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FLOWER'S  LETTERS  FROM  THE  ILLINOIS — JANUARY  18, 
1820 -MAY  7,  1821 


Reprint  of  the  original  edition:  London,  1822 


LETTERS 


FROM 

THE      I  ii  I  N  O  IS, 

1820. 1821. 

CONTAINING    AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  ENGLISH  SETTLEMENT 
AT  ALBION   AND   ITS   VICINITY,    AND     A    REPUTATION     OF 
VARIOUS    MISREPRESENTATIONS,      THOSE  MORE    PARTICU- 
LARLY   OP  MR.   COBBETT. 

By  RICHARD  FLOWER. 

WITH    A   LETTER   FROM    M.    BIRKBECK  $  AND   A    PREFACE 
AND   NOTES    BY  BENJAMIN   FLOWER. 


Thou  thalt  bless  the  LORD  thy  Govfor  the  GOOD  LAND  wJi&k  he  hath 
given  the*  : — beware  that  thou  forget  not  the  LORD  thy  GOD. 

Thou  thalt  not  bear falte  witness  against  thy  neigJtbmcr. 

DIVINE  COMMAXBO. 


PRINTED     FOR    JAMES     R1DGWAY,     PICCADILLY 

By  C.  Teuton,  67,  Whitec/iapel. 

1822. 
\JPr\ce  Two  Stilling*  and  Sixpence.] 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 
Price  One  Shilling 


Letters  from  Lexington  and  the  Illinois,  1819;  containing  a 
Brief  Account  of  the  English  Settlement  in  the  latter  territory,  and 
a  Refutation  of  the  misrepresentations  of  Mr.  Cobbett. 


PREFACE1 

Two  of  the  following  letters  have  before  appeared  in  a 
respectable  periodical  publication,  in  which  the  editor  has 
impartially  inserted  the  communications  of  writers  of 
different  opinions,  on  the  subject  of  emigration; 2  but  as 
they  may  be  said  to  be  a  continuation  of  former  letters, 
and  connected  with  those  now  for  the  first  time  published, 
I  have  thought  proper  to  insert  them. 

Readers  who  are  desirous  of  forming  just  opinions  on 
this  subject,  are  requested  to  bear  in  remembrance  the 

'This  pamphlet  was  seen  through  the  press  by  Benjamin  Flower  (1755- 
1829),  a  brother  of  the  author;  he  also  contributed  the  Preface  and  the  con- 
cluding Notes.  Benjamin  had  started  in  life  as  a  London  tradesman;  but 
having  failed,  travelled  for  several  years  on  the  European  continent  as  agent 
for  a  Tiverton  firm.  Being  in  France  during  much  of  1791,  "the  most  innocent 
part  of  the  revolution,"  he  became  imbued  with  some  of  the  ideas  of  the  French 
revolutionists;  and  although  not  a  revolutionist  in  England,  he  entered  the 
lists  as  a  Radical  pamphleteer,  bitterly  attacking  the  English  government  for 
engaging  in  war  with  France.  Richard,  a  man  of  substance,  and  although  a 
Radical  rather  moderate  in  his  views,  was  largely  concerned  in  establishing  the 
Cambridge  Intelligencer,  a  Radical  organ.  Benjamin  was  chosen  editor,  and 
became  widely  known  as  a  controversialist,  Cobbett  being  one  of  his  especial 
bttes  noires.  In  1 799  he  suffered  six  months'  imprisonment  in  Newgate  and  the 
payment  of  a  fine  of  £100  for  libelling  the  bishop  of  LlandafT,  a  political  oppon- 
ent. When  released,  he  married  a  young  admirer,  set  up  as  a  printer,  and 
conducted  the  Political  Register  (1807-11).  He  wrote  a  life  of  Robert  Robinson, 
a  famous  Baptist  minister  and  hymn  writer,  prefixed  to  editions  of  the  latter's 
works  (Harlow,  1807,  1812),  also  several  pamphlets  on  political  and  family 
matters.  He  was  esteemed  for  his  honesty  and  courage,  but  the  vehemence  of 
his  temper  largely  nullified  his  influence.  Two  of  his  daughters  became  well 
known  as  musical  composers  —  Eliza  Flower  (1803-46)  wrote  several  political 
hymns,  and  Sarah  Flower  Adams  (1805-48)  was  the  author  of  "Nearer  to 
Thee,"  often  wrongly  attributed  to  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe. 

A  review  of  the  pamphlet  here  reprinted  will  be  found  in  the  London  Quar- 
terly Review,  xxvii,  p.  71. —  ED. 

:  Monthly  Repository,  August  and  October,  1820. —  B.  FLOWER. 


1 1 6  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

precise  stations  described  in  the  following  pages.  How- 
ever unworthy  or  base  may  have  been  the  motives  of  cer- 
tain writers,  who  have  grossly  calumniated  the  English 
Settlement,  there  are  others,  [iv]  to  whom  it  would  be 
uncandid  to  impute  such  motives,  but  who  are  charge- 
able with  misrepresentation,  which  appears  to  have  arisen 
from  their  not  having  considered  that  the  spots  they  are 
describing  are  not  those  described  by  others;  and  that,  of 
course,  it  is  not  fair  to  charge  others  with  statements  they 
have  never  made. 

I  have  publications  before  me  in  which  Mr.  Birkbeck 
and  my  brother  are  charged  with  unfairness  in  their  state- 
ments, because  they  do  not  apply  to  the  situations  the 
writers  had  chosen,  one  of  which  was  fifty,  and  the  other 
four  hundred  miles  from  the  English  Settlement.  There 
are  at  the  Illinois  as  in  almost  all  other  countries,  situations 
pleasant  and  unpleasant,  healthy  and  unhealthy,  and  that 
emigrant  does  not  act  a  very  wise  part,  who  fixes  on  a 
station  unless  he  had  carefully  examined  it  himself,  or  at 
least  had  the  recommendation  of  some  intelligent  friend 
who  would  scorn  to  mislead  him. 

Emigration  to  America,  after  all  that  has  [v]  been  written 
on  the  subject,  and  the  various  advantages  it  certainly 
presents  to  different  classes  of  society,  is  an  affair  of  such 
importance,  that  those  who  propose  it  should  seriously  re- 
flect on  the  turn  of  their  own  mind,  their  disposition,  habits, 
circumstances,  &c.  Some  who  have  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica find  themselves  as  unhappy  there  as  they  were  in  their 
own  country.  Those  who  are  averse  to  labour,  fond  of 
luxuries,  and  whose  minds  are  rivetted  to  the  artificial  dis- 
tinctions of  society  in  Europe,  have  found  to  their  cost, 
that  America  is  not  the  country  for  them;  and  unless  they 
can  learn  wisdom,  and  form  resolution  sufficient  to  alter 


1820-1821]  Flower  s  Letters  117 

some  of  their  habits,  and  if  not  to  despise,  to  regard  with 
indifference  most  of  those  distinctions,  they  can  never  be 
reconciled  to  Republican  manners  and  institutions.  Re- 
specting a  few  persons  of  this  description  at  the  Illinois, 
one  of  the  principal  settlers  exclaimed: — "What  are  such 
people  come  here  for  ?" 

For  the  Notes  to  the  following  letters,  with  "all  their 
imperfections  on  their  head,"  I  am  [vi]  solely  responsible. — 
I  am  not  without  apprehensions  that  there  may  be  even 
candid  readers,  who  may  think  that  in  my  Reflections  on 
Infidelity,  Civil  Establishments  of  Religion,  &c.  I  have 
somewhat  wandered  out  of  my  way :  to  such  readers  I  beg 
leave  to  offer  a  word  or  two  by  way  of  apology.  True 
religion,  I  consider  as  the  most  important  concern  of  life ; 
and  were  I,  when  reflecting  on  the  state  of  society  which 
too  generally  characterizes  this  globe,  even  its  most  civil- 
ized parts,  and  on  the  various  follies  and  vices  which  have 
so  sadly  deformed  mankind  —  on  the  adversity  of  the 
righteous,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked, —  were  I  not, 
amidst  such  reflections,  supported  by  divine  consolations, 
suggested  by  a  firm  belief  in  the  Being  and  Providence  of 
God,  and  of  the  truth  of  the  Christian  system  which  assures 
us  that  "all  things  shall  be  subdued  and  reconciled 
to  HIM,"  I  should  indeed  be  "of  all  men  the  most  miser- 
able;" and,  as  I  am  firmly  persuaded  that  the  success  of 
the  gospel  is  not  more  hindered  by  open  infidelity  than 
by  [vii]  the  corruptions  of  Christianity,  I  have  from  the  cir- 
cumstances which  are  stated  in  the  following  letters  re- 
specting the  state  of  religion  at  the  Illinois,  thought  proper 
to  express  myself  on  the  subject  with  my  usual  freedom. 
So  little  has  been  done  towards  the  restoration  of  primi- 
tive Christianity  in  this  country  for  the  two  past  centuries, 
although  there  has  been  of  late,  an  unusual  bustle  in  the 


1 1  8  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

religious  world, — so  inveterate  are  the  evils  resulting  from 
STATECRAFT  and  PRIESTCRAFT  united,  that  al- 
though I  believe  with  a  firm  and  unshaken  faith,  that  the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  will  become  the  kingdoms  of  our 
Lord  and  oj  his  Christ,  I  confess  my  ignorance  as  to  the 
period,  and  the  means  by  which  those  glorious  events  pre- 
dicted in  the  sacred  writings  will  be  accomplished.  I 
cannot  however  but  indulge  the  hope  that  mankind  will, 
by  observation  and  [experience,  under  the  blessing  of 
heaven  grow  wiser;  and  that  in  the  formation  of  new  settle- 
ments, many  of  the  evils  referred  to,  may  with  proper  care 
be  avoided.  With  this  hope,  I  [viii]  have  endeavoured  to 
give  a  helping  hand,  however  feeble,  to  those  who  have  at 
heart  the  best  interests  of  their  fellow  creatures. 

For  the  language  I  have  made  use  of  in  exposing  bad 
men,  and  more  particularly  a  notorious  political  impos- 
tor, who  when  indulging  his  deep-rooted  prejudices  and 
violent  passions,  cares  not  how  he  throws  off  the  common 
feelings  of  humanity,  or  sets  truth  and  decency,  or  the 
principles  of  honour  and  honesty  at  defiance,  scarce  any 
apology  is  necessary.  Should  any  one  think  my  language 
too  strong,  I  might  plead  the  example  of  some  of  the 
greatest  and  best  men  in  different  ages;  but  I  shall  con- 
fine myself  to  that  of  the  sacred  writers.  The  prophets 
and  apostles,  yea,  our  Saviour  himself,  when  describing 
the  COBBETTS  of  their  day,  have  used  much  stronger 
language  than  I  have  done;  and  if  it  be  a  duty  at  any 
time  to  rebuke  sharply,  or  as  critics  inform  us  the  words 
should  be  rendered,  with  a  cutting  severity,  or  cutting  to 
the  quick,  it  is  when  we  have  to  do  with  men  of  such  a 
description. 

[ix]  In  conclusion,  I  ask  I  hope  no  great  favour  in  claim- 
ing on  behalf  of  Mr.  Birkbeck,  my  brother,  and  myself,  that 


1820-1821]  Flower  s  Letters  119 

credit  for  our  statements,  until  they  are  refuted  by  evi- 
dence, to  which  persons  who  have  little  character  to  lose, 
cannot  lay  claim ;  and  that  we  may  on  the  present  occasion 
obtain  belief  when  we  have  nothing  to  contradict  us  but 
the  confident  language  of  a  man  "  known  to  be  wholly 
indifferent  to  truth;"  and  who  has,  in  the  compass  of 
three  months  only,  for  his  scandalous  libels  on  private 
characters, —  on  one  of  those  occasions  for  having  in- 
vented the  atrocious  charge  of  FORGERY  against  a 
former  associate  —  most  deservedly  smarted  in  a  court  of 
justice.  Should  I,  however  unintentionally,  have  com- 
mitted any  mistake,  I  shall  deem  myself  bound  to  ac- 
knowledge it.  B.  F. 
Dalston,  Jan.  i6th,  1822. 

P.  S.  Mr  Cobbett  somewhere  remarks  —  ' '  That  he 
would  sooner  join  the  fraternity  of  gypsies  in  this  country 
than  the  settlement  at  the  Illinois."  This  is  not  so  ex- 
travagant as  some  of  his  assertions,  as  he  has  proved  him- 
self pretty  [x]  well  qualified,  in  one  respect  at  least,  for  a 
member  of  that  fraternity;  namely,  by  his  numerous 
gipsy  prophecies.  To  select  one  class  only:  —  How  fre- 
quently has  he  in  terms  the  most  unqualified  and  confi- 
dent, predicted  that  the  Bank  of  England  would  never 
return  to  cash  payments;  how  frequently  has  he  fixed  the 
period  beyond  which  it  was  impossible  for  bank-notes  to 
preserve  their  value !  Perhaps  he  had  in  his  eye  the  ac- 
complishment of  his  favourite  plan, —  a  general  forgery 
of  those  notes,  as  the  grand  means  of  bringing  about  his 
predictions.  Notwithstanding  the  complete  failure  of 
those  predictions,  (and  I  could  produce  numerous  in- 
stances of  similar  failure)  he,  although  apparently  sadly 
mortified,  goes  on  with  his  prophecies,  and  renews  the 


1 20  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

senseless  and  injurious  advice  to  the  farmers,  which  he 
has  been  giving  them  for  many  years  past,  but  which  he 
knows,  alas !  they  cannot  follow  —  to  hoard  up  the  gold 
' '  because  in  two  years  it  will  buy  twice  as  much  land  as 
it  will  buy  now !"  It  was  not  many  months  since  he  gave 
them  the  same  advice  respecting  silver,  assuring  them 
''that  a  bundle  of  silver  would  shortly  prove  a  mine  of 
wealth." — Address  to  the  Farmers.  (Register  Dec.  15). 
In  which  publication  Mr.  C.  has,  in  his  language  applied 
to  Mr.  Webb  Hall,  so  justly  drawn  his  own  picture,  that 
I  hope  the  farmers  will  keep  it  constantly  in  view. —  ' '  The 
truth  is,  Mr.  [Cobbett]  is  a  conceited  man  with  a  great 
deal  of  loose  and  indistinct  stuff  in  his  head ;  and,  having 
great  power  of  front,  he  puts  the  stuff  forth  without  hesi- 
tation. A  modest  man  may  be  a  weak  man  and  yet  not 
deserve  our  contempt;  but  impudence  and  folly  joined 
claim  as  much  of  contempt  as  man  can  bestow." —  If  the 
farmers  can  swallow  such  "stuff,"  they  have  indeed, 
what  Dr.  South  [xi]  calls  an  "iron  digesting  faith,"  and 
should  the  Jesuits  visit  this,  as  they  are  now  visiting  other 
countries,  they  will  doubtless  consider  Mr.  Cobbett's 
boasted  "disciples"  as  well  prepared  to  swallow  down 
the  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation  \ 


LETTERS,  &c. 


LETTER  I 

Albion,  Illinois,  Jan.  18,  1820. 
DEAR  SIR, 

MY  whole  family,  I  think  enjoy,  since  we  have  been  here, 
much  better  health  than  in  England,  and  we  have  enjoyed 
the  fine  Indian  summer,  which  has  lasted  full  two  months, 
of  most  charming  temperature,  the  thermometer  varying 
from  70  to  75.  We  had  only  two  wet  days  in  November, 
and  one  sudden  change  to  35  degrees;  the  weather  in  De- 
cember was  equally  fine  till  Christmas-day,  when  we  had 
frost  and  snow  much  as  in  England,  and  since  that  time 
some  very  cold  days,  the  thermometer  being  below  freez- 
ing, 22  degrees.  We  have  now  milder  weather,  but  frost 
and  snow  on  the  ground,  and  the  thermometer  again  at 
freezing,  but  gently  thawing. 

Our  settlement  has  been  remarkably  healthy,  and  every 
thing  is  going  on  tolerably  well.  You  [10]  will  say  tolerably 
well  has  a  suspicious  sound ;  I  will  therefore  allude  to  that 
term  in  future,  and  state  the  inconveniences  as  well  as  the 
pleasures  of  the  autumn.  We  have  experienced  con- 
siderable inconvenience  from  drought,  and  been  obliged 
to  draw  water  by  carriage  to  the  town,  as  the  wells  did  not 
supply  the  inhabitants  with  a  sufficiency,  and  the  people, 
like  the  Israelites,  murmured  at  us,  the  town  proprietors, 
as  much  as  ever  that  stiffnecked  people  did  at  Moses.  I 
had  no  rock  to  strike,  or  power  to  raise  water  by  miracle 
of  any  kind,  and  therefore  applied  industry  and  perse- 


122  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

verance  to  make  up  this  deficiency,  and  offered  to  supply 
them  with  fine  spring  water  at  a  quarter-dollar  per  barrel, 
from  a  most  delightful  spring,  found  on  my  son  George's 
estate,  only  eight  feet  deep,  and  inexhaustible.  I  had 
nearly  two  miles  to  draw  it,  but  I  lost  nothing  by  my  con- 
tract, and  murmuring  was  allayed.  This  want  of  water 
would  have  been  a  serious  objection  to  our  settlement  if 
it  had  been  local,  but  it  has  been  an  unusual  drought 
throughout  the  whole  of  the  Western  country,  such  as  has 
been  rarely  experienced,  and  we  have  been  much  better 
off  than  the  people  of  Kentucky:  it  has  also  awakened  our 
energies,  and  within  half  a  mile  of  the  town  an  excellent 
well  has  been  opened,  besides  two  [i  i]  others  at  a  mile  and 
a  half,  so  that  no  lasting  want  has  been  known,  only  a 
temporary  inconvenience  suffered. 

