAPTER V.

IN the last chapter I pointed out that in our future legislation
for these provinces, we had to decide between the English and
French inhabitants ; up to the present the French have been in
power, and have been invariably favoured by the Government,
much to the injury of the English population. Before I offer
any opinion on this question, let us inquire what has been the
conduct of the French in their exercise of their rights as a Le
gislative Assembly, and what security they offer us, to incline
us again to put confidence in them. In examining into this
question, I prefer, as a basis, the Report of Lord Durham, made
to the English Parliament. His lordship, adverting to the state
of hostility between the representative and executive powers in
our colonies, prefaces with a remark relative to our own coun
try, which I think late events do not fully bear out ; he says :

" However partial the monarch might be to particular minis
ters, or however he might have personally committed himself to
their policy, he has been invariably constrained to abandon both
as soon as the opinion of the people has been irrevocably pro
nounced against them, through the medium of the House of
Commons."

This he repeats in an after part of the Report:

" When a ministry ceases to command a majority in Parlia
ment on great questions of policy, its doom is immediately sealed;
and it would appear to us as strange to attempt, for any time, to
carry on a Government by means of ministers perpetually in a
minority, as it would be to pass laws with a majority of votes
against them."

MARRY AT'S DIARY. 241

If such be an essential part of our constitution, as his lordship
asserts, surely we have suffered an inroad into it lately.

That the system of Colonial Government is defective, I grant,
but it is not so much from the check which the Legislative
Council puts upon the Representative Assembly, as from the
secresy of the acts and decisions of that council. This, indeed,
his lordship admits in some cases, and I think that I can fully
establish that, without this salutary check, the Legislative As
sembly of Lower Canada would have soon voted themselves
Free and Independent States. Lord Durham -observes : —

" I am far from concurring in the censure which the Assembly
and its advocates have attempted to cast on the acts of the
Legislative Council. I have no hesitation in saying that many
of the bills which it is most severely blamed for rejecting, were
bills which it could not have passed without a dereliction of its
duty to the constitution, the connexion with Great Britain, and
the whole English population of the colony. If there is any
censure to be passed on its general conduct, it is for having con
fined itself to the merely negative and defensive duties of a
legislative body ; for having too frequently contented itself with
merely defeating objectionable methods of obtaining desirable
ends, without completing its duty by proposing measures, which
would have achieved the good in view without the mixture of
evil. The national animosities which pervaded the legislation
of the Assembly, and its thorough want of legislative skill or
respect for constitutional principles, rendered almost all its bills
obnoxious to the objections made by the Legislative Council ;
and the serious evil which their enactment would have occa
sioned, convinces me that the colony has reason to congratulate
itself on the existence of an institution whi^h possessed and use'd
the power of stopping a course of legislation that, if successful,
would have sacrificed every British interest, and overthrown every
guarantee <f order and national liberty"

Again : —

" One glaring attempt which was made directly and openly
to subvert the constitution of the country, was, by passing a bill
for the formal repeal of those parts of the 31 Geo. 3, c. 31, com
monly called the Constitutional Act, by which the constitution
and powers of the Legislative Council were established, li
can hardly be supposed that the framers of this bill were un
aware, or hoped to make any concealment of the obvious ille
gality of a measure, which, commencing as all Canadian Acts
do, by a recital of the 31 Geo. 3, as the foundation of the legis
lative authority of the Assembly, proceeded immediately to
infringe some of the most important provisions of that very
statute; nor can it be supposed that the Assembly hoped really
to carry into effect this extraordinary assumption of power, inas
much as the bill could derive no legal effect from passing the
Lower House, unless it should subsequently receive the assen:
of the very body which it purported to annihilate."

Take again the following observations of his lordship : —

" But the evils resulting from such open a ttempts to dispense
til

242 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

with the constitution were small, in comparison with the dis-1
turbance of the regular course of legislation by systematic abus-fe
of constitutional forms, for the purpose of depriving the other
branches of the legislature of all real legislative authority:

" It remained, however, for the Assembly of Lower Canada
to reduce the practice to a regular system, in order that it might
have the most important institutions of the province periodically
at its mercy, and use the necessities of the government and the
community for the purpose of extorting the concession of what
ever demands it might choose to make. Objectionable in itself,
on account of the uncertainty and continual changes which it
tended to introduce into legislation, this system of temporary
laws derived its worst character from the facilities which it
afforded to the practice of « tacking' together various legislative
measures.

" A singular instance of this occurred in 1836, with respect
to the renewal of the jury law, to which the Assembly attached
great importance, and to which the Legislative "Council felt a
strong repugnance, on account of its having in effect placed the
juries entirely in the hands of the French portion of the popula
tion. In order to secure the renewal of this law, the Assembly
coupled it in the same bill by which it renewed the tolls of the
Lachine Canal, calculating on the Council not venturing to
defeat a measure of so much importance to the revenue as the
latter by resisting the former. The council, however, rejected
the bill: and thus the canal remained toll-free for a whole
season, because the two Houses differed about a jury law."

So much for their attempts to subvert the constitution. Now
]it us inquire how far these patriots were disinterested in their
enactments. First, as to grants for local improvements, how
were they applied1? His lordship observes : —

"The great business of the Assemblies is, literally, parish
business; the making parish roads and parish bridges. There
are in none of these provinces any local bodies possessing
authority to impose local assessments, for the management of
local affairs. To do these things is the business of the Assem
bly ; and to induce the Assembly to attend to the particular
interests of each county^ is the especial business of its county
member. The surplus revenue of the province is swelled to as
large an amount as possible, by cutting down the payment of
public services to as low a scale as possible ; and the real
duties of government are, sometimes, insufficiently provided for,
in order that more may be left to be divided among the con
stituent bodies. « When We want a bridge, we take a judge to
build it,' was the quaint and forcible way in which a member
of a provincial legislature described the tendency to retrench, in
the most necessary departments of the public service, in order
10 satisfy the demands for local works. This fund is voted by
the Assembly on the motion of its members; the necessity of
obtaining the previous consent of the Crown to money votes
never having been adopted by the Colonial Legislatures from
the practice of the British House of Commons* There is a

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 243

f>erfect scramble among the whole body to get as much as pos
sible of this fond for their respective constituents; cabals are
formed, by which the different members mutually play into
each other's hands; general politics are made to bear on private
business, and private business on general politics ; and at the
close of the Parliament, the member who has succeeded in
securing the largest portion of the prize for his constituents,
renders an easy account of his stewardship, with confident
assurance of his re-election.

"Not only did the leaders of the Lower Canadian Assembly
avail themselves of the patronage thus afforded, by the large
surplus revenue of the province, but they turned this system to
much greater account, by using it to obtain influence over the
constituencies.

"The majority of the Assembly of Lower Canada w accused
'by its opponents of having, in the most systematic and persever
ing manner, employed this means of corrupting the electoral
bodies. The adherents of M. Papineau are said to have been
lavish in their promises of the benefits which they could obtain
from the Assembly for the county, whose suffrages they solicited.
By such representations, the return of members of opposition
politics is asserted, in many instances, to have been secured ;
and obstinate counties are alleged to have been sometimes
starved into submission, by an entire withdrawal of grants, until
they returned members favourable to the majority. Some of the
English members who voted \viih M. Papineau, excused
themselves to their countrymen by alleging that they were
compelled to do so, in order to get a road or a bridge, which
their constituents desired. Whether it be true or false, that the
abuse was ever carried to such a pitch, it is obviously one,
which might have been eaeily and safely perpetrated by a person
possessing M. Papineau's influence in the Assembly."

Next for the grants for public education.

*' But the most bold and extensive attempt for erecting a
system of patronage, wholly independent of the Government,
was that which was, for some time, carried into effect by the
grants for education made by the Assembly, and regulated by
the Act, which the Legislative Council has been most bitterly
reproached with refusing to renew. It has been stated, as a
proof of the deliberate intention of the Legislative Council to
crush every attempt to civilize and elevate the great mass of the
people, that it thus stopped at once the working of about 1,000
schools, and deprived of education no less than 40,000 scholars,
who were actually profiting by the means of instruction thus
placed within their reach. But the reasons v/hich induced, or
rather compelled, the Legislative Council to stop this system,
are clearly stated in the Report of that body, which contains the
most unanswerable justification of the course which it pursued.
By that it appears, that the whole, superintendence and patronage
of these schools bad, by the expired law, been vested in the
hands of the county members ; and they had been allowed to

244 KARRYAT'S DIARY.

raanage the funds, without even the semblance of snfficieac
accountability. The Members of the Assembly had thus a
patronage, in this single department, of about £25,000 per
annum, an amount equal to half of the whole ordinary ci^il
expenditure of the Province. They were not slow in profiting
by the occasion thus placed in their hands; and as there existed-
in the Province no sufficient supply of competent schoolmasters
and mistresses, they nevertheless immediately filled up the
appointments with persons who were utterly and obviously
incompetent. A great proportion of the teachers could neither rend
nor write. The gentleman whom 1 directed to inquire into the
state of education in the Province, showed me a petition from
certain schoolmasters, which had come into his hands; and
the majority of the signatures were those of wzar&s-rnen. These
ignorant teachers could convey no useful instruction to thfir
pupils ; the utmost amount which they taught them was to say
the Cateehism by rote. Even within seven miles of Montreal,
there was a schoolmistress thus unqualified. These appoint
ments were, as might hare been expected, jobbed by the
members among the political partisans; nor were the funds
very honestly managed. In many cases the members were
suspected, or accused, of misapplying them to their own use ;
and in the case of Beauharnois, where the seigneur, Mr. Ellice,
has, in the same spirit of judicious liberality by which his whole
management of that extensive property has been marked,
contributed most largely towards the education of his tenants, the
school funds were proved to have been misappropriated by the
county member. The whole system was a gross political
abuse; and, however laudable we must hold the exertions of
those who really laboured to relieve their country from the
reproach of being the least furnished with the means of education
of any on the North American continent, the more severely must
we condemn those who sacrificed this noble end, and perverted
ample means to serve the purposes of party."

We will now claim the support of his lordship upon another
question, which is, how far is it likely that the law will be duly
administered if the power is to remain in the hands of the French
Canadian population! Speaking of the Commissioners of Small
Causes, his iordship observes —

" 1 shall only add, that some time previous to rny leaving the-
Province, I was very warmly and forcibly urged, by the highest
legal authorities in the country, to abolish all these tribunals at
once, on the ground that a great many of them, being composed
entirely of disaffected French Canadians, were busily occupied
in harassing loyal subjects, by entertaining actions against them
on account of the part they had takea in- the late insurrection.
There is no appeal from theii decision ; and it was stated that
they had in the most barefaced manner given danr.ges against,
loyal persons for acts done in the discharge of their duty, anci
judgments by -default against persons who were absent, as
volunteers in the service of the Queen, and enforced theisr
judgment by levying distresses ea th«u pioneity*"

MARRY AT' 3 DIARY. 245

Relative to the greatest prerogative of an Englishman, the
trial by jury, his lordship observes —

"But the most serious mischief in the administration of
criminal justice, arises from the entire perversion of the institu
tion of juries, by the political and national prejudices of the
people. The trial by jury was introduced with the rest of the
English criminal law. For a long time the composition of both
grand and petit juries was settled by the governor, and they
were at first taken from the cities, which were the chefs lieux of
the district. Complaints were naade that this gave an undue
preponderance to the British in those cities ; though, from the
proportions of the population, it is not very obvious how they
could thereby obtain more than an equal share. Inconsequence,
however, of these complaints, an order was issued under the
government of Sir James Kempt, directing the sheriffs to take
the juries not only from the cities, but from the adjacent country,

jury from the whole district to which the jurisdiction of the
court extended, is, undoubtedly, in conformity with the princi
ples of English law; and Mr. Vigor's Act, adopting the other
regulations of the English jury law, provided a fair selection of
juries. But if we consider the hostility and proportions of the
two races, the practical effect of this law was to give the French
an entire preponderance in the juries. This Act was one of the
temporary Acts of the Assembly, and, having expired in 1836,
the Legislative Council refused to renew it. Since that period,
there has been no jury law whatever. The composition of the
juries has been altogether in the hands of the Government;
private instructions, however, have been given to the sheriff to
act in conformity with Sir James Kempt's ordinance ; but though
he has always done so, the public have had no security for any
fairness in the selection of the juries. There was no visible
check on the sheriff; the public knew that he could pack a jury
whenever he pleased, and supposed, as a matter of course, that
an officer, holding a lucrative appointment at the pleasure of
Government, would be ready to carry into effect those unfair
designs which they were always -ready to attribute to the
Government. When I arrived in the Province, the public were
expecting the trials of the persons accused of participation in
the late insurrection, I was, on the one hand, informed by the
law officers of the Crown, and the highest judicial authorities,
that not the slightest chance existed, under any fair system of
getting a jury, that would convict any of these men, however
clear the evidence of their guilt might be ; and, on the other side,
I was given to understand, that the prisoners and their friends
supposed that, as a matter of course, they would be tried by
packed juries, and that even the most clearly innocent of them
would be convicted.

" It is, indeed, a lamentable fact which must not be conceal
ed, that there does not exist in the minds of the people of this
21*

246

Province the slightest confidence in the administration of
criminal justice; nor were the complaints, or the apparent
grounds for them, confined to one party.

"The trial by jury is, therefore, at the present moment, not
only productive in Lower Canada of no confidence in the honest
administration of the laws, but also provides impunity for every
political offence."

1 have made these long quotations from Lord Durham's Re
port as his lordship's authority, he having been sent out as Lord
High Commissioner to the Province, to make the neeessary
inquiries, must carry more weight with the public than any
observations of mine. All I can do is to assert that his lordship
is very accurate ; and, having made this assertion, I ask, what
chance, therefore, is there of good government, if the power, or
any portion of the power, be left in the hands of those who have
in every way proved themselves so adverse to good government,
and who have wound up such conduct by open rebellion.

The position of the Executive in Canada has, for along while?
been just what our position in this country would be if the
House of Commons were composed of Chartist leaders. Every
act brought forward by them would tend to revolution, and be
an infringement of the Constitution, and all that the House of
Lords would have to do, would be firmly to reject every bill
carried to the Upper House. If our House of Commons were
filled with rebels and traitors, the Government must stand still,
and such has been for these ten years the situation of the Cana
dian government; and, fortunate it is, that the out-break has now
put us in a position that will enable us to retrieve our error, and
re-model the constitution of these Provinces. The questions
which must therefore be settled previous to any fresh attempts
at legislation for these Canadians, are, — are, or are not, the
French population to have any share in it ? Can they be trusted ?
Are they in any way deserving of it ? In few words, are the
Canadas to be hereafter considered as a French or an English
colony]

When we legislate, unless we intend to change, we must look
to futurity. The question, then, is not, who are the majority of
to-day, but who will hereafter be the majority in the Canadian
Provinces; for all agree upon one point, which is, that we must
legislate for the majority. At present, the population is nearly
equal, but every year increases the preponderance of the E nglish;
and it is to be trusted that, by good management, and the en
couragement of emigration, in half a century the French popula
tion will be so swallowed up by the English, as to he remembered
but on record. If, again, we put the claims of British loyalty
against the treason of the French — the English energy, activity,
and capital, in opposition to the supineness, ignorance, and in
capacity of the French population, — it is evident, that not only
in justice and gratitude, but with a due regard to our own inter
ests, the French Canadians must now be wholly deprived of any
share of that power which they have abused, and that confidence
of which they have proved themselves so unworthy. I ain

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 247

much pleased to find that Lord Durham has expressed the same
opinion, in the following remarks ; and I trust their importance
will excuse to the reader the length of the quotation.

"The Englis"h have already in their hands the majority of the
larger masses of property in the country ; they have the decided
superiority of intelligence on their side; they have the certainty
that colonization must swell their numbers to a majority; and
they belong to the race which wields the Imperial Government,
and predominates on the American continent. If we now leave
them in a minority, they will never abandon the assurance of
being a majority hereafter, and never cease to continue the present
contest with all the fierceness with which it now rages. In
such a contest, they will rely on the sympathy of their country
men at home ; and if that is denied them, they feel very confident
of being able to awaken the sympathy of their neighbours of
kindred origin. They feel that if the British Government intends
to maintain its hold of the Canadas, it can rely on the English
population alone; that if it abandons its colonial possessions,
they must become a portion of that great Union which will
speedily send forth its swarms of settlers, and, by force of num
bers and activity, quickly master every other race. The French
Canadians, on the other hand, are but the remains of an ancient
colonization, and are and ever must be isolated in the midst of
an Anglo-Saxon world. Whatever may happen, whatever gov
ernment shall be established over them, British or American,
they can see no hope for their nationality. They can only sever
themselves from the British empire by waiting till some general
cause of dissatisfaction alienates them, together with the sur
rounding colonies, and leaves them part of an English confede
racy; or, if they are able, by effecting a separation singly, and
so either merging in the American Union, or keeping up for a
few years a wretched semblance of feeble independence, which
would expose them more than ever to the intrusion of the sur
rounding population. I am far from wishing to encourage, in
discriminately, these pretensions to superiority on the part of
any particular race ; but while the greater part of every portion
of the American continent is still uncleared and unoccupied, and
while the English exhibit such constant and marked activity in
colonization, so long will it be idle to imagine that there is any
portion of that continent into which that race will not penetrate,
or in which, when it has penetrated, it will not predominate.
It is but a question of time and mode; it is but to determine
whether the small number of French who now inhabit Lower
Canada shall be made English, under a government which can
protect them, or whether the process shall be delayed until a
much larger number shall have to undergo, at the rude hands of
its uncontrolled rivals, the extinction of a nationality strengthen
ed and embittered by continuance.

