Flower's Letters from Lexington (June 25, 1819) and the Illinois (August 16, 1819)..

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Flower's Letters from Lexington (June 25, 1819)
and the Illinois (August 16, 1819)

Reprint of the original edition: London, 1819

LETTERS

LEXWGTOJT and the ILLW01S,

CONTAININO A

BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE ENGLISH SETTLEMENT
IN THE LATTER TERRITORY,

AVD A.

REFUTATION or thb MISREPRESENTATIONS
OF MR. COBBETT.

By RICHARD FLOWER.

JLtxdwit
Priniediy f. Tevlou, 8T, High Strert, fVhitecfi<rpef,

FOE J. RIDGWAY, PICCADILXY*
1819.

[Price One Shilling.']

PREFACE

Various have been the reports respecting the Illinois
Settlement, as they relate to the health of the climate,
and the state of agriculture. The following Letters con-
tain a simple narration of facts, the result of real obser-
vation, and an accurate survey; and will appear time
enough to counteract the evil impression of false infor-
mation by persons who have not been on the spot, or who
appear to be interested in writing down the settlement.

As to the various reports about the state of health, they
may be easily accounted for by comparing dates. On
the arrival of emigrants in the summer of 1818, there were
no cabins to shelter them from the heat of the sun by
day, or from the dew, by night; neither a cow or pig for
food, and scarcely a sufficiency for human subsistence to
be procured: sickness to a considerable degree prevailed;
but not more than three or four cases of death ensued.
Since these inconveniences have [iv] been overcome, few
places, I believe I may say in the world, have been
healthier than the English settlement in the Illinois.

I trust my friends and acquaintance in England, who
interest themselves in our concerns, retain that good
opinion of me, as to believe me incapable, from any
motive, of laying before them inducements to emigrate
to a station, where their existence or comfort would be
likely to be threatened by diseases not prevalent in the
same degree, at least, as in their own country.

A difference of opinion as to eastern or western settle-
ments may prevail, as differences of opinion in England

90 Early Western Travels [Vol. 10

respecting Essex or Hertfordshire, which may be most
healthy or profitable. I have only to request the atten-
tion of the reader to the facts I have stated.

The miscellaneous matter relative to the state of Ken-
tucky, &c. will not, I hope, be found to be entirely desti-
tute of interest to my old acquaintance in my native
country.

LETTERS, &c.

LETTER I

Lexington, June 25, 1819.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

It is natural you should have made those enquiries of
me which you did in your last, and which it shall be my
business to answer in their respective order.

1 st. — How I like America in general, and Lexington in
particular ?

2nd. — Whether I have been disgusted with the Amer-
ican character and habits, as many have been ? or whether
I dare invite others to follow the course I have taken?
but above all, how I, whose notions of liberty run so high,
can endure to reside in a state where personal slavery
exists.

[6] Your first enquiry I am yet incompetent to answer to
the extent you make it; for, although I have travelled
from New York to Pittsburgh, — down the Ohio to this
place, — I have only had a sample of this extensive country;
and as you, my dear Sir, are in the habit of purchasing
your goods by sample, and to my knowledge are often
disappointed in the bulk, so you may not, perhaps, have
a fair sample of entire America by the information I send
you.

As to the great cities, they have no charms for me.
You know, great cities in England, as places of residence,
were the objects of my aversion; and if there is any thing
in those of New York and Philadelphia which I dislike,

92 Early Western Travels [Vol. 10

it is because they approximate so much to similar cities of
England, without those rare shows which please both
infants and children of larger growth, in London.

Here are few public buildings worthy of notice. No
kings going to open Parliament with gilded coaches and
cream-coloured horses, with a train of dragoons at their
heels. — No Lord Mayor's show. — No Towers filled with
royal tigers and lions. — No old castles which beautify
the rural scenes of the country, whose melancholy history
informs the curious traveller, that their foundation was
bedded in [7] tyranny, and their superstructure the retainers
of weeping prisoners, often of rank, as well as oppressed
plebeians. No cathedrals or old churches to ornament
the cities as well as the counties of England, — monuments
of superstition when erected, and of injustice and oppres-
sion even to this day, having for their support tithe-proc-
tors, and surveyors, continually obstructing the progress
of agriculture, and exciting contentions and law suits to
an extent for which all the preaching of the clergy of Eng-
land cannot present an equivalent, or balance the evil
produced by a worldly and avaricious priesthood.

