Society in America : in two volumes (vol. 1)

I

I

SOCIETY IN AMERICA

HARRIET MARTINEAU,

AUTHOR OP " ILLUSTRATIONS OP POLITICAL ECONOMY."

IN TWO VOLUMES.

vol. r.

SECOND EDITION.

NEW YORK
SAUNDERS AND OTLEY, ANN STREET,
AND CONDUIT STREET, LONDON.
1837.

INTRODUCTION.

To seize a character, even that of one man, in its life
and secret mechanism, requires a philosopher ; to deline-
ate it with truth and impressiveness is work for a poet.
How then shall one or two sleek clerical tutors, with here
and there a tedium-stricken esquire, or speculative half-
pay captain, give us views on such a subject ? How shall
a man, to whom all characters of individual men are like
sealed books, of which he sees only the title and the
covers, decipher from his four-wheeled vehicle, and depict
to us, the character of a nation ? He courageously de-
picts his own optical delusions ; notes this to be incom-
prehensible, that other to be insignificant ; much to be
good, much to be bad, and most of all indifferent ; and
so, with a few flowing strokes, completes a picture, which,
though it may not resemble any possible object, his coun-
trymen are to take for a national portrait. Nor is the

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INTRODUCTION.

fraud so readily detected : for the character of a people
has such a complexity of aspect, that even the honest ob-
server knows not always, not perhaps after long inspec-
tion, what to determine regarding it. From his, only
accidental, point of view, the figure stands before him like
the tracings on veined marble, — a mass of mere random
lines, and tints, and entangled strokes, out of which a
lively fancy may shape almost any image. But the image
he brings with him is always the readiest; this is tried ;
it answers as well as another ; and a second voucher now
testifies its correctness. Thus each, in confident tones,
though it be with a secret misgiving, repeats his precur-
sor ; the hundred-times-repeated comes in the end to be
believed; the foreign nation is now once for all under-
stood, decided on, and registered accordingly ; and
dunce the thousandth writes of it like dunce the first."—
Edinburgh Kevievj, No. xlvi. p. 309.

This passage cannot but strike upon the heart
of any traveller who meditates giving to the world
an account of the foreign country he has visited.
It is the mirror held up before his face ; and he
inevitably feels himself, for the moment, " dunce
the thousandth/' For my own part, I felt the
truth contained in this picture so strongly, before
I was acquainted with the passage itself, that I
had again and again put away the idea of saying
one word in print on the condition of society in
the United States. Whenever I encountered half-

INTRODUCTION.

iii

a-dozen irreconcilable, but respectable opinions
on a single point of political doctrine ; whenever
half-a-dozen fair-seeming versions of a single fact
were offered to me ; whenever the glow of pleasure
at obtaining, by some trivial accident, a piece of
important knowledge passed into a throb of pain
at the thought of how much must remain concealed
where a casual glimpse disclosed so much ; when-
ever I felt how I, with my pittance of knowledge
and amidst my glimmerings of conviction, was at
the mercy of unmanageable circumstances, wafted
now here and now there, by the currents of opi-
nion, like one surveying a continent from a bal-
loon, with only starlight above him, — I was tempted
to decline the task of generalising at all from what
I saw and heard. In the intervals, however, I felt
that this would be wrong. Men will never arrive
at a knowledge of each other, if those who have the
opportunity of foreign observation refuse to relate
what they think they have learned ; or even to lay
before others the materials from which they them-
selves hesitate to construct a theory, or draw large
conclusions.

In seeking for methods by which I might com-
municate what I have observed in my travels*
without offering any pretension to teach the Eng

iv

INTRODUCTION.

lish, or judge the Americans, two expedients oc-
curred to me ; both of which 1 have adopted. One
is, to compare the existing state of society in Ame-
rica with the principles on which it is professedly
founded ; thus testing Institutions, Morals, and
Manners by an indisputable, instead of an arbi-
trary standard, and securing to myself the same
point of view with my readers of both nations.

In working according to this method, my princi-
pal dangers are two. I am in danger of not fully
apprehending the principles on which society in
the United States is founded ; and of erring in the
application to these of the facts which came under
my notice. In the last respect, I am utterly hope-
less of my own accuracy. It is in the highest de-
gree improbable that my scanty gleanings in the
wide field of American society should present a
precisely fair sample of the whole. I can only
explain that I have spared no pains to discover the
truth, in both divisions of my task ; and invite cor-
rection, in all errors of fact. This I earnestly
do ; holding myself, of course, an equal judge with
others on matters of opinion.

My readers, on their part, will bear m mind
that, in showing discrepancies between an ac-
tual condition and a pure and noble theory of

INTRODUCTION.

V

society, I am not finding fault with the Ameri-
cans, as for falling behind the English, or the
French, or any other nation. I decline the office of
censor altogether. I dare not undertake it. Nor
will my readers, I trust, regard the subject other-
wise than as a compound of philosophy and fact.
If we can all, for once, allay our personal feelings,
dismiss our too great regard to mutual opinion,
and put praise and blame as nearly as possible
out of the question, more that is advantageous to
us may perhaps be learned than by any invidious
comparisons and proud judgments that were ever
instituted and pronounced.

The other method by which I propose to lessen
my own responsibility, is to enable my readers to
judge for themselves, better than I can for them,
what my testimony is worth. For this purpose, I
offer a brief account of my travels, with dates in
full ; and a report of the principal means I enjoyed
of obtaining a knowledge of the country.

At the close of a long work which I completed
in 1834, it was thought desirable that I should
travel for two years. I determined to go to the
United States, chiefly because I felt a strong cu-
riosity to witness the actual working of republican
institutions; and partly because the circumstance

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INTRODUCTION.

of the language being the same as my own is very
important to one who, like myself, is too deaf to
enjoy anything like an average opportunity of ob-
taining correct knowledge, where intercourse is
carried on in a foreign language. I went with a
mind, I believe, as nearly as possible unprejudiced
about America, with a strong disposition to ad-
mire democratic institutions, but an entire igno-
rance how far the people of the United States lived
up to, or fell below, their own theory. I had read
whatever I could lay hold of that had been writ-
ten about them ; but was unable to satisfy myself
that, after all, I understood anything whatever of
their condition. As to knowledge of them, my
mind was nearly a blank: as to opinion of their
state, I did not carry the germ of one.

I landed at New York on the 19th of Septem-
ber, 1834: paid a short visit the next week to
Paterson, in New Jersey, to see the cotton facto-
ries there, and the falls of the Passaic ; and passed
through New York again on my way to stay with
some friends on the banks of the Hudson, and at
Stockbridge, Massachusetts. On the 6th of October,
1 joined some companions at Albany, with whom I
travelled through the State of New York, seeing
Trenton Falls, Auburn, and Buffalo, to the Falls

INTRODUCTION.

of Niagara. Here I remained nearly a week ; then,
after spending a few days at Buffalo, I embarked
on Lake Erie, landing in the back of Pennsylva-
nia, and travelling down through Meadville to
Pittsburgh, spending a few days at each place.
Then, over the Alleghanies to Northumberland,
on the fork of the Susquehanna, the abode of
Priestley after his exile, and his burial place. I
arrived at Northumberland on the 11th of Octo-
ber, and left it, after visiting some villages in the
neighbourhood, on the 17th, for Philadelphia,
where I remained nearly six weeks, having very
extensive intercourses with its various society.
My stay at Baltimore was three weeks, and at
Washington five. Congress was at that time in
session, and I enjoyed peculiar opportunities of
witnessing the proceedings of the Supreme Court
and both houses of Congress. I was acquainted
with almost every eminent senator and representa-
tive, both on the administration and opposition
sides ; and was on friendly and intimate terms with
some of the judges of the Supreme Court. I en-
joyed the hospitality of the President, and of se-
veral of the heads of departments: and was, like
everybody else, in society from morning till night
of every day ; as the custom is at Washington. One

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INTRODUCTION.

day was devoted to a visit to Mount Vernon, the
abode and burial-place of Washington.

On the 18th of February I arrived at Montpe-
lier, the seat of Mr. and Mrs. Madison, with whom
I spent two days, which were wholly occupied with
rapid conversation ; Mr. Madison's share of which,
various and beautiful to a remarkable degree, will
never be forgotten by me. His clear reports of
the principles and history of the Constitution of
the United States, his insight into the condition,
his speculations on the prospects of nations, his
wise playfulness, his placid contemplation of pre-
sent affairs, his abundant household anecdotes of
Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson, were incal-
culably valuable and exceedingly delightful to me«

The intercourse which I had with Chief Justice
Marshall was of the same character, though not
nearly so copious. Nothing in either delighted me
more than their hearty admiration of each other,
notwithstanding some wide differences in their po-
litical views. They are both gone; and I now
deeply feel what a privilege it is to have known
them.

From Mr. Madison's I proceeded to Charlottes-
ville, and passed two days amidst the hospitalities
of the Professors of Jefferson's University, and their

INTRODUCTION.

ix

families. I was astonished to learn that this in-
stitution had never before been visited by a Bri-
tish traveller. I can only be sorry for British tra-
vellers who have missed the pleasure. A few days
more were given to Richmond, where the Virginia
legislature was in session; and then ensued a
long wintry journey though North and South Ca-
rolina to Charleston, occupying from the 2nd to
the 11th of March. The hospitalities of Charles-
ton are renowned ; and I enjoyed them in their
perfection for a fortnight ; and then a renewal of
the same kind of pleasures at Columbia, South
Carolina, for ten days. I traversed the southern
States, staying three days at Augusta, Georgia,
and nearly a fortnight in and near Montgomery,
Alabama; descending next the Alabama river to
Mobile. After a short stay there, and a residence
of ten days at New Orleans, I went up the Missis-
sippi and Ohio to the mouth of the Cumberland
river, which I ascended to Nashville, Tennessee.
I visited the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, and
spent three weeks at Lexington. I descended the
Ohio to Cincinnati ; and after staying there ten
days, ascended the river again, landing in Vir-
ginia, visiting the Hawk's Nest, Sulphur Springs,
Natural Bridge, and Weyer's Cave, arriving at New

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INTRODUCTION.

York again on the 14th of July, 1835. The au-
tumn was spent among the villages and smaller
towns of Massachusetts, in a visit to Dr. Chan-
njng in Rhode Island, and in an excursion to the
mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont. The
winter was passed in Boston, with the exception of
a trip to Plymouth, for " Forefather's Day." In the
Spring I spent seven weeks in New York ; and a
month in a farmhouse at Stockbridge, Massachu-
setts ; making an excursion, meanwhile, to Saratoga
and Lake George. My last journey was with a party
of friends, far into the west, visiting Niagara again,
proceeding by Lake Erie to Detroit, and across
the territory of Michigan. We swept round the
southern extremity of Lake Michigan to Chicago :
went along day's journey down into the prairies, back
to Chicago, and by the Lakes Michigan, Huron, and
St. Clair to Detroit, visiting Mackinaw by the way.
We landed from Lake Erie at Cleveland, Ohio, on
the 13th of July; and travelled through the interior
of Ohio till we joined the river at Beaver. We
visited Rapp's Settlement at Economy, on the Ohio,
and returned to New York from Pittsburgh, by the
canal route through Pennsylvania, and the rail-
road over the Alleghanies. I sailed from New
York for England on the 1st of August, 1836,
having then been absent just two yeare.

INTRODUCTION.

In the course of this tour, I visited almost every
kind of institution. The prisons of Auburn, Phila-
delphia, and Nashville : the insane and other hospi-
tals of almost every considerable place: the literary
and scientific institutions ; the factories of the north ;
the plantations of the south; the farms of the
west. I lived in houses which might be called pa-
laces, in log-houses, and in a farm-house. I travelled
much in wagons, as well as stages ; also on horse-
back, and in some of the best and worst of steam-
boats. I saw weddings, and christenings ; the ga-
therings of the richer at watering places, and of
the humbler at country festivals. I was present at
orations, at land sajes, and in the slave market. I
wras in frequent attendance on the Supreme Court
and the Senate ; and witnessed some of the pro-
ceedings of state legislatures. Above all, I was re-
ceived into the bosom of many families, not as a
stranger, but as a daughter or a sister. I am quali-
fied, if any one is, to testify to the virtues and the
peace of the homes of the United States ; and let
it not be thought a breach of confidence, if I
should be found occasionally to have spoken of
these out of the fulness of my heart.

It would be nearly impossible to relate whom I
knew, during my travels. Nearly every eminent

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INTRODUCTION.

man in politics, science and literature, and almost
every distinguished woman, would grace my list.
I have respected and beloved friends of each poli-
tical party ; and of nearly every religious denomi-
nation ; among slave-holders, colonizationists, and
abolitionists; among farmers, lawyers, merchants,
professors, and clergy. I travelled among several
tribes of Indians ; and spent months in the southern
States, with negroes ever at my heels.

Such were my means of information. With re-
gard to my power of making use of them, I have
but a few words to say.

It has been frequently mentioned to me that my
being a woman was one disadvantage ; and my being
previously heard of, another. In this I do not
agree.

I am sure, I have seen much more of domestic
life than could possibly have been exhibited to any
gentleman travelling through the country. The
nursery, the boudoir, the kitchen, are all excellent
schools in which to learn the morals and manners
of a people: and, as for public and professional
affairs, — those may always gain full information
upon such matters, who really feel an interest in
them, — be they men or women. No people in
the world can be more frank, confiding and affee-

INTRODUCTION.

xiii

tionate, or more skilful and liberal in communi-
cating information, than I have ever found the
Americans to be. I never asked in vain ; and I
seldom had to ask at all; so carefully were my
inquiries anticipated, and my aims so completely
understood. I doubt whether a single fact that I
wished to learn, or any doctrine that I desired to
comprehend, was ever kept from me because I was
a woman. n

As for the other objection, I can only state
my belief, that my friends and I fouijd personal ac-
quaintance so much pleasanter than any previous
knowledge by hearsay, that we always forgot that
we had heard of each other before. It would be
preposterous to suppose that, received as I was intc
intimate confidence, any false appearances could
be kept up on account of any preconceptions that
could have been entertained of me.

I laboured under only one peculiar disadvantage,
that I am aware of; but that one is incalculable.
I mean my deafness. This does not endanger the
accuracy of my information, I believe, as far as it
goes ; because I carry a trumpet of remarkable
fidelity ; an instrument, moreover, which seems to
exert some winning power, by which I gain more in
tete-a-t£te$ than is given to people who hear gene-

xiv

INTRODUCTION.

ral conversation. Probably its cbarm consists in
the new feeling which it imparts of ease and pri-
vacy in conversing with a deaf person. However
this may be, I can hardly imagine fuller revela-
tions to be made in household intercourse than my
trumpet brought to me. But I am aware that
there is no estimating the loss, in a foreign coun-
try, from not hearing the casual conversation of
all kinds of people, in the streets, stages, hotels, &c.
I am aware that the lights which are thus gathered
up by the traveller for himself are often far more
valuable than the most elaborate accounts of things
differed to him with an express design. This was
my peculiar disadvantage. It could not be helped ;
and it cannot be explained away. I mention it,
that the value of my testimony may be lowered ac-
cording to the supposed wo^th of this circum-
stance.

Much is often said about the delicacy to be ob-
served, in the act of revealing the history of one's
travels, towards the hosts and other friends of the
traveller who have reposed confidence in him. The
rule seems to me a very plain one, which reconciles
truth, honour and utility. My rule is to speak of
the public acts of public persons, precisely as if
I had known them only in their public character.

INTRODUCTION

XV

This may be sometimes difficult, and sometimes
painful, to the writer ; but it leaves no just cause
of complaint to ahy one else. Moreover, I hold it
allowable and necessary to make use of opinions
and facts offered in fire-side confidence, as long as
no clue is offered by v/hich they may be traced
back to any particular fire-side. If any of my
American friends should find in this bock traces of
old conversations and incidents, let them keep their
own counsel, and be assured that the conversation
and facts remain private between them and me.
Thus far, all is safe ; and further than this, no ho-
nourable person would wish to go.

This is not the place in which to speak of my
obligations or of my friendships. Those who know
best what I have in my heart to say meet me here
under a new relation. In these pages, we meet as
writer and readers. I would only entreat them to
bear this distinction in mind, and not to measure
my attachment to themselves by anything this
book may contain about their country and their
nation. Th6 bond which unites us bears no rela-
tion to clime, birth-place, or institutions. In as
far as our friendship is faithful, we are fellow-citi-
zens of another and a better country than theirs or
mine.

CONTENTS.

VOL. I.

Introduction

PART I.

Politics

CHAPTER I.
Partjes .....

CHAPTER II.

Apparatus of Government

Section I. — The General Government

II. — The Executive

III. — The State Governments

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CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III.

Page

Morals of Politics .... 82
Section I. — Office . . . . 84

II. — Newspapers . . . 109

III. — Apathy in Citizenship . • 115

IV. — Allegiance to Law . . 120
V. — Sectional Prejudice . . 135

VI. — Citizenship of People of Colour 144

VII. — Political Non-Existence of Women 148

PART II.

Economy . .... 155

Solitaires ^ . 162

Springs of Virginia .... 175

New England Farm-house • . .193

West Country Life ... 201

Township of Gloucester . . . 205

South Country Life ' . . 212
Picture of Michigan .... 232

The Northern Lakes . . . 270

CHAPTER I.

Agriculture . . . . .291

Section I. — Disposal of Land . . 318

II. — Rural Labour . . . 338

SOCIETY IN AMERICA

PART I.

POLITICS.

* Those unalterable relations which Providence has

ordained that everything should bear to every other. These rela-
tions, which are truth itself, the foundation of virtue, and conse-
quently, the only measures of happiness, should be likewise the
only measures by which we should direct our reasoning. To these
we should conform in good earnest, and not think to force nature,
and the whole order of her system, by a compliance with our pride
and folly, to conform to our artificial regulations. It is by a con-
formity to this method we owe the discovery of the few truths we
know, and the little liberty and rational happiness we enjoy Burke*

Mr. Madison remarked to me, that the United
States had been "useful in proving things before
held impossible." Of such proofs, he adduced
several. Others, which he did not mention, have
since occurred to me ; and, among them, the pur-
suit of the a priori method in forming a constitu-
tion:— the a priori method, as it is styled by its
enemies, though its advocates, with more reason,
call it the inductive method. Till the formation of
the government of the United States, it had been
generally supposed, and it is so still by the majority
of the old wor <\ that a sound theory of government
can be constructed only out of the experience of
vol. i. £

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POLITICS.

man in governments ; the experience mankind has
had of despotisms, oligarchies, and the mixtures of
these with small portions of democracy. But the
essential condition of the fidelity of the inductive
method is, that all the elements of experience
should be included. If, in this particular problem,
of the true theory of government, we take all expe-
rience of government, and leave out all experience
of man, except in his hitherto governing or go-
verned state, we shall never reach a philosophical
conclusion. The true application of the inductive
method here is to test a theory of government de-
duced from the principles of human nature, by the
results of all governments of which mankind has
had experience. No narrower basis will serve for
such an induction. Such a method of finding a
good theory of government was considered impossi-
ble, till the United States 84 proved" it.

This proof can never be invalidated by anything
that can now happen in the United States. It is
common to say 88 Wait ; these are early days. The
experiment will fail yet." The experiment of the

!>articular constitution of the United States may
ail; but the great principle which, whether suc-
cessfully or not, it strives to embody, — the capacity
of mankind for self-government, — is established for
ever. It has, as Mr. Madison said, proved a thing
previously held impossible. If a revolution were
to take place to-morrow in the United States, it
remains an historical fact that, for halt a century, a
people has been self-governed ; and, till it can be
proved that the self-government is the cause of the
instability, no revolution, or series of revolutions,
can tarnish the lustre, any more than they can im-
pair the soundness of the principle that mankind
are capable of self-government. The United States
have indeed been useful in proving these two things,
before held impossible ; the finding a true theory

POLITICS.

3

of government, by reasoning from the principles of
human nature, as well as from the experience of
governments ; and the capacity of mankind for self-
government.

It seems strange that while politics are unques-
tionably a branch of moral science, bearing no
other relation than to the duty and happiness of
man, the great principles of his nature should have
been neglected by politicians — with the exception
of his love of power and desire of gain, — till a set
of men assembled in the State House at Phila-
delphia, in the eighteenth century, and there throned
a legitimate political philosophy in the place of a
deposed king. The rationale of all preceding go-
vernments had been, "men love power, therefore
there must be punishments for rulers who, having
already much, would seize more. Men desire gain ;
therefore there must be punishments for those,
rulers or ruled, who would appropriate the gains of
others." The rationale of the new and " impossi-
ble" government is " that all men are created equal ;
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable rights; that among them are life, li-
berty, and the pursuit of happiness ; that to secure
those rights, governments are instituted among men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed."* This last recognizes, over and above
what the former admits, the great principles of in-
defeasible rights; human equality in relation to
these ; and the obligation of universal justice.

These, then, are the principles which the states-
men in the State House at Philadelphia announced
as the soul of their embryo institutions ; and the
rule through which they were to work was no less
than that golden one which seems to have been, by
some unhappy chance, omitted in the bibles of
other statesmen — " Do unto others as ye would

* Declaration of Independence.

B 2

4

POLITICS.

that they should do unto you." Perhaps it may be
reserved for their country to prove yet one more
impossible thing — that men can live by the rule
which their Maker has given them to live by.
Meanwhile, every true citizen of that country must
necessarily be content to have his self-government
tried by the test of these principles, to which, by
his citizenship, he has become a subscriber. He
will scorn all comparisons, instituted as a test of
merit, between his own government and those of
other countries, which he must necessarily consider
as of narrower scope and lower aim Whether such
comparisons be instituted abroad in a spirit of con-
tempt, or at home in a spirit of complacency, he
will regard them equally as irrelevant, and proving
nothing to the best purposes of true citizens. He
will disdain every test but that furnished by the
great principles propounded in the State House at
Philadelphia ; and he will quarrel with no results
fairly brought out by such a test, whether they in*
spire him with shame, or with complacency. In
either case, he will be animated by them.

If the politics of a country be really derived from
fundamental principles of human nature and morals,
the economy, manners, and religion of that country
must be designed to harmonise with these princi-
ples. The same test must be applicable to all.
The inalienable right of all the human race to life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, must control
the economical, as well as the political arrange-
ments of a people ; and the law of universal justice
must regulate all social intercourse, and direct all
administration of religion,

Politics are morals, all the world over ; that is,
politics universally implicate the duty and happi-
ness of man. Every branch of morals is, and
ought to be considered, a universal concern. Under
despotic governments, there is a pretension, more

POLITICS.

5

or less sincere, on the part of the rulers, to moral
regards; but from these the bulk of the people
are, by common consent, cut off. If the bulk of
the people saw the truth, that the principles of po-
litics affect them,— are the message of their Maker
as principles are) to them, as well as to their
rulers, they would become moral agents in regard
to politics, and despotism would be at an end. As
it is, they pay their taxes, and go out to war when
they are bid, are thankful when they are left un-
molested by their government, and sorry or angry
when they feel themselves oppressed ; and there
they end. It is owing to their ignorance of politics
being morals — i. e. matters of equal concern to
all — that this truth is not made manifest in action
in every country on the globe that has any govern-
ment at all.

The same is the case of the unrepresented under
governments which are not called despotic. Ac-
cording to the principles professed by the United
States, there is there a rectification of this mighty
error — a correction of this grand oversight. In
that self-governing nation, all are held to have an
equal interest in the principles of its institutions,
and to be bound in equal duty to wratch their work-
ings. Politics there are universal duty. None are
exempted from obligation but the unrepresented ;
and they, in theory, are none. However various
may be the tribes of inhabitants in those States,
whatever part of the world may have been their
birth-place, or that of their fathers, however broken
may be their language, however noble or servile
their employments, however exalted or despised
their state, all are declared to be bound together
by equal political obligation, as firmly as under any
other law of personal or social duty. The pre-
sident, the senator, the governor, may take upon
himself some additional responsibility, as the phy-

POLITICS.

sician and lawyer do in other departments of office;
but they are under precisely the same political ob-
ligation as the German settler, whose axe echoes
through the lonely forest ; and the Southern planter,
who is occupied with his hospitalities ; and the New
England merchant, whose thoughts are on the sea;
and the Irishman, in his shanty on the canal-bank;
and the negro, hoeing cotton in the hot field, or
basking away his sabbath on the shore of the Mis-
sissippi. Genius, knowledge, wealth, may in other
affairs set a man above his fellows; but not in this.
Weakness, ignorance, poverty may exempt a man
from other obligations; but not from this. The
theory of the government of the United States has
grasped and embodied the mighty principle, that
politics are morals ; — that is, a matcer of universal
and equal concern. We shall have to see whether
this principle is fully acted out.

Implicated with this is the theory, that the ma-
jority will be in the right, both as "to the choice of
principles which are to govern particular cases,
and the agents who are to work them. This theory,
obviously just as it appears, as long as it is applied
to matters of universal and equal concern, cannot
be set aside without, overthrowing all with which it
is involved. We shall have to see, also, whether
this principle is effectually carried out.

Implicated with this, again, is the principle that
a mutable, or rather elastic form, must be given to
every institution. " The majority are in the right.1'
Such is the theory. Few individuals of this majo-
rity can act for longer than two-score years and ten ;
few for so long. No one can suppose that his suc-
cessor will think or feel as he does, however strict
may be the regard of each to the fundamental prin-
ciples which are to regulate his citizenship. It is
absolutely necessary, to secure permanence to the
recognition of those principles, that there should

POLITICS.

7

be liberty to change the form which contains them.
Else, in the endless variety of human views and in-
terests, there is danger lest men, being prohibited
from producing a correspondence between the prin-
ciples they recognise, and the forms they desire,
should, because interdicted from outward change,
gradually alter the spirit of their government. In
such a case, men would be some time in discovering
that the fair body of their constitution has become
possessed, while they had supposed her inspired :
and, to pass over the mischiefs which might happen
during the period of her possession, the work of ex-
orcism would be difficult and perilous.

8

PARTIES.

CHAPTER i.

PARTIES.

" For these are the men that, when they have played their parts,
and had their exits, roust step out, and give the moral of their
scenes, and deliver unto posterity an inventory of their virtues
and vices/'

Sir Thomas Browne.

The first gentleman who greeted me on my arrival
in the United States, a few minutes after I had
landed, informed me without delay, that I had
arrived at an unhappy crisis ; that the institutions
of the country would be in ruins before my return
to England ; that the levelling spirit was desolat-
ing society; and that the United States were
on the verge of a military despotism. This wa3
so very like what I had been accustomed to hear
at home, from time to time, since my childhood,
that I was not quite so much alarmed as I might
have been without such prior experience. It was
amusing too to find America so veritably the
daughter of England,

I looked around me carefully, in all my travels,
till I reached Washington, but could see no signs
of despotism ; even less of military. Except the
officers and cadets at West Point, and some militia
on a training day at Saugerties, higher up on the
Hudson, I saw nothing that could be called mili-

PARTIES.

9

tary ; and officers, cadets, and militia, appeared all
perfectly innocent of any design to seize upon the
government. At Washington, I ventured to ask
an explanation from one of the most honoured
statesmen now living; who told me, with a smile,
that the country had been in " a crisis" for fifty
years past ; and would be for fifty years to come.

This information was my comfort, from day to
day, till I became sufficiently acquainted with the
country to need such support no longer. Mourn-
ful predictions, like that I have quoted, were made
so often, that it was easy to learn how they origi-
nated.

In the United States, as elsewhere, there are,
and have always been, two parties in politics, whom
it is difficult to distinguish on paper, by a statement
of their principles, but whose course of action may,
in any given case, be pretty confidently anticipated.
It is remarkable how nearly their positive state-
ments of political doctrine agree, while they differ
in almost every possible application of their com-
mon principles. Close and continued observation
of their agreements and differences is necessary
before the British traveller can fully comprehend
their mutual relation. In England, the differences
of parties are so broad, — between these who would
have the people governed for the convenience of
their rulers ; those who would have the many go-
verned, for their good, by the will of the few ; and
those who would have the people govern them-
selves ; — that it is, for some time, difficult to com-
prehend how there should be party differences as
wide in a country where the first principle of go-
vernment is that the people are to govern them-
selves. The case, however, becomes clear in time:
and, amidst a half century of " crises," the same
order and sequence become discernible which run
through the whole course of human affairs.

jb 5

10

PARTIES.

As long as men continue as differently organized
as they now are, there will be two parties under
every government. Even if their out ward fortunes
could be absolutely equalised, there would be, from
individual constitution alone, an aristocracy and a
democracy in every land. The fearful by nature
would compose an aristocracy, the hopeful by na-
ture a democracy, were all other causes of diverg-
ence done away. When to these constitutional
differences are added all those outward circum-
stances which go to increase the fear and the hope,
the mutual misunderstandings of parties are no
longer to be wondered at. Men who have gained
wealth, whose hope is fulfilled, and who fear loss
by change, are naturally of the aristocratic class.
So are men of learning, who, unconsciously identi-
fying learning and wisdom, fear the elevation of the
ignorant to a station like their own. So are men
of talent, who^ having gained the power which is
the fit recompense of achievement, dread the having
to yield it to numbers instead of desert. So are
many more who feel the almost universal fear of
having to part with educational prejudices, with
doctrines with which honoured teachers nourished
the pride of youth, and prepossessions inwoven
with all that has been to them most pure, lofty,
and graceful. Out of these a large aristocratic
class must everywhere be formed.

Out of the hopeful, — the rising, not the risen, —
the aspiring, not the satisfied, — must a still larger
class be everywhere formed. It will include all who
have most to gain and least to lose ; and most of
those who, in the present state of education, have
gained their knowledge from actual life, rather
than, or as well as, from books. It will include
the adventurers of society, and also the philan-
thropists. It will include, moreover, — an acces-
sion small in number, but inestimable in power, —

PARTIES. 1 1

the men of genius. It is characteristic of genius
to be hopeful and aspiring. It is characteristic of
genius to break up the artificial arrangements of
conventionalism, and to view mankind in true per-
spective, in their gradations of inherent rather
than of adventitious worth. Genius is therefore
essentially democratic, and has always been so,
whatever titles its gifted ones may have worn, or on
whatever subjects they may have exercised their
gifts. To whatever extent men of genius have
been aristocratic, they have been so in spite of
their genius, not in consistency with it. The in-
stances are so few, and their deviations from the
democratic principle so small, that men of genius
must be considered as included in the democratic
class.

Genius being rare, and its claims but tardily al-
I lowed by those who have attained greatness by
other means, it seems as if the weight of influence
possessed by the aristocratic party, — by that party
which, generally speaking, includes the wealth,
learning, and talents of the country, — must over-
power all opposition. If this is found not to be the
case, if it be found that the democratic party has
achieved everything that has been achieved since
the United States' constitution began to work, it is
no wonder that there is panic in many hearts, and
that I heard from so many tongues of the desola-
tions of the " levelling spirit," and the approaching
ruin of political institutions.

These classes may be distinguished in another
way. The description which Jefferson gave of
the federal and republican parties of 1799 ap-
plies to the federal and democratic parties of this
day, and to the aristocratic and democratic parties
of every time and country. " One," says Jefferson,
" fears most the ignorance of the people ; the

12

I

PARTIES.

other, the selfishness of rulers independent of
them;'

There is much reason in both these fears. The
unreasonableness of party lies in entertaining the
one fear, and not the other. No argument is
needed to prove that rulers are prone to selfish-
ness and narrowness of views: and no one can
have witnessed the injuries that the poor suffer in
old countries, — the education of hardship and in-
sult that furnishes them with their only knowledge
of the highest classes, without being convinced
that their ignorance is to be feared; — their igno-
rance, not so much of books as of liberty and law.
In old countries, the question remains open whe-
ther the many should, on account of their igno-
rance, be kept still in a state of political servitude,
as some declare; or whether they should be gradu-
ally prepared for political freedom, as others
think, by an amelioration of their condition, and by
being educated in schools; or whether, as yet
others maintain, the exercise of political rights
and duties be not the only possible political educa-
tion. In the New World, no such question re-
mains to be debated. It has no large, degraded,
injured, dangerous (white) class who can afford
the slightest preteuce for a panic-cry about agra-
rianism. Throughout the prodigious expanse of
that country, I saw no poor men, except a few in-
temperate ones. I saw some very poor women ;
but God and man know that the time has not come
for women to make their injuries even heard of.
I saw no beggars but two professional ones, who
are making their fortunes in the streets of Wash-
ington. 1 saw no table spread, in the lowest order
of houses, that had not meat and broad on it.
Every factory child carries its umbrella ; and pig-
drivers wear spectacles. With the exception of

PARTIES.

13

the foreign paupers on the seaboard, and those
who are steeped in sensual vice, neither of which
classes can be politically dangerous, there are none
who have not the same interest in the security of
property as the richest merchant of Salem, or
planter of Louisiana. Whether the less wealthy
class will not be the first to draw out from reason
and experience the true philosophy of property, is
another question. All we have to do with now is
their equal interest with their richer neighbours in
the security of property, in the present state of so-
ciety. Law and order are as important to the man
who holds land for the subsistence of his family, or
who earns wages that he may have land of his own to
die upon, as to any member of the president's cabinet.

Nor is there much more to fear from the igno-
rance of the bulk of tiie people in the United
States, than from their poverty. It is too true that
there is much ignorance ; so much as to be an ever-
present peril. Though, as a whole, the nation is,
probably, better informed than any other entire
nation, it cannot be denied that their knowledge is
far inferior to what their safety and their virtue re-
quire. But whose ignorance is it ? And ignorance
of what ? If the professors of colleges have book-
knowledge, which the owner of a log-house has
not ; the owner of a log-house has very often, as I
can testify, a knowledge of natural law, political
rights, and economical fact, which the college-pro-
fessor has not. I often longed to confront some of
each class, to see whether there was any common
ground on which they could meet. If not, the one
might bring the charge of ignorance as justly as the
other. If a common ground could be discovered,
it would have been in their equal relation to the
government under which they live : in which case,
the natural conclusion would be, that each under-
stood his own interests best, and neither could

14

PARTIES.

assume superiority over the other. The particular
ignorance of the countryman may expose him to be
flattered and cheated by an oratorical office-seeker,
or a dishonest newspaper. But, on the other hand,
the professor's want of knowledge of the actual
affairs of the many, and his educational biases,
are just as likely to cause him to vote contrary to
the public interest. No one who has observed
society in America will question the existence or
the evil of ignorance there : but neither will he
question that such real knowledge as they have is
pretty fairly shared among them.

I travelled by wagon, with a party of friends, in
the interior of Ohio. Our driver must be a man of
great and various knowledge, if he questions all
strangers as he did us, and obtains as copious
answers. He told us where and how he lived, of
his nine children, of his literary daughters, and the
pains he was at to get books for them; and of his
hopes from his girl of fourteen, who writes poetry,
which he keeps a secret, lest she should be spoiled.
He told us that he seldom lets his fingers touch a
novel, because the consequence always is that his
business stands still till the novel is finished ; " and
that doesn t suit." He recited to us, Pope's
" Happy the man whose wish and care," &c. say-
ing that it suited his idea exactly. He asked both
the ladies present whether they had written a book.
Both had ; and he carried away the titles, that he
might buy the books for his daughters. This man
is fully informed of the value of the Union, as we
had reason to perceive ; and it is difficult to see
why he is not as fit as any other man to choose the
representatives of his interests. Yet, here is a spe-
cimen of his conversation with one of the ladies of
the party.

" Was the book that you wrote on natural phi-
losophy, madam ?"

PARTIES.

15

"No;I know nothing about natural philosophy."
" Hum ! Because one lady has done that pretty
well : — hit it ! — Miss Porter, you know."
"What Miss Porter?"

"She that wrote 'Thaddeus of Warsaw/ you
know. She did it pretty well there."

As an antagonist case, take the wailings of a
gentleman of very distinguished station in a highly
aristocratic section of society ; — wailings over the
extent of the suffrage.

"What an enormity it is that such a man as

Judge , there, should stand on no higher level

in politics than the man that grooms his horse !"

" Why should he ? I suppose they have both
got all they want, — full representation: and they
thus bear precisely the same relation to the go-
vernment."

" No ; the judge seldom votes, because of his
office : while his groom can, perhaps, carry nine-
teen men to vote as he pleases. It is monstrous !"

" It seems monstrous that the judge should omit
his political duty for the sake of his office ; and
also that nineteen men should be led by one. But
limiting the suffrage would not mend the matter.
W7ould it not do better to teach all the parties their
duty?"

Let who will choose between the wagon-driver
and the scholar. Each will vote according to his
own views ; and the event, — the ultimate majority, '
— will prove which is so far the wiser.

The vagueness of the antagonism between
the two parties is for some time perplexing to
the traveller in America; and he does not know
whether to be most amazed or amused at the ap-
parent triviality of the circumstances which arouse
the strongest party emotions. After a while, a body
comes out of the mystery, and he grasps a substantial
cause of dissension. From the day when the first

16

PARTIES.

constitution was formed, there have been alarmists,
who talk of a " crisis :" and from the day when the-
second began its operations, the alarm has, very
naturally, taken its subject matter from the failure
of the first. The first general government came
to a stand through weakness. The entire nation
kept itself in order till a new one was formed and
set to work. As soon as the danger was over, and
the nation proved, by the last possible test, duly
convinced of the advantages of public order, the
timid party took fright lest the general government
should still not be strong enough: and this ten-
dency, of course, set the hopeful party to watch
lest it should be made too strong. The panic and
antagonism were at their height in J 799.* A fear-
ful collision of parties took place, which ended in
the establishment of the hopeful policy, which has
continued, with few interruptions, since. The exe-
cutive patronage was retrenched, taxes were taken
off, the people were re-assured, and all is, as yet,
safe. While the leaders of the old federal party re-
tired to their Essex junto, and elsewhere, to sigh for
monarchy, and yearn towards England, the greater

* Jefferson writes, September, 1798, " The most long-sighted
politician could not, seven years ago, have imagined that the
people of this wide extended country could have been enveloped
in such delusion, and made so much afraid of* themselves and their
own power, as to surrender it spontaneously to those who are ma-
noeuvring them into a form of government, the principal branches
of which may be bevond their control."

Again, March. 1801 : — " You have understood that the revo-
lutionary movements in Europe had, by industry and artifice,
been wrought into objects of terror in this country, and had really
involved a great portion of our well-meaning citizens in a panic
which was perfectly unaccountable, and during the prevalence of
which they were led to support measures the most insane. They
are now pretty thoroughly recovered from it, and sensible of tho
mischief which was done, and preparing to be done, had their
minds continued a little longer under that dt rangeroent. The re-
covery bids fair to be complete, and to obliterate entirely the line
of party division, which had been so strongly drawn." — Jefferson1*
Correspondence, vol. iii. pp. 401, 457.

PARTIES.

17

number threw off their fears, and joined the repub-
lican party. There ar,e now very few left to pro-
fess the politics of the old federalists. I met with
only two who openly avowed their desire for a mo-
narchy ; and not many more who prophesied one.
But there still is a federal party, and there ever
will be. It is as inevitable that there will be
always some who will fear the too great strength of
the state governments, as that there will be many
who will have the same fear about the general go-
vernment. Instead of seeing in this any cause for
dismay, or even regret, the impartial observer will
recognise in this mutual watchfulness the best
security that the case admits of for the general and
state governments preserving their due relation
to one another. No government ever yet worked
both well and indisputably. A pure despotism
works (apparently) indisputably; but the bulk of
its subjects will not allow that it works well, while
it wrings their heads from their shoulders, or their
earnings from their hands. The government of
the United States is disputed at every step of its
workings : but the bulk of the people declare that
it works well, while every man is his own security
for his life and property.

The extreme panic of the old federal party is
accounted for, and almost justified, when we re-
member, not only that the commerce of England
had penetrated every part of the country, and that
great pecuniary interests were therefore everywhere
supposed to be at stake ; but that republicanism,
like that which now exists in America, was a thing
unheard of — an idea only half-developed in the
minds of those who were to live under it. Wisdom
may spring, full-formed and accomplished, from the
head of a god, but not from the brains of men.
The Americans of the Revolution looked round

18

PARTIES.

upon the republics of the world, tested them by the
principles of human nature, found them republican
in nothing but the name, and produced something,
more democratic than any of them ; but not demo-
cratic enough for the circumstances which were in
the course of arising. They saw that in Holland
the people had nothing to do with the erection of
the supreme power; that in Poland (which was
called a republic in their day) the people were op-
pressed by an incubus of monarchy and aristocracy,
at once, in their most aggravated forms ; and that
in Venice a small body of hereditary nobles exer-
cised a stern sway. They planned something far
transcending in democracy any republic yet heard
of ; and they are rot to be wondered at, or blamed,
if, when their work was done, they feared they had
gone too far. They had done much in preparing
the way for the second birth of their republic in
1789, and for a third in 1801, when the repub-
licans came into power ; and from w hich date, free
government in the United States may be said to
have started on its course.

A remarkable sign of those times remains on re-
cord, which shows how different the state of feeling
and opinion was then from any that could now pre-
vail among a large and honourable body in the
republic. The society of the Cincinnati, an asso-
ciation of officers of the revolutionary army, and
other honourable persons, ordered their proceed-
ings in a manner totally inconsistent with the first
principles of republicanism ; having secret corres-
pondences, decking themselves with an order, which
was to be hereditary, drawing a line of distinction
between military and other citizens, and uniting in
a secret bond the chiefs of the first families of the
respective States. Such an association, formed on
the model of some which might be more or less

PARTIES.