I  am  rather  particular  on  this  subject,  as  report  had 
spread  that  our  town  had  broke  up,  our  people  scattered, 
and  disease  prevailed  for  want  of  water,  all  which  was 
notoriously  false;  and  through  mercy,  I  think  there  have 
been  fewer  deaths  in  the  number  of  inhabitants  than  in 
any  part  of  England. 

Another  inconvenience  from  this  drought  was,  the  burn- 
ing of  the  prairies  much  earlier  than  usual.  There  is  a 
grandeur  in  this  scene  almost  indescribable  and  somewhat 
alarming.  We  see  whole  prairies,  containing  thousands 
of  acres,  like  a  sea  or  lake  of  fire  ascending;  columns  of 
smoke  so  affect  the  air,  that  it  is  a  complete  fog,  and  pain- 
ful to  the  eyes;  but  after  a  few  days  all  is  over;  the  sky 
clear,  and  the  air  serene,  but  our  herbage  is  gone.  At 
this  season  the  cattle  go  into  the  barn :  we  pay  a  herdsman 
to  look  after  them,  and  if  the  weather  is  not  immoderately 
wet,  they  come  out  as  fat  as  sheep  from  coleseed,  and 
afford  profit  to  the  grazier.  Our  bullocks,  which  were 


1820-1821]  Flower's  Letters  123 

bought  at  sixteen  or  seventeen  dollars  last  year,  are  now 
selling  at  Albion  Market,  from  twenty-eight  to  thirty-one 
dollars  each,  paying  nearly  cent  per  [12]  cent,  for  nine 
month's  keeping;  thus  we  are  this  year  principally  gra- 
ziers, having  two  hundred  acres  enclosed,  and  more  enclos- 
ing. George  will  have  a  fine  farm  opened,  an  excellent 
garden  and  young  trees,  and  vegetables  of  the  most  luxu- 
riant growth. 

It  ought  not,  however,  to  be  concealed  that  we  are  much 
in  want  of  farming  labourers;  we  with  difficulty  get  a  reg- 
ular ploughman,  and  a  ploughboy  is  still  a  scarcer  com- 
modity; and  till  we  can  get  our  prairies  once  broken,  and 
go  with  two  horses  without  a  driver,  ploughing  will  be 
difficult  to  be  performed.  Our  people  put  on  the  inde- 
pendent airs  of  Americans,  without  either  their  natural 
or  noble  independence,  which  disdains  any  thing  like  ser- 
vitude; but,  as  if  delighting  to  teaze  us  gave  them  great 
pleasure,  they  quit  their  work  suddenly  and  without 
reason;  but  we  greatly  counteract  this  by  keeping  them 
out  of  employ,  and  our  money  in  our  pockets,  and  pay  the 
Americans  who  come  out  and  are  always  migrating  for 
a  job  of  work,  and  then  return  to  their  farms.  We  are 
also,  in  many  instances,  destitute  of  female  servants,  but 
then  we  have  plenty  of  helps,  or  charwomen,  who  will  come 
and  work  by  the  day  or  half-day,  and  then  return  to  their 
families.  My  wife  has  managed  this  business  [13]  admir- 
ably well:  observing  their  disposition,  she  hires  them  by 
the  hour,  sees  well  to  them  for  the  time  being,  and  generally 
gets  a  usual  day's  work  done  in  a  few  hours.  This  occa- 
sional assistance,  in  addition  to  the  services  of  Mrs.  C. 
who  we  brought  with  us,  and  a  woman  servant,  makes  us 
comfortably  served. 

On  the  return  of  Christmas  day,  we  invited  our  party  as 


1 24  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

at  Harden,  my  late  residence  in  Hertfordshire:  we 
assembled  thirty-two  in  number.  A  more  intelligent, 
sensible  collection  I  never  had  under  my  roof  in  my  own 
country.  A  plentiful  supply  of  plumb  pudding,  roast  beef 
and  mince  pies  were  at  table,  and  turkeys  in  plenty,  hav- 
ing purchased  four  for  a  dollar  the  preceding  week.  We 
found  among  the  party  good  musicians,  good  singers;  the 
young  people  danced  nine  couple,  and  the  whole  party 
were  innocently  cheerful  and  happy  during  the  evening. 
The  company  were  pleased  to  say  I  had  transferred 
Old  England  and  its  comforts  to  the  Illinois.  Thus,  my 
dear  Sir,  we  are  not  in  want  of  society;  and  I  would  not 
change  my  situation  for  any  in  America,  nor  for  disturbed 
or  tumultuous  England. 

My  efforts  to  assemble  the  people  to  public  worship 
have  been  successfull;  our  place  is  well  attended,  from 
forty  to  fifty  people,  [14]  and  amongst  our  congregation 
we  often  number  a  part  of  Mr.  Birkbeck's  children  and 
servants.  Our  singing  is  excellent;  our  prayers  the 
reformed  Unitarian  service.  The  sermons  which  have 
been  read  are  from  an  author  I  never  met  with  in  Eng- 
land, Mr.  Butcher;  they  are,  without  exception,  the  best 
practical  sermons  I  have  ever  seen.  Our  Library-Room 
is  well  attended  in  the  afternoon;  the  people  improving 
in  cleanliness  and  sobriety,  recover  the  use  of  their  intel- 
lectual faculties,  and  interest  themselves  in  moral  and 
Christian  converse. 

When  I  arrived  at  Albion,  a  more  disorganized,  de- 
moralized state  of  society  never  existed:  the  experiment 
has  been  made,  the  abandonment  of  Christian  institutes 
and  Christian  sabbaths,  and  living  without  God  in  the 
world  has  been  fairly  tried.  If  those  theologians  in  Eng- 
land who  despise  the  Sabbath  and  laugh  at  congregational 


1820-1821]  Flower  s  Letters  1 25 

worship,  had  been  sent  to  the  English  settlement  in  the 
Illinois  at  the  time  I  arrived,  they  would,  or  they  ought  to 
have  hid  their  faces  for  shame.  Some  of  the  English 
played  at  cricket,  the  backwoodsmen  shot  at  marks,  their 
favourite  sport,  and  the  Sunday  revels  ended  in  riot  and 
savage  fighting :  this  was  too  much  even  for  infidel  nerves. 
All  this  also  took  place  at  Albion ;  but  when  a  few,  a  very 
few,  [15]  better  men  met  and  read  the  Scriptures,  and 
offered  prayer  at  a  poor  contemptible  log-house,  these 
revellers  were  awed  into  silence,  and  the  Sabbath  at  Albion 
became  decently  quiet.  One  of  its  inhabitants,  of  an 
infidel  cast,  said  to  me,  ' '  Sir !  this  is  very  extraordinary, 
that  what  the  law  could  not  effect,  so  little  an  assembly 
meeting  for  worship  should  have  effected."  "Sir,"  said 
I,  "I  am  surprised  that  you  do  not  perceive  that  you  are 
offering  a  stronger  argument  in  favour  of  this  Christian 
institute  than  any  I  can  present  to  you.  If  the  reading  of 
the  Scriptures  in  congregation  has  had  such  efficacious  and 
such  wonderful  effects,  you  ought  no  longer  to  reject,  or 
neglect  giving  your  attention  to  its  contents,  and  its  excel- 
lent religious  institutions." 

Thus,  my  dear  Sir,  my  efforts  for  the  benefit  of  others 
have  been  greatly  blessed.  I  appear  at  present  more  sat- 
isfied with  my  lot,  because  I  appear  to  be  more  useful 
than  ever:  in  England  all  my  attempts  at  usefulness  were 
puny  compared  to  what  they  are  here.  Many  people  here 
openly  express  their  gratitude  to  me  as  the  saviour  of  this 
place,  which,  they  say  must  have  dispersed  if  I  had  not 
arrived.  This  is  encouraging  to  a  heart  wounded  with 
affliction  as  mine  has  been,  and  is  urging  me  [i6]on  to  plans 
of  usefulness.  A  place  for  education,  a  Sunday-school, 
and  above  all,  a  Bible-society,  if  we  increase,  shall  be  my 
aim  and  endeavour.  I  have  already  abundant  testimony 


126  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

that  God  will  bless  his  word,  and  if  the  rest  of  my  life 
should  be  spent  in  such  useful  employment,  my  death- 
bed will  be  more  calm  than  if  I  had  been  taken  from  life 
before  I  had  arrived  at  this  period  of  utility.  You  will, 
I  trust,  be  able  to  appreciate  the  station  Providence  has 
placed  me  in,  and  feel  pleasure  at  this  communication. 

My  house,  which  is  nearly  finished,  is  a  comfortable  one, 
and  can  boast  a  roof  that  neither  Hertford  nor  Harden 
could.  It  stands  the  most  drenching  rains  and  drifting 
snows  without  letting  in  any  wet.  I  described  it  in  my 
former  letters;  and  while  I  am  satisfied  with  the  comfort 
it  affords,  the  Americans  behold  it  with  surprise. 

You  would  have  been  much  amused  if  you  had  been 
with  us  a  few  weeks  since,  when  I  had  a  visit  from  Captain 
Burke,8  a  sensible  and  intelligent  backwoodsman.  He 
paid  me  a  short  visit,  put  off  his  business  that  he  might 
fetch  his  wife,  which  he  did ;  we  thought  we  saw  through 
the  plan ;  he  returned  with  her  the  next  day,  and  we  felt 
disposed  to  gratify  their  [i  7]  curiosity.  ' c  There  wife,"  said 
he,  "did  you  ever  see  such  fixings  ?"  He  felt  the  paper, 
looked  in  a  mirror  over  our  chimney-piece  which  reflected 
the  cattle  grazing  in  the  field  before  the  house,  and  gazed 
with  amazement.  But  turning  from  these  sights  to  the 
library, — "Now,"  said  he  to  my  wife,  "does  your  old  gen- 
tleman" (for  that  is  my  title  here)  "read  those  books?" 
"Yes,"  said  she,  "he  has  read  most  of  them." — "Why 
if  I  was  to  read  half  of  them,  I  should  drive  all  the  little 

*  Captain  Jeremiah  Birk  shared  with  Daniel  Boone  and  many  other  pioneers 
in  the  Western  wilderness,  the  feeling  that  life  in  a  settlement  was  too  crowded. 
Emigrating  from  Tennessee,  he  lived  with  his  family  alone  on  the  prairies  until 
the  arrival  of  the  English  settlers.  He  obtained  his  title  of  captain  by  com- 
manding a  company  of  scouts  along  the  Canadian  frontier  during  the  War 
of  1812-15.  Illinois  becoming  too  thickly  settled  to  please  him,  he  soon  moved 
across  the  Mississippi  River. —  ED. 


1820-1821]  Flower  s  Letters  1 27 

sense  in  my  head  out  of  it."  I  replied  that  we  read  to  in- 
crease our  sense  and  our  knowledge;  but  this  untutored 
son  of  nature  could  not  conceive  of  this  till  I  took  down  a 
volume  of  Shaw's  Zoology.4  "You,  Mr.  Burke,  are  an 
old  hunter,  and  have  met  with  many  snakes  in  your  time. 
I  never  saw  above  one  in  my  life;  now  if  I  can  tell  you 
about  your  snakes  and  deer,  and  bears  and  wolves,  as 
much  or  more  than  you  know,  you  will  see  the  use  of 
books."  I  read  to  him  a  description  of  the  rattle-snake, 
and  then  shewed  him  the  plate,  and  so  on.  His  attention 
was  arrested,  and  his  thirst  for  knowledge  fast  increasing. 
"I  never  saw  an  Indian  in  my  life,  and  yet,"  said  I,  "I 
can  tell  you  all  about  them."  I  read  again  and  shewed 
him  a  coloured  plate.  "There,"  said  he,  "wife,  is  it  not 
[18]  wonderful,  that  this  gentleman,  coming  so'many  miles, 
should  know  these  things  from  books  only?  See  ye," 
said  he,  pointing  to  the  Indian,  "got  him  to  a  turn." 
In  short,  I  never  felt  more  interested  for  an  hour  or  two,  to 
see  how  this  man's  mind  thirsted  after  knowledge;  and 
though  he  dreaded  the  appearance  of  so  many  books,  he 
seemed,  before  he  left  us,  as  if  he  could  spend  his  life 
amongst  them. 

Our  library  is  now  consolidated ;  and  that  the  kind  inten- 
tions of  yourself  and  others  may  not  be  lost,  and  that  your 
names  may  live  in  our  memories  and  be  perpetuated  to 
future  generations,  I  have  conveyed  all  the  books  presented 
to  us,  in  trust  to  the  proprietors  of  the  town,  for  the  use  of 
the  Albion  Library;  writing  the  names  of  the  donors  in 
them;  and  in  my  next  letter  I  shall,  pro  forma,  be  able  to 
convey  to  you  our  united  thanks  for  the  books  presented. 

4  George  Shaw  (1751-1813),  the  well-known  English  naturalist.  His  great 
work  was  General  Zoology,  or  Systematic  Natural  History  (London,  1800-26), 
which  after  his  death  was  extended  to  a  total  of  fourteen  volumes. —  ED. 


128  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

Our  little  library  is  the  admiration  of  travellers,  and  Amer- 
icans say  we  have  accomplished  more  in  one  year,  than 
many  new  settlements  have  effected  in  fifty — a  well  sup- 
plied market,  a  neat  place  of  worship,  and  a  good  library. 


LETTER  II 

Park  House,  Albion,  June  20,  1820. 

I  HAVE  not  written  many  letters  to  my  friends  in  Eng- 
land, because  I  was  determined  not  to  state  any  thing  on 
presumption,  or  of  mere  opinion,  but  only  matters  of  fact, 
which  must  stand  uncontradicted,  and  bear  the  test  of 
examination. 

I  proceed  to  state  to  you  the  circumstances  which  we  are 
now  in ;  and  you  will  my  dear  Sir,  feel  satisfaction  at  my 
being  able  to  give  you  the  pleasing  account,  that,  after 
nearly  a  twelvemonth's  residence,  there  is  no  foundation  for 
reasonable  complaint.  Every  workman  or  artificer  has 
abundance  of  employment  at  a  price  that  will  procure  him 
a  plentiful  subsistence;  and  at  this  time  our  little  town  is 
amply  supplied,  with  not  only  the  necessaries  of  life,  but 
even  its  luxuries.  I  have  a  comfortable  habitation,  con- 
taining four  rooms  and  a  hall  on  the  ground  floor,  and  five 
chambers  above;  two  wings  are  added  which  contain 
kitchen,  china  closet,  dairy,  and  an  excellent  cellar.  My 
farm  produces,  as  it  did  at  Harden,  good  beef  and  mutton, 
with  abundance  of  [20]  poultry,  eggs,  milk,  cream,  butter, 
and  cheese.  I  am  quite  at  home  again,  and  am  writing 
to  you  surrounded  by  the  same  library  standing  in  the 
same  relative  situation,  in  my  large  easy  chair,  and  enjoy- 
ing every  earthly  comfort.  I  have  the  happy  absence  of 
tax-gatherers,  and  am  never  galled  with  tithe  or  poor- 
rate  collectors. 


1820-1821]  Flower's  Letters  129 

Our  settlement,  thank  God,  is  remarkably  healthy,  and 
my  family  and  self  have  never  enjoyed  better  health  than 
in  the  situation  which  some  of  your  reviewers  and  critics 
call  "the  swamps  of  the  Wabash."  There  is  no  situation 
in  the  habitable  globe  in  which  less  sickness  and  fever  have 
taken  place  in  the  given  period  of  twelve  months,  and  the 
evil  reports  that  have  been  spread  about,  applied  only,  in 
a  small  degree,  to  the  large  party  of  settlers  who,  on  their 
arrival,  took  shelter  in  the  woods,  finding  none  of  the  con- 
veniences prepared  for  them  which  they  had  reason  to 
expect.  All  is  going  on  here  to  the  full  as  well  as  can  be 
expected  or  hoped;  and  if  the  British  settlement  does 
not  prosper,  it  will  be  the  fault  of  the  settlers  only. 