America has none of these costly ornaments or beauti-
ful monuments of oppression. I thank God she has not;
and hope she may be exempt from them, although strange
to tell, I have found amongst both clergy and laity some
few who wish for these degradations, and am even in-
formed there are those who sigh after a religious estab-
lishment, and revenues besides those collected by the
voluntary donations which flow from affectionate and
religious hearers.

The episcopalian clergy in this country, have an enjoy-
ment' seldom known in England, that is, being chosen by
the people, and supported [8] according to their respective

1819] Flower s Letters 93

merits; and it is my duty to add that episcopalians, as
well as the ministers of most other sects, are in general
" labourers worthy of their hire," virtuous in their con-
duct, exemplary in their deportment, exhibiting Chris-
tianity in their every day conduct and intercourse with
mankind, and enjoying the esteem of their congregations.
There are none of those divines in the busy hive of America,
which you know by the name of dignified clergy, partaking
of the largest revenues, and doing the least possible ser-
vice,— conduct which one would think must make their
hearts shudder at the thoughts of a judgment day !

As to the travelling in America, you are already in-
formed of its conveniences and inconveniences; you dine
at a fixed hour, as at our ordinaries in England ; and you
have abundance of provision of every kind the country
affords. Poultry in every shape, with the standing dish,
ham or bacon: but you must be aware, that in a country
so extensive as I have already traversed, there must be
as much difference in accommodations, as there is be-
tween the best inns on the great roads of England, and
those in the remote villages. The beds generally cleanly;
but although I have [9] not suffered the inconveniences
so magnified in England from musquitoes, the often-
brought charge of being infested with that ugly and sleep-
destroying insect the bug, is indeed too true. Also, the
many-bedded rooms found in most taverns, as you travel
westward, is more than an inconvenience, as often being
the sleeping-place of those who fall sick, as of those who
are in health; and, in this respect, the Americans are
criminal, and instrumental in spreading infection, which
might be avoided by a little expense in the division of
sleeping-rooms; but there are many happy exceptions;
and, as civilization advances, this evil will be cured.

94 Early Western Travels [Vol. 10

As to the general character of the Americans, it is sober,
industrious, and hospitable; although drunkenness, idle-
ness, and gambling, are vices in existence, they are kept
in the back ground, and are by no means so conspicuous
as amongst what are called the lower class in England.

It is remarkable, that in the houses of the wealthy, as
well as in store or shop-keepers back-rooms, it is the
common practice to ask you to take a glass of water, cool
fresh water, as a refreshment; at which offer no one is
offended; and when wine or liquors are on the [10] salver,
water is often preferred ; but our countrymen would think
it a sad insult to be invited to so simple a refreshment.

I have, my dear sir, met with no instances of a rude
ruffian-like character, that will apply to Americans gen-
erally; and, I believe, much less than I should have met
with in England, had I travelled her roads and rivers to
the extent I have done in this country.

The American notion of liberty and equality is highly
gratifying to me. The master or employer is kept within
the bounds of reason and decency towards his labourer.
No curses or oaths towards their servants, or helps as
they choose to call themselves; (for every one who takes
money or wages, is, after all, a servant;) he obeys all
reasonable orders for his remuneration; and when this
obedience ceases, the contract of service is at an end. I
have often been surprised at the highmindedness of
American labourers, who are offended at the name of
servant.

With respect to this place, I have, in former letters, stated
it to be a phenomenon in the history of the world ; twenty-
five years since it was trodden only by the foot of the
savage; now it contains about three thousand inhabitants.
A college, at which are already one [n] hundred and forty

1819] Flower s Letters 95

students; its professors, chosen purely for their talents,
without any requirement of unanimity of religious opin-
ions, as in the colleges with you : professors so chosen, not
being confined to any particular sect, are likely to fill
their stations with ability; and, as far as I am capable of
judging, are eminently calculated for their respective situ-
ations to which they are chosen. This institution prom-
ises to be in the moral world, what the sun is in the
natural world, and is calculated to illuminate, civilize, and
bless mankind.