19

necessary or convenient in the monarchies of the
old world, could not be allowed to exist in its
feudal form in the young republic ; and, accord-
ingly, the hereditary principle, and the power of
adopting honorary members, were relinquished;
and the society is heard of no more. It has had
its use in showing how the minds of the earlier re-
publicans were imbued with monarchical prepos-
sessions, and how large is the reasonable allowance
which must be made for the apprehensions of men,
who, having gone further in democracy than any
who had preceded them, were destined to see others
outstrip themselves. Adams, Hamilton, Wash-
ington ! what names are these ! Yet Adams in
those days believed the English constitution would
be perfect, if some defects and abuses were reme-
died; Hamilton believed it would be impracti-
cable, if \ such alterations were made; and that, in
its then existing state, it was the very best govern-
ment that had ever been devised. Washington was
absolutely republican in his principles, but did not
enjoy the strong faith, the entire trust in the
people, which is the attendant privilege of those
principles. Such men, pressed out from among
the multitude by the strong force of emergency,
proved themselves worthy of their mission of na-
tional redemption ; but, though we may now be
unable to single out any who, in these compara-
tively quiet times, can be measured against them,
we are not thence to conclude that society, as a
whole, has not advanced ; and that a policy which
would have appeared dangerous to them, may not
be, at present, safe and reasonable.

Advantageous, therefore, as it may be, that the
present federal party should be perpetually on the
watch against the encroachments of the state go-
vernments,— useful as their incessant recurrence to

20

PARTIES.

the first practices, as well as principles, of the con-
stitution may be, — it would be for their comfort to
remember, that the elasticity of then institutions is
a perpetual safeguard ; and, also, that the silent in-
fluence of the federal head of their republics has a
sedative effect which its framers themselves did not
anticipate. If they compare the fickleness and
turbulence of very small republics, — Rhode Island,
for instance, — with the tranquillity of the largest,
or of the confederated number, it is obvious that
the existence of a federal head keeps down more
quarrels than ever appear,

When the views of the present apprehensive
federal party are closely looked into, they appear to
be inconsistent with one or more of the primary
principles of the constitution which we have stated.
"flTie majority are right." Any fears of the
majority are inconsistent with this maxim, and
were always felt by me to be so, from the time I
entered the country till I left it.

One sunny October morning I was taking a drive,
with my party, along the shores of the pretty
Owasco Lake, in New York state, and conversing
on the condition of the country with a gentleman
who thought the political prospect less bright than
the landscape. I had been less than three weeks
in the country, and was in a state of something
like awe at the prevalence of, not only external
competence, but intellectual ability. The striking
effect upon a stranger of witnessing, for the first
time, the absence of poverty, of gross ignorance, of
all servility, of all insolence of manner, cannot be
exaggerated in description. I had seen every man
in the towns an independent citizen; every man in
the country a land-owner. I had seen that the
villages had their newspapers, the factory girls
their libraries. I had witnessed the controversies
between candidates for office on some difficult sub-

PARTIES.

21

jects, of which the people were to be the judges.
With all these things in my mind, and with every
evidence of prosperity about me in the comfortable
homesteads which every turn in the road, and every
reach of the lake, brought into view, I was thrown
into a painful amazement by being told that the
grand question of the time was " whether the peo-
ple should be encouraged to govern themselves, or
whether the wise should save them from them-
selves." The confusion of inconsistencies was here
so great as to defy argument: the patronage
among equals that was implied ; the assumption as
to who were the wise ; and the conclusion that all
the rest must be foolish. This one sentence seemed
to be the most extraordinary combination that could
proceed from the lips of a republican.

The expressions of fear vary according to the
pursuits, or habits of mind of those who entertain
them : but all are inconsistent with the theory that
the majority are right One fears the influence in
the national councils of the " Tartar population" of
the west, observing that men retrograde in civili-
sation when thinly settled in a fruitful country.
But the representatives from these regions will be
few while they are thinly settled, and will be in the
minority when in the wrong. When these repre-
sentatives become numerous, from the thick settle-
ment of those regions, their character will have
ceased to become Tartar-like and formidable : even
supposing that a Tartar -like character could co-exist
with the commerce of the Mississippi. Another
tells me that the State has been, again and again,
"on a lee shore, and a flaw has blown it off, and
postponed the danger ; but this cannot go on for
ever.11 The fact here is true ; and it would seem
to lead to a directly contrary inference. "The
flaw" is the will of the majority, which might be
better indicated by a figure of something more sta-

22

PARTIES.

ble. w The majority is right/" It has thus far
preserved the safety of the state; and this is the
best ground for supposing that it will continue to
be a safeguard,

One of the most painful apprehensions seems to
be that the poorer will heavily tax the richer mem-
bers of society; the rich being always a small class.
If it be true, as all parties appear to suppose, that
rulers in general are prone to use their power for
selfish purposes, there remains the alternative, whe-
ther the poor shall over-tax the rich, or whether the
rich shall over-tax the poor : and, if one of these
evils were necessary, few would doubt which would
be the least But the danger appears much dimi-
nished on the consideration that, in the country
under our notice, there are not, nor are likely to
be, the wide differences in property which exist in
old countries. There is no class of hereditary rich
or poor. Few are very wealthy : few are poor ; and
everv man has a fair chance of being rich. No such
unequal taxation has yet been ordained by the
sovereign people; nor does there appear to be any
danger of it, while the total amount of taxation is
so verv small as in the United States, and the in-
terest that every one has in the protection of pro-
pertv is so great A friend in the South, while
eulogizing to me the state of society there, spoke
-with compassion of his northern fellow citizens,
who were exposed to the risks of "a perpetual
struggle between pauperism and property.' To
which a northern friend replied, that it is true that
there is a perpetual struggle everywhere between
pauperism and property. The question is, which
succeeds. In the United States, the prospect is
that each will succeed. Paupers may obtain what
they want, and proprietors will keep that which
thev have. As a mere matter of convenience, it is
shorter and easier to obtain property by enterprise

PARTIES.

£3

and labour in the United States, than by pulling
down the wealthy. Even the most desponding do
not consider the case as very urgent, at present. I
asked one of my wealthy friends, who was predict-
ing that in thirty years his children would be living
under a despotism, why he did not remove. "Where,"
said he, with a countenance of perplexity, " could I
be better off?'1 — which appeared to me a truly rea-
sonable question.

In a country, the fundamental principle of whose
politics is, that its "rulers derive their just powers
from the consent of the governed," it is clear that
there can be no narrowing of the suffrage. How-
ever earnestly some may desire this, no one hopes
it. But it does not follow that the apprehensive
minority has nothing left but discontent. The en-
lightenment of society remains not only matter for
hope, but for achievement. The prudent speak of
the benefits of education as a matter of policy,
while the philanthropic promote it as a matter of
justice. Security of person and property follows
naturally upon a knowledge of rights. Howeyer
the aristocracy of wealth, learning, and talent may
differ among themselves, as to what is the most
valuable kind of knowledge, all will agree that
every kind will strengthen the bonds of society. Jn
this direction must the aristocracy work for their
own security. If they sufficiently provide the means
of knowledge to the community, they may dismiss
their fears, and rest assured that the great theory
of their government will bear any test; and that
" the majority will be in the right."

If the fears of the aristocracy are inconsistent
with the theory of the government under which
they live, so is much of the practice of the demo-
cracy. Their hopefulness is reasonable ; their re-
liance on the majority is reasonable. But there
are evils attendant on their practice of their true

24

PARTIES.

theories which may account for the propounding of
worse theories by their opponents.

Learning by experience is slow work. How-
ever sure it may be, it is slow ; and great is the
faith and patience required by men who are in
advance of a nation on a point which they feel that
they could carry, if they had not to wait the plea-
sure of the majority. Though the majority be
right in respect of the whole of politics, there is
scarcely a sensible man who may not be more in
the right than the majority with regard to some
one point; and no allowance can be too great for
the perpetual discouragement hence arising. The
majority eventually wills the best ; but, in the pre-
sent imperfection of knowledge, the will is Jong in
exhibiting itself; and the ultimate demonstration
often crowns a series of mistakes and failures*
From this fact arises the complaint of many fede-
ralists that the democratic party is apt to adopt
their measures, after railing both at those mea-
sures, and at the men who framed them. This is
often true : and it is true that, if the people had
only had the requisite knowledge, they would have
done wisely to have accepted good measures from
the beginning, without any railing at all. But the
knowledge was wanting. The next best thing that
can happen is, that which does happen : that the
people learn, and act upon their learning. If they
are not wise enough to adopt a good measure at
first, it would be no improvement of the case that
they should be too obstinate to accept it at last.
The case proves only that out of ignorance come
knowledge, conviction, and action; and the ma-
jority is ultimately in the right. Whenever there
is less of ignorance to begin with, there will be less
of the railing, which is childish enough, whether as
a mere imputation, or as a reality.

The great theory presumes that the majority

PARTIES.

not only will the best measures, but choose the
best men. This is far from being true in practice.
In no respect, perhaps, are the people more behind
their theory than in this* Tfie noble set of public
servants with which the people were blessed in
their revolutionary period seems to have inspired
them at first with a somewhat romantic faith in
men who profess strong attachment to whatever
has been erected into a glory of the nation ; and,
from that time to this, the federal party has, from
causes which will be hereafter explained, furnished
a far superior set of men to the public service than
the democratic party. I found this fact almost
universally admitted by the wisest adherents of
democracy ; and out of it has arisen the mournful
question, whether an honest man with false political
principles be not more dangerous as a ruler than
an unscrupulous man with true political principles.
I have heard the case put thus : " There is not
yet a sufficiency of real friends of the people
willing to be their servants. They must take
either a somewhat better set of men whose politics
they disapprove, or a somewhat worse set of men
to make tools of. They take the tools, use them,
and throw them away."

This is true ; and a melancholy truth it is ; since
it is certain that whenever the people shall perti-
naciously require honest servants, and take due
pains to ascertain their honesty, true men will be
forthcoming. Under God's providence, the work
never waits for the workman.

This fact, however, has one side as bright as the
other is dark. It is certain that many corrupt
public servants are supported under the belief that
they are good and great men. No one can have
attended assiduously on the course of public affairs
at Washington, and afterwards listened to conver-
sation in the stages, without being convinqeu of

vol. i. 9 c

PARTIES.

this. As soon as the mistake is discovered, it is
rectified. Retribution often comes sooner than it
could have been looked for. Though it be long
delayed, the remedy is ultimately secure. Every
corrupt faction breaks up, sooner or later, and cha-
racter is revealed : the people let down their fa-
vourite, to hide his head, or continue to show his
face, as may best suit his convenience ; and forth-
with choose a better man ; or one believed to be
better. In such cases, the evil lies in ignorance —
a temporary evil; while the principle of rectifica-
tion may work, for aught we can see, eternally.

Two considerations, — one of fact, another of in-
ference,— may reassure those who are discouraged
by these discrepancies between the theories of the
United States' government, and the practice of
the democratic party, with regard to both mea-
sures and men. The Americans are practically
acquainted with the old proverb, " What is every
body's business is nobody's business." No man
stirs first against an abuse which is no more his
than other people's. The abuse goes on till it be-
gins to overbear law and liberty. Then the multi-
tude arises, in the strength of the law, and
crushes the abuse. Sufficient confirmation of
this will occur to any one who has known the
State histories of the Union for the last twenty
years, and will not be wholly contradicted by the
condition of certain affairs there which now present
a bad aspect. Past experience sanctions the hope
that when these bad affairs have grown a little
worse, they will be suddenly and completely re-
dressed. Illustrations in abundance are at hand.

Lotteries were formerly a great inducement to
gaming in Massachusetts. Prudent fathers warned
their sons against lotteries; employers warned
.heir servants; clergymen warned their flocks.
Tracts, denouncing lotteries, were circulated ;

PARTIES.

27

much eloquence was expended, — not in vain,
though all sober people were already convinced, and
weak people were still unable to resist the seduc-
tion. At length, a young man drowned himself.
A disappointment in a lottery was found to be the
cause. A thrill of horror ran through the com-
munity. Every man helped to carry his horror of
lotteries into the legislature ; and their abolition
followed in a trice.

Freemasonry was once popular in the United
States ; and no one seemed to think any harm of
it, though, when examined, it clearly appears an
institution incompatible with true republicanism.
The account given of it by some friends of mine,
formerly masons, is, that it is utterly puerile in
itself; that it may be dignified, under a despotism,
by an application to foreign objects, but that it is
purely mischievous in a republic. Its object, of
course, is power. It can have no other ; and ought
not to have this, where the making of the laws is
the office of the people. Its interior obligations
are also violations of the democratic principle.
All this was as true of masonry twelve years
ago as it is now; but masonry was allowed lb
spread far and wide. One Morgan, a freemason,
living in the western part of the state of New
York, did a remarkable deed, for which various
motives are assigned. He wrote a book in expo-
sure of masonry, its facts and tendencies. When
the first part was printed and secured, some masons
broke into tne printing-office where it was de-
posited, and destroyed as much of the work a$ they
could lay hold of. Being partly foiled, they be-
thought themselves of stopping the work by carry-
ing off the author. He was arrested for a trifling
debt, (probably fictitious,) conveyed hastily to a
magistrate, some miles off, who committed him for
want of bail. The ostensible creditor arrived at

c2

28

PARTIES.

the jail, in the middle of the night, and let him out ;
four or five men put him into a carriage, which
made for the Canada frontier. On landing him on
British ground, the masons there refused to have
any concern in a matter which had gone so far, and
Morgan was shut up in the fort at Niagara village,
where the Niagara river flows into Lake Ontario.
There he was fed and guarded for two days. Thus
far, the testimony is express ; and concerning the
succeeding circumstances there is no reasonable
doubt. He was put into a boat, carried out into
the middle of the river, and thrown in, with a stone
tied to his neck. For four years, there were at-
tempts to bring the conspirators to justice; but
little was done. The lodges subscribed funds to
carry the actual murderers out of the country.
Sheriffs, jurymen, constables, all omitted their duty
with regard to the rest. The people were roused
to action by finding the law thus overawed. Anti-
masonic societies were formed. Massachusetts and
other States passed laws against extr$ -judicial
oaths. In such States, the lodges can make no
new members, and are becoming deserted by the
did. The anti-masonic party flourishes, having a
great principle as its basis. It has the control in
a few States, and powerful influence in others.
Morgan's disclosures have been carried on by
other hands. A bad institution is overthrown.
The people have learned an important lesson ; and
tney have gone through an honourable piece of
discipline in making a stand for the law, which is
the life of their body politic.

Thus end, and thus, we may trust, will end the
mistakes of the people, whose professed interest is
in a wise self-government. Some worse institu-
tions even than masonry remain to be cast out.
The law has been again overawed ; not once, but
many times ; and the eyes of the world are on the

PARTIES.

29

people of the United States, to see what they will
do. The world is watching to discover whether
they are still sensible of the sacred value of un-
violated law ; whether they are examining who it
is that threatens and overbears the law, and why,
and whether they are proceeding towards the re-
establishment of the peace and security of their
whole community, by resolutely rooting out from
among their institutions every one which will not
bear the test of the first principles of the whole.

The other ground of hope of which I spoke as
being inferential, arises out of the imaginative po-
litical character of the Americans. They have not
yet grown old in the ways of the world. Their
immediate fathers have done such a deed as the
world never saw ; and the children have not yet
passed out of the intoxication of success. With far
less of vanity and presumption than might have
been looked for from their youth among the na-
tions, with an extraordinary amount of shrewdness
and practical talent shared among individuals, the
American people are as imaginative as any na-
tion I happen to have heard or read of. They
reminded me every day of the Irish. The frank,
confiding character of their private intercourses,
the generous nature of their mutual services, the
quickness and dexterity of their doings, their ferti-
lity of resource, their proneness to be run away
with by a notion, into any extreme of absurdity —
in all this, and in everything but their deficiency of
moral independence, (for which a difference of cir-
cumstances will fully account,) they resemble the
Irish. I regard the American people as a great
embryo poet : now moody, now wild, but bringing
out results of absolute good sense : restless and
wayward in action, but with deep peace at his
heart : exulting that he has caught the true aspect
of things past, and at the depth of futurity which

30

PARTIES.

lies before him, wherein to create something so
magnificent as the world has scarcely begun to-
dream of. There is the strongest hope of a nation
that is capable of being possessed with an idea;
and this kind of possession has been the peculiarity
of the Americans from their first day of national
existence till now. Their first idea was loftier than
some which have succeeded ; but they have never
lost sight of the first. It remains to be, at in-
tervals, apprehended anew ; and whenever the
time shall arrive, which cannot but arrive, when
the nation shall be so fully possessed of the com-
plete idea as by a moral necessity to act it out,
they will be as far superior to nations which act
upon the experience and expediency of their time
as the great poet is superior to common men.

This time is yet very far distant ; and the Ame-
rican people have not only much to learn, and a
painful discipline to endure, but some disgraceful
faults to repent of and amend. They must give a
perpetual and earnest heed to one point ; to cherish
their high democratic hope, their faith in man.
The older they grow, the more must they " re-
verence the dreams of their youth." They must
eschew the folly and profaneness so prevalent in
the old world, of exalting man, abstractedly and in-
dividually, as a piece of God's creation, and de-
spising men in the mass. The statesman in a
London theatre feels his heart in a tumult, while
a deep amen echoes through its chambers at
Hamlet's adoration of humanity ; but not the less,
when he goes home, does he speak slightingly,
compassionately, or protectingly of the masses,
the population, the canaille. He is awestruck
with the grandeur of an individual spirit ; but feels
nothing of the grandeur of a congregated million of
like spirits, because they happen to be far off.
This proves nothing but the short-sightedness of

PARTIES.

31

such a man. Such shortness of sight afflicts some
of the wisest and best men in the new world. I
know of one who regards with a humble and reli-
gious reverence the three or four Spirits which
have their habitation under his roof, and close at
hand ; who begins to doubt and question, in the
face of far stronger outward evidence of good, per-
sons who are a hundred miles off; and has scarcely
any faith left for those who happen to be over the
sea. The true democratic hope cannot coexist
with such distrust. Its basis is the unmeasured
scope of humanity; and its rationale the truth,
applicable alike to individuals and nations, that
men are what they are taken for granted to be.
" Countrymen," cries Brutus, dying,

" My heart doth joy that yet in all my life,
I found no man but he was true to me."

The philosophy of this fact is clear ; it> followed
of course from Brutus always supposing that men
were true. Whenever the Americans, or any other
people, shall make integrity their rule, their crite-
rion, their invariable supposition, the first princi-
ples of political jSfclosophy will be fairly acted out,
and the high democratic hope will be its own jus-
tification.

32

CHAPTER II.

APPARATUS OF GOVERNMENT.

" The true foundation of republican government is the equal
right of every citizen, in his person and property, and in their
management. . Try by this, as a tally, every provision of our con-
stitution, and see if it hangs directly on the will of the people."

Jefferson.

Though it be true that the principles of govern-
ment are to be deduced more from experience of
human nature than experience of human govern-
ments, the institutions in which those principles
are to be embodied must be infinitely modified by
preceding circumstances. Bentham must have for-
gotten this when he offered, at sixty-four, to codify
for several of the United States, and also for Russia.
He proposed to introduce a new set of terms.
These could not, from his want of local knowledge,
have been very specific ; and if general, what was
society to do till the lawyers had done arguing ?
How could even a Solomon legislate, three thou-
sand miles off, for a republic like that of Connecti-
cut, which set out with taking its morals and politics
by handfuls, out of Numbers and Deuteronomy?
or for Virginia, rank with feudal prejudices and
methods? or for Delaware, with its monarchical

APPARATUS OF GOVERNMENT. 33

martyr spirit? or for Louisiana, compounded of
Spain, France, and America ? Though at the time
of the framing of the constitution, the States bore
a strong general resemblance in their forms of go-
vernment, endless minor differences existed, mainly-
arising from the different tenure on which they had
been held under the English crown. Some had been
provinces, governed by royal commissions, according
to royal convenience. These were New Hampshire,
New York, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia.
Others had been under proprietory government ; as
Maryland, held under patent, by Lord Baltimore ;
and Pennsylvania and Delaware, held by William
Penn. Others, again, were under charter govern-
ments ; ruled and altogether disposed of by political
corporations. Such were Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, and Connecticut. Within the memory of
middle-aged men, the governor of New Hampshire
used to travel in a coach and six, while the go-
vernor of the much more important Massachusetts
went on a horse, with his wife on a pillion. It is
within the memory of living men how Massachusetts
rose up in rejection of the imposition of a clergy by
England; while the colonial law of Virginia ordained
parsons to be paid yearly six thousand weight of
prime tobacco, in addition to marriage, burial, and
birth-fees; in which days, an unholy pastor, ap-
pointed by Lord Baltimore, was seen to ride about
with the church key in one hand, and a pistol in
the other. It is absurd to suppose that communi-
ties, where wide differences of customs, prejudices,
and manners still exist, can be, or ought to be,
brought into a state of exact conformity of institu-
tions. Diversities, not only of old custom, but of
climate, productions and genealogy, forbid it ; and
reason does not require it. That institutions should
harmonise with the same first principle^, is all that
is requisite. Some, who would not go far as to

. c5

34

APPARATUS OF GOVERNMENT,

offer to codify for countries where they have not
set their foot, are yet apt to ask the use of one or
another institution, to which the Americans seem
to be unreasonably attached. It is a sufficient ge-
neral answer that institutions are rarely sudden
and complete inventions, They have usually an
historical origin, even when renovated by revolution.
Their protracted existence, and the attachment of
the people to them are strong presumptions of their
having some use. If their purposes can be better
attained in another way, they will surely be modi-
fied. If they are the result of compromise, they
will be abolished, according to the invariable law by
which expediency finally succumbs to principle.
That this will be the fate of certain of the United
States' institutions which no one yet dreams of
touching, and few dare to analyze, has been clearly
foreseen, for forty years past, by many of the most
upright and able men in the country. Some of
them entertain an agonizing alarm at the prospect
of change. Others, more reasonably, trust that,
where no large pecuniary interests are at stake, the
work of rectifying may very quietly and safely suc-
ceed that of reconciling* and the majority have no
idea of the changes which their own hands, or their
children's, will have to effect. The gradual ripening
for change may be an advantage in more respects
than one. Political changes which are the result
of full conviction in a free people, are pretty sure
to be safe. Time is also allowed, meanwhile, for
men to practice their new lesson of separating the
idea of revolution from the horrors which have no
more natural connexion with it than burning at
the stake has with the firm grasp of speculative
truth.

1

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT.

35

SECTION I.

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT.

" We, the people of the United States, in order to
form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure
domestic tranquillity, provide for the common de-
fence, promote the general welfare, and secure the
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America."

So much for the authority, and the objects of
this celebrated constitution, as set forth in it£
preamble.

Its provisions are so well known that it is need-
ful only to indicate them. In Europe, the diffi-
culty is to avoid supposing the state governments
to be subordinate to the general. " They are co-
ordinate departments of one simple and integral
whole." State government legislates and admi-
nisters in all affairs which concern its own citizens.
To the federal government are consigned all affairs
which concern citizens, as foreigners from other
states, or as fellow-citizens with all in certain spe-
cified relations.

The general objects of the instrument are easily
stated ; and an apparently clear case of separation
between the general and state governments drawn
out upon paper. But the application of the instru-
ment to practice is the difficulty.

In this, there are two grand difficulties, among
many of inferior importance. The one is, to con-
strue the instrument ; the other is, to bridge over
its awful chasms of compromise.

36

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT.

There has never been a solemn instrument
drawn up yet without leaving room for varieties of
construction. There never can be, under our pre-
sent use of abstract terms ; no two men's abstrac-
tions being alike, or discoverably so. Of course,
the profession in this case is, that words are to be
taken according to their just and natural import ;
that there is to be no straining ; that they are to be
judged of according to common sense; and so on.
The old jests against etymologists are enough to
prove how far men are from agreeing what strain-
ing is. As to common sense, men respond in uni-
son to a revelation of it; but they rarely agree,
a priori, as to what it is. This difficulty is a wholly
unavoidable one. The refuge under it is in the
maxim, " the majority are right." If the case
in dispute be one of judicial import, the citizen
may appeal to the Supreme Court. If it be of a
different nature, it must be left to that other kind
of supreme court, — the majority, — and the verdict
will be given through the ballot-boxes.

The other difficulty, that of compromise, is de-
clared to have been equally unavoidable. Conces-
sion, large mutual concession, was clearly neces-
sary. To what extent, may be faintly conceived
from the following extract from the Federalist.
To some readers, who are more interested in the
present workings of the government, than in the
embarrassments of its inventors, this extract may
appear dull. But it is useful to be presented with
an outline of the difficulties incurred in legislating
for a federal republic, both as a fact in political
science ; as a means of forming something like a
just judgment of the framers of the constitution ;
and as a ground of hope that, so much danger hav-
ing been surmounted, that which remains may be
also overcome.

" This one tells us, that the proposed constitu-

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT.

37

tion ought to be rejected, because it is not a con-
federation of the States, but a government over
individuals. Another admits, that it ought to be
a government over individuals, to a certain extent,
but by no means to the extent proposed. A third
does not object to the government over individuals,
or to the extent proposed ; but to the want of a
Bill of Rights. A fourth concurs in the absolute
necessity of a Bill of Rights, but contends that it
ought to be declaratory, not of the personal rights
of individuals, but of the rights reserved to the
States in their political capacity. A fifth is of
opinion that a Bill of Rights of any sort would be
superfluous and misplaced ; and that the plan
would be unexceptionable, but for the fatal power
of regulating the times and places of election. An
objector in a large State exclaims loudly against the
unreasonable equality of representation in the
senate. An objector in a small State is equally
loud against the dangerous inequality in the House
of Representatives. From one quarter, we are
alarmed with the amazing expense, from the num-
ber of persons who are to administer the new go-
vernment. From another quarter, and sometimes
from the same quarter on another occasion, the cry
is that the Congress will be but the shadow of a re-
presentation ; and that the government would be
far less objectionable, if the number of the expenses
were doubled. A patriot in a State that does not
import or export, discerns insuperable objections
against the power of direct taxation. The patri-
otic adversary, in a State of great exports and im-
ports, is not less dissatisfied that the whole burthen
of taxes may be thrown on consumption. This
politician discovers in the constitution a direct and
irresistible tendency to monarchy. That, is equally
sure that it will end in aristocracy. Another is
puzzled to say which of these shapes it will ulti-

38

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT.

mately assume, but sees clearly it must be one or
other of them. While a fourth is not wanting, who,
with no less confidence, affirms, that the constitu-
tion is so far from having a bias towards either of
these dangers, that the weight or* that side will not
be sufficient to keep it upright and firm against its
opposite propensities. With another class of ad-
versaries to the constitution, the language is, that
the legislative, executive, and judiciary departments
are intermixed in such a manner as to contradict
all the ideas of regular government, and all the re-
quisite precautions in favour of liberty. Whilst this
objection circulates in vague and general expres-
sions, there are not a few who lend their sanction
to it. Let each one come forward with his par-
ticular explanation, and scarcely any two are ex-
actly agreed on the subject. In the eyes of one,
the junction of the senate with the president, in
the responsible function of appointing to offices,
instead of vesting this power in the executive alone,
is the vicious part of the organisation. To another,
the exclusion of the House of Representatives,
whose numbers alone could be a due security
against corruption and partiality in the exercise of
such a power, is equally obnoxious. With a third,
the admission of the president into any share of a
power, which must ever be a dangerous engine in
the hands of the executive magistrate, is an un-
pardonable violation of the maxims of republican
jealousy. No part of the arrangement, according
to some, is more inadmissible than the trial of im-
peachments by the Senate, which is alternately a
member both of the legislative and executive de-
partments, when this power so evidently belonged
to the judiciary department. We concur fully, re-
ply others, * in the objection to this part of the
plan ; but we can never agree that a reference of
impeachments to the judiciarv authority would be

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT. 39

an amendment of the error : our principal dislike
to the organisation arises from the extensive
powers already lodged in that department. Even
among the zealous patrons of a council of state, the
most irreconcilable variance is discovered, con-
cerning the mode in which it ought to be con-
stituted. The demand of one gentleman is, that
the council should consist of a small number, to be
appointed by the most numerous branch of the
legislature. Another would prefer a larger num-
ber, and considers it a fundamental condition, that
the appointment should be made by the president
himself."*

It must have cost Mr. Madison some trouble to
vary the mode of expression in putting this host
of objections. We cannot but admire the ingenuity
with which he has brought them into view. But
what should we say to the management which
should reconcile the differences themselves ? Con-
cessions, various and large, were obviously neces-
sary. I am not about to give a catalogue of what
these actually were. They may be learned from
any history of the period. Suffice it that the ge-
neral and state governments not only urged and
established claims, but admitted a set of prohibi-
tions on themselves.

In all this there appears no fatal compromise.
But there were some which made the wisest men
of the time tremble for the stability of their noble
work. There seems peril enough in the liability
to the occurrence of new questions, which could
not be foreseen, and for which an opening might,
or might not, happen to be left. When, in ad-
dition to such, there were some questions left to
be settled by a future government, from the in-
ability of the statesmen of 1787 to agree upon

* The Federalist, vol.i. p. 277.

40

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT.

them, these statesmen might well be uneasy about
the stability of their work. Of the first order of
questions is that which is now debated with great
animosity, — whether Congress has power to abolish
slavery in the District of Columbia : a disputed
point of construction, on which it seems to me that
no plam person can be blamed for not anticipating
any difference of opinion. Of the second class is
that great question, or nest of questions, respecting
Reserved Rights. It was agreed that all unforeseen
questions which might arise with regard to the re-
spective powers of the general and state govern-
ments, should be settled by the state governments ;
but then, there was an indefinite limitation intro-
duced in the clause, that the general government
should have all powers necessary for the prosecu-
tion of such and such purposes. This vague clause
has been the occasion of the Union being shaken to
its centre ; and it may be thus shaken again, before
the questions arising out of it are all settled.

Even these, being open questions, are less
formidable than the compromise of the true repub-
lican principle which is apparent in some pro-
visions of the constitution, and in some of the most
important institutions of the country. The north-
ern States, which had abolished, on principle, a far
milder slavery than that of the cotton and sugar-
growing south, agreed to admit slavery in the
south as a basis for direct taxation, and for repre-
sentation. They did worse. They agreed to act
in behalf of their southern fellow-citizens in the
capture and restitution of runaway slaves, and in
the defence of masters against rebellious slaves.
What bitter sorrows of conscience and of feeling
this compromise has cost their children, it is im-
possible fully to describe. Of course, the law,
being against conscience, i. e. the law of man
coming into collision with the law of God, is con-

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT.

41

stantly broken; and causes of dissension hence
arise. I know that slavery is only recognised by the
constitution as a matter of fact ; and that it is only
twice mentioned ; in connexion with representation,
and with the restitution to their masters of " per-
sons held to labour escaping into another State
but the fact remains that a man who abhors sla-
very is compellable by the law which his fathers
made, to deliver up to the owner a slave whose act
of absconding he approves. It is impossible to
estimate the evils which have proceeded from, and
which will yet arise out of this guilty but " neces-
sary*" compromise.

There was difficulty in bringing the greater and
smaller States into union. The smaller States
could not agree to such an unequal representation
as should render them liable to be swallowed up by
the larger ; while the larger could not consent to
be reduced to an equality with the smaller. The
Senate was established to afford an equal state
representation ; while the House of Representa-
tives affords a fair representation of the nation in
the aggregate, according to numbers. But the
principle of the general government is, that it
governs the entire people as one nation, and not as
a league of States. There ought, in consistency
with this, to be no state representation at all ; and
the Senate is an anomaly. An anomalous insti-
tution cannot be very long-lived. A second cham-
ber, on a more consistent principle, will probably
be established in its place, to fulfil its functions as
a Court of Review, and as a check upon the preci-
pitation of the other house, and, if need be, upon
the encroachments of the executive, There is yet
more of compromise involved in this institution of
the Senate ; as might be expected, since there is
no end of compromise when principle is once de-
parted from ; yet there are statesmen who defend

42

th:e general government.

it on other grounds than that its establishment
was necessary to the foundation of any federal go-
vernment at all. One observed to me, " Some
things look well in theory, and fail in practice.
This may not be justifiable in theory; but it
works well." If this last sentence be true, the
well-working of the Senate is only a temporary
affair ; an accident. Its radical change becomes a
question of time merely ; and the recent agitation
of the question of Instructions seems to indicate
that the time is not very far distant.

The appointment of the judges for life is another
departure from the absolute republican principle.
There is no actual control over them. Theirs is a
virtually irresponsible office. Much can be and is
said in defence of this arrangement ; and whatever
is said, is most powerfully enforced by the weight
of character possessed by the judiciary, up to this
day. But all this does not alter the fact that irre-
sponsible offices are an inconsistency in a republic.
With regard to all this compromise, no plea of ex-
pediency can alter the fact that, while the House of
Representatives is mainly republican, the Senate is
only partially so, being anomalous in its character,
and its members not being elected immediately by
the people ; and that the judiciary is not republican
at all, since the judges are independent of the
nation, from the time of their appointment.

I was told, on high authority, that the assent of
the first nine States to the constitution, in 1788,
was obtained by means not absolutely fair. What
devices were used to procure an apparent majority,
I was not informed ; but it is generally supposed
that if there had been no legislatures active on the
occasion, if it had been put to the vote throughout
the nation, the ratification would not have taken
place when it did. Chief Justice Marshall gives
testimony to this effect in his Life of Washington.

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT,

43

" So small, in many instances, was the majority in
favour of the constitution, as to afford strong
ground for the opinion that, had the influence of
character been removed, the intrinsic merits of the
instrument would not have secured its adoption.
Indeed, it is scarcely to be doubted that, in some
of the adopting States, a majority of the people
were in opposition."

That a constitution, so framed, and so carried,
should have worked as well as it has done, seems
to point out two very encouraging things ; that we
may, without rashness, speak of it as Washington
did, when he said, " I was convinced it approached
nearer to perfection than any government hitherto
instituted among men ;" and that the world may
quietly and hopefully await the further proceed-
ings of the American people, in their advances to-
wards an uncompromising democracy. There will
be changes, but not therefore convulsion. There
will be the change which Jefferson foresaw, and
provided for without dread. " Still," says he, so
lately as June, 1824, " we consider our constitu-
tions not otherwise changeable than by the au-
thority of the people, on a special election of re-
presentatives for that very purpose : they are,
until then, the leoo legum. But can they be made
unchangeable ? Can one generation bind another,
and all others, in succession for ever ? I think
not. The Creator has made the earth for the
living, not the dead." — " A generation may bind
itself as long as its majority continues in life ; when
that has disappeared, another majority is in place,
holds all the rights and powers their predecessors
once held, and may change their laws and institu-
tions to suit themselves. Nothing then is un-
changeable but the inherent and inalienable rights
of man." *

* Correspondence, vol. iv. p. 396.

44

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT.

Nothing can be more striking to a stranger than
the experience gained, after some residence in the
United States, of the ultimate ascendency of the
will of the majority — i. e. of the right — in defiance
of all appearances to the contrary. The review of
what I witnessed of this kind, in the course of two
years, with regard to the conduct of Congress
alone, surprises and cheers me. It is true that I
see several wrongs unredressed; several wounds
inflicted on the people's liberties yet unhealed ; but
these are cases in which the people do not yet un-
derstand what has been done; or have not yet
roused themselves to show that they do.

In the Senate, the people's right of petition is
invaded. Last session, it was ordained that all
petitions and memorials relating to a particular
subject — slavery in the District of Columbia —
should be laid on the table unread, and never re-
curred to. Of course, the people will not long
submit to this. What has been already achieved
in Congress on this topic is a security that the rest
will follow. When I entered the United States,
there was an absolute and most ominous silence
in Congress about slavery. Almost every leading
man there told me in conversation that it was the
grand question of all ; that every member's mind
was full of it ; that nearly all other questions were
much affected, or wholly determined by it; yet no
one even alluded to it in public. Before I left, it
had found its way into both houses. The houses
had, in some sort, come to a vote upon it, which
showed the absolute abolition strength in the
House of Representatives to be forty-seven.
The entering wedge having been thus far driven,
it is inconceivable that the nation will allow it to
be withdrawn by surrendering their right of peti-
tion. When I left, however, the people had vir-
tually no right of petition with regard to the Dis-

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT. 45

trict over which they — i. e. their Congress — have
an exclusive jurisdiction.

Again. There were loud and extensive com-
plaints, last session, of the despotism of the chair
in the House of Representatives, chiefly in con-
nexion with the subject of slavery. No members,
it was said, were allowed a fair hearing but those
who sat in a particular part of the house. If this
complaint arises out of the peevishness of political
disappointment, it will soon be contradicted by
facts. If it is true, it is a grave injury. In either
case, the chair will not long possess this power of
despotism. If the favoured are few, as the com-
plaint states, the injured many will demand and
obtain the power to make themselves heard in turn ;
and no spirit of party can long stand in the way of
a claim so just.

Again. After the gentlemen of Charleston had
disgraced their city and country, by breaking into
the post-office, and burning the contents of the
mail-bags, in their dread of abolition papers, a
post-master wrote to a member of the cabinet, de-
siring his approbation for having examined and re-
fused to forward certain papers mailed at his office.
The member of the cabinet, Kendall, gave the de-
sired sanction to this audacious stoppage of the
post-office function, declaring that the good of the
community (as judged of by the individual) is a
consideration above the law. The strangers in the
land knew not what to make of the fool-hardiness
of hazarding such a declaration, in a man of
Kendall's wit. It was known that he desired the
office of post-master-general; that the president
wished him to have it, and that the doubt was
whether the Senate would confirm the appoint-
ment. Soon after this apparently fatal declara-
tion, he was nominated, and the Senate confirmed
his appointment. The declaration, no doubt,

46

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT.

seated him in office. The southern members were
won by it. Kendall calculated rightly for his im-
- mediate object. What is to become of him when
the people shall at length recognise the peril and
insult to themselves of one of their favoured ser-
vants declaring the will of an individual to be oc-
casionally subversive of the law — i. e. of the will
of the majority — remains to be seen. Meantime,
the continuance in office of the person whose de-
claration to the above effect remains unretracted,
may be regarded as one of the deepest wounds
which has been inflicted on the liberties of the
nation.

Another attempt, brought on, no doubt, by Ken-
dall's success, to derange or stop the functions of
the post-office, has failed. Mr. Calhoun's Bill,
commonly called the Gag Bill, prohibiting post-
masters from receiving and forwarding any papers
whatsoever containing anything relating to slavery,
actually was brought to a third reading by the cast-
ing vote of the president of the Senate. There
was fear, at the time, that this casting vote might
ensure the success of the bill, from the popularity
of the vice-president. But the bill was thrown
out on the third reading; and the effect of the
casting vote has been, not to aid the bill, but to in-
jure materially the popularity of the vice-president.
This is so far welL It shows that the people are
preparing to grapple honestly with the great, the
hideous question, out of which arise these minor
encroachments upon their liberties.

Out of the slavery question arose the last mon-
strous usurpation of Congress, for which the em-
phatic rebuke of the nation awaits the sinning
members. The story deserves to be told at length,
on account both of its peculiarities, and of its fur-
nishing a fair illustration of certain relations between
the state and general governments.

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT.

47

Great Britain was not very learned in the geo-
graphy of the new world, in the early days of her
colonies there. She gave Virginia a patent for
lands, including what is now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Michigan, Missouri, and on to the Pacific. Other
colonies obtained grants of equal moderation as to
size, and wisdom as to disposition. This absurd
partition, it was found, must occasion irreconcilable
quarrels among the members of the confederation ;
and Washington proposed that all, after fixing their
own boundaries, should throw into the common
stock the huge unoccupied domain. Virginia led
the way in making this honourable sacrifice. She
fixed her own boundary ; and the articles of com-
pact between the United States and the people of
the territory north-west of the Ohio river, declared
that the territory should be divided into not more
than five, nor less than three States. This was in
1787. The boundary prescribed for Ohio and
Michigan, was found to be " not convenient."
That is, Ohio found it so ; and Michigan was not
in a situation, at the time when Ohio was admitted
into the Union, to insist upon the ancient boun-
dary, prescribed at the time of the cession of land
by Virginia. When Ohio was made a State, the
boundary she desired was, among other particulars,
ratified by Congress.

In 1816, another portion of land, lying within
what Michigan supposed to be her own territory,
was taken from her, and added to Indiana, on the
latter being made a State. An equivalent is offered
to Michigan in a portion of land, to be taken out
of Wisconsin, on the western side of Lake Michi-
gan, which is the natural boundary of the territory.
Michigan alleges that the inconvenience of a part
of her territory lying on the other side of the lake
would be so great, that the inhabitants would prefer
belonging to Wisconsin; and the land would be

48

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT.

ceded, as soon as Wisconsin becomes a State. The
decision of the right of this case is the proper busi-
ness of the Supreme Court, whenever the contest-
ing parties shall have all come into the Union.
Meantime, all parties are interested in bearing
down the claims of Michigan. Ohio and Indiana
desire to keep the lands Congress has authorised
them to take. The slave States are anxious to
hinder the increase in number of the free States ;
and by the ordinance of 1787, slavery is prohibited
for ever, north-west of the Ohio. The slave States
hope, by giving to Michigan a slice of Wisconsin,
to make Wisconsin too small to be hereafter divided
into two States. In this object, the south will be
foiled. Even if slavery should exist till Wisconsin
is ready for admission into the Union, there are two
ways by which the desire of the south may and
will be foiled. By the re-cession of the inconve-
nient portion by Michigan, as mentioned above ;
and by the willingness of these northern States to
make themselves smaller, and add one to their
number, as, by a proviso in the original compact,
they have power to do, than let themselves be over-
borne by the south. This part of the contest, for
" a balance of power," arises altogether out of the
slavery question.