" And is this French Canadian nationality one which, for
the good merely of that people, we ought to strive to perpetuate
even if it were possible ? 1 know of no national distinctions
marking and continuing a more hopeless inferiority. The

248 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

language, the laws, the character of the North American Con-
tinent are English ; and every race but the English (I apply
this to all who speak the English language) appears there in
a condition of inferiority. It is to elevate them from that in
feriority that I desire to give to the Canadians our English
character. I desire it for the sake of the educated classes,
whom the distinction of language and manners keeps apart from
the great empire to which they belong, At the best, the fate of
the educated and aspiring colonist is, at present, one of little
hope, and little activity ; but the French Canadian is cast still
further into the shade, by a language and habits foreign to those
of the Imperial Government. A spirit of exclusion has closed
the higher professions on the educated classes of the French
Canadians, more, perhaps, than was absolutely necessary ; but
it is impossible for the utmost liberality on the part of the
British Government to give an equal position in the general
competition of its vast population to those who speak a foreign
language. I desire the amalgamation still more for the sake of
the humbler classes. Their present state of rude and equal
plenty is fast deteriorating under the pressure of population in
the narrow limits to which they are confined. Jf they attempt
to better their condition, by extending themselves over the
neighbouring country, they will necessarily get more and more
mingled with an English population ; if they prefer remaining
stationary, the greater part of them must be labourers in the
employ of English capitalists. In either ease it would appear,
that the great mass of the French Canadians are doomed, in
some measure, to occupy an inferior position, and to be de
pendent on the English for employment. The evils of poverty
and dependence would merely be aggravated in a ten-fold
degree, by a spirit of jealous and resentful nationality, which
should separate the working class of the community from the
possessors of wealth and employers of labour.

"I will not here enter into the question of the effect of the
mode of life and division of property among the French Cana
dians, on the happiness of the people. I will admit, for the
moment, that it is as productive of well-being as its admirers
assert. But, be it good or bad, the period in which it is practi
cable, is past; for there is not enough unoccupied land left in
that portion of the country in which English are not already
settled, to admit of the present French population possessing
farms sufficient to supply them with their present means of
comfort, under their present system of husbandry. No popu
lation has increased by mere births so rapidly as that of the
French Canadians has since the conquest. At that period their
number was estimated at 60,000 : it is now supposed to amount
to more than seven times as many. There has been no propor
tional increase of cultivation, or of produce from the land already
under cultivation ; and the increased population has been in a
great measure provided for by mere continued subdivision of
estates. In a Report from a Committee of the Assembly in
1826, of which Mr. Andrew Steuart was chairman, it is stated,

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 249

that since 1784 the population of the seignories had quadrupled,
while the number of cattle had only doubled, and the q nan tit}'
of land in cultivation had only increased one-third. Complaints
of distress are constant, and the deterioration of the condition of
a great part of the population admitted on all hands. A people
so circumstanced must alter their mode of life. If they wish to
maintain the same kind of rude, but well-provided agricultural
existence, it must be by removing into those parts of the coun
try in which the English are settled ; or if they cling to their
present residence, they can only obtain a livelihood by deserting
their present employment,' and working for wages on farms, or
on commercial occupations under English capitalists. But
their present proprietary and inactive condition is one which no
political arrangements can perpetuate. Were the French Cana
dians to be guarded from the influx of any other population,
their condition in few years would be similar to that of the
poorest of the Irish peasantry.

*» There can hardly be conceived a nationality more destitute
of all that can invigorate and elevate a people, than that which
is exhibited by the descendants of the French in Lower Canada,
owing to their retaining their peculiar language and manners.
They are a people with no history, and no literature. The liter
ature of England is written in a language which is not theirs;
and the only literature which their language renders familiar to
them, is that of a nation from which they have been separated
by eighty years of a foreign rule, and still more by those changes
which the Revolution and its consequences have wrought in the
whole political, moral, and social state of France. Yet it is on
a people whom recent history, manners, and modes of thought,
so entirely separate from them, that the French Canadians are
wholly dependent for almost all the instruction and amusement
derived from books : it is on this essentially foreign literature,
which is conAjersant about events, opinions and habits of life,
perfectly strange and unintelligible to them, that they are com
pelled to be dependent. Their newspapers are mostly written
by natives of France, who have either come to try their fortunes
in the province, or been brought into it by the party leaders, in
order to supply the dearth of literary talent available for the po
litical press. In the same way their nationality operates to de
prive them of the enjoyments and civilizing influence of the arts.
Though descended from the people in the world that most gen
erally love, and have most successfully cultivated the drama —
though living on a continent, in which almost every town, great
or small, has an English theatre, the French population of
Lower Canada, cut off from every people that speak its own
language, can support no national stage.

"In these circumstances, I should be indeed surprised if the
more reflecting part of the French Canadians entertained at pre
sent any hope of continuing to preserve their nationality.
Much as they struggle against it, it is obvious that the process
of assimilation to English habits is already commencing. The
English language is gaining ground, as the language of the rich,

250 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

and of the employers of labour naturally will. It appeared by
some of the few returns, which had been received by the Com
missioner of Inquiry into the state of education, that there are
about ten times the number of French children in Quebec learn
ing English, as compared with the English children who learn
French. A considerable time must, of course, elapse before the
change of a language can spread over a whole people ; and jus
tice and policy alike require, that while the people continue to
use the French language, their government should take no such
means to force the English language upon them as would, in
fact, deprive the great mass of the community of the protection
of the laws. But, I repeat, that the alteration of the character
of the province ought to be immediately entered on, and firmly,
though cautiously, followed up; that in any plan, which may
be adopted for the future management of Lower Canada, the
first object ought to be that of making it an English province;
and that, with this end in view, the ascendancy should never
again be placed in any hands but those of an English popula
tion. Indeed, at the present moment, this is obviously neces
sary : in the state of mind in which I have described the French
Canadian population, as not only now being, but as likely for a
long while to remain, the trusting them with an entire control
over this province would be, in fact, only facilitating a rebellion.
Lower Canada must be governed now, as it must be hereafter,
by an English population; and thus the policy, which the ne
cessities of the moment force on us, is in accordance with that
suggested by a comprehensive view of the future and permanent
improvement of the province."

CHAPTER VI.

I HAVE quoted largely from Lord Durham's Report, as in most
points relative to Lower Canada, especially as to the causes
which produced the rebellion, the unwarrantable conduct of the
Legislative Assembly, and his opinions as to the character of
the French Canadians, I consider that the remarks are correct :
they are corroborated by my own opinions and observations : but
I think that the information he has received relative to Upper
Canada is not only very imperfect, but certainly derived Irom
parties who were not to be trusted : take one simple instance.
His lordship says in his Report, that the petitioners in favour of
Mathews and Lount, who were executed, amounted to 30,000,
whereas it is established, that the whole number of signatures
only amounted to 4,574. Those who deceive his lordship in one
point would deceive him in another; indeed his lordship hail a
task of peculiar difficulty, going out as he did, vested with such
powers, and the intents of his mission being so well known. It
is not those who are in high office that are likely to ascertain

MARRVAT'S DIARY. 251

"•' •*'

the truth, which is much more likely to be communicated to a
humbfe individual like myself, who travels through a country
and hears what is said on both sides. The causes stated by his
lordship for discontent in Upper Canada are not. correct. I have
before said, and I repeat it, that they may almost be reduced to
the following1: the check put upon their enterprize and industry
by the acts of the Lower Canadian Assembly ; and the favour
shown to the French by the Colonial Office, aided by the ma
chinations of the American party, who fomented any appearance
of discontent.

There is in his lordship's Report, an apparent leaning towards
the United States, and its institutions, at which I confess that I
am surprised. Why his lordship, after shewing that the repre
sentative government did all they possible could to overthrow
the constitution, should propose an increase of power to that
representative government, unless, indeed, he would establish a
democracy in the provinces, 1 am at a loss to imagine.

That a representative body similar to that which attempted to
overturn the constitution in Lower Canada can work well, and
even usefully reform when in the hands of loyal English subjects,
is acknowledged by his lordship, who says, «« the course of the
Parliamentary contest in Upper Canada has not been marked by
that singular neglect of the great duties of a legislative body,
which I have remarked in the proceedings of the Parliament of
Lower Canada. The statute book of the Upper Province
abounds with useful and well-constructed measures of reform,
and presents an honourable contrast to that of the Lower Pro
vince."

Indeed, unless I have misunderstood his lordship he appears
to be inconsistent, for in one portion he claims the extension of
the power of the representative, and in another he complains of
the want of vigorous administration of the royal prerogative, for
he says-: —

" The defective system of administration in Lower Canada,
commences at the very source of power ; and the efficiency of
the public service is impaired throughout by the entire want in
the colony of any vigorous administration of the prerogative of
the crown."

To increase the power of the representative is to increase the
power of the people, in fact to make them the source of power ;
and yet his lordship in this sentence acknowledges that the
crown is the source of power, and that a more vigorous adminis*-
tration of its prerogative is required.

There are other points commented upon in his lordship's
Report, which claim earnest consideration : one is, that of the
propriety of municipal institutions. Local improvements, when
left in the hands of representative assemblies, are seldom judi
cious or impartial, and should therefore be made over either to
the inhabitants or executive. The system of townships has cer*
tainly been one great cause of the prosperity of the United
States, each township taxing itself for its own improvement.
Although the great roads extending through the whole of the

$52 MARRY AT'S DIARY.

Union are in the hands of the Federal Government, and the
States Government take up the improvement on an extensive
scale in the States themselves, the townships, knowing exactly
what they require, tax themselves for their minor advantages.
The system in England is much the same, although perhaps not
so well regulated as in America. Are not, however, municipal
institutions valuable in another point of view ] Do they not
prepare the people for legislating? are they not the rudiments
of legislation by which a free people learn to tax themselves ?
And indeed, it may also be asked, would not the petty influence
and authority confided to those who are ambitious by their
townsmen satisfy their ambition, and prevent them from becoming
demagogues and disturbing the country ?

Whatever may be the future arrangements for ruling these
provinces, it appears to me that there are two great evils in the
present system ; one is, that the governors of the provinces
have not sufficient discretionary power, and the other is, that
they are so often removed. The evils from the first cause have
been pointed out in Lord Durham's Report : —

" The complete and unavoidable ignorance in which the
British public, and even the great body of its legislators, are
with respect to the real interests of distant communities, so en
tirely different from their own, produces a general indifference,
which nothing but some great colonial crisis ever dispels ; and
responsibility to Parliament, or to the public opinion of Great
Britain, would, except on these great and rare occasions, be
positively mischievous, if it were not impossible. The repeated
changes caused by political events at home having no connexion
with colonial affairs, have left, to most of the various represen
tatives of the Colonial Department in Parliament, too little time
to acquire even an elementary knowledge of the condition of
those numerous and heterogenous communities for which they
have both to administer and legislate. The persons with whom
the real management of these affairs has or ought to have rested,
have been the permanent but utterly irresponsible members of
the office. Thus the real government of the colony has been
entirely dissevered from the slight nominal responsibility which
exists. Apart even from this great and primary evil of the sys
tem, the presence of multifarious bnsiness thus thrown on the
Colonial office, and the repeated changes of its ostensible direc
tors, have produced disorders in the management of public
business vvnich have occasioned serious mischief, and very
great irritation. This is not my own* opinion merely : for I do
but repeat that of a select committee of the House of Assembly
in Upper Canada, who, in a Report dated February 8, 1838,
say, * It appears to your committee, that one of the chief causes
of dissatisfaction with the administration of colonial affairs arises
Yrom the frequent changes in the office of secretary of state, to
whom the Colonial department is entrusted. Since the time the
late Lord Bathurst retired from that charge, in 1827, your com*
inittee believe there has not been less than eight colonial minis*
ters, and that the policy of each successive statesman has been

MARRYAT'S DIA&Y. 253

more or less marked by a difference from that of his predecessor.
This frequency of change in itself almost necessarily entails
two evils ; first, an imperfect knowledge of the affairs of the
colonies on the part of the chief secretary, and the consequent
necessity of submitting important details to the subordinate
officers of the department; and second, the want of stability and
firmness in the general policy of the Government, and which, of
course, creates much uneasiness on the part of the Governors,
and other officers of the colonies, as to what measures may be
approved.

"« But undoubtedly (continues the Report) by far the greatest
objection to the system is the impossibility it occasions of any
colonial minister, unaided by persons possessing local know
ledge, becoming acquainted with the wants, wishes, feelings,
and prejudices of the inhabitants of the colonies, during his tern*
porary continuance in office, and of deciding satisfactorily upon
the conflicting statements and claims that are brought before
him. A firm, unflinching resolution to adhere to the principles
of the constitution, and to maintain the just and necessary powers
of the crown, would do much towards supplying the want of
local information. But it would be performing more than can
be reasonably be expebted from human sagacity, if any man, or
set of men, should always decide in an unexceptionable manner
on subjects that have their origin thousands of miles from the
seat of the Imperial Government, where they reside, and of
which they have no personal knowledge whatever; and there
fore wrong may be often done to individuals, or a false view
taken of some important political question, that in the end may
throw a whole community into difficulty and dissension, not
from the absence of the most anxious desire to do right, but from
an imperfect knowledge of facts upon which to form an opinion.' "
This is all very true. There is nothing so difficult as to
legislate for a colony from home. The very best theory is use
less; it requires that you should be on the spot and adapt your
measures to the circumstances and the growing wants of the
country. 1 may add that it is wrong for the Home Government
to consider the Government given to the colony as permanent.
All that the mother-country can do is to give it one, which, in
theory, appears most adapted to secure the true freedom and
happiness of the people; but leaving that form of government
to be occasionally modified, so as to meet with the changes, the
wants, and the rising interests which the colony may require;
all of which being unforeseen could not be provided for by the
foresight of man. The governor, therefore, of a colony should
be invested with more discretionary power.

The constant removal of the governor from the colony is also
much to be deprecated. On 'his first arrival, he can only have
formed theoretical views, which, in all probability, he will have
to discard in a few months. He finds himself surrounded by
people in office, interested in their own peculiar policy, and
viewing things through their own medium. In all colonies you
•will usually findan oligarchy, comented by mutual interest, and
22

MARRFAT'S DIARF.

family connection, and so bound up together as to become
formidable if opposed to the Government. Into the hands of
these people a governor must,, to a certain degree, fall, until he
has had time to see clearly and to j«dge for himself. But by the
time that he has just disenthralled himself, he is removed, and
another appointed in his place, and the work has to commence
dt no jo.

Lord Durham has proposed that the Canadas should be united,
and there certainly are some benefits which would arise could
their union take place. He asserts most positively that the
French party must be annihilated. He says; — " It must hence
forth be the first and steady purpose of the British Government
to establish an English population, with English laws and
language in this province, and to trust its government to none
but a decidedly English legislature.'* This is plain and clear ;
but how is this to be affected 1 The land of Lower Canada is
still in the hands of the French, and nearly five hundred
thousand out of six hundred thousand of the population are
French.

How, then, are we to make the Lower Canadas English?
We may purchase up the seigneuries ; we may insist upon the
English language being used in the Assembly and courts of
law, in public documents, &c. ; we may alter the laws to
correspond with those of the mother-country ; but will that
make the pr vince English1? We may even insist that none
but English-born subjects, or Canadian-born English shall be
elected to the House of Assembly, or hold any public office ; but
will that make the province English1? Certainly not. There
is no want of English-born demagogues as well as French in
the province. The elections of the Lower province are decided
by the Canadian French, who are in the majority, and they
would find no difficulty in obtaining representatives who would
continue the former system of controlling the executive and
advocating rebellion. Is it, then, by altogether taking away
from the Canadian French the elective franchise and giving it
entirely into the hands of the English, that the province is to
be made English ? If so, although i admit the French have
proved themselves undeserving, and have by their rebellion
forfeiied their birth-right, you then place them in the situation of
an injured, oppressed, and sacrificed people; reducing them to
a state o£. slavery which, notwithstanding their offences, would
still be odious to the present age. By what means, therefore,
does his lordship intend that the province shall become English
— by immigration ? That requires time ; and before the immi
gration necessary can take place the Canadas may be again
thrown into a rebellion by the French machinations. In our
future legislation for the Canadas, we must always bear in rnind
that the French population will be opposed to the Government
and to the mother country ; and that there is DO chance of a
better state of feeling in the Lower province until they shall be
come amalgamated and swallowed up by British immigration.
Until that takes place, the union of the Canadas will only

MARRY AT'S DIAHY.

create a conflict between the two races, as opposed as fire and
water, and nearly equal in numbers. It will be an immense
cauldron, bubbling1, steaming, and bt.ilino- over — an incessant
scene of strife and irritation — a source of anxiety and expense to
the mother-country, and, so far from going a-head, 1 should not
be surprised if, in twenty years hence, the English population
would be found to be smaller than it now is. Political dissen
sions would paralyse enterprise, frighten away capita!, and, in
all probability, involve us in a conflict with the United States.
Until, therefore, I understand how the Lower Province is to
become British, I cannot think a union between the Canadas to
be advisable.