To the inhabitants of Lexington, wherever I may re-
side in future, I shall ever feel grateful: their hospitality,
their kindness to me, as a stranger, and their sympathy
in the hour of affliction, are never to be effaced from my
memory.

Their politeness and liberality are perhaps, unequalled.
Balls, at which the fair sex are never allowed to share any
expence, — an Atheneum and a considerable museum, the
benefits of which the stranger is invited to partake gratis,
— may be mentioned as not being very customary in Eng-
land. Tea-parties are a continual festival from the time
you enter to the time of your departure, which however,
are too much like our routs in England; and in time, I
should fear would, as they have in England, become [12]
a substitute for hospitality. I have known collected at
these parties from one to two hundred persons. Thus,
my dear Sir, you see, instead of being in continual broils,
and exposed to the affronts and insults of rude Americans,
I have received nothing but civility and hospitality. It
will hardly be credited when I assure you I have not yet
met with a single annoyance in the whole of my journey
from New York to Pittsburgh by land; nor from thence
down the Ohio to Louisville, — a distance of six hundred

96 Early Western Travels [Vol. 10

miles by water, and five hundred miles by land : thus you
see, my dear friend, I am in no danger at present, of being
disgusted by American rudeness, irreligion, or fanaticism.

To your last question, — How can you reside in a state
where personal slavery is in existence? I, with regret,
reply, this is the spot which clouds the American sun of
liberty; and I confess I know not which are most excited
in me, the risible or the sorrowful feelings, when I hear a
Kentuckyan boasting, in lofty terms, of the liberty of his
country, when that country is divided into two classes,
and two classes only — the master and the slave! The
term of master implies the willing servitude of jree men : the
term slave, includes in it the admission [13] of tyrants or
tyranny; and a Kentuckyan has no more right to talk of
freedom than the legitimates, whose determined purpose
it is to blot liberty and happiness from the face of the
earth. The one talks of liberty and social order, and it
appears that by it is meant the increasing trappings of
monarchy; the other does the same of liberty, and the
rights of men.

The legitimates, who have high notions of regal author-
ity, attempting to subjugate the minds of men, is perfectly
consistent with their notions of power, their education
and habits; but to hear the republicans of slave states
point to the Declaration of Rights, who inform the coming
traveller that they are now blazoned forth on satin and
velvet; — an American republican pointing to the Rights of
Men with his left hand, while his right is obliged to hold
the whip, and with watchful eye to subjugate the minds
and bodies of a large share of the population of his state:
— this, indeed is worthy the taunts and derision of kings.
It is this that keeps the wealth of Europe from pouring its
treasures into the fertile region of Kentucky, and the in-

1819] Flower's Letters 97

dustry of thousands from approaching the state. It would
be painful to relate all the horrors I have beheld in slavery
under [14] its mildest form. Whites full of whiskey, flog-
ging their slaves for drinking even a single glass! Wo-
men, heavy with young, smarting under the angry blow,
or the lash, and with babes at the breast, which one of
our writers calls "Nature's passport through the world,"
lacking food in the midst of abundance, and cloathing in-
sufficient to satisfy the demands even of common decency.
Avarice, which our Poet Young calls "Earth's greatest
blunder — Hell's loudest laugh;" — avarice, which seems to
be the source of all this mischief, now comes to the relief
of the ragged lingering wretch. If they are miserable,
they must not die, for a mother and infant are worth from
six hundred to a thousand dollars: but in a slave state,
avarice has preserved life, clothed the wretched, and fed
the hungry; it has fattened and made fine, the slave that
he or she may fetch at the hammer, one or two hundred
dollars more. "Lord, what is man!" Was it for this
that your heroes fought, bled, and died ? Was it for this,
that the brave and virtuous Washington, to whom so
many memorials in the way of oration and praise are de-
livered on each succeeding anniversary of his birth, spent
his long and glorious course ? Oh ! youth of Kentucky,
when you speak of his [15] fame with the enthusiasm of a
republican, speak of his humanity, read his will; see his
ardent desire to let the captive go free : imitate his virtues,
and fall not into the errors of tyrants, who suppose military
glory to be the glory of a christian.