Soon after I entered the country, Michigan be-
came qualified to request admission into the Union.
She did so, declaring her discontent with the boun-
daries prescribed to her by Congress, and her
intention to demand, in the Supreme Court, on her
admission, the re-establishment of the old ones. I
was amused with the different views of the affair
presented to me in different parts of the country.
At Cincinnati, in June, 1835, I was told that the
President had just transmitted a threat to Ohio,
that if she did not yield the boundary claimed by
Michigan, he would send the United States troops

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT. 49

to fight it oat. It was added that the vice-presi-
dent had thus far prevailed with the President ; it
being of importance to Mr. Van Buren, that Mi-
chigan, which he considered in his interest, should
be admitted into the Union in time to vote for him
in the presidential election of 1836. There was much
talk at Cincinnati of the resources of Ohio. The
people would turn out, to a man. The legislature
had instantly voted 300,000 dollars to raise troops ;
and one hundred and fifty thousand men would im-
mediately be in the field: while Michigan had neither
men nor money ; — had absolutely nothing to depend
upon but the six thousand United States' soldiers.
This seemed to me to be too- clear a case to be a
very true one : and the event belied the story in
almost every particular. Michigan did raise men ;
{though there was no war :) she had not the United
States' troops : she is not in the interest of Van
Buren ; and Ohio could bring no troops into the
field.

Michigan proceeded to organise her state go-
vernment, and sent her senators to Washington,
during the session of 1835 and 1836. They were
allowed to witness the proceedings, but not, of
course, to vote. When I arrived at Detroit, the
capital of Michigan, in the middle of June, 1836,
the Governor told me that the Michiganians
were in the singular position of having a state go-
vernment in full operation, while they were ex-
cluded from the Union. The general opinion
seemed to be that some concession must be made
about the boundary line ; in which case, Michigan
would be admitted, in time to vote at the presiden-
tial election. I pursued my travels through and
around the Territory; and when I returned to
Detroit, a month afterwards, 1 found the place in a
state of high excitement : an excitement fully war-
ranted by the circumstances which had occurred*

VOL. I. D

50

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT.

Congress had acknowledged Michigan to be a
sovereign State ; and had offered to admit her into
the Union, on condition of her surrendering all
claim to the disputed portions of territory.

A grosser usurpation of power can hardly be
conceived. Congress here usurped the function of
the Supreme Court in passing sentence against Mi-
chigan : passing sentence, too, without hearing, or
having a right to listen to, evidence on the case.
Congress here required of Michigan to lay down her
rights on the threshold of the Union, if she meant
to be admitted. Mr. Adams intrepidly declared
in the House of Representatives, that Michigan
had more cause to ply the Nullification doctrine
than South Carolina ever had. A South Carolina
nullifier declared in conversation, that he believed
the Michiganians' claims to be just : but that, sooner
than give her the means of summoning another
sovereign State before the Supreme Court, he would
vote for her exclusion from the Union as long as
he lives. A strange posture of affairs, where all
justice seemed to be set aside, and the constitution
to have become a dead letter !

The anxiety next was to know what Michigan
would do. There seemed too many symptoms of
yielding. It was mournful to those who felt that
now was the time, now the opportunity, so often
sighed for in the best moments of the best men,
for making a heroic stand for the right, to hear the
forebodings about the canal shares, the lake trade,
the probable pecuniary loss in various ways, if
there should be delay in the admission of Michigan
into the Union. If we spoke of the constitution,
we were answered with the canal. If we spoke of
patriotism, we were answered with the surplus re-
venue— the share of it that would be lost. Then,
there were fears of war. We were told that the alter-
native was — admission, with its advantages, and a

THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT. 51

surrender of the contested lands; and exclusion,
with war between infant Michigan and Ohio,
backed by the United States. The alternative
was rather, admission, with submission to uncon-
stitutional force ; or exclusion, with the lonely en-
joyment of an honest sovereignty. But this was
not the only alternative. Remaining out of the
Union did not involve war. Michigan might re-
main out of the Union, peaceably, and under pro-
test, till the people of the United States should
become fully possessed of her case, and aroused to
do her justice, It was with heartfelt delight that
I found, at length, that this last honest course is
that which Michigan has determined to pursue.
It is so common for communities, as for indivi-
duals, to miss the moment for doing the greatest
of their deeds, to have the bright object of their
preceding worship eclipsed at the critical moment,
to pray incessantly that they may be honest, and
then stand aghast, after all, at an honest deed,
that the meeting of the Convention which was to
consider of this affair, was watched with deep anx-
iety by the friends of Michigan. We, their visitors,
gathered hope from the tone of the Governor, and
others with whom we conversed ; from the aspect
of the legislators who were assembled to discuss
the Governor's message — men with earnest and
sensible faces, who looked as if they were aware
that their liberties were at stake; and from the
spirited conduct of Michigan from the beginning of
the quarrel. Still, we were doubtful whether the
canal, the surplus revenue, and the probable war,
would not be too much for the fortitude of so
young a people. They have shamed our fears, and
made a stand for constitutional liberty, which will
secure to them the gratitude of the Union, to the
latest day of its existence. They have refused to
enter the Union on the unconstitutional terms pro-

d 2

52

THE EXECUTIVE.

posed. The people will see that they are honour-
ably admitted, and that Congress is duly rebuked.

SECTION II.

THE EXECUTIVE.

The principle which is professed in the ap-
pointment of a chief magistrate in the United
States is, that his removal is to be as easy as pos-
sible, and effected without disturbing for a moment
the proceedings of government. Under the idea
that this last must be impossible, some of the pa-
triots of 1789 were opposed to the institution of the
office of President altogether ; and there are now
some who desire that the chief magistrate should
be, as nearly as possible, a cipher ; that, for this
purpose, his election should be annual; and that,
if this cannot be, the term should continue to be
four years, but without renewal. Such declare
that the office was made for the man, Washington,
who was wanted, to reconcile all parties. They
maintain that, though it was, for a considerable
time, well filled, it must become, sooner or later,
dangerous to the public welfare : that it compre-
hends too much power for a citizen of a republic
to hold, presents too high a stake, occupies too
much thought, and employs too much endeavour,
to the exclusion of better objects.

Some desire that the office should have a dura-
tion of six years, without renewal.

No one dreams of an attempt to hold the office

THE EXECUTIVE.

53

for a third term ; and there is every prospect that,
if any President should be ambitious enough to de-
sire a second re-election, he would fail, and descend
from his high station with a total loss of honour.

Some think so highly of the dignity of the chief
magistracy, as to propose that ex- presidents should
be debarred from holding lower offices. This
looks too like an approximation to the monar-
chical principle to be, or to become, a popular way
of viewing the subject. It is a proposition of the
high federalists. I was far more gratified than
amused at seeing Mr. Adams daily in his seat in
the House of Representatives, while the history of
his administration was perpetually deferred to by
those who discussed the politics of the country
with me. I am aware that two interpretations may
be put upon the fact of an ex-president desiring a
lower office. It may occur from a patriotism which
finds its own dignity in the welfare of its country,
or from a restless ambition to be in the public eye.
In either case, it seems to be no matter for a fixed
rule. The republican principle supposes every man
to be at all times ready to serve his country, when
called upon. The rest must be left to the cha-
racter of the man, and the views of his consti-
tuents.

Others think so much more highly of the dignity
of the Senate than of the executive, as to desire
that senators should be ineligible for the office of
President. The object here is two-fold: to exalt
the Senate ; and, by making half a hundred offices
higher in honour than that of President, to drain
off some of the eager ambition which flows in the
direction of the executive function. But power is
more alluring than honour ; and executive offices
will always be objects of choice, in preference to
legislative, except with a very small class of men.
Besides, the Senate is already further removed

54

THE EXECUTIVE.

from the control of the people, than consistency
with the true republican principle allows: and if
the people are to be precluded from choosing their
chief magistrate from among the fifty wisest men
(as the senators are in theory) that the States can
choose for the guardianship of their interests, the
dignity of both functions would be much lowered.
In theory, the people's range of choice for their
chief magistrate is to extend from the vice-presi-
dent's chair to the humblest abode which nestles
in the rocks of their eastern coasts, or overlooks the
gulf of Mexico. The honour in which the Senate
is held must depend on its preserving the character,
which, on the whole, it has hitherto maintained.
A nobler legislative body, for power and principle,
has probably never been known. Considering the
number of individuals of whom it is composed, its
character has, perhaps, been as remarkable as that
of the noble array of Presidents, of which the
United States have to boast. If, amidst its indirect
mode of election, and long term of office, it should
prove equally stable in principle, and flexible in its
methods of progress, it may yet enjoy a long term
of existence, as honourable as could be secured by
any exclusion of its members from other offices in
the commonwealth.

By far the greatest apprehension connected with
the President's office, relates to the extent of his
patronage. It was highly alarming, at first, to
hear all that was said about the country being
ridden with administration-officers, and office-ex-
pectants. A little arithmetic, however, proved
very cheering. The most eminent alarmist I hap-
pened to converse with, stated the number of per-
sons directly and indirectly interested in the bestow-
ment of office by the executive, to be 150,000.
No exact calculation can be made, since no one can
do more than conjecture how many persons at a

THE EXECUTIVE.

55

time are likely to be in expectation of any one
office. But the above may be taken as the widest
exaggeration which an honest alarmist can put
forth. This class of interested persons is, after
all, but a small section of the population. There
is every reason to fear that official corruption is
abundant under all governments ; and, for some
reasons which will be easily apprehended, remark-
ably so under the government of the United States;
but, when it is considered how small a proportion
of the people is, at any time, interested in office,
and how many persons in office are to be, in fair-
ness, supposed honest, the evil of executive patron-
age diminishes to the imagination so rapidly as to
induce a suspicion that many who say the most
about it are throwing a tub to the whale. The
watchfulness on the executive power thus induced
is a benefit which will set off against a great amount
of alarm. It will assist the people to find the
true mean between their allowing the President too
much power over the servants who are to transact
their business, and their assuming too much con-
trol over the servants who are to transact his.

Difficult as it is to resist impressions on the
spot, from all that is said about the power of the
executive, and the character of thq President of
the time, the worst alarms are derided by the event.
It does not appear as if the President could work
any permanent effect upon the mind and destiny of
the nation. It is of great consequence to the
morals and prosperity of the season, that the chief
magistrate should be a man of principle, rather
than expediency; a frank friend of the people,
rather than their cunning flatterer ; a man of sense
and temper, rather than an angry bigot ; a man of
business, rather than a blunderer. But the term
of an unworthy or incapable President is pretty
sure to be the shortest ; and, if permitted to serve

56

THE EXECUTIVE.

his eight years, he can do little unless he acts, on
the whole, in accordance with the mind of the
people. If he has any power, it is because the
people are with him : in which case, he cannot be
:■ very destructive to their interests. If he does not
proceed in accordance with public sentiment, he
has no power. A brief review of the course of
the American Presidents seems to show that their
influence subsides into something very weak and
transitory; always excepting that immeasurable
and incalculable influence which is breathed forth
through the remotest generations, by the personal
character of conspicuous individuals.

Washington's influence is a topic which no one
is ever hardy enough to approach, in the way of
measurement or specification. Within the compass
of his name lies more than other words can tell of
his power over men. When the British officers
were passing up the Potomac, in the last war, to
perpetrate as dastardly a deed of spoliation at the
capital as ever it was the cruel fate of soldiers to
be ordered to do, they desired to be told when they
were passing the burial place of Washington, and
stood uncovered on deck as long as they were
within sight of Mount Vernon. Any in England
who happen to know how deeply disgraced their
country was by the actors in this expedition, will
feel what the power must have been which, breath-
ing from that shore, humanised for the hour the
cowardly plunderers as they floated by. But it
was Washington, the man, not the President, who
moved them to uncover their heads. It is Wash-
ington, the man, not the President, whose name is
lovingly spoken, whose picture smiles benignly in
every inhabited nook of his own congregation of
republics. It is even Washington, the man, not
the President, whose name is sacred above all
others, to men of all political parties. It was

THE EXECUTIVE.

57

Washington, the man, who united the votes of all
parties in his presidentship, since, so far from pre-
tending to agree with all, he took and left, without
fear or favour, what convictions he could or could
not adopt from each. The one impression which
remains of his presidentship is its accordance with
himself. Had it been, in any respect, a lower self,
there would have been little left of Washington
in the people now.

Adams came in by the strength of the federal
party. Supported by the slave States, and all the
federalism of the north, he had the means, if any
President ever had, of leaving a strong and perma-
nent impression on the face of affairs. He filled
up his offices with federalists. Everything during
his term of office favoured the influence of the fede-
ralists. The nation was almost beside ^elf with
panic at the political convulsions of Europe. Yet,
notwithstanding all this, and Mr. Adams's great
weight of character, giving influence to his partia-
lities, the people revealed themselves, in the choice
of his successor, staunchly republican.

Jefferson's influence was greater tb&a that of any
other President, except Washington; and the reason
is, that his convictions went along with the na-
tional mind. If Jefferson, with the same love of
the people, the same earnestness of temper, and
grace of manners, had been in any considerable
degree less democratic, he might have gone credit-
ably through his term, and have been well spoken
of now; but he would not have been the honour-
able means of two successors of the same princi-
ples with himself, being brought in ; nor would he
have lain, as he now does, at the very heart of the
people. At the outset, his state-rights principle
secured him the south, and his philanthropic,
democratic principles, the north. He was popular,
almost beyond example. His popularity could

D 5

58

THE EXECUTIVE.

scarcely be increased; but it has never declined.
The common charges against him, of irreligion, of
oppression in the management of his patronage, of
disrespect to his predecessors, are falling into obli-
vion, while his great acts remain. As to his reli-
gion, whatever might be his creed, its errors or
deficiencies, these are still matters of disagreement
among the wise and good ; and it is certain that
Jefferson viewed all the realities that came within
his ken, with that calm earnestness which is the
true religious spirit. As to the removals from office*
which are still complained of, it should be remem-
bered that his predecessor had filled as many offices
as possible with high federalists, many of whom
provoked their own discharge by their activity
against the government they professed to serve.
There is no evidence that Jefferson went beyond his
own principle; and a principle is no matter of
reproach, though it may be of controversy. He
says, " Mr. Adams's last appointment, when he
knew he was naming counsellors and aids for me
and not for himself, I shall set aside as far as de-
pends on me. Officers who have been guilty of
gross abuses of office, such as marshals packing
juries, &c, I shall now remove, as my predecessor
ought in justice to have done. The instances will
be few, and -governed by strict rule, and not party
passion. The right of opinion shall suffer no
invasion from me." — " The remonstrance laments
that a change in the administration must produce
a change in the subordinate officers ; in other words,
that it should be deemed necessary for all officers
to think with their principal. But on whom does
this imputation bear? On those who have excluded
from office every shade of opinion which was not
their's ? or on those who have been so excluded ?
I lament sincerely that unessential differences of
opinion should ever have been deemed sufficient to

THE EXECUTIVE.

59

interdict half the society from the rights and bless-
ings of self-government, to proscribe them as un-
worthy of every trust. It would have been to me a
circumstance of great relief, had I found a mode-
rate participation of office in the hands of the
majority. I would gladly have left to time and
accident to raise them to their just share. But
their total exclusion calls for prompter corrections*
I shall correct the procedure : but, that done,
return with joy to that state of things* when the
only questions concerning a candidate shall be, Is
he honest ? Is he capable ? Is he faithful to the
constitution ?"#

As to his disrespect to Washington and Adams,
it should be remembered what the party heats of
the day were ; how Washington's cabinet was di-
vided between France, war, and general liberty ; and
neutrality, peace, and care of the people at home.
With such a theme of quarrel, it would have been
a wonder if hasty words had not been sometimes
spoken on all sides, Jefferson's ultimate- opinion
of Washington, written in confidence to a friend,
in 1814, lias happily come to light.. At the close,,
he says, " These are my opinions of General Wash-
ington, which I would vouch at the judgment-seat
of God, having been formed on an acquaintance of
thirty years.." One extract is enough : " On the
whole, his character was, in its mass, perfect; in
nothing bad, in few things indifferent ;, and it may
truly be said, that never did nature and fortune
combine more perfectly to make a man great, and
to place him in the same constellation with what-
ever worthies have merited from man an everlast-
ing remembrance/'^ The friendship in old age
between himself and Mr. Adams, and the moral
and intellectual beauty of their close correspon-

* Jefferson's Correspondence, vol.iii. pp. 467 — 476.
t Jefferson's Correspondence, vol. iv. p. 236.

60

THE EXECUTIVE.

dence, are a spectacle in sight of which all prior
party misunderstandings should be forgotten.
There is one infallible test by which to try old men
who have had much to do in the world. If their
power and privilege of admiration survive their
knowledge of the world, they are true-hearted;
and they occasion as much, admiration as they
enjoy. Jefferson stands this test.

His great acts are much heard of. The reduc-
tion of taxes and correction of abuses with which
he began his administration; his having actually
d$ne something against slavery ; his invariable de-
cision for advocacy or opposition, in accordance
with the true democratic principle, are now spoken
of more frequently than things less worthy to be
remembered. His influence has been greater than
that of any other President since Washington, ex-
actly in proportion to his nearer approach to the
national idea of a chief magistrate.

No great change took place during the adminis-
tration of his two successors, Madison and Monroe.
They were strong in the strength of his principles,
and of their own characters. Madison's term of
office would have been memorable in history, if he
had not immediately followed his friend Jefferson.
Their identity of views, put into practice by Madi-
son, with the simplest honesty and true modesty,
caused less observation than the same conduct im-
mediately succeeding a federal administration would
have done. Hence the affectation, practised by
some, of calling Madison a tool of Jefferson. Those
who really knew Mr. Madison and his public life,
will be amused at the idea of his being anybody's I
tool.

The reason why John Quincy Adams's adminis-
tration is little notorious is somewhat of the same
nature. He was a pure President ; a strictly moral
man. His good morality was shown in the devo-

THE EXECUTIVE.

61

tion of his fine powers to the faithful conduct ot
evanescent circumstances. His lot was that of all
good Presidents in the quiet days of the republic.
He would not use his small power for harm ; and
possessed no very great power for political good.

General Jackson was brought into office by an
overpowering majority, and after a series of strong
party excitements. If ever there was a possibility
of a President marking his age, for good or for
evil, it would have been done during Jackson's ad-
ministration. He is a man made to impress a very
distinct idea of himself on all minds. He has great
personal courage, much sagacity, though frequently
impaired by the strength of his prejudices, violent
passions, an indomitable will, and that devotion to
public affairs in which no President has ever failed.
He had done deeds of war which flattered the
pride of the people ; and in doing them, he had ac-
quired a knowledge of the people, which has served
him instead of much other knowledge in which he
is deficient. He has known, however, how to ob-
tain the use, though not the reputation, of the
knowledge which he does not possess. Notwith-
standing the strength of his passions, and the awk-
ward positions in which he has placed himself by
the indulgence of his private resentments, his saga-
city has served him well in keeping him a little
way a-head of the popular convictions. No physi-
cian in the world ever understood feeling the pulse,
and ordering his practice accordingly, better than
President Jackson. Here are all the requisites for
success in a tyrannical administration. Even in
England, we heard rumours in 1828, and again in
1832, about the perils of the United States, under
the rule of a despotic soldier. The cry revived
with every one of his high-handed deeds; with
every exercise of the veto, — which he has used
oftener than all the other Presidents put together,

62

THE EXECUTIVE.

— with every appointment made in defiance of the
Senate ; with the removal of the deposites ; with
his messages of menace to the French government
Yet to what amounts the power now, at the close
of his administration, of this idol of the people, this
man strong in war, and suhtle in council, this sol-
dier and statesman of indomitable will, of insa-
tiable ambition, with the resources of a huge ma-
jority at his disposal? The deeds of his adminis-
tration remain to be justified in as far as they are
sound, and undone if they are faulty. Meantime,
he has been able to obtain only the barest majority
in the Senate, the great object of his wrath: he
has been unable to keep the slavery question out of
Congress, — the introduction of which is by far the
most remarkable event of his administration. One
of the most desponding complaints I heard of his
administration was, not that he had strengthened
the general government — not that his government
had tended to centralisation — not that he had
settled any matters to his own satisfaction, and left
the people to reconcile themselves to his pleasure
as they best might, — but that every great question
is left unsettled ; that it is difficult now to tell any
party by its principles ; that the principles of such
affairs as the currency, land, slavery, internal im-
provements, &c. remain to be all argued over again.
Doubtless, this will be tiresome to such public
men as have entirely and finally made up their
minds on these subjects. To such, nothing can
well be more wearisome than discussion and ac-
tion, renewed from year to year. But the very
fact that these affairs remain unsettled, that the
people remain unsatisfied about them, proves that
the people have more to learn, and that they mean
to learn it. No true friend of his country would
wish that the questions of slavery and currency
should remain in any position that they have ever

THE EXECUTIVE.

63

yet occupied in the United States ; and towards
the settlement of the latter of the two, as far as
light depends on collision of opinions, it is certain
that no man has done so much, whether he meant
it or not, as President Jackson. The occasional
breaking up and mingling of parties is a necessary-
circumstance, whether it be considered an evil or a
good. It may be an evil, in as far as it affords
a vantage-ground to unprincipled adventurers ;
it is a good, in as far as it leads to mutual un-
derstanding, and improves the candour of partisans.
For the rest, there is no fear but that parties will
soon draw asunder, with each a set of distinctive
principles as its badge. Meantime, men will have
reason to smile at their fears of the formidable
personage, who is now descending from the presi-
dential chair ; and their enthusiasm will have cooled
down to the temperature fixed by what the event
will prove to have been his merits. They will
discuss him by their firesides with the calmness
with which men speak of things that are past;
while they keep their hopes and fears to be chafed
up at public meetings, while the orator points to
some rising star, or to some cloud no bigger than
a man's hand. Irish emigrants occasionally fight
out the battle of the Boyne in the streets of Phila-
delphia ; but native Americans bestow their appre-
hensions and their wrath upon things future ; and
their philosophy upon things past. While they do
this, it will not be in the power of any President to
harm them much or long.

r

64

STATE GOVERNMENTS.

SECTION III.

STATE GOVERNMENTS.

Never, perhaps, did statesmen begin their task of
constitution-making with so much aid from pre-
ceding circumstances as the great men of the Re-
volution. A social neighbourhood of colonies, all
suffering under colonial grievances, and all varying
in their internal government, afforded a broad hint
of the present system, and fine facilities for putting
it in practice. There was much less speculation
in the case than might appear from a distance ;
and this fact so far takes away from the super-
human character of the wisdom which achieved the
completion of the United States' constitution, as
to bring the mind down from its state of amaze-
ment into one of very wholesome admiration.

The state governments are the conservative
power, enabling the will of the majority to act
with freedom and convenience. Though the nation
is but an aggregation of individuals, as regards the
general government, their division into States, for
the management of their domestic affairs, precludes
a vast amount of confusion and discord. Their
mutual vigilance is also a great advantage to their
interests, both within each State, and abroad. No
tyrant, or tyrannical party, can remain un watched
and unchecked. There is, in each State, a people
ready for information and complaint, when neces-
sary; a legislature ready for deliberation; and
an executive ready to act. Many States, in other
ages and regions, have been lost through the
necessity of creating their instruments when they

STATE GOVERNMENTS. 65

should have been acting. State organisation is
never managed without dispute ; and it makes the
entire difference in the success of resistance to ag-
gression whether the necessary apparatus has to be
created in haste and confusion, or whether every-
thing is in readiness for executing the will of the
majority.

Under no other arrangement, perhaps, could the
advantage be secured of every man being, in his
turn, a servant of the commonwealth. If the ge-
neral government managed everything, the public
service would soon become the privilege of a cer-
tain class, or a number of classes of men ; as is
seen to be the case elsewhere. The relation and
gradation of service which are now so remarkable
a feature in the United States commonwealth,
could never then happen naturally, as they now do.
Almost every man serves in his township in New
England, and in the corresponding ward or section
elsewhere; and has his capability tried; and, if
worthy, he serves his county, his State, and finally
the Union, in Congress. Such is the theory : and
if not followed up well in practice, if some of the
best men never get beyond serving their township,
and some of the worst now and then get into Con-
gress, the people are unquestionably better served
than if the selection of servants depended on acci-
dent, or the favour of men in power. Whatever
extraneous impediments may interfere with the
true working of the theory, every citizen feels, or
ought to feel, what a glorious career may lie before
him. In his country, every road to success is open
to all. There are no artificial disqualifications
which may not be surmounted. All humbug,
whether of fashion and show, of sanctimoniousness,
of licentiousness, or of anything else, is there des-
tined to speedy failure and retribution. There is
no hereditary humbug in the United States. If the

66

STATE GOVERNMENTS.

honest, wise man, feels himself depressed below
the knave, he has, if he did but know it, only to
wait patiently a little while, and he will have his
due. Though truth is equally great everywhere,
and equally sure ultimately to prevail, men of
other countries have often to wait till they reach
the better country than all, before they witness this
ultimate prevalence, except with the eye of faith.
The young nation over the Atlantic is indulged,
for the encouragement, with a speedier retribution
for her well or ill doings ; and almost every one of
her citizens, if he be truly honourable, may trust
to be fitly honoured before he dies.

Another conservative effect of the state govern-
ments is the facilities they afford for the correction
of solecisms, the renovation of institutions as they
are outgrown, and the amendment of all unsuitable
arrangements. If anything wants to be rectified
in any State, it can be done on the mere will of the
people concerned. There is no imploring of an
uninterested government at a distance — a govern-
ment so occupied with itfe foreign relations as to
have little attention to spare for domestic grievances
which it does not feel. There is no waiting any
body's pleasure ; nobody's leave to ask. The re-
medy is so close at hand, those who are to give it
are so nearly concerned, that it may always, and,
for the most part, speedily, be obtained, upon good
cause being shown. No external observance is
needed, except of the few and express prohibi-
tions which the general and state governments have
interchanged.

It is amusing to look over the proceedings of
the state legislatures for any one year* Maine
amends her libel law, decreeing that proof of
truth shall be admitted as justification. Massa-
chusetts decrees a revision and consolidation of her
laws, and the annihilation of lotteries. Rhode

state governments.

07

Island improves her quarantine regulations. Con-
necticut passes an act for the preservation of corn-
fields from crows. Vermont decrees the protection
of the dead in their graves. New York prohibits
the importation of foreign convicts. New Jersey-
incorporates a dairy company. Pennsylvania miti-
gates the law which authorises imprisonment for
debt. Maryland authorises a geological survey.
Georgia enlarges her law of divorce. Alabama
puts children, in certain circumstances, under the
protection of chancery. Mississippi decrees a
census. Tennessee interdicts barbacues in the
neighbourhood of camp meetings. Ohio regulates
the care of escheated lands. Indiana prohibits a
higher rate of interest than ten per cent. Missouri
authorises the conveyance of real estate by married
women. And so on. It seems difficult to imagine
how many abuses can reach an extreme, or be
tardy of cure, where the will of the majority is not
only speedily made known, but where the division
of employment is so skilfully arranged that the
majority may be trusted to understand the case on
which they are to decide.

It has always appeared to* me that much misap-
prehension is occasioned by its being supposed
that the strength of the general government lies in
the number of its functions ; and its weakness in
the extent of its area. To me it appears directly
the reverse. A government which has the ma-
nagement of all the concerns of a people, the
greater and the smaller, preserves its stability by
the general interest in its more important func-
tions. If you desire to weaken it, you must with-
draw from its guardianship the more general and
important of its affairs. If you desire to shield it
from cavil and attack, you must put the more local
and partial objects of its administration under
other management. If the general government of

68

STATE GOVERNMENTS,

the United States had to manage all legislation
and administration within their boundaries, it could
hardly hold together one year. If it had only one
function, essential to all, and impossible to be
otherwise fulfilled, there seems no reason why it
should not work prosperously till there are fifty
States around it, and longer. The importance of
the functions of the general government depends
partly upon the universality of the interest in them;
and partly upon the numbers included under them.
So far, therefore, from the enlargement of the area
of the United States being perilous to the general
government, by making it " cumbrous," as many
fear, it seems to me likely to work a directly con-
trary effect. There are strong reasons why an ex-
tension of her area would be injurious to her, but
I cannot regard this as one. A government which
has to keep watch over the defence, foreign po-
licy, commerce, and currency, of from twenty-five
to fifty small republics, is safer in the guardianship
of its subjects than if it had to manage these same
affairs for one large republic, with the additional
superintendence of its debtors, its libellers, and
the crows of its corn-fields*

Little or no room for rebellion seems to be left
under the constitution of the United States. In
the progress of human affairs, familiar evils expire
with worn-out institutions, and new dangers arise
out of the midst of renovated arrangements. As-
sassinations are the form which resistance to go-
vernment assumes in pure despotisms. Rebellion
is the name it bears under governments somewhat
more liberal In the United States, nothing worse
than professed Nullification has yet been heard of—
unless Colonel Burr's secret schemes were indeed
treasonable. A brief account of the South Caro-
lina Nullification may exhibit the relations, and
occasional enmities of the general and states go-

STATE GOVERNMENTS.

69

vernment in a clearer way than could be done,
otherwise than by a narrative of facts. This little
history shows, among many other things, that
America follows the rest -of the world in quoting
the constitution as a sanction of the most opposite
designs and proceedings : what different sympathies
respond to the word " patriotism and of how
little avail is the letter of the constitution, when
there is variance as to its spirit.

Georgia laid claim, some years ago, to the Che-
rokee territory, on the ground that the United
States had no right to make the laws and treaties
by which the Cherokees were protected ; that such
legislation was inconsistent with the reserved
rights of the sovereign state of Georgia. Georgia
thus acted upon the supposition, that she was to
construe the federal compact in her own way, and
proceed according to her own construction. Con-
gress checked her in this assumption, and rejected
her pretensions by an almost unanimous vote.
Soon after the accession of General Jackson to the,
presidentship, Georgia, either presuming upon his
favour, or wishing to test his dispositions, began
to encroach upon the Cherokee lands. The Che-
rokees appealed to the federal government for pro-
tection, under the laws and treaties framed for that
very purpose. The President replied, that Georgia
was right in annulling those laws and treaties, and
that the executive could not interfere. The Indian
cause was brought before the Supreme Court. There
was difficulty about the character in which the
plaintiffs were to sue, and as to whether they could
sue at all, under that provision of the constitution
which authorises foreign nations to demand jus-
tice from the federal tribunals. The court ex-
pressed a strong opinion, however, that the Che-
rokees were entitled to protection from the Ex-
ecutive.

70

STATE GOVERNMENTS.

The Supreme Court and Georgia were thus
brought into opposition, while the Executive took
the part of Georgia. Compassion for the Che-
rokees was now swallowed up in anxiety about the
decision of the question of state rights. The
Executive had, as yet, only negatively declared
himself, however ; and the Supreme Court had not
been driven on to deliver a verdict against the
Georgian laws, by which the Cherokees were op-
pressed. The topic of the right of a State to annul
the laws and treaties of the federal government was
meantime generally discussed ; and reconsideration
was forced upon the President

South Carolina presently followed the example
of Georgia. She annulled the acts of Congress,
which regarded such revenue laws as she con-
sidered contrary to general principles, and to her
own interests. The President now perceived that
if every State proceeded to nullify the acts of Con-
gress, upon its own construction of the federal con-
stitution, the general government could not be
secure of its existence for a day. While the Exe-
cutive was still in a position of observation^ the
Supreme Court pronounced, in another case, a
verdict against the unconstitutional laws of Georgia.
In 1829, the legislature of Virginia asserted the
right of each State to construe the federal consti-
tution for itself : and thus there appeared to be
three States already in the course of withdrawing
from the Union.

Congress went on legislating about the tariff,
without regard to this opposition ; and the pro-
tests of certain States against their proceedings
were quietly laid on the table, as impertinences.
The South Carolina advocates of Nullification
worked diligently in their own State to ripen the
people sufficiently to obtain a convention which
should proclaim their doctrine as the will of the

STATE GOVERNMENTS.

71

State : in which case, they douhted not that they
should secure the countenance and co-operation of
most, or all, of the southern States. A convention
in favour of free trade met at Philadelphia ; ano-
ther in favour of the tariff met at New York ; and
the nullifiers saw reason to turn the discussion of
the quarrel as much as possible from the principle
of Nullification to the principle of free trade. They
perceived the strength of the latter ground, whe-
ther or not they saw the weakness of the former ;
and by their skilful movement upon it, they even-
tually caused a greater benefit to the nation, than
their discontent did harm to themselves.

The President was invited to dine at Charleston
on the 4th of July, 1831 ; and in his answer, he
thought fit to announce that he should do his duty
in case of any attempt to annul the laws of the
Union. This was a virtual retractation of his en-
couragement to Georgia. A committee of the
legislature of South Carolina reported the letter to
be at variance with the duties of the President, and
the rights of the States. The heat was rising
rapidly. The nullifiers were loud in their threats,
and watchful in observing the effect of those threats
abroad. North Carolina repudiated the whole doctrine
of Nullification : other neighbouring States showed
a reluctance to sanction it. The President's next
message recommended a modification of the tariff,
which was known to be no favorite of his ; but the
modification he proposed had no other bearing than
upon the amount of the revenue.

During the session of Congress of 1832, various
alterations were made in the duties, which it was
hoped would be to the satisfaction of South Carolina:
but the complaint of her representatives was, that
the reductions which were ordained were on those
articles in which she had no interest ; while her
burdens were actually increased. These represen-

72

STATE GOVERNMENTS.

tatives met at Washington, and drew up an address
to the people of South Carolina, in which they de-
clared their wrongs, and inquired whether they
were to be tamely submitted to.

The legislature of South Carolina, after the next
election, exhibited a large majority in both houses
in favour of Nullification. A convention was called
at Columbia, in consequence of whose proceedings
an ordinance was prepared, and speedily passed
through the legislature, declaring all the acts of
Congress imposing duties on imported goods, to be
null and void within the state of South Carolina.
It prohibited the levying of all such duties within
the State, and all appeals on the subject to the Su-
preme Court. A number of minor provisions were
made to hinder the levy of import duties. The
governor was empowered to call the militia into
service against any opposition which might be made
by the general government to this bold mode of
proceeding. The entire military force of the State,
and the services of volunteers, were also placed at
his disposal. Arms and ammunition were ordered
to be purchased.

This was too much for the President's anxiety
about consistency. He ordered all the disposable
military force to . assemble at Charleston ; sent a
sloop of war to that port, to protect the federal
officers in the discharge of their duties ; and issued
a vigorous proclamation, stating the constitutional
doctrine, about the mutual relations of the general
and state governments, and exhorting the citizens
of South Carolina not to forfeit their allegiance.
Governor Hayne issued a counter proclamation,
warning the citizens of the State against being
seduced from their state allegiance by the Presi-
dent. This was at the close of 1832.

Everything being thus ready for an explosion,
South Carolina appeared willing to wait the result

STATE GOVERNMENTS.

73

ot another session. This was needful enough ; for
she was as yet uncertain whether she was to have
the assistance of any of her sister States. Mr. Cal-
houn, the vice-president, resigned his office, and
became a senator in the room of governor Hayne :
and thus the nullification cause was in powerful
hands in the senate. Its proceedings were watched
with the most intense anxiety by the whole Union.
The crisis of the Union was come.

In the discontented State, the union party, which
was strong, though excluded from the government,
was in great sorrow and fear. Civil war seemed
inevitable ; and they felt themselves oppressed and
insulted by the imposition of the oath of allegiance
to the State. The nullifiers justified this requisi-
tion by saying that many foreigners resident in
Charleston, who did not understand the case, be-
lieved that their duty to the general government
required them to support it, while its vessels of
war and troops were in port ; however well they
might be disposed to the nullification cause. It
was merely as a method of enlightenment, it was
protested, that this oath was imposed.

The ladies, meanwhile, had a State Rights ball at
the arsenal, and contributed their jewels for the
support of the expected war. I could not learn
that they made lint — the last test of woman's
earnestness for war ; but I was told by a leading
nullifier that the ladies were " chock full of fight.''
The expectation of war was so nearly universal that
I could hear of only one citizen of Charleston who
discouraged the removal of his wife and children
from the city, in the belief that a peaceful settlement
of the quarrel would take place.

The legislatures of the States passed resolutions,
none of them advocating nullification; (even Geor-
gia forsaking that ground;) many condemned the
proceedings of Sou|jji Carolina; but some, while

VOL. I. e

74

STATE GOVERNMENTS.

doing so, made strong remonstrances against the
tariff. Five of the States, in which manufactures
had been set up, declared their opposition to any
alteration of the tariff. It is amusing now to read
the variety of terms in which the South Carolina
proceedings were condemned ; though, at the time,
the reports of these resolutions must have carried
despair to the hearts of the citizens of the solitary
discontented State. The effect of these successive
shocks is still spoken of in strong and touching
language by those who had to sustain them.

While the South Carolina militia were training,
and the munitions of war preparing, the senators
and representatives of the State were wearing stern
and grave faces at Washington. The session was
passing away, and nothing but debate was yet
achieved. Their fellow legislators looked on them
with grief, as being destined to destruction in the
field, or on the scaffold. They were men of high
spirit and gallantry ; and it was clear that they had
settled the matter with themselves and with each
other. They would never submit to mere num-
bers ; and would oppose force to force, till all of
thek small resources was spent. No one can
estimate their heroism, or desperation, whichever
it may be called, who has not seen the city and
State which would have been the theatre of the
war. The high spirit of South Carolina is of that
kind which accompanies fallen, or inferior fortunes.
Pride and poverty chafe the spirit. They make
men look around for injury, and aggravate the
sense of injury when it is real. In South Carolina,
the black population outnumbers the white. The
curse of slavery lies heavy on the land, and its in-
habitants show the usual unwillingness of sufferers
to attribute their maladies to their true cause.
Right as the South Carolinians may be as to the
principle of free trade, no tari^ever yet occasioned

STATE GOVERNMENTS. 75

such evils as they groan under. If not a single
import duty had ever been imposed, there would
still have been the contrasts which they cannot
endure to perceive between the thriving States of
the north and their own. Now, when they see the
flourishing villages of New England, they cry " We
pay for all this." When the north appears to re-
ceive more favour from the general government, in
its retrospective recompenses for service in war,
the greater proportion of which service was ren-
dered by the north, the south again cries, " We pay
for all this." It is true that the south pays dearly ;
but it is for her own depression, not for others'
prosperity. When I saw the face of the nullifiers'
country, I was indeed amazed at their hardihood.
The rich soil, watered by full streams, the fertile
bottoms, superintended by the planters' mansions,
with their slave quarter a little removed from the
house, the fine growth of trees, and of the few
patches of pasturage which are to be seen, show
how flourishing this region ought to be. But its
aspect is most depressing to the traveller. Roads
nearly impassable in many parts, bridges carried
away and not restored, lands exhausted, and dwell-
ings forsaken, are spectacles too common in South
Carolina. The young men, whose patrimony has
deteriorated, migrate westward with their 6 force
selling their lands, if they can ; if not, forsaking
them. There are yet many plantations of unsur-
passed fertility; but there are many exhausted:
and it is more profitable to remove to a virgin soil
than to employ slave labour in renovating the fer-
tility of the old. There is an air of rudeness about
the villages, and languor about the towns, which
promise small resource in times of war and dis-
tress. And then, the wretched slave population is
enough to paralyse the arm of the bravest -commu-
nity, and to ensure defeat to the best cause. I saw

e 2

76

STATE GOVERNMENTS.

the soldiers and the preparations for war at
Charleston, two years after the crisis was past »
When I was to be shown the arms and ammunition,
it appeared that " the gentleman that had the key
was not on the premises." This showed that no
immediate invasion was expected ; but it was almost
incredible what had been threatened with such re-
sources. The precautionary life of the community,
on account of the presence of so large a body of
slaves, may be, in some sort, a training for war ;
but it points out the impediments to success. If
South Carolina had, what some of her leading men
seem to desire, a Lacedemonian government, which
should make every free man a soldier, she would
be farther from safety in peace, and success in war,
than any quaker community, exempt from the
curse of a debased and wronged servile class. One
glance over the city of Charleston is enough to
show a stranger how helpless she is against a
foreign foe, if unsupported. The soldiers met, at
every turn, the swarms of servile blacks, the very
luxuries and hospitalities of the citizens, grateful
as these luxuries are to the stranger, and honourable
as these hospitalities are to his entertainers, be-
token a state of society which has no strength to
spare from the great work of self-renovation.
Those who remained at home during the winter of
1832 and 1833, might be hopeful about the con-
flict, from being unaware of the depressed condition
of their State, in comparison with others : but the
leaders at Washington might well look stern and
grave. It is no impeachment of their bravery, if
their hearts died within them, day by day.