Wherher his lordship is aware of it or not, I cannot say, but
there appears to me to be^a strong feeling towards democracy in
all his proposed plans, and an evident leaning towards the in
stitutions of the United States. He wishes to make the
Executive Government responsible to the people ; he would
make one Federal Union of all our provinces, and institute the
Supreme Court of Appeal which they have in the United States.
In short; change but the word GJovernor for President, and we
should have the American constitution, and a " free and
enlightened people ;" — that is, the French Canadians, who can
neither read or write, governing themselves.

So far from a Federal union between all our transatlantic pos
sessions being advisable, I should think, from their contiguity
with the Americans, that it would be advisable to keep them
separate. Respecting the Canadas, 1 am of the same cpjnion.
1 consider that as two provinces, they are too vast in territory
already. Whether it is a woman looking after her servants and
household affairs, or a captain commanding a ship, or a governor
ruling over a province, large or small, as may be the scale of
operation, one of the most important points in good legislation,
is the eye. A governor of a vast province cannot possibly be
aware of the wants of the various portions of the province. He
is obliged to take the reports of others, and consequently very
often legislates unadvisedly.

That the two provinces cannot remain in their present state is
acknowledged by all. The question therefore is, can we ration
ally expect any improvement by their union ? Perhaps it may
appear presumptuous in me (at all events, ii will in the eyes of
the Edinburgh Review} that 1 should venture to differ from Lord
Durham, who is a statesman born and bred — for this is not a
party question in which a difference of politics may bias — it is a
question as to the well-governing of a most important colony,
and no one will for a moment doubt but that his lordship is as
anxious as the Duke of Wellington, and every other well-wisher
to his country, to decide upon that which he considers honestly
and honorably to be the best. It is really, therefore, with great
deference that I submit to him, whether another arrangement
should not be well considered, before the union of the two pro
vinces is finally decided upon.

His lordship has very truly observed, thaf in legislating, we

2&6 MAR«YAT*S DIARY,

are to legislate for futurity; if not, we must be prepared fo?
change. Acting upon this sound principle, we are to legislate
upon the supposition that the whole country of Upper and Lower
Canada is well peopled. We are not to legislate for the present
population, but for the future. And how is this to be done in
the present condition of the provinces'? Most assuredly by
legislating for territory — for the amount of square acres which
will eventually be filled up by emigration. I perfectly 'agree
with his lordship in the remark that " if the Canadians are to
be deprived of their representative government, it would be bet
ter to do it in a straight forward way ;" but I submit that it
would be done in a straightforward way by the plan I am about
to submit to him, and I consider it more advisable than that of
convulsing the two provinces by bringing together the two races
so inveterate against each other. Instead of a union of the two
provinces, I should think it more advisable to separate the
Canadas into three — Upper, Lower, and Middle Canada, the
line of demarcation; and the capitals of each Province appear
alrea'dy to be marked out. The Lower province would have
Quebec, and be separated from the Middle Province by the Ot
tawa river. The Middle Province would have Montreal, and
would extend to a line drawn from Lake Simcoe to Lake Onta
rio, throwing into it all the townships on the American side of the
St. Lawrence, which would do away with the great objection of
the Upper province being dependent upon the Lower for the
transport of goods up the river, and the necessity of dividing be
tween the provinces the custom-house revenues. Under any
circumstances, it would be very advantageous to have a port of
entry and custom-house, in or nearer to the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
as ships would then be able to make an extra voyage every
year. I should say about Gaspe would be the spot. This bay
being on the American side of the river St. Lawrence would be
come the. entry port for the Upper and Middle provinces, ren
dering them wholly independent of the Lower. The Upper
province would comprehend all the rest of the territory west of
the line, drawn from Lake Superior, and have Toronto for it&
capital. This would be a pretty fair division of territory, and
each province would be more than sufficient for the eye of the
most active governor.

Let each province have its separate s?/& -governor and House
of Assembly ; but let the Upper House, or Senate, be selected
of equal nu mbers from each province, and assemble at Quebec to
decide, with the governor-in-chief of fie promnces* upon the
passing or rejecting of the bills of the three respective Lower
Houses. This, although perfectly fair, would at once give in
the Senate the preponderance to the English of the Upper and
Middle provinces. It would still leave to the Lower Canadians
their franchise; and their House of Assembly would be a
species of safety-valve for the demagogues to give vent to their
opinions, without their being capable of injuring the interests of
ihe provinces, until they gradually amalgamated with the British
immigration. I merely offer this plan as a suggestion to his
lordship, and, of course, enter into no Cur,Ui$r detail.

MARRYAT'S DIAHY. 267

There are, however, one or two other points which appear to
me to be worthy of consideration. If the Oanadas are of that
importance which I think them, there are no means which we
should not use to attach them to the mother-country — to make
them partial to monarchial institutions — and to identify them
with the British empire. We should make sacrifices for them,
that we would not to other colonies; and therefore it is that 1
venture my opinion, that it would not only be politic, but it
would be just to such an extensive territory — and eventually
such an extensive population — to permit each of the three pro
vinces, (provided they are ever divided into three,) to select, one
of their senate to represent them in the British House of Com
mons. I consider it but an act of justice as well as of policy.
This step would, as I said before, identify these valuable pro
vinces with ourselves. They then would feel that they were
not ruled, but that they were part and portion, and assisted in
the government of the British empire, and, to draw the line as
strictly as possible between them and their democratic neigh
bours, to attach them still closer to monarchical institutions, it
should be proposed to the Sovereign of these realms that an
Order of knighthood and an Order of merit expressly Canadian
should be instituted. These last may be considered by many
to be, and perhaps in themselves are, trifles; but they are no
trifles, when you consider that they must militate against those
democratic feelings of equality which have been so industriously
and so injuriously circulated in the provinces by our trans
atlantic descendants. I cannot better conclude these observa
tions than by quoting the opinion of so intelligent a nobleman
as Lord Durham, who asserts most positively that "England,
if she loses her North American colonies, must sink into a
second-rate power."

CHAPTER VII.

INDIANS.

THERE was no subject of higher interest to me during my
travels in North America, than the past aiid present condition of
the Indian tribes. Were I to enter into the history of the past,
1 could easily fill three or four volumes of matter, which I think
would be found very well worth perusing. It is to be lamented
that there has been no correct history of the Indian tribes yet
published. There are many authors in America well calculated
to undertake the task, and the only reason which I can give for
it not having been already done, is that probably the American
Government are not very willing to open the archives of the
Indian department even to their own'countryrnen ; and, at the
same time, an American author, who would adhere to the trnth,
would not become very popular from exposing the system of
rapine and injustice which was commenced by the English who
22*

f58

first landed, and has been continued up to the present day by
the Federal Government of the United States. Nevertheless,
it is to be lamented, now that the race is so fast disappearing,
that a good historical account of them is not published. There
is no want of material for the purpose, even if the Government
refuse their aid ; but at present, it is either scattered in various
works, or when attempted to be collected together, the author
has not been equal to the task. There is a question which has
been raised by almost every traveller in America, which is —
from whom are the American. Indians descended 1 and I think
from the many works f have consulted, that the general opinion
is, that they are descended from the lost tribes of Israel. We
have never discovered any other nation of savages, if we may
use such a term to the American Indians, who have not been
idolators ; the American Indian is the only one. who worships
the one living God. In a discourse, which was delivered by
Mr. Noah, one of the most intelligent of the Jewish nation that
I ever had the pleasure of being acquainted with, there is much
deep research and a collection of the various opinions upon this
subject.

Many tribes were totally annihilated or their remnants incor
porated into others, living faraway from their original territories:
the Tuscaroras, for instance, were driven out of Carolina and
admitted into the Mohawk confederacy, which originally came
down from the upper shores of the river St. Lawrence. The
Winnebagoes, also, were driven from the south and settled on
the river Wisconsin. The Sacs and Foxes fought their way
from the river Si. Lawrence to the Fox river, in Wisconsin, and
were driven from thence, by the Menomonies and Chippewas,
to the territory of Rock river, on the river Mississippi, where
they remained, until deprived of their territory by the Federal
Government, and sent away to the west of the river.

Notwithstanding the vicissitudes which continually occurred,
the tribes of North American Indians may be classed as fol
lows : —

The Algonquin stock of the North— under which are com"
prehended the Chippewas, Ottawas, Menomonies, Hurines, &c.

The Southern tribes, who are also descended from one stock,
and comprise Creeks, Cherokees, Choektaws, Catawbaws,
Chickasaws,&c.

The Horse Indians of the West, as the Pawnees, Osages,
Sioux, Kansas, Cumanches, &c.

The Indians of the Rocky Mountains, as Crows, Snakes, and
Blackfeet.

All the above races were composed of numerous tribes, who
acknowledged themselves as blood relations, but did not enter
into any confederacy for mutual support ; on the contrary, often
warring with each other. There were other powerful tribes,
which resided between the lakes and the Ohio, bordering on the
hunting grounds of Kentucky and Tinpin, which portion ap
peared to be set aside, by general consent, not only for hunting
but for war. There were the Delawares, or Lenni-Lenape, the
Shawnees, Wyandots, Illinois, Peorais, and some others.

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 259

The confederate tribes, and with which the early settlers had
to contend, were as follows : —

The Powhatan confederacy, comprising the Monacans, Mona-
hoacs, and Powhatans, occupying the present state of Virginia
from the sea-coast to the Alleghany mountains.

The New England confederacy, who resided in the present
States of New England, composed of the Peqnots,. Narrangan-
sets, Pawtuckets, Pokandkets, and Massachusetts tribes.

And lastly, the confederacy of the five nations, or Mohawks,
called Mingos by the other Indians, and Iroquois by the French.
This confederacy was composed of the Mohawks, Oneidas,
Caguyas, Onandngas, and Senecas. The Tuscaroras, were
afterwards admitted as a sixth,

1 will make a few hrief observations upon the various tribes,
in the order I have set them down.

The Algonquin stock has suffered less than any other, simply
because they have been located so far north, and their lands
have not been required. The Chippewas are at present the
most numerous tribe of Indians. The most celebrated chief of
this stock was Pontiac, an Ottawa ; after the Canadas were
given up to the English, he proved a most formidable enemy;
he attempted and, to a certain degree, succeeded in uniting the
tribes against us, and had not his plot been discovered, would,
in all probability, have wrested from us Detroit and every other
post in our possession on the lakes. But Pontiac could not
keep up a standing army, which was so contrary to the habits of
the Indians ; one by one the tribes deserted him, and sued for
peace. Pontiae would not listen to any negociations, he retired
to Illinois, and was murdered by a Peoria Indian. The Otto-
was, Chippewas, and Pottawatamies, who fought under him,
avenged his death by the extirmination of nearly the whole tribe
of Peorias. Pontiac was one of the greatest Indians in history.

Of the Southern tribes there are not any records sufficiently
prominent for so short a notice.

The Horse Indians of the West and those of the Rocky
Mountains are scarcely known.

The Midland tribes produced some great men. The Dela-
wares were at one period the most celebrated. TheShawanees,
or Shawriees, do not appear to have been opposed to the
Whites, until Boone and his adventurers crossed the Allegha-
nies, and took possession of the valley of Kentucky. But the
Shavrnees have to boast of Tecurnseh, a chief, as great in
renown as Pontiac; he also attempted to confederate all the
tribes and drive away the Whites; his history is highly
interesting. He fell in battle fighting for the English, in the
war of 1814.

The confederate tribes on the eastern coast, were those with
which the first settlers were embroiled. The history of Virgi
nia is remarkable for one of the most singular romances in real
life which ever occurred : I allude to Pucahontas, the daughter
of the king of the Powhatans, who saved the life of the enter
prising Captain Smith, at the imminent risk of her own. The

200 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

romance was not, however, wound up by their marriage, Captain
Smith not being a marrying man ; but she afterwards married
a young Englishman, of the name of Randolph, was brought to
England, received at court, and paid much attention to by Queen
Anne. Some of the first families in Virginia proudly and justly
claim their descent from this noble girl.

The New England Confederacy was opposed to the pilgrim
fathers and their descendants. The chief tribe, the Wampa-
noags, have to boast of the third great chief among the Indian
tribes — Xing Philip. His history is well known; I have
already referred to it in my Diary.

If the reader will consult trie histories of Philip, Pontiac and
Tecumseh, who m?>y fairly be said to have been " great men,"
he will perceive that in each case, these chiefs were the life and
soul of enterprise and action, and that it was by their talents,
bravery, and aciivity, that the tribes were confederated and led
against the Whites. As soon as they were gone, there were
none who could succeed them or fill up tneir places, and the
confederacies were immediately broken up. But this was not
the case with the celebrated five nations, or Mohawks, who,
like the Romans of former days, spread their conquests until
their name was a terror wherever it was mentioned. Philip,
Pontiac and Tecumseh were great men, but the Mohawks'
confederacy was a nation of great men. When the French
settled in Canada in 1603, the Mohawks, or Iroqnois as they
called them, were living near to where Montreal now stands.
They were at war with the Adirondacks, a very numerous and
powerful nation, and were beaten down towards the Lakes; but
they recovered themselves, and their opponents were in their turn
beaten down to Quebec. The war between the Adirondacks
and the Iroquois is full of the most interesting details of courage
on both sides. The Iroquois having subdued, and indeed,
exterminated the Adirondacks, turned their arms against several
other tribes, whom they vanquished ; they then attacked the
Ottawas and Hurons, and drove them to the other side of the
Mississippi. The Illinois were next subdued, then the Miamies
and Shawnees were driven back for the time. Finally, they
conquered the Virginian tribes, and warred against the Chero-
kees, Catawbas, and other nations of the South. Although it
was impossible for them to hold the vast extent of country which
they had overrun, still it is certain that iheir very name was so
terrible that, frurn New England to the Mississippi, every town
and village would be deserted at their approach.

The chief portion of the Mohawks, under their celebrated
leader Brandt, served on the British side in the war of Indepen-
ence, and at the close of the war, they settled in lands given
them by the English, on the banks of Grand river in Canada in
the year 1783. At the time they took possession of their land,
their numbers amounted to nearly 8,000; but, as is every where
the case where the Indians are settled and confined on reserved
lands, they have now decreased to about 2,500. A. portion of
the tribe of Senecas, one of the Mohawk confederacy, joined the

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 26t

Americans; the remnants of them are still located a few mile*
from Buffalo, in the State of New-York. Their chief, Red
Jacket, died lately; he was a great warrior and still greater
orator.

The most formidable opponents to the five nations were the
Delawares, or Lenni Lenape, who lived in Pennsylvania. The
Delawares joined the British in the war of Independence.

In the succeeding chapter, I shall give the reader a census of
the American Indian tribes which still remain. It will be per
ceived that they are chiefly comprised of tribes which inhabited
the Far- West, and were until lately, almost unknown. Of the
New England and Virginian confederacies, once so powerful,
not a vestige remains ; of the Delawares, 826 still exist West
of the Mississippi ; of the Shawanees, or Shawnees, once so
terrible on the banks of the Ohio, 1272. In fact, all those
Indians whose territory bounded the coast first taken possession
of by the White men, have been annihilated. 1 have often heard
it argeed when I was in the United States, that the Indians could
not be considered as having any claim to the land, as they did
not settlor cultivate it; and it is a general opinion that they
lived almost entirely by the proceeds of the chase ; but this is
not a fact; indeed it is disproved by the early settlers themselv
es, who acknowledge that if they had not been supplied with
corn by the Indians they must have starved. That the Indians
did not grow more than was sufficient for their own consumption
is very probable, but that they did cultivate the land is most cer
tain; indeed, when the country and soil were favourable, th^y ap
pear to have cultivated to a great extent. When General Wayne
destroyed the settlements of the Miamies and W'yandots, on the
Miami river, in 1794, he says in his despatch, " never have I
beheld such immense fields of corn in any part of America as
possessed by these Indians."

The chase was considered by the Indians as a preparatory
school for warriors, and was followed accordingly; indeed, a
hunting party and a war party were often one and the same
tiling, as the hunting grounds were common, and when tribes
who were at variance fell in with each other, a conflict invaria
bly ensued. My limits will not permit me to enter into the
subject more fully ; my object has been, in as few pages as pos
sible, to assist in giving the reader some idea of the loca
tion of the Aborigines of America. If he would know more
of this interesting people, there are many very excellent works
concerning them written by Americans, which, were they col
lected together would form a most valuable and important library.

CHAPTER VIII.

INDIANS.

I will now enter into a short examination of the present posi
tion of the remaining Indian tribes. The plan of the American

262 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

Government has been to compel them to sell their lands ami
remove west of the Mississippi, to lands of which I doubt that
the Americans have any right to claim an acre. That the re
moval of them is expedient I grant, and that is all that can be
said on the subject. That the Indians were fated to melt away
before the white men like snow before the sun, is true; still, it
is painful to consider what has taken place from the period of
our first landing, when we were received hospitably — saved
from starvation by the generous sacrifice of their small stores of
grain — permitted to settle upon a small tract of land humbly
solicited — and that from the time that the white men once gained
a footing on their shores, the Indians have been hunted like
wild blasts from hill to hill, from river to river, and from coun
try to country, until nearly the whole of the vast continent may
be said to have been wrested from them. This system is still
continued, one tribe being forced back westward upon another,
till they come into conflict' with, and destroy, each other ; but
the buffalo and other animals, upon which they depend for food,
recede with them and gradually disappear. As Christians, we
must lament that the track for the advice of Christianity is
cleared away oy a series of rapine, cruelty, and injustice, at
which every one must shudder.

The following is the Report to the American Government, of
the various tribes of Indians remaining in the year 1837. It is
divided into three parts.