It is worthy of enquiry, whether it is likely that Ameri-
cans will escape the judgments with which God has afflicted
other nations, while their land is infected with personal
slavery, and whether the liberties of America are not en-

98 Early Western Travels [Vol. 10

dangered by the increase of its black population. Per-
haps some ambitious military chief may take the work
from the hands of republicans, and "proclaim liberty to
the captives," and make them the instruments of political
slavery: let it be the work of crowned despots to subju-
gate the minds and bodies of men, but let not republicans
assist in such a work.

Whenever you take Freedom's sacred name into your
lips — whenever you unfurl the standard of partial liberty
— you stand self -condemned. Despots keep men's minds
in ignorance, that the voice of slavery and abject depend-
ance may not be heard even in its defence. Do ye not
the same: both your efforts will be in vain; the minds of
men are in progressive march, and your united efforts will
not stop their destination.

[16] "No, bless'd with freedom, unconfin'd,
Dungeons can ne'er contain the soul;

No one can chain th' immortal mind,
No one but Him who spans the pole."

I remain, yours, sincerely,

R.F.

LETTER II

Illinois, near Albion, Aug. 16.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

After many interruptions I removed from Lexington
to this place, at which we arrived on the 2nd of July,
spending in our way a week at Harmony, that wonder
of the west.

You have heard this settlement mentioned, and it is
worth visiting to see, and observe the effect of united in-
dustry, regulated by sound wisdom and discretion: here

1819] Flower's Letters 99

perfect equality prevails, and there are no servants; but
plenty of persons who serve. Every man has his station
appointed him according to his ability, and every one has
his wants supplied according to his wishes. He applies
to the mill for his supply of flour; to the apothecary for
medicine; [17] to the store for cloaths, and so on for every
thing necessary for human subsistence. They do not
forbid marriage, as some have represented; but it is one
of their tenets that the incumbrance created by families
is an hindrance to the spirituality of christians, and it is
this opinion which discourages marriage amongst them.
They have also an aversion to bear arms; this would not
allow them to remain in Germany, and they emigrated
to live in the manner they have adopted, and have cer-
tainly the outside appearance of contentment and happi-
ness.

After travelling through the woods of Indiana, the hills
divide to the right and left, and a fine valley opens to
your view in which the town stands. The hills assume a
conical form, and are embellished with fine cultivated
vineyards; and the valleys stand thick with corn. Every
log-house is surrounded by a well cultivated garden, abun-
dantly supplied with vegetables, and ornamented with
flowers. It was the beginning of wheat harvest when I
arrived, and the entire company of reapers retired from
the fields in a body, preceded by a band of music: their
dress is like the Norman peasants, and as all are of the
same form and colour, may properly be designated their
[18] costume. The men marched first, the women next,
and the rear rank composed of young women, with each
a neat ornament of striped cedar wood on their head,
formed one of the prettiest processions I ever witnessed.
The sound of French horns awakened them in the morn-

ioo Early Western Travels [Vol. 10

ing to their daily labour, which is moderate, and performed
with cheerfulness; the return of evening appears to bring
with it no fatigue or symptoms of weariness.

Besides the gardens of individuals, there is a public
garden of five acres, the outside square planted with fruit
trees and vegetables, the inside with herbs medicinal and
botanical. In the centre is a rotunda of the rustic kind,
standing in the midst of a labyrinth, which exhibits more
taste than I supposed to be found amongst the Harmonites.
It is from this hive of industry that Albion and its vicinity
have drawn their supplies, and its contiguity to such
neighbours has been of great advantage.