The session was within fourteen days of its
close, when Mr. Clay brought in a bill which had
been carefully prepared as a .compromise between
the contending parties. It provided that all im-
port duties exceeding twenty per cent, should be

STATE GOVERNMENTS.

77

gradually reduced, till, in 1842, they should have
declined to that amount ; leaving liberty to aug-
ment the duties again, in case of war. This bill,
with certain amendments, not affecting its principle,
was passed, as was the Enforcing Bill, — for en-
forcing the collection imposed by act of Congress.
A convention was held in South Carolina : the ob-
noxious ordinance was repealed ; the Enforcing
Bill was, indeed, nominally nullified ; but no powers
were offered to the legislature for enforcing the
nullification ; and the quarrel was, to all intents and
purposes, at an end.

The triumph remained, — if triumph there were,
— with South Carolina. This was owing to the
goodness of her principle of free trade ; and in no
degree, to the reasonableness of her nullifying
practices. The passage of the Compromise Bill
was a wise and fortunate act Its influence on the
planting and manufacturing interests is a subject
to be considered in another connexion. Its imme-
diate effect in honourably reconciling differences
which had appeared irreconcileable, was a blessing,
not only to the United States, but to the world.
The lustre of democratic principles would have
been shrouded to many eyes by a civil war among
the citizens of the Union; while now, the post-
ponement of a danger so imminent, the healing of
a breach so wide, has confirmed the confidence of
many who feared that the States remained united
only for want of a cause of separation.

Some ill effects remain, — especially in the irrita-
tion of South Carolina. There is still an air of
mystery and fellowship about the leading nullifiers,
and of disquiet among the Union men of Charles-
ton. But there is cause enough for restlessness in
Charleston, as I have before said ; and much excuse
for pique.

Meanwhile, these events have proved to thou-
sands of republicans the mischief of compromise

78

STATE GOVERNMENTS.

conveyed in vague phraseology, in so solemn an
instrument as a written constitution.

There could not have been a doubt on this case,
if the question of construction had not had place,
from the unfortunate clause ordaining that the ge-
neral government shall have all powers necessary
for the fulfilment of certain declared purposes.
While this provision, thus worded, remains, the
nullification theory will be played off, from time to
time. The good consequence will arise from this
liability, that a habit will be formed of construing
the constitution liberally, with regard to the States,
wherever there is a doubt as to the exercise of its
powers ; but this collateral good is no justification
of the looseness of language by which the peace
and integrity of the Union have been made to hang
on a point of construction. The people of the United
States will probably show their wisdom in hence-
forth accepting the benefit by shunning the evil.

In the privacy of their houses, many citizens
have lamented to me, with feelings to which no
name but grief can be given, that the events of
1832 — 3 have suggested the words " use" or
" value of the Union." To an American, a calcu-
lation of the value of the Union would formerly
have been as offensive, as absurd, as an estimate of
the value of religion would be to a right-minded
man. To Americans of this order, the Union has
long been more . than a matter of high utility. It
has been idealised into an object of love and vene-
ration. In answer to this cui bono, many have
cried in their hearts, with Lear, " O reason not
the need ! " I was struck with the contrast in the
tone of two statesmen, a chief nullifier and one of
his chief opponents. The one would not disguise
from me that the name of the Union had lost much
of its charm in the south, since 1830. The other,
in a glow, protested that he never would hear of
the Union losing its charm.

STATE GOVERNMENTS.

79

But the instances of carelessness, of levity about
the Union, are very rare ; and this is the reason
why more show of attachment to it is not made.
The probabilities of the continuance of the Union
are so overwhelming, that no man, not in a state of
delusion, from some strong prejudice, can seriously
entertain the idea of a dissolution within any as-
signable period. I met with one gentleman in the
north, a clergyman, who expects and desires a
dissolution of the Union, saying that the north bore
all the expense of the war, and has had nothing
but obstruction and injury from the south. I saw,
also, one gentleman in South Carolina, who sees
no use in the Union, but much expense and trou-
ble. He declares the only effect of it to be the
withdrawing of the best men from each State o
dawdle away their time at Washington. Another,
who desponds about the condition of England, and
whose views are often embellished, and sometimes
impaired, by his perceptions of analogy, expressed
his fears that his own country, an offset from mine,
would share the fate of offsets, and perish with the
parent. But these are examples of eccentricity.

There are many among the slave-holders of the
south who threaten secession. Such of these as
are in earnest are under the mistake into which
men fall when they put everything to the hazard of
one untenable object. The untenable object once
relinquished, the delusion will clear away with the
disappearance of its cause, and the Union will be to
them, with good reason, dearer than it has ever been.
The southern States could not exist, separately, with
their present domestic institutions, in the neigh-
bourhood of any others. They would have thou-
sands of miles of frontier, over which their slaves
would be running away, every day of the year.
In case of war, they might be only too happy if
their gl&ves did run away, instead of rising up

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against them at home. If it was necessary to pur-
chase, Florida because it was a retreat for runa-
ways ; if it was necessary, first to treat with Mexico
for the . restitution of runaways, and then to steal
Texas, — the most high-handed theft of modern
times ; if it is necessary to pursue runaways into
the northern States, and to keep magistrates and
jails in perpetual requisition for the restitution of
southern human property, how would the southern
States manage by themselves ? Only by ridding
themselves of slavery ; in which case, their alleged
necessity of separation is superseded. As for their
resources, — the shoe-business of New York State
is of itself larger and more valuable than the entire
commerce of Georgia, — the largest and richest
of the southern States.

The mere act of separation could not be accom-
plished. In case of war against the northern
States, it would be necessary to employ half the
white population to take care of the black ; and of
the remaining half, no one would undertake to say
how many are at heart sick and weary of slavery,
and would be, therefore, untrustworthy. The mid-
dle slave States, now nearly ready to discard
slavery, would seize so favourable an opportunity as
that afforded them by the peril of the Union. The
middle free States, from Pennsylvania to the Mis-
sissippi, having everything to lose by separation,
and nothing to gain, would treat the first overt act
as rebellion ; proceeding against it, and punishing
it as such. The case is so palpable as scarcely to
need even so brief a statement as this. The fact
which renders such a statement worth making is,
that most of those who threaten the dissolution of
the Union, do it in order to divert towards this
impracticable object the irritation which would
otherwise, and which will, ere long, turn against
the institution of slavery. The gaze of the world

STATE GOVERNMENTS.

81

is fixed upon this institution. The world is shout-
ing the one question about this anomaly which
cannot be answered. The dwellers in the south
would fain be unconscious of that awful gaze.
They would fain not hear the reverberation of that
shout. They would fain persuade themselves and
others, that they are too busy in asserting their
rights and their dignity as citizens of the Union, to
heed the world beyond.

This self and mutual deception will prove a
merely temporary evil. The natural laws which
regulate communities, and the will of the majority,
may be trusted to preserve the good, and to remove
the bad elements from which this dissension arises.
It requires no gift of prophecy to anticipate the
fate of an anomaly among a self-governing people.
Slavery was not always an anomaly ; but it has
become one. Its doom is therefore sealed ; and its
duration is now merely a question of time. Any
anxiety in the computation of this time is reason-
able; for it will not only remove a more tre-
mendous curse than can ever again desolate society,
but restore the universality of that generous at-
tachment to their common institutions which has
been, and will again be, to the American people,
honour, safety, and the means of perpetual pro-
gress.

82

CHAPTER III.

MORALS OF POLITICS.

** Tis be whose law is reason ; who depends
Upon that law as on the best of friends ;
Whence, in a state where men are tempted still
To evil for a guard against worse ill,
And what in quality or act is best,
Doth seldom on a right foundation rest,
He fixes good on good alone, and owes
To virtue every triumph that he knows.,,

Wordsworth.

Under a pure despotism, the morals of politics
would make but a very short chapter. Mercy in
the ruler ; obedience in his officers, with, perhaps,
an occasional stroke of remonstrance ; and tax-
paying in the people, would comprehend the whole.
Among a self-governing people, who profess to
take human equality for their great common prin-
ciple, and the golden rule for their political vow, a
long chapter of many sections is required.

The morals of politics are not too familiar any-
where. The clergy are apt to leave out its topics
from their list of subjects for the pulpit. Writers on
morals make that chapter as brief as if they lived
under the pure despotism, supposed above. An honest
newspaper, here and there, or a newspaper honest
for some particular occasion, and therefore unin-
fluential in its temporary honesty, are the only
speakers on the morals of politics. The only
speakers ; but not the only exhibitors. Scattered

MORALS OF POLITICS.

83

here and there, through a vast reach of ages, and
expanse of communities, there may be found, to
bless his race, an honest statesman. Statesmen,
free from the gross vices of peculation, sordid,
selfish ambition, cruelty and tergiversation, are not
uncommon. But the last degree of honesty has
always been, and is still, considered incompatible
with statesmanship. To hunger and thirst after
righteousness has been naturally, as it were, sup-
posed a disqualification for affairs; and a man,
living for truth, and in a spirit of love, " pure in
the last recesses of the mind," who should propose
to seek truth through political action, and exercise
love in the use of political influence, and refine
his purity by disinfecting the political atmosphere
of its corruptions, would hear it reported on every
hand that he had a demon. Yet one who is aware
of the enthusiasm with which the Germans hail
the words of Posa at every representation of Don
Carlos ; one who has seen how American officials
are supported by the people, on the supposition
that they are great men, (however small such men
may really be,) one who has watched the accelera-
tion, within our own time, of the retribution which
overtakes untrustworthy public men, whatever may
be their talents and their knowledge, in contrast
with the comparative stability of less able, but more
honest men, can doubt no longer that the time is
at hand for the advent of political principle. The
hour is come when dwellers in the old world should
require integrity of their rulers ; and dwellers in
the new world, each in his turn a servant of so-
ciety, should require it of each other and of them-
selves. The people of the United States are seek-
ing after this, feebly and dimly. They have re-
tained one wise saying of the fathers to whom they
owe so much ; that the letter of laws and consti-
tutions is a mere instrument ; with no vitality ; no

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OFFICE.

power to protect and bless ; and that the spirit is
all in all. They have been far from acting upon
this with such steadiness as to show that they un-
derstand and believe it. But the saying is in their
minds ; and, like every other true thing that lies
there, it will in time exhibit itself in the appointed
mode — the will of the majority.

SECTION I.

OFFICE.

I was told two things separately, last year, which,
if put together, seem to yield an alarming result.
I was told that almost every man holds office, some
time during his life ; and that holding office is the
ruin of moral independence. The case is not,
however, nearly so bad as this. There is a kind
of public life wThich does seem to injure the morals
of all who enter it ; but very few are affected by
this. Office in a man's own neighbourhood, where
his character and opinions are known, and where
the honour and emolument are small, is not very
seductive ; and these are the offices filled by the
greater number of citizens who serve society. The
temptation to propitiate opinion becomes powerful
when a citizen desires to enter the legislature, or
to be the chief magistrate of the State. The peril
increases when he becomes a candidate for Con-
gress ; and there seems to be no expectation what-
ever that a candidate for the presidentship, or his
partizans, should retain any simplicity of speech,
or regard to equity in the distribution of places
and promises. All 4?his is dreadfully wrong. It
originates in a grand mistake, which cannot be

OFFICE.

85

rectified but by mucb suffering. It is obvious that
there must be mistake ; for it can never be an
arrangement of Providence that men cannot serve
each other in their political relations without being
corrupted.

The primary mistake is in supposing that men
cannot bear to hear the truth. It has become the
established method of seeking office, not only to
declare a coincidence of opinion with the supposed
majority, on the great topics on which the candi-
date will have to speak and act while in office, but
to deny, or conceal, or assert anything else which
it is supposed will please the same majority. The
consequence is, that the best men are not in office.
The morally inferior who succeed, use their power
for selfish purposes, to a sufficient extent to corrupt
their constituents, in their turn. I scarcely knew,
at first, how to understand the political conversa-
tions which I heard in travelling. If a citizen told
another that A. had voted in a particular manner,
the other invariably began to account for the vote.
A. had voted thus to please B., because B.'s influ-
ence was wanted for the benefit of C, who had
promised so and so to A.'s brother, or son, or
nephew, or leading section of constituents. A
reason for a vote, or other public proceeding, must
always be found; and any reason seemed to be
taken up rather than the obvious one, that a man
votes according to the decision of his reason and
conscience. I often mentioned this to men in
office, or seeking to be so ; and they received it
with a smile or a laugh which wrung my heart.
Of all heart-withering things, political scepticism
hi a republic is one of the most painful. I told
Mr. Clay my observations in both kinds. " Let
them laugh ! " cried he, with an honourable
warmth: "and do you go on requiring honesty;
and you will find it." He is right : but those who

86

OFFICE.

would find the highest integrity had better not
begin their observations on office-holders, much
less on office-seekers, as a class. The office-holder
finds, too often, that it may be easier to get into
office than to have power to discharge its duties
when there : and then the temptation to subservi-
ence, to dishonest silence, is well nigh too strong
for mortal man. The office-seeker stands com-
mitted as desiring something for which he is ready
to sacrifice his business or profession, his ease, his
leisure, and the quietness of his reputation. He
stands forth as either an adventurer, a man of
ambition, or of self-sacrificing patriotism. Being
once thus committed, failure is mortifying, and the
allurement to compromise, in order to success, is
powerful. Once in public life, the politician is
committed for ever, whether he immediately per-
ceives this, or not. Almost every public man of
my acquaintance owned to me the difficulty ot
retiring, — in mind, if not in presence, — after the
possession of a public trust. This painful hanker-
ing is part of the price to be paid for the honours
of public service : and I am disposed to think that
it is almost universal ; that scarcely any man
knows quiet and content, from the moment of the
success of his first election. The most modest
men shrink from thus committing themselves. The
most learned men, generally speaking, devote
themselves, in preference, to professions. The
most conscientious men, generally speaking, shun
the snares which fatally beset public life, at present,
in the United States.

A gentleman of the latter class, whose talents
and character would procure him extensive and
hearty support, if he desired it, told me, that he
would never serve in office, because he believes it
to be the destruction of moral independence: he
pointed out to me three friends of his, men of

OFFICE.

87

remarkable talent, all in public life. " Look at
them," said he. "and see what they might have
been ! Yet A. is a slave, B. is a slave, and C. is a
worm in the dust." Too true.

Here is a grievous misfortune to the republic !
My friend ascribes it to the want of protection
from his neighbours, to which a man is exposed
from the want of caste. This will never do. A
crown and sceptre would be about as desirable in
a republic as caste. If men would only try the
effect of faith in one another, I believe they would
take rank, and yield protection, with more precision
and efficacy than by any manifestation of the
exclusive spirit that was ever witnessed. Of course,
this proposal will be called " Quixotic ;" that con-
venient term which covers things the most serious
and the most absurd, the wisest and the wildest.
I am strengthened in my suggestion by a recur-
rence to the first principles of society in the United
States, according to which I find that "rulers
derive their just powers from the consent of the
governed;" and that the theory is, that the best
men are chosen to serve. Both these pre-suppose
mutual faith. Let the governed once require
honesty as a condition of their consent ; let them
once choose the best men, according to their most
conscientious conviction, and there will be an end
of this insulting and disgusting political scepticism.
Adventurers and ambitious men there will still be ;
but they will not taint the character of the class.
Better men, who will respect their constituents,
without fearing or flattering them, will foster the
generous mutual faith which is now so grievously
wanting; and the spirit of the constitution, now
drooping in some of its most important departments,
will revive.

I write more in hope than in immediate expec-
tation. I saw much ground for hope, but very

88

OFFICE.

much also for grief. Scarcely anything that I
observed in the United States caused me so much
sorrow as the contemptuous estimate of the people
entertained by those who were bowing the knee to
be permitted to serve them. Nothing can be more
disgusting than the contrast between the draw-
ing-room gentleman, at ease among friends, and
the same person courting the people, on a public
occasion. The only comfort was a strong internal
persuasion that the people do not like to be courted
thus. They have been so long used to it, that
they receive it as a matter of course ; but, I believe,
if a candidate should offer, who should make no
professions but of his opinions, and his honest
intentions of carrying them out ; if he should
respect the people as men, not as voters, and inform
them truly of his views of their condition and
prospects, they would recognise him at once as
their best friend. He might, notwithstanding,
lose his election; for the people must have time
to recover, or to attain simplicity ; but he would
serve them better by losing his election thus, than
by the longest and most faithful service in public
life.

I have often wondered whether a gentleman at
Laporte, in Indiana, who advertised his desire to
be sheriff, gained his election. He declared in his
advertisement that he had not been largely solicited,
but that it was his own desire that he should be
sheriff: he would .not promise to do away with
mosquitoes, ague, and fever, but only to do his
duty. This candidate has his own way of flattering
his constituents.

A gentleman of considerable reputation offered,
last year, to deliver a lecture, in a Lyceum, in Mas-
sachusetts. It was upon the French Revolution;
and on various accounts curious. There was no
mention of the causes of the Revolution, except

OFFICE.

89

in a parenthesis of one sentence, where he inti-
mated that French society was not in harmony
with the spirit of the age. He sketched almost
every body concerned, except the Queen. The
most singular part, perhaps, was his estimate of
the military talents of Napoleon. He exalted
them much, and declared him a greater general
than Wellington, but not so great as Washington.
The audience was large and respectable. I knew
a great many of the persons present, and found
that none of them liked the lecture.

I attended another Lyceum lecture in Massachu-
setts. An agent of the Colonisation Society lec-
tured ; and, when he had done, introduced a cler-
gyman of colour, who had just returned from
Liberia, and could give an account of the colony
in its then present state. As soon as this gentle-
man came forward, a party among the audience
rose, and went out, .with much ostentation of
noise. Mr. Wilson broke off till he could be again
heard, and then observed in a low voice, " that
would not have been done in Africa ;" upon
which, there was an uproar of applause, prolonged
and renewed. All the evidence on the subject
that I could collect, went to prove that the people
can bear, and do prefer to hear, the truth. It is a
crime to withhold it from them; and a double
crime to substitute flattery.

The tone of the orations was the sole, but great
drawback from the enjoyment of the popular
festivals I witnessed. I missed the celebration of
the 4th of July,— both years ; being, the first year,
among the Virginia mountains, (where the only
signs of festivity which I saw, were some slaves
dressing up a marquee, in which their masters
were to feast, after having read, from the Declara-
tion of Independence, that all men are created
free and equal, and that rulers derive their just

90

OFFICE.

powers from the consent of the governed ;) and the
second year on the lakes, arriving at Mackinaw
too late in the evening of the great day for any
celebration that might have taken place. But I
was at two remarkable festivals, and heard two
very remarkable orations. They were represented
to me as fair or favourable specimens of that kind
of address; and, to judge by the general sum of
those which I read and heard, they were so.

The valley of the Connecticut is the most fertile
valley in New England : and it is scarcely possible
that any should be more beautiful. The river,
full, broad, and tranquil as the summer sky, winds
through meadows, green with pasture, or golden
with corn. Clumps of forest trees afford retreat
for the cattle in the summer heats ; and the mag-
nificent New England elm, the most graceful of
trees, is dropped singly, here and there, and casts
its broad shade upon the meadow. Hills of various
height and declivity bound the now widening, now
contracting valley. To these hills, the forest has
retired ; the everlasting forest, from which, in
America, we cannot fly. I cannot remember that,
except in some parts of the prairies, I was ever
out of sight of the forest in the United States :
and I am sure I never wished to be so. It was
like the " verdurous wall of Paradise," confining
the mighty southern and western rivers to their
channels. We were, as it appeared, imprisoned in
it for many days together, as we traversed the
south-eastern States. We threaded it in Michigan ;
we skirted it in New York and Pennsylvania : and
throughout New England it bounded every land-
scape. It looked down upon us from the hill-tops ;
it advanced into notice from every gap and notch
in the chain. To the native it must appear as
indispensable in the picture-gallery of nature as
the sky. To the English traveller it is a special

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91

boon, an added charm, a newly-created grace, like
the infant planet that wanders across the telescope
of the astronomer. The English traveller finds
himself never weary by .day of prying into the
forest, from beneath its canopy ; or, from a distance
drinking in its exquisite hues : and his dreams, for
months or years, will be of the mossy roots, the
black pine, and silvery birch stems, the translucent
green shades of the beech, and the slender creeper,
climbing like a ladder into the topmost boughs of
the dark holly, a hundred feet high. He will
dream of the march of the hours through the
forest ; the deep blackness of night, broken by the
dun forest-fires, and startled by the showers of
sparks, sent abroad by the casual breeze from the
burning stems. He will hear again the shrill
piping of the whip-poor-will, and the multitudinous
din from the occasional swamp. He will dream of
the deep silence which precedes the dawn ; of the
gradual apparition of the haunting trees, coming
faintly out of the darkness ; of the first level rays,
instantaneously piercing the woods to their very
heart, and lighting them up into boundless ruddy
colonnades, garlanded with wavy verdure, and
carpeted with glittering wild-flowers. Or, he will
dream of the clouds of gay butterflies, and gauzy
dragon-flies, that hover above the noon-day paths
of the forest, or cluster about some graceful shrub,
making it appear to bear at once all the flowers of
Eden. Or the golden moon will look down thrc ugh
his dream, making for him islands of light in an
ocean of darkness. He may not see the stars but
by glimpses; but the winged stars of those re-
gions,— the gleaming fire-flies, — radiate from every
sleeping bough, and keep his eye in fancy busy in
following their glancing, while his spirit sleeps in
the deep charms of the summer night. Next to
the solemn and various beauty of the sea and

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the sky, comes that of the wilderness. I doubt
whether the sublimity of the vastest mountain-
range can exceed that of the all-pervading forest,
when the imagination becomes able to realise the
conception of what it is.

In the valley of the Connecticut, the forest
merely presides over the scene, giving gravity to
its charm. On East Mountain, above Deerfield,
in Massachusetts, it is mingled with grey rocks,
wrhose hue mingles exquisitely with its verdure.
We looked down from thence on a long reach of
the valley, just before sunset, and made ourselves
acquainted with the geography of the catastrophe
which was to be commemorated in a day or two.
Here and there, in the meadows, were sinkings of
the soil, shallow basins of verdant pasturage,
where there had probably once been small lakes,
but where cattle were now grazing. The unfenced
fields, secure within landmarks, and open to the an-
nual inundation which preserves their fertility, were
rich with unharvested Indian corn ; the cobs left
lying in their sheaths, because no passer-by is
tempted to steal them; every one having enough of
his own. The silvery river lay among the mea-
dows ; and on its bank, far below us, stretched the
avenue of noble trees, touched with the hues of
autumn, which shaded the village of Deerfield.
Saddleback bounded our view opposite, and the
Northampton hills and Green Mountains on the
left. Smoke arose, here and there, from the hills'
sides, and the nearer eminences were dotted with
white dwellings, of the same order with the home-
steads which were sprinkled over the valley. The
time is past when a man feared to sit down further
off than a stone's throw from his neighbours, lest
the Indians should come upon him. The villages
of Hadley and Deerfield are a standing memorial
of those times, when the whites clustered together

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93

around the village church, and their cattle were
brought into the area, every night, under penalty
of their being driven off before morning. These
villages consist of two rows of houses, forming a
long street, planted with trees ; and the church
stands in the middle. The houses, of wood, were
built in those days with the upper story project-
ing ; that the inhabitants, in case of siege, might
fire at advantage upon the Indians, forcing the door
with tomahawks.

I saw an old house of this kind at Deerfield, —
the only one which survived the burning of the
village by the French and Indians, in 1 704, when all
the inhabitants, to the number of two hundred and
eighty, being attacked in their sleep, were killed or
carried away captive by the Indians. The wood of
the house was old and black, and pierced in many
parts with bullet-holes. One had given passage to
a bullet which shot a woman in the neck, as she
rose up in bed, on hearing the tomahawk strike
upon the door. The battered door remains, to
chill one's blood with the thought that such were
the blows dealt by the Indians upon the skulls of
their victims, whether infants or soldiers.

This was not the event to commemorate which
we were assembled at Deerfield. A monument
was to be erected on the spot where another body
of people had been murdered, by savage foes of
the same race. Deerfield was first settled in 1671;
a few houses being then built on the present street,
and the settlers being on good terms with their
neighbours. King Philip's war broke out in 1675,
and the settlers were attacked more than once.
There was a large quantity of grain stored up at
Deerfield ; and it was thought advisable to remove
it for safety to Hadley, fifteen miles off. Captain
Lothrop, with eighty men, and some teams, march-
ed from Hadley to remove the grain ; his men be-

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ing the youth and main hope of the settlements
around. On their return from Deerfield, on the
30th of September 1675, about four miles and a
half on the way to Hadley, the' young men dis-
persed to gather the wild grapes that were hanging
ripe in the thickets, and were, under this disad-
vantage, attacked by a large body of Indians. It
was afterwards discovered that the only way to en-
counter the Indians is in phalanx. Captain Lo-
throp did not know this ; and he posted his men
behind trees, where they were, almost to a man,
picked off by the enemy. About ninety-three, in-
cluding the teamsters, fell. When all was over,
help arrived. The Indians were beaten ; but they
appeared before the village, some days after, shak-
ing the scalps and bloody garments of the slain
captain and his troop, before the eyes of the inhabi-
tants. The place was afterwards abandoned by
the settlers, destroyed by the Indians, and not re-
built for some years.

This was a piteous incident in the history of the
settlement : but it is not easy to see why it should
be made an occasion of commemoration, by monu-
ment and oratory, in preference to many others
which have a stronger moral interest attaching to
them. Some celebrations, like that of Forefather's
Day, are inexpressibly interesting and valuable,
from the glorious recollections by which they are
sanctified. But no virtue was here to be had
in remembrance ; nothing but mere misery. The
contemplation of mere misery is painful and hurt-
ful; and the only salutary influence that I could
perceive to arise from this occasion was a far-
fetched and dubious one, — thankfulness that the
Indians are not now at hand to molest the white
inhabitants. Then occurs the question about the
Indians, — "where are they?" and the answer
leaves one less sympathy than one would wish to

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95

have with the present security of the settler. The
story of King Philip, who is supposed to have
headed, in person, the attack on Lothrop's troop,
is one of the most melancholy in the records of
humanity; and sorrow for him must mingle with
congratulations to the descendants of his foes,
who, in his eyes, were robbers. With these
thoughts in my mind, I found it difficult to discover
the philosophy of this celebration. A stranger
might be pardoned for being so slow.

One of the then candidates for the highest office
in the State, is renowned for his oratory. He is
one of the most accomplished scholars and gentle-
men that the country possesses. It was thought,
" by his friends," that his interest wanted strength-
ening in the western part of the State. The peo-
ple were pleased when any occasion procured them
the eclat of bringing a celebrated orator over to
address them. The commemoration of an Indian
catastrophe was thought of as an occasion capable
of being turned to good electioneering purposes. —
Mr. Webster was invited to be the orator, it
being known that he would refuse. " Not I,"
said he. " I won't go and rake up old bloody In-
dian stories." The candidate was next invited, and,
of course, took the opportunity of " strengthening
his interest in the western part of the State." I
was not aware of this till I sometime after heard it,
on indisputable authority. I should have enjoyed
it much less than I did, if I had known that the
whole thing was got up, or its time and manner
chosen, for electioneering objects ; that advantage
was taken of the best feelings of the people for the
political interest of one.'

The afternoon of the 29th we went to Bloody
Brook, the fearfully-named place of disaster. We
climbed the Sugar-loaf; a high, steep hill, from
whose precipitous sides is obtained a view of the

96

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valley which pleases me more than the celebrated
one from Mount Holyoke, a few miles off. Each,
however, is perfect in its way; and both so like
heaven, when one looks down upon the valley in
the light of an autumn afternoon, — such a light as
never yet burnished an English scene, — that no in-
clination is left to make comparisons. The ox
team was in the fields, the fishers on the banks of
the grey river, — banks and fishers reflected to the
life, — all as tranquil as if there was to be no stir
the next day.

On descending, we went to the Bloody Brook
Inn, and saw the strange and horrible picture of
the slaughter of Lothrop's troop ; a picture so bad
as to be laughable ; but too horrible to be laughed
at. Every man of the eighty exactly alike, and all
looking scared at being about to be scalped. We
saw, also, the long tables spread for the feast of
to-morrow. Lengths of unbleached cotton for
table cloths, plates and glasses, were already pro-
vided. Some young men were bringing in long
trails of the wild vine, clustered with purple
grapes, to hang about the young maple trees which
overshadowed the tables ; others were trying the
cannon. We returned home in a state of high
expectation.

The morning of the 30th was bright, but rather
cold. It was doubtful how far prudence would
warrant our sitting in an orchard for several hours,
in such a breeze as was blowing. It was evident,
however, that persons at a distance had no scru-
ples on the subject, so thickly did they throng to
the place of meeting. The wagon belonging to
the band passed my windows, filled with young la-
dies from the High School at Greenfield. They
looked as gay as if they had been going to a fair.
By Half-past eight, our party set off, accompanied
by a few, and passing a great number of strangers
from distant villages.

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97

After having accomplished our drive of three or
four miles, we warmed ourselves in a friendly house,
and repaired to the orchard to choose our seats,
while the ceremony of laying the first stone of the
monument was proceeding at some distance. The
platform from which the orator was to address the
assemblage was erected under a rather shabby wal-
nut-tree, which was rendered less picturesque
by its lower branches being lopped off, for the sake
of convenience. Several men had perched them-
selves on the tree ; and I was beginning to wonder
how they would endure their uncomfortable seat,
in the cold wind, for three hours, when I saw them
called down, and dismissed to find places among
the rest of the assemblage, as - they sent down
bark and dust upon the heads of those who sat on
the platform. Long and deep ranges of benches
were provided; and on these, with carriage
cushions and warm cloaks, we found ourselves per-
fectly well accommodated. Nothing could be bet-
ter. It was a pretty sight. The wind rustled fit-
fully in the old walnut-tree. The audience gather-
ed around it were sober, quiet ; some would have
said dull. The girls appeared to me to be all
pretty, after the fashion of American girls. Every
body was well-dressed ; and such a thing as ill-
behaviour in any village assemblage in New Eng-
land, is, I believe, unheard of. The soldiers were
my great amusement; as they were on the few
other occasions when I had the good fortune to see
any. Their chief business, on the present occasion,
was to keep clear the seats which were reserved
for the band, now absent with the procession.
These seats were advantageously placed ; and new-
comers were every moment taking possession of
them, and had to be sent, disappointed, into the
rear. It was moving to behold the loving entrea-
ties of the soldiers that these seats might be va-

VOL. I. F

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cated. I saw one, who had shrunk away from his
uniform, (probably from the use of tobacco, of
which his mouth was full,) actually put his arm
round the neck of a gentleman, and smile implor-
ingly in his face. It was irresistible, and the gen-
tleman moved away. It is a perfect treat to the
philanthropist to observe the pacific appearance of
the militia throughout the United States. It is
well known how they can fight, when the necessity
arises : but they assuredly look, at present, as if it
was the last thing in their intentions : — as I hope
it may long be.

The band next arrived, leading the procession of
gentlemen, and were soon called into action by the
first hymn. They did their best ; and, if ho one of
their instruments could reach the second note of
the German Hymn, (the second note of three lines
out of four,) it was not for want of trying.

The oration followed. I strove, as I always did,
not to allow difference of taste, whether in oratory,
or in anything else, to render me insensible to the
merit, in its kind, of what was presented to me :
but, upon this occasion, all my sympathies were
baffled, and I was deeply disgusted. It mattered
little what the oration was in itself, if it had only
belonged in character to the speaker. If a Green-
field farmer or mechanic had spoken as he believed
orators to speak, and if the failure had been com-
plete, I might have been sorry or amused, or dis-
appointed ; but not disgusted. But here was one
of the most learned and accomplished gentlemen in
the country? a candidate for the highest office in
the State, grimacing like a mountebank before the
assemblage whose votes he desired to have, and
delivering an address, which he supposed level to
their taste and capacity. He spoke of the " stately
tree," (the poor walnut,) and the " mighty assem-
blage," (a little flock in the middle of an orchard,)

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99

and offered them shreds of tawdry sentiment, with-
out the intermixture of one sound thought, or sim-
ple and natural feeling, simply and naturally ex-
pressed. It was equally an under estimate of his
hearers, and a degradation of himself.

The effect was very plain. Many, I know, were
not interested, but were unwilling to say so of so
renowned an orator. All were dull; and it was
easy to see that none of the proper results of public
speaking followed. These very people are highly
imaginative. Speak to them of what interests
them, and they are moved with a word. Speak to
those whose children are at school, of the progress
and diffusion of knowledge, and they will hang
upon the lips of the speaker. Speak to the unso-
phisticated among them of the case of the slave,
and they are ready to brave Lynch-law on his
behalf. Appeal to them on any religious or chari-
table enterprise, and the good deed is done, almost
as soon as indicated. But they have been taught
to consider the oratory of set persons on set occa-
sions as a matter of business or of pastime. They
listen to it, make their remarks upon it, vote, per-
haps, that it shall be printed, and go home, without
having been so much moved as by a dozen casual
remarks, overheard upon the road.

All this would be of little importance, if these ora-
tions consisted of narrative, — or of any mere matter
of fact. The grievance lies in the prostitution of
moral sentiment, the clap-trap of praise and pa-
thos, which is thus criminally adventured. This
is one great evil. Another, as great, both to ora-
tors and listeners, is the mis-estimate of the people.
No insolence and meanness can surpass those of
the man of sense and taste who talks beneath him-
self to the people, because he thinks it suits them.
No good parent ventures to do so to his youngest
child ; and a candidate for office who will do it,

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OFFICE.

shows himself ignorant of that which it is most im-
portant he should know, — what fidelity of deference
every man owes to every other man. Is such a
one aware that he is perpetually saying in his
heart, " God ! I thank thee that I am not as other
men are ?"

The other festival, to which I have alluded, was
the celebration of Forefathers' Day ; — of the land-
ing of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock. I trust
that this anniversary will be hailed with honour, as
long as Massachusetts overlooks the sea. A more
remarkable, a nobler enterprise, was never kept in
remembrance by a grateful posterity, than the emi-
gration of the Pilgrim Fathers ; and their posterity
are, at least, so far worthy of them as that they all,
down to the young children, seem to have a clear
understanding of the nature of the act, and the
character of the men. I never beheld the popular
character in a more cheering light than on this oc-
casion ; and, if I happened to be acquainted with
a misanthrope, I would send him to Plymouth, to
keep Forefathers' Day. Every fact that I review,
every line that I write, brings back delightful feel-
ings towards some of the affectionate and hospitable
friends through whose kindness I saw and learned
whatever I learned of their country ; but to none
am I more thankful than to those who took me to
Plymouth, and those who welcomed me there. It
was an occasion when none could be on any other
terms than pure brotherhood with all the rest. It
was the great birth-day of the New England
people; and none could fail to wish the people

My party and I reached Plymouth from Hing-
ham the day before the celebration. As we drew
near the coast, I anxiously watched the character
of the scenery, trying to view it with the eyes of the
first emigrants. It must have struck a chill to their

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101

hearts ; — so bare, so barren, so wintry. The firs grew
more and more stunted, as we approached the sea ;
till, as one of my companions observed, they were
ashamed to show themselves any smaller, and so
turned into sand. Mrs. Hemans calls it, in her
fine lyric, a rock-bound coast ; naturally enough,
as she was told that the pilgrims set their feet on a
rock, on landing; but that rock was the only one.
The coast is low and sandy. The aspect of the
bay was, this day, most dreary. We had travelled
through snow, all the way behind ; snowy fields,
with here and there a solitary crow stalking in the
midst ; and now, there was nothing but ice before
us. Dirty, grey ice, some sheeted, some thrown
up by the action of the sea into heaps, was all
that was to be seen, instead of the blue and glit-
tering sea. A friend assured me, however, that
all would be bright and cheering the next morning ;
informing me, with a smile, that in the belief of the
country people, it never did rain or snow, and
never would rain or snow, on Forefathers' Day.
This is actually a superstition firmly held in the
neighbourhood. This friend pointed out to me, in
the course of the afternoon, how the green grass
was appearing through the snow on Burial Hill, on
whose slope the descending sun, warm for Decem-
ber, was shining. We mounted Burial Hill; and
when I trod the turf, after some weeks' walking
over crisp snow, I began to feel that I might grow
superstitious too, if I lived at Plymouth.

Upwards of half the pilgrim company died the
first winter. Fifty-one dropped in succession ; and
the graves of most of them are on this hill. Burial
Hill was probably chosen to be a memento mori to
the pious pilgrims ; its elevation, bristling with
grave-stones, being conspicuous from every part of
the town. But, lest it should exhibit their tale of
disaster to their foes, the Indians, the colonists

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sowed the place of their dead with corn ; making it,
for iionest purposes, a whited sepulchre. From
this eminence, we saw the island in the harbour
where the fathers landed for service on the first
Sunday after their arrival ; also, the hill on which
stood a wigwam, from whence issued an Indian to
hold the first parley. A brook flowed between the
two hills, on which stood the Indian and the chief
of the intruders. Governor Winslow descended to
the brook ; bridged it with stepping-stones, in sight
of the Indian ; laid down his arms, and advanced.
The meeting was friendly ; but there was so little
feeling of security, for long after, that when half
the colonists had perished, the rest were paraded
round and round a hut on Burial Hill, to conceal
the smallness of their numbers from the vigilant
Indians.

We went to the Registry Office, and saw the
earliest records of the colony, — as far back as 1623,
• — in the handwriting of the fathers. Among
them is a record of the lots of land appointed to
those who came over in the Mayflower. (Little
did the builders of that ship dream how they were
working for immortality !) Sometimes a cow is
appointed, with a lot, to six families. Sometimes a
black goat. The red cow is ordained to be kept
for the poor, to calve.

The rock on which the pilgrims first landed,
has been split, and the top part, in order to its
preservation, removed within an iron railing, in
front of Pilgrim Hall. The memorable date of the
landing, 1620, is painted upon it; and the names
of the fathers, in cast-iron, are inserted into the
railing which surrounds the rock.

Within the Hall, a plain, spacious building,
erected within ten years, to serve as the scene of
the festivities of Forefathers' Day, and also as a
Museum of Pilgrim curiosities, is a picture, by

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103

Sargent, of the Landing of the Pilgrims. Samo-
sat, the Indian chief, is advancing, with English
words of greeting, — " Welcome, Englishmen !1'
Elder Brewster, and the other fathers, with their
apprehensive wives and wondering children, form
an excellent group ; and the Mayflower is seen
moored in the distance. The greatest defect in
the picture is the introduction of the blasted tree,
which needlessly adds to the desolation of the
scene, and gives a false idea, as far as it goes. I could
not have anticipated the interest which these memo-
rials would inspire. I felt as if in a dream, the whole
time that I was wandering about with the rejoicing
people, among the traces of the heroic men and wo-
men who came over into the perilous wilderness, in
search of freedom of worship.

Forefathers"1 Day rose bright and mild. I looked
out towards the harbour. Every flake of ice was
gone, and the deep blue sea rippled and sparkled
in the sun. The superstition was fated to endure
another year, at least, All Plymouth was in a joy-
ous bustle, with lines of carriages, and groups
of walkers. After breakfast, we proceeded to the
church, to await the orator of the day. We were
detained on the steps for a few minutes, till the
doors should be opened ; and I was glad of it, for
the sun was warm, and the coup tfoeil was charm-
ing. There was one long descent from the church
down to the glittering sea ; and on the slope were
troops of gay ladies, and lines of children ; with
here and there a company of little boys, playing
soldiers to the music of the band, which came
faintly from afar. Of real soldiers, I saw two
during the day. There might be more ; but none
were needed. The strangest association of all was
of a Pilgrim Ode sung to the tune of " God save
the King !" an air which I should have supposed
no more likely to be chosen for such an occasion

104

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than as an epilogue to the Declaration of Inde-
pendence. It did very well, however. It set us
all singing so as to drown the harmony of the vio-
lins and horns which acted as instigation.

The oration was by an ex-senator of the United
States. It consisted wholly of an elaboration of
the transcendent virtues of the people of New
England. His manner was more quiet than that
of any other orator I heard ; and I really believe
that there was less of art than of weakness and bad
taste in his choice of his mode of address. Nothing
could be imagined worse, — more discordant with
the fitting temper of the occasion, — more dan-
gerous to the ignorant, if such there were, — more
disgusting to the wise, (as I know, on the tes-
timony of such,) — more unworthy of one to whom
the ear of the people was open. He told his
hearers of the superiority of their physical, intel-
lectual, and moral constitution to that of their
brethren of the middle and southern States, to that
of Europeans, and all other dwellers in the earth ;
a superiority which forbade their being ever under-
stood and appreciated by any but themselves. He
spoke especially of the intensity of the New
England character, as being a hidden mystery from
all but natives. He contrasted the worst circum-
stances of European society, (now in course of cor-
rection,) with the best of New England arrange-
ments, and drew the obvious inferences. He ex-
cused the bigotry of the Pilgrim Fathers, their
cruel persecution of the Quakers, and other such
deeds, on the ground that they had come over to
have the colony to themselves, and did not want
interlopers. He extenuated the recent mobbing
practices in New England, on the ground of their
rarity and small consequences, and declared it im-
possible that the sons of the pilgrims should trust
to violence for the maintenance of opinion. This

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105

last sentiment the only sound one that I perceived
in the oration, was loudly cheered. The whole of
the rest, I rejoice to say, fell dead.