Statement showing the number of Indians now east of the Mis
sissippi; of those that have emigrated from the east to the
west of that river; and those within striking distance of the
Western frontier.

1 . — Name and number of the tribes now east of the Mississippi.
1. — -Under treaty stipulations to remove west of the Mississippi.
> Winnebagoes - 4,500

Ottawas of Ohio - - 100

Pottawatamies of Indiana - 2,950

Chippevvas, Ottawas, and Pottawatamies 1,500
Cherokees - 14,000

Creeks - - - 1,000

Chickasaws - - - 1,000

Seminoles ... 5,000

Appalachicolas - - 400

Ottawas and Chippewas in the Penin
sula of Michigan - 6,500

36,950

2. — Not under treaty stipulations to remove.
New York Indians 4,176

Wyandots - 575

Miamies - 1,100

Menomonies - 4,000

Ottawas and Chippewas of the lakes 2,564

12,415

49,365

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

263

Number of Indians who have emigrated from the east to tht
west of the Mississippi.

Chickasavvs - 549

Chippewas, Ottawas, and Pottawatamies 2,191

Choctaws ----- 15,000

Quapaws ----- 476

Creeks - - 20,437

Seminoles - - 407

Appalachicolas - - 265

Cherokees - 7,911

Kickapoos - - 588»

Delawares 826

Shawnees - 1,272

Ottawas - - 374

Weas .... 222

Piankesbaws ... j£2

Peorias and Kaskaskias ... 132

Pottawatamies of Indiana - - - 53

Senecas - - 251
Senecas and Shawnees - -211

Total - - 51,327

3.— Number of the Indigenous Tribes within striking distance
of the Western frontier .

Sioux -

lowas -

Sacs

Foxes -

Sacs of the Missouri

Osages -

Kansas -

Omahas

Ottoes and Missourias -

Pawnees

Camanches

Kioways

Mandans

Quapaws

Minatarees

Pagans

Assinaboins

Appaches

Crees -

Arrepahas

Gros- Venires

Eutaws

Crows -

21,600

1,500

4,800

1,600

500

5,120

1,606

1,600

1,000

12,500

19,200

1,800

3,200

450

2,000

30,000

15,000

20,280

3,000

3,000

16,800

19,200

7,200

364

Caddoes
Poncas
Arickarees
Cheyennes
Black feet

MARRYAT'S DIARY.

Total

2,000

906

2,750

3,200

30,000

'231,806

RECAPITULATION.

Number of Indians now east of the Mississippi 49,365
Number of Indians who have emigrated from east to

west side - - - 51,327

Number of indigenous tribes - - 231,806

Aggregate
Estimated number of warriors.

332,498

332,498

Whole number of Indians
Assuming that every fifth one may be considered a
warrior (and this is believed to be a reasonable
supposition), the number of warriors will be 66,499

War Department,

Office of Indian Affairs, November 22, 1837,
C. A. HARRIS, Commissioner.

This force of the Indians, if ever they combined, would be
very formidable, and they might certainly sweep away the
whole white population west of the Mississippi. That there
will hereafter be an attempt of th^t kind is very probable, as
hunger must eventually drive them to it; but any success in
their attempt must depend very much upon their leaders, and
the possibility of combination. It certainly appears to have
been an oversight on the part of the American Government, to
concentrate the whole of the Indians upon their frontiers in the
way which they have done; still, they could not well have act
ed otherwise. The removal of the Cherokees has been the
most hazardous part of their proceeding, as they are very
superior people; and should the other tribes put themselves
under their directions, they would be formidable enemies. There
is another circumstance which may render the Indians more seri
ous enemies, which is, that they, havinjr been located on the
prairie country, have become Horse Indians, instead of what is
termed Wood Indians, and they have a vast country behind
them to retreat to in case of necessity. I do not think, how
ever, that there is, at present, much fear to be felt relative
to the Indians, although the Cherokees, the Sioux, and some
other powerful tribes openly declare their hostile intentions
as soon as an opportunity offers for carrying them into execu=

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 265

tion. That opportunity will not offer, unless America is plunged
into war with France or this country, and then I am pretty con
fident that there will be a general rising of the Indians ; when,
whether they act in concert or not, they will give the Americans
more occupation than will be agreeable. The American govern
ment have not been insensible to the danger to which they are ex
posed from this quarter, and, in 1837, the reports of military men
were sent into Congress as to the best plan of protecting their
frontier. Whether those reports are intended to be acted upon
I know not ; but if so, the present regular army of the United
States will not be sufficient for the purpose, the lowest estima
tion for the garrisons of fhe proposed forts being 7,000 rank and
file, while at present their rank and file on the army-list only
amounts to 5,600.

The American forts opposed to the Indians are, at present,
Fort Gratiot, River St. Clare. "j

Mackinaw Island Fort. i »

Fort Brady, St. Marie, Lake Superior, j of
Fort Howard, Green Bay. J ?

Fort Winnebago, Wisconsin.
Fort Crawford. Prairie des Chiens.
F*rt Snelling, St. Peters.
Fort Leavenworth, Missouri.
Fort Madison, Des Moines River.
Jefferson Barracks, Missouri.

.Advanced Fbrts.
Fort Towson, Red River.

Fort Gibson. Arkansas and Grand Junction River.
Fort Adams, Baton Rouge.

There are one or two outposts also on the Arkansas River.
If all these forts were properly garrisoned, they would take every
disposable musket in the regular army of the United States ;
whilst at present they have, in consequence of the protracted
Florida war, scarcely sufficient men to do the duty.

In the report of the acting quarter-master general, the follow
ing garrisons are proposed for the western frontier : —

Fort Snelling 300 men.

Pert Crawford 300

Upper forks of the Des Moines - - - - 400
Fort Leavenworth ------ 1,200

Fort Gibson 1,500

Fort Towson 800

The eight posts of refuge proposed - 800

The protection of the four depots - 200

Jefferson barracks, as a corps of reserve - 1,500

Total - - - 7,000
23

266

To which must be added, for the garrisons of the five Lakes
forts, 1,500 at least, making the force necessary for the protec
tion of the boundaries, to amount to 8,500 men. Colonel Gra-
tiot, in his report, computes the force necessary at 12,910 men

The letter of Mr. Poinsett to Congress will throw much light
upon this subject, and I shall therefore insert it.

" Department of War,
" December 30, 1837.

" Sir : — In answer to the resolution of the House of Represent
atives, in relation to the protection of the western frontiers of
the United States, I have the honour to transmit the accompa
nying reports of the chief engineer and the acting quarter-master
general, together with a report of the commissioner of Indian
affairs. That expected from General Gaines will be sent as 'soon
as it is received.

" In presenting these documents, which are ably drawn up,
and contain full and satisfactory information on all the topics
embraced by the resolution, I might have considered my duty
fully discharged, had not other plans been previously recom
mended, which I regard as entirely inefficient, but which have
received, in some measure, the sanction of Congress. A survey
has been directed to determine the line of a road, which, it is
contemplated, shall extend from some point of the Upper Mis
sissippi to Red River, passing west of Missouri and Arkansas ;
and it is proposed to place a cordon of temporary posts of ordi
nary construction along it, as a sufficient measure for the defence
of that part of the country. In pursuance of the orders of Con
gress, officers have been appointed to periorm that duty, and,
upon their report being received, measures will be taken to carry
into effect the intentions of Congress, unless, upon a deliberate
review of the whole matter, some more eligible plan of defence
shall be adopted. My own opinion has been, from the time I
first considered the subject, that such a chain of posts, strung
along the best road that can be constructed, furnished with all
the means to operate, and with competent garrisons to occupy
them, is not calculated to afford that protection which the border
States have a right to expect from the Government, nor to redeem
its pledge to protect the emigrant tribes from the savage and
warlike people that surround them. The only possible use of
such a road would be to facilitate occasional communications
between the posts in time of peace. Supplies would not be
transported along it, for they must be brought from the interior.
Succours could not reach the posts by that direction, for they
would be furnished by the militia within the line; and any
attempt to concentrate the forces composing the garrisons in the
event of an outbreak, would probably be attended with disas
trous consequences ; for the troops, whose route must be well
known, would be exposed to be attacked and destroyed in detail.
The enemy, having nothing to dread on their flanks or roar,

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 267

might approach this road without risk, and attack the detach
ments on their line of march, before they could concentrate their
forces so as to offer an effectual resistance.

" After mature reflection, I am of opinion that military posts
might to be established and kept up within the Indian territory,
in such positions as to maintain peace among the Indians, and
protect the emigrant and feebler tribes against the stronger and
more warlike nations that surround them ; which the United
States are bound to do by treaty stipulations. To withdraw
those which now exist there, would be to violate our faith, as
there is reason to apprehend that it would be the signal of war.
Persons well acquainted with that country assure us that war
would break out among the Indians 'just so soon as the troops
are removed from those posts ;' and all accounts from that quarter
confirm that impression.

" Independently of the military protection which the existence
of these posts in the interior of the Indian country afford to the
emigrating tribes, and the good they are calculated to effect by
the beneficial influence the officers are enabled to exert over the
surrounding Indians, they more effectually cover and protect the
frontier than ten times the number of fortresses, strung along in
one line, could do.

" With the very limited knowledge of that country as yet in
possession of this department, it appears to me that six or seven
permanent exterior posts would be sufficient to preserve the
peace of that frontier. It will be necessary, at the same time,
to establish, at convenient points, an interior line of posts, to
serve as places of refuge for the inhabitants in periods of danger
and alarm, until the militia can march to their succour from the
interior, and the troops be put in motion upon the rear of the
invaders. Eight of these would be amply sufficient, from which
patrols might be kept up along the frontier to enforce the inter
course laws. Both descriptions of forts should be so con
structed as to be defended by a small garrison, and in a manner
that each part may be successfully maintained against a very
superior force, both during the time the whole is being com
pleted, and in the event of any portion of it being burnt or de
stroyed. This arrangement would require the establishment of
a few depots of arms and supplies, from which communications
should be opened to the posts. The accompanying skeleton
map presents a view of the relative positions of the posts and
depots, and of the communications from them to the line of de
fence for the speedy transportation of succours and supplies.
A regular force of five thousand men would be sufficient to gar
rison these posts, and, with a competent reserve at Jefferson
barracks, and an effective force at Baton Rouge, would, I think,
both ensure the safety of the western frontier, and enable the
Government to fulfil all its treaty stipulations, and preserve its
faith with the Indians. I would recommend, as an important

268

auxiliary to this system of defence, the organization of an effi
cient volunteer force, to be raised in each of the frontier States ;
the men to be mustered into service for a certain term of time,
the officers to be appointed according to their State laws, and
to be instructed a certain number of days in each year by the
regular officers of the United States army at the posts within
the states, and to receive pay during that period. In this man
ner an efficient corps of officers may be created, and a body of
volunteers be at hand to march to the succour of the border
settlers and repel the invaders, whenever they are called upon
by the proper authority.

"I venture to hope, if these measures are adopted by Con
gress, and carried into effect at an early day, so as to anticipate
any hostile movement of the Indians, peace will be preserved
on our Western borders ; but if they should, unfortunately, be
delayed until the discontent which exists among many of the
tribes breaks out into open hostility, and the first movements
of that wild and warlike people prove successful, as they in
fallibly would do in our present unprepared state, it might re
quire double the force, and quadruple the means I have here
indicated, to restore and preserve peace along that extended
frontier. All which is respectfully submitted.

" J. R. POINSETT.

" Hon. JAMES K. POLK,

" Speaker of the House of Representatives."

The acting quarter-master-general, in his report, makes the
following observation : —

" The obligations of the Government in reference to the
Western frontier are of a very peculiar character. It is first
bound, by a common duty, to protect its own border settlements,
extending along a line of one thousand miles, against the in
cursions of numerous savage tribes, separated from those settle
ments by mere imaginary lines; and it is next bound, by the
solemn treaty stipulations, with such of those tribes as have
emigrated to that frontier, ' to protect them at their new resi
dences against all interruptions or disturbances from any other
tribes or nations of Indians, or from any other person or persons
whatsoever.'

" If these obligations are to be scrupulously fulfilled in good
faith, which would seem to be due to our character as a nation
professing a paternal care over these people, a military force of
thirty thousand men on the Western frontier would scarcely be
adequate to enable the Government to discharge its duties to its
own citizens, and redeem these pledges of protection to the
Indians.

" It is not my intention, however, to propose such a force.
Political expediency, I presume, would not tolerate it, however
it might be justified by military considerations. It is merely
adverted to here in connexion with the heavy obligations which

MARRYAT'S DIARY 269

rest upon Government, and which have probably Seen contracted
from time to time, without any very nice calculation of the
means that would be necessary to a faithful discharge of them.
I will, therefore, without enlarging upon this point, proceed to
state the minimum force that is deemed necessary to give pro
tection to the border settlements, and assist in preserving peace
among them and their Indian neighbours along the line of the
frontier. These are great and important objects of themselves,
without superadding the yet more difficult task of protecting
the emigrant tribes, whom our policy has placed beyond the
frontier, from the wild and warlike Indians of the Far West."

And Colonel Gratiot, in his report, makes the following ad
mission. Speaking of the second, or middle section, he
says : —

" Second, or Middle Section. — The country beyond this line is
mostly elevated and free from marshy ground ; is abundantly
watered, thinly wooded, healthy, and has been assigned for the
permanent residence of the tribes which have been, or are to be,
removed from the States and territories east of the Mississippi,
and is still occupied by the Aborigines originally found within
its limits. In numbers they count, according to some estimates,
131,000, and can send to the field 26,200 warriors. As yet, no
community of feeling, except of deep and lasting hatred to the
white man, and more particularly to the Anglo-Americans,
exists among them; and, unless they coalese, no serious diffi
culty need be apprehended from them. Not so, however,
should they be induced to unite for purposes offensive and de
fensive: their strength would then become apparent, create
confidence, and, in all probability, induce them to give vent to
their long-suppressed desire to revenge past wrongs, which is
restrained, as they openly and freely declare, by fear alone.
That such a union will be formed at no distant day, we have
every reason to believe ; and the period may be accelerated by
their growing wants, and the policy of Mexico to annoy
Texas, and raise an impenetrable barrier in the direction of
her frontier."

That at present the Western frontier is defenceless is unde
niable, and the Florida war does not appear to be at all nearer
to a conclusion than it was two or three years ago. That the
Indians to the west of the Mississippi are not ignorant of what
is going on is very certain; and the moral effect arising from
the protracted defence of the Seminoles may eventually prove
most serious, and be attended with enormous expense to the
United States.

The Federal Government takes every precaution to impress
the Indians with an idea of the impossibility of their opposing
the white men. The agents persuade the chiefs to go down to
Washington to see their great father, the President. On these
occasions they are accompanied by the Indian agent and inter-
23*

270

preter, and, of course, all their expenses are paid. They are
lodged at the hotels, taken to all places of public amusement, and
provided with conveyances. But the policy of the Government
is to cause them to make a circuit through all the most populous
cities, as the crowds attracted by the appearance of the Indians
give them an extraordinary and incorrect idea of the American
population. Wherever they go they are in a crowd. If they
are at the windows of an hotel, still the crowds are immense;
and this is what the Government is anxious should take place.
I was at Boston when the two deputations of the Sioux and
Sacs and Foxes tribes arrived. The two nations being at enmity,
the Sioux were conducted there first, and left the town on the
arrival of the Sacs and Foxes, or there would probably have
been a fight. The Governor received the latter in the Town-
hall, and made a speech ; I was present. I thought at the time
that it was not a speech that I would have made to them, and
if I mistook not, it brought up recollections not very agreeable
to the chiefs, although they were too politic to express their
feelings. But a few years before, their lands east of the Mis
sissippi had been wrested from them in the most unfair way, as
I have mentioned in my remarks upon the treatment of the In
dians by the American Government.

Governor Everett commenced his speech as follows : —

" Chiefs and warriors of the confederated Sacs and Foxes,
you are welcome to our Hall of Council. You have come a far
way, from your red friends of the West, to visit your white
brethren of the East. WTe are glad to take you by the hand.
We have heard before of the Sacs and the Fox tribes : we have
heard much of their chiefs, warriors, and great men : we are
now glad to see them here. We are of Massachusetts : the red
men once resided here : their wigwams were on yonder hill :
and their Council Chamber was here. When our fathers came
over the great waters, they were a small band, and you were
powerful : the red men stood on the rock by the seaside, and
looked at them with friendly eyes : he might have pushed them
into the water, but took them by the hand, and said welcome,
white men. Our fathers were hungry, and the red man gave
them corn and venison. Our fathers were cold, and the red
man spread his blanket over them and made them warm. We
are now great and powerful, but we will remember in our pros
perity the benefits bestowed by our red brethren in our ad
versity."

Up to the present, they certainly have forgotten them ! !

But the fate of the red man appears to be nearly decided
What between their wars with each other, the use of spirituous
liquors, and the diseases imported by the whites, they dwindle
away every day. The most fatal disease to them is the small
pox. The following account, which I have extracted from one

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 271

of the American papers, was confirmed to me by a letter from
Fort Snelling : —

Appalling destruction of North-west Indians by Small-pox.

" We gave yesterday an account of the origin of this epi
demic by means of a steam-boat trading on the Missouri. To
day we subjoin, from the St. Louis Bulletin slip of March 3d, a
detailed account of its ravages. The disease has reached the
remote band of the Blackfeet, and thousands of them had fallen
victims. They do not blame the traders.