Having given you this account, I arrive at the point at
which, my dear friend, I know you feel most interest,
and proceed to give you an account of the state in which
I found my friends, and the English settlement in general.
I have great satisfaction in being able to inform you that
almost every individual I [19] knew in England, was much
improved in appearance, all enjoying excellent health.
The same blessing is also our lot, and if I can form a proper
estimate from six weeks residence, I must pronounce
this to be as healthy a situation as any America affords,
and much preferable, in this respect, to the eastern states.
What travellers have recorded, that the thermometer does
not rise so high as in the east, is true, and we are never
many hours without a fine breeze. The nights are cool,
the thermometer dropping 10 degrees, and you can obtain
refreshing sleep. In the eastern states the thermometer
being at 98 in the day, remained at 96 at night, a suffo-
cating heat. The average of our days are from 80 to 86,
but we have had a day or two at 90, which produces a
thunder gust and a cooler atmosphere.

Now, my dear sir, as to the questions which agitate the

1 819] Flower s Letters

minds of thousands in your country. The advantages of
emigration to America, and the comparative advantages
of eastern and western climates. I am, most decidedly,
for settling in the west, on account of the prairies, and the
facility with which they are cultivated.

The cultivation of new land, incumbered with heavy
timber, presents a formidable feature; [20] labour inces-
sant and unremitting, before a small tract of land can be
tolerably cleared ; but here I can enter either as a farmer
or a grazier immediately; fine wide spreading fields of
grass, inviting the flocks and herds to come and partake
of the bounty with which they are loaded. In answer to
the enquiry as to the proper mode of farming, I sit, and
from the place I am now writing, see a beautiful herd of
cattle of nearly two hundred in number. I have one
hundred tons of fine hay collected for spring provision.
Every head of cattle, the expence of herdsmen deducted,
on a moderate calculation, promises a fair profit of at
least five dollars per head; and yet Mr. Cobbett, in his
weekly letters, very modestly asserts, "There is no farming
for profit in the west \" — I state these facts for the infor-
mation of those who may wish to join us, and in direct
contradiction to the ill-founded assertions of this writer on
the subject.

It is also stated by Mr. Cobbett, that "the obstruction
by bush and briar are such as to prevent early or easy
cultivation." — In contradiction to this assertion, I affirm,
that I can put the plough into thousands of acres where
there is no such obstruction. One [21] gentleman in our
settlement has grown eighty acres of fine corn, although
he only arrived last year; this alone is a sufficient contra-
diction to all Mr. C. has said on this subject. There is
also a sufficiency of corn and grain grown this first har-

102 Early Western Travels [Vol. 10

vest to supply the wants of the settlement : next year there
will be a surplus for brewing and distilling.

If a person enters heavy timbered land, it is by great
exertion he clears ten acres the first year; but he has only
here to enclose and take his choice of farming and graz-
ing, or enclose enough for corn and pasture, his cattle
feeding on the unoccupied range of grass which the neigh-
bouring cultivator cannot stock himself, and which is
much improved by the feeding of cattle.

Now, my dear Sir, as to the persons who come here or to
any other part of America, I would have them consider
for what purpose and intent they emigrate. It is certain
as regards farming, that there are only two ways in which
it can be performed : the one, labouring by his own hands;
the other, by his capital, stocking his farm, and hiring his
labourers. It is thoughtlessness and folly to tell any per-
son, if he bring with him one hundred pounds, he can
place himself in comfort; but, it is certain, that a [22]
hundred pounds here will go as far as five hundred pounds
in England ; and that the person who has that sum in pos-
session, is certainly five times better off than in that country.
The person who has this sum may enter his quarter section
of land, build his cabin, enclose his garden, keep his cows
and pigs; but then he must be a man of that description
who has been in the habit of milking his cows and tending
his pigs: all such persons will find vast advantage in
emigrating to this place. Every farmer in England (of
which there are thousands) who holds the plough, or his
sons for him, will find an easy life, and the abundant
supply of every good thing. As to the reward of his in-
dustry, every farmer who can stock a farm in England,
may here become the proprietor of his own soil with that
capital which affords him only a tenant's station, a pre-