As  to  religion,  the  form  of  it  is  now  regularly  attended 
to  by  many,  and  all  have  the  [21]  means  of  assembling  on 
the  Sunday  at  our  small  but  neat  place  of  worship.  We 
read  the  Reformed  or  Unitarian  Liturgy,  the  Scriptures, 
and  Sermons  from  our  best  English  authors.  Our  place 
of  worship  is  likewise  our  library-room.  Religion  in  the 
outward  form  is  by  no  means  ostentatious,  notwithstand- 
ing which,  we  have  a  large  portion  of  good,  sober  and 
industrious  people  amongst  us,  who,  I  trust,  by  a  virtuous 
example  and  keeping  alive  religious  feelings,  will  be  ulti- 
mately successful  in  preserving  true  religion  amongst  the 
people  of  the  Illinois. 

But  to  return  from  spiritual  to  temporal  concerns:  I 
imagine  you  asking, —  Are  there  then  no  inconveniences  ? 
There  are.  We  have  not  a  sufficiency  of  female  servants, 
on  account  of  the  frequency  of  marriage,  which  is  con- 
stantly depriving  us  of  those  we  have;  and  although  I  have 
hitherto  been  well  off,  yet  I  am  fearful  we  may  be  as  others 
are,  inconvenienced  for  want  of  them.  Boys  for  either 
plough  or  house  work  are  scarce,  but  the  entire  absence  of 


130  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

pauperism  more  than  amply  compensates  for  these  priva- 
tions. How  much  I  regret  that  more  of  the  overflowing 
population  of  England  cannot  find  [22]  their  way  here, 
exchanging  their  poverty  for  plenty  of  employment  and 
good  fare. 

We  have  East  and  West  India  produce  in  abundance; 
silks,  crapes,  &c.  such  as  you  in  England  only  can  pro- 
cure by  a  breach  of  the  laws.  On  the  first  day  that  I 
dined  at  the  tavern  which  I  had  just  finished  building  in 
Albion,  I  drank  bottled  porter  as  cheap  as  in  London, 
and  had  fine  English  salt  at  half  the  price  I  paid  for  it  in 
England.  Thus  I  find  I  have  escaped  the  ruinous  system 
of  taxation  which  has  reduced  so  many  thousands  to 
beggary  or  the  workhouse,  and  so  many  of  the  middling 
classes  to  a  state  of  pinching  want,  whom  I  have  seen  shiv- 
ering through  the  winter  over  a  few  coals  called  a  fire, 
because  their  limited  means  would  not  afford  a  cheerful 
blaze. 

A  great  advantage  in  settling  in  the  Illinois,  rather  than 
many  other  parts  of  America,  is  the  state  of  society 
amongst  us.  Most  of  the  persons  who  emigrate  here, 
are  those  who  have  diminished  their  former  fortunes; 
persons  who  have  received  good  education,  but  are  un- 
able to  sustain  their  stations  in  England.  There  is  no  arro- 
gance in  saying  our  circle  of  society  is  far  superior  to  that 
in  most  of  the  villages  in  our  native  country.  Except  the 
parson,  the  [23]  squire,  and  the  principal  farmers,  what  is 
the  society  of  many  of  the  English  hamlets  but  rude  and 
uncultivated  ?  Here  it  is  different ;  for  within  the  circle 
of  a  few  miles,  there  is  more  good  company  (I  mean  well- 
educated  persons)  than  in  the  same  circle  in  most  parts  of 
England. 

We  frequently  find  superior    education  and  intelli- 


1820-1821]  Flower's  Letters  131 

gence  among  the  sons  of  the  plough  and  the  axe,  to  those 
in  like  situations  in  England.  A  person  lately  offered  me 
his  services  to  split  boards  for  me :  we  agreed  for  price.  I 
observed  a  correctness  in  his  pronunciation  and  manner 
of  speaking,  apparently  far  above  his  situation.  I  attended 
him  to  the  woods;  he  had  with  him  two  younger  men  than 
himself.  The  first  singularity  that  appeared  was,  after 
taking  off  their  clothes,  (having  first  ground  their  axes) 
a  nail  or  two  were  driven  into  a  tree,  on  which  were  hung 
handsome  gold  watches.  These  men  were  well  educated, 
understood  geography,  history,  European  politics,  and  the 
interesting  events  that  now  so  much  excite  the  attention 
of  mankind.  I  went  into  my  field  the  other  day,  and 
began  a  conversation  with  my  ploughman :  his  address  and 
manner  of  speech,  as  well  as  his  conversation  [24]  sur- 
prised me.  I  found  he  was  a  colonel  of  militia,  and  a 
member  of  the  legislature ;  he  was  indeed  a  fit  companion 
for  men  of  sense ;  and  where  will  you  find  persons  of  this 
class  in  England  with  equal  intelligence  ? 

Of  the  particular  news  of  this  place,  there  is  one  piece 
of  intelligence  that  will  surprise  you ;  the  author  of  "Letters 
from  the  Illinois,"  (Mr.  Birkbeck)  has  opened  a  place  of 
worship  at  Wanborough;  he  officiates  himself,  and  reads 
the  Church  oj  England  Service,  so  that  Wanborough  is  the 
seat  of  orthodoxy,  and  our  place  stands,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  in  the  ranks  of  heresy  ? 

There  is  an  opinion  prevailing  amongst  many  in  Eng- 
land, that  the  marriage  ceremony  in  America  is  considered 
lightly  of,  and  but  loosely  performed ;  but  there  never  was 
a  greater  mistake.  A  minor  cannot  marry  without  the 
consent  of  his  or  her  guardian  or  parent.  A  license  must 
be  applied  for  at  the  county  court,  and  a  declaration  ac- 
companying it  from  the  parent,  that  it  is  with  his  consent. 


132  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

This  license  is  taken  to  a  magistrate  who  performs  the  cere- 
mony, that  is,  the  legal  part  of  it,  at  either  his  own  house 
or  that  of  the  parties;  which  is  simply  asking  if  they  are 
willing  to  become  man  and  wife,  and  their  answer  of  con- 
sent. This  is  registered  at  the  magistrates,  and  recorded 
by  him  at  the  county  court:  if  [25]  either  neglect  to  make 
this  register,  a  heavy  fine  is  the  punishment  of  their  negli- 
gence, and  the  marriage  is  considered  illegal.  This  is 
legal  marriage  in  the  Illinois;  but  both  the  magistrates 
inquire  of  the  parties,  and  the  law  allows  of  any  addition 
of  a  religious  kind,  that  they  may  choose,  and  we  adopt 
the  vows  of  the  marriage  service  of  the  Church  of  England, 
which  are  as  solemnly  put  and  answered,  as  if  performed 
by  a  person  in  canonical  habits  before  the  altar. 

Marriages  here  take  place  so  frequently,  that  we  are 
certainly  in  want  of  female  servants;  even  our  Mrs.  C., 
who  lived  with  us  upwards  of  twenty-five  years,  and  is 
turned  of  fifty,  has  not  escaped;  she  is  married  to  a  Mr. 
W.,  having  first  refused  Monsieur  R.,  an  Italian  gardener, 
of  very  polite  manners,  and  who  may  be  said  to  have  seen 
a  little  of  the  world,  as  he  marched  from  Italy  to  Moscow 
with  Bonaparte,  back  to  France,  and  proceeded  from 
thence  to  this  place:  he  was  tall  and  majestic  in  person, 
made  very  elegant  bows  to  Madame  C.,  and  spoke  English 
enough  to  assure  her  he  had  the  highest  esteem  for  her, 
and  would  marry  her  to-morrow  if  she  would  consent; 
but  all  hi  vain,  plain  John  Bull  [26]  carried  the  day.  We 
have  had  ten  or  twelve  marriages  within  three  or  four 
months.  This,  I  think,  is  settling  the  Illinois  pretty  fast, 
and  a  good  proof  that  Cobbett  has  not,  as  he  threatened, 
'written  us  down;'  nor  is  there  any  sign  of  abandonment, 
but  a  good  prospect,  of  increase  of  population,  even  if  emi- 
gration should  diminish. 


1820-1821]  Flower's  Letters  133 

We  hear  news  from  England  sufficient  to  appreciate  the 
wretched  situation  of  our  native  country,  and  the  disturbed 
state  of  Europe  in  general.  We  see,  or  think  we  see 
most  plainly,  the  phial  of  God's  wrath  pouring  forth  on 
guilty  nations;  and  England,  notwithstanding  its  pulpit 
flatterers,  in  the  church  and  out  of  the  church,  is  tasting 
of  that  wrath.  It  appears  to  me  that  we  have  great  cause 
for  gratitude  in  escaping  divine  judgments,  and  finding  an 
asylum  where  we  may,  I  hope,  rest  in  peace. 

I  see,  on  looking  from  my  window,  the  golden  harvest 
waving  before  me;  a  beautiful  field  of  wheat,  the  admira- 
tion of  the  country,  the  first  fruit  of  my  son's  industry  in 
this  kind  of  grain. 

My  wife  and  family  enjoy  excellent  health,  and  spirits, 
and  had  not  the  Almighty  hand  [27]  smote  me  in  my  ten- 
derest  part,  by  sending  his  awful  messenger  to  call  my 
dear  son  William  away,6  the  days  of  my  emigration  would 
have  been  the  happiest  of  my  life. 

R.F. 

LETTER  III 

March  26,  1821. 

As  to  the  settlement  in  general,  I  consider  it  most  pros- 
perous, making,  comparing  it  with  many  new  ones,  the 
most  rapid  strides  to  comfort  and  prosperity:  our  little 
town,  now  the  capital  of  the  English  Settlement e  has  a 
store  which  supplies  us  with  luxuries.  A  market  with 
abundance  of  meat,  poultry,  and  vegetables,  so  that  per- 
sons with  very  limited  incomes  might  live  here  in  comfort. 

'  William  Flower,  second  son  of  Richard,  died  at  Lexington,  Kentucky, 
apparently  of  heart  disease,  in  the  winter  of  1818-19.  See  George  Flower's 
"English  Settlement  in  Edwards  County,  Illinois,"  in  Chicago  Historical  So- 
ciety Collections,  i,  p.  131. —  ED. 

•  Albion  was  made  the  county  seat  of  Edwards  County  in  1821. —  ED. 


134  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

A  person  with  100  per  Annum  would  be  in  affluence,  which 
you  will  say  is  owing  to  the  cheapness  of  provisions;7 
and  freedom  from  tythes,  taxes,  poor's  rates,  &c.  The 
labourer  or  mechanic  who  is  steady,  can  work  himself  into 
plenty.  [28]  We  are  relieved  entirely  from  the  dreadful 
state  of  pauperism  witnessed  before  I  left  England.  My 
wife,  with  others  of  our  acquaintance,  have  not  had 
such  good  health  for  twenty  years  past.  Mrs.  Flower 
rides  twenty  miles  a  day,  on  horse  back,  with  ease.  I  wish 
you  could  visit  my  old  servant  T.  S.  on  one  of  the  pleas- 
antest  situations  in  the  world,  with  his  nice  garden,  his 
cows,  pigs,  and  poultry  about  him;  his  wife  and  children 
contented  and  happy.  Perhaps  were  you  to  come  sud- 
denly upon  him,  eggs  and  bacon  with  a  hastily  got  up 
chicken  might  be  your  fare;  but  if  you  gave  him  a  day's 
notice,  you  would  see  a  haunch  of  venison,  or  a  fine  cock 
turkey  on  the  table.  How  long  would  Tom  have  fagged 
in  England,  although  he  had  double  his  wages,  before  he 
could  have  possessed  himself  of  two  hundred  acres  of 
good  land,  and  been  placed  in  such  affluence.  Here,  in- 
deed, it  may  be  truly  said  that  the  hand  of  the  diligent 
maketh  rich.  We  have  here  and  there  an  idle  person,  but 
Providence  has  given  them  an  industrious  help-mate;  and 
I  know  two  instances  of  females  earning  from  six  to  eight 
dollars  a  week  by  their  needles;  enough  for  them  to  keep 
comfortable  tables. 

I  have  felt  great  satisfaction  in  never  having  [29]  in- 
vited any  one  to  emigrate,  and  still  greater  in  finding  those 
who  came  here  out  of  regard  to  my  opinions,  in  such  situ- 
ations of  ease  and  comfort,  as  not  only  to  contribute  to 
their  own  happiness,  but  to  add  greatly  to  mine.  I  may 
say  that  those  who  have  asked  and  taken  my  advice  have 

7  Flower's  Letters  from  [Lexington  and]  the  Illinois,  1819. —  B.  FLOWER. 


1820-1821]  Flower's  Letters  135 

succeeded  to  their  wishes;  and  in  all  cases  which  have 
come  to  my  knowledge,  where  affairs  have  been  conducted 
with  industry  and  tolerable  discretion,  they  have  occasion 
to  be  thankful  for  the  change  they  have  made  from  the 
old  world  to  the  new.  Our  population  increases.  We 
want  in  particular  more  tailors  and  shoemakers:  any  one 
understanding  the  coarse  earthen-ware  manufactury 
would  meet  with  great  success. —  I  have  just  finished  a 
flour  mill  on  an  inclined  plane,  which  has  given  fresh 
spirit  to  agriculture.  Distilleries  are  also  building.  It  is 
a  happy  circumstance  that  while  industry  is  attended  with 
certain  success,  vice,  drunkenness,  and  idleness  are  no 
better  off  than  in  Europe ;  the  effect  of  this  will  be  to  give 
the  virtuous  that  natural  ascendancy  over  the  vicious 
which  they  ought  always  to  have.  We  read  in  the  news- 
papers of  all  the  bustle  you  have  had  about  your  queen;8 
but  if  it  ends  without  the  people  regaining  their  long  lost 
liberties,  between  the  [30]  collision  of  the  different  fac- 
tions, you  will  only  be  worse  off;  and  if  the  regaining  of 
those  liberties  will  not  rouse  the  people  to  the  same  exer- 
tions for  themselves  as  they  have  made  for  their  queen,  we 
must  smile  at  their  oppressions  and  say  they  deserve 
them. 

LETTER  IV 

Park  House,  Albion,  Aug.  20,  1821. 
DEAR  SIR, 

SOME  of  my  letters,  written  in  1819,  appeared  through 
the  medium  of  the  press;  and  some  of  the  English  Review- 
ers, after  a  candid  criticism,  observed,  that  they  should  be 

1  Flower  here  refers  to  the  excitement  in  England  in  favor  of  the  Queen, 
upon  George  IV's  attempt  to  divorce  her.  See  Walpole,  History  of  England,  i, 
PP-  STS-60^.—  ED. 


136  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

glad  to  hear  from  me  at  some  future  period.  Several 
other  persons  also  have  expressed  a  strong  desire  to  have 
an  account  of  our  present  situation  and  future  prospects. 
In  compliance  therefore,  with  their  wishes,  I  most  cheer- 
fully resume  my  pen,  with  the  assurance  that  what  I  have 
written  may  be  relied  upon  as  an  impartial  and  candid 
statement  of  facts. 

Various  are  the  reports  which  have  been  circulated  in 
the  private  circle,  and  by  means  of  the  press,  concerning 
the  state  of  this  settlement;  [31]  and  great  has  been  the 
anxiety  which  many  friends  have  expressed  on  our  ac- 
count. It  is  my  purpose  therefore,  to  examine  the  prin- 
cipal reports  which  travellers  have  given  of  us. 

When  any  one  returns  to  England,  though  he  may  have 
visited  us  but  a  few  days,  he  obtains  a  credence  far  above 
those  who  have  only  hear-say  reports  to  communicate; 
whether  his  visits  were  made  during  the  winter,  amidst 
rains  or  snows,  or  in  the  summer,  when  an  unparalleled 
drought  pervaded  the  whole  western  country.  Is  so  tran- 
sitory a  view  to  be  considered  as  a  just  description  of  the 
soil,  the  climate,  the  advantages  or  disadvantages  of  the 
British  Settlement  in  the  Illinois?  Surely  not.  I  am 
informed  even  of  some  accounts  which  have  been  written 
from  settlements  above  fifty  miles  distant  from  us,  where 
circumstances  are  so  very  different,  that  they  bear  no 
resemblance  to  the  situation  in  which  we  have  located. 
These  statements  have  been  brought  forward  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  indisputable  facts  which  have  been  given  by 
us,  and  they  no  more  apply  to  this  place,  than  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  lowlands  of  Essex  and  Lincolnshire  can  apply 
to  the  high  and  dry  situations  of  Shooter' s-hill  or  Black- 
heath.  I  therefore  request  the  reader's  [32]  attention  to 
a  few  observations  on  the  various  reports  which  travellers 


1820-1821]  Flower's  Letters  1 37 

have  circulated  of  the  English  settlements  at  the  Illinois. 

I  must  first  be  allowed  to  remark  on  the  want  of  com- 
petency of  some  very  confident  writers  to  form  any  judg- 
ment of  our  real  situation;  they  appear  to  be  wholly  un- 
acquainted with  the  history  of  the  new  settlements,  and 
from  this  defect  are  unfitted  to  form  a  right  judgement 
of  our  comparative  and  relative  advantages.  Hence  the 
incongruous  and  contradictory  accounts  which  have  been 
given  of  our  soil,  climate,  and  agricultural  concerns.  Of 
the  many  who  have  visited  us  there  are  two  individuals 
whose  reports  I  hear  gain  some  credence  amongst  my 
country  men ;  I  shall  therefore  confine  my  attention  chiefly 
to  the  accounts  they  have  given  of  us,  and  then  examine 
those  reports  which  have  been  raised  from  deep-rooted 
enmity  and  determined  self-interest.  These,  with  a  brief 
account  of  our  present  situation  and  future  prospects 
shall  be  the  remaining  subject  of  this  letter. 