" The ' Pipe Stem,' a chief of great influence, when dying,
called his people around him, and his last request was, that they
would love their traders, and be always governed by their ad
vice. ' I may,' says one of the traders, ' be blamed for not
using measures to arrest the progress of the disease, but with
out resort to arms on the arrival of the boat with supplies, the
Indians could not have been driven from the fort.'

" An express went two days a-head of the boat, but it was of
no use preaching to the Indians to fly — they flocked down to
the boat as usual when she arrived. The peltry trade in that
quarter is ruined for years. The company agent at Fort Union,
writes, Nov. 30, that all their prospects on the Upper Missouri
are totally prostrated. The epidemic spread into the most dis
tant part of the Assinaboin country, and this tribe were dying
by fifties and hundreds a day. The disease appeared to be of
a peculiarly malignant cast ; some, a few moments after severe
attacks of pain in the head and loins, fell down dead, and the
bodies turned black immediately after, and swelled to three times
their natural size. The companies erected hospitals, but they
were of no use. The carts were constantly employed burying
the dead in holes ; afterwards, when the earth was frozen, they
were consigned to the water. Many of the squaws are left in
a miserable condition. The disease has not reached the Sioux
many of whom have been vaccinated.

"The Mandans, numbering 1,600, living in permanent vil
lages 1,600 miles above St. Louis, have all died but thirty-one.

" The Minatarees, or Gros Ventres. living near the Mandans,
numbering about 1,000, were, by our last accounts, about one
half dead, and the disease still raging.

" The Arikarees, amounting to 3,000, who but lately aban
doned a wandering life, and joined the Mandans, were about
half dead, and the disease still among them. It is probable
they have been reduced in proportion to the Mandans.

" The Assinaboins, a powerful tribe, about 9,000 strong, liv
ing entirely by the chase, and ranging north of the Missouri,
in the plains below the Rocky Mountains, down toward the
Hudson's Bay Company, on the north Red River, are literally
annihilated. Their principal trade was at Fort Union, mouth
of the Yellow Stone.

272 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

" The Crees, living in the same region, numbering 3,000, are
nearly all destroyed. The great nation called Blackfeet, who
wander and live by the chase, ranging through all the region
of the Rocky Mountains, divided into bands — Piegans, Gros
Ventres, Blood Indians, and Blackfeet, amounting in all to
50,000 or 60,000, have deeply suffered. One thousand lodges
or families have been destroyed, and the disease was rapidly
spreading amoncr the different bands. The average number in
a lodge is from six to eight persons.

" The boat that brought up the small-pox made her voyage
last summer, and the ravages of the distemper appear to have
been greatest in October. It broke out among the Mandans,
July 15th. Many of the handsome Arickarees who had reco
vered, seeing the disfiguration of their features, committed sui
cide ; some by throwing themselves from rocks, others by
stabbing, shooting, &c. The prairie has become a grave yard;
its wild flowers bloom over the sepulchres of Indians. The
atmosphere for miles is poisoned by the stench of hundreds of
carcasses unburied. The women and children are wandering
in groups without food, or howling over the dead. The men
are flying in every direction. The proud, warlike, and noble
looking Blackfeet are no more. The deserted lodges are seen
on the hills, but no smoke issues from them. No sound but
the raven's croak, and the wolf's long howl breaks the awful still
ness. The wolves fatten on the dead carcasses. The scene
of desolation is described as appalling beyond the powers of
imagination to conceive."

That they may give the Americans much trouble, however,
previous to their final extermination, is true, and that they are
anxious to revenge themselves, is equally certain. The greatest
misfortune which could happen to the United States would-be a
union or mixture of the negroes with the Indian tribes. If this
were to take place, the population would, in all probability,
rapidly increase, instead of falling away as it now does; as then
the negro population would till the ground sufficiently for the
support of themselves and the Indians, as they now do among
the Creek and Seminole tribes, who have plenty of cattle and
corn. The American Indian in his natural state suffers much from
hunger, and this is one cause of the non-increase of their popu
lation. What might be effected by the bands now concentrated
on the American frontier, if at any future time they should be
come amalgated with the negroes, will be fairly estimated by
the reader when he has read the account I am about to lay before
him of the war in Florida.

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 273

CHAPTER IX.

CAUSES OF THE FLORIDA WAR.

MOST of my countrymen are aware that the Americans have
been carrying on a war against the Florida Indians for the last
two or three years ; the details, however, are not so well known ;
and as this Florida war ought to be a lesson to the Americans,
and may, as a precedent to the other Indians, prove of great im
portance, I shall enter into the particulars of it. I am moved,
indeed, so to do, as it will afford the reader a very fair specimen
of the general policy and mode of treatment shewn to the Indians
by the American government. Florida was ceded by Spain to
the United States as a set-off against 500,000 dollars, claimed
by the Americans for spoliations committed on her commerce.
The white population of Florida is not very numerous even now ;
the census of 1830 gave 18,000 whites and 16,000 slaves, inde
pendent of the Florida Indians, or Seminoles. Seminoles is a
term for runaways or wanderers ; the Indian tribes in Florida
being a compound of the old Florida Indians, two varieties of
Creeks, who quitted their tribe previous to their removal west
of the Mississippi, and Africans who are slaves to the Indians.
Their numbers at the commencement of the war was estimated
as follows : —

Warriors.

The Mico-sukee Indians, of which Osseola, or Asseola,

was one of the principal chiefs .... 400

Creek and Spanish Indians ------ 850

Negroes 600 to 700

In all about 1900 warriors.

The chief of the whole Seminole nation is Mic-e-no-pah, and
next to him in consequence, as orator of the nation, is an Indian
of the name of Jumper. It must be observed that these Indians,
having slaves, cultivated the ground and had large stocks of
cattle. Florida, like all the confines of the United States, had
a white population not very creditable to any country, and many
of these people went there more with a view of robbing the In
dians of their negroes and cattle, and selling them in the West
ern States, than with any intention of permanently settling in
the country.

As soon as the Floridas were ceded by the Spanish, the
American Government perceived the expediency of removing
the Indians from the territories, and, on the 18th of September,
1823, a treaty was entered into with the Indians, by which the
Indians, on their part, agreed to remove to the westward after
twenty years from that date, that is on September 18th, 1843.

274 MARRYATT'S DIARY.

By the same treaty the American Government secured to the
Indians a tract of land in Florida, containing fire millions of
acres, for their subsistence during the time that they remained
in that State ; and agreed to pay the Indians certain annuities,
in consequence of their surrendering all title to the rest of the
Florida country, and engaging to confine themselves to the
limits of the territory allotted to them.

Nothing could be more plain or simple than the terms of this
treaty, which, in consequence of the council being held at this
spot, was denominated the treaty of Camp Moultrie.

The third article in the treaty of Camp Moultrie runs as fol
lows: — "The United States will take the Florida Indians under
their care and patronage, and will afford them protection against
all persons whatsoever."

One of the great errors committed by the American Govern
ment was in binding itself to perform what was not in its power.
It could no more protect these Indians against the white ma
rauders, than it could prevent the insurgents from attacking
Upper Canada. The arm of the Federal Government is too
weak to reach its own confines, as will hereafter be shewn by
its own acknowledgment. The consequence was that, very
soon after the treaty of Camp Moultrie had been signed, the
Indians were robbed and plundered by the miscreants who
hovered near them for that purpose.

An American author states that two men, Robinson and Wil-
burn, belonging to Georgia, contrived to steal from one chief
twenty slaves, to the value of 15,000 dollars, and carried them
to New Orleans. I will however quote a portion of the work.

"Another influential chief, Emachitochustern, commonly
called John Walker, was robbed of a number of slaves in a
somewhat similar manner. After making an appeal to the
government agent, without the least chance of redress, he says :
4 1 don't like to make any trouble or to have any quarrel with
white people, but, if they will trespass on my lands and rights,
I must defend myself the best way I can, and if they do come
again they must bear the consequences. But is there no civil
law to protect me 1 are the negroes belonging to me to be stolen
away publicly in the face of ail law and justice ? carried off
and sold to fill the pockets of these land pirates. Douglass and
his company have hired a man, who has two large trained dogs
for the purpose, to come and take off others. He is from Mobile,
and follows catching negroes.'

"Colonel John Blount, another estimable chief, was inhu
manly beaten by a party of white men, who robbed him of several
hundred dollars ; he made application to the authorities, but the
villains were allowed to escape.

" These facts show how mild and forbearing the Seminoles
have acted under the most trying circumstances ; and even when
their property has been assailed in this way, they have, in nu-

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 275

merous instances, refrained from making resistance; their hands
were bound, as the severest punishment awaited any attack they
might make upon the intruders, even though circumstances jus
tified it. But as the Indian's evidence could not be received in
a court of justice, the white man's oath would condemn him to
the most torturing punishment."

But in every way were the poor Indians the prey of the white
men. The same author says, among many other cases brought
forward, " A man, by the name of Floyd, was employed by an
Indian woman to recover some negroes for her, and instead of
presenting a mere power of attorney for her signature, she found,
alas ! it was a bill of sale for all her negroes ! Another individ
ual was requested by Miconopy, governor of the Seminoles, to
draw a piece of writing for him, to which, without suspicion of
its character, he attached his name ; it was soon after discovered
to be a conveyance of a large tract of land !

Another source of profit to these scoundrels was the obtaining
by fraudulent means from the Indians, orders upon the Ameri
can Government for the payment of portions of their annuity
granted in return for the cession of the territory. " One of the
government agents was a delinquent to them for a considerable
amount. He robbed the principal interpreter of the nation, a
verp influential black chief by the name of Abraham, of several
hundred dollars, by getting a receipt from him without paying
the money, under the plea that it was necessary to send the re
ceipt to Washington, where it was filed to the credit of the agent.
Several other Indians of influence were robbed in a similar
manner; and when they demanded the money from the succeed
ing agent, they were told that the government would not pay
them. Is not this an unsound principle to adopt in our inter
course writh the Indians 1 Is it just or honourable for us to
send our own agents among them, without their approval, and
not hold ourselves responsible for their conduct 1 If we were
indebted to a nation, and the funds are sent through an agent to
pay over, and he neglects to do so, are we not still liable, and
would not a civilized power still hold us responsible ?"

I have mentioned these facts to show that the Indians were
justified in their want of faith in the white men : they were
robbed and pillaged and had no redress ; nay, they were im
prisoned as thieves for taking away their own cattle which had
been stolen from them, although they showed their own marks
and brands upon them. Whether the American Government
offered all this spoliation with a view to disgust the Indians and
incline them to remove to the westward, the reader will be
better able to judge for himself when he has read a few pages
more.

The Florida people were now subjected to retaliation on the
part of the Indians, who, finding that they could obtain no
redress, naturally took the law into their own hands, and loss

276 MARRY AT'S DIARY.

of life on both sides was the consequence. This produced
petition after petition from the Florida white population to the
government, requesting that the Indians might be moved west
prior to 1843, the period agreed upon by the treaty of Camp
Moultrie. Colonel Gadsden, a citizen of Florida, was appoint
ed commissioner to treat with the Indians, and on the 8th of
April 1832, had an interview with Mic-e-no-pah, and a few
other chiefs. The Indians requested thirty days to collect the
opinions of the absent chiefs, and on the 8th of May 1832, they
met the commissioner, according to appointment, at Payne's
Landing. The commissioner had a great deal of difficulty in
obtaining their consent to the removal, which was ultimately
given upon certain conditions.

By this treaty, the Indians agreed to remove west upon being
paid a certain sum for the reserved land ; an annuity for a certain
number of years ; and other advantages, which would occupy
too much space to particularize here. The treaty was signed
by Mic-e-no-pah, the head chief, Jumper, and thirteen more.

But the treaty was assented to upon one condition, which
was, that the Seminoles were satisfied with the lands apportioned
to them west of the Mississippi. This is acknowledged by
Colonel Gadsden, in his letter to the Secretary of War, who
says — «* There is a condition prefixed to the agreement, without
assenting to which the , Florida Indians most positively refused
to negotiate for their removal west of the Mississippi. Even
with the condition annexed, there was a reluctance (which
with some difficulty was overcome) on the part of the Indians,
to bind themselves by any stipulations before a knowledge of
facts and circumstances would enable them to judge of the
advantages or disadvantages of the disposition the government
of the United States wished to make of them. They were
finally induced, however, to assent to the agreement."

" The final ratification of the treaty will depend upon the
opinion of the seven chiefs selected to explore the country west
of the Mississippi river. If that corresponds to the description
given, or is equal to the expectations formed of it, there will be
no difficulty on the part of the Seminoles."

There was a very unwise delay on the part of the American
government after the signing of this second treaty. More than
two years were permitted to elapse before any appropriation of
land was made for the Indians, who became dissatisfied, and
the treaty was by them pronounced to be "a white man's treaty,"
which they did not any longer consider to be binding.

But there are other reasons why the Seminoles did not con
sider the treaty as binding; they did not like the lands allotted
to them. A deputation of seven was sent west of the Missis
sippi : the land they acknowledged was good land, but they
found that they were close to the Pawnee territory, and that
that tribe was proverbially famous for stealing cattle and horses.

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 277

It was also the determination of the American Government, as
they were considered as a portion of the Creek nation, to settle
them near to and incorporate them with that nation. This did
not suit them ; the Creeks had claimed many of their slaves,
and they knew that they had no chance with so superior a force
as that of the Creek nation, who would have taken all their
slaves from them. As, therefore, the Pawnees would have
stolen all their cattle, and the Creeks have taken all their slaves,
they considered that utter destitution would be the consequence
of the removal as proposed by the American Government. To
get over the latter difficulty, the government proposed that the
Seminoles should sell their slaves previous to their removing,
but, this they objected to. The American author I have quoted
says : —

" It was then suggested to them that, by a sale of these ne
groes before they left Florida, they would augment their .re
sources, and could go into their new country without the dread
of exciting the cupidity of the Creeks. But these Indians have
always evinced great reluctance to parting with their slaves :
indeed the Indian loves his negro as much as one of his own
children, and the sternest necessity alone would drive him to
the parting ; this recommendation was, therefore, viewed with
evident alarm, and as the right of retaining possession of them
was guaranteed by the commissioner, strong doubts were raised
as to the sincerity of the pledge.

" The Seminole Indians are poor agriculturists and husband
men, and withal too indolent to till the ground, and, without
their negroes, would literally starve : besides, should they dis
pose of them they could not be replenished in a new country.
Again : the opposition of the slaves themselves to being sold
to the whites would excite all their energies to prevent emigra
tion, for they dread the idea of being transferred to sugar and
cotton plantations, where they must be subject to the surveil
lance of the overseer. The life of a slave among the Indians,
compared with that of negroes under overseers, is one of luxury
and ease ; the demands upon him are very trifling, scarcely ever
exceeding eight or ten bushels iVom the crop, the remainder
being applied to his own profit : they live separate, and often
remote, from their owners, and enjoy an equal share of liberty.
The negro is also much more provident and ambitious than his
master, and the peculiar localities of the country eminently
facilitate him in furnishing the Indian with rum and tobacco,
which gives him a controlling influence over the latter, and at
the same time affords him an immense profit; so that it can
be easily imagined that the negroes would in no manner be
benefitted by the change."

On the 23d of October, 1834, being two years and a half after
the signing of the second treaty at Payne's Landing, a council
of Indians was again summoned by the agent, who informed
24

278

them that all they had now to answer were the following- ques
tions : —

Will you incorporate yourselves with the Creek nation in the
Far- West1?

Will you have money for your cattle which you leave here
on your arrival there, or will you have cattle in return 1

Will you go by water, or by land 1

Will you have your next annuity paid in money or in goods ?

Upon this, the chiefs retired and held a private council. It'
is said that Asseola, the principal chief of the tribe of Micosu-
kees, persuaded them strongly to resist going, and declared that
he would consider as his enemy any one who agreed to go.
Asseola had not signed the treaty. The next day the council
was resumed, and the chiefs made the following replies to the
agent.

The first who spoke was Holata Mico, principal war chief.
He expressed his wish that there should be no quarrelling, at
the same time that he gave his evidence as to the truth of the
first book of Moses.

"Holata Mico then rose, and said — ' God made all of us, and
we all came from one woman, sucked one bubby ; we hope we
shall not quarrel ; that we will talk until we get through.'

"Miconopy then said — * When we were at Camp 'Moultrie» we
made a treaty, and we were to be paid our annuity for twenty
years. That is all I have got to say.'

"Jumper said — ' At Camp Moultrie they told us all difficulties
should be buried for twenty years, from the date of the treaty
made there ; that after this we held a treaty at Payne's Landing,
before the twenty years were out ; and they told us we might
go and see the country, but that we were not obliged to remove.
The land is very good, I saw it, and wras glad to see it; the
neighbours there are bad people ; I do not like them bad Indians,
the Pawnees. I went and saw the place ; I told the agent that
I was a rogue ; that he had brought me to the place here along
side, and among the rogues, the bad Pawnees, because I am a
rogue. I went to see the land, and the commissioners said that
the Seminoles must have that land. When we went west to
see the land, we had not sold our land here, and we were told
only to go and see it. The Indians there steal horses, and take
packs on their horses ; they all steal horses from the different
tribes ; 1 do not want to go among such people ; your talk seems
always good, but we don't feel disposed to go west.'