1819] Flower* s Letters 103

carious subsistence in his own country; an inducement, I
should think, sufficient to make thousands follow our steps,
and taste the blessings of independence and the sweets of
liberty. Let all who are bending under the weight of
taxation, and trembling at the approach of every quarter-
day, come here and partake of ease and abundance. If
the affluent, also, are tired of the system of the British
government, [23] and feel the effect it has upon their
fluctuating property, here they will find the wide do-
main, the natural park, whose hills and boundaries are
beautifully capped with woods, inviting them to build
their dwellings and sit down in ease and content. These
parks are already stocked with deer, all which they may
purchase, where previous entry has not taken place, at
the land office price, two dollars per acre. These prairies
appear as if that eminent improver of parks and grounds
— Repton, had been consulted in laying them out to their
taste.1

It has been reported that we can get no servants: this
is true in a degree, because the price of service is such,
as soon to elevate the servant to a state of independance :
but I have found no want of persons to work for hire,
even in domestic stations; those that are most wanted are
farming labourers; good ploughmen are in request, and
can obtain twelve dollars per month and their board.
Female servants from eight to ten dollars, according to their
respective merits; these are in great request; and what per-
haps is to them still more pleasing, their industry is the cer-
tain road to marriage. Our young females are almost all
engaged in this way, and we certainly lose good servants,
[24] but have the pleasure of seeing them well settled.

1 Humphrey Repton (1752-1818) was a well-known English landscape
gardener. — Ed.

1 04 Early Western Travels [Vol. 10

Now, my dear Sir, as to the state of the settlement and
the progress it has already made.

On a tract of land from the little Wabash to the Bonpar2
on the Great Wabash, about seventeen miles in width,
and four to six from north to south, there were but a few
hunters' cabins, a year and a half since, and now there
are about sixty English families, containing nearly four
hundred souls; and one hundred and fifty American, con-
taining about seven hundred souls, who like the English
for their neighbours, and many of whom are good neigh-
bours to us. We have nothing here like loneliness. In
our circle of English acquaintance, as well as in that of
American settlers, we find companions who are often
found interesting and intelligent. In good deed and in
truth, here is, to the industrious, a source of wealth more
certain and productive than the mines of Golconda and
Peru. Industry of every kind has its ample reward: but
for the idle, the drunkard, and the vicious, there is no
chance; spirits are cheap, and a short existence is their
certain portion. All persons feeling anxieties that attend
agricultural pursuits may be released [25] from those
anxieties by emigrating to the Illinois.

Your newspapers, the Farmer's Journal in particular,
relate the particulars of the distress of the farmers, and
the ruin in which many of them are involved. It is in vain
that you petition for relief. By your own account your
ruin is inevitable, and your destruction sure. Escape
then to a land where the efforts of your industry will be
rewarded, and the produce of your labour will be your
own. You will escape, not only from the tax-gatherer and

3 A misprint for Bonpas. This stream flows almost directly south and forms
the present eastern boundary of Edwards County. It joins the Wabash about
forty-five miles below Vincennes. — Ed.

1819] Flower's Letters 105

tithe-collector, but from the expence attending the fright-
ful system of pauperism, which is constantly making de-
mands, not only on your pecuniary resources, but calling
you to the most painful personal exertions.

In the extensive region from New York to this place, I
have had but one application for relief, and that was from
an Englishman. In this country peace and plenty reign.

I have mentioned a scarcity of servants: this arises
much from emigrants bringing out with them a better
sort, or confidential servants: the only sort wanting are
females who can work in the kitchen, milk the cow and
attend to the dairy. All above this class can earn too
high wages by their needle. A good sempstress, [26]
earning a dollar per day, will soon quit servitude, and put
on the airs of American independance, with an addition
of some little insolence; but a cure is not unfrequently
wrought, and that by various easy methods.