One  of  these  travellers  visited  us  when  the  snows  were 
melting,  and  the  rains  descending:  he  reports  us  to  be 
dwelling  upon  the  swamps  of  the  Wabash;  and  our  lands 
to  be  so  wet  that  they  are  unfit  for  either  cattle  or  sheep 
to  [33]  thrive  on;  and  on  that  account  unsuitable  for  the 
purposes  of  an  English  farmer. 

Another  passed  through  our  country  in  an  unparalleled 
drought,  and  reported  us  to  be  in  a  sad  situation  for  want 
of  water.  There  was  some  degree  of  truth  in  this,  but  a 
very  partial  degree,  owing  to  his  not  stating  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case.  Our  town  is  situated  very  high,  and 
till  we  had  experienced  some  drought  we  knew  not  that 
we  should  want  to  dig  deep  for  water,  and  of  course  could 
not  provide  for  an  exigency  that  was  not  known  to  exist. 
"Dig  deep"  I  have  said;  but  one  hundred  feet  is  thought, 
by  a  western  American  to  be  a  vast  and  dangerous  enter- 


138  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

prise;  we  have  however  with  us  Englishmen  who  have 
been  far  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth  in  England,  and  have 
no  sort  of  fear  of  there  not  being  abundance  of  water  in 
Albion;  already  have  we  experienced  the  benefit  of  these 
exertions;  but  while  our  dry- weather  traveller  was  re- 
porting our  inconveniences,  he  should  have  stated  it  was 
an  unusual  season  which  pervaded  the  whole  of  the  west- 
ern country:  that  Kentucky  and  Ohio  were  worse  than  the 
Illinois;  and  that  in  Indiana,  in  the  best  watered  districts, 
springs,  rivulets,  and  wells  were  exhausted.  Such  an 
instance  has  never  before  occurred  [34]  during  the  mem- 
ory of  the  oldest  inhabitants.  The  same  person  (who  I 
know  would  not  willingly  give  a  false  account)  has  stated 
that  so  short  was  the  water  that  we  were  obliged  to  send 
our  cattle  into  Indiana. —  That  our  herds  were  in  Indiana 
is  very  true,  but  that  they  were  sent  there  on  account  of 
want  of  water,  is  equally  untrue.  We  have  in  Indiana 
about  twelve  miles  distant,  some  high  ground  in  the  midst 
of  low  land,  subject  to  be  overflowed ;  on  this  low  ground 
grows  the  most  luxuriant  cane,  springing  to  an  extraor- 
dinary height;  the  tender  shoots  of  which,  affording  excel- 
lent food  for  cattle,  we  send  them  in  the  winter  season, 
with  the  exception  of  milch  cows  and  working  oxen,  to 
fatten.  Our  custom  is  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  the 
farmers  of  the  upland  districts  in  England,  who  send  their 
stock  into  the  fens  of  Lincolnshire  to  fatten  on  coleseed 
and  superabundant  grass.  So  we  dispose  of  our  herds 
when  the  winter  draws  to  a  close.  To  this  may  be  added, 
that  the  cane  in  the  low  river  bottoms,  growing  naturally 
is  the  most  luxuriant  pasturage  for  summer  feeding:  and 
as  we  only  pay  the  expense  of  the  herdsman,  the  food  either 
there  or  in  the  cane  costing  nothing:  and  the  herdsman 
living  there  we  leave  our  herds;  so  it  was  true  that  they 


1820-1821]  Flower's  Letters  I  39 

[35]  were  i*1  tne  cane,  but  were  not  sent  there  on  account 
of  the  want  of  water.  When  this  person  reported  that 
there  was  shortness  of  water  amongst  us,  he  should  have 
added,  that  fine  wells  were  no  rarity  in  the  vicinity  of 
Albion;  that  he  drank  as  fine  water  from  our  well  as  he 
ever  tasted  in  his  life;  and  that  from  the  grounds  of  Rich- 
ard and  George  Flower,  Albion,  and  even  a  part  of  Wan- 
borough  were  supplied. 

It  will  therefore  appear  that  this  person,  as  well  as  many 
others,  told  the  truth,  but  very  partially,  and  not  the  whole 
truth,  and  on  that  account  are  not  to  be  depended  on.  At 
the  very  time  he  was  visiting  us  a  person  from  Kentucky, 
assured  us  that  we  were  better  off  than  they  were  at  Ken- 
tucky and  Ohio.9 

Another  person  who  visited  us  on  purpose  to  examine 
and  spy  out  the  land  of  evil  report,  went  back  to  Baltimore 
and  brought  his  family,  stating  in  his  travels  that  he  had 
not  met  with  such  good  water  as  at  this  place.  This  same 
traveller  has  reported  our  soil  to  be  poor,  and  our  inability 
to  raise  a  sufficient  quantity  of  provisions  for  ourselves, 
and  that  we  are  still  dependant  on  the  Harmonites:  in 
this  he  only  shews  his  [36]  want  of  knowledge  of  the  history 
of  new  settlements  and  their  progress.  Every  person 
knows  that  the  second  year  is  the  most  unprofitable:  the 
first  year  being  spent  in  building  and  fencing,  little  pro- 
duce is  raised:  but  then  all  settlers  of  property  bring  a 
supply  with  them  to  make  up  for  this  certain  deficiency; 
but  capital  being  somewhat  exhausted,  and  an  increase  of 
population  still  continuing,  must  of  necessity  keep  a  new 
settlement  short  of  self -supplies;  but  when  to  this  was 
added  an  extraordinary  drought,  is  it  a  matter  of  surprise 
that  the  crops  should  in  some  degree  have  been  scanty; 

•  See  Note  A. —  B.  FLOWER. 


140  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

but  at  the  time  I  am  writing,  almost  every  thing  these 
travellers  have  said  of  the  Illinois,  is  happily  reversed: 
they  are  the  remarks  of  very  superficial  observers;  though 
they  may  be  in  some  degree  true  at  the  moment  they  were 
written,  they  are  no  fit  representations  [of]  the  Illinois; 
either  as  to  its  soil,  climate,  or  general  character;  could  I 
but  set  these  very  travellers  down  here  at  this  moment,  how 
would  their  astonished  senses  give  contradiction  to  their 
own  accounts! 

We  have  now  what  the  Americans  tell  us  is  a  usual 
specimen  of  the  seasons  of  the  Illinois.  Frequent  rains, 
with  the  heat  more  moderate  than  the  last  year.  Agri- 
culture is  beaming  forth  [37]  in  its  glory.  If  some  of  our 
travellers  to  whom  I  have  alluded  were  now  here,  they 
would  see  some  of  the  finest  wheat  crops  their  eyes  ever 
beheld:  they  would  witness  the  most  luxuriant  crops  of 
natural  grasses,  now  gathering  for  the  supply  of  winter 
food;  also  fine  plants  of  artificial  grasses  well  set  in  our 
inclosures;  they  would  acknowledge  that  the  corn  crops 
were  as  abundant,  or  more  so  than  any  they  had  before 
witnessed  in  the  United  States;  but  as  they  are  not  here  I 
must  inform  you  that  our  corn  crops  upon  good  tillage 
have  the  appearance  of  from  sixty  to  eighty  bushels;  and 
in  some  instances  the  Americans,  who  are  the  best  judges, 
say  one  hundred  bushels  per  acre.  If  this  is  the  usual 
season  of  the  Illinois,  which  can  scarcely  be  doubted,  as 
it  answers  the  character  given  by  those  longest  resident, 
then  is  the  Illinois  one  of  the  finest  countries  under  heaven 
for  human  beings  to  dwell  in;  one  of  the  most  delightful 
given  to  man  for  his  residence. 

Another  traveller  has  stated  that  the  Illinois  is  in  general 
low  and  swampy,  but  that  Mr.  Flower's  family,  with  one 
or  two  others,  had  placed  their  houses  upon  rising  ground. 


1820-1821]  Flower  s  Letters  141 

This  gentleman  must  either  be  naturally  or  willfully  [38] 
blind.  He  might  have  found,  within  a  circuit  of  five  miles 
round  Albion,  numerous  pleasing  elevations,  all  so  inviting 
that  the  beauty  which  they  presented  to  the  admiring  eye 
of  the  settler,  would  be  the  only  difficulty  in  the  way  of 
instant  decision. 

Then  comes  another  objector,  armed  with  an  un  an- 
swerable question? — "But  what  will  you  do  with  your 
produce  ?"  This  objection  only  needs  to  be  examined  to 
be  refuted.  The  answer  is,  that  for  the  present  our  home 
market  will  take  all  we  raise,  and  if  our  population  in- 
creases in  future  as  it  has  done  during  the  present  year, 
and  the  probability  is  that,  it  will  increase  much  faster, 
no  foreign  market  will  be  wanted  for  ten  or  a  dozen  years 
to  come.  Our  infant  town  has  taken  root,  and  is  growing 
luxuriantly.  It  has  increased  one  hundred  in  the  number 
of  inhabitants  since  last  September,  and  its  vicinity  has 
added  seventy  to  their  number.  Our  mill  is  at  work,  and 
can  grind  the  produce  now  raised;  and  a  distillery  and 
brewery  will  shortly  be  at  work,  so  that  the  su[r]plus  of 
several  years  will  not  raise  more  than  a  sufficiency  for  the 
population.  We  have  also  in  the  settlement  some  small 
plantations  of  tobacco,  hemp,  and  cotton,  articles  which 
we  [39]  at  present  import;  it  will  therefore  be  a  work  of 
some  time  to  raise  a  sufficiency  for  our  own  consumption. 

Another  article  of  produce  is  wool.  Since  I  have  been 
here  I  have  turned  my  attention  to  an  important  object 
which  engaged  much  of  my  attention  in  my  native  country 
— the  breeding  of  sheep,  and  have  succeeded  to  the  ut- 
most of  my  wishes  and  expectations.  My  flock  consists 
of  about  four  hundred  sheep  and  lambs;  and  although  the 
first  winter  there  were  unexpected  difficulties  to  encounter, 
I  can  assure  my  countrymen  that  it  has  been  more  healthy 


142  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

this  last  year  than  any  I  ever  had,  or  ever  heard  of  in  Eng- 
land ;  but  as  I  intend  giving  an  account  of  my  success  in 
this  branch  of  agriculture  in  some  future  letter,  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  say,  that  although  I  can  grow  in  the  Illinois 
a  profitable  export,  at  present  its  produce  is  wanted,  and 
all  that  can  be  raised  for  years  to  come,  will  be  wanted  at 
home.  We  have  therefore  not  only  a  market  for  our  extra 
produce  around  us,  but  we  have  also  a  foreign  market  at 
New  Orleans,  and  through  it  to  the  market  of  the  world. 
If  it  be  said  that  owing  to  our  situation,  we  labour  under 
peculiar  disadvan[ta]ges,  all  is  reduced  to  the  price  of  land 
carriage,  of  about  nine  miles  to  the  Wabash,  [40]  at  sixteen 
cents  per  hundred  pounds.  If  therefore  it  is  said  that  our 
surplus  produce  cannot  be  disposed  of,  it  is  not  applicable 
to  local  circumstances  alone;  but  to  all  America.  When- 
ever the  United  States  in  general  can  dispose  of  their  pro- 
duce advantageously,  the  Illinois  can  do  the  same;  and 
we  are  more  contiguous  to  navigation  than  the  great  pro- 
portion of  the  interior  of  America. 

The  report  which  has  injured  us  most  is  the  want  of 
that  blessing,  without  which  all  that  this  world  can  give 
is  but  of  little  avail — Health.  Reports  of  sickness  which 
never  existed,  and  of  deaths  which  happily  never  took 
place,  have  been  most  industriously  circulated ;  the  fact  is, 
that  there  has  seldom  been  a  new  settlement  which  has 
suffered  so  little  loss  by  death;  or  which  has  been  so  free 
from  sickness.  The  number  of  deaths  has  been  in  the 
ratio  of  four  in  ninety-five  each  year,  and  this  is  a  smaller 
number  than  in  most  places  in  the  habitable  globe,  where 
the  records  of  such  events  have  been  preserved.  Many 
of  its  inhabitants  have  with  myself,  enjoyed  far  better 
health,  than  in  their  native  country;  so  that  I  may  safely 
conclude,  after  two  years  residence,  with  the  information 


1820-1821]  Flower's  Letters  143 

of  those  who  were  here  a  year  and  a  half  before  me,  that 
[41]  there  scarcely  existed  in  the  habitable  globe,  a  place 
where  the  inhabitants  have  enjoyed  so  large  a  share  of 
this  invaluable  blessing. 

As  to  our  future  prospects  they  are  truly  flattering,  in 
the  probability  of  increasing  population,  now  the  clouds 
and  mists  which  malignity  has  spread  abroad  are  dis- 
appearing, before  the  light  of  truth,  as  the  mists  of  morn- 
ing disappear  before  the  light  and  the  heat  of  the  sun :  the 
well-grounded  hopes  of  future  harvests,  arising  from  the 
rich  abundance  of  the  present;  the  perseverance  and  in- 
dustry of  a  large  portion  of  our  settlers;  the  excellent  mate- 
rials for  building,  and  the  increasing  number  of  fine  wells 
of  water,  all  present  a  most  encouraging  and  delightful 
prospect. 

Another  testimony  in  favour  of  our  situation  is,  that 
some  of  our  countrymen  who  have  settled  in  other  places, 
have  visited  us,  expressing  their  surprise  and  regret  that 
they  had  been  the  dupes  of  false  reports,  and  had  stopped 
short  of  the  Illinois.  While  others  more  prudently  came 
down  from  Cincinnati,  and  even  Baltimore  to  visit  this 
land  of  evil  report,  minutely  examined  for  themselves, 
returned  to  bring  their  families,  and  are  contented  with 
their  lot. 

Another  remark  was  made  by  certain  writers,  [42]  that 
although  we  had  improved  our  situation  as  to  animal  en- 
joyments, we  had  sacrificed  intellectual  pleasures,  because 
I  stated,  in  one  of  my  letters,  that  there  were  no  book- 
sellers here,  and  that  the  necessary  business  which  could 
not  be  avoided  in  a  new  settlement,  left  us  but  little  time 
for  reading.  Hasty  conclusion !  Many  of  us  brought  out 
ample  libraries  of  our  own,  and  we  have  also  a  standing 
library  in  our  little  town;  which  is  supplied  with  news- 


1 44  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

papers  and  periodical  publications.  Those  who  emi- 
grated to  the  Illinois  were  not  altogether  illiterate;  a  ma- 
jority of  them  were  quite  of  a  contrary  description;  and 
as  to  agricultural  knowledge,  there  are  very  few  spots  on 
the  face  of  the  earth,  where  it  is  so  much  concentrated,  as 
at  the  Illinois,  having  farmers  from  almost  all  the  different 
counties  in  England.  There  are  likewise,  several  Ameri- 
can, Dutch,  and  French  farmers,  gardeners,  and  vine 
dressers  in  our  neighbourhood. 

The  reports  of  the  wickedness  and  irreligion  of  our 
settlement,  with  a  view  to  prevent  individuals  from  join- 
ing us,  have  been  industriously  spread  far  and  near.  That 
there  is  a  diversity  of  character  in  every  part  of  the  globe, 
will  not  be  denied ;  that  this  diversity  exists  here  is  equally 
true;  and  that  a  portion  of  its  inhabitants  [43]  is  of  an 
immoral  cast,  will  be  as  readily  admitted;  that  we  have 
not  left  human  nature  with  its  infirmities  and  propensities 
behind  us  is  equally  a  fact;  and  even  if  it  should  be  ad- 
mitted, that  unhappily,  a  larger  portion  of  the  dissipated, 
the  idle,  and  the  dissolute  are  to  be  met  with  in  new 
countries  than  is  usually  to  be  found  in  old  ones,  yet  we 
have  the  same  antidote  for  these  mischiefs: — the  light 
shining  in  a  dark  place.  We  have  public  worship  and 
ample  supplies  of  sermons  from  pious  practical  preachers, 
from  the  Catholic  to  the  Socinian  Creed,10  which  are  read 
on  the  Sabbath.  But  above  all  we  have  the  incorruptible 
seed  of  the  word  0}  God  which  liveth  and  abideth  for  ever', 
and  it  is  with  pleasure  I  can  assure  my  readers,  that  there 
is  an  increasing  congregation,  and  I  trust,  increasing  reli- 
gion amongst  us.  But  if  it  was  otherwise,  surely  this 

10  Socinianism  was  belief  in  the  tenets  or  doctrines  of  Faustus  Socinus,  an 
Italian  theologian  of  the  sixteenth  century,  who  denied  the  trinity  and  divinity 
of  Christ,  affirming  that  Christ  was  a  man  divinely  commissioned. —  ED. 