"Charley Jlmathla then rose, and said — 'The speakers of the
nation are all dead ; but I recollect some of their words when
they had the meeting at Camp Moultrie. I was not, there, but
heard that we would be at peace, and that we would have our
annuity paid to us for twenty years. White, people, have told, mt
that the treaty at Camp Moultrie, which was made by great men,
and not to be broken, had secured them for twenty years; that seven
years of that treaty are still unexpired* I am no half breed, and do

MARRY AT'S DIARY. 279

not lean on one side. If they tell me to go after the seven yeais,
I say nothing. As to the proposition made us by the agent
about removing, I do not say I will not go ; but I think that,
until the seven years are out, I give no answer. My family I
love dearly and sacredly. I do not think it right to take them
right off. Our father has often said to me that he loves his
children — and they love him. When a man is at home, and got
his stock about him, he looks upon it as the subsistence of him
self and family. Then when they go off, they reflect and think
more seriously than when quiet at home. I do not complain of
the agent's talk. My young men and family are all around me.
Should I go west, I should lose many on the path. As to the
country west, I looked at it ; a weak man cannot get there, the
fatigue would be so great ; it requires a strong man.' "

This talk made the agent very angry ; he told them that they
should stand by the treaty at Payne's Landing ; he desired them
to retire, and when they came again to act like chiefs and ho
nourable men.

"October 25, 1834. The council convened at 11 o'clock.
Interpreters as yesterday.

" The agent said to the council, ' I am ready to receive your
answers to the questions which I submitted to you.'

"Holata Mico. — ' I have only to repeat what I said yesterday,
and to say that the twenty years from the treaty at Moultrie has
not yet expired. I never gave my consent to go west; the
whites may say so, but I never gave my consent.'

"Jumper. — « We are not satisfied to go until the end of twenty
years, according to the treaty at Camp Moultrie. We were
called upon^to go to the west, beyond the Mississippi. It is a
good country ; this is a poor country, we know. We had a good
deal of trouble to get there ; what would it be for all our tribe V

"Miconopy. ' I say, what I said yesterday, I did not sign the
treaty.'

"Agent. — 'Abraham, tell Miconopy that I say he lies; he did
sign the treaty, for here is his name.' "

Miconopy here asserts that he did not sign the treaty, which
certainly appears to be a falsehood : but it should be remembered
that, by the agent's own admission, it was only a conditional
signature by a portion of the chiefs, provided that they liked the
location offered to them ; and as they objected to this,the treaty
was certainly, in my opinion, null and void. Indeed, the agent
had no right to demand the signatures when such an important
reservation was attached to the treaty. I do not give the whole
of the agent's reply, as there is so much repetition ; the follow
ing are extracts : —

" I have told you that you must stand to your bargain. My
talk is still the same. You must go west. Your father, the
President, who is your friend, will compel you to go. There
fore, be not deluded by any hope or expectation that you will be
permitted to remain here, YOU haye expressed a wish to hear

280 MARRY AT 'rf DIARY.

iny views and opinion upon the whole matter. As a man, and
your friend, I will this day deign to reason with you ; for I want
to show you that your talk of to-day is the foolish talk of a
child.

" Jumper says, they agreed at Payne's Landing to go and
examine the country west, but they were not bound to remove
to it until the nation should agree to do so, after the return of
the delegation ; and he adds, what others of you have said, tha\
the treaty at Camp Moultrie was to stand for twenty years.
Such a talk from Jumper surprises me, for he is a man of sense.
He understands the treaty at Payne's Landing, which he signed ;
he was the first named in that treaty, of the delegation appointed
to go west ; he knows that that treaty gave him and the mem
bers of the delegation authority to decide whether the nation
should remove or not.

" The Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws and Cherokees, who
live in the States, are moving west of the Mississippi river,
because they cannot live under the white people's laws ; they
are gone and going, and the Seminole nation are a small handful
to their number. Two governments cannot exist under the same
boundary of territory. Where Indians remain within the limits
of a state or territory until the jurisdiction of a state or territory
shall be extended over them, the Indian government, laws and
chiefships, are for ever done away — the Indians are subject to
the white man's law. The Indian must be tried, whether for
debt or crime, in the/ white man's court; the Indian's law is not
to be known there; the Indian's evidence is not to be admitted
there; the Indian will, in every thing, be subject to the control
of the white man. It is this view of the subject which induces
your father, the President, to settle his red children beyond the
limits of the states and territories, where the white man's law is
never to reach you, and where you and your children are to
possess the land, while the grass grows and the water runs.
He feels for his red children as a father should feel. It is,
therefore, that he made the treaty with you at Payne's Landing,
and for the same reason he will compel you to comply with your
bargain. But let us look a little more closely into your own
situation. -Suppose (what is however impossible) that you
could be permitted to remain here a few years longer, what
would be your condition ] This land will soon be surveyed, sold
to, and settled by, the whites. There is now a surveyor in the
country; the jurisdiction of the territory will soon be extended over
this country. Your laws will be set aside, your chiefs will cease to
be chiefs : claims for debt and for your negroes would be set up
against you by bad white men, or you would perhaps be charged
with crimes affecting life ,• you would be hauled before the white
mail's court ; the claims against you for debt, for your negroes or
• other property, and the charges of crime preferred against you,
would be decided by the white man's law. White men would be
witnesses against you ,- Indians would not be permitted to give evi-

MARRY AT S DIARY. 281

dence ,- your condition, in a very few years, would be hopeless
wretchedness."

What an admission from their father, the President, after
having, in the third article of the treaty of Camp Moultrie, de
clared that the United States will afford the Florida Indians
protection against all persons whatsoever ! ! !

"Thus, you may see, that were it possible for you to remain here
a few years longer, you would be reduced to hopeless poverty,
and when urged by hunger to ask, perhaps, of the man who
thus would have ruined you (and is, perhaps, now tampering
with you for the purpose of getting your property) for a crust
of bread, you might be called an Indian dog, and be ordered to
clear out. [Here JJsseola, who was seated by Miconopy, urged
him to be firm in his resolution.] Your father, the President,
see's all these evils, and will save you from them by removing
you west ; and I will stand up for the last time to tell you, that
you must go ; and if not willingly, you will be compelled to go.
I should have told you that no more annuity will be paid to you
here. [Jlsseola replied, that he did not care whether any more
was ever paid.] I hope you will, on more mature reflection,
act like honest men, and not compel me to report you to your
father, the President, as faithless to your engagements."

" Jlsseola said, the decision of Mie chiefs was given ; that
they did not intend to give any other answer.
" Miconopy said, — ' I do. not intend to remove.'
" The Agent. — ' I am now fully satisfied that you are wilfully
disposed to be entirely dishonest in regard to your engagements
with the President, and regret that I must so report you. The
talk which I have made to you must and will stand."

Thus, indeed, the council and the parties separated. The
American government was supine, thinking, probably, that the
Indians would not resist much longer ; but the Indians, on the
other hand, laid up large stores of powder and lead. Six
months elapsed, and then the Indians were informed that they
were to hear the last talk of the father, the President, on this
side of the Mississippi. On the 2*2d of April, 1835, the In
dians assembled, and had the following communication from
General Jackson : —

" To the Chiefs and Warriors of the Seminole Indians in
Florida.

"MY CHILDREN: I am sorry to have heard that you have
been listening to bad counsels. You know me, and you know
that I would not deceive, nor advise you to do any thing that
was unjust or injurious. Open your ears and attend to what I
shall now say to you. They are the words of a friend, and the
words of truth.

"The white people are settling around you. The game has
disappeared from your country. Your people are poor and
hungry. All this you. have perceived for some time. And
24*

282 MARRY AT's DIARY.

nearly three years ago, you made an agreement with youi
friend, Colonel Gadsden, acting on the part of the United
States, by which you agreed to cede your lands in Florida, and
to remove and join your brothers, the Creeks, in the country
west of the Mississippi. You annexed a condition to this
agreement, that certain chiefs, named therein, in whom you
placed confidence, should proceed to the western country, and
examine whether it was suitable to your wants and habits ;
and whether the Creeks residing there were willing to permit
you to unite with them as one people, and if the persons thus
sent, were satisfied on these heads, then the agreement made
with Colonel Gadsden was to be in full force.

" In conformity with these provisions, the chiefs named by
you proceeded to that country, and having examined it, and
having become satisfied respecting its character and the favour
able disposition of the Creeks, they entered into an agreement
with commissioners on the part of the United States, by which
they signified their satisfaction on these subjects, and finally
ratified the agreement made with Colonel Gadsden.

"I now learn that you refuse to carry into effect the solemn
promises thus made by you, and that you have stated to the
officers of the United States, sent among you, that you will not
remove to the western country.

" My children : 1 have never deceived, nor will I ever de
ceive, any of the red people. I tell you that you must go, and
that you will go. Even if you had a right to stay, how could
you live where you now are ? You" have sold all your country.
You have not a piece as large as a blanket to sit down upon.
What is to support, yourselves, your women and children ?
The tract you have ceded will soon be surveyed and sold, and
immediately afterwards will be occupied by a white population.
You will soon be in a state of starvation. You will commit
depredations upon the property of our citizens. You will be
resisted, punished, perhaps killed. Now, is it not better peace
ably to remove to a fine, fertile country, occupied by your own
kindred, and where you can raise all the necessaries of life, and
where game is yet abundant ? The annuities payable to you, and
the other stipulations made in your favour, will make your situa
tion comfortable, and will enable you to increase and improve.
If, therefore, you had a right to stay where you now are, still
every true friend would advise you to remove. But you have
no right to stay, and you must go. I am very desirous that you
should go peaceably and voluntarily. You shall be comfortably
taken care of and kindly treated on the road, and when you ar
rive in your new country, provisions will be issued to you for a
year, so that you can have ample time to provide for your future
support.

" But lest some of your rash young men should forcibly
oppose your arrangements for removal, I have ordered a large
military force to be sent among you. I have directed the com-

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 283

manding officer, and likewise the agent, your friend General
Thompson, that every reasonable indulgence be held out to
you. But I have also directed that one-third of your people,
as provided for in the treaty, be removed during the present
season. If you listen to the voice of friendship and truth, you
will go quietly and voluntarily. But should you listen to the
bad birds that are always flying about you, and refuse to remove,
I have then directed the commanding officer to remove you by
force. This will be done. I pray the Great Spirit, therefore,
td incline you to do what is right.

"Your friend,

"A. JACKSON."

"Washing-ton, February 16, 1835."

Several of the Indian chiefs replied, wishing for amity but
unwilling to quit ; but the council was broken up by the agent,
who informed them that he had been sent there to enforce the
treaty : he had warriors enough to do it, and he would do it. It
was the question now whether they would go of their own ac
cord, or by force ?

This determination on the part of the agent induced some of
the chiefs to waver, and eventually eight principal chiefs and
eicrht sub-chiefs signed the articles agreeing to remove; but
Miconopy, the chief of the whole tribes, Jumper, the second in
consequence, and three other powerful chiefs, refused. Upon
this, the agent took upon himself the most unwarrantable re
sponsibility, by saying, Miconopy was no longer chief of the
nation, and that his name and the other opposing chiefs were
now struck out of the council of the nation.

That such an act as this was the cause of the greatest irrita
tion to the Seminoles there can be no doubt ; and the conduct
of the agent was reproved by the Secretary of War, who, in his
letter, observes, —

" It is not necessary for me to enter into much detail on the
subject presented by you. I understand from Mr. Harris, that
he communicated to you the President's views on the subject
of the chiefs whom you declined to recognize in all questions
connected with the removal of the Seminoles. I understand
that the President deemed this course an incorrect one ; and it
seems to me obviously liable to strong objections. We do not
assume the right of determining who shall be the chiefs in the
various Indian tribes ; this is a matter of internal policy which
must necessarily be left to themselves. And if, when we have
a grave matter for adjustment with one of the tribes, we under
take to say it shall be determined by a particular class of indi
viduals, we certainly should render ourselves obnoxious to
censure. It appears to me the proper course, upon important
questions, is to treat directly with the tribe itself; and if they
depute their chiefs, or any other individual to act for them, we
must either recognize such authority, or abandon the object in
view."

284 MARUYAT'S DIARY.

In June, 1835, Asseola, the chief of Micosukees, who did not
appear at the council, but who was the most determined oppo
nent of the treaty, came in to complain of the treatment his
people had received from some white men, one of them having
been wounded. He received no redress, and saying something
offensive to the agent, he was thrown into prison. To obtain
his release he promised to sign the treaty, at least, so it is said,
and that he did sign it; but this must be considered only as an
Indian stratagem : he had been imprisoned without any cause,
and it is to be presumed that he thought himself justified in
escaping by a corresponding fraud on his own part. The month
after this occurrence, some of the tribe of Asseola murdered a
government mail-carrier.

The Indians made one more effort: they called a council, and
offered to remove to the west of the Mississippi, provided they
had lands and an agent for themselves; but this was sternly
refused by the government, who sent back as an answer, that
their great father, General Jackson, had been " made very angry."
The attacks and depredations upon the Indians were now more
frequent, and the majority of them determined upon resistance.
Only six chiefs, out of all who had signed the treaty, acted to
their word and brought in their cattle, &c. for the government
agent, to be sold previous to their migration. Five of their
chiefs removed to the protection of Brooke's Fort, as they feared
that the Seminoles would punish them for their revolt. One
of them, Charley Amathla, was preparing to follow the others,
when Asseola and two other chiefs went to his house and in
sisted that he should not remove his people. Charley Amathla
replied that he had already pledged his word that he would
abide by the promise which he made to their great father, and
that if his lite paid the forfeit, he felt bound to adhere to that
promise. He said he had lived to see his nation a ruined and
degraded people, and he believed that their only salvation was
in removing to the West ; he had made arrangements for his
people to go, and had delivered to the agent all their cattle, so that
he had no excuse now for not complying with his engagements.
One of the chiefs then informed him that the crisis was come :
he must either join them in their opposition, or suffer death, and
that two hours would be allowed him to consult his people and
give his determination. He replied, that his mind was unaltera
ble, and his people could not make him break his word ; that
if he must die he hoped they would grant him time enough to
make some arrangements for the good of his people. At this
moment Asseola raised his rifle and was about to fire, when
Abraham arrested the murderous aim, and requested them all to
retire for a council with the other chiefs. Asseola, with a
small party, however, separated themselves from the main body
of the Indians, and returned to Charley Amathla's, and shot
him. Thirteen of Amathla's people immediately escaped to
Fort King, while the others, deterred by their fears, remained,

MARRY AT'S DIARY. 285

until the return of the principal band, when they joined the
hostile party."

This was a fine trait in the Indian, and proves that the Semi-
noles" are not the faithless people which they are represented to
be by the government agents. The death of this noble Indian
was the signal for the commencement of hostilities ; the Indians
immediately abandoned al2 the towns, and, concealing their
trail, removed their families to a place of safety, which has ever
since baffled all conjecture, and been a subject of the greatest*
astonishment.

CHAPTER X.

FLORIDA WAR.

IT is supposed that the Seminoles retreated to some portion
of the vast swamps which surround the Ouithlacoochee river;
but it is certain that since the commencement of the war, in
December, 1835, up to the present time, their retreat has never
been discovered. Marauding parties now commenced on the
part of the Indians, who took summary vengeance on those
who had robbed and maltreated them. The whole country from
Fort Brooke to Fort King was under conflagration, and the
whites were compelled to abandon every thing, and seek pro
tection under the forts. The American force in the department
at the outbreak of hostilities did not amount to five hundred
men. The militia were called out, but military stores were not
at hand, and it was decided that the troops must wait for rein
forcements before any attack could be made upon the Indians ;
the great object was to throw a reinforcement into Fort King.

General Clinch, who commanded at Fort Brooke, having been
reinforced with thirty-nine men from Key West, no time was
lost in preparing two companies for the above service. On the
24th of December, 1835, a force of one hundred men, and eight
officers, with a field-piece, under the command of Major Dade,
commenced their march.

On the morning of the 28th, when it had proceeded four
miles from the encampment of the previous night, this force
was attacked by the Indians, whose first volley was very de
structive, Major Dade with almost every man of the advanced
guard falling dead. The Indians were repelled by the troops
under Captain Gardner, upon whom the command then devolved,
and the Americans proceeded to throw up breastworks; but
before they could raise them high enough for efficient pro
tection, the Indians attacked them again. The Americans
brought their field-piece into play, but the breastworks not

256 MARBi'AT S DIARY.

being high enough, the Indians shot down every man who at
tempted to work the gun. All the oiScers, and more than two-
thirds of the American troops had fallen, when the survivors
found that all their ammunition was expended. The Indians,
perceiving this, rushed in, and, with the exception of two men,
who, although severely wounded, contrived to conceal Them
selves, and ultimately to make their escape; not one of the
whole detachment was spared.

The force of the Indians is supposed to have amounted from
three hundred and fifty to four hundred. The contest lasted
six hours ; and it must be admitted that nothing could be more
gallant than the defence which was made by the troops against
such a superior force.

On the afternoon of the same day, the Americans had to la
ment the loss of General Thompson, the Indian asrent a:
King. Imprudently strolling out about three hundred yards
from the fort, he was attacked by the Indians, who laid in am
bush for him, and with Lieut. Smith and three ether people be
longing to the fort, was shot dead. This party of Indians was
headed by Asseola, who had warned General Thompson that
the white men should suffer for their treatment of him. His
peculiar and shrill war-yell was given as the Indian party re
treated, to let the whites know to whom they were indebted for
the massacre.