The orator was unworthy of his hearers. He
had been a senator of the United States, and had,
, I was told, discharged his duty there ; but he was
little fit for public life, if he did not know that it is
treason to republicanism to give out lower morals
in public than are held in private ; to smile or sigh
over the vanity of the people by the fireside, and
pamper it from the rostrum ; to use the power of
oratory to injure the people, instead of to save. In
this case, the exaggeration was so excessive as to
be, I trust, harmless. No man of common sense
could be made to believe that any community of
mortal men has ever been what the orator described
the inhabitants of New England to have attained.
I was deeply touched by the first remark I heard
upon this oration. A lady, who had been pre-
vented from attending, asked me, on my return
home, how I liked, the address. Before I could
open my lips to reply, her daughter spoke. " I
am heart-sick of this boasting. When I think of
our forefathers, I want to cry, 6 God be merciful
to us sinners V " If the oration awakened in others*
as I believe it did, by force of contrast, feelings as
healthful, as faithful to the occasion as this, it was
not lost, and our pity must rest upon the orator.

I am aware, — 1 had but too much occasion to
observe, — how this practice of flattering the people
from the rostrum is accounted for, and, as a matter
of fact, smiled at by citizens of the United States.
I know that it is considered as a mode, inseparable
from the philosophy of politics there. I dissent
from this view altogether. I see that the remedy
lies, not wholly where remedies for the oppression
of severe natural laws he, — in a new combination
of outward circumstances, — but in the individual

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human will. The people may have honest orators
if they choose to demand to hear the truth. The
people will gladly hear the truth, if the appointed
orator will lay aside selfish fears and desires, and
use his high privilege of speaking from the bottom
of his soul. If, in simplicity, he delivers to the
people his true and best self, he is certain to gain
the convictions of many, and the sympathies of all ;
and his soul will be clear of the guilt of deepening
the pit under the feet of the people, while trying
to persuade them that they are treading on firm
ground. What is to be said of guides who dig pit-
falls?

The day closed delightfully. Almost everybody
went to pay respect to an aged lady, then eighty-
eight, a regular descendant of one of the pilgrims.
She was confined to the sofa, but retained much
beauty, and abundant cheerfulness. She was de-
lighted to receive us, and to sympathise in those
pleasures of the day which she could not share.
I had the honour of sitting in the chair which her
ancestor brought over from England, and of feeling
the staple by which it was fastened in the May-
flower.

. The dinner being over, the gentlemen returned
to their several abodes, to escort the ladies to the
ball in Pilgrim Hall. I went, with a party of seven
others, in a stage coach ; every carriage, native and
exotic, being in requisition to fill the ball-room,
from which no one was excluded. It was the only
in-door festival, except the President's levee, where
I witnessed an absolutely general admission ; and
its aspect and conduct were, in the highest degree,
creditable to the intelligence and manners of the
community. There were families from the islands
in the bay, and other country residences, whence the
inhabitants seldom emerge, except for this festival.
The dress of some of the young ladies was pecu«

OFFICE. 107

liar, and their glee was very visible,- but I saw
absolutely no vulgarity. There was much beauty,
and much elegance among the young ladies, and
the manners of their parents were unexceptionable;
There was evidence in the dancing, of the " inten-
sity" of which we had heard so much in the morn-
ing. The lads and lasses looked as if they meant
never to tire ; but this enjoyment of the exercise
pleased me much more than the affectation of
dancing, which is now fashionable in the large cities,
I never expect to see a more joyous and unexcep-
tionable piece of festivity than the Pilgrim ball
of 1835.

The next day, the harbour was all frozen over •
and the memory of the blue, rippling sea of Plymouth,
is therefore, with me, sacred to Forefathers' Day.

I was frequently reminded by friends of what is
undoubtedly very true, the great perils of office in
the United States, as an excuse for the want of
honesty in officials. It is perfectly true that it is
ruin to a professional man without fortune, to enter
public life for a time, and then be driven back into
private life. I knew a senator of the United
States who had served for nearly his twice six
years, and who then had to begin life again, as
regarded his profession. I knew a representative
of the United States, a wealthy man, with a large
family, who is doubting still, as he has been for a
few years past, whether he shall give up commerce
or public life, or go on trying to hold them both.
He is rich enough to devote himself to public life ;
but at the very next election after he has relin-
quished his commercial affairs, he may be thrown
out of politics. I see what temptations arise in
such cases, to strain a few points, in order to re-
main in the public eye ; and I am willing to allow
for the strength of the temptation.

But the part for honest men to take is to expose

108

OFFICE.

the peril, to the end that the majority may find a
remedy; and not to sanction it by yielding to it.
Let the attention of the people be drawn towards
the salaries of office, that they may discover whe-
ther they are too low ; which is best, that adven-
turers of bad character should now and then get
into office, because they have not reputation enough
to obtain a living by other means, or that honest and
intelligent men should be kept out, because the
prizes of office are engrossed by more highly edu-
cated men ; and whether the rewards of office are
kept low by the democratic party, for the sake of
putting in what their opponents call 8 adventurers,'
or by the aristocratic, with the hope of offices being
engrossed by the men of private fortune. Let the
true state of the case, according to each official's
view of it, be presented to the people, rather than
any countenance be given to the present dreadful
practice of wheedling and flattery ; and the perils
of office will be, by some means, lessened.

The popular scandal against the people of the
United States, that they boast intolerably of their
national institutions and character, appears to me
untrue : but I see how it has arisen. Foreigners,
especially the English, are partly to blame for this.
They enter the United States with an idea that a
republic is a vulgar thing : and some take no pains
to conceal their thought. To an American, nothing
' is more venerable than a republic. The native
and the stranger set out on a misunderstanding.
The English attacks, the American defends, and,
perhaps, boasts. But the vain-glorious flattery of
their public orators is the more abundant source of
this reproach ; and it rests with the people to re-
deem themselves from it. For my own part, I
remember no single instance of patriotic boasting,
from man, woman, or child, except from the ros-
trum ; but from thence there was poured enough

NEWSPAPERS.

109

to spoil the auditory for life, if they had been sim-
ple enough to believe what they were told. But
they were not.

SECTION IL

NEWSPAPERS,

Side by side with the sinners of the rostrum,
stand the sinners of the newspaper press. The
case is clear, and needs little remark or illustration.
The profligacy of newspapers, wherever they exist,
is a universal complaint; and, of all newspaper
presses, I never heard any one deny that the Ame-
rican is the worst. Of course, this depravity being
so general throughout the country, it must be oc-
casioned by some overpowering force of circum-
stances. The causes are various ; and it is a testi-
mony to the strength and purity of the democratic
sentiment in the country, that the republic has not
been overthrown by its newspapers.

While the population is so scattered as itniow is,
throughout the greater part of the Union, nothing
is easier than to make the people know only one
side of a question ; few things are easier than to
keep from them altogether the knowledge 'of any
particular affair ; and, worse than all, on them may
easily be practised the discovery that lies may work
their intended effect, before the truth can overtake
them.

It is hard to tell which is worst ; the wide diffu-
sion of things that are not true, or the suppression
of things that are true.. It is no secret that some
able personage at Washington writes letters on
the politics and politicians of the general govern-

110

NEWSPAPERS.

ment, and sends them to the remotest corners of
the Union, to appear in their newspapers ; after
which, they are collected in the administration
newspaper at Washington, as testimonies of public
opinion in the respective districts where they
appear. It is no secret that the newspapers of the
south keep out of their columns all information
which might enlighten their readers, near and afar,
as to the real state of society at home. I can
testify to the remarkable events which occur in the
southern States, unnoticed by any press, and trans-
piring only through accident Two men were
burned alive, without trial, by the gentlemen of
Mobile, just before my arrival there ; and no news-
paper even alluded to the circumstance, till, many
months after, a brief and obscure paragraph, in a
northern journal, treated it as a matter of hearsay.

It is no secret that the systematic abuse with
which the newspapers of one side assail every can-
didate coming forward on the other, is the cause of
many honourable men, who have a regard to their
reputation, being deterred from entering public
life ; and of the people being thus deprived of some
better servants than any they have. Though a
faithful public servant should be able to endure
all the consequences of faithful service, yet there
are many cases where men, undecided as to their
choice of public and private life, are fixed in fa-
vour of the latter by this one circumstance. It is
the one obstacle too much. A public man in New
England gave me the history of an editor of a
newspaper, who began his professional course by
making an avowed distinction between telling lies
in conversation and in a newspaper, where every
body looks for them. Of course, he has sunk
deeper and deeper in falsehood; but retribution
has not yet overtaken him. My informant told me,
that this editor has made some thousands of dollars

NEWSPAPERS.

Ill

by his abuse of one man ; and jocosely proposed,
that persons who are systematically railed at by
any newspaper, should lay claim to a proportion of
the profits arising out of the use of their names
and characters.

The worst of it is, that the few exceptions to this
depravity, — the few newspapers conducted by men
of truth and superior intelligence, are not yet en-
couraged in proportion to their merits. It is easy
to see how a youth, going into the wilds, to set up
a newspaper for the neighbouring villages, should
meet with support, however vicious or crude his
production may be ; but it is discouraging to per-
ceive how little preference is given, in the Atlantic
cities, to the best journals over the worst. Still,
there is a preference ; and it appears to be on the
increase ; and that increase, again, is in proportion
to the intrepidity of the paper in discussing affairs
as they arise.

There will be no great improvement in the lite-
rary character of the American newspapers till the
literature of the country has improved. Their
moral character depends upon the moral taste of
the people. This looks like a very severe censure.
If it be so, the same censure applies elsewhere, and
English morals must be held accountable for the
slanders and captiousness displayed in the leading
articles of British journals, and for the disgustingly
jocose tone of their police reports, where crimes are
treated as entertainments, and misery as a jest.
Whatever may be the exterior causes of the Ame-
ricans having been hitherto ill-served in their
newspapers, it is now certain that there are none
which may not be overpowered by a sound moral
taste. In their country, the demand lies with the
many. Whenever the many demand truth and jus-
tice in their journals, and reject falsehood and
calumny, they will be served according to their
desire.

112

NEWSPAPERS,

This desire is beginning to awaken. Some
months before I left the United States, a man of
colour was burned alive, without trial, at St. Louis,
in Missouri ; a large assemblage of the " respect-
able" inhabitants of the city being present No
one supposed that anybody out of the State of
Missouri was any further implicated with this deed,
than as men have an interest in every outrage done
to man. The interest which residents in other
States had in this deed, was like that which an
Englishman has in a man being racked in the
Spanish Inquisition ; or a Frenchman, in a Turk
being bastinadoed at Constantinople. He is not
answerable for it, or implicated in it, as a fellow-
citizen ; and he speaks his humane reprobation as a
fellow-man. Certain American citizens, out of
Missouri, contrived, however, to implicate them-
selves in the responsibility for this awful outrage,
which, one would have thought, any man would
have been thankful to avoid. The majority of
newspaper editors made themselves parties to the
act, by refusing, from fear, to reprobate it. The
state of the case was this, as described to me by
some inhabitants of St. Louis. The gentlemen of
the press in that city dared not reprobate the out-
rage, for fear of the consequences from the mur-
derers. They merely announced the deed, as a
thing to be regretted, and recommended that the
veil of oblivion should be drawn over the affair.
Their hope was widely different from their recom-
mendation. They hoped that the newspapers
throughout the Union would raise such a chorus of
execration as would annihilate the power of the
executioners. But the newspapers of the Union
were afraid to comment upon the affair, because
they saw that the St. Louis editors were afraid.
The really respectable inhabitants of that disgraced
city were thrown almost into despair by this das-

NEWSPAPERS.

113

tardly silence, and believed all security of life and
property in their State to be at an end. A few
journals were honest enough to thunder the truth
in the ears of the people ; and the people awoke to
perceive how their editors had involved themselves
in this crime, by a virtual acquiescence, — like the
unfaithful mastiff, if such a creature there be, which
slinks away from its master's door, to allow a pas-
sage to a menacing thief. The influence of the
will of the awakening people is already seen in the
improved vigour in the tone of the newspapers
against outrage. On occasion of the more recent
riots at Cincinnati, the editorial silence has been
broken by many voices.

There is a spirited newspaper at Louisville
which has done its duty well, on occasions when it
required some courage to do it ; informing the Cin-
cinnati people of the meanness of their conduct in
repressing the expression of opinion, lest it should
injure the commerce between Ohio and Kentucky ;
and also, justifying Judge Shaw of Massachusetts,
against the outcries of the South, for a judgment
he lately gave in favour of the release of a slave,
voluntarily carried into a free State. Two New
York papers, the New York American and the
Evening Post, have gained themselves honour by
intrepidity of the same kind, and by the comparative
moderation and friendliness of their spirit. I hope
that there may be many more, and that their num-
ber may be perpetually on the increase.

The very best newspaper that I saw in the
United States was a single number of the Cleve-
land Whig, which I picked up at an hotel in the
interior of Ohio. I had seen spirited extracts from
it in various newspapers. The whole of this parti-
cular number was valuable for the excellence of its
spirit, and for its good sense. It had very impor-
tant, and some very painful subject matter, — in-

114

NEWSPAPERS.

stances of overbearing the law, — to treat of. It
was so done as nearly to beguile me, hungry
traveller as I was, of my dinner, and of all thought
of my journey.

One other remarkable paper lies before me : re-
markable for its professing to be conducted on
principles of exact justice, and for its accordance
with its principles to a degree which has hardly
been dreamed of in a publication of its kind. There
is something heroic in the enterprise, which inspires
a strong hope of its success. If the ability be but
sufficient to sustain it, — of which there seems no
reason to doubt, — there can be no question of its
acceptableness. The just and gentle construction
of human actions, and the cheerful and trustful
mood in surveying natural events, are more conge-
nial with the general mind, than captiousness and
distrust towards men, and despondency under the
government of God. Such men as the editor of
the Boston Reformer are sure to command the
sympathies of men, however they may appear to
run counter to the supposed tastes of newspaper
readers. The following notice to correspondents
is a novelty in its place, — more striking than any
announcements in the news columns.

" To correspondents. — Our paper is no vehicle
of vulgar abuse, or spiteful attacks on persons or
institutions. Our design is to avoid everything
which appeals to or pleases any bad propensity in
our nature. Doubtless there are a thousand petty
annoyances somewhat grievous to be borne; but
we cannot go about to redress them. The best
way is to forgive and forget them. We cannot
waste our strength on little matters. We know no
way to do good to man, to make society really
better, but to suppress our anger, keep our temper,
show an elevated mind and a good heart. We
must look for the good, not for the bad in men,

APATHY IN CITIZANSHIP.

115

and always put the best construction we can on all
their doings." — Boston Reformer.

SECTION III.

APATHY IN CITIZENSHIP.

In England the idea of an American citizen is
of one who is always talking politics, canvassing,
bustling about to make proselytes abroad, buried
in newspapers at home, and hurrying to vote on
election days.

There is another side to the object. A learned
professor of a western college told me abundance
of English news, but declared himself ignorant of
everything that had passed in the home portion of
the political world. He never took any interest in
politics. What would be the use of his disturbing
himself? How far does one man's vote go? He
does more good by showing himself above such
affairs.

It was communicated to me that there are more
modes of political action than one : and that,
though this professor does not vote, he uses his
utmost influence with the students of his college,
in favour of his own political opinions ; and with
entire success. If this be true, the gentleman falls
short of his duty in one respect, and exceeds it in
another.

A clergyman in the north was anxious to assure
me that elections are merely personal matters, and
do not affect the happiness of the people. It mat-
ters not to him, for instance, who is in office, and
what party in politics is uppermost : life goes on
the same to him. This gentleman had probably
never heard of the old lady who said that she did

I

116 APATHY IN CITIZENSHIP.

not care what revolutions happened, as long as she
had her roast chicken, and her little game at cards.
But that old lady did not live in a republic, or
perhaps even she might have perceived that there
would have been no security for roast chickens and
cards, if all were to neglect political action but
those who want political power and profit. In a
democracy, every man is supposed to be his own
security for life and property : and, if a man de-
volves his political charge upon others, he must lay
his accounts for not being so well taken care of as
he might be. So much for the selfish aspect of the
case ; — the view which might have been presented,
with illustrations, to the old lady, if she had hap-
pened to live in a republic.

The clergyman ought to see further. He ought
to see, in virtue of his office, how public morals
must suffer under the neglect of public duty by re-
spectable men. If such men wrere to perform the
duties of citizens as conscientiously as they do
those of husbands, fathers, and pastors, and leave it
to the knaves to neglect the duties of citizenship,
the republic might go on as well as a republic with
knaves in it can go on. But if the case is re-
versed,— if the knaves are eager to use their poli-
tical rights for selfish purposes, and the conscien-
tious in other respects are remiss in the duties of
citizenship, the pastors may almost as well leave
off preaching. All good pastoral influence will be
borne down by the spread of corruption. The
clergy may preach themselves hoarse to little pur-
pose, if they live, and encourage others to live, in
the avowed neglect of the first duty of any one re-
lation ; and the exercise of the suffrage is the first
duty of republican citizenship.

A naval officer, a man of an otherwise sound
head and heart, told me, very coolly, that he had
never voted more than twice in his life. His de-

APATHY IN CITIZENSHIP.

117

fence, in answer to my remonstrance, was, that he
had served his country in other ways. In as far
as this might be meant to convey that he could not
vote at New York when in India, the excuse must
be admitted as valid r but, if it was meant to apply
to elections going on before his eyes, it was much
the same as if he had said, " there is no occasion
for me to be a good father, because I have been
a good son."

A member of Congress gave me instances of
what would have been the modifications of certain
public affairs, but for the apathy of the minority
about the use of their suffrage. If citizens regu-
late their exertions by the probabilities of imme-
diate success, instead of by their faith in their own
convictions, it is indeed no wonder if the minority
leave everything to their adversaries ; but this is
not the way for men to show themselves worthy of
the possession of political rights. This is not the
way that society has advanced. This is not the
way that security for life and property has been
obtained for those idle citizens who are now leav-
ing that security to the mercy of those whom they
believe to be the enemies of society.

A public man told me that it would be a great
point gained, if every citizen could be induced to
vote, at least once a year. So far is it from being
true that all Americans are the bustling politicians
the English have been apt to suppose. If such
political bustle should be absurd, the actual apathy
is something worse. If it were only borne in mind
that rulers derive their just powers from the con-
sent of the governed, surely all conscientious men
would see the guilt of any man acquiescing in the
rule of governors whom he disapproves, by not
having recorded his dissent. Or, if he should be
in the majority, the case is no better. He has
omitted to bear his testimony to what he es-

lis

APATHY IN CITIZENSHIP.

teems the true principles of government. He
has not appointed his rulers ; and, in as far as he
accepts their protection, he takes without having
given, he reaps without having sown ; he de-
prives his just rulers of a portion of the authority
which is their due— of a portion of the consent of
the governed.

There is another cause for the reluctance to vote
which is complained of by the best friends of the
people ; but it is almost too humbling and painful
to be discussed. Some are afraid to vote !

This happens not in the country, nor among the
strength of the population in the towns: but
among the feeble aristocracy. There is not, in the
United States, as with us, a system of intimidation
exercised by the rich over the poor. In the coun-
try, there are no landlords and tenants at will. In
the towns, the tradesmen do not stand in need of
the patronage of the rich. Though they vote by
ballot, and any man who chooses it may vote se-
cretly, (and many do upon occasion,) there is
rarely any need of such protection. But there is
no reason why the gentry, who may be afraid of
hurting one another's feelings, should not use their
power of secret voting, rather than neglect the
duty of giving their suffrage. If the educated and
principled men uf the community, as they are es-
teemed, fall back into idleness and silence, when
the time comes for a struggle for principles, and
there is a danger of disappointing expectations,
and hurting feelings, their country has little to
thank them for. They are the men from whom
the open discharge of duty is looked for ; they are
the men who should show that political obligation
is above private regards. If they have not the
virtue to do this, and take the consequences, let
them avail themselves of the secrecy of the ballot-
box, which in England is desired for the protec-

APATHY IN CITIZENSHIP.

119

tion of those whom bad arrangements have made
dependent for bread on the rich and powerful. At
all events, let them vote, or be ashamed to. accept
the privileges of citizenship without having dis-
charged the duties.

The fear of opinion sometimes takes the form of
an almost insane dread of responsibility. There
are occasions when public men, unable to judge
for themselves of particular classes of circum-
stances, are obliged to ask advice of their friends
and supporters. Happy he who obtains a full and
true answer from "any one ! The chances against
this are in proportion to the importance of the
case. I knew of one such instance, the result of
which more than one is, I trust, now grieving over
in his inmost heart. An eminent statesman was
hesitating whether to offer himself as a candidate
for a very high office. He requested the opinion
and advice of a number of gentlemen in public
life, his supporters. All were of the same
opinion ; that he should not stand. No one of them
chose to take the responsibility of telling him so.
Some of them wrote ambiguous answers, hoping
that he would infer that they thought ill of his
chance. Others rather encouraged the enterprise.
The illustrative details wrhich might be given, —
showing the general uniformity, with particular di-
versity, of the conduct of the advisers, — would be
amusing if they were not too sad. Suffice it that
no one, as far as I could learn, could get over his
fear of responsibility so as to be faithful. They
allowed their idol to make a fool of himself. If
he should henceforth be sunk in political scepti-
cism, perhaps these gentlemen may find that in
shunning one kind of responsibility, they have in-
curred another, far heavier.

It is felt, and understood, in the United States,
that their near future in politics is indiscernible.

120 ALLEGIANCE TO LAW.

Odd, unexpected circumstances, determining the
present, are perpetually turning up. Almost every
man has his convictions as to what the state of
affairs will be, in the gross, a century hence. Scarce-
ly any man will venture a conjecture as to what
will have happened next spring. This is the very
condition, if the people could but see it, for the
exercise of faith in principles. With a dark and
shifting near future, and a bright and fixed ulti-
mate destiny, what is the true, the only wisdom ?
Not to pry into the fogs and thickets round about, or
to stand still for fear of what may next occur in the
path ; but to look from Eden gate behind to heaven
gate before, and press on to the certain future. In
his political as in his moral life, man should, in the
depth of his ignorance and the fallibility of his
judgment, throw himself, in a full sense of secu-
rity, upon principles ; and then he is safe from be-
ing depressed by opposition, or scared by uncer-
tainty, or depraved by responsibility.

SECTION IV.

ALLEGIANCE TO LAW.

It is notorious that there is a remarkable failure
in this department of political morals among cer-
tain parties in the United States. The mobbing
events of the last few years are celebrated; the
abolition riots in New York and Boston; the
burning of the Charleston Convent; the bank
riots at Baltimore; the burning of the mails at
Charleston ; the hangings by Lynch-law at Vickes-
burgh ; the burning alive of a man of colour at St.
Louis ; the subsequent proceedings there towards

ALLEGIANCE TO LAW. 121

the students of Marion College ; and the aboli-
tion riots at Cincinnati. Here is a fearful list !

The first question that arises is, who has done
these things: Whose hands have lighted green
fagots round a living man ? and strung up a do-
zen or twenty citizens on the same gallows ? and
fired and razed houses; and sent a company of
trembling nuns flying for their lives at midnight ?
Here is evidence enough of ignorance, — of des-
perate, brutal ignorance. Whose ignorance ?

In Europe, the instantaneous and natural per-
suasion of men who hear the tidings is, that the
lowest classes in America have risen against the
higher. In Europe, desperate, brutal ignorance is
the deepest curse in the cursed life of the pauper
and the serf. In Europe, mobbing is usually the
outbreak of exasperated misery against laws which
oppress, and an aristocracy which insults huma-
nity. Europeans, therefore, naturally assume that
the gentry of the United States are the sinned
against, and the poor the sinners, in their social
disturbances. They draw conclusions against po-
pular government, and suppose it proved that uni-
versal suffrage dissolves society into chaos. They
picture to themselves a rabble of ragged, desperate
workmen, with torches in their hands ; while the
gentry look on in dismay, or tremble within their
houses.

It is not so. I was informed, twenty times over,
by gentlemen, that the Boston mob of last year
was wholly composed of gentlemen. The only
working man in it was the truck-man who saved
the victim. They were the gentlemen of St
Louis who burned the black man, and banished
the students of Marion College. They were the
gentlemen of Cincinnati who denounced the aboli-
tionists, and raised the persecution against them.
They were the magistrates and gentry of Vickes-

VOL. I. g

122

ALLEGIANCE TO LAW.

burgh who hanged way-farers, gamblers, and slaves
in a long row. They were the gentlemen of
Charleston who broke open the Post Office, and
violated its sacred function, to the insult and injury
of the whole country.

The case is plain. There are no paupers to rise
against oppressive laws in a country, where the
laws are made by all, and where pauperism is
thereby excluded. There is no degraded class,
subject to insults from the highest, which can be
resented only by outrage. The assumption is a
false one, that ignorance and poverty, knowledge
and wealth, go together. Mobbing for European
causes, and in European modes, is absolutely pre-
cluded where political rights are universal, and
political power equally diffused through all classes.

The very few European causes which are in
analogy with United States mobbing, are those
riots for opinion, which bear only a subordinate
relation to politics ; such as the Birmingham riots,
and the attempt of the Liverpool merchants to push
Clarkson into the dock. The cases are very similar.
The mobs of America are composed of high
churchmen, (of whatever denomination,) merchants
and planters, and lawyers.

One complete narrative of a riot, for the fidelity
of which I can vouch, will expose the truth of the
case better than a list of deeds of horror which
happened beyond my sight. It is least revolting,
too, to treat of a case whose terror lies in its exist-
ence, more than in its consequences. The actors
in the riot, which it was my fortune to understand,
were scarcely less guilty than if they had bathed
their hands in blood ; but it is easier to examine,
undisturbed by passion, the case of those whose
hands are, to the outward eye, clean.

A very few years ago, certain citizens in New
England began to discover that the planters of the

ALLEGIANCE TO LAW.

123

south were making white slaves in the north, nearly
as successfully as they were propagating black
slavery in the territories of the south arid west.
Charleston and Boston were affectionate friends in
old times, and are so still, notwithstanding the hard
words that passed between them in nullification
days: that is, the merchants and professional
men of Boston are fond of Charleston, on account
of their commercial relations. This attachment
has been carried to such an extreme as to be almost
fatal to the liberties of some of the best citizens of
the northern city. They found their brothers
dismissed from their pastoral charges, their sons
expelled from colleges, their friends excluded from
professorships, and themselves debarred from lite-
rary and social privileges, if they happened to
entertain and express opinions unfavourable to the
peculiar domestic institution by which Charleston
declares it to be her intention to abide. Such is
the plea of those citizens of Boston who have
formed associations for the purpose of opposing,
by moral influence, an institution which they feel
to be inconsistent with the first principles of morals
and politics. For a considerable time before my
visit to that part of the country, they had encoun-
tered petty persecutions of almost every conceiva-
ble kind. There is no law in Massachusetts by
which the free expression of opinion on moral sub-
jects is punishable. I heard many regret the ab-
sence of such law. Everything was done that
could be done to make up for its absence. Books
on any subject, written by persons who avow by
association their bad opinion of slavery, are not
purchased: clergymen are no longer invited to

{>reach : the proprietors of public rooms will not
et them to members of such associations ; and the
churches are shut against them. Their notices of
public meetings are torn in the pulpits, while all

a 2

124

ALLEGIANCE TO LAW.

notices of other public meetings are read. The
newspapers pour contempt and wrath upon them
in one continued stream. Bad practices are im-
puted to them, and their denial is drowned in cla-
mour. As a single instance "of this last; I was
told so universally in the south and west that the
abolitionists of Boston and New York were in the
habit of sending incendiary tracts among the slaves,
that it never occurred to me to doubt the fact ;
though I was struck with surprise at never being
able to find any one who had seen any one who
had actually seen one of these tracts. Nor did it
occur to me that as slaves cannot read, verbal mes-
sages would be more to the purpose of all parties,
as being more effectual and more prudent. Mr.
Madison made the charge, so did Mr. Clay, so did
Mr. Calhoun, so did every slave-holder and mer-
chant with whom I conversed. I chose afterwards
to hear the other side of the whole question ; and
I found, to my amazement, that this charge was
wholly groundless. No Abolition Society of New
York or Massachusetts has ever sent any anti-
slavery paper south of Washington, except the
circulars, addressed to public officers in the States,
which were burnt at Charleston. The abolitionists
of Boston have been denying this charge ever
since it was first made, and offering evidence of its
groundlessness; yet the calumny is persisted in,
and, no doubt, honestly believed, to this hour,
throughout the south, whither the voice of the con-
demned, stifled by their fellow-citizens, cannot
reach.

Only mortal things, however, can be really suffo-
cated ; and there has never yet been an instance
& a murder of opinion. There seemed, in 1835,
SO much danger of the abolitionists making them-
selves heard, that an emphatic contradiction was
got up, it was hoped in good time.

ALLEGIANCE TO LAW,

125

The abolitionists had been, they believe illegally,
denied by the city authority the use of Faneuil
Hall ; (called, in memory of revolutionary days, the
" Cradle of Liberty.") Certain merchants and
lawyers of Boston held a meeting there, in August,
1835, for the purpose of reprobating the meetings
of the abolitionists, and denouncing their mea-
sures, while approving of their principles. The
less that is said of this meeting,— the deepest of
all the disgraces of Boston, — the better. It bears
its character in its face. Its avowed object was to
put down the expression of opinion by opprobrium,
in the absence of gag laws. Of the fifteen hun-
dred who signed the requisition for this meeting,
there are many, especially among the younger and
more thoughtless, who have long repented of the
deed. Some signed in anger ; some in fear ; many
in mistake ; and of each of these there are some
who would fain, if it were possible, efface their sig-
natures with their blood.

It is an invariable fact, and recognized as such,
that meetings held to supply the deficiency of gag
laws are the prelude to the violence which supplies
the deficiency of executioners under such laws.
Every meeting held to denounce opinion is followed
by a mob. This was so well understood in the
present case that the abolitionists were warned that
if they met again publicly, they would be answer-
able for the disorders that might ensue. The aboli-
tionists pleaded that this was like making the rich
man answerable for the crime of the thief who
robbed him, on the ground that if the honest man
had not been rich, the thief would not have been
tempted to rob him. The abolitionists also per-
ceived how liberty ol opinion and of speech de-
pended on their conduct in this crisis; and they
resolved to yield to no threats of illegal violence ;
but to hold their legal meeting, pursuant to adver-

126

ALLEGIANCE TO LAW.

tisement, for the despatch of their usual business.
One remarkable feature of the case was that this
heavy responsibility rested upon women. It was a
ladies' meeting that was in question. Upon con-
sultation, the ladies agreed that they should never
have sought the perilous duty of defending liberty
of opinion and speech at the last crisis; but, as
such a service seemed manifestly appointed to
them, the women were ready.

On the 21st of October, they met, pursuant to
advertisement, at the office of their association, No.
46, Washington Street. Twenty-five reached their
room, by going three-quarters of an hour before the
appointed time. Five more made their way up
with difficulty through the crowd. A hundred more
were turned back by the mob.

They knew that a hand-bill had been circulated
on the Exchange, and posted on the City Hall, and
throughout the city, the day before, which declared
that Thompson, the abolitionist, was to address
them ; and invited the citizens, under promise of
pecuniary reward, to " snake Thompson out, and
bring him to the tar-kettle before dark." The
ladies had been warned that they would be killed,
" as sure as fate," if they showed themselves on
their own premises that day. They therefore in-
formed the mayor that they expected to be attacked.
The reply of the city marshal was, " You give us a
great deal of trouble."

The committee-room was surrounded, and gazed
into by a howling, shrieking mob of gentlemen,
while the twenty-five ladies sat perfectly still, await-
ing the striking of the clock. When it struck, they
opened their meeting. They were questioned as to
whether Thompson was there in disguise ; to which
they made no reply.

They began, as usual, with prayer; the mob
shouting " Hurra ! here comes Judge Lynch !"

ALLEGIANCE TO LAW,

127

Before they had done, the partition gave way, and
the gentlemen hurled missiles at the lady who was
presiding. The secretary having risen, and begun to
read her report, rendered inaudible by the uproar,
the mayor entered, and insisted upon their going
home, to save their lives. The purpose of their meet-
ing fras answered : they had asserted their principle ;
and they now passed out, two and two, amidst the
execration of some thousands of gentlemen ; — per-
sons who had silver shrines to protect. The ladies,
to the number of fifty, walked to the house of one
of their members, and were presently struck to
the heart by the news that Garrison was in the
hands of the mob. Garrison is the chief apostle of
abolition in the United States. He had escorted
his wife to the meeting ; and, after offering to ad-
dress the ladies, and being refused, out of regard to
his safety, had left the room, and, as they supposed,
the premises. He was, however, in the house when
the ladies left it. He was hunted for by the mob ;
dragged from behind some planks where he had
taken refuge, and conveyed into the street. Here
his hat was trampled under-foot, and brick-bats
were aimed at his bare head ; a rope was tied
round him, and thus he was dragged through the
streets. His young wife saw all this. Her excla-
mation was, " I think my husband will be true to
his principles. I am sure my husband will not deny
his principles." Her confidence was just. Garrison
never denies his principles.

He was saved by a stout truckman, who, with
his bludgeon, made his way into the crowd, as if to
attack the victim. He protected the bare head,
and pushed on towards a station house, whence the
mayor's officers issued, and pulled in Garrison, who
was afterwards put into a coach. The mob tried
to upset the coach, and throw down the horses;
but the driver laid about him with his whip, and

128

ALLEGIANCE TO LAW,

the constables with their staves, and Garrison was
safely lodged in jail : for protection ; for he had
committed no offence.

Before the mayor ascended the stairs to dismiss
the ladies, he had done a very remarkable deed ; —
he had given permission to two gentlemen to pull
down and destroy the anti-slavery sign, bearing the
inscription, "Anti-Slavery Office," — which had hung
for two years, as signs do hang before public offices
in Boston. The plea of the mayor is, that he hoped
the rage of the mob would thus be appeased : that
is, he gave them leave to break the laws in one
way, lest they should in another. The citizens
followed up this deed of the mayor with one no less
remarkable. They elected these two rioters mem-
bers of the State legislature, by a large majority,
within ten days.

I passed through the mob some time after it had
fcegun to assemble. I asked my fellow-passengers
in the stage what it meant. They supposed it was
a busy foreign-post day, and that this occasioned
an assemblage of gentlemen about the post-office.
They pointed out to me that there were none but
gentlemen. We were passing through from Salem,
fifteen miles north of Boston, to Providence, Rhode
Island; and were therefore uninformed of the
events and expectations of the day. On the mor-
row, a visiter who arrived at Providence from Bos-
ton told us the story; and I had thenceforth an
excellent opportunity of hearing all the remarks
that could be made by persons of all ways of think-
ing and feeling, on this affair.

It excited much less attention than it deserved ;
less than would be believed possible by those at a
distance who think more seriously of persecution
for opinion, and less tenderly of slavery than a great
many of the citizens of Boston. To many in the
city of Boston the story I have told would be news-

ALLEGIANCE TO LAW.

129

and to yet more in the country, who know that
some trouble was caused by abolition meetings in
the city, but who are not aware that their own will,,
embodied in the laws, was overborne to gratify the
mercenary interests of a few, and the political fears
of a few more.

The first person with whom I conversed about
this riot was the president of a university. We
were perfectly agreed as to the causes and charac-
ter of the outrage. This gentleman went over to
Boston for a day or two ; and when he returned, I
saw him again. He said he was happy to tell me
that we had been needlessly making ourselves un-
easy about the affair : that there had been no mob,
the persons assembled having been all gentlemen.

An eminent lawyer at Boston was one of the
next to speak upon it. " O, there was no mob,"
said he. " I was there myself, and saw they were
all gentlemen. They were all in fine broad-cloth."

" Not the less a mob for that," said L

" Why, they protected Garrison. He received
no harm. They protected Garrison."

" From whom, or what ?"

" O, they would not really hurt him. They
only wanted to show that they would not have
sucn a person live among them."

" Why should not he live among them? Is he
guilty under any law ?"

" He is an insufferable person to them."

" So may you be to-morrow. If you can catch
Garrison breaking the laws, punish him under the
laws. If , you cannot, he has as much right to live
where he pleases as you."

Two law pupils of this gentleman presently en-
tered. One approved of all that had been done,
and praised the spirit of the gentlemen of Boston.
I asked whether they had not broken the law.
Yes. I asked him if he knew what the law was.

g 5

130

ALLEGIANCE TO LAW.

Yes ; but it could not be always kept. If a man
was caught in a house setting it on fire, the owner
might shoot him ; and Garrison was such an in-
cendiary. I asked him for proof. He had nothing
out hearsay to give. The case, as I told him,
came to this. A. says Garrison is an incendiary.
B. says he is not. A. proceeds on his own opinion
to break the law, lest Garrison should do so.

The other pupil told me of the sorrow of heart
with which he saw the law, the life of the republic,
set at naught by those who should best understand
its nature and value. He saw that the time was
come for the true men of the republic to oppose a
oold front to the insolence of the rich and the
powerful, who were bearing down the liberties of
the people for a matter of opinion. The young
men, he saw, must brace themselves up against
the tyranny of the monied mob, and defend the
law; or the liberties of the country were gone. I
afterwards found many such among the young men
of the wealthier classes. If they keep their con-
victions, they and their city are safe.

No prosecutions followed. I asked a lawyer, an
abolitionist, why. He said there would be diffi-
culty in getting a verdict ; and, if it was obtained,
the punishment would be merely a fine, which would
be paid on the spot, and the triumph would remain
with the aggressors. This seemed to me no good
reason.

I asked an eminent judge the same question ;
and whether there was not a public prosecutor who
might prosecute for breach of the peace, if the
abolitionists would not, for the assault on Garrison.
He said it might be done ; but he had given his
advice against it. Why ? The feeling was so strong
against the abolitionists, — the rioters were so re-
spectable in the city, — it was better to let the whole
affair pass over without notice.

ALLEGIANCE TO LAW.

131

Of others, some knew nothing of it, because it
was about such a low set of people ; some could
not take any interest in what they were tired of
hearing about ; some had not heard anything of
the matter ; some thought the abolitionists were
served quite right ; some were sure the gentlemen
of Boston would not do anything improper ; and
some owned that there was such bad taste and med-
dlesomeness in the abolitionists, that people of
taste kept out of the way of hearing anything about
them.

Notwithstanding all this, the body of the people
are sound. Many of the young lawyers are re-
solved to keep on the watch, to maintain the rights
of the abolitionists in the legislature, and in the
streets of the city. Many hundreds of the work-
ing men agreed to leave their work on the first ru-
mour of riot, get sworn in as special constables,
and keep the peace against the gentry ; acting vi-
gorously against the mob ringleaders, if such
should be the magistrates of Boston themselves.
I visited many of the villages in Massachusetts; and
there everything beemed right. The country peo-
ple are abolitionists, by nature and education, and
they see the iniquity of mob-law. A sagacious
gentleman told me that it did him good to hear, in
New York, of this mob, because it proved the rest
of Massachusetts to be in a sound state. It is
always c Boston versus Massachusetts ;' and when
the city, or the aristocracy there, who think them-
selves the city, are very vehemently wrong, it is a
plain proof that the country people are eminently
right. This may, for the humour of the thing, be
strongly put ; but there is much truth in it.

The philosophy of the case is very easy to un-
derstand; and supremely important to be under- ,
stood. ... * \

The law, in a republic, is the embodiment of

132

ALLEGIANCE TO LAW.

the will of the people. As long as the republic is
in a natural and healthy state, containing no ano-
maly, and exhibiting no gross vices, the function of
the law works easily, and is understood and reve-
renced. Its punishments bear only upon indivi-
duals, who have the opposition of society to con-
tend with for violating its will, and who are help-
less against the righteous visitations of the law.

If there be any anomaly among the institutions
of a republic, the function of the law is certain to
be disturbed, sooner or later : and that disturbance
is usually the symptom by the exhibition of whick
the anomaly is first detected, and then cured. It
was so with free-masonry. It will be so with slavery ;
and with every institution inconsistent with the
fundamental principles of democracy. The pro-
cess is easily traceable. The worldly interests
of the minority,— of perhaps a single class,— are
bound up with the anomaly :— of the minority, be-
cause, if the majority had been interested in any
anti-republican institution, the republic would not
have existed. The minority may go on for a
length of time in apparent harmony with the ex-
pressed will of the many,— the law. But the time
comes when their anomaly clashes with the law.
For instance, the merchants of the north trade in
products which are, as they believe, created out of
a denial that all men are born free and equal, and
that the just powers of rulers are derived from the
consent of the governed ; while the contrary prin-
ciples are the root which produces the law. Which
is to be given up, when both cannot be held ? If
the pecuniary interest of merchants is incompati-
ble with freedom of speech in fellow-citizens, which
is to suffer?— The will of the majority, the law-
maker, is to decide. But it takes some time to
awaken the will of the majority ; and till it awakes,
the interest of the faction is active, and overbears

ALLEGIANCE TO LAW. 133

the law. The retribution is certain ; the result is
safe. But the evils meanwhile are so tremendous,
that no exertion should be spared to open the eyes
of the majority to the insults offered to its will.
There is no fear that the majority will ultimately
succumb to the minority, — the harmonious law to
the discordant anomaly : but it is a fearful thing,
meantime, that the brave should be oppressed by
the mercenary, and oppressed in proportion to
their bravery ; that the masters of black slaves in
the south should be allowed to make white slaves
in the north ; that power and wealth should be used
to blind the people to the nature and dignity of the
law, and to seduce them into a preference of brute
force. These evils are so tremendous as to make
it the duty of every citizen to bring every law-
breaker, high or low, to punishment ; to strike out
of the election list every man who tampers with the
will of the majority; to teach every child what the
law is, and why it must be maintained ; to keep
his eye on the rostrum, the bench, the bar, the
pulpit, the press, the lyceum, the school, that no
fallacy, no compromise with an anomaly, no sur-
render of principle be allowed to pass unexposed
and unstigmatized.