1820-1821]  Flower's  Letters  145 

should  be  rather  an  argument  for  persons  of  religious  zeal 
to  join  us,  who  have  emigration  in  view;  to  come  over  to 
Macedonia  and  help  us,  rather  than  shrink  from  such  a 
task.  At  least  it  is  not  apostolic  or  evangelic  feeling  that 
would  draw  a  different  conclusion. 

When  I  was  at  Philadelphia  a  lady  of  the  Society  of 
Friends  addressed  me  most  emphatically  on  the  subject: — 
"Wilt  thou,  friend  [44]  Flower,  take  thy  family  to  that 
infidel  and  wicked  settlement  in  the  Illinois?  Thou 
appearest  to  be  a  Christian;  how  wilt  thou  answer  to  thy 
God  for  endangering  the  precious  souls  of  thy  dear  chil- 
dren?" Madam,  answered  I,  my  destiny  appears  to  be 
in  the  Illinois  settlement;  and  rather  than  turn  from 
thence  on  the  account  you  have  mentioned,  you  have  fur- 
nished me  with  a  forcible  argument  to  proceed.  I  trust  I 
am  as  you  have  supposed  a  sincere  Christian,  and  as  it  is 
my  special  duty  to  go  where  reformation  is  so  necessary, 
I  will  endeavour  to  perform  it,  and  hope  for  the  blessing  of 
the  Most  High.  It  is  for  us  to  use  the  means.  We  know 
who  it  is  to  command  success  in  our  present  state  and 
future  prospects.11 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  the 
characters,  situations,  and  apparent  motives  of  some  of 
those  persons  by  whom  we  have  been  misrepresented  and 
reviled. 

The  first  class  that  opened  their  batteries  of  illiberal 
abuse,  were  the  ministerial  and  hireling  writers  in  Eng- 
land." The  emigration  of  Englishmen,  in  the  Illinois  it 
appears  did  not  please  the  masters  whom  these  writers 
serve;  and  this  is  sufficient  to  account  for  their  [45]  con- 

11  See  Note  B.—  B.  FLOWER. 

u  Regarding  the  attitude  of  the  English  government,  at  the  time,  towards 
emigration  to  America,  see  Preface  to  the  present  volume. —  ED. 


146  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

duct :  as  usual,  they  were  not  very  nice,  in  the  means  they 
made  use  of.  Private  characters  were  assailed  indis- 
criminately, and  motives  imputed  to  the  emigrants  which 
never  entered  their  minds.  The  grand  reason  for  emi- 
gration was  to  escape  that  overwhelming  system  of  taxa- 
tion which  had  diminished  the  property  of  the  emigrants, 
and  threatened  if  they  staid  much  longer,  to  swallow  up 
the  whole.  Their  conduct  has  proved  their  discernment, 
and  justified  their  proceedings. 

How  many  of  my  brother  farmers  have  lost  their  all! 
How  many  have  been  added  to  the  list  of  paupers  since  we 
left  our  beloved  country,  newspapers  and  private  letters, 
agricultural  meetings  and  parliamentary  proceedings  and 
reports,  sufficiently  declare.  Happy  had  it  been  for  many 
others,  if  they  had  accompanied  us:  some  who  have  fol- 
lowed us  have  lamented  their  indecision,  and  have  felt  the 
fatal  consequences  of  their  lingering  in  their  own  country. 
The  motives  and  views  of  this  first  class  of  revilers,  is  too 
obvious  to  need  fa[r]ther  notice. 

Another  writer,  who  is,  or  rather  who  was  once  popular, 
whom  I  met  at  New  York,  passionately  expressed  his  deter- 
mination to  write  us  down :  amongst  much  false  reasoning 
which  [46]  he  made  use  of  for  this  purpose,  it  is  greatly 
to  be  feared  he  also  cared  but  little  for  truth;  and  I  have 
often  wondered  what  could  be  his  motive  ?  Whether  he 
had  some  other  settlement  at  heart;  or  whether  he  wished 
to  keep  all  emigrants  near  him  to  persuade  them  to  enter 
into  his  grand  plan  of  inundating  England  with  forged 
Bank  of  England  notes ! ! — One  thing  however  is  decidedly 
clear;  that  he  knew  nothing  about  what  he  was  writing; 
and  our  present  success,  surrounded  by  so  many  comforts, 
is  a  sufficient  proof  he  did  not  do  us  all  the  harm  he  in- 
tended. Were  he  to  ride  over  our  fine  prairies,  viewing 


1820-1821]  Flower  s  Letters  147 

our  flocks,  herds,  and  corn  fields,  such  ocular  demonstra- 
tion of  the  falsehood  of  his  statements  would  be  to  him  a 
sufficient  mortification.13 

But  there  is  another  class  of  men  of  a  very  different  sort ; 
those  who  were  raising  rival  settlements,  in  various  parts 
of  America,  and  who  had  lands  for  sale:  who  longed  to 
stop  the  cash  which  seemed  to  be  pouring  into  the  lap  of 
the  Illinois.  It  was  natural  for  them,  as  human  nature 
is  constituted,  to  attempt  to  arrest  its  progress;  they  there- 
fore joined  the  hue  and  cry  against  the  Illinois,  and  spread 
reports  [47]  of  sickness,  starvation,  famishing  for  thirst, 
frequent  deaths,  and  the  consequent  abandonment  of  our 
settlement.  In  this  they  in  some  instances  succeeded,  and 
as  I  have  before  hinted,  some  have  visited  us  who  speak 
of  their  having  been  entrapped,  and  express  the  deep  regret 
that  they  did  not  join  us.  Facts  however  soon  began  to 
dispel  the  illusion:  one  gentleman  brought  his  family  to 
Cincinnati,  several  families  visited  Baltimore,  who  not- 
withstanding the  evil  tidings  that  they  had  heard  ventured, 
although  with  fearful  apprehensions,  to  the  English  settle- 
ment :  but  singular  as  it  may  appear  to  our  calumniators, 
after  a  most  minute  investigation  into  our  situation  and 
circumstances,  in  the  autumn  of  the  year  they  could  not 
find  a  sick  person  throughout  the  settlement :  nor  was  the 
drought  which  certainly  inconvenienced  us,  peculiar  or 
local;  it  raged  throughout  the  western  country.  They 
were  satisfied,  and  went  to  fetch  their  families,  who  are 
now  residents  amongst  us  to  their  entire  satisfaction.  It 
is  no  wonder  then,  that  the  falsehoods  and  calumnies 
which  have  been  so  industriously  spread,  are  at  length 
found  to  be  such;  and  that  the  character  and  motives  of 
the  persons  who  have  assailed  us  are  duly  appreciated: 

u  See  Note  C.—  B.  FLOWER. 


148  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

and,  as  a  consequence  of  these  and  [48]  other  circumstances 
one  hundred  individuals  have  joined  the  town  of  Albion, 
and  about  twenty  have  settled  in  its  environs  since  last 
August. 

Notwithstanding  all  I  have  stated,  I  would  not  have  my 
countrymen  consider  me  as  inducing  them  to  emigrate, 
without  serious  and  due  consideration  of  their  own  cir- 
cumstances; but  rather  consider  me  as  advising  them  if 
they  do  emigrate  to  America,  to  come  and  unite  with  us 
in  the  Illinois;  resting  assured  that  what  I  have  stated  is 
truth  —  impartial  truth. 

It  is  a  trial  of  no  mean  sort  to  quit  one's  native  country, 
and  separate  ourselves  from  those  for  whom  we  have  the 
sincerest  friendship  and  regard.  The  privations  however 
of  a  first  settlement  are  at  an  end:  we  may  now  indeed 
say  "the  way  is  smoothed  for  them;"  and  it  rests  with  us 
who  are  now  settled  to  be  prosperous,  contented,  and 
happy.  It  is  equally  our  duty  and  our  interest,  to  con- 
sider well  the  blessings  we  enjoy  at  this  place  of  abounding 
plenty.  Many  of  you  my  countrymen,  can  look  back  on 
the  frightful  abyss  of  pauperism  and  starvation  which  you 
have  escaped,  and  should  lift  up  your  hearts  in  gratitude 
to  God  for  his  mercies  vouchsafed  to  you.  Forget  not 
who  it  is  that  has  preserved  your  lives  and  prolonged  [49] 
your  days;  blessed  you  with  so  much  health;  preserved 
you  from  the  arrow  that  flieth  at  noon  day;  and  the  pesti- 
lence that  walketh  in  darkness.  Remember  that  it  depends 
upon  your  virtuous  endeavours,  how  great,  how  good,  and 
how  happy  the  settlement  in  the  Illinois  shall  be.  Eradi- 
cate the  stain  which  report  has  cast  on  your  moral  and 
religious  characters;  and  may  your  example  be  such  as  to 
influence  the  formation  of  character  of  this  place;  that 
your  ways  may  be  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  your  paths 


1820-1821]  Flower's  Letters  149 

be  peace.  Remember  that  without  virtue  happiness  can- 
not exist.  Let  future  generations  rise  up  and  call  you 
blessed;  so  that  you  may,  on  your  departure  from  this 
life,  rest  satisfied  that  your  emigration  to  the  Illinois  proved 
the  means  of  your  increasing  welfare  and  happiness  in 
time  and  eternity. 

R.  F. 

[50]  EXTRACT  OF  A  LETTER,  FROM 
MR.  BIRKBECK 

Wanborough,  May  7,  1821. 
SIR, 

REGARDING  the  abuse  which  people  have  indulged  in 
about  my  undertakings,  and  my  accounts  of  them,  I  find 
little  difficulty  in  taking  it  quietly.  I  have  spent  four 
years  in  this  country,  and  now  every  day  furnishes  fresh 
proofs  of  the  correctness  of  my  early  impressions,  so  com- 
plete as  to  excite  a  degree  of  astonishment  at  my  good 
fortune  in  conjecturing  rightly,  and  occasionally  something 
of  self-congratulation,  under  the  hope  that  partial  friends 
may  give  me  a  little  credit  for  sagacity. 

A  statistical  account  of  this  country,  by  the  time  I  had 
finished  it,  and  long  before  it  could  reach  you,  would  need 
correction.  Satisfied  as  I  am,  to  a  degree  of  occasional 
exultation,  with  the  condition  of  my  own  farm,  and  my 
prospects  as  an  American  cultivator,  so  rapid  and  certain 
is  the  progress  of  improvement,  that  I  should  not  be  flat- 
tered by  your  reading,  six  months  hence,  an  account  of 
its  present  state.  Besides,  enough  has  been  already 
written  to  shew  the  candid  public  that  all  our  [51]  reason- 
able expectations  are  satisfied :  for  the  rest,  who  enjoy  our 
imaginery  reverses,  and  rely  more  on  the  superficial 
accounts  of  such  people  as  C.  F.  &c.  who  have  never  seen 


150  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

the  country,  or  if  they  have  seen  it,  are  incapable  of  judg- 
ing, it  really  is  a  waste  of  labour  to  write  for  them.  Those 
wretched  people  who  indulge  their  malevolence  in  per- 
sonal abuse  are  unworthy  of  my  notice.  It  would  indeed 
be  to  our  advantage,  and  is  the  only  harm  I  wish  them, 
that  their  ignorance  and  then*  prejudices  should  continue, 
lest  they  should  follow  us. 

We  are  on  the  eastern  limits  of  a  country  differing  essen- 
tially from  all  that  has  hitherto  been  cultivated  in  the 
United  States.  The  people  to  the  east  of  us  are  incapable 
of  imagining  a  dry  and  rich  wholesome  country,  where 
they  may  enter  at  once  on  fine  lands  prepared  for  culti- 
vation, without  the  enormous  expence  of  time  and  labour 
in  clearing,  which  has  been  bestowed  on  every  acre  be- 
tween this  and  the  Atlantic.  The  inhabitants  of  the  old 
States  are  profoundly  and  resolutely  ignorant  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  our  prairie  country.  Books  are  written  in  the 
east  to  prove  the  wretchedness  of  the  prairies,  by  persons 
who  have  never  approached  them  within  five  hundred 
miles;  and  English  writers  of  the  same  [52]  description, 
some  with  names  and  some  without,  can  obtain  more  cre- 
dence than  is  granted  to  me,  from  that  description  of 
readers.  On  the  whole,  I  do  not  think  it  worth  while  to  un- 
dertake the  conviction  of  these  people.  The  settlers  here 
who  prosper,  that  is  to  say,  those  who  possess  good  morals 
and  common  discretion,  will,  in  course,  tell  then-  experience 
to  their  friends  and  connections  in  England,  and  invite 
them  to  follow  their  example;  these  again  will  invite 
others.  This  is  now  going  on  in  all  directions.  Some 
write  for  their  former  neighbours  or  the  residue  of  their 
families,  others  push  back  to  the  old  country,  to  conduct 
them  out.  Numbers  who  come  to  try  their  hands  at  a 
new  settlement  are  wholly  unfit  for  any  place  in  this  world, 


1820-1821]  Flower  s  Letters  1 5 1 

new  or  old,  unless  it  be  to  supply  the  requisite  quota  of 
evil,  which  in  this  imperfect  state,  adheres  to  all  places. 
These  are  the  people  sometimes  most  likely  to  be  heard, 
whilst  those  who  go  on  well  and  wisely  are  little  noticed. 
Their  adventures  are  at  an  end:  they  "keep  a  pig"  and 
live  happily.  A  volcano  is  a  fine  subject  when  in  action, 
but  the  interest  ceases  with  the  eruption.  At  some  future 
day, — some  "still  time,  when  there  is  no  room  for  chid- 
ing," should  my  life  be  spared,  I  may  lay  before  my 
countrymen  a  statement  [53]  of  our  condition:  but  the 
suitable  time,  I  think,  is  not  yet.  It  is,  however,  a  pleasing 
office  to  transmit  to  an  intelligent  friend  an  occasional 
sketch  of  the  settlement;  and  to  receive,  as  I  have  from 
you,  and  I  hope  you  will  repeat  the  obligation,  a  return  of 
liberal  communication. 

The  various  attacks  upon  my  reputation  will  be  repelled, 
surely,  though  perhaps  slowly,  by  time.  Among  my 
neighbours,  who  are  now  numerous,  their  effect  has  ceased 
already.  The  accuracy  of  my  statements  become  daily 
more  evident,  and  my  errors  are  found  to  be  on  the  oppo- 
site side  to  exaggeration ;  a  style  which  I  dislike :  it  is  offen- 
sive to  my  taste,  as  well  as  my  moral  feelings:  is  not  a 
written  lie  to  the  full  as  abominable  as  one  that  is  spoken  ? 

The  telescope  which  you  have  had  the  goodness  to  pro- 
cure for  me  is  an  object  of  pleasant  anticipation.  This 
climate  is  favourable  for  astronomical  observations,  and  it 
will  add  to  our  rational  amusements.  I  shall  therefore 
be  obliged  by  your  forwarding  it  as  before  directed,  as  soon 
as  convenient. 

M.  B. 

END  OF  THE  LETTERS 


[55]    NOTES" 

[Note  A,  page  139.] 

The  following  Remarks  respecting  the  want  of  water,  and  the 
account  of  the  English  settlement  at  the  Illinois,  are  taken  from  a 
most  entertaining,  interesting,  and  elegant  work,  lately  published, 
and  of  which  a  second  edition  is  in  the  press.  I  here  insert  them,  as 
they  tend  to  confirm  the  correctness  of  the  accounts  published  by 
Mr.  Birkbeck  and  my  brother,  and  contain  some  excellent  advice 
to  emigrants. 

"  You  have  expressed  in  your  late  letters,  some  curiosity  regard- 
ing the  condition  of  the  English  settlement,  in  the  Illinois,  adding, 
that  the  report  has  prevailed  that  those  spirited  emigrants  had  been 
at  first  too  sanguine,  and  had  too  little  foreseen  the  difficulties  which 
the  most  fortunate  settler  must  encounter.  This  report,  I  believe, 
to  have  originated  with  Mr.  Cobbett,  who  thought  proper  to  pro- 
nounce upon  the  condition  of  the  farmer  in  the  Illinois,  in  his  own 
dwelling  upon  Long  Island.  Feeling  an  interest  in  the  success  of 
our  countrymen  in  the  West,  I  have  been  at  some  pains  to  inform 
myself  as  to  their  actual  condition.  The  following  statement  is 
chiefly  taken  from  the  letters  of  two  American  gentlemen,  of  our 
acquaintance  who  have  just  visited  the  settlement;  they  inform  me 
that  its  situation  possesses  all  those  positive  advantages  stated  by 
Mr.  Birkbeck;  that  the  worst  difficulties  have  been  surmounted; 
and  that  these  have  [56]  always  been  fewer  than  what  are  frequently 
encountered  in  a  new  country. 

"  The  village  of  Albion,  the  centre  of  the  settlement,  contains  at 
present  thirty  habitations,  in  which  are  found  a  bricklayer,  a  car- 
penter, a  wheelwright,  a  cooper,  and  a  blacksmith;  a  well  supplied 
shop,  a  little  library,  an  inn,  a  chapel,  and  a  post  office,  where  the 
mail  regularly  arrives  twice  a  week.  Being  situated  on  a  ridge, 
between  the  greater  and  little  Wabash,  it  is  from  its  elevated  position, 

14  As  already  explained  in  note  i,  ante,  the  writer  of  these  Notes  was  Ben- 
jamin Flower,  brother  of  the  author  of  the  Letters. —  ED. 