General Clinch having been reinforced at Fort Brooke, where
he had two hundred resrular troops, with five hundred volun
teers under the command~of General Call, now moved with the
whole force of seven hundred men.

On the 30th of December, as they were passing the Ouithla-
coochee river, the Indians watched their opportunity, and when
a portion only of the troops had gained the opposite side, com
menced an attack, which was vigorously and successfully re
sisted ; the Indians, in little more than an hour, were beaten
off. The battle was, however, severe, and the Americans sus
tained a loss of sixty-three killed and wounded. The Indian
force is supposed to have amounted to seven hundred men.

But independent of these conflicts with the militia and regulars,
the ravages of the Indians over the whole country are stated to
have been most fearful. Women and children were murdered, and
the hearth made desolate in every portion of the country. In the
more settled parts near St, Augustine, the sugar-cane plantations,
with the expensive works attached to them, were destroyed, and
in many cases the slave* who were on the plantations were
either carried off, or voluntarily joining the Indians, increased
the strength of the enemy. More than a hundred estates were
tims laid waste, the average loss upon each estate being com
puted, independent of the loss of the negroes, at fifty thousand
dollars.

The intelligence of this havoc, and the massacre of Major

MARRY AT'S DIARY. 287

Dade and his whole party, soon reached the neighbouring States,
and a requisition for assistance made by General Clinch, was
promptly responded to. Meeting's were organized at Augusta,
Savannah, Darien, and Charleston, and in a few days nearly
two thousand volunteers were ready to march to the theatre of
war. Indeed, the cause now became the cause of all the slave-
holding States, and was taken up with the usual energy of
the Americans.

In Louisiana the same spirit was shewn. General Gaines
was at that time on a tour of inspection, and had received
orders to take charge of the troops assembling on the Mexican
frontier; but, at the request of the volunteers, he took command
of them until he could receive further orders from Washington.
The assistance of the American naval forces were demanded
and obtained, and General Gaines having received intelligence
that Fort Brooke was invested by the Indians, sent an express
to General Clinch at Fort King, to say that he would join him
with his forces to relieve the post. The Seminole Indians
who had agreed to the treaty, remained firm to their word, and
took up arms against their brethren, and a large force was now
marching from all directions to the succour of the whites. I
ought here to observe, that not only at the commencement, but
ever since the war has continued, the difficulty and expense of
forwarding supplies have been very great, and the American
troops have undergone the severest privations, as well as great
mortality, from sickness and disease.

On the 13th February, 1836, General Gaines, having arrived
at Fort Brooke, reviewed the force, which amounted to between
eleven and twelve hundred men, and commenced his march to
relieve Fort King, at which post he arrived on the 2d February,
without falling in with any of the Indians. The general then
made a detour in pursuit of the Indians. On the 27th, when
the force was crossing the Ouithlacoochee River, it was assailed
by the Indians, who retired after a skirmish of three-quarters
of an hour, the Americans' loss being very trifling. On the 28th,
when again fording the river, the Indians made another attack,
which was continued for nearly four hours, and the Americans
had to lament the loss of Major Izard, who was killed, and two
other officers were also wounded. On the 29th, the Indians
again attacked, with a force of at least a thousand men, with a
view of forcing the American troops from the breastwork which
they had thrown up; the Indians, after about two hours fighting,
set fire to the high grass ; but unfortunately for them, the wind
suddenly changed, and, instead of burning out the American
troops, all their own concealed positions were burnt up and
exposed, and they were compelled to retire. The loss on the
Indian side was not known, bat supposed to be heavy ; that on
the part of the Americans amounted to thirty-two killed and
wounded.

288 MARRY AT'S DIARY.

General Gaines, finding that the Indians were so near him,
now despatched expresses for a supply of ammunition, being
resolved, if possible, to bring them to a general action. The
sufferings of the American troops were very severe, and they
were killing their horses for subsistence ; but the camp was
secure, from the Indians having burnt down all the means of
concealment so necessary in their mode of warfare. Notwith
standing which, on the 1st, 2d, and 3d of March, the camp
was vigorously assailed. On the evening of the 5th, the Indian
interpreter came in from the Seminoles, stating that they wished
to hold a council, and did not want any more fighting. On the
6th, a truce was held, when Asseola and other chiefs made their
appearance, saying, that if the Americans would not cross the
river, they would remain on their own side of it, and not com
mit any more ravages. This was, in fact, nothing but the ori
ginal proposal of the Indians, that they should remain upon the
land which had been assigned to them by the treaty of Camp
Moultrie. The reply of General Gaines was, that he was not
authorized to make a treaty with them ; their arms must be
given up, and they must remain on the other side of the river,
until the American Government sent them away west of the
Mississippi. While this negociation was pending, General
Clinch arrived with the succour and reinforcements, much to
the joy of the American troops, who were half starved. General
Gaines, who had heard that General Scott had been appointed
to the command in Florida, now resigned that authority to
General Clarke, and on the llth, the troops arrived at Fort
Drane. It hardly need be observed, that the treating with the
Indians ended in nothing, General Scott having assumed the
command, arrived at Fort Drane on the 13th March, 1836. He
had previously to contend with heavy rains and almost imprac
ticable roads, and was encumbered with a heavy baggage train ;
his whole force amounted to nearly 5,000 men. This he divided
into a centre and two wings, so as to scour the whole country,
and force the Indians from their retreats ; but in vain. The In
dians being on the flanks of each division, occasional skirmishes
took place ; but when the troops arrived to where the Indians
were supposed to be, not a man was to be seen, nor could they
discover the retreat of their families. Occasionally the Indians
attacked the outposts with great vigour, and were bravely re
pulsed ; but the whole army of 5,000 men, did not kill and
capture more than twenty Indians. As far as I can judge,
nothing could be better than the arrangements of General Scott,
but the nature of the country to which the Indians had^ re
treated, rendered it almost impossible for troops to act. The
swamps extended over a great surface of ground, here and there
was an island en which the Indians could remain, while to
attack them, the troops wjuld have to wade up to their necks

MAKRYAT'S DIARY. 289

for miles, and as soon as they arrived the Indians were gone.

It is not my intention to follow up all the details of the petty
warfare which has continued to the present time. General Scott
resigned the command, and was succeeded hy General Jesup.
After nearly a year's skirmishing, on the 20th October, 1837,
Asseola was persuaded to come in to a council. The flags of
truce were hoisted by the Americans, and Asseola, carrying a
flag of truce in his hand, accompanied by other chiefs and about
fifty warriors, came in to talk. On their arrival, they were sur
rounded by bayonets, and made prisoners by the orders of the
Federal Government, who despairing of subduing the Indians,
had recourse to this shameful breach of faith. The proud spirit
of Asseola could not endure confinement: he died in prison.
Other chiefs were kidnapped in the same traitorous manner;
but, severe as the loss must have been to the Indians, it did not
appear to discourage them. The war was still carried on by
ihose who were left, and, indeed, it still continued; for the ranks
of the Indians are said to be filled up by runaway slaves, and
some of the Creek Indians who have not yet quitted Georgia.
On the 25th of December, 1837, a severe battle was fought be
tween the Indians and the American troops, at a spot between
Pease Creek and the Big Cypress Swamps; on this occasion the
Americans lost Colonels Thompson and Guntry, with twenty-
eight killed, and one hundred and eleven wounded. Since that I
am not aware that any important combat has taken place; but this
is certain, that the Seminoles, notwithstanding the loss of their
leader, still hold out and defy the whole power of the U. States.

It is asserted in the American papers that the loss of lives on
the American side, from the enemy and disease, amounts to be
tween two and three thousand men, and that the expenses of the
war are now estimated at 30,000, 000 of dollars. How far these
calculations may be correct I cannot pretend to say, but this is
certain, that a handful of Indians, at the commencement of the
war, estimated at about 1,900, have held out against armies of
four or five times their number, commanded by gallant and able
officers; that this small band of Indians, notwithstanding the loss
from the weapons of enemy and their still greater losses from
breach of faith, have now for four years held out against the
American Government, and have contrived to subsist during that
period; that the retreat of their wives and families has never been
discovered, notwithstanding that the Americans have a friendly
portion of the Seminoles acting with them; indeed, if we are to
believe the American statements, the war is almost as far from
its conclusion now as it was at its commencement.* I have

* Although the Federal Government have set their face against the
Indians making war with each other, (or at least pretend so to do,) it
would appear by the following notice, that, in their necessity, they
Jiave not adhered to the following resolutions: —
"Extract of a Letter, dated

" FORT BROOKE, FLORIDA, JUNE 14.

*'The Cherokees and Choctaws are soon expected in this country,
25

hastily narrated the causes and principal events of the war, a$
they are little known in England. The Americans must perse
vere, if they expend twice as much money, until they have ex
tirpated every Indian, and settled the territory with white peo-
pie; if they do not, the Florida swamps will become the resort
of runaway slaves, and the precedent of what can be done, en
courage a general rising of the slaves in the adjoining States,
who will only have to retire to the banks of the Ouithlacoochee
and defend themselves. So fatal is the climate to the European,
that America will probably have to sacrifice life and treasure to
a much greater extent, before she now obtains possession of the
territory. I shall conclude with quoting a portion of a letter
from the Geneves© Traveller which appeared in the Times news
paper.

" The war was unrighteous in its commencement, and has
been continued for years under circumstances the most profli
gate. There has not been a single campaign in which the army
has not reaped a plentiful harvest of mortification and disgrace.
When brought into action both officers and men fought valiantly,
but the character of the country, its deep morasses and swamps,
and the ignorance of the troops of Indian warfare, have uniformly
tended to produce the most disastrous defeats.

" There is not to be found on the page of history, in any coun
try, an instance of a scattered remnant of a tribe, so few in num
ber, defending themselves against the assaults of a disciplined
and numerous army, with the same heroism and triumphant re
sults, with those of the Seminoles in resisting the American
troops. In every campaign the invaders have been at least ten
to one against the invaded. At no period have the Indians been-
able to muster more than 700 or 800 warriors, and it is doubtful
whether they have ever had more than half that number, while
the American army, when in the field, has uniformly amounted
to from 6.000 to 10,000 men."

REPLY

TO

TH£ EDINBURGH REVIEW.

THE art of reviewing may be compared to French cookery; it
has no medium — it must either be first-rate or it is worth nothing;

when there will be a war of extermination and no quarter shown.
The affairs here are just the same as two years ago. The war is no
nearer ended. But we do hope that the offer of ten dollars for each
Scrninole scalp will be a great inducement for the Cherokees and Choe-
taws to cut and slash among them."

MARRYAT'S DIARY. 291

nay, the comparison goes much farther, as the attempt at either
not only spoils the meat, but half poisons the guests. The fact
is, good reviewing is of the highest order of literature, for a good
reviewer ought to be superior to the party whose writings he
reviews. Such men as Southey, Croker, and Lockhart, on the
one side, Brougham, Fontblanque, and Rintoul on the other, will
always command respect in their vocations, however much they
may be influenced by political feelings, or however little you
may coincide with them in opinion; but, passing over these, and
three or four more cordons bleus, what are reviewers in general!
men of talent below that of the author whose works they would
decide upon; the major portion of them, having failed as authors,
possessed with but one feeling in their disappointment, wrhich is
to drag others down to their own level. To effect this, you have
malevolence substituted for wit, and high sounding words for
sense; every paltry advantage taken by an intentional misappre
hension of your meaning, and, (what is the great secret of all)
unfair quotations of one or two lines, carefully omitting the con
text;" an act of unpardonable dishonesty towards the author, and
but too often successful in misleading the reader of the review.
By acting upon this last mentioned system, there is no book,
whatever its merits may be, which cannot be misrepressnted to
the public; a work espousing atheism may be made to ap-
peat wholly moral; nay, the Holy Scriptures themselves may be
condemned as licentious and indecent. If such reviewing is
fair, a jury may then decide upon a case by the evidence in favor
of the prosecution; and correctness or demerit in architecture be
pronounced upon by the examination of a few bricks taken out
from different portions of a building.

That latterly the public have been more inclined to judge for
themselves than to pin their faith upon reviews, is certain; never
theless, when what is termed a "slashing article" upon a popular
work makes its appearance, the public are too apt to receive it
without scrutiny; satisfied witli the general effect, like that pro
duced in the representations on a theatre, they do not bear in
mind that what has the appearance of gold, would prove, upon
examination, to be nothing but mere tinsel.

Were all reviewers to be reviewed by authors as well as all
authors by reviewers, the authors would have the best of it in the
melee,- nay, were all reviewers obliged to put their names to their
own articles, there would be a great alteration in their style; but,
aware from the incognito, that the disgrace of exposure cannot
be their portion, and that an author has seldom the power to
reply, they make no scruple to assert what they know to be false,
and to cowardly assail those who have seldom an opportunity to
defend themselves. There never was, perhaps, a better proof of
the truth of the foregoing observations than the article in the
Edinburgh Review upon the first portion of my work on America,
and as I have some pages to spare, I shall now take the unusual
liberty of reviewing the reviewer.

First, let me introduce to the public the writer of the article —

292 4 MARRY AT's DIARY.

Miss Harriet Martineau. My readers may inquire how I can so
positively make this assertion1? I reply that it is owing to my
" craft." A person who has long- dealt in pictures will, without
hesitation, tell you the name of the master; nay, a shepherd with
a flock of three or four hundred sheep under his charge, will know
every one of them individually, although to people in generalr
one sheep is but the counte-rpart of the others. There are little
varieties of style, manner, and handling of the pen, which be
come evident to practised writers, though they are not always so
to readers; but even if these peculiarities were not sufficient, the
manner in which the article is managed (the remarks of Miss
Martineau upon the merits of Miss Martineau) establish in my
mind to conviction, that the major portion of the article, if not
the whole, has proceeded from her pen. This is a matter of no
consequence, and I only mention it that my readers may under
stand why Miss Martineau, who forms so prominent a feature in
the Edinburgh article, will also occasionally appear in mine.
My reply, however, is not addressed to her, but to the Edinburgh
reviewer.

I have no doubt but that the reviewer will most positively deny
that Miss Martineau had anything to do do with the review of my
work; that of course. With his permission, I will relate a little
anecdote. " When the Royal George went down at Spithead, an
old gentleman, who had a son on board, was bewailing his loss-
His friends came in to console him — ' I thought,' observed one
of them, ' that you had received a letter' — ' Yes,' replied the old
gentleman, « but it was from Jack himself S — ' Well, what more
would you have1?' — ' Ah,' replied the old gentleman, ' had it
been from the captain, or from one of his messmates, or, indeed,
from anybody else, it would have consoled me; but Jack — he is
such an incorrigible liar, that his very assertion that he is safe,
convinces me that he has gone to the bottom.' "

Now my opinion of the veracity of the Edinburgh Review
maybe estimated from the above anecdote; the very circumstance
of it's denial would, with rne, be sufficient to establish the fact:
but to proceed.

The Review has pronounced the first portion of my work to
be light and trifling and full of errors; it asserts that I have been
hoaxed by the Americans, that I am incapable of sound reasoning,
cannot estimate human nature, and requests as a favor that I will
write no more. Such are the general heads of the Review.

Now here we have a strange inconsistency, for why should
the Edinburgh Review, if the work be really what he asserts it
to be, "light and trifling," &c., waste so much powder and shot
upon a tomtit1? Why has he dedicated twenty-seven pages of
ponderous verbosity upon so light and trifling a world How sel
dom is it that the pages of the Quarterly or Edinburgh ever con
descend to notice even the very best of light literature. Do they
not in their majesty consider it infra dig. to review such works,
and have not two or three pages bestowed upon them been con
sidered as an immense favor on their part, and a high compliment

293

to the authors? Notwithstanding which we have here twenty-
seven pages of virulent attack upon my light and trifling work.
Does not the Edinburgh reviewer at once establish that the work
is not light and trifling] does he not contradict his own asser
tions, by the labor and space bestowed upon it? nay, more, is it
not strange that he should think it necessary to take the unfair
advantage of reviewing a work before it is half finished, and
pounce upon the first portion with the hopes of neutralising the
effects which he apparently dreads from the second?

I will answer the question for him; his precipitate and un
measured attacks, are because he feels that the work is written
in a style that will induce every one to read it; because he feels
assured that the occasional and apparent careless hits against de
mocracy, are only preparatory to others more severe, and that
they will come out in the second part, which will be read as well
as the first. He perceives the drift of the work; he feels that it
has been purposely made amusing, and that it will be more inju
rious to the cause which the Edinburgh Review upholds than a
morejaboured treatise; that those who would not look at a more
serious work will read this, and that theopinionsit contains will
be widely disseminated, and be impressed without the readers
being aware of it; moreover, that it will descend to a class of
readers who have hitherto been uninformed; in short, the great
danger of the work is that it has been made amusing, and is in
appearance, although not in reality, "light and trifling."

I candidly acknowledge that the Reviewer is right in his sup
position, my great object has been to do serious injury to the
cause of democracy; and to effect that, it was necessary that I
should write a book which should be universally read, not merely
by the highly educated portion of the community, for they are
able to judge for themselves; what I wished to obtain was to be
read by every tradesman and mechanic; to be pored over by even
milliners' girls, and boys behind the counter, to be thumbed to
pieces in every petty circulating library. I wrote the work with
this object, and I wrote accordingly. Light and trifling as the
work may appear to be, every page of it (as I have stated) has
been the subject of examination and deliberation, it has given me
more trouble than any work 1 ever wrote, and, my labour having
been so far crowned with success, I trust that I shall have " done
the State some service."* The review in the Edinburgh will
not harm me, as it chiefly circulates among those classes who
have already formed their opinions; and I have this advantage
over it, that, as for one that reads the Edinburgh Review, fifty

tamfeUbtt

* A very acute reviewer, has observed of my first portion that there
always appeared as if there was something left behind ajid not told,
He was right; I have entered into every subject just as deep as I dared
to venture, without wearying the class of readers, for whom, although
not avowedly, yet in reality, the work has chiefly been written. The
second portion will therefore be found almost as, light and trifling as
the first.