A gentleman hired a female servant of this sort, who
would insist, as a condition, on sitting down at the dinner
table, with the family; her christian name was Biddy, the
condition was consented to, and a project for cure at the
same time engaged in: — A party was invited to dinner,
and Biddy took her place at the table, being above wait-
ing, or being in any degree more than a help. When
anything was wanting, a gentleman arose from table and
offered it to Miss Biddy. Miss Biddy was asked to drink
a glass of wine, first by one gentleman and then by another.
Miss Biddy was desired not to trouble herself about any
thing, and was ceremoniously treated, till she felt the
awkwardness of her situation, and said, the next day to
her mistress, — ' ' Madam, I had rather give up dining at
your table," — which she did, continuing in their service
for some time. I have had to do with people of the same

1 06 Early Western Travels [Vol. 10

cast, though not quite so foolish as Miss Biddy: — I have
hired persons to certain employments, and they have
been discontented [27] and spoiled by their notions of
equality: "Very good," said I; "we, then, are equal; I like
the idea much; it pleases me greatly: you, of course, mean
to take no money of me for what you please to do for me;
and, if that is the case, I shall be as perfectly satisfied with
your notion of things, as you appear to be; but, if you take
my money, you must perform the service I have pointed
out to you." — This perfect notion of equality does not
suit, although it is too reasonable to be much objected to.

It is generally supposed, that this high notion is of
republican origin; but it is the contrary, and originates in
the insolence of those who keep and domineer over slaves.
Any thing that a black is made to perform, is pronounced
unfit for whites; and, although many who have held slaves
as their property, are far inferior in understanding to the
slaves they hold, and are sometimes reduced to poverty,
they deem it degrading to perform any work that a slave
can perform; and those persons who, like myself, are far
from thinking all men equal in character, are little dis-
posed to engage with such persons in any service. With
our superiority in our consistent love of freedom, and our
having escaped from political [28] slavery, we shall never
fail to oppose the extention, and even the continuance of
personal slavery.

The arguments for a state of slavery, urged by Ameri-
cans, are just such as might be urged by Algerines for
taking the ships of America, and making slaves of her
seamen. Both consist in the right of force, and not of
reason or justice; and when a person hears members of
congress pleading the cause of slavery, — personal slavery,
— with the pretence they are my property, one cannot help

1819] Flower s Letters 107

blushing for human nature. Those who appear to love
freedom, both personal and political, making use of such
a pretence, forces the tear of sorrow from the eye of
humanity. One human being the property of another.
No! the whole race of mankind is the sole property of
their great universal parent; and he who enslaves another,
whether his skin be black, white, or intermediate, insults
the right of his God, and blasphemes the name of his
Creator.

I rejoice, my dear friend, in the choice the English
have made of a free state; and am certain we shall be able
to cultivate from the services of free men, cheaper than
those who cultivate them by slaves.

But to return to our settlement and its infant [29] capital
Albion. Log houses, those cabins unpleasant to the
cleanly habits of Englishmen, the receptacles of the insect
tribe, are no longer erected. I have had the pleasure of
laying the first brick foundation in Albion; it is for an inn
where travellers I hope may find rest without disturbance
from insects. We have also nearly completed our market
house which is sixty feet by thirty. A place of worship
is began. Religion, I mean the outward form, has not
been unattended to : a selection from the Church of Eng-
land service, and a sermon has been read on the sabbath
to a few persons assembled in a log room: our psalmody
is excellent, having some good musicians, and singers
amongst us. The Americans here think all who take
money for preaching, hireling ministers, and several well-
intentioned farmers preach to small assemblies in the
neighbourhood. The worship of God, and the keeping
his commands is the thing which I believe all will agree in,
as being the end to be produced by public worship. As
we have not, and I trust never shall have, that grand

1 08 Early Western Travels [Vol. 10

corruption of Christianity, an establishment formed and
supported by statesmen and politicians, I hope Christianity
in its original purity, will for ever flourish in the Illinois.
We intend also our place of worship for a library, [30] and
to open it on a Sunday afternoon ; a day when all persons
have leisure to read, and are clean in their dress and
persons. The strict Sabbatarians will doubt the pro-
priety of this proceeding; but any thing which will have a
tendency to promote moral and intellectual improvement,
and keep men from the vices of idleness and drinking, is
justified by him who put the question, — "Is it lawful to
do good on the sabbath ?"