One compound fallacy is allowed daily to pass
unexposed and unstigmatized. " You make no
allowance," said a friend who was strangely be-
wildered by it, — " you make no allowance for the
great number of excellent people who view the
anomaly and the law as you do, but who keep quiet,
because they sincerely believe that by speaking and
acting they should endanger the Union." This
explains the conduct of a crowd of " excellent peo-
ple," neither merchants, nor the friends of slave-
holders, nor approving slavery, or mobbing, or
persecution for opinion ; but who revile or satirize
the abolitionists, and, for the rest, hold their tongues.

134

ALLEGIANCE TO LAW.

But is it possible that such do not see that if sla-
very be wrong, and if it be indeed bound up with
the Union, the Union must fall ? Is it possible that
they do not see that if the question be really
this, — that if the laws of God and the arrangements
of man are incompatible, man's arrangements must
give way? — I regard it as a false and mischievous
assumption that slavery is bound up with the
Union : but if I believed the dictum, I should not
be for " putting off the evil day." Every day which
passes over the unredressed wrongs of any class
which a republic holds in her bosom ; every day
which brings persecution on those who act out
the principles which all profess ; every day which
adds a sanction to brute force, and impairs the sa-
credness of law ; every day which prolongs im-
punity to the oppressor and discouragement to the
oppressed, is a more evil day than that which
should usher in the work of renovation.

But the dictum is not true. This bitter satire
upon the constitution, and upon all who have com-
placently lived under it, is not true. The Union is
not incompatible with freedom of speech. The
Union does not forbid men to act according to their
convictions. The Union has never depended for
its existence on hypocrisy, insult, and injury ; and
it never will.

Let citizens but take heed individually to re-
spect the law, and see that others do, — that no
neighbour transgresses it, that no statesman de-
spises it unrebuked, that no child grows up igno-
rant or careless of it ; and the Union is as secure as
the ground they tread upon. If this be not done,
everything is in peril, for the season ; not only the
Union, but property, home, life and integrity.

SECTIONAL PREJUDICE.

135

SECTION V.

SECTIONAL PREJUDICE.

It is the practice at Washington to pay the Members
of Congress, not only a per diem allowance, but their
travelling expenses ; at so much per twenty mile3.
Two Members of Congress from Missouri made
charges widely different in amount. Complaints
were made that the Members wrere not confined to a
mail route', and that the country had to pay for any
digressions the honourable gentlemen might be in
the humour to make. Upon this, a Member ob-
served that, so far from wishing to confine the con-
gressional travellers to a mail route* he would, if
possible, prescribe the condition that they should
travel, both in coming and going, through every
State of the Union. Any money thus expended,
would be, he considered, a cheap price to pay for
the conquest of prejudices and dispersion of un-
friendly feelings, which would be the consequence of
the rambles he proposed.

The Members of Congress from the north like
to revert to the day when there were only two uni-
versities, Harvard and Yale, to which all the youth
of the Union repaired for education. The southern
members love to boast of the increase of colleges,
so that every State will soon be educating its own
youth. The northern men miss the sweet sounds of
acknowledgment which used to meet their ears, as
often as past days were referred to — the grateful men-
tion of the New England retreats where the years
of preparation for active life were spent. The
southern men are mortified at the supposition that
everything intellectual must come out of New Eng-

136

SECTIONAL PREJUDICE.

land. When they boast that Virginia has produced
almost all their Presidents, they are met by the
boast that New England has furnished almost all
the school-masters, professors, and clergy of the
country. While the north is still fostering a rever-
ence for the Union, the south loses no opportunity
of enlarging lovingly on the virtue of passionate
attachment to one's native state.

There is much nature and much reason in all
this* It is true that there is advantage in the
youth of the whole country being brought together
within college walls, at the age when warm friend-
ships are formed. They can hardly quarrel very
desperately in Congress, after having striven, and
loved, and learned together, in their bright
early days. The cadets at West Point spoke
warmly to me of this. They told me that when a
youth is coming from afar, the youths who have
arrived from an opposite point of the compass pre-
pare to look cold upon him and quiz him, and re-
ceive him frigidly enough ; but the second Sunday
seldom comes round before they wonder at him and
themselves, and acknowledge that he might almost
have been born in their own State. On the other
hand, it is true that it would be an absurdity and a
hardship to the dwellers in the south and west to
have no means of educating their youth at home ;
but to be obliged to send them a thousand miles in
pursuit of necessary learning. It is also true that
medical colleges should abound ; that peculiar dis-
eases, incident to climate and locality, may be
studied on the spot. In this, as in many other
cases, some good must be sacrificed for the attain-
ment of a greater good.

The question is, need sectional prejudices in-
crease under the new arrangements ? Are there no
means of counteracting this great evil, except the
ancient methods? Is West Point the last spot where-

SECTIONAL PREJUDICE.

137

on common interests may rally, and whence state
jealousies may be excluded ?

I should be sorry if the answer were unfavour-
able; for this Sectional Prejudice, carried beyond
the point of due political vigilance, is folly, — childish
folly. Events prove it to be so. Deadly political
enemies meet at Washington, and snarl and declaim
at one another with mighty fierceness. They find
themselves, some sunny day, lying on the grass
under the shade of a tree, at the country-house of
an acquaintance; they rise up cordial friends. They
have actually discussed the question of questions,
the American System and Nullification; and yet
they rise up cordial friends. Again ; a Boston gen-
tleman and his lady travel for health through the
south and west. They hear abuse of their State
and city in abundance by the roadside ; but their
hearts are touched by the hospitality and friendli-
ness they meet under every roof. Again; the
planter carries his family to a Rhode Island bath-
ing place, for the hot season : and there he finds
some to whom he can open his heart about his do-
mestic troubles, caused by slavery ; he gains their
sympathy, and carries away their esteem. The
sectional hatred, if not an abstraction, is founded
mainly on abstractions, and gives way at once when
the parties are confronted. Does it not deserve
to be called childish folly ?

Yet " hatred" is not too strong a term for this
sectional prejudice. Many a time in America have
I been conscious of that pang and shudder which are
felt only in the presence of hatred. I question
whether the enmity between the British and the
Americans, at the most exasperating crisis of the
war, could ever have been more intense than some
that I have seen flashing in the eyes, and heard
from the lips, of Americans against fellow-citizens
in distant sections of their country. I have scarcely

138

SECTIONAL PREJUDICE.

known whether to laugh or to mourn wnen I have
been told that the New England people are all
pedlars or canting priests ; that the people of the
south are all heathens ; and those of the west all
barbarians. Nay, I was even told in New York
that the Rhode Island people were all heathens,
and the New Jersey folks no better. Some Balti-
more ladies told me that the Philadelphia ladies
say that no Baltimore lady knows how to put on a
bonnet: but that the Philadelphians have some-
thing worse the matter with them than that ; for
that they do not know how to be hospitable to
strangers. Without stopping to settle which is the
gravest of these heavy charges, I am anxious to
bear my testimony against the correctness of either.
I saw some pretty bonnets, most becomingly worn,
at Baltimore ; and I can speak confidently to the
hospitality of Philadelphia.

Trifling as some instances appear of the mani-
festation of this puerile spirit, it sometimes, it al-
ways, issues in results which are no trifle ; — always,
because the spirit of jealousy is a deadly curse to
him who is possessed by it, whether it be founded
on fact, or no. It cannot co-exist with a generous
patriotism, one essential requisite of which is an
enlarged faith in fellow-citizens. All republicans
are patriotic, more or less frequently and loftily.
If every American will look into himself at the mo-
ment he is glowing with patriotism, he will find his
sectional prejudices melted away and gone, for the
season. The Americans feel this in their travels
abroad, when their country is attacked. They yearn
towards the remotest dwellers in their country as if
they were the nearest and dearest. Would they
could always feel thus at home, and in the absence
of provocation !

The most mortifying instance that I witnessed of
this sectional prejudice was at Cincinnati. It was

SECTIONAL PREJUDICE. 139

the most mortifying, on two accounts; because it
did not give way before intercourse ; and because its
conseauences are likely to be very serious to the city,
and, if it spreads, to the whole west. One may laugh
at the un travelled citizen of the south who declares
that he knows the New Englanders very welL " How
should you know the New Englanders?" "O, they
drive about in our parts sometimes :" — " they"
meaning the Yankee pedlars with wooden clocks for
sale. One may laugh at the simple youth on board a
steam-boat on Lake Erie, who warned me not to
believe anything the Huron people might tell me
against the Sandusky people, because he could tell
me beforehand that it was all false, and that the San-
dusky people are far better than the Huron people.
One may laugh at the contemptuous amazement of
the Boston lady at my declaration that I liked Cin-
cinnati; that wild western place, where she believed
people did not sit down to dinner like Christians.
All mistakes of this kind, it is clear, might be rec-
tified by a little travelling. But it is a serious
matter to see the travelled gentlemen, the profes-
sional men of such a place as Cincinnati, setting up
their sectional prejudices in one another's way.

Cincinnati is a glorious place. Few things can
be conceived finer than the situation of this magni-
ficent city, and the beauty by which she is sur-
rounded. She is enthroned upon a high platform,
— one of the rich bottoms occurring on the Ohio,
which expand the traveller's notions of what ferti-
lity is. Behind her are hills, opening and closing,
receding and advancing; here glowing with the
richest green pasturage, and there crested and rib-
bed by beeches which seem transplanted from some
giant land. Wherever we went among these hills,
we found them rounding away from iis in some new
form of beauty ; in steep grassy slopes, with a run-
ning stream at the bottom ; in shadowy precipices,

140

SECTIONAL PREJUDICE.

bristling with trees ; in quiet recesses, pierced by
sunset lights, shining in among the beechen stems,
which spring, unencumbered by undergrowth, from
the rich elastic turf. These hill-sides reminded me
of the Castle of Indolence, of the quiet paths of
Eden, of the shades that Una trod, of Windsor
Forest, — of all that my memory carried about un-
dulating wood-lands : but nothing would do ; no
description that I am acquainted with is rich enough
to answer to what I saw on the Ohio, — its slopes,
and clumps, and groves. At the foot of these hills
runs the river, broad and full, busy with the com-
merce of the wide West. A dozen steam-boats lie
abreast at the wharf, and many more are constantly
passing ; some stealing along, unheard so far off,
under the opposite bank; others puffing and plough-
ing along the middle of the stream. Fine, level
turnpike-roads branch off from the city among the
hills, which open so as to allow a free circulation of
air over the entire platform. Cincinnati is the most
healthy large city in the United States. The streets
are wide ; and the terraces afford fine situations for
houses. The furnishing of the dwellings is as
magnificent as the owners may choose to make it ;
for commerce with the whole world is carried on
from their port. Their vineyards, their conserva-
tories, their fruit and flower gardens delight the eye
in the gorgeous month of June. They have a na-
tive artist of great genius who has adorned the
walls of their houses with, perhaps, the best pic-
tures I saw in the country. I saw their streets
filled with their thousands of free-school children.
" These," said a lady to me, " are our populace."
I thought it a populace worthy of such a city.
There is no need to speak of its long ranges of
furnaces, of its shipping, of its incredible commerce
in pork, of its wealth and prospects. Suffice it
that one of its most respected inhabitants tells that

SECTIONAL PREJUDICE.

141

when he landed in Ohio, less than fifty years ago,
it contained fewer than a hundred whites; and buf-
falo lodged in a cane brake where the city now
stands ; while the State at present contains upwards
of a million of inhabitants, the city between thirty
and forty thousand ; and Cincinnati has four daily,
and five or six weekly, newspapers, besides a variety
of other periodicals.

The most remarkable circumstance, and the most
favourable, with regard to the peopling of Cincin-
nati is, that its population contains contributions of
almost every element that goes to constitute so-
ciety ; and each in its utmost vigour. There are
here few of the arbitrary associations which exist
among the members of other societies. Young
men come with their wives, in all directions, from
afar; with no parents, cousins, sects, or parties
about them. Here is an assemblage from almost
every nation under heaven, — a contribution from
the resources of almost every country ; and all un-
burdened, and ready for natural association and
vigorous action. Like takes to like, and friend-
ships are formed from congeniality, and not from
accident or worldly design. Yet is there a temper-
ing of prejudices, a mutual enlightenment, from
previous differences of education and habits, — dif-
ference even of country and language. Great force
is thus given to any principle carried out into
action by the common convictions of differing per-
sons ; and life is deep and rapid in its course. Such
is the theory of society in Cincinnati ; and such is,
in some degree, its practice. But here it is that
sectional prejudice interferes, to setup arbitrary asso-
ciations where, of all places, they should be shunned.

The adventurers who barbarize society in new

E laces, have gone westward ; and, of the full popu-
ition that remains, above one-fifth are Germans^
Their function seems to be, everywhere in the

142

SECTIONAL PREJUDICE,

United States, to develope the material resources
of the infant places in which they settle ; and the
intellectual ones at a more advanced stage. They
are the farmers and market-gardeners here. There
are many English, especially among the artizans. I
saw two handsome white houses, on the side of a
hill above the river, with rich ground lots, and ex-
tensive garden walls. These are the property of
two English artizans, brothers, who emigrated a
very few years ago. An Englishman, servant to a
physician in Cincinnati in 1818, turned pork-
butcher; was worth 10,000 dollars when I was there,
and is rapidly growing rich. There are many New
Englanders among the clergy, lawyers, and mer-
chants; and this is the portion of society that will not
freely mix with the westerners. It is no wonder if the
earliest settlers of the place, westerners, are proud of
it, and are careful to cherish its primitive emblems
and customs. The New Englanders should not take
this as an affront to themselves. It is also natural
enough that the New Englanders should think and
speak alike, and be fond of acting together ; and
the westerners should not complain of their being
clannish. I was at a delightful party at the house
of one of the oldest inhabitants, where a sprig of
the distinctive buck-eye was hung up in the hall,
and a buck-eye bowl of lemonade stood on the table.
This was peevishly commented upon by some of
eastern derivation : but I thought it would have
been wiser to adopt the emblem than to find fault
with it Cincinnati has not gone to the eastern
people : the eastern people have gone to her. If
they have adopted her for their city, they may as
well adopt her emblems too, and make themselves
westerners at heart, as well as in presence. These
discontents may appear trifling ; but they are not
so while they impede the furtherance of great ob-
jects. I was told on the spot that they would be

SECTIONAL PREJUDICE. ' 143

very transient ; but I fear it is not so. And yet
they would be very transient if the spirited and
choice inhabitants of that magnificent city could see
their position as it is viewed by people at a dis-
tance. When I was one day expressing my admi-
ration, and saying that it was a place for people of
ambition, worldly or philanthropic, to live in, one
of its noblest citizens said, " Yes, we have a new
creation going on here ; won't you come and dabble
in the mud r If they will but remember that it is
a new creation that is going on, and not a fortuit-
ous concourse of atoms ; that the human will is, or
may be, the presiding intelligence ; that centuries
hence, their posterity will either bless their me-
mories with homage like that which is paid to the
Pilgrim Fathers, or suffer the retribution which fol-
lows the indulgence of human passions, all petty
jealousies will surely subside, in the prospect which
lies before every good man. In a place like Cincin-
nati, where every man may gratify his virtuous will,
and do, with his own hands, the deeds of a genera-
tion, feelings should be as grand as the occasion.
If the merchants of Genoa were princes, the citizens
of Cincinnati, as of every first city of a new region,
are princes and prophets at once. They can fore-
see the future, if they please ; and shape it5 if they
will: and petty personal regards are unworthy of
such a destiny. It is melancholy to see how the
crusading chiefs quarrelled for precedence on the
soil of the Holy Land : it would be more so to see
the leaders of this new enterprise desecrating their
higher mission by a like contention.

i

144

CITIZENSHIP OF

SECTION VI.

CITIZENSHIP OF PEOPLE OF COLOUR.

Before I entered New England, while I was as-
cending the Mississippi, I was told by a Boston
gentleman that the people of colour in the New
England States were perfectly well-treated; that
the children were educated in schools provided for
them ; and that their fathers freely exercised the
franchise. This gentleman certainly believed he
was telling me the truth. That he, a busy citizen
of Boston, should know no better, is now as strik-
ing an exemplification of the state of the case to
me as a correct representation of the facts would
have been. There are two causes for his mistake.
He was not aware that the schools for the coloured
children in New England are, unless they escape
by their insignificance, shut up, or pulled down, or
the school-house wheeled away upon rollers over
the frontier of a pious State, which will not endure
that its coloured citizens should be educated. He
was not aware of a gentleman of colour, and his
family, being locked out of their own hired pew in
a church, because their white brethren will not
worship by their side. But I will not proceed with
an enumeration of injuries, too familiar to Ameri-
cans to excite any feeling but that of weariness ;
and too disgusting to all others to be endured.
The other cause of this gentleman's mistake was,
that he did not, from long custom, feel some things
to be injuries, which he would call anything but
good treatment, if he had to bear them himself.
Would he think it good treatment to be forbidden
to eat with fellow -citizens ; to be assigned to a par-
ticular gallery in his church ; to be excluded from

college, from municipal office, from professions,
from scientific and literary associations? If he
felt himself excluded from every department of
society, but its humiliations and its drudgery, would
he declare himself to be " perfectly well-treated in
Boston?" Not a word more of statement is
needed.

A Connecticut judge lately declared on the bench
that he believed people of colour were not consi-
dered citizens in the laws. He was proved to be
wrong. He was actually ignorant of the wording
of the acts by which people of colour are termed
citizens. Of course, no judge could have forgotten
this who had seen them treated as citizens : nor
could one of the most eminent statesmen and
lawyers in the country have told me that it is still
a doubt, in the minds of some high authorities,
whether people of colour are citizens. He is as
mistaken as the judge. Tljere has been no such
doubt since the Connecticut judge was corrected
and enlightened. The error of the statesman arose
from the same cause ; he had never seen the co-
loured people treated as citizens. " In fact," said
he, " these people hold an anomalous situation.
They are protected as citizens when the public
service requires their security ; but not otherwise
treated as such." Any comment would weaken
this intrepid statement.

The common argument, about the inferiority of
the coloured race, bears no relation whatever to
this question. They are citizens. They stand, as
such, in the law, and in the acknowledgment of
every one who knows the law. They are citizens, yet
their houses and schools are pulled down, and they
can obtain no remedy at law. They are thrust out
of offices, and excluded from the most honourable
employments, and stripped of all the best benefits
of society by fellow-citizens who, once a year, so-

VOL. i. h

V

lemnly lay their hands on their hearts, and declare
that all men are born free and equal, and that
rulers derive their just powers from the consent of
,the governed.

This system of injury is not wearing out. La-
fayette, on his last visit to the United States, ex-
pressed his astonishment at the increase of the
prejudice against colour. He remembered, be
said, how the black soldiers used to mess with
the whites in the revolutionary war. The leaders
of that war are gone where principles are all, —
where prejudices are nothing. If their ghosts
could arise, in majestic array, before the American
nation, on their great anniversary, and hold up
before them the mirror of their constitution, in
the light of its first principles, where would the
people hide themselves from the blasting radiance ?
They would call upon their holy soil to swallow
them up, as unworthy to tread upon it. But not
all. It should ever be remembered that America
is the country of the best friends the coloured race
has ever had. The more truth there is in the as-
sertions of the oppressors of the blacks, the more
heroism there is in their friends. The greater the
excuse for the pharisees of the community, the
more divine is the equity of the redeemers of the
coloured race. If it be granted that the coloured
race are naturally inferior, naturally depraved,
disgusting, cursed, — it must be granted that it is a
heavenly charity which descends among them to
give such solace as it can to their incomprehensible
existence. As loiig as^the excuses of the one party
go to enhance the merit of the other, the society is
not to be despaired of, even with this poisonous
anomaly at its heart

Happily, however, the coloured race is not
cursed by God^as it is by some factions of his
children. The less clear-sighted of them are par-

y 4fr

, \ i % ,

PEOPL^(H^OJLOJjR. 147

donable for so believing. Circumstances, for
which no living man is' answerable, have generated
an erroneous conviction in the feeble mind of man,
which sees not beyond the actual and immediate.
No remedy could ever have been applied, unless
stronger minds than ordinary had been brought
int3*t?he case. But it so happens, wherever there
is an anomaly, giant minds rise up to overthrow it :
minds gigantic, not in understanding, but in faith.
Wherever they arise, they are the salt of their
earth, and its corruption is retrieved. So it is now
in America. While the mass of common men and
women are despising, and disliking, and fearing,
and keeping down the coloured race, blinking the
fact that they are citizens, the few of Nature's aris-
tocracy are putting forth a strong hand to lift up
this degraded race out of oppression, and their
country from the reproach of it. If they were but
one or two^ trembling and toiling in solitary energy,
the world afar would be confident of their success.
But they number hundreds and thousands ; and if
ever they feet a passing doubt of their progress, it
is only because they are pressed upon by the
meaner multitude. Over the sea, no one doubts of
their victory. It is as certain as that the risen sun
will reach the meridian. Already are there over-
flowing colleges, where no distinction of colour is
allowed; — overflowing, because no distinction of
colour is allowed. Already have people of colour
crossed the thresholds of many whites, as guests,
not as drudges or beggars. Already are they ad-
mitted to worship, and to exercise charity, among
the whites.

The world has heard and seen enough of the
reproach incurred by America, on account of her
coloured population. It is now time to look for
the fairer side. The crescent streak is brightening
towards the full, to wane no more. Already is the
^ h 2

- ^

world beyond the sea beginning to think of Ame-
rica, less as the country of the double-faced pre-
tender to the name of Liberty, than as the home
of the single-hearted, clear-eyed Presence which,
under the name of Abolitionism, is majestically
passing through the land which is soon to be her
throne.

SECTION VII.

POLITICAL NON-EXISTENCE OF WOMEN.

One of the fundamental principles announced in
t^e Declaration of Independence is, that govern-
ments derive their just powers from the consent of
the governed. How can the political condition of
women be reconciled with this ?

Governments in the United States have power
to tax women who hold property ; to divorce them
from their husbands ; to fine, imprison, and exe-
cute them for certain offences. Whence do these
governments derive their powers ? They are not
" just," as they are not derived from the consent of
the women thus governed.

Governments in the United States have power
to enslave certain women; and also to punish
other women for inhuman treatment of such slaves.
Neither of these powers are " just ;" not being
derived from the consent of the governed.

Governments decree to women in some States
half their husbands' property ; in others one-third.
In some, a woman, on her marriage, is made to
yield all her property to her husband ; in others,
to retain a portion, or the whole, in her own hands.
Whence do governments derive the unjust power

OF WOMEN.

149

of thus disposing of property without the consent
of the governed '{

The democratic principle condemns all this as
wrong ; and requires the equal political represen-
tation of all rational beings. Children, idiots, and
criminals, during the season of sequestration, are
the only fair exceptions.

The case is so plain that I might close it here ;
but it is interesting to inquire how so obvious a
decision has been so evaded as to leave to women
no political rights whatever. The question has
been asked, from time to time, in more countries
than one, how obedience to the laws can be re-
quired of women, when no woman has, either ac-
tually or virtually, given any assent to any law.
No plausible answer has, as far as I can discover,
been offered ; for the good reason, that no plausible
answer can be devised. The most principled de-
mocratic writers on government have on this sub-
ject sunk into fallacies, as disgraceful as any advo-
cate of despotism has adduced. In fact, they have
thus sunk from being, for the moment, advocates of
despotism. Jefferson in America, and James Mill
at home, subside, for the occasion, to the level of
the author of the Emperor of Russia's Catechism
for the young Poles.

Jefferson says,* " Were our State a pure de-
mocracy, in which all the inhabitants should meet
together to transact all their business, there would
yet be excluded from their deliberations,

" 1. Infants, until arrived at years of discretion;

" 2. Women, who, to prevent depravation of
morals, and ambiguity of issue, could not mix pro-
miscuously in the public meetings of men ;

" 3. Slaves, from whom the unfortunate state of
things with us takes away the rights of will and of
property."

* Correspondence vol. iv. p. 295.

150

POLITICAL NON-EXISTENCE

If the slave disqualification, here assigned, were
shifted up under the head of Women, their case
would be nearer the truth than as it now stands.
Woman's lack of will and of property, is more like
the true cause of her exclusion from the repre-
sentation, than that which is actually set down
against her. As if there could be no means of
conducting public affairs but by promiscuous meet-
ings ! As if there would be more danger in pro-
miscuous meetings for political business than in
such meetings for worship, for oratory, for music*
for dramatic entertainments, — for any -of the thou-
sand transactions of civilized life ! The plea is
not worth another word.

Mill says, with regard to representation, in his
Essay on Government, " One thing is pretty clear ;
that all those individuals, whose interests are in-
volved in those of other individuals, may be struck
off without inconvenience. ... In this light,
women may be regarded, the interest of almost all
of whom is involved, either in that of their fathers
or in that of their husbands."

The true democratic principle is, that no per-
son's interests can be, or can be ascertained to be,
identical with those of any other person. This
allows the exclusion of none but incapables.

The word " almost," in Mr. Mill's second sen-
tence, rescues women from the exclusion he pro-
poses. As long as there are women who have
neither husbands nor fathers, his proposition re-
mains an absurdity.

The interests of women who have fathers and
husbands can never be identical with theirs, while
there is a necessity for laws to protect women
against their husbands and fathers. This state-
ment is not worth another word.

Some who desire that there should be an equa-
lity of property between men and women, oppose

OF WOMEN.

15]

representation, on the ground that political duties
would be incompatible with the other duties which
women have to discharge. The reply to this is,
that women are the best judges here. God has
given time and power for the discharge of all duties ;
and, if he had not, it would be for women to decide
which they would take, and which they would
leave. But their guardians follow the ancient
fashion of deciding what is best for their wards.
The Emperor of Russia discovers when a coat of
arms and title do not agree with a subject prince.
The King of France early perceives that the air
of Paris does not agree with a free-thinking fo-
reigner. The English Tories feel the hardship
that it would be to impose the franchise on every
artizan, busy as he is in getting his bread. The
Georgian planter perceives the hardship that free-
dom would be to his slaves. And the best friends
of half the human race peremptorily decide for
them as to their rights, their duties, their feelings,
their powers. In all these eases, the persons thus
cared for feel that the abstract decision rests with
themselves ; that, though they may be compelled
to submit, they need not acquiesce.

It is pleaded that half of the human race does
acquiesce in the decision of the other hal£ as to
their rights and duties. And some instances, not
only of submission, but of acquiescence, there are.
Forty years ago, the women of New Jersey went
to the poll, and voted, at state elections. The general
term, " inhabitants," stood unqualified ; — as it will
again, when the true democratic principle comes
to be fully understood. A motion was made to
correct the inadvertence; and it was done, as a
matter of course ; without any appeal, as far as I
could learn, from the persons about to be injured.
Such acquiescence proves nothing but the degra-
dation of the injured party. It inspires the same

152

POLITICAL NON-EXISTENCE

emotions of pity as the supplication of the freed
slave who kneels to his master to restore him to
slavery, that he may have his animal wants sup-
plied, without being troubled with human rights
and duties. Acquiescence like this is an argument
which cuts the wrong way for those who use it.

But this acquiescence is only partial ; and, to
give any semblance of strength to the plea, the
acquiescence must be complete. I, for one, do
not acquiesce. I declare that whatever obedience
I yield to the laws of the society in which I live is
a matter between, not the community and myself,
but my judgment and my will. Any punishment
inflicted on me for the breach of the laws, I should
regard as so much gratuitous injury ; for to those
laws I have never, actually or virtually, assented.
I know that there are women in England who agree
with me in this — I know that there are women in
America who agree with mejn this. The plea of
acquiescence is invalidated by us.

It is pleaded that, by enjoying the protection of
some laws, women give their assent to all. This
needs but a brief answer. Any protection thus
conferred is, under woman's circumstances, a boon
bestowed at the pleasure of those in whose power
she is. A boon of any sort is no compensation
for the privation of something else ; nor can the
enjoyment of it bind to the performance of any-
thing to which it bears no relation. Because I,
by favour, may procure the imprisonment of the
thief who robs my house, am I, unrepresented,
therefore bound not to smuggle French ribbons ?
The obligation not to smuggle has a widely dif-
ferent derivation.

I cannot enter upon the commonest order of
pleas of all; — those which relate to the virtual
influence of woman ; her swaying the judgment and
will of man through the heart ; and so forth. One

OF WOMEN.

153

might as well try to dissect the morning mist. I
knew a gentleman in America who told me how
much rather he had be a woman than the man
he is ; — a professional man, a father, a citizen. He
would give up all this for a woman's influence. I
thought he was mated too soon. He should have
married a lady, also of my acquaintance, who would
not at all object to being a slave, if ever the blacks
should have the upper hand ; " it is so right that
the one race should be subservient to the other !"
Or rather,— I thought it a pity that the one could
not be a woman, and the other a slave ; so that
an injured individual of each class might be exalted
into their places, to fulfil and enjoy the duties and
privileges which they despise, and, in despising,
disgrace.

The truth is, that while there is much said
about " the sphere of woman," two widely different
notions are entertained of what is meant by the
phrase. The narrow, and, to the ruling party, the
more convenient notion is that sphere appointed
by men, and bounded by their ideas of propriety; —
a notion from which any and every woman may
fairly dissent. The broad and true conception is
of the sphere appointed by God, and bounded
by the powers which he has bestowed. This com-
mands the assent of man and woman ; and only
the question of powers remains to be proved.

That woman has power to represent her own
interests, no one can deny till she has been tried.
The modes need not be discussed here : they
must vary with circumstances. The fearful and
absurd images which are perpetually called up to
perplex the question, — images of women on wool-
sacks in England, and under canopies in America,
have nothing to do with the matter. The prin-
ciple being once established, the methods will
follow, easily, naturally, and under a remarkable

h5

154 POLITICAL NON-EXISTENCE OF WOMEN.

transmutation of the ludicrous into the sublime*
The kings of Europe would have laughed mightily,
two centuries ago, at the idea of a commoner,
without robes, crown, or sceptre, stepping into the
throne of a strong nation. Yet who dared to laugh
when Washington's super-royal voice greeted the
New World from the presidential chair, and the
old world stood still to catch the echo ?

The principle of the equal rights of both halves
of the human race is all we have to do with here.
It is the true democratic principle which can never
be seriously controverted, and only for a short time
evaded. Governments can derive their just powers;
only from the consent of the governed^

155

PART II.

ECONOMY,

** That thou givest them they gather. Thou openest thine*
hand ; they are filled with good.

104th Psalm.

The traveller from the Old World to the New ia
apt to lose himself in reflection when he should be>
observing. Speculations come in crowds in the
wilderness. He finds himself philosophizing with
every step he takes, as luxuriously as by his
study fireside, or in his rare solitary walk at
home.

In England, everything comes complete and
finished under notice. Each man may be aware
of some one process of formation, which it is his
business to conduct; but all else is presented ta
him in its entireness. The statesman knows what
it is to compose an act of parliament ; to proceed
from the first perception of the want of it, through
the gathering together of facts and opinions, the
selection from these, the elaborating, adjusting,
moulding, specifying, excluding, consolidating, till
it becomes an entire something, which he throws
down for parliament to find fault with. When it
is passed, the rest of society looks upon it as $l

156

ECONOMY.

whole, as a child does upon a table or a doll,
without being aware of any process of formation.
The shoemaker, thus, takes his loaf of bread, and
the clock that ticks behind his door, as if they
came down from the clouds as they are, in return
for so much of his wages ; and he analyzes nothing
but shoes. The baker and watchmaker receive
their shoes in the same way, and analyze nothing
but bread and clocks. Too many gentlemen and
ladies analyze nothing at all. If better taught,
and introduced at an early age into the world of
analysis, nothing, in the whole course of educa-
tion, is probably so striking to their minds. They
begin a fresh existence from the day when they
first obtain a glimpse into this new region of dis-
covery.

Such an era is the traveller's entrance upon the
wilder regions of America. His old experience is
all reversed. He sees nothing of art in its entire-
ness; but little of nature in her instrumentality.
Nature is there the empress, not the handmaid.
Art is her inexperienced page, and no longer the
Prospero to whom she is the Ariel.

It is an absorbing thing to watch the process of
world-making: — both the formation of the natural
and the conventional world. I witnessed both in
America ; and when I look back upon it now, it
seems as if I had been in another planet. I saw
something of the process of creating the natural
globe in the depths of the largest explored cave in
the world. In its depths, in this noiseless work-
shop, was Nature employed with her blind and dumb
agents, fashioning mysteries which the earthquake
of a thousand years hence may bring to light, to
give man a new sense of the shortness of his life.
I saw somerhing of the process of world-making
behind the fall of Niagara, in the thunder cavern,
where the rocks that have stood for ever tremble

ECONOMY.

157

to their fall amidst the roar of the unexhausted
floods. I stood where soon human foot shall stand
: no more. Foot-hold after foot-hold is destined to
be thrown down, till, after more ages than the
world has yet known, the last rocky barrier shall
be overpowered, and an ocean shall overspread
countries which are but just entering upon civi-
lized existence. Niagara itself is but one of the
shifting scenes of life, like all of the outward that
we hold most permanent. Niagara itself, like the
systems of the sky, is one of the hands of Nature's
clock, moving, though too slowly to be perceived
by the unheeding, — still moving, to mark the lapse
of time. Niagara itself is destined to be as the
traditionary monsters of the ancient earth — a giant
existence, to be spoken of to wrondering ears in
studious hours, and believed in from the sole evi-
dence of its surviving grandeur and beauty.
While I stood in the wet whirlwind, with the crys-
tal roof above me, the thundering floor beneath,
and the foaming whirlpool and rushing flood before
me, I saw those quiet, studious hours of the future
world when this cataract shall have become a tra-
dition, and the spot on which I stood shall be the
centre of a wide sea, a new region of life. This
was seeing world-making. So it was on the Mis-
sissippi, when a sort of scum on the wraters beto-
kened the birth-place of new land. All things
help in this creation. The cliffs of the upper
Missouri detach their soil, and send it thousands
of miles down the stream. The river brings it,
and deposits it, in continual increase, till a barrier
is raised against the rushing waters themselves.
The air brings seeds, and drops them where they
sprout, and strike downwards, so that their roots
bind the soft soil, and enable it to bear the weight
of new accretions. The infant forest, floating, as
it appeared, on the surface of the turbid and ra-

158

ECONOMY

pid waters, may reveal no beauty to the painter ;
but to the eye of one who loves to watch the pro-
cess of world-making, it is full of delight. These
islands are seen in every stage of growth. The
cotton-wood trees, from being like cresses in a pool,
rise breast-high ; then they are like the thickets,
to whose shade the alligator may retreat; then,
like groves that bid the sun good-night, while he
is still lighting up the forest ; then like the forest
itself, with the wood-cutter's house within its
screen, flowers springing about its stems, and the
wild-vine climbing to meet the night breezes on
its lofty canopy. This was seeing world-making.
Here was strong instigation to the exercise of analysis.

One of the most frequent thoughts of a specu-
lator in these wildernesses, is the rarity of the
chance which brings him here to speculate. The
primitive glories of nature have, almost always
since the world began, been dispensed to savages ;
to men who, dearly as they love the wilderness,
have no power of bringing into contrast with it the
mind of man, as enriched and stimulated by culti^
vated society. Busy colonists, pressed by bodily
wants, are the next class brought over the thresh-
old of this temple : and they come for other pur-
poses than to meditate. The next are those who
would make haste to be rich ; selfish adventurers,
who drive out the red man, and drive in the black
man, and, amidst the forests and the floods, think
only of cotton and of gold. Not to such alone
should the primitive glories of nature be dis-?
pensed ; glories which can never be restored. The
philosopher should come, before they are effaced,
and find combinations and proportions of life and
truth which are not to be found elsewhere. The
painter should come, and find combinations and
proportions of visible beauty which are not to be
found elsewhere. The architect should come, and

ECONOMY. 159

find suggestions and irradiations of his art which
are not to be found elsewhere. The poet should
come, and witness a supremacy of nature such as
he imagines in the old days when the world's
sires came forth at the tidings of the rainbow in the
cloud. The chance which opens to the medita-
tive the almost untouched regions of nature, is a
rare one ; and they should not be left to the vanish-
ing savage, the busy and the sordid.

I watched also the progress of conventional life,
I saw it in every stage of advancement, from the
clearing in the woods, where the settler, carrying
merely his axe, makes his very tools, his house, his
fireplace, his bed, his table ; carves out his fields,
catches from among wild or strayed animals his
farm stock, and creates his own food, warmth, and
winter light, — from primitive life like this, to that
of the highest finish, which excludes all thought of
analysis.

The position or prospects of men in a new coun-
try may best be made intelligible by accounts of
what the traveller saw and heard while among
them. Pictures serve the purpose better than re-
ports. I will, therefore, give pictures of some of
the many varieties of dwellers that I saw, amidst
their different localities, circumstances, and modes
of living. No one of them is aware how vivid an
idea he impresses on the mind of humanity ; nor
how distinct a place he fills in her records. No
one of them, probably, is aware how much happier
he is than Alexander, in having before him more
worlds to conquer.

My narratives, or pictures, must be but a few
selected from among a multitude. My chapter
would extend to a greater length than any old no-
vel, if I were to give all I possess.

The United States are not only vast in extent:
they are inestimably rich in material wealth. There

160

ECONOMY.

are fisheries and granite quarries along the nor-
thern coasts ; and shipping from the whole com-
mercial world within their ports. There are tan-
neries within reach of their oak woods, and manu-
factures in the north from the cotton growth of the
south. There is unlimited wealth of corn, sugar-
cane and beet, hemp, flax, tobacco, and rice. There
are regions of pasture land. There are varieties
of grape for wine, and mulberries for silk. There
is salt. There are mineral springs. There is mar-
ble, gold, lead, iron, and coal. There is a chain of
mountains, dividing the great fertile western valley
from the busy eastern region which lies between
the mountains and the Atlantic. These mountains
yield the springs by which the great rivers are to
be fed for ever, to fertilize the great valley, and
be the vehicle of its commerce with the world.
Out of the reach of these rivers, in the vast breadth
of the north, lie the great lakes, to be likewise the
servants of commerce, and to afford in their fishe-
ries the means of life and luxury to thousands.
These inland seas temper the climate, summer and
winter, and insure health to the heart of the vast
continent. Never was a country more gifted by
nature.

It is blessed also in the variety of its inhabitants.
However it may gratify the pride of a nation to be
descended from one stock, it is ultimately better
that it should have been compounded from many na-
tions. The blending of qualities, physical and in-
tellectual, the absorption of national prejudices,
the increase of mental resources, wdll be found in
the end highly conducive to the elevation of the na-
tional character. America will find herself largely
blessed in this way, however much she may now
complain of the immigration of strangers. She
complains of some for their poverty ; but such
bring a will to work, and a capacity for labour. She

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161

complains of others for their coming from countries
governed by a despotism ; but it is the love of free-
dom which they cannot enjoy at home, that brings
such. She complains of others that they keep up
their national language, manners, and modes of
thinking, while they use her privileges of citizen-
ship. This may appear ungracious ; but it pro-
ceeds from that love of country and home institu-
tions which will make staunch American patriots
of their children's chiidren. It is all well.- The
New England States may pride themselves on
their population being homogeneous, while that
of other States is mongrel. It is well that sta-
bility should thus have been temporarily provided
for in one part of the Union, which should, for the
season, be the acknowledged superior over the
rest : but, this purpose of the arrangement having
been fulfilled, New England may perhaps hereafter
admit, what some others see already, that, if she
inherits many of the virtues of the Pilgrims, she
requires fortifying in others ; and that a large rein-
forcement from other races would help her to
throw off the burden of their inherited faults.

There can scarcely be a finer set of elements
for the composition of a nation than the United
States now contain. It will take centuries to fuse
them ; and by that time, pride of ancestry, — vanity
of physical derivation,— will be at an end. The
ancestry of moral qualities will be the only pedi-
gree preserved ; and of these every civilized nation
under heaven possesses an ample, and probably an
equal, share. Let the United States then cherish
their industrious Germans and Dutch ; their hardy
Irish; their intelligent Scotch; their kindly Afri-
cans, as well as the intellectual Yankee, the insou-
ciant Southerner, and the complacent Westerner.
All are good in their way ; and augment the mo-

162

ECONOMY.

ral value of their country, as diversities of soil, cli-
mate, and productions, do its material wealth.

Among the most interesting personages in the *
United States, are the Solitaries ; — solitary fami-
lies, not individuals. Europeans, who think it
much to lodge in a country cottage for six weeks in
the summer, can form little idea of the life of a
solitary family in the wilds. I did not see the most
sequestered, as I never happened to lose my way
in the~ forests or on the prairies : but I witnessed
some modes of life which realized all I had con-
ceived of the romantic, or of the dismal.