25*

2-94 MARRYAT'S DIARY.

will read my work, so will fifty read my reply who will never
trouble themselves about the article in the Edinburgh Review.

And now let us enter a little into detail. The Reviewer finds
great fault with my Introduction, as being- wholly irrelevant to
the Diary which follows it. I admit, that if it were an intro
duction to the Diary alone then there would be justice in his re
mark. But such is not the case; an introduction is, I believe,
generally understood to refer to and embrace the whole of the
work, not a portion of it; and now that the work is complete. 1
leave it to the public to decide whether the introduction is suit
able or not, as bearing- upon the whole. I believe it is usually
the custom to place an introduction at the commencement of a
work; I never heard of one being introduced into the middle or
at the end. The fault, therefore, of it up to the present appearing
irrelevant, is not mine, but proceeds from the Reviewer having
thought proper to review the work before it was complete. He
quotes me, saying, " Captain Marryafs object was to examine and
ascertain what were the effects of a democratic form of government
upon a people, ivhich with its foreign admixture may still be con
sidered as English," and then, without waiting for me to com
plete rny task, he says, that the present work " has nothing, or
next to nothing, to do with such an avowal." Whether such an
avowal has any thing to do with the work now that it is com
pleted, I leave the public to decide. The Reviewer has no ex
cuse for this illiberal conduct, for I have said, in my Introduc
tion, " In the arrangement of this work, I have considered it ad
visable to present to the reader first, those portions of my Diary
which may be interesting, and in which are recorded traits and
incidents which will bear strongly upon the commentaries I shall
subsequently make;" notwithstanding which the reviewer has the
mendacity to assert that, " not until the last paragraph of the
last volume, does he learn for the first time that the work is not
complete." I will be content with quoting his own words
against him:* "Jin habitual story teller prefers invention to de
scription."

The next proof of the reviewer's dishonesty is, his quoting a
portion of a paragraph and rejecting the context. He quotes,
" 1 had not been three weeks in the country before I decided
upon accepting no more invitations, charily as they were made,"
and upon this quotation he founds an argument that, as I did not
enter into society, 1 could of course have no means of gaining
anjr knowledge of American character and institutions. Now, if
the reviewer had had the common honesty to finish the paragraph,
the reason why I refused the invitations would have been under
stood; "because I found that, although invited, my presence was
a restraint upon the company, and every one was afraid to speak."
Perhaps the sagacity of the reviewer will point out what infor
mation I was likely to gain from people who would not open
their mouths. Had he any knowledge of the Americans, he
would admit that they never will venture to give their opinions
before each other; it was not that they were afraid of rue, but afraid

MARRY AT's DIARY. 295

of each other, as M. Tocqueville has very truly pointed out in
his work. Moreover, I have now, for the first time, to learn
that the hest way of arriving1 at the troth is to meet people who
are on their guard, and whose object is to deceive. However,
in this case I make some allowance for the feelings of a re
viewer, being aware how astonishingly a good dinner from an
author will correct his bile, and soften down the intended acri
mony of a review.

There is a malevolent feeling in the assertion; that I have
treated all other previous writers on America with contempt; and
here again he intentionally quotes falsely. My words are, " the
majority of those who have preceded me." As nearly as I can
reckon, there have been about fifty works published on America,
out of which there are not ten which deserve attention, and the
ample quotations I have made from M. Tocqueville, Captain
Hamilton, and others, in corroboration of my own opinions, fully
establish the respect I have for their writings. In fact, the
whole article is a tissue of falsehood and misrepresentation, and
so weak that hardly a position is tenable. Can any thing be
more absurd, or more shallow than to quote the Mississippi
scheme and Mr. Law as a proof that the French are, as well as
the English and Americans, a speculative nation; one solitary
instance of a portion of the French having been induced to em
bark their capital, about sixty or seventy years ago, brought for
ward while the abject supineness of the French population of
Lower Canada, in juxta position with the energy and enter
prise of the Americans, has for half a century stared us in the
face.

The Reviewer has the kindness repeatedly to inform me that
I have been hoaxed by the Americans, and most unfortunately
for himself he has brought forward the " Original draft of the
Declaration of Independence" as a proof. That he would be
very glad to prove it to be a hoax, I believe, as it is a sad dis
covery, and one which the American democrats should have kept
secret. That the Americans did hoax Miss Martineau, and that
they would have hoaxed me if they could, I admit, but even the
Reviewer must acknowledge that they would not hoax them
selves. Now it so happens that this document, which has not
long been discovered, is in the splendid public library of Phila
delphia, that it has been carefully preserved in a double plate-
glass frame, so as to be read on both sides without handling,
expensively mounted, and is shown to every visitor as a great
curiosity, as it certainly is, as the authenticity of it is undeniable,
and acknowledged by the Americans. The paragraph which
was expunged is verbatim as I gave it, a paragraph whicii affords
more proof, if further proof was necessary, that Jefferson was
one of the most unprincipled men who ever existed. The Re
viewer recommends rny perusal of the works of this "great and
good /n«n,"as Miss Martineau calls him. I suspect that I have
read more of Mr. Jefferson and other American authors than ever
the Reviewer has, and I consider the writings of this Father of

296 MARRY AT's DIARY.

Democracy opposed to his private life— to be a remarkable type
of democracy in theory and in practice. To borrow a term from
the Reviewer, those, writings are " brave words''1 to proceed from
an infidel who proved his ardent love of liberty by allowing1 his
own children to be put up to auction at his death, and wear away
their existence in misery and bondage. I cannot help here ob
serving a trifling inconsistency on the part of the Reviewer; after
lauding- the Father of Democracy, and recommending me to read
his works; after sneering at our aristocracy by observing, "that
no kind of virtue that we have heard of can suffer much from the
loss of a court and of an hereditary nobility;" after, in short, de
fending and upholding democracy in every page, all of a sudden
the Reviewer turns round and says, "We are no general admirers
of democracy." Indeed ! if not general, you certainly appear to
be particular admirers; and if neither general nor particular,
may I inquire what the Edinburgh Review has been frothing,
fizzing, hissing and bubbling about, like a tea-kettle in a passion,
for these last twenty years 1

Never was there a more convincing proof of the boldness and
arrogance ventured upon by reviewers, from the irresponsibility
arising from their concealment, than in the following passage in
the Edinburgh article: —

"./In ardent pursuit of wealth and deep religious feelings go very
well together"

It is not for me to reply to the Reviewer in this instance; I
must hand him over to higher authority. I must oppose the
everlasting doctrines of inspiration to the cold, heartless and
arrogant philosophy of an Edinburgh reviewer. In vain are we
again and again forewarned in the Scriptures against the love of
money; in vain has our Saviour denounced ; in vain have the
apostles followed in his steps. Let the Reviewer, if he ever
has looked into the Bible, refer to the epistles to the Colossians
and to the Ephesians. St. Paul declares that covetousness is
idolatry. Hear also what he sayeth to Timothy: —

" But they that wish to be rich fall into temptation and a snare,
and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in
destruction and perdition." " For the love of money is the root
of 'all evil."

Our Divine Master is even more explicit, for he says — "No
servant can serve two masters; for either he will haie, the one,
and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, and despise
the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon" Thus says our
Lord; now hear the Edinburgh Reviewer: — "An ardent pursuit
af wealth and deep religious feelings go very well together."

Here the Edinburgh Reviewer has placed himself on the
horns of a dilemma. The Holy Writings assert most positively
and repeatedly one thing, while he asserts another. If, there
fore, he acknowledges the Scriptures, he must at the same time
acknowledge his own grevious error, and, I may add, his deep
sin. If, on the contrary, he still holds to his own opinion, hath
he not denied his faith, and is he not worse than an infidel?

MARRY AT'S DIARY. 297

The Reviewer sneers at my observation, that " Washington
had no power to control the nature of man." It may be, as he
observes, a very simple remark; but, at all events, it has one ad
vantage over his own, which is, that it is a very true one. Miss
Martineau makes an observation in her book, which is quite as
great a truism as mine; for she also says that " Human nature
is the same every where."

How far I have succeeded in my analysis of human nature it
is not for me to decide; but that it is the same every where I
will now venture to support by something more than assertion
on the part of Miss Martineau.

When I was at Boston, in company with some of the young
ladies, the conversation turned upon Miss Martineau, with whom
they stated that they had been intimate. Naturally anxious to
know more of so celebrated a personage, I asked many questions.
1 was told much to interest me, and, among other little anec
dotes, they said that Miss Marlineau used to sit down surrounded
by the young ladies, and amuse them with all the histories of her
former loves. She would detail to them " how Jack sighed and
squeezed her hand; how Tom went down on his knees; how
Dick swore and Sam vowed; and how — she was still Miss Mar
tineau." And thus would she narrate and would they listen
until the sun went down, and the fire-fly danced, while the frogs
lifted up their voices in full concert.

And I said to myself, " Who would have supposed that this
Solon in petticoats would ever have dwelt upon her former days
of enthusiasm and hope, or have cherished the reminiscences of
love? How true it is that human nature is the same every where.

Once more: —

I was conversing with a lady at New York, who informed
me that she had seen a letter from Miss M., written to a friend
of hers, after her return to England, in which Miss M. declared
that her door was so besieged with the carriages of the nobility,
that it was quite uncomfortable, and that she hardly knew what
to do.

Thinks I to myself I recollect an old story.

"Oh! Grandmother," cried Tom, running in out of breath,
" there's at least a thousand cats in our garden." — " No, no,
Tom," quickly replied the old lady; "not a thousand, Tom." —
" Well, I'm sure there's five hundred." — "No, not five hun
dred," repled the old lady, not taking her eyes off her knitting.
— " Well, then, grandmother, I'm sure there's fifty." — "I don't
think there are fifty, Tom." — " Well, at all events, there's our
cztand another." — "Ah! Tom," replied the old lady, «* that way
be."

I believe that the carriage of Lord Brougham is occasionally
to be seen at the door of Miss Martineau.

But when I heard this I was pleased, for I said to myself,
" So, then, this champion of democracy, this scorner of rank and
title, is flattered by the carriages of the nobility crowding at her
door; and again I said to myself, human nature is the same every
where"

298 MARRY AT'S DIARY.

But the Reviewer, in his virulence, has not been satisfied with
attacking- me; he has thought it necessary to libel the whole
profession to which I have the honor to belong. He has had
the folly and impertinence to make the following remark: " No
landsman can have been on board of a ship a week, without
coming to the conclusion that a sensible house dog is more like
the people he has left at home than most of his new companions,
and that it (the house dog) would be nearly as capable of solving
problems on national character."

Indeed ! !

Is it possible that the Reviewer should still remain in such a
vulgar error] that at one time it was the custom to send to sea
the fool of th° family, is certain, and had the Reviewer flourished
ia those days, he would probably have been the one devoted to
the service — but tempora mutantur. Is the Reviewer aware that
one-half, and certainly the most successful half, of English diplo
macy, is now carried on by the admirals and captains, not only
in the Mediterranean, but all over the world. Is he aware that
when the Foreign Office wishes to do its work cheap and well,
that it demand1? a vessel from the Admiralty, which is made over
to that office, and is set down as employed on " particulr ser
vice;" that during that service the captain acts from instructions
given by the Foreign Office alone, and has his cabin piled with
the most incomprehensible documents; that, like the unpaid
magistracy of England, we sailors do all the best of the work,
and have nothing but our trouble for our pains. Nay, even the
humble individual who pens this remonstrance has been for
months on this very service, and when it was completed the
Foreign Office expressed to the Admiralty its satisfaction at his
conduct during his short diplomatic career.

House dogs! Hear tfyis, ye public of England, a sensible house
dog is to be preferred to St. Vincent, Nelson, Collmgwood, Ex-
mouth, and all those great men who have aided their country as
much with their pen as with their sword; as much by their
acuteness and firmness in diplomacy, as by their courage and
conduct in action.

Now, Mr. Reviewer, don't you feel a little ashamed of your
self1? Would you really like to give up your name as the author
of this bare-faced libel 1 Would you like openly to assert that
such is your opinion, and that you will stand by it]

No liberal, high-minded man, whatever his politics may have
been, has ever refused to do justice to a service which has been
the bulwark of England. Lord Brougham has lately published
a work containing the lives of celebrated persons in the reign of
George III; I will just quote a few passages from his life of
Lord St. Vincent.

" The present sketches would be imperfect if Lord St. Vin
cent were passed over in silence, for he was almost as distin
guished among the statesmen, as the warriors of the age.

" A statesman of profound views and of penetration, hardly
equalled by any other man of his time.

MARR VAT'S DIARY. 299

" But the consummate vigour and wisdom of his proceedings
during the dreadful period of the mutiny, are no less a theme of
wonder and of praise.

"When the Addington ministry was formed, he was placed
at the head of the Admiralty; and now shone forth in all its
lustre, that great capacity for affairs with which he was endowed
by nature, and which ample experience of men, habits of com
mand, and an extended life of deep reflection had matured.

" The capacity of a statesman and the valor of the hero, out
shone by the magnanimous heart which beats only to the mea
sures of generosity and justice."

Here, again, the Reviewer is in what the Yankees would call
an everlasting "awkward fix;" for he contradicts Lord Broug
ham, the patron and sole supporter of his fast-waning Review,
for without the aid of his admirable pen, it would long ago have
gone to its proper place. He must now either admit that he is
himself wrong, or that it is Lord Brougham who is in error. He
has but to choose.

I have but one more remark to make upon the review itself.
At the close of it, the reviewer observes, that my remarks upon
the marine are interesting and useful. How does he know1?
Upon his own argument, if we house dogs are not competent
upon shore matters, he must be equally ignorant of any thing
connected with our profession; and I therefore consider it a piece
of unpardonable presumption on the part of a land lubber like him
to offer any opinion on the subject.

The reviewer, whoever it may be, has proved himself wholly
incompetent to his task; he has attacked, but has yet to learn
the art of parrying, as has been proved by his laying himself
so open. His blows have been stopped, and, without giving
any, he has received severe punishment. 1 am the more sur
prised, as 1 really considered that there was a certain tact in the
Edinburgh Review, which enabled it to know where to direct
the blow, so as to make it tell; a species of professional know
ledge proper to executioners, reviewers, and cab-drivers, and
which may be summed up in the following axiom: "The great
art of flogging is, to know where to find a bit of raw."

So little have I felt the castigation intended, that I have had
some compunction in administering the discipline to the reviewer
in return. Surely the Edinburgh Review can put a better head
on, when it takes notice of this second portion of my work? I
will give it an anecdote.

A lady of my acquaintance was blessed with a son, then about
three years old. She was very indulgent, and he was very much
spoiled. At last he became so unmanageable that she felt it was
her imperative duty to correct him. She would as soon have
cut off her right arm, but that would not have mended the matter,
nor the child. So one day, when the young gentleman had been
more than usually uproarious, she did pull up his petticoats and
administered what she considered a most severe infliction. Hav
ing so done, with a palpitating heart, she sat down to recover

300 MARRY AT's DIARY.

herself, miserable that she had been compelled to punish, but
attempting to console herself with the reflection that she had
done her duty. What then was her surprise to have her
reveries interrupted by the young urchin, who (appealing only to
have been tickled,} came up to her, and lying down his head on
her lap, pulled up his coats, and cried, " More whipping, Ma;
please, more whipping." So weak has been the wrist, whether
it be feminine or not, that has applied the punishment, that I also
feel inclined to exclaim with the child, " More whipping; (Miss
Martineau1?) please, more whipping."

The reviewer has pronounced that "no author is cleverer than
his works;" if no author is cleverer than his works, it is equally
certain that no reviewer is cleverer than his review. Does the re
viewer recollect the fable of the jackass who put on the lion's
skin? Why did he not take warning from the fabled folly of his
ancestor and hold his tongue. He might still have walked about
and have been supposed to be a Reviewer.

He asserts that I am not capable of serious reflection: he is
mistaken. I have seldom cyt the leaves of the Edinburgh, hav
ing been satisfied with looking at its outside, and thinking how
very appropriate its colors of blue and yellovj were to the opinions
which it advocates. But at times I have been more serious. I
have communed with myself as it laid before me, and I have
mentally exclaimed: — Here is a work written by men whom the
Almighty has endowed with talents, and who will, if there be
truth in Scripture, have to answer for the talents committed to
their keeping — yet these men, like madmen, throw about fire,
and cry it is only in sport; they uphold doctrines as pernicious as,
unfortunately, they are popular; disseminate error under the most
specious guise, wage war against the happiness of their fellow-
creatures, unhinging society, breeding discontent, waving the
banner of infidelity arid rebellion, and inviting to anarchy and
bloodshed — and to this prostitution of talent, to this work of the
devil, they are stimulated by their pride and their desire of gain!
And I have surmised that hereafter they will have their reward;
but, remembering that we are forbid to judge, I have checked my
thoughts as they have wandered, as to what might hereafter be
the portion below of — an Edinburgh Reviewer.

THE END,

I