154  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

and  from  its  being  some  miles  removed  from  the  rivers,  peculiarly 
dry  and  healthy.  The  prairie  on  which  it  stands,  is  as  exquisitely 
beautiful;  lawns  of  unchanging  verdure,  spreading  over  hills  and 
dales,  scattered  with  islands  of  luxuriant  trees,  dropped  by  the  hand 
of  nature,  with  a  taste  that  art  could  not  rival  —  all  this  spread 
beneath  a  sky  of  glowing  and  unspotted  sapphires.  The  most 
beautiful  parks  of  England,  would  afford  a  most  imperfect  com- 
parison. The  soil  is  abundantly  fruitful,  and  of  course  has  an 
advantage  over  the  heavy  timbered  lands,  which  can  scarcely  be 
cleared  for  less  than  from  twelve  to  fifteen  dollars  per  acre,  while  the 
Illinois  farmer,  may  in  general  clear  his  for  less  than  five,  and  then 
enter  upon  a  more  convenient  mode  of  tillage.  The  objection  that 
is  too  frequently  found  to  the  beautiful  prairies  of  the  Illinois,  is  the 
deficiency  of  springs  and  streams  for  mill  seats.  This  is  attended 
with  inconvenience  to  the  settler,  though  his  health  will  find  in  it 
advantage.  The  nearest  navigable  river  to  Albion  is  the  Wabash, 
eight  miles  distant:  the  nearest  running  stream,  that  is  not  liable  to 
fail  at  Midsummer,  the  Bonpaw,  four  miles  distant.  The  stock  of 
water  in  ponds  for  cattle,  was  liable  to  run  dry  in  a  few  weeks,  and 
the  settlement  apprehended  some  temporary  inconvenience  from 
[57]  the  circumstance.  The  finest  water  is  every  where  to  be  raised 
from  twenty  to  twenty-five,  or  thirty  feet  from  the  surface,  these 
wells  never  fail,  but  are  of  course  troublesome  to  work  in  a  new 
settlement. 

"The  settlement  at  Albion,  must  undoubtedly  possess  some 
peculiar  attractions  for  an  English  emigrant,  promising  him,  as  it 
does,  the  society  of  his  own  countrymen,  an  actual  or  ideal  advan- 
tage, to  which  he  is  seldom  insensible.  Generally  speaking,  how- 
ever, it  may  ultimately  be  as  well  for  him,  as  for  the  community  to 
which  he  attached  himself,  that  he  should  become  speedily  incor- 
porated with  the  people  of  the  soil:  many  emigrants  bring  with  them 
prejudices  and  predilections  which  can  only  be  rubbed  away  by  a 
free  intercourse  with  the  natives  of  the  country.  By  sitting  down 
at  once  among  them,  they  will  more  readily  acquire  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  their  political  institutions,  and  learn  to  estimate  the 
high  privileges  which  these  impart  to  them,  and  thus  attaching  them- 
selves to  their  adopted  country,  not  for  mere  sordid  motives  of 
interest,  but  also  from  feeling  and  principle,  become  not  only  naiu- 


1820-1821]  Flower  s  Letters  155 

ralized,  but  also  nationalized.  I  have  met  with  but  too  many  in 
this  country,  who  have  not  advanced  beyond  the  former.  I  must 
observe,  also,  that  the  European  farmer  and  mechanic,  are  usually 
far  behind  the  American  in  general  and  practical  knowledge,  as  well 
as  enterprise.  You  find  in  the  working  farmer  of  these  states,  a 
store  of  information,  a  dexterity  in  all  the  manual  arts,  and  often  a 
high  tone  of  national  feeling,  to  which  you  will  hardly  find  a  parallel 
amongst  the  same  class  elsewhere.  His  advice  and  assistance  always 
freely  given  to  those  who  seek  it,  will  be  found  of  infinite  service  to 
a  stranger;  it  will  often  save  him  from  many  rash  speculations,  at 
the  same  time  that  it  will  dispose  [58]  him  to  see  things  in  their  true 
light,  and  to  open  his  eyes  and  heart  to  all  the  substantial  advan- 
tages that  surround  him." 

Views  of  Society  and  Manners  in  America,  in  a  series  of  Letters 
from  that  Country  to  a  Friend  in  England  during  the  years  1818, 
1819,  1820.  By  an  Englishman,  8vo.K 

The  above  as  the  reader  will  notice,  was  written  two  years  ago, 
since  which  the  settlement,  as  appears  by  the  letters  now  published, 
has  considerably  increased,  and  for  the  time  it  has  been  established, 
is  in  a  very  flourishing  state. 

[Note  B,  page  145.] 

The  address  of  the  worthy  female,  one  of  the  Society  of  Friends 
to  my  brother,  respecting  the  "infidel  wicked  settlement  at  the 
Illinois,"  proceeded  from  that  principle  of  fear  for  the  interests  of 
Christianity,  which  an  enlightened  Christian,  by  which  I  mean  one 
who  understands  the  principles,  imbibes  the  spirit,  and  follows  the 
example  of  the  primitive  Christians,  need  not  indulge.  To  all  sin- 
cere Christians  who  may  have  indulged  similar  fears,  may  be  applied 

15  The  last  word  of  the  title  should  be  Englishwoman.  The  author,  Miss 
Frances  Wright,  was  born  in  Dundee,  Scotland  (1795)  and  at  an  early  age 
became  interested  in  sociological  questions.  She  came  to  America  in  1812  and 
made  one  of  the  earliest  attempts  to  solve  the  slavery  problem;  but  her  practical 
experiment  in  employing  negro  labor  on  a  Tennessee  plantation  ended  in  failure. 
Removing  to  New  Harmony,  she  conducted,  with  the  assistance  of  Robert 
Dale  Owen,  a  socialistic  journal.  From  1829  to  1836  she  lectured  throughout 
the  United  States,  being  one  of  the  earliest  women  lecturers  on  the  American 
platform.  Returning  to  Europe,  she  married  M.  Darusmont  (1838),  and  did  not 
again  appear  in  public  life. —  ED. 


156  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

what  the  Psalmist  remarks  of  certain  pious  persons  of  his  day,  who 
appear  to  have  been  placed  in  a  very  "infidel,  wicked  settlement;" — 
"There  were  they  in  great  fear  where  no  fear  was."  (Ps.  liv.  5.) 
Infidelity,  or  unbelief  in  the  divine  mission  of  Christ;  a  rejection  of 
those  grand  truths,  essential  to  the  salvation  of  a  lost  world,  where 
the  gospel  can  be  read  and  examined,  as  it  may  easily  be  in  the 
present  enlightened  age  —  enlightened,  with  respect  to  the  means 
of  instruction  for  the  attainment  of  knowledge  the  most  important, — 
is  so  inexcuseable,  that  I  know  not  how  any  man,  even  if  his  capacity 
be  below  mediocrity,  and  more  especially  any  man  whose  capacity 
[59]  is  above  mediocrity,  can,  remaining  an  unbeliever,  rationally  hope 
to  escape  the  awful  sentence  pronounced  by  our  Saviour:  —  "He 
that  believeth  not  the  Son,  shall  not  see  life:  —  he  that  believeth  not  is 
condemned  already,  because  he  hath  not  believed  in  the  name  of  the 
only  begotten  Son  of  God."  (John  iii.)  Passages  as  equally  appli- 
cable to  unbelievers  of  the  present  day,  as  to  those  of  old,  as  the 
evidences  of  Christianity  are  equally  bright  and  convincing  as  in  our 
Saviour's  time,  if  not  more  so.  We  have  no  such  gross  prejudices  to 
combat  as  the  Jews  had,  as  no  persons  are  so  stupid  as  to  expect  a 
temporal  Messiah,  to  imitate  those  grand  pests  of  society,  who,  in  all 
ages,  have  ravaged  the  world  —  despotic  kings,  and  wholesale  mur- 
derers commonly  called  conquerors !  And  if  we  have  not  the  evidence 
of  sense,  the  personal  presence  of  Christ,  we  have  a  more  sure  word 
of  prophecy,  not  of  a  temporary  nature,  but  more  suitable  to  succeed- 
ing ages,  even  to  the  end  of  time, —  the  fulfillment  of  Divine  predic- 
tions. Men  who  after  reading  the  various  relations  of  travellers  of 
the  first  reputation,  concerning  the  fall  and  present  state  of  ancient 
states  and  cities,  Babylon,  Tyre,  Egypt,  &c.  can  reject  the  evidence 
of  the  truth  of  revelation  arising  from  such  a  source,  may  be  pro- 
nounced without  breach  of  charity,  wilfully  blind.  If  it  be  said, 
there  is  no  general  rule  without  exceptions, —  I  allow  it,  but  only  so 
far  as  there  may  be  exceptions  to  other  important  general  rules:  for 
instance,  that  justly  called  the  golden  rule,  delivered  by  our  Saviour 
in  his  sermon  on  the  mount.  But  let  it  be  seriously  recollected,  that 
the  very  word  exceptions  implies  the  generality  of  the  rule,  and  that 
the  man  cannot  be  very  wise,  who  endeavours  to  persuade  himself, 
that  he  shall,  in  the  great  day  of  final  account,  be  included  in  these 
exceptions.  For  myself,  I  [60]  must  profess,  that  after  some  acquaint- 


1820-1821]  F/ower's  Letters  157 

ance  with  several  of  our  principal  infidel  writers,  English  and  foreign, 
I  have  never  met  with  any  who  dared  meet  the  distinguishing  evi- 
dences of  Christianity  fairly;  and  that  in  general,  the  description  of 
writers  alluded  to,  have  been  men  whose  moral  conduct  has  been  so 
defective,  as  to  afford  just  reason  to  apprehend  they  were  not  sincere 
inquirers  after  truth.  The  infidel  public  may  safely  be  challenged 
to  answer,  not  only  the  writings  of  Locke,  Newton,  Lardner,  Paley, 
&c.  but  even  some  of  our  shilling  or  sixpenny  pamphlets.  Let  any 
unbeliever  exert  his  energies  in  refuting  that  admirable  tract  entitled 
—  An  Answer  to  the  Question,  WHY  ARE  YOU  A  CHRISTIAN  ? 
by  the  late  Dr.  Clarke  of  Boston,  in  America,  of  which  there  have 
been  published  numerous  editions,  but  to  which,  if  an  answer  has 
been  written,  I  will  thank  any  person  to  inform  me,  and  where  it  can 
be  procured.  But  so  long  as  the  enemies  of  revelation  consider  mis- 
representation, arising  from  wilful  ignorance,  sneering,  jesting,  and 
ribaldry,  lawful  weapons  to  effect  the  purpose  they  have  at  heart  — 
the  destruction  of  Christianity  —  I  shall  certainly  suspect  they  do 
not  possess  that  indispensable  qualification  in  all  inquiries  concern- 
ing revelation, —  an  honest  and  good  heart,  and  that  of  course  they 
are  not  sincere  in  their  inquiries;  but  let  all  such  men  take  warning 
from  the  numerous  declarations  in  scripture  concerning  the  rejectors 
of  the  gospel,  as  they  will  most  assuredly  find,  that  with  respect  to 
threatnings,  as  well  as  promises,  it  is  impossible  for  God  to  lie  \ 

Should  it  be  asked, — jHow  is  it  that  so  many  men  of  talents,  and 
who  may  possess  qualities,  which  may  render  them  in  different  ways, 
and  to  a  certain  degree  useful  to  the  world  and  ornamental  to  the 
social  circle  reject  Christianity;  various  [61]  causes  may  be  assigned. 
I  must  confine  myself  to  a  few.  The  principal  reason  is  assigned 
by  the  divine  author  of  Christianity:  —  This  is  the  condemnation; 
light  is  come  into  the  world,  and  men  love  darkness  rather  than  light, 
because  their  deeds  are  evil. —  The  love  of  applause  in  favourite  cir- 
cles is  assigned  by  the  same  authority  as  another  reason.  Our 
Saviour  demanded  of  the  Pharisees, — how  can  ye  believe  who  receive 
honour  one  of  one  another,  and  not  the  honour  which  cometh  from 
God  only.  They  rejected  our  Saviour's  doctrines  because  they 
loved  the  praise  of  men,  more  than  the  praise  oj  God. —  How  often  has 
pride  determined  men  to  reject  truths  the  most  important?  The 
doctrine  oj  the  cross,  although  the  brightest  display  of  the  wisdom 


158  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

and  power  of  God  to  the  world,  is  to  the  carnal  man,  that  is  the  man 
whose  belief  and  practice  are  determined  by  worldly  motives,  fool- 
ishness. The  remark  of  Dr.  Priestley  on  this  subject,  deserves  the 
most  serious  attention  of  men,  who  are  by  their  talents  and  learning, 
elevated  above  the  rest  of  the  world.  "Learned  men  have  preju- 
dices peculiar  to  themselves,  and  the  very  affectation  of  being  free 
from  vulgar  notions,  and  of  being  wiser  than  the  rest  of  mankind, 
must  indispose  them  to  the  admission  of  truth,  if  it  should  happen 
to  be  with  the  common  people ! " 

Although  if  the  opinions  I  have  expressed  be  true,  they  want 
not  the  sanction  of  the  learned,  yet  knowing  the  influence  of  names, 
I  will  in  their  support  add  two,  who  although  men  of  very  different 
opinions,  are  by  their  respective  admirers,  considered  masters  in 
Israel.  The  first  is  Dr.  Johnson  who,  as  his  biographer  Mr.  Bos- 
well  informs  us,  remarked  on  this  subject, —  "  No  honest  man  could 
be  a  deist;  for  no  man  could  be  so  after  a  fair  examination  of  the 
proofs  of  Christianity.  Hume  owned  [62]  to  a  clergyman,  in  the 
bishopric  of  Durham,  that  he  had  never  read  the  New  Testament 
with  attentionl"  Another  example  of  the  truth  of  Johnson's  remark 
is  the  famous  Thomas  Paine,  who  in  a  work  misnamed  "  the  Age  of 
Reason,"  but  which  is  a  disgrace  to  any  man  possessing  his  reason, 
at  the  very  moment  of  pretending  to  criticise  the  bible,  and  of  glory- 
ing in  having  destroyed  its  credit,  acknowledged  "  that  he  had  not 
read  it  for  several  years  1"  This  may,  in  part  at  least,  account  for 
the  numerous  misstatements  and  falsehoods  which  deform  his  pages. 
This  work  has  been  the  more  injurious  to  society,  as  thereby  the 
author  lost  much  of  that  fame  he  had  justly  acquired  by  his  admira- 
ble, and  popular  political  writings,  but  to  which  the  world  has  since 
shewn  a  comparative  indifference. 

To  Dr.  Johnson's  opinion  I  only  add  that  of  Mr.  Belsham,  who 
in  his  Calm  Inquiry,  &c.  observes:  —  "The  Unitarians  acknowledge 
that  the  scriptures  were  written  for  the  instruction  of  the  illiterate 
as  well  as  of  the  learned,  and  they  believe  —  that  ALL  which  is 
essential  to  doctrine  or  practice  is  SUFFICIENTLY  INTELLI- 
GIBLE even  to  the  meanest  capacity." 

From  these  premises  I  conclude,  that  there  is  little  danger  of  the 
spread  of  that  absurdity  of  absurdities  —  INFIDELITY,  where  it  is 
not  supported  by  more  plausible  reasons  than  are  contained  in  the 


1820-1821]  Flower's  Letters  159 

writings  of  its  votaries;  but  it  is  with  pain,  that  I  am  obliged  in  jus- 
tice to  the  subject  to  add,  that  its  principal  support  has  oeen  the 
corrupt  systems  and  lives  of  its  professors. —  Those  ANTICHRIS- 
TIAN  CHURCHES  under  whatever  denomination,  and  in  every 
country  under  heaven,  which  have  been  established  by  the  civil 
magistrate:  — THE  ALLIANCE  BETWEEN  CHURCH  AND 
STATE,  which  has  displayed  its  brazen  front  in  the  temple  of  God, 
exalting  itself  above  all  that  is  called  God]  robbed  [63]  the  great  head 
of  the  church  of  his  peculiar  prerogative,  the  sovereignty  over 
conscience;  and  plundered  countless  millions  of  their  rights  and 
properties,  thus  turning  the  church  into  a  den  of  thieves, —  These 
ecclesiastical  corruptions  constitute  a  more  formidable  argument 
against  Christianity,  although  by  no  means  an  honest  reason  for 
rejecting  it,  than  the  writings  of  the  whole  infidel  world  united.16 

16  A  modern  divine  gives  us  the  following  curious  description  of  the  Church 
of  England. — ' '  The  governors  of  this  society  form  a  kind  of  aristocracy  respect- 
ing the  community  at  large,  but  each  particular  governor  in  his  proper  district 
is  a  sort  of  monarch,  exercising  his  function  both  towards  the  inferior  ministers 
and  laity,  according  to  the  will  of  the  supreme  head  of  the  church." —  The 
English  Liturgy  a  Form  of  Sound  Words;  a  Sermon  delivered  in  the  Parish 
Churches  of  St.  Benet,  Gracechurch  Street,  6r»c.  by  George  Gaskin,  D.D. 