But to return from spiritual to temporal things. I
spoke of our market house being finished. The price of
provisions in this place is as follows.

A fine turkey, a quarter of a dollar. — Fowls, twelve
cents each. — Beef four to five cents per pound. — Mutton
none yet at market. — Eggs twelve and a half cents per
dozen. — Cheese thirty cents per pound. — Butter scarce,
owing to the heat of the climate, sixteen cents per pound.
— Bacon at this time fifteen cents per pound, half the
price in winter. — Flour nine dollars per barrel. — Deer, a
fine fat buck from one dollar to one dollar and a half
including skin. — Melons, such as cannot be procured in
England, twelve and a half cents each in great abundance.
— Honey of the finest flavour, one dollar per gallon. —
Whiskey one dollar per gallon [31] retail. — Fine Hyson tea
two dollars per pound. Moist sugar thirty one cents. —
Coffee sixty-two cents per pound: wholesale from New
Orleans much cheaper. Fine fish three cents per pound.

We leave it to the public to judge of our danger of starv-
ing, as some writers have hinted.

Here then you have the situation of our rising settlement ;
progressing with rapidity in the eye of Americans, though

1819] Flower s Letters 109

to Englishmen, setting and watching for fresh intelligence,
but slowly.

You ask me, dear Sir, whether there is any sale for books
here? We have no bookseller yet, and the writings of
your favourite authors, in defence of civil and religious
liberty, would not sell here: the love of civil and religious
liberty is unbounded in every Illinois heart; there are none
to dispute the truth of the principles of complete and per-
fect freedom; and when controversy ceases, controversial
writings must of course lose their interest.

I would not for the world invite persons, no! not a
single individual, if I did not think that his happiness
would be encreased : it may be said that I am an interested
person, and so are those who take such pains to prevent
persons from coming westward. Emigration [32] from
the eastern states, has already reduced the price of lands
there.

When I passed New York, I heard a popular writer say,

"I'll be d d if I don't write down Birkbeck and the

settlement:" those who are familiar with this writer's
usual phraseology in conversation, cannot, I think, be in
any great danger of mistake as to the person alluded to:'
how far he has succeeded, the public will be a proper
judge when they carefully peruse the facts I have stated,
and compare the evidence they receive from time to time
through the various channels from the Illinois. We have
here plenty of scribes, and the truth — the whole truth
will appear before both an American and British public.
I remain,

Your sincere friend,
Richard Flower.

* This statement was made by Cobbett; see Flower's note, post, p. 164. — Ed.
THE END

It's Letters from the Illinois — January 18,
1820 -May 7, 1821

Reprint of the original edition: London, 1822

*' The most important project ever undertaken in the line of Philippine
history in any language, above all the English." — New York Evening Post.

The Philippine Islands

1493. 1898

Being the history of the Philippines

from their discovery to the present time

EXPLORATIONS by early Navigators, descriptions
of the Islands and their Peoples, their History, and
records of the Catholic Missions, as related in contempo-
raneous books and manuscripts, showing the political,
economic, commercial, and religious conditions of those
Islands from their earliest relations with European Na-
tions to the end of the nineteenth century.

Translated^ and edited and annotated by E. H. Blair and
J. A. Robertson, with introduction and additional notes by
E. G. Bourne.

With Analytical Index and Illustrations. Limited edition,
$$ volumes, large 8vo, cloth, uncut, gilt top. Price $4.00
net per volume.

"The almost total lack of acceptable material on Philippine history
in English gives this undertaking an immediate value."

— James A. Le Roy in American Historical Review.

'* With our freshened interest in the Far East, American readers ought
not to neglect the new possessions in that region which now fly the Stars
and Stripes." — Chicago Evening Post.

" Now at least there should be no difficulty for the American student
to gain a clear view of the difficulties which both the Spaniards and their
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work before them, and have not, as formerly, to obtain information from
obscure Spanish sources, in a language hitherto comparatively little studied
in the United States, .... welcome to all students of the Far East."

— English Historical Review.

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