One rainy October day, I saw a settler at work
in the forest^ on which he appeared to have just
entered. His clearing looked, in comparison with
the forest behind him, of about the size of a pin-
cushion. He was standing, up to the knees in
water, among the stubborn stumps, and charred
stems of dead trees. He was notching logs with
his axe, beside his small log-hut and stye. There
was swamp behind, and swamp on each side ; — a
pool of mud around each dead tree, which had
been wont to drink the moisture. There was a
semblance of a tumble-down fence: no orchard
yet ; no grave-yard ; no poultry ; none of the graces
of fixed habitation had grown up. On looking
back to catch a last view of the scene, I saw two
little boys, about three and four years old, leading a
horse home from the forest ; one driving the ani-
mal behind with an armful of bush, and the other
reaching up on tiptoe to keep his hold of the
halter; and both looking as if they would be
drowned in the swamp. If the mother was watch-
ing from the hut, she must have thought this
strange dismal play for her little ones. The hard-
working father must be toiling for his children ;
for the success of his after life can hardly atone to

ECONOMY.

163

him for such a destitution of comfort as I saw him
in the midst of. Many such scenes are passed
on every road in the western parts of the States.
They become cheering when the plough is seen, or
a few sheep are straggling on the hill side, seeming
lost in space.

One day, at Niagara, I had spent hours at the
Falls, till, longing for the stillness of the forest, I
wandered deep into its wild paths, meeting no-
thing but the belled heifer, grazing, and the slim,
clean swine which live on the mast and roots they
can find for themselves. I saw some motion in a
thicket, a little way from the path, and went to see
what it was. I found a little boy and girl, work-
ing away, by turns, with an axe, at the branches of
a huge hickory, which had been lately felled.
" Father " had felled the hickory the day before,
and had sent the children to make faggots from the
branches. They were heated and out of breath.
I had heard of the toughness of hickory, and
longed to know what the labour of wood-cutting
really was. Here was an irresistible opportunity for
an experiment. I made the children sit down on
the fallen tree, and find out the use of my ear-
trumpet, while I helped to make their faggot.
When I hadftewnyhrough one stout branch, I was
quite sufficiently warmed, and glad to sit down to
hear the children's story. Their father had been a
weaver and a preacher in England. He had brought^
out his wife and six children. During the week, v
he worked at his land, finding some employment or
another for all of his children who could walk
alone ; and going some distance on Sundays to
preach. This last particular told volumes. The
weaver has not lost heart over his hard field-la-
bour. His spirit must be strong and lively, to
enable him to spend his. seventh day thus, after
plying the axe for six. The children did not seem

164

ECONOMY.

to know whether they liked Manchester or the
forest best ; but they looked stout and rosy.

They, however, were within reach of church and
habitation ; buried, as they appeared, in the depths
of the woods. I saw, in New Hampshire, a family
who had always lived absolutely alone, except when
an occasional traveller came to their door, during
the summer months. The old man had run away
with his wife, forty-six years before, and brought
her to the Red Mountain, near the top of which
she had lived ever since. It was well that she mar-
ried for love, for she saw no one but her husband
and children, for many a long year after she jumped
out of her window, in her father's house, to run
away.

Our party, consisting of four, was in the humour
to be struck with the romance of the domestic his-
tory of the old man of the mountain, as the guide is
called. We had crossed Lake Winnepisseogee, the
day before, and watched from our piazza, at Cen-
tre Harbour, the softening of the evening light over
the broad sheet of water, and the purple islands
that rested upon it. After dark, fires blazed forth
from the promontories, and glimmered in the
islands ; every flaming bush and burning stem being
distinctly reflected in the grey nrfrror %f the waters.
These fires were signs of civilization approaching
the wild districts on which we were entering. Land
on the lake shores has become very valuable ; and
it is being fast cleared.

We were to have set off very early on our moun-
tain expedition, next day ; but the morning was
misty, and we did not leave Centre Harbour till
near eight ; — nearly an hour and a half after break-
fast. We were in a wagon, drawn by the horses on
which the two ladies were to ascend the mountain
from the guide's house. The sky was grey, but
promising; for its curtains were rising at the other

ECONOMY.

165

end of the lake, and disclosing ridge after ridge of
pines on the mountain side. The road became very
rough as we began to ascend ; and it was a wonder
to me how the wagon could be lifted up, as it was,
from shelf to shelf of limestone. One shelf sloped
a little too much, even for our wagon. Its line of
direction was no longer within the base, as children
are taught at school that it should be. All the
party, except myself, rolled out. The driver,
sprawling on his back on a terribly sharp eminence
of limestone, tugged manfully at the reins, and
shouted, " Whoi-ee" as cheerfully as if he had been
sitting on a cushion, in his proper place. He was
not a man to desert his duty in an extremity. He
was but little hurt, and nobody else at all.

The wagon was left here, and we ascended a
mile, a steep path, among woods and rocks, to the
guide's little farm ; plunging into a cloud, just be-
fore we reached the house. It was baking day ;
and we found the old dame, with a deaf and dumb
daughter, — one of three deaf, — busy among new
bread, pies, and apples. Strings of apples hung
against the walls ; and there was every symptom of
plenty and contentment within and without doors.
The old dame might have been twin sister to Juliet's
nurse. She was delighted to have an opportunity
of using her tongue, and was profuse in her invita-
tions to us to stay, — to come again, — to be sociable.
The exercise she takes in speaking must be one
cause of her buxom health. Out of a pantomime,
I never saw anything so energetic as her action;
the deafness of her children being no doubt the
cause of this. She seemed heartily proud of them ;
the more, evidently, on account of their singularity.
She told us that the daughter now at home had
never left it. " Her father could not spare her to
school ; but I could have spared her." What a life
of little incidents magnified must their's be ! As

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ECONOMY*

one of my companions observed, the bursting of a
shoe, or the breaking of a plate, must furnish talk
for a week. The welcome discovery was made that
we had a mutual acquaintance. A beloved friend
of mine had ascended the mountain some weeks
before, and had followed her usual practice of carry-
ing away all the hearts she found there* The old
dame spoke lovingly of her as " that Liza ;" and
she talked about her till she had seen my foot into
the stirrup, and given me her blessing up the
mountain.

The path was steep, and the summit bare.
There was an opening for a single moment on our
arrival ; the mist parted and closed again, having
shown us what a view there was beneath us of green
mountains, and blue ponds, and wooded levels. We
were entertained for some time with such glimpses ;
more beautiful perhaps than an unrestricted vision.
Such revelations take away one's breath. When
all was misty again, we amused ourselves with
gathering blue-berries, which grew profusely under
foot. The old man, too, was ready with any infor-
mation we desired about himself ; and with abund-
ance of anecdotes of summer travellers, to whom he
had acted as guide.

He was a soldier of the revolution ; and at its
close, retired hither, with his bride, among bears
and deer. There are no deer left ; and he killed
nineteen bears with his own hand : the last, thirty-
five years before. One of them was nearly the
death of him. A shot which he intended to be
mortal was not so. The wounded bear chased him ;
and there was nothing to be done but to run round
and round a tree, loading his gun, while the bear
was at his heels, blowing foam and blood upon him.
He fired over his shoulder, and dispatched his pur-
suer. He told us, when the curtain of mist finally
drew up, the opinions of learned men whom he had

ECONOMY.

167

conducted hither, about this mountain having once
been an island in the midst of a vast lake. He
pointed out how it is, even now, nearly surrounded
by waters ; Long Pond, Lake Winnepisseogee, and
Squam Lake. The two last are so crowded with
islands that the expression of the water is broken
up. The islands lie in dark slips upon the gleamy
surface, dividing it into too many pond-like portions.
But the mountain horizon was altogether beautiful.
Some had sharp peaks, some notched ; the sides of
some were bare, with traces of tremendous slides :
others, green as the spring, with wandering sun
gleams and cloud shadows. I found myself much
mistaken in my fancy that I did not care for bird's-
eye views.

The dame was looking out for us when we de-
scended, anxious to detain us for more talk, and to
make us bearers of a present to " that Liza." She
hung some strings of her drying apples over the arm
of a gentleman of the party, with the utmost faith that
he would take care of them all the way to Boston.
He kindly received them ; and I can testify that he
did his best to make them reach their destination.
It was kindness well bestowed ; for no doubt it was
a winter luxury of the good dame's to fancy our
mutual friend enjoying her Red Mountain apple-
sauce. The sending a present to Boston must be
a rare event to dwellers in such a solitude.

Not many miles from this place, stands a de-
serted dwelling whose inhabitants lived in a deeper
solitude, and perished all in one night, far from hu-
man aid. No house stands within many miles of it,
even now. I had heard the story before I saw the
place ; but I had no idea of the difference between
listening to a sad tale, and seeing the spot of which
it is told. In a deep narrow valley among the
White Mountains, lived a family of the name of
Wiiley. Their dwelling was a comfortable log-

168

ECONOMY.

house, on a green platform, at the foot of one of the
steepest mountains. There were but few travellers
among these mountains in their day ; but those few
were kindly welcomed : and the cheerful host and
hostess, and their comely children, were always well
spoken of. On a stormy August night, 1826, a
tremendous slide came crashing down the mountain
side, at the rear of the house. If the family had
remained in their chambers, they would have been
safe : a rock at the edge of the green platform, be-
hind the dwelling, parted the slide, so that the grassy
plot remained untouched, — a bright island in the
midst of the desolation. The family, to the num-
ber of nine, were overwhelmed, and all perished.
The bodies of seven were found. The bones of the
other two are doubtless buried under the slide,
where rank verdure and young trees are growing
up, as if trying to efface the horrors of the wreck-
The scene must have been dreadful to those who
first arrived at the spot, after the event The house,
safe on its grass plot ; its door standing wide ; the
beds and clothes of the family showing that they
had sprung up from sleep, and so fled from the only
place where they would have been safe ; no one
there; a deadly silence brooding over the quiet
spot, and chaotic desolation around; — it is no
wonder that the house remains deserted, and the
valley untenanted.

Some miles further on, the traveller may witness
what comfortable cheer may be afforded by dwel-
lers in the wilderness. All travellers in the White
Mountains know Ethan A. Crawford's hospitality.
He cannot be said to live in solitude, inasmuch
as there is another house in the valley : but every-
body is aware how little sociability there is between
two dwellers in a lonely place. One may enjoy life
there ; and several may get on well; but two never:
and Ethan Crawford's isva virtual solitude, except

ECONOMY.

169

for three months in the year. The fate of the Wil-
leys was uppermost in our minds when we arrived;
and we were little prepared for such entertainment
as we found. After a supper of fine lake trout, a
son of our host played to us on a nameless instru-
ment, made by the joiners who put the house to*
gether, and highly creditable to their ingenuity. It
was something like the harmonica in form, and the
bagpipes in tone ; but, well-played as it was by the
boy, it was highly agreeable. Then Mr. Crawford
danced an American jig, to the fiddling of a rela-
tion of his. The dancing was somewhat solemn ;
but its good faith made up for any want of mirth.
He had other resources for the amusement of his
guests : a gun wherewith he was wont to startle the
mountain echoes, till, one day, it burst : (leaving
nothing for us to do but to look at the fragments :)
also, a horn, which, blown on a calm day, brings a
chorus of sweet responses from the far hill sides.
Retirement in such a valley, and with such re-
sources as Ethan Crawford's, is attractive enough
to the passing traveller ; and, to judge by the coun-
tenance of the host, anything but dispiriting to
those who have made trial of it.

No solitude can be more romantic than that at
the mouth of the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky ; so
called, not because any mammoth-bones have been
found there, but because it is the largest explored
ijjfave in the world. I was told, not only by the
guides, but by a gentleman who is learned in caves,
that it can be travelled through, in different direc-
tions, to the extent of sixty miles. We could not
think of achieving the entire underground journey;
but we resolved to see all we could ; and, for that
purpose, preferred devoting the half of two days to
the object, to one entire day, the weariness of which
would probably curtail our rambles. After a most
interesting and exciting journey of nearly two nights

vol. i. I

170

ECONOMY.

and a day from Nashville, Tennessee, our party, con-
sisting of four, arrived at BelFs hotel, twelve miles
from the cave, at half-past seven, on a bright May
morning. We slept till one o'clock, and then set off
in a stage and four for the cave. My expectations
had been so excited, that every object on the road
seemed to paint itself on my very spirit ; and I now
feel as if I saw the bright hemp fields, the oak
copses, the gorgeous wild flowers, and clear streams,
running over their limestone beds, that adorned our
short journey.

The house at the cave stands on the greenest
sward that earth and dews can produce ; and it
grows up to the very walls of the dwelling. The
well, with its sweep, — a long pole, with a rope and
bucket at one end, laid across the top of a high post,
— this primitive well, on the same plot of turf, and
the carriage in which two travellers — young men —
had just arrived, were the only occupiers of the
grass, besides the house. We lost no time in pro-
ceeding to the cave. The other party of travellers
and the guides carried lamps, and grease to trim
them with; an ample supply of both ; for the guides
know something of the horrors of being left in dark-
ness in the mazes of a cave. We went down a steep
path into a glen, from which the golden sunlight
seemed reflected, as from water ; so bright was the
May verdure. The guides carried our cloaks;
which seemed to us very ridiculous ; for we were
panting with the heat. But, when we had wound
down to the yawning, shadowy cave, with its dia-
mond drips and clustering creepers about the
entrance, a blast of wintry wind gushed from it, and
chilled our very hearts. I found it possible to stand
on one foot, and be in the midst of melting heat ;
and leaning forward on the other, to feel half frozen.
The humming birds must be astonished, when they
flit across the entrance, to meet winter in the middle

ECONOMY,

of the glen, and emerge into summer again on the
other side.

The entrance of the cave serves as an ice-house
to the family of the guide. They keep their meat
there, and go to refresh themselves when relaxed
by the heat. The temperature is delightful, after
the first two or three minutes ; and we were glad to
leave our cloaks by the way side. The ladies tied
handkerchiefs over their heads, and tucked up their
gowns for the scramble over the loose limestone ;
looking thereby very picturesque, and not totally
unlike the witches in Macbeth. The gloom, the
echo of the footsteps, the hollow sound of voices,
the startling effect of lights seen unexpectedly in a
recess, in a crevice, or high overhead, — these im-
pressions may be recalled in those who have wan-
dered in caves, but can never be communicated to
those who have not. It is in vain to describe a
cave. Call it a chaos of darkness and rocks, with
wandering and inexplicable sounds and motions, and
all is done. Everything appears alive : the slowly
growing stalactites, the water ever dropping into
the plashing pool, the whispering airs, — all seem
conscious. The coolness, vastness, suggestions of
architecture, and dim disclosures, occasion different
feelings from any that are known under the lights
of the sky. The air in the neighbourhood of the
waterfall was delicious to breathe ; and the pool
was so clear that I could not, for some time, see the
water, in a pretty full light. That Rembrandt
light on the drip of water, on the piled rocks, and
on our figures, — light swallowed up before it could
reach the unseen canopy under which we stood, can
never be forgotten. Milton's lake of fire might
have brought the roof into view : — nothing less.

The young guides, brothers, were fine* dashing
youths, as Kentucky youths are. They told us
some horrible tales, and one very marvellous story

i 2

172

ECONOMY.

about darkness and bewilderment in the labyrinth
of the cave. They told tfe (before they knew that
any of us were English) that " all the lords and
lights of England had been to see the cave, except
the king." While they were about it, they might
as well have included his majesty. Perhaps they
have, by this time ; good stories being of very rapid
growth. They reported that ladies hold on in the
cave better than gentlemen. One of the party sup-
posed this was because they were lighter ; but the
guide believed it was owing to their having more
curiosity.

I was amused at their assurances about the num^
ber of miles that we had walked ; and thought it as
good a story as any they had told us : but, to my
utter amazement, I found, on emerging from the
cave, that the stars were shining resplendently downi
into the glen, while the summer lightning was qui-
vering incessantly over the " verdurous wall" which
sprang up to a lofty height on either hand. There
seemed to be none of the coolness of night abroad.
A breathless faintness came over us on quitting the
freshness of the cave, and taught us the necessary
caution of resting awhile at the entrance.

Supper was ready when we returned; and then the
best room was assigned to the three ladies, while the
gentlemen were to have the loft. We saw the stars
through chinks in our walL; but it was warm May,
and we feared no cold. Shallow tin-pans, — milk-
pans, I believe, — were furnished to satisfy our re-
quest for ewer and basin. The windows had blinds
of pater-hanging ; a common sort of window-blind
at hotels, and in country places. Before it was light,
I was wakened by a strong cold breeze blowing upon
me ; and at dawn, I found that the entire lower
half of the window was absent. A deer had leaped
through it, a few weeks before; and there had been
no opportunity of mending it But everything was

ECONOMY.

173

clean ; everybody was obliging ; the hostess was
motherly ; and the conclusion that we came to in
the morning was that we had all slept well, and
were ready for a second ramble in the cave.

We saw, this day, the Grotto and the Deserted
Chamber. Few visitors attempt the grotto, the
entrance to it being in one part only a foot and a
half high. We were obliged, not only to go on
hands and knees, but to crawl lying flat. It is a
sensation worth knowing, to feel oneself impri-
soned in the very heart of a mountain, miles from
the sun-light, and with no mode of escape but the
imperceptible hole which a child might block up in
five minutes. Never was there a more magnificent-
prison or sepulchre. Whether the singularity of
our moi* of access magnified to our eyes the beau-
ties we had thereby come into the midst of, or
whethei Nature does work most con amove in re-
tired places, this grotto seemed to us all by far the
most beautiful part of the cave. The dry sandy
floor was pleasant to the tread, after the loose lime-
stor.t ; the pillars were majestic; the freaks of na-
ture nio^t wild and elegant. The air was so fresh
and cool that, if only a Rosicrucian lamp could be
hung in this, magnificent chamber, it would be the
place of all others in which to spend the sultry sum-
mer's day, — entering when the beauties of the sun-
rise had given place to glare, and issuing forth at
the rising of the evening star.

On our way to the Deserted Chamber, we cut off
; alf a mile by a descent through a crevice, and a
re-ascent by another. We were presently startled
by the apparition of two yellow stars, at what ap-
peared an immeasurable distance. In this cave, I
was reminded, after a total forgetfuh.ess of many
years, of the night-mare visitations of my childhood ;
especially of the sense of infinite distance, which
used to terrify me indescribably. Here, too, the

w '

174

ECONOMY.

senses and the reason were baulked. Those two
yellow stars might have been worlds, many millions
of miles off in space, or, — what they were, — two
shabby lamps, fifty yards off. A new visitor had
arrived ; and the old man of the solitary house had
brought him down, in hopes of meeting our larger
party. One of the gentlemen presently slipped on
the loose stones, and fell into a hole, with his back
against a sharp rock ; and he seemed at first unable
to rise. This was the only misadventure we had ;
and it did not prove a serious one. He was some-
what shaken and bruised, and rendered unwilling
to go with the rest to the Bottomless Pit: but there
was no eventual injury. He and I staid in the
Deserted Chamber, while our companions disap-
peared, one by one, through a crevice, on their way
to the pit. The dead silence, and the glimmer of
our single lamp, were very striking; and we were
more disposed to look round upon the low-roofed
apartment, piled with stones as far as the eye could
reach, than to talk. I tried to swallow a piece of
bread or cake, very like a shoe-sole, and speculated
upon these piles of stones; — by whose hand they
were reared, and how long ago. There is much cane
— doubtless, once used for fuel — scattered about
the deeper recesses of the cave ; and these stones
were evidently heaped up by human handstand
those not Indian. It is supposed that this cave
was made use of by that mysterious race which ex-
isted before the Indians, and of which so many curi-
ous traces remain in the middle States of the West;
a race more civilized, to judge by the works of their
hands, than the Indians have ever been; but of
which no tradition remains.

Our party returned safe, and refreshed by a
draught of water, better worth having than my
luncheon of bread. When we left the cave, our
guides insisted upon it that we had walked, this

ECONOMY.

175

morning, ten or eleven miles. I pronounced it four.
Others of the party said seven ; and the point re-
mains unsettled. We all agreed that it was twice
as much as we could have accomplished in the heat
above ground ; and perhaps the most remarkable
walk we had ever taken in our lives. Our hostess
was with us the whole time ; and it was amusing
to see in her the effect of custom. She trod the
mazes of this cave just as people do the walks of
their own garden.

The gush of sun-light pouring in at the mouth of
the cave, green and soft, as we emerged from the
darkness, was exquisitely beautiful. So was the
foliage of the trees, after the rigid forms which had
been printing themselves upon our eye-sight for so
many hours. As we sat at the entrance, to accus-
tom ourselves to the warm outward air, I saw,
growing high in the steep woods, the richest of
kalmias, in full bloom. One of the gentlemen ran
to bring me some ; and when it came, it was truly
a feast to the eye. How apt are we to look upon
all things as made for us ! How many seasons has
this kalmia bloomed ?

We were truly sorry to bid farewell to our mo-
therly hostess, and her " smart" sons. Theirs is a
singular mode of life ; and it left nearly as vivid an
impression on our minds as their mighty neighbour,
the cave. If any of us should ever happen to be
banished, and to have a home to seek, I fancy we
should look out for a plot of green sward, among
flowering kalmias, near the mouth of an enormous
cave, with humming birds flitting about it by day,
and fire-flies and summer lightning by night.

In strong contrast in my mind with such a scene
as this, stands a gay encampment in the wilderness,
at which I soon after arrived. The watering places
among the Virginia mountains are as new and

176

ECONOMY.

striking a spectacle as the United States can afford
The journeyings of those who visit them are a per-
petual succession of contrasts. I may as well give
the whole journey from Cincinnati to the eastern
base of the Alleghanies.

We left Cincinnati at noon on the 25th of June:
as sultry a summer's day as ever occurs on the
Ohio, The glare was reflected from the water
with a blinding and scorching heat ; and feather
fans were whisking all day in the ladies' cabin of
our steam-boat. Hot as it was, I could not remain
in the shady cabin. The shores of the Ohio are so
beautiful, that I could not bear to lose a single
glimpse between the hills. It is holiday-travelling
to have such a succession of pictures as I saw there
made to pass noiselessly before one's eyes. There
were the children running among the gigantic trees
on the bank, to see the boat pass; the girl with
her milk-pail, half way up the hill ; the horseman
on the ridge, or the wagoner with his ox-team
pausing on the slope. Then there was the flitting
blue jay under the cool shadow of the banks ; the
butterflies crossing the river in zig-zag flight ; the
terrapins (small turtle) floundering in the water,
with their pert little heads above the surface ; and
the glancing fire-flies every night.

On the afternoon of this day, we vvere met by the
storm which swept over the whole country, and^
which will be remembered as having caused the
death of the son of Chief-Justice Marshall, at Balti-
more, on his way to his dying father. I watched,
from the deck, the approach of the storm. First,
the sky, above the white clouds, was of a dark grey,
which might have been mistaken for the deep blue
of twilight. Then a mass of black clouds came
hurrying up below the white. Then a flash escaped
from out of the upper grey, darting perpendicularly
into the forest ; and then another, exploding like

ECONOMY.

177

the four rays of a star. I saw the squall coming in
a dark line, straight across the river. Our. boat
was hurried under the bank to await it. The burst
was furious ; a roaring gust, and a flood of rain,
which poured in under our cabin door, close shut
aS it was. All was nearly as dark as night for a
while, and all silent but the elements. Then the
day seemed to dawn again ; but loud peals of thun-
der lasted long, and the lightning was all abroad in
the air. Faint flashes now wandered by ; and now
a brilliant white zig-zag quivered across the sky.
One splendid violet-coloured shaft shot straight
down into the forest; and I saw a tall tree first blaze
and then smoulder at the touch. A noble horse
floated by, dead and swollen. When we drew out
into the middle of the river, it was as if spring had
come in at the heels of the dog-days ; all was so cool
and calm.

The company on board were of the lowest class
we ever happened to meet with in our travels. They
were obliging enough ; as everybody is throughout
the country, as far as my experience goes; but
otherwise they were no fair specimens of American
manners. One woman excited my curiosity from
the beginning; but I entertained a much more
agreeable feeling towards her when we parted, after
several days' travelling in company. Her first deed
was to ask where we were going ; and her next, to
take my book out of my lap, and examine it. Much
of the rest of her time was occupied in dressing her
hair, which was, notwithstanding, almost as rough
as a negro's. She wore in her head a silver comb,
another set with brilliants, and a third, an enor-
mous tortoisesheil, so stuck in, on one side, as to
remind the observer, irresistibly, of a unicorn. She
pulled down her hair in company, and put it up
again, many times in a day, whenever, as it seemed
to me, she coald not think of anything else to be

i 5

178

ECONOMY.

doing. Her young companion, meantime, sat rub-
bing her teeth with dragon-root. The other cabin
company seemed much of the same class. I \va3
dressing in my state room between four and five
the next morning, when an old lady, who was pre-
sently going ashore, burst in, and snatched the one
tumbler glass from my hand. She was probably as
much amazed at my having carried it out of sight
as I was at her mode of recovering it.

I loved the early morning on the great rivers, and
therefore rose at dawn. I loved the first grey
gleams that came from between the hills, and the
bright figures of people in white, (the men all in
linen jackets in hot weather,) on the banks. I
loved to watch the river craft; the fussy steamer
making rapid way ; the fairy canoe shooting silently
across ; the flat-boat, with its wreath of blue smoke,
stealing down in the shadow of the banks, her navi-
gators helping her along in the current by catching
at the branches as they passed ; and the perilous
looking raft, with half-a-dozen people on it, under
their canopy of green boughs, their shapeless floor
bending and walloping in the middle of the stream.
I loved the trees, looking as if they stood self-
poised, their roots were washed so bare. I loved
the dwellings that stood behind their screen, those
on the eastern bank seeming fast asleep ; those on
the western shore gay with the flickering shadows
cast on them by the breezy sunrise through the
trees.

On passing Catletsburgh we bade adieu to glorious
Kentucky. At that point, our eyes rested on three
sovereign States at one glance, Ohio, Kentucky, and
Virginia. We landed at Guyandot, and proceeded
by stage the next morning to Charleston, on the Ka-
nawha river. The road, all the way to the Springs,
is marvellously good for so wild a part of the country.
The bridges over the streams are, some of them,

ECONOMY.

179

prettily finished; and the accommodations hy the
road side are above the average. The scenrrv is
beautiful the whole way. We were leaving the
great Western Valley; and the road offered a suc-
cession of ascents and levels. There were ✓ many
rivulets and small waterfalls ; the brier-rose was in
full bloom along the ground ; the road ran half way
up the wooded hills, so that there were basins of
foliage underneath, the whole apparently woven
into so compact a mass by the wild vine, that it
seemed as if one might walk across the valley on
the tree tops. The next day's dawn broke over
the salt works and coal pits, or rather caverns of
coal, on the hill sides. The corn was less tall and
rich, the trees were less lofty, and it was apparent
that we were mounting to a higher region. It oc-
curred to me, in a careless kind of way, that we
were now not very far from the Hawk's Nest.
Some ladies in the Guyandot Hotel had said to me,
" Be sure you see the Hawk's Nest." " What is
that ?" " A place that travellers can see if they
choose; the driver always stops a few minutes to
let them see the Hawk's Nest." I had never
heard of it before, and I never heard of it again.
The world is fairly awakened to Niagara; but it is
still drowsy about two scenes which moved me —
the one more than Niagara, the other nearly 'as
much; the platform at Pine Orchard House, on
the top of the Catshills, and the Hawk's Nest.

The last of the Kanawha River, as we bade adieu
to it on the 28th of June, was smooth and sweet,
with its islets of rocks, and the pretty bridge by
which we crossed the Gauley, and entered upon the
ascent above New River. The Gauley and the
Now River join to make the Kanawha. The as-
cent of the mountains above New River is trying
to weak nerves. Theiiorses have to stop, here and
there, to rest ; and it appears that if they were to

180

ECONOMY.

back three steps, it would be death. The road,
however, is really broad, though it appears a mere
ledge when the eye catches the depth below, where
the brown river is rushing and brawling in its
rocky bed. A passenger dropped his cap in the
steepest part, and the driver made no difficulty
about stopping to let him recover it. What a
depth it was ! like the dreamy visions of one's
childhood of what winged messengers may first
learn of man's dwelling-place, when they light on
a mountain-top; like Satan's glimpses from the
Mount of Soliloquy ; like any unusual or forbidden
peep from above into the retirements of nature, or
the arrangements of man. On our left rose the
blasted rocks which had been compelled to yield
us a passage ; but their aspect was already softened
by the trails of crimson and green creepers which
were spreading over their front. The unmeasured
pent-house of wdd vine was still below us on the
right, with rich rhododendron blossoms bursting
through, and rock-plants shooting up from every
ledge and crevice at the edge of the precipice.
After a long while, (I have nothing to say of time
or distance, for I thought of neither,) a turn in the
road shut out the whole from our sight. I leaned
out of the stage, further and further, to catch, as I
supposed, a last glimpse of the tremendous valley ;
and when I drew in again, it was with a feeling of
deep grief that such a scene was to be beheld by
me no more. I saw a house, a comfortable home-
stead, in this wild place, with its pasture and corn-
fields about it ; and I longed to get out, and ask the
people to let me live with them.

In a few minutes the stage stopped. "If any of

the passengers wish to go to the Hawk's Nest "

shouted the driver. He gave us ten minutes, and
pointed with his whip to a beaten path in the
wood to the right. It seems to me now that

ECONOMY.

181

I was unaccountably cool and careless about it. I
was absorbed by what I had seen, or I might have
known, from the direction we were taking, that we
were coming out above the river again. We had not
many yards to go. We issued suddenly from the
covert of the wood, upon a small platform of rock ; —
a Devil's Pulpit it would be called, if its present name
\frerenotso much better; — a platform of rock, spring-
ing from the mountain side, without any visible sup-
port, and looking sheer down upon an angle of the
roaring river, between eleven and twelve hundred
feet below. Nothing whatever intervenes. Spread
out beneath, shooting up around, are blue mountain
peaks, extending in boundless expanse. No one,
I believe, could look down over the edge of this airy
shelf, but for the stunted pines which are fast rooted
in it. With each arm clasping a pine-stem, I looked
over, and saw more, I cannot but think, than the
world has in reserve to show me.

It is said that this place was discovered by Chief
Justice Marshall, when, as a young man, he was
surveying among the mountains. But how many
Indians knew it before? How did it strike the
mysterious race who gave place to the Indians?
Perhaps one of these may have stood there to see
the summer storm careering below ; to feel that his
foothold was too lofty to be shaken by the thunder-
peals that burst beneath ; to trace the quiverings
of the lightnings afar, while the heaven was clear
above his own head. Perhaps this was the stand
chosen by the last Indian, from which to cast his
lingering glance upon the glorious regions from
which the white intruders were driving his race.
If so, here he must have pined and died, or hence
he must have cast himself down. I cannot conceive
that from this spot any man could turn away, to go
into exile. But it cannot be that Marshall was
more than the earliest of Saxon race who discovered

182

ECONOMY.

this place. Nature's thrones are not left to be
first mounted by men who can be made Chief Jus-
tices. We know not what races of wild monarchs
may have had them first

We travelled the rest of the day through an Al-
pine region, still full of beauty. The road is so
new that the stopping places seemed to have no
names. The accommodations were wonderfully
good. At eleven we reached a place where we
were allowed, not only to sup, but to lie down for
two hours ; a similar mercy to that afforded us the
night before. Those who are impatient of fatigue
should not attempt this method of reaching the
Virginia Springs, though they are much to be
pitied if they adopt any other. Our first re-en-
trance upon the wrorld was at Lewisburg, at noon,
on the 29th. It appears to be a neat village. The
militia were parading: very respectable men, I
do not doubt, but not much like soldiers. In a
quarter of an hour we were off for the White Sul-
phur Springs, nine miles (of dusty road) from Lew-
isburg, and arrived there at half-past two, just as
the company were dispersing about the walks, after
dinner.

Nothing could be more striking than the con-
trast between our stage-coach society and that
which was thronging the green area into which we
were driven. We were heated, wearied, shabby,
and all of one dust colour, from head to foot, and, I
doubt not, looking very sheepish under the general
stare. Every body else was gay and spruce, and at
full leisure to criticise us. Gentlemen in the pi-
azza in glossy coats and polished pumps ; ladies in
pink, blue, and white, standing on green grass,
shading their delicate faces and gay head-dresses
under parasols ; never was there a more astonish-
ing contrast than all this presented with what we
had been seeing of late. The friends who were

ECONOMY.

183

expecting us, however, were not ashamed of us,
and came bounding over the green to welcome us,
and carry us within reach of refreshment.

It was doubtful whether " a cabin" could be
spared to us. We were fortunate in being so fa-
voured as to be put in possession of one in the
course of the afternoon. Several carriages full of
visitors arrived within a few days, each with its load
of trunks, its tin pail dangling behind (wherewith
to water the horses in the wilderness) and its
crowd of expecting and anxious faces at the win-
dows, and were turned back to seek a resting-place
elsewhere. That we were accommodated at all, I
believe to this day to be owing to some secret self-
denying ordinance on the part of our friends.

On one side of the green, are the large rooms,
in which the company at the Springs dine, play
cards, and dance. Also, the bar-room, and stage,
post, and superintendent's offices. The cabins are
disposed round the other sides, and dropped down,
in convenient situations behind. These cabins
consist of one, two, or more rooms, each containing
a bed, a table, a looking-glass, and two or three
chairs. All company is received in a room with a
bed in it : there is no help for it. The better
cabins have a piazza in front ; and all have a back
door opening upon the hill side; so that the attend-
ants, and their domestic business, are kept out of
sight.

The sulphur fountain is in the middle of the
southern end of the green ; and near it is the sul-
phur bathing-house. The fountain rises in the
midst of a small temple, which is surmounted by a
statue of Hygeia, presented to the establishment by
a grateful visitor from New Orleans.

The water, pure and transparent, and far more
agreeable to the eye than to the taste, forms a pool
in its octagon-shaped cistern; and hither the

184

ECONOMY.

visitors lounge, three times a day, to drink their
two or three half-pint tumblers of nauseousness.

I heard many complaints, from new-comers^ 01
the drowsiness caused by drinking the water. Some
lav down to sleep more than once in the day ; and
others apologised for their dulness in society; but
this is only a temporary effect, if one may judge by
the activity visible on the green from morning till
night. One of the greatest amusements wras to
listen to the variety of theories afloat about the
properties and modes of application of the waters.

1 These springs had been visited only about fifteen
years. No philosophising on cases appears to have
been instituted: no recording, classifying, inferring,
and stating. The patients come from distances of
a thousand miles in every direction, with a great
variety of complaints ; they grow better or do not ;
they go away, and nobody is the wiser for their
experience. It would be difficult to trace them,
and to make a record of anything more than their
experience while on the spot. The application of
these waters will probably continue for a long time
to be purely empirical. All that is really known
to the patients themselves is, that they are first
sleepy, then ravenous ; that they must then leave
the White Sulphur Spring, and go to the Warm
Springs, to be bathed ; then to the Sweet Springs,
to be braced ; and then home, to send all their
ailing friends into Virginia next year.

Upwards of two hundred visitors were accommo-
dated when I was in the White Sulphur Valley ;
and cabins were being built in all directions. The
valley, a deep basin among the mountains, presents
such beauties to the eye, as perhaps few watering*
places in the world can boast. There has been no
time yet to lay them open, for the benefit of the in-
valids; but there are plans for the formation of
walks and drives through the woods, and along the

ECONOMY.

185

mountain sides. At present, all is wild, beyond
the precincts of the establishment ; and, for the
pleasure of the healthy, for those who can mount,
and ramble, and scramble, it seems a pity that it
should not remain so. The mocking-bird makes
the woods ring with its delicious song ; and no hand
has bridged the rapid streams. If you want to
cross them, you must throw in your own stepping-
stones. If you desire to be alone, you have only
to proceed from the gate of the establishment to
the first turn in the road, force your way into the
thicket, and look abroad from your^ retreat upon as
sweet and untouched a scene of mountain and val-
ley as the eye of the red man loves to rest upon.
The gentlemen who are not invalids go out shoot-
ing in the wilderness. A friend of mine returned
from such an expedition, the day after my arrival.
He brought home a deer; had been overtaken by a
storm in the mountains, and had, with his compa-
nions, made a house and a fire. Such amusements
would diversify the occupations of Bath and Chel-
tenham very agreeably.

The morning after our arrival, we were too weary
to be roused by the notice bell, which rings an hour
before fevery meal; and we were ready only just in
time for the last bell. Breakfast is carried to the
cabins, if required; but every person who is able pre-
fers breakfasting in company. On rainy mornings,
it is a curious sight to see the company scudding
across the green to the public-room, under umbrel-
las, and in cloaks a/id india-rubber shoes. Very
unlike the slow pace, under a parasol, in a July
sun.

There was less meat on the table at breakfast
and tea than I was accustomed to see. The bread
and tea were good. For the -other eatables there
is little to be said. It is a table spread in the wil-
derness; and a provision of tender meat and juicy

186

ECONOMY,

vegetables for two or three hundred people is not
to be had for the wishing. The dietary is sure to
be improved, from year to year ; the most that is
to be expected at present is, that there should be
enough for everybody. The sum paid for board
per week is eight dollars ; and other charges may
make the expenses mount up to twelve. Pitchers
of water and of milk may be seen, at every meal,
all down the tables ; little or no wine.

The establishment is under the management
of the proprietor, who has been offered 500,000
dollars for it, that it may be conducted by a
company of share-holders, who would introduce
the necessary improvements. When I was there,
the proprietor was still holding off from this bar-
gain, the company not being willing to continue to
him the superintendence of the concern, I hope
that arrangements, satisfactory to all parties, may
have been made by this>time. The average gross
receipts of a season were reported to be 50,000
dollars. It was added that these might easily be
doubled, if all were done that might be.

Rheumatism and liver complaints seemed the
most common grievances. Two little girls, per-
haps four and five years old, sat opposite to me,
who were sufferers from rheumatism. But the visi-
tors who came for pleasure seemed to outnumber
considerably those who came for health.

After breakfast,we sauntered about the green, and
visited various new acquaintances in their piazzas*
Then we went home for our bonnets, and rambled
through the woods, till we were sent back by the
rain, and took shelter beside the fountain. The
effect was strange of seeing there a family of emi-
grants, parents and nine children, who were walk-
ing from North Carolina into Illinois. There must
have been twins among these children, so many of
them looked just alike. The contrast between this

ECONOMY.

group of way-worn travellers, stopping out of curi-
osity to taste the waters, and the gay company
among whom they very properly held up their in-
dependent heads, wras striking to a stranger.

We dined at two ; and afterwards found that a
fire would be comfortable, though it was the last
day of June. As many friends as our room would
hold came home with us, and sat on the bed, table,
and the few chairs we could muster, while one
made the wood fire, and another bought ice-
creams, which a country lad brought to the door.
These ice-creams seemed to be thin custard, with
a sprinkling of snow in it ; but the boy declared
that they were ice-creams when he left home.
When we had finished our dessert, washed and re-
turned the glasses, and joked and talked till the
new-comers of our party grew ashamed of their
drowsiness, we crossed the green to diversify the
afternoon amusements of certain of our friends.
Some were romping with their dogs; some reading
books brought by themselves ; (for there is no li-
brary yet;) some playing at chess or backgammon ;
all deploring the rain.

After tea, we stormed the great scales, and our
whole party were individually weighed. It must be
an interesting occupation to the valetudinarians of
the place to watch their own and each others'
weight, from day to day, or from week to week.
For my part, I found my weight just what it always
has been, the few times in my life that I have re-
membered to ascertain it. Such unenviable peih
sons can never make a pursuit of the scales, as
others can whose gravity is more discriminating. —
Frc m the scales, we adjourned to the ball-room,
where I met friends and acquaintances from Mobile
and New Orleans ; saw new-comers from the Caro-
linas and Georgia; was introduced to personages of
note fiom Boston; recognized some whom I had

188

ECONOMY.

known at Philadelphia ; and sat between two gen-
tlemen who had fought a duel. There was music,
dancing, and refreshments ; laughing and flirting
here ; grave conversation there ; — all the common
characteristics of a ball, with the added circum-
stances that almost every State in the Union was
here represented ; and that we were gathered to-
gether in the heart of the mountains.

One more visit remained to be paid this day.
We had promised to look in upon some friends who
were not at the ball, in order to try the charms and
virtues of egg-nogg, which had been lauded to us
by an eminent statesman, who has had opportunity,
during his diplomatic missions, to learn what there
is best in this world. The egg-nogg having been
duly enjoyed, we at length went home, to write
letters as long as we could hold up our heads, after
so extremely busy a day : — a day which may be
considered a fair specimen of life at the White Sul-
phur Springs.

One of the personages whom I referred to as low
company, at the beginning of my story, declared
himself in the stage-coach to be a gambler, about
to visit the Springs for professional purposes. He
said to another man, who looked fit company for
him, that he played higher at faro than any man in
the country but one. These two men slept while
we were mounting to the Hawk's Nest. People
who pursue their profession by night, as such peo-
ple do, must sleep in the day, happen what may.
They were rather self-important during the jour-
ney; it was a comfort to see how poor a figure they
cut at the Springs. They seemed to sink into the
deepest insignificance that could be desired. Such
persons are the pests of society in the south and
west ; and they are apt to boast that their profes-
sion is highly profitable in the eastern cities. I fear
this is no empty vaunt.