How  any  man,  with  the  New  Testament  before  him,  could  possibly  call 
such  an  aristocratical  and  monarchical  church,  one  "formed  according  to  the 
will  of  the  Supreme  Head,"  when  he  well  knew  that  it  was  diametrically  oppo- 
site to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  most  solemn,  particular,  and  repeated  direc- 
tions of  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  on  this  subject: —  "Call  no  man  your 
master  on  earth;  one  is  your  master,  even  Christ,  and  all  ye  are  brethren,  £s*c." 
—  I  shall  not  stay  to  inquire;  but  it  may  amuse  the  reader  just  to  observe  how 
this  clerical  pluralist  exercises  "his  function  towards  the  laity,"  and  more 
especially  as  it  relates  to  tythes:  —  that  species  of  property  which  was  first 
voluntarily  given  by  the  people  for  various  benevolent  purposes,  but  of  which 
they  were  afterwards  robbed  by  the  clergy,  who  appropriated  them  to  their  own 
sole  use.  How  they  are  sometimes  raised,  even  in  the  present  enlightened  age, 
I  lately  discovered  in  a  catalogue,  at  a  sale  of  pawnbroker's  unredeemed  pledges, 
where,  amongst  other  names  and  descriptions  of  property,  I  read  as  follows: 

"Lots  sold  under  a  distress  for  tythes  due  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Gaskin,  Rector  of 
the  United  Parishes  of  St.  Benet,  Gracechurch  Street,  of  St.  Leonard,  Eastcheap, 
[and  of  St.  Mary,  Newington."] 

Then  follow  eight  lots  of  writing  paper,  silver  table  and  tea  spoons,  &c. 

' '  The  following  sold  under  a  distress  ]or  tythes  due  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Parker, 
(son  in  law  of  Dr  Gaskin)  Rector  of  St.  Ethelburga-" 

Then  follow  five  lots  of  yellow  and  mottled  soap! 

Whether  the  body  of  the  clergy,  who  have  for  so  many  ages  been  supported 


1 60  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

[64]  But  as  America  is  not  disgraced  with  an  established  church, 
supported  by  penal  laws,  the  work  of  statecraft  and  priestcraft 
united,  infidelity  has,  in  that  country,  lost  [65]  its  chief  support,  and 
cannot,  to  any  extensive  degree,  flourish.  Let  that  favoured  quarter 
of  the  globe  carefully  preserve  her  only  establishment  —  LIBERTY 
AND  EQUALITY,  and  her  religious  interests  are  safe.  Chris- 
tianity left  to  itself  will,  by  its  own  internal  excellence,  and  by  the 
lives  of  its  sincere  professors,  have  free  course,  and  be  glorified. 

The  English  settlement  in  the  Illinois  already  affords  an  illus- 
tration of  the  truth  of  these  sentiments.  In  the  first  stage  of  its 

by  these  and  by  other  means  scarcely  less  obnoxious,  come  nearer  to  the 
description  of  the  primitive  apostles  and  pastors  for  independence,  disinterested- 
ness and  benevolence,  or  to  that  description  predicted  by  one  of  them  of  those 
who  should  come  after  him,  —  grievous  wolves  not  sparing  the  flock,  I  leave  to 
the  reader  to  determine. 

Dr.  Gaskin,  I  was  informed,  ranks  amongst  the  clergy  who  have  arrogated 
to  themselves  the  epithet  evangelical;  but  I  have  since  been  informed  otherwise; 
and  I  am  inclined  to  believe,  as  those  do  who  best  know  him,  that  he  is  not  an 
evangelical  clergyman ! 

I  cannot  help  expressing  my  surprise  that  my  countrymen  will  not,  on  this 
subject,  take  a  hint  from  that  great  and  liberal  minded  statesman,  the  late  Lord 
Chatham,  at  the  commencement  of  the  American  war,  when  our  debt  and 
taxes  were  not  one  fifth  of  what  they  are  at  present.  His  lordship  in  a  speech 
in  the  House  of  Lords,  turning  to  the  right  reverend  bench,  exclaimed,  — ' '  Let 
the  bishops  beware  of  war;  for  should  the  people  be  pressed  for  money,  they 
know  where  to  look  for  it\"  It  is  a  pity  that  amidst  so  much  nonsense,  with 
which  the  nation  is  pestered  at  our  agricultural  meetings,  and  in  agricultural 
reports,  and  so  much  injustice  as  is  proposed  for  relieving  the  public,  by  Mr. 
Webb  Hall  on  the  one  side,  Mr.  Cobbett  and  others  on  the  other,  such  as  new 
corn  laws,  and  breaking  public  faith,  &c.  ruining  thousands  by  the  reduction 
of  interest  of  the  national  debt,  our  real  resources  should  not  be  even  hinted  at 
Is  there  no  patriot  to  be  found  in  either  House  of  the  Legislature  following  the 
excellent  example  of  Mr.  Hume  respecting  state  abuses,  who  will  recommend, 
"An  inquiry  into  the  nature  and  amount  of  our  church  revenues?"  Would 
Christianity  suffer  if  a  Bishop  of  Winchester,  or  a  Bishop  of  Durham,  had  not 
30  to  ^40,000  a  year !  or  if  our  overgrown  church  revenues  in  England,  and 
more  especially  in  that  still  more  oppressed  country,  Ireland,  where  the  bishop- 
rics are  in  general  richer,  and  many  thousands  are  wrung  from  a  long  oppressed 
and  impoverished  people,  not  unfrequently  in  places  where  little  or  no  duty  is 
performed,  were  inquired  into?  Let  Britain  look  at  the  church  reformation 
which  has  taken  place  in  France,  and  is  now  going  forward  in  Spain  and  Portu- 
gal, the  abolition  of  tythes,  and  the  resumption  of  the  useless  and  hurtful  revenues 
of  the  church,  and  blush  at  her  bat  and  wto/0-like  stupidity!  —  B.  FOWLER. 


1820-1821]  Flower's  Letters  161 

infancy,  reports,  as  it  appears  by  the  remonstrance  and  admonitions 
of  the  female  friend  at  Philadelphia  to  my  brother,  have  been  indus- 
triously and  widely  circulated,  of  its  being  a  "wicked  infidel  settle- 
ment;" where  "a  Christian  parent"  could  not  "answer  it  to  his  God 
for  endangering  the  precious  souls  of  his  dear  children!"  Three 
years  have  scarcely  passed  since  this  solemn  warning  was  given ;  and 
what  is  the  present  state  of  this  "Infidel  settlement?"  The  friends 
to  Christianity  have  exerted  themselves,  and  although  without  the 
assistance  of  Priests,  or  even  Reverends  of  any  denomination,  two 
places  within  the  distance  of  as  many  miles,  have  been  erected  for 
public  worship;  one  on  the  moderate  candid  Unitarian  plan, —  I 
mean  that  which  according  to  the  only  accurate  import  of  the  word 
includes  in  its  communion,  all  Christians  who  dissent  from  that  con- 
tradiction in  terms  —  "  THREE  divine  PERSONS  in  ONE  GOD:" 
—  The  other  for  the  members  of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  England, 
which  in  America,  by  losing  its  antichristian  sting,  has  lost  its  prin- 
cipal deformities;  and  what  deserves  peculiar  notice  —  the  service 
in  the  latter  is  read  by  the  very  person  who  was  supposed  to  have 
been  the  chief  promoter  of  infidelity!  —  A  third  chapel  is  now  erect- 
ing for  the  use  of  the  Calvinistic  baptists.  These  different  denomi- 
nations, with  any  others  [66]  which  may  hereafter  appear,  have  only 
to  follow  the  example  of  their  brethren  throughout  America ;  to  meet 
in  civil  society,  as  friends,  perfectly  equal  as  to  political,  civil,  and 
religious  rights,  no  one  allowed  to  have  any  ascendancy  over  the 
other,  Christianity  will  then  triumph,  and  infidelity  will  be  ashamed 
to  shew  its  face. 

To  the  excellent  admonitions  on  the  subject  of  religious  and 
moral  conduct  with  which  my  brother  concludes  his  letters,  I  can- 
not help  adding  my  ardent  hopes,  that  as  the  English  settlement 
appears  to  be  increasing  in  prosperity,  and  to  present  an  happy 
asylum  for  those,  who  from  various  circumstances,  are  induced  or 
compelled  to  emigrate  from  their  native  country,  the  inhabitants  will 
prove  an  example  of  that  true  religion  and  virtue,  which  constitute 
the  only  sure  foundation  and  preserver  of  states  and  communities:  — 
my  wishes  are  equally  ardent,  that  as  Christians,  they  would  not  only 
avoid  the  errors  of  antichristian  established  churches,  but  of  those 
which  although  professedly  dissenting  from  them  still  retain  a  strong 
attachment  to  many  of  their  follies.  Primitive  Christianity,  how 


1 62  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

seldom  is  it  aspired  after!  The  unnecessary  division  of  Christians 
into  clergy  and  laity;  the  distinctions  of  dress,  habits,  and  titles,  so 
calculated  to  please  the  fancy  of  our  grown  babies  in  the  Christian 
church;  the  objectionable  manner  in  which  Christian  pastors  are  too 
frequently  ordained  and  supported :  —  these  with  other  follies  which 
might  be  mentioned,  all  innovations  on  the  simplicity  and  purity  of 
the  primitive  churches  will  at  the  Illinois,  it  is  hoped,  be  avoided. 
Let  the  English  seriously  recollect,  that  in  their  native  country  priest- 
craft prevails,  not  only  in  the  established  church,  but  in  different 
degrees  amongst  those  who  dissent  from  it,  where  I  fear  it  is  increas- 
ing; and  that  those  who  are  distinguished  for  their  [67]  attachment 
to  weak  and  beggarly  elements,  are  in  general  equally  distinguished 
for  then-  indifference  to  the  grand  principles  of  LIBERTY,  for 
their  servility  to  the  ruling  powers,  and  for  their  support  of  that 
ruinous  system  of  war  and  corruption,  which  has  so  peculiarly  dis- 
graced the  British  nation  for  the  past  sixty  years. — May  the  office 
of  pastor  of  a  Christian  church  be  no  longer  deemed  a  trade,  but  let 
every  Christian  teacher  aspire  to  the  honour  of  being  equally  indepen- 
dent with  the  apostles  and  pastors  of  the  primitive  churches,  who  are 
chiefly  if  not  wholly  dependant  on  their  own  exertions  in  the  pursuit 
of  some  honest  calling.  May  all  denominations,  uniting  with  each 
other  in  the  bonds  of  Christian  friendship,  no  longer  consider  their 
peculiar  explanation  of  doctrines  as  necessary  to  Christian  com- 
munion. May  their  only  grand  essentials  be,  sincerity  in  the  search  of 
truth,  and  honesty  in  practising  it.  Thus  may  they,  in  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  political,  civil,  and  religious  liberty  go  on  unto  perfection" 

17  That  I  may  not  be  misunderstood,  I  beg  leave  to  remark,  that  I  intend 
no  reflection  on  those  who  may  have  been  educated  solely  with  a  view  to  the 
ministry,  and  of  whose  habits  we  cannot  expect  an  alteration.  It  is  an  evil 
attending  the  present  system,  that  while  men  of  very  moderate  talents,  and 
judging  by  their  conduct,  who  have  made  no  great  advancement  in  the  Chris- 
tian life,  who  possess  a  few  superficial  qualifications  which  captivate  the  ignorant 
and  unthinking,  are  living  in  luxury,  there  are  men  of  fine  talents,  and  tran- 
scendent virtues,  who  are  living  in  comparative  poverty.  The  grand  error  is 
the  mechanical  transformation  of  youths  into  ministers  at  seminaries,  instead 
of  their  being  brought  up  to  some  trade  or  profession  in  which  their  indepen- 
dence might  rest  on  themselves. 

I  have,  on  this  subject,  expressed  myself  more  at  large  in  the  MEMOIRS 
OF  ROBERT  ROBINSON,  prefixed  to  his  Works.  See  also  an  excellent 
Sermon  in  his  incomparable  VILLAGE  DISCOURSES,  entitled,  "Any  one 
•who  understands  Christianity  may  teach  it."  And  another  in  the  Posthumous 
volume  of  his  works,  entitled,  ' '  The  Corruptions  o}  Christianity" —  B.  FLOWER. 


1820-1821]  Flower  s  Letters  163 

[68]    [Note  C,  page  147.] 

Mr.  Cobbett's  former  calumnies  respecting  the  English  settle- 
ments in  the  Illinois  were  amply  refuted  by  Mr.  Birkbeck  and  my 
brother,  in  two  pamphlets,  published  in  1819,  and  to  neither  of 
which,  although  he  has  alluded  to  a  private  letter,  since  written  by 
the  former,  and  inserted  in  a  provincial  paper,  has  he  dared  to  reply. 
He  has  however,  had  the  effrontery  in  a  late  Register,  (July,  7th, 
1821,)  not  only  to  repeat  those  calumnies,  but  to  invent  others  still 
more  atrocious;  and  as  the  parties  concerned  are  five  thousand  miles 
distant,  I  deem  it  my  duty  on  the  present  occasion,  to  add  a  few 
observations  to  those  of  my  brother,  that  the  character  of  the  calum- 
niator may  appear  in  its  true  colours,  and  that  my  countrymen  may 
no  longer  be  the  dupes  of  a  man  who  has  so  frequently  deceived  them. 

This  writer  has  in  his  rage  against  the  settlements  at  the  Illinois, 
not  only  shewn  his  usual  disregard  of  truth  and  decency,  but  thrown 
off  the  common  feelings  of  humanity.  Yes !  —  This  marble-hearted 
reprobate  has  impiously  dared  to  reproach  an  affectionate, —  a 
peculiarly  warm-hearted  father  with  the  death  of  a  favourite  son. 
Addressing  himself  to  Mr.  Birkbeck,  he  states  as  follows:  —  "As  to 
English  farmers,  yours,  or  any  like  yours,  is  the  very  worst  spot  they 
can  go  to."  Of  the  falsehood  of  this  assertion,  the  reader  has  before 
him  demonstrative  evidence.  Then,  alluding  to  Mr.  William  Hunt 
and  his  qualifications  for  farming,  the  writer  adds: — "With  great 
sorrow  I  heard  of  his  untimely  end,  from  one  of  those  terrible  fevers 
that  never  fail  to  haunt  new  settlements  for  years.  One  of  Mr. 
Flower's  sons  is  dead  also,  in  the  bloom  of  life.  Now,  had  Mr.  F. 
followed  my  advice  given  him  at  New  York;  if  he  had  purchased  a 
farm  or  two  on  the  Atlantic  side,  this  son  would  in  all  probability 
have  been  alivel"  [69]  To  this  atrocious  paragraph  I  reply:  — //  is 
false  that  "terrible  fevers  haunt  the  English  settlements"  more  than 
is  common  in  either  England  or  America.  I  am  well  acquainted 
with  some  who  were  born,  and  had  previous  to  their  emigration, 
lived  in  one  of  the  finest  counties  in  England,  Devonshire,  who  were 
not  unfrequently  subject  to  fevers  in  general,  but  to  such  "terrible 
fevers,"  as  had  nearly  terminated  their  earthly  existence.  These 
very  persons  have  lately  written  me,  that  during  a  twelvemonth's 
residence  near  Albion,  succeeding  a  long  and  fatiguing  voyage  and 
journey,  they  had  been  less  subject  to  fevers,  and  have  enjoyed  better 
health  than  when  breathing  their  native  air.  As  to  the  climate  in 


1 64  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

general,  its  healthy  state  has,  after  four  years  experience,  been 
proved,  by  the  evidence  of  persons,  whose  characters  for  veracity 
more  particularly,  are  as  superior  to  that  of  their  calumniator,  as 
light  is  to  darkness. —  It  is  false  that  Mr.  W.  Hunt  was  brought  to 
an  untimely  end  by  "a  terrible  fever."  At  the  moment  I  am  writing 
I  have  a  gentleman  at  my  elbow,  who  during  his  late  residence  at 
the  Illinois  was  well  acquainted  with  Mr.  H.  and  with  the  circum- 
stances attending  his  death;  and  he  has  authorized  me  to  state:  — 
That  Mr.  Hunt's  disorder  was  a  common  pleurisy,  attended  with 
but  a  slight  degree  of  fever;  that  he  was  fast  recovering;  but  as  is 
not  uncommon  in  other  countries,  not  taking  proper  care  of  himself, 
and  negligent  in  following  medical  advice,  he  had  a  relapse  which 
terminated  fatally. 

//  is  false,  that  my  amiable  and  excellent  nephew  died  also  in 
consequence  of  one  of  those  "terrible  fevers."  Being  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  circumstances  of  his  case,  from  the  very  best 
authority  I  assure  the  reader,  that  his  death  was  occasioned  by  a 
common  complaint  [70]  in  all  countries,  and  to  which  young  people 
are  more  peculiarly  subject:  a  cold,  caught  on  a  journey,  (it  is  not 
necessary  to  detail  the  particulars)  which,  without  any  alarming 
symptoms  of  fever,  terminated  in  a  decline,  and  as  is  frequently  the 
case  in  such  disorders,  suddenly,  when  his  parents  and  family  were 
flattering  themselves  he  had  nearly  recovered.  Thus  has  Mr.  Cob- 
bett  impiously  represented  an  affecting  visitation  of  Providence;  — 
a  visitation  common  to  every  spot  on  the  habitable  globe, —  as  a 
judgment  inflicted  on  my  brother  for  not  following  his  advice, 
although  he  forgot  to  add,  that  this  advice  was  enforced  with  a 

denunciation,  clothed  in  his  favourite  phraseology,  "I'll  be  d d 

if  I  do  not  write  down  Birkbeck  and  his  settlement."18 —  Thus  has 
he  strove  to  transpierce  the  heart  of  a  father,  and  to  tear  open  a 
wound,  which  time,  a  flourishing  situation,  with  those  ample  means 
of  enjoyment  with  which  the  favour  of  providence  has  surrounded 
him,  together  with  those  "strong  consolations,"  which  a  true  Chris- 
tian only  can  feel  the  force  of,  was  healing;  and  I  trust,  that  the 
same  supports  will  enable  him  to  triumph  over  the  fiend  whose 
deadly  aim  has  been  to  send  him  a  mourner  to  the  grave. 

Mr.  C.  warns  my  brother  and  his  family  "to  retreat  in  time," 

"Flower's  Letters  from  the  Illinois,  1819,  p.  32. —  B.  FLOWER. 


1820-1821]  Flower's  Letters  165 

which  if  they  do  not,  he  dooms  them  for  their  lives  "to  pass  their 
days  principally  amongst  the  fellers  of  trees,  and  the  swallowers  of 
whiskey."  After  the  reader  has  attended  to  the  evidence  respecting 
the  state  of  society  at  the  English  settlements,  in  the  pamphlet 
before  him,  (I  might  refer  him  to  additional  respectable  evidence) 
it  is  only  necessary  to  warn  Mr.  C.  in  return,  should  he  again  cross 
the  Atlantic,  and  take  it  into  his  head  to  reside  at  the  Illinois,  to  be 
careful  to  leave  his  vicious  habits  of  [71]  swearing  and  lying  behind 
him,  as  he  will  otherwise  find  not  only  English  society,  but  even  the 
society  of  "fellers  of  trees,  and  swallowers  of  whiskey"  too  humane, 
too  civilized,  too  virtuous  to  be  very  fond  of  his  company. 

The  hypocrisy  of  Mr.  Cobbett,  in  his  professions  of  respect  for 
Mr.  B.  and  my  brother  can  only  be  equalled  by  his  falsehood.  His 
inhuman  attack  on  the  latter  I  have  already  noticed;  and  his  eager- 
ness in  the  same  Register,  to  expose  and  misrepresent  private  matters 
with  which  the  public  have  no  concern,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  mak- 
ing mischief,  must  be  too  obvious  to  its  readers  to  require  farther 
notice.  I  might  quote  from  a  subsequent  Register,  the  manner  in 
which  he  has  endeavoured  to  ridicule  both  my  brother  and  Mr.  B. 
but  it  is  too  contemptible  for  a  reply. 

Mr.  Birkbeck,  in  the  letter  quoted  by  Cobbett  observes,  "I  sup- 
pose you  have  seen  Cobbett's  attack  on  me,  and  laughed  at  the 
ridiculous  posture  in  which  he  has  contrived  to  place  me."  On  this 
Mr.  C.  indignantly  demands  — "  Pray  Sir,  by  what  rule  known 
amongst  men,  are  you  justified  in  imputing  to  me  an  attack  on  you. 
I  addressed  to  you  two  letters  while  I  was  in  Long  Island,  dated  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  year  1818:  —  now  throughout  the  whole  of 
those  letters  there  is  not  to  be  found  one  single  expression  to  warrant 
this  charge  of  having  made  an  attack  on  you;  from  one  end  to  the 
other  I  speak  of  you  with  the  greatest  respect."  Of  the  sincerity 
of  these  professions  the  reader  will  judge,  by  a  short  extract  or  two 
from  the  letters  referred  to.  "It  is  of  little  consequence,"  observes 
Mr.  C.  "what  wild  schemes  are  formed  by  men  who  have  property 
enough  to  carry  them  back;  but  to  invite  men  to  go  to  the  Illinois, 
with  a  few  score  of  pounds  in  their  pockets,  and  to  tell  them  that 
they  can  become  farmers  with  those  pounds,  appears  to  me  to  admit 
of  no  other  apology  [72]  than  an  unequivocal  acknowledgment  that 
the  author  is  MAD!  Yet  your  fifteenth  letter  from  the  Illinois 


1 66  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

really  contains  such  an  invitation.  This  letter  is  manifestly  addressed 
to  an  imaginary  person,  it  is  clear  that  the  correspondent  is  a  feigned 
or  supposed  being.  It  is,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  a  mere  trap  to  catch  poor 
creatures  with  a  few  pounds  in  their  pockets."  Mr.  Birkbeck  in 
reply,  after  stating  that  his  letter  was  not  addressed  to  an  "imagi- 
nary person,"  but  to  one  with  whose  circumstances  he  was  inti- 
mately acquainted,  a  relation  by  marriage,  adds: — "You  have 
posted  me  over  England  and  America  as  mad,  as  a  simpleton,  and  a 
boaster,  and  in  one  or  two  instances  as  something  worse.  So  great  a 
liberty  with  truth,  you  say,  never  was  taken  by  any  mortal  being;  and 
having  made  the  discovery,  you  are  in  great  haste  to  conclude  your 
letter  to  me,  that  your  son  William  might  take  it  to  England  with  him, 
and  publish  it  there  six  months  before  I  could  hear  0}  it\" —  So  much 
for  Mr.  Cobbett's  sincerity  in  his  high  professions  of  respect  for 
Mr.  B.  his  veracity  in  declaring  he  made  "no  attack  on  him,"  and 
that  his  letter,  "was  not  written  to  be  circulated  in  Euro  pel"  It  is 
a  pity  that  he  did  not  adduce  his  ever-memorable  denunciation 
against  Mr.  B.  and  his  settlement  uttered  a  short  time  before  he 
wrote  his  letters,  as  an  additional  proof  of  his  sincerity  and 
veracity?9 

The  conceit  of  this  writer  is  as  intolerable  as  his  other  vicious 
qualities.  Speaking  of  the  House  of  Commons,  he  thus  expresses 
himself:  —  "I  am  well  aware  of  all  the  feelings  that  are  at  work  in 
that  assembly  with  regard  to  me  and  my  writings.  I  have  not  mock 
modesty  enough,  to  pretend  not  to  perceive  the  power  that  I  have  in 
the  [73]  country;  and  it  is  out  of  the  power  of  that  assembly  to  dis- 
guise from  me  that  they  are  well  aware  of  the  extent  of  that  power. 
Neither  am  I  ignorant  of  the  power  that  I  have  with  regard  to  their 
actions,  and  of  the  great  reluctance  that  they  have  to  suffer  the  public 
to  perceive  that  they  feel  the  effects  of  any  such  power.  I  manage  my 
matters  adroitly:  but  the  power  I  have,  and  the  power  I  will  have; 
and  this  I  repeat  it,  the  public  know  full  as  well  as  I  do;  and  I  only 
state  the  facts  here  in  order  to  let  those  who  grudge  me  the  power 
know,  that  the  possession  of  it  gives  me  great  satisfaction."  How 
adroitly  this  bankrupt  in  fortunes  and  character  has  "managed  his 
matters,"  the  London  Gazette  and  our  courts  of  justice  have  recently 

"Cobbett's  Register,  July  7,  1821.  Birkbeck's  Letters,  printed  for  Ridg- 
way,  1819,  second  edition. —  B.  FLOWER. 


1820-1821]  Flowers  Letters  167 

afforded  ample  evidence;  and  should  he  profess  modesty,  that  it  will 
be  "mock  modesty,"  no  man  will  dispute:  as  to  the  rest  of  the  para- 
graph, surely  the  ravings  of  the  poor  bedlamite,  with  his  crown  of 
straw,  brandishing  his  straw  scepter,  and  fancying  himself  a  king, 
appears  rationality  itself  compared  with  this  display  of  bloated  pride 
and  intoxicated  vanity !  What  particular  power  this  writer  possesses 
over  the  country,  or  over  parliament,  I  know  not:  that  he  may  impose 
upon  some  people  by  his  acknowledged  talents  as  a  writer,  whose 
style  is  so  well  calculated  for  the  lower  classes  more  particularly, 
and  by  his  confident  assertions,  I  do  not  deny;  but  in  justice  to 
Mr.  C.  I  must  observe,  that  I  do  not  believe  his  powers  for  wicked- 
ness are  so  gigantic  as  he  has  laboured  to  persuade  us  they  are. 
How  often  has  he  boasted  of  his  power  at  any  time  totally  to  ruin 
the  Bank  of  England  by  his  favourite  project  of  a  general  forgery 
of  bank  notes;  and  which  he  could  easily  put  in  execution  at  any 
time;  but  notwithstanding  he  proves  his  good  wishes  on  the  subject, 
he  has  not  had  that  [74]  confidence  in  his  own  marvellous  powers,  as 
to  risk  his  neck  in  the  acquisition  of  that  exaltation,  which  the 
attempt  to  put  such  a  project  in  execution  would  most  assuredly  be 
bis  reward ! 

Mr.  Birkbeck  has  drawn  a  most  correct  miniature  likeness  of  his 
grand  enemy,  in  describing  him  as  a  man, —  I  copy  the  sentence  as 
printed  by  Mr.  C.— "  KNOWN  to  be  wholly  indifferent  to  truth." 
This  description  is  so  terribly  galling  as  to  provoke  him  to  give 
additional  proof  of  its  justice.  How  numerous  are  the  proofs, —  how 
vast  the  evidence  which  might  be  collected  from  his  writings !  How 
many  of  the  most  useful  and  ornamental  characters,  and  of  the 
greatest  and  best  men  in  the  political,  social,  and  literary  world  has 
he  not  libelled !  It  is  not  only  Birkbeck,  and  Flower,  but  Waithman, 
Burdett,20  [75]  and  Fox,  Priestley,  Franklin,  Locke,  and  Addison, 

"  In  my  Mr.  C.'s  treatment  of  Sir  Francis  Burdett,  INGRATITUDE  seems 
the  crowning  vice.  The  benevolent  and  patriotic  baronet,  deceived  by  him  as 
many  others  have  been,  lent  him  a  large  sum  of  money,  which  just  as  he  was 
setting  out  for  America  he  declined  paying,  under  the  pretext  that  as  govern- 
ment had  by  their  oppressive  measures  injured  him,  he  did  not  consider  himself 
bound  to  discharge  his  debts  till  it  suited  his  convenience!  Sir  Francis,  allud- 
ing to  this  letter,  remarked,  that  he  did  not  know  whether  such  a  principle  had 
ever  before  been  acted  upon,  but  he  believed  it  was  the  first  time  it  had  ever 
been  openly  professed !  As  those  letters  are  I  find,  very  imperfectly  recollected 


1 68  Early  Western  Travels  [Vol.  10 

with  many  others  whom  this  general  libeller  has  calumniated. 
But  to  wade  through  his  innumerable  pages,  and  to  collect  the  num- 
berless proofs  of  the  truth  of  this  statement  would  be  a  more  Hercu- 
lean task  than  that  of  cleansing  the  Augean  stable.  To  the  number 
of  his  Register  already  quoted  I  must  confine  myself:  and  indeed 
that  may  be  produced  as  a  fair  specimen  of  many  others.  -Many 
years  since,  and  early  in  his  political  career,  he  poured  forth  his 
abuse  on  Dr.  Franklin;  the  fit  has  lately  revisited  him;  and  it  has 
happened  to  him,  to  use  the  language  of  St.  Peter,  when  describing 
similar  characters  of  his  time,  according  to  the  true  proverb,  the  dog 
is  turned  to  his  own  vomit  again.  Speaking  of  this  friend  of  his 
country,  and  of  the  world,  Mr.  C.  observes:  —  "Dr.  Franklin's 
maxims  are  childish,  if  not  trivial;  a  still  greater  number  of  them  are 
false,  the  whole  tenor  of  them  tends  to  evil,  for  it  constantly  aims  at 
strengthening  selfishness,  and  at  enfeebling  generosity." — Yes 
reader!  such  is  the  description  of  the  luminous  pages  of  this  illus- 
trious American  philosopher,  statesman,  and  patriot,  and  which 
abound  equally  with  lessons  of  philanthropy  and  prudence,  enforced 
by  his  own  example,  and  which  have  instructed,  improved,  and 
adorned,  not  only  his  own  country,  but  almost  every  civilized  spot 
on  the  habitable  globe. 

But  although  there  is  much  more  offensive  matter  in  the  Register 
I  have  quoted,  I  must  draw  to  a  close.  Mr.  C.  on  some  subjects 
shews  considerable  talents  and  industry,  and  he  might  have  been 
useful  to  society,  had  he  confined  himself  to  his  peculiar  forte, — 

by  many  of  Mr.  C.'s  readers,  if  he  will  reprint  them  in  his  Weekly  Register, 
they  will  consider  it  as  a  favour. 

Mr.  C.  commenced  his  notice  of  the  worthy  baronet  by  reviling  him,  and  all 
men  of  his  principles;  in  his  usual  style  he  afterwards  veered  about  to  the  oppo- 
site point  of  the  compass,  and  panegyrised  him  in  the  highest  terms;  but  al- 
though he  had  partly  gained  his  ends,  finding  that  he  could  not  completely 
transform  Sir  Francis  into  one  of  his  tools,  and  by  his  means,  accomplish  his 
darling,  but  uniformly  defeated  project,  of  procuring  a  seat  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  he  in  his  rage,  and  under  that  prophetic  impulse  with  which  "The 
angel  he  so  long  has  served,"  not  unfrequently  inspires  him,  pledged  himself 
that  in  the  course  of  a  few  months  he  would  so  expose  the  baronet,  as  to  hurry 
him  to  his  fate: —  That  oj  committing  suicide,  and  oj  being  buried  in  a 
cross  road,  with  a  stake  driven  through  his  body !  If  Dr.  Young's  sentiment  — 
"He  that's  ungrateful  has  no  crimes  but  ONE"  be  correct,  Mr.  C.'s  character 
appears  to  have  reached  its  climax. —  B.  FLOWER. 


1820-1821]  Flower's  Letters  169 

ferretting  out  [76]  public  abuses,  and  making  every  class  understand 
their  nature.  It  is  indeed  to  be  lamented  how  little  he  feels  himself, 
what  he  has  made  others  feel.  But,  as  there  is  no  system,  men  nor 
measures,  but  he  has  equally  panegyrised  and  reviled,  as  it  has 
suited  his  caprice,  or  weathercock  opinions;  his  own  conduct  has,  in 
a  great  degree,  destroyed  the  effects  of  the  best  parts  of  his  writings. 
—  But  as  he  has  lately  turned  his  attention  to  that  best  of  books, — 
the  bible, —  which  he  has  frequently  sneered  at,  and  reviled  the 
successful  exertions  of  those  who  have  extended  its  circulation;  — 
as  his  prolific  pen  has  lately  produced  SERMONS,  in  which  he  has 
displayed  his  usual  energies,  I  will  not  despair  of  him;  and  I  hope 
he  will  take  in  good  part  my  friendly  and  concluding  hints.  I  will 
help  him  to  one  or  two  subjects  for  his  succeeding  sermons.  The 
first  shall  be  — THE  SIN  AND  DANGER  OF  PROFANE 
SWEARING,  from  Exodus  xx.  7.  Thou  shall  not  take  the  name  of 
the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain,  for  the  Lord  will  not  hold  him  guiltless  that 
taketh  his  name  in  vain.  The  other,—  GOD'S  ABHORRENCE 
OF  FALSEHOOD,  from  Prov.  xii.  22.  Lying  lips  are  an  abomi- 
nation to  the  Lord.  No  man  is  capable  of  doing  these  subjects  more 
ample  justice;  and  I  will  promise  him  that,  as  I  have  distributed  some 
of  his  writings,  I  will  so  exert  myself  respecting  these  proposed  ser- 
mons, as  that  he  may  add  to  his  recent  boastings  of  their  extensive 
sale.  It  is  impossible  that  in  reading  and  studying  the  Bible,  he  can 
prevent  it  from  flying  in  his  face,  and  I  most  sincerely  hope  his 
reflections  will  terminate  in  his  repentance  and  reformation:  that  he 
may  no  longer  remain  in  the  gall  of  bitterness,  and  in  the  bond  of 
iniquity  \  but  that  it  may  be  his  fervent  prayer  to  God, —  That  the 
thoughts  of  his  heart  may  be  forgiven  him. 

FINIS