ECONOMY.

189

We left the White Sulphur Springs, a party of
six, in " an extra exclusive return stage," and with
two saddle horses. Nothing could be more promis-
ing. The stage was perfectly new, having been
used only to bring General C — and his lady from
Philadelphia to the Springs. We had a shrewd and
agreeable Yankee driver, for the whole way. The
weather was as fine as July weather ought to be ;
and as cool as is its wont near the tops of mountains:
the very weather for the saddle, or for having the
stage open on all sides ; or for walking. The alter-
nations were frequently tried. Roses and mountain
laurels adorned our road ; the breezy woods cast
their shadows over us ; and we remembered what
waters were springing beneath us; -that we were
passing over the sources of the mighty rivers of the
West, which we had lately navigated with deep awe
and delight. The few dwellings we passed were
almost all houses of entertainment; but nothing
could be more quiet than their air, nestling as they
did in the most enviable situations, and resem-
bling more the lodges in the avenues of the parks
of English gentry than the hotels of the high road.

We reached the Sweet Springs, twelve miles, I
believe, from the White Sulphur, at half-past two.
We were as hungry as mountain travellers should
be, and dinner was over. However, we were soon
set down to hot stewed venison, beet, hominy, ham,
and fruit pies ; and, thus reinforced, we issued forth
to examine the place. The spring at the bath-
house looked so tempting, that I resolved to bathe
at sun-down, which, in this valley, would be at five
o'clock. The establishment here is inferior to
the one we had left. The green was not paled in;
the cabins were more shabby; the dining-room
smaller. We had it almost to ourselves. The sea-
son had not begun, few having been yet sufficiently
sulphured and bathed elsewhere to come here to be

190

ECONOMY.

braced. The water is a little warm; it has a slight
briskness; and bubbles up prettily in its well under
the piazza. The luxury is to have nothing to do
with its disagreeable taste, but to bathe in it, as it
gushes, tepid, from its spout. It would be worth
while, if there were nothing but trouble in crossing
the mountains to get to it. The Sweet Springs lie
in one of the highest valleys of the Alleghanies, and
one of the fairest. Five times that afternoon did I
climb the steep breezy slope behind our cabin,
bringing first one of our party, then another,
to look abroad ; and then returning to enjoy the
sun-set alone. The crowds of blue peaks, the
bright clearings, the clumps of forest trees, lilac
in the sunset, with the shepherds lying in their
shadow, and the sheep grazing on the sunny slopes;
the cluster of cabins below, with their thin smokes
rising straight into the golden air, — the whole
looked as if the near heavens had opened to let
down a gush of their inner light upon this high
region. Never shall I forget those tufty purple
hills. Cold twilight came on ; and we sat round a
blazing wood fire, telling ghost and murder stories
till we could have declared it was a Christmas
night.

At supper, I observed a hale, brisk, intellectual-
looking gentleman who satisfied himself with a
basin of liquid; as he did at breakfast the next morn-
ing ; and as he may be seen to do at every meal he
takes. He told us his story. Twenty years before,
he nearly closed his oesophagus by taking too
powerful an emetic. For twenty years, he has had
no illness ; he rises at dawn all the year round, and
has never been known to be low-spirited for two
minutes. We all began to think of living upon
liquids ; but I have not heard of any of the party
having proceeded beyond the suggestion.

W e rose at five, the next morning, having thirty

Economy.

f'3

mountain miles to go during the day, with the
same horses. It must not be supposed that this
mountain travelling is scrambling among craggy
peaks, piercing through dark defiles, and so forth.
The roads wind so gently among the slopes, that
a sleeping or blind traveller would not discover that
the carriage was not, for the greater part of the
time, proceeding on level ground. Woody slopes
at hand, and a crowd of blue summits afar, are the
most characteristic features of the scenery. A
white speck of a house, on its tiny green clearing,
comes into sight, high up among the hills, from a
turn in the road, and the traveller says to himself,
"'What a perch to live on !" In two hours, he stops
at that very house to dine, not being aware how he
has got up to it, and looking round with wonder
on the snug comforts of the homestead.

Our thirty miles of this day were delicious.
Having breakfasted, we bade adieu, at half-past six,
to the Sweet Springs, steaming in the bitter cold
morning air, and followed a gentleman of our party
who had proceeded on foot to the top of the
first ridge. There we found him, sitting under a
tree, having succeeded in warming himself by the
walk. Up the second ridge, the whole party
walked, I having started off, ahead of the rest. It
was warm, and I stopped, here and there, to rest
and gather wild flowers. The rhododendrons and
kalmias grew in profusion; and there were plenty
of roses, the fine orange columbine of the hills,
vetches, and a few splendid scarlet lilies. The
peeps down into abysses of foliage were glorious ;
and, yet more, the cloudlike expanse of mountain
tops, growing bluer and fainter till they faded quite
away. A steep road on an opposite mountain was
the only sign of humanity being near. On the sum-
mit, however, there was a small farm. In it lived
an elderly woman, who had never been further from

ECONOMY.

the spot than eight miles. If she was born to
travel no further than eight miles, no better dwell-
ing place could have been assigned her; for hence
she sees more at a glance, any sunset, than some,
with all means of locomotion, have ever beheld.

It was a strange feeling, the beginning to de-
scend. It was strange to cross, soon after, the
path of the tornado. I had seen something of its
ravages before, on the banks of the Cumberland
river: the stoutest forest-trees wrenched and twist-
ed, like red-hot iron in the vice of the blacksmith;
and snapped off, all at the same height; so that
the forest looked like a gigantic scorched stubble-
field. Here, a similar desolation was seen in im-
mediate contrast with the rich fertility of the little
valley beneath. The hurricane had seared a path
for itself up the mountain side, passing over the
lowly roofs in the depths. We arrived to dinner
at a house on Barber Creek, where we entreated to
be fed without delay, on anything whatsoever that
was eatable ; as time was precious, this day. Yet
were we kept waiting two hours and a half. I found
much to do by the creek side watching the minnows
making their way up against the current ; w atching
two girls who had set up their washing establish-
ment in pretty style under a tree beside the water;
their wood fire, black cauldron, and stand of tubs ;
while the bushes stood round about to be used
as drying horses. I also actually saw a hog volun-
tarily walk three times through the clear water;
and the delay of the dinner afforded time for specu-
lation whether the race was not improving. When
the dinner was on the table, no one of us could tell
what it consisted of. The dish from which I ate
was, according to some, mutton ; to others, pork :
my own idea is that it was dog. Whatever it was,
it was at last done with, and paid for, and I was in
my saddle, listening to the creek as it rattled under

ECONOMY.

193

the grey rocks. Having crossed one mountain top
on foot, in the morning, I was about to pass another
on my horse this afternoon. There is no describing
what it is to be pacing upwards, on the extreme edge
of the steep road, with one's feet hanging over the
green abyss ; the shadowy mountains retreating,
advancing, interlacing, opening, to disclose a low
far-off bit of meadow, with a diminutive dwelling,
quiet as a lonely star. What blessed work road-
making must be in such places ! It was with no
little pleasure that, after fourteen miles from Barber
Creek, I saw a fine house on an eminence; and
then the town of Fincastle, spread out below us, on
some rising grounds.

The scenes of the day left me little disposed for
sociability in the evening. We were kept waiting
long for supper, by the arrival of a party of New
Yorkers ; to avoid an introduction to whom, some of
us pretended to read, and some to be asleep, while
others did our duty, talk. The night closed in
worthily. From the balcony of my chamber, I saw
how modestly the young moon eyed with me the
region which will be spread before her for ever, but
which I was looking back upon for the last time.

Here I must break off ; and, instead of adding
another description of the Natural Bridge to the
hundred which exist, bring into contrast with life
at the Virginia Springs, life in a New England
farm-house.

Nothing can be quieter or more refreshing, after
a winter's visiting at Boston or New York, than
such an abode in a country village as I made trial
of last May. The weeks slipped away only too
fast. Dr. and Mrs. F., their little boy, six years
old, and myself, were fortunate enough to prevail
with a farmer's widow at Stockbridge, Massa-

VOL. I. k

194

ECONOMY.

chusetts, to take us into her house. The house was
conspicuous from almost every part of the sweet
valley into which it looked ; the valley of the Hou-
satonic. It was at the top of a steep hill ; a sort of
air palace. From our parlour windows we could
see all that went on in the village ; and I often found
it difficult to take off my attention from this kind
of spying. It was tempting to trace the horseman's
progress along the road, which wound among the
meadows, and over the bridge. It was tempting to
watch the neighbours going in and out, and the
children playing in the courts, or under the tall elms;
all the people looking as small and busy as ants upon
a hillock. On week-days there was the ox-team in
the field ; and on Sundays the gathering at the
church-door. The larger of the two churches stood
in the middle of a green, with stalls behind it for
the horses and vehicles which brought the church-
goers from a distance. It was a pretty sight to
see them converging from every point in the valley,
so that the scene was all alive ; and then disappear
for the space of an hour and a half, as if an earthr
quake had swallowed up all life ; and then pour out
from the church door, and, after grouping on the
green for a few minutes, betake themselves home-
wards. Monument Mountain reared itself oppo-
site to us, with its thick woods, and here and there
a grey crag protruding. Other mountains closed
in the valley, one of which treated us for some
nights with the spectacle of a spreading fire in its
woods. From the bases of these hills, up to our
very door-step, there was one bright carpet of
green. Everything, houses, trees, churches, were
planted down into this green, so that there was no
interruption but the one road, and the blue mazy
Housatonic. The softness of the scene, early in a
May morning, or when the sun was withdrawing,

ECONOMY.

195

could not be surpassed by anything seen under a
Greek or Itailan sky. Sometimes I could scarcely
believe it real: it looked air-painted, cloud-moulded.

It was as a favour that the widow Jones* took
us in. She does not let lodgings. She opened
her house to us, and made us a part of her family.
Two of her daughters were at home, and a married
son lived at hand. We had a parlour, with three
windows, commanding different views of the val-
ley: two good- sized chambers, conveniently fur-
nished, and a large closet between ; our board
with the family, and every convenience that could
be provided : and all for two dollars per week each,
and half price for the child. She was advised to
ask more, but she refused, as she did not wish to
be " grasping." It was a merry afternoon when
we followed the wagon up the hill to our new
abode, and unpacked, and settled ourselves for our
long-expected month of May. Never was un-
packing a pleasanter task.

The blossomy cherry-tree beside my chamber
window was the first object I saw in the morning
when I threw up the sash ; and beneath it was a
broad fallow, over which the blue jay flitted. By
this window there was an easy chair and a light
table, a most luxurious arrangement for reading.
We breakfasted at half-past seven on excellent
bread, potatoes, hung beef, eggs, and strong tea.
We admitted no visitors during the forenoon, as
our theory was that we were very busy people.
Writing and reading did occupy much of our time,
but it was surprising how much was left for the
exercise of our tongues. Then there were visits
to be made to the post-office, and the crockery
store, and the cobbler ; and Charley found occasion
to burst in, a dozen times a-day, with a bunch of

* I know not why I should suppress a name that I honour.

K 2

196

ECONOMY.

violets, or news of the horse or cow, or of the ride
he had had, or of the oxen in the field.

We all dined together at two. One of the
daughters absented herself at breakfast, that she
might arrange our rooms ; but both were present
at dinner, dressed, and ready for their afternoon's
occupation of working and reading. One was fond
of flowers, and had learned a great deal about
them. She was skilful in drying them, and could
direct us to the places in the woods and meadows
where they grew. Some members of the family,
more literary than the rest, were gone westward ;
but there was a taste for books among them all. I
often saw a volume on the table of the widow's
parlour, with her spectacles in it. She told me,
one day, of her satisfaction in her children, that
they were given to good pursuits, and all received
church members. All young people in these vil-
lages are more or less instructed. Schooling is
considered a necessary of life. I happened to be
looking over an old almanack one day, when 1
found, among the directions relating to the prepa-
rations for winter on a farm, the following : " Secure
your cellars from frost. Fasten loose clap-boards
and shingles. Secure a good school-master/1 It
seemed doubtful, at the first glance, whether some
new farming utensil had not been thus whimsically
named ; as the brass plate which hooks upon the
fender, or upper bar of the grate, is called " the
footman ;" but the context clearly showed that a
man with learning in his head was the article re-
quired to be provided before the winter. The only
respect, as far as I know, in which we made our
kind hostess uneasy, was in our neglect of Char-
ley's book-studies. Charley's little head was full
of knowledge of other kinds ; but the widow's chil-
dren had all known more of the produce of the
press at his age than he ; and she had a few anxious
thoughts about him.

ECONOMY.

197

In the afternoon we rambled abroad, if the wea-
ther was fine ; if rainy, we lighted our wood fire,
and pursued our employments of the morning, not
uncheered by a parting gleam from the west ; a bar
of bright yellow sky above the hill tops, or a gush
of golden light burnishing the dewy valley at the
last. Our walks were along the hill road to the
lake, on the way to Lenox, or through the farm-
yard and wood to a tumbling brook in a small ra-
vine. We tried all manner of experiments with
moss, stones, and twigs, among its sunny and sha-
dowy reaches, and tiny falls. We hunted up marsh
flowers, wood anemones, and violets, and unfolded
the delicate ferns, still closely buttoned up, and
waiting for the full power of the summer sun. It
was some trouble to me, in America, that I could
not get opportunity to walk so much as I think ne-
cessary to health. It is not the custom there :
partly owing to the climate, the extreme heat of
summer, and cold of winter ; and partly to the ab-
sence of convenient and pretty walks in and about
the cities ; a want which, I trust, will be supplied in
time. In Stockbridge much pedestrian exercise
may be and is accomplished; and I took the op-
portunity of indulging in it, much to the surprise
of some persons, who were not aware how English
ladies can walk. One very warm afternoon, we
were going on a visit to Lenox, five miles off.
My friends went in a wagon ; I preferred walking.
The widow's son watched me along the road, and
then remarked, " You will see no more of her till
you get to Lenox. I would not walk off at that
rate, if they gave m© Lenox when I got there."

In the evenings, we made a descent upon the vil-
lage, or the village came up to us. In the latter
case, our hostess was always ready with a simple
and graceful welcome, and her best endeavours to
provide seats for our many friends. If we staid

198

ECONOMY.

below till after nine, the family had gone to rest
on our return. We had only to lift the latch, light
our candles, and make our way to the milk-pans, if
we were thirsty. For twenty-five years, the widow
has lived on the top of her hill, with only a latch
to her door. She sleeps undefended, for she has
no enemies ; and in her village there are no
thieves.

One night, when we were visiting some friends in
the valley, it was brought home to us what it is to
live in a place where there are no hackney coaches,
or other travelling shelter. When we should have
been going home, it was a tremendous spring-storm;
wind, thunder and lightning, and rain in floods.
We waited long ; but it seemed to have no inten-
tion of abating. When at length we did set out,
we were a remarkable looking troop ; a gentle-
manly young lawyer in a pea jacket; the other
gentlemen in the roughest coats that could be
found ; the ladies leaving bonnets and caps behind,
with handkerchiefs over their heads, India-rubbers
on their feet, their dresses tucked up, and cloaks
swathed round them. Our party were speeded up
the hill by the fear that Charley would be wakened
and alarmed by the storm ; but it was a breathless
sort of novelty to be working our way through one
continued pond to the foot of the hill, and then up
the slippery ascent, unbonneted, with the strang-
ling gust in our faces, and no possibility of our
finding our way in the pitchy darkness but by the
flashes of blue lightning. Well clad as we were,
we felt, I believe, something like being paupers,
or gentry of the highway, or some such houseless
personages exposed to the pelting of the pitiless
storm. Charley was found to be sound asleep, and
we ourselves no worse off than being steeped over
the ankles.

The time came too soon when I must leave the

ECONOMY.

199

beloved village, when I must see no longer the
morning baking and the evening miMng; and
,the soap cauldron boiling in the open air behind
the house, with Charley mounted on a log, peeping
into it ; and the reading and working, and tying up
of flowers in the afternoon. The time was come
when the motherly and sisterly kiss were ready for
me, and my country life in New England was at an
end. It is well for us that our best pleasures have
an immortality like our own ; that the unseen life
is a glorification of the seen. But for this, no one
with a human heart would travel abroad, and at-
tach himself to scenes and persons which he cannot
but love, but which he must leave.

It was not always that the villagers of New
England could place themselves on hill tops, and
leave their doors unfastened. There is a striking
contrast between their present security and the
fears of their forefathers, in the days when the
nursling wrent to church, because it was unsafe at
home, in the absence of its father. Father, mo-
ther, and children, all went on one horse to meet
the total population within the walls of the church ;
the one parent armed, the other prying about for
traces of the fearful red man. Those were the
days when the English regicides had fled to the
colonies, and were there secreted. Those were the
days when anything that was to be made known to
all was announced in church, because everybody
was sure to be there ; and a fast-day was ordained
if anything very remarkable was to be done, or con-
veyed. Sometimes formal announcements were
made ; sometimes intimations were so interwoven
with the texture of the discourse, as that unfriendly
ears, if such should be present, should not appre-
hend the meaning. When any emissary of Charles
the Second was prowling in search of a concealed
regicide, the pastor preached from some such text

200

ECONOMY.

as, " Hide the outcasts. Bewray not him that wan-
dereth ;"# and the flock understood that they were
to be on their guard against spies. Charles the Se-
cond could never get hold of one of his enemies who
had taken refuge in these colonies.

On looking abroad over the valley of the Connec-
ticut, from the top of Mount Holy ok e, I saw the vil-
lage of Hadley, seated in the meadows, and extending
across a promontory, formed by the winding of the
river. This promontory afforded a secure grazing
ground for the cattle by day, which were driven by
night into the area of the village, where the church
stood. Goffe, the regicide, was concealed for many
years in the parsonage at Hadley ; all the people
in the village, except two or three, being, in this
instance, unaware of an outcast being among them.
One Sunday, the Indians attacked the village while
the people were all in church. The women and
children were left in the church, while their hus-
bands, fathers, and brothers went out to do battle
with the cruel foe. It went hard with the whites;
the Indians were fast bearing them down, when an
unknown figure appeared in their ranks, with flow-
ing robes, streaming white hair, and a glittering
sword. The cry was raised that the angel Gabriel
had vbeen sent in answer to the prayers of the
women in the church. Every spirit was cheered,
every arm was nerved, and the Indians were beaten
off, with great slaughter. Upon this, Gabriel
vanished ; but tradition long preserved the memory
of his miraculous appearance. The very few who
recognized in him Goffe, with his undressed hair,
and in his morning gown, kept the secret faithfully.
How blessed a change has come over rural life in
Massachusetts since those days ! Never may its
peace and security be invaded by those social
abuses which are more hateful than foreign spies ;

* Isaiah xv\. 3f

ECONOMY.

201

more cruel and treacherous than the injured and
exasperated red man of the wilderness !

The contrast is also striking between the coun-
try life of New England and that of the west. I
staid for some weeks in the house of a wealthy
land-owner in Kentucky. Our days were passed
in great luxury ; and some of the hottest of them
very idly. The house was in the midst of grounds,
gay with verdure and flowers, in the opening month
of June ; and our favourite seats were the steps of
the hall, and chairs under the trees. From thence
we could watch the play of the children on the
grass-plat, and some of the drolleries of the little
negroes. The red bird and the blue bird flew close
by ; and the black and white woodpecker with
crimson head, tapped at all the tree-trunks, as if
we were no interruption. We relished the table
fare, after that with which we had been obliged to
content ourselves on board the steam-boats. The
tender meat, fresh vegetables, good claret and
champagne, with the daily piles of strawberries and
tow ers of ice-cream, were welcome luxuries. There
were thirty-three horses in the stables, and we
roved about the neighbouring country accordingly.
There was more literature at hand than time to
profit by it. Books could be had at home; but
not the woods of Kentucky ; — clear, sunny woods,
with maple and sycamore springing up to a height
which makes man feel dwarfish. The glades, with
their turf so clean, every fallen leaf having been
absorbed, reminded me of Ivanhoe. I almost
looked for Gurth in my rambles. All this was, not
many years ago, one vast canebrake, with a multi-
tude of buffalo and deer : the pea- vine spreading
everywhere, and the fertility far greater than even
now.

One morning I took a lesson in rifle-shooting;

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202

ECONOMY.

the gentlemen having brought out their weapons
for a few hours1 sport among the squirrels. A
rifle does not bounce like a musket, and affords,
therefore, an easy beginning. I took aim at twenty-
five paces, and hitting within an inch, thought it
best to leave off with credit. A child of eighteen
months stood in the middle of the gravel- walk, very
composedly, while the rifles were popping off ; and
his elder brothers were busy examining the shots.
Children seem born to their future pursuits, in
new countries. Negro children seem all born
riders and drivers. It was an amusement to see
little children that in England could not hold them-
selves on a large horse, playing pranks with a
whole equipage that they were leading to water.

In the afternoon of this day we took a long drive
in search of buffalo ; the only herd of those hideous
animals now to be seen in Kentucky. None of
the family liked to be left behind, so we filled the
barouche and the phaeton, and Master H., eight
years old, in his garden costume, mounted the
mare, whose foal could not be induced to remain
at home, and frolicked beside us all the way. We
rattled on through lanes, over open ground above a
pond, beneath locust groves, and beechen shades,
seeing herds of mules, and the finest of cattle
within the verge of the woods. The mules are
raised for exportation to the fields of Louisiana.
Then we reached the hill-side where eight buffalo
were grazing, four of the pure and four of a
mixed breed. The creatures stood looking at us
as if they had been turned into stone at the sight
of us. Their sidelong gaze, as they stood motion-
less beside a stump, or beneath a tree, was horrid.
I never saw an eye and attitude of which I should
be so much afraid. As they appeared to have no
intention of moving a hair of their tails or huge
necks while we halted, a little slave, named Oliver,

ECONOMY. 203

was sent up the hill to put them in motion; there
being no danger whatever in the operation. Oliver
disappeared, and no result of his exertions was
visible. When the buffalo and we had mutually
stared for another five minutes, Oliver *s master
called to him to know what he was about. He
replied that the buffalo looked too hard at him. At
last, however, he went near enough to put them in
motion; and then they moved all at once, each
seeming more clumsy than the others in its head-
long run. I am glad to have seen buffalo, but
there is nothing to be said for their beauty or
grace.

In the evening we repaired to the cool grass-plat,
to amuse ourselves with the pretty sport of trying
which should find out the first star. It was then
ascertained that two gentlemen present were well
qualified to entertain us with stories of horrible
western murders, — more fearful than any other
murders. So we sat till late at night, amidst sum-
mer lightning and the glancing of fire-flies, listen-
ing to the most harrowing and chilling set of tales
of human misdeeds and their retributions, that it
ever was my fortune to listen to. The Christmas
firesides of England yield no impressions of horror
like the plain facts of a life in the wilderness, told
under the trees, in a sultry night, while the pale
lightning is exploding on the horizon.

We had tidings of a camp-meeting to be held at
some distance, the next day. I had never seen a
camp-meeting ; but the notice was too short, and
the distance too great, and I missed the chance.

One of the slaves of a neighbouring gentleman
came and asked his master what he would give him
for two bee-holes. " You are a pretty fellow,"
said his master, " to ask me to pay for my own
trees." The negro urged that his master would
never have found out the bee-holes for himself;

204 ECONOMY.

which was very true. He was referred to his mis-
tress ; and it was finally arranged that three of us
English strangers should see the felling of a bee-
tree ; a spectacle we had all heard of, but not seen.
A large party dined at this gentleman's house ; and,
presently after dinner, all set out in carriages, or on
horseback, for the spot in the woods where the
bee-tree stood. It was a shabby black walnut*
which seemed scarcely fit company for the noble
array of trees around it. It was of so respectable
a circumference near the ground, however, and the
negroes were making such slow progress into its
interior, that it was plain we should have time for
a drive in the woods before the catastrophe ; so my
host mounted the box of our barouche, and we
wound hither and thither under the trees, over the
rich grass ; and, seldom having to stoop to avoid the
branches, catching bright glimpses of a hundred
glades. It was a full hour before the tree fell. We
arrived just when it was chopped into the middle,
and some minutes before the event It i& a pretty
sight to see the top branches of the falling glory
quiver, its canopy shake, and its huge bulk come
crashing down, while everybody runs away at the
shout which tells that it is coming. This tree fell
on the wrong side, and destroyed several yards of
fence, snapping the stakes, and setting them flying
in all directions.

Straw and sulphur were burned in the hollow of
the trunk. A few little startled bees flew out, and
wreaked their vengeance on our host and myself;
but most of them perished very quietly. I was
asked whether 1 should like to look into the cleft ;
and when I was stepping over the bristling branches
for the purpose, a bough was put into my hand,
with directions to wave it before me. I returned,
stung, but having seen what I wanted ; and then I
was told that if I had not waved a bough, I should

ECONOMY.

205

have escaped the bees. Mine was the common fate
of persons who follow unasked advice. Our host
capered among the trees, with a bee or two under
his cravat and hair. It was impossible to help
laughing. A stout gentleman of the party did the
same, under the mere idea of bees being upon him ;
and, while tossing his head and arms about, he ran
up. with a great shock, against his own horse ; on
which sat a little negro, grinning from ear to ear.
The result of the whole was, — half a tumbler glass
full of blackened honey, and the high gratification
of the spectators, native and foreign, unharmed and
stung.

Such is a fair specimen of our life in the West.
Contrasts rise up before my mind's eye, as the
scenes of my journeying present themselves ; con-
trasts in the face of the country, as striking as in
the modes of living.

When I was at Salem, in Massachusetts, the
friends whose hospitality I was enjoying proposed
an excursion to Cape Ann, (the northern point of
Massachusetts' bay,) and round the peninsula which
constitutes the township of Gloucester. This ex-
cursion impressed me strongly, from the peculiar
character of the scenery : but I know not whether
it is an impression which can be conveyed by de-
scription. Whether it be or not, I would recom-
mend all strangers to go and visit this peninsula ;
and, if convenient, in fine autumn weather, when
yhe atmosphere lends its best aid to the character-
istic charms of the landscape.

It was the 19th of October, a foggy morning,
when we mounted the carry-all, — a carriage which
holds four, — and drove merrily out of Salem, upon
a carpet of fallen leaves. I love streets that have
trees in them ; Summer Street in Boston ; State
Street in Albany; and Chesnut Street in Salem.

206

ECONOMY,

We passed through Beverley, where, as in most of
the small New England towns, the population has
a character of its own. At Marblehead, on the bay,
near Salem, the people are noisy, restless, high-
spirited, and democratic. At Beverley, in the near
neighbourhood, they are quiet, economical, sober,
and whig. Such, at least, is the theory : and one
fact in this connexion is, that the largest sums in the
Boston savings' banks are from Beverley. We
passed over a long bridge, — a respectable toll-bridge.
The Americans are not fond of tolls of above a cer-
tain age, — for fear of monopoly. There is a small
bridge, called Spite 3ridge, because it spites the
Beverley toll, which is much used in preference.
Seven miles further is Manchester; — how unlike
the English Manchester ! A mere with pond-lilies !
woods with the glorious magnolia flourishing in the
midst ! This is the only place in New England
where the magnolia grows. In summer, parties
are formed to visit the woods ; and children make
much money as guides and gatherers. Cabinet-
making is the great business of the place. We saw
logs of mahogany lying outside the houses ; and
much furniture in pieces standing up against the
walls, ready to be packed for New Orleans. The
furniture of the southern cities is almost entirely
derived from this neighbourhood. One manufac-
turer, who makes the furniture here, and sells it
from his warehouse at New Orleans, has an income
of 150,000 dollars. The inhabitants of Manchester
are very prosperous. The houses were all good,
except, here and there, the abode of a drunkard,
known by its unpainted walls, loose shingles, broken
shutters, and decayed door-step, in striking con-
trast with the neat white or yellow painted houses
of the neighbours, with their bright windows, and
spruce Venetian blinds.

Seven miles further, stands Gloucester; the road

ECONOMY.

207

to it winding among wooded rocks; sometimes
close down to the shore ; and sometimes overhang-
ing the rippling waters of Massachusetts Bay. The
gay autumn copses harmonized well with the grey
granite, out of which they seemed to grow ; and
with the pearly sea, shining out from beneath the
dissolving mist.

We crossed a little canal which opens into the
bay, near Gloucester ; and hastened on to the most
interesting ground we had to traverse, stopping
only a few minutes at Gloucester, to consult a map
which indicated almost every rock and house in the
peninsula.

The population of the peninsula is homogeneous.
There is probably no individual beyond Gloucester
whose parentage may not be referred to a particu-
lar set of people, at a particular date in English his-
tory. It has great wealth of granite and fish. It
is composed of granite ; and almost its only visitors
are fish.

It is a singular region. If a little orchard plot
is seen, here and there, it seems rescued by some
chance from being grown over with granite. It
was pleasant to see such a hollow, with its apple
tree, the ladder reared against it, the basket beneath,
and the children picking up the fallen fruit. The
houses look as if they were squeezed in among the
rocks. The granite rises straight behind a house,
encroaches on each side, and overhangs the roof,
leaving space only for a sprinkling of grass about
the door, for a red shrub or two to wave from a
crevice, and a drip of water to flow down among gay
weeds. Room for these dwellings is obtained by
blasting the rocks. Formerly, people were fright-
ened at fragments falling through the roof after a
blasting : but now, it has become too common an
occurrence to alarm any body. One precaution is
enforced: no one is allowed to keep more than

208

ECONOMY*

twenty-eight pounds of powder in one town or vil-
lage; and the powder-houses may be seen, insu-
lated on rocks, and looking something like watch-
boxes, at some distance from every settlement. The
school-houses are also remarkable buildings. The
school-house may always be known at a glance : a
single square room, generally painted white or pale
green, and reared on a grassy eminence, with a
number of small heads to be seen through the win-
dows, or little people gathered about the door.
There are twenty-one school-houses in this township
of Gloucester, the population of which is nine
thousand.

We dined at Sandy Bay, in a neat little hotel,
whose windows bloomed with chrysanthemums,
nasturtium, and geraniums ; and where we feasted
on chowder, an excellent dish when well cooked.
It consists of fish, (in this instance haddock,)
stewed in milk, with potatoes. The parlour table
was graced with a fair collection of books ; as was
almost every parlour I saw, throughout the country.
Sandy Bay is a thriving place. It has a pretty,
and very conspicuous church, and a breakwater,
built by the. people, at an expense of 40,000
dollars, but now too small for their purposes.
The Atlantic rolls in upon their coast fiercely in
winter: and the utility of a harbour hereabouts
for all vessels, is a sufficient ground for an appli-
cation to Congress for an appropriation of 100,000
dollars, to make a larger breakwater. If the ap-
plication has succeeded, Sandy Bay will soon be
an important place. While dinner was preparing,
we went down to the little harbour, and saw the
dancing fishing-vessels, the ranges and piles of
mackarel barrels, and an immense display of the
fish drying. The mackarel fishery begins in June,
and continues almost through the year. There are
three orders of mackarel, to which the unfortunate

ECONOMY.

209

individuals which are detained in their summer ex-
cursion are assigned, according to their plumpness ;
one dollar per barrel being the superiority of price
of one over another.

After dinner, we proceeded on our travels, first
visiting Cape Ann, the extreme north end of Mas-
sachusetts Bay. We had the bay before us, and
the great Atlantic on our left. We ought to have
seen Boston; but the fog had not quite cleared
away in the distance. Thatcher's Island was near,
with its two lighthouses, and a bright, green sea
playing about it. Then we turned and drove
northward along the shore, with busy and most
picturesque quarries to our left. There were tall
poles in the quarries, with stretched ropes, the
pulleys by which the blocks of stone were raised :
there were ox-teams and sleds : there were groups
of workmen in the recesses of the rocks, and beside
the teams, and about the little bays and creeks,
where graceful sloops were riding under the lee of
tiny breakwaters, where the embarkation of the
stone for foreign parts goes on. Blocks of granite
lay by the road-side, marked, either in reference to
its quality, if for sale ; or to its proportion among
the materials which are being prepared to order for
some great building in New York, or Mobile, or
New Orleans. Some may wonder how granite
should be exposed for sale in such a district ; and
who would be likely to buy it. I saw, this after-
noon, gate-posts, corner-posts, and foundations of
common houses, of undressed granite; and, also,
an entire house, the abode of the blacksmith.
The friend who sat beside me told me that he hoped
to see many more such mechanics"1 dwellings before
he dies. Stone becomes cheaper, and wood dearer,
continually ; and there is no question which is the
more desirable material for those who can afford it.
With regard to beauty merely, I know of no build-

210

ECONOMY.

mg material to equal granite ; dressed in the city ;
undressed in the country. We went into a quarry,
and saw an untold wealth of fissured stone. The
workmen contrive to pursue their business even in
the winter. When the snow is on the ground, and
the process of drilling is stopped, they remove or-
dinary pieces out of the way, and make all clear
for their spring labours. They " turn out" 250,000
dollars'-worth a-year ; and the demand is perpetu-
ally on the increase.

Along the north side of the peninsula the road
was very pretty. The grey, distant coast of New
Hampshire bounded the sea view. Groups of
children were playing on the sands of a deep cove ;
and the farmers were collecting or spreading their
manure of sea- weed and fish-heads. Squam river,
which forms the peninsula, flowed out into the sea,
and the village of Annisquam spread along its
bank. We crossed the bridge, close by the only
tide mill I ever saw. It works for six hours, and
stops for six, while the flow of the tide fills the
pond above. The gates are then shut, and a water-
power is obtained till the tide again flows.

We saw what we could of Gloucester, on our
return to that little town, before sunset. There
are some very good houses, newly-built; and the
place has the air of prosperity that gladdens the
eye wherever it turns, in New England. We ran
down to the shore. It is overlooked by a wind-
mill, from whose grassy platform we beheld the
scene in the singular light which here succeeds an
autumn sunset. The sky and sea were, without
exaggeration, of a deep scarlet : Ten Pound Island
sat black upon the waters, with its yellow beacon
just lighted. Fishing vessels lay still, every rope
being reflected in the red mirror ; and a boat, in
which a boy was sculling across the harbour, was
the only moving object.

ECONOMY. 211

After tea, a clergyman and his wife called ; and
then a long succession of the hospitable inhabitants
of Gloucester came to bid us welcome : from which
it appeared that small articles of intelligence cir-
culate as rapidly here as in other country-places.
In another respect, Gloucester resembled all the
villages and small towns I passed through : in the
pretty attention of presenting flowers. In some of
the larger cities, bouquets of rich and rare flowers
were sent to me, however severe might have been
the frost, or however dreary the season. In the
smallest villages, I had offerings, quite as welcome,
in bunches of flowers from the woods and meadows.
Many of these last were new to me, and as gladly
received as the luscious hyacinths which greeted
me every morning at Charleston. At Lenox, in
Massachusetts, where I spent one night, my table
was covered with meadow-flowers, and with fine
specimens of Jack-in-the-pulpit, and the moccassin-
flower, or lady's slipper: and at Gloucester, when
I returned from my early visit to the beach, where
I had been to see the fishermen go out, I found a
gorgeous bouquet of autumn flowers ; dahlias more
various and rich than could have been supposed to
grow in such a region.

On our return to Salem, we diverged a little
from our road, near Manchester, to see a farm,
whose situation would make an envious person
miserable. The house lies under the shelter of a
wooded hill, and enjoys a glorious view of Massa-
chusetts Bay. The property lies between two
bays, and has a fine fishing-station off the point.
The fields look fertile, and a wide range 01 pas-
turage skirts the bay. A woman and children
were busy in the orchard, with a cart and barrels,
taking in a fine crop of apples ; and we could only
hope that they were sensible of their privilege in
living in such a place. These are the regions,

212

ECONOMY.

teeming with the virtues of the Pilgrims, and as
yet uninfected by the mercenary and political
cowardice of the cities, where the most gladdening
aspects of human life are to be seen.

The newly-settled districts of the southern
States are as unlike as possible to all this. They
are extreme opposite cases. If human life presents
its fairest aspects in the retired townships of New
England, — some of its very worst, perhaps, are seen
in the raw settlements of Alabama and Mississippi.

When we drew near to Columbus, Georgia, we
were struck with amazement at the stories that
were told, and the anecdotes that were dropped,
in the stage, about recent attempts on human life
in the neighbourhood ; and at the number of inci-
dents of the same kind which were the news of the
day along the road. Our driver from Macon had
been shot at, in attempting to carry off a young
lady. A gentleman, boarding in the hotel at
Columbus, was shot in the back, in the street, and
laid by for months. No inquiry was made, or no-
thing came of it. The then present governor of the
State of Mississippi had recently stood over two
combatants, pistol in hand, to see fair play. This
was stated as a remarkable fact. The landlord of the
house where we stopped to breakfast on the day we
were to reach Columbus, April 9th, 1835, was, be-
sides keeping a house of entertainment, a captain
of militia, and a member of the legislature of Geor-
gia. He was talking over with his guests a late
case of homicide in a feud between the Myers and
Macklimore families. He declared that he would
have laws like those of the Medes and Persians
against homicide; and, in the same breath, said
that if he were a Myers, he would shoot Mr.
Macklimore and all his sons.

We arrived at Columbus before sunset, and de-

ECONOMY.

termined to stay a day to see how the place had
got on since Captain Hall saw it cut out of the
woods, ten years before. During the evening, I
could do nothing but watch the Indians from my
window. The place swarmed with them; a few
Choctaws, and the rest Creeks. A sad havoc
has taken place among them since ; and this neigh-
bourhood has been made the scene of a short but
fierce war. But all looked fair and friendly when
we were there. Groups of Indians were crouching
about the entries of the stores, or looking in at the
windows. The squaws went by, walking one be-
hind another, with their hair, growing low on the
forehead, loose, or tied at the back of the head,
forming a fine contrast with the young lady who
had presided at our breakfast-table at five that
morning, with her long hair braided and adorned
with brilliant combs, while her fingers shone in
pearl and gold rings. These squaws carried large
Indian baskets on their backs, and shuffled along,
bare-footed, while their lords paced before them,
well mounted ; or, if walking, gay with blue and red
clothing and embroidered leggings, with tufts of
hair at the knees, while pouches and white fringes
dangled about them. They looked like grave
merry-andrews ; or, more still, like solemn fana-
tical harvest men going out for largess. By eight
o'clock they had all disappeared; but the streets
were full of them again the next morning.

Our hostess was civil, and made no difficulty
about giving us a late breakfast by ourselves, in
consideration of our fatigues. Before one o'clock
we dined, in company with seventy-five persons, at
one long table. The provisions were good, but
ill-cooked ; and ■. the knives so blunt that it was a
mystery to me how the rest of the company ob-
tained so quick a succession of mouthfuls as they
vlid.

214

ECONOMY.

The Chattahoochee, on who^e banks Columbus
stands, is unlike any river I saw in the United
States, unless it be some parts of the Susquehan-
na. Its rapids, overhung by beech and pine woods,
keep up a perpetual melody, grateful alike to the
ear of the white and the red man. It is broad and
full, whirling over and around the rocks with which
it is studded, and under the frail wooden foot-bridge
which spans a portion of its width, between the
shore and a pile of rocks in the middle of the chan-
nel. On this foot-bridge I stood, and saw a fish
caught in a net laid among the eddies. A dark
fisherman stood on each little promontory ; and a
group was assembled about some canoes in a creek
on the opposite Alabama shore, where the steep-
ness of the hills seemed scarcely to allow a foothold
between the rushing water and the ascent. The
river is spanned by a long covered bridge, which
we crossed the same night on our way into Ala-
bama.

There are three principal streets in Columbus,
with many smaller, branching out into the forest.
Some pretty bits of greensward are left, here and
there, with a church, or a detached house upon
each — village-like. There are some good houses,
five hotels, and a population of above 2,000, — as
nearly as I could make out among the different ac-
counts of the accession of inhabitants since the
census. The stores looked creditably stocked;
and a great many gentlemanly men were to be
seen in the streets. It bears the appearance of
being a thriving, spacious, handsome village, well
worth stopping to see.

We left it, at seven in the evening, by the long
bridge, at the other end of which we stopped for
the driver to hold a parley, about a parcel, with a
woman, who spoke almost altogether in oaths. A
gentleman in the stage remarked, that we must

ECONOMY.

215

have got quite to the end of the world. The roads
were as bad as roads could be; and we rolled
from side to side so incessantly, as to obviate all
chance of sleeping. The passengers were very
patient during the hours of darkness ; but, after
daylight, they seemed to think they had been long
enough employed in shifting their weight to keep
the coach on its four wheels. " I say, driver,"
cried one, " you won't upset us, now daylight is
come ?" " Driver," shouted another, " keep this
side up." " Gentlemen," replied the driver, " I
shall mind nothing you say till the ladies begin to
complain." A reply equally politic and gallant.

At half-past five, we stopped to breakfast at a
log dwelling, composed of two rooms, with an open
passage between. We asked for water and towel.
There was neither basin nor towel ; but a shallow
tin dish of water was served up in the open passage
where all our fellow-travellers were standing. We
asked leave to carry our dish into the right-hand
room. The family were not all dressed. Into the
left-hand room. A lady lodged there !

We travelled till sunset through the Creek Ter-
ritory, the roads continuing to be extremely bad.
The woods were superb in their spring beauty. The
thickets were in full leaf; and the ground was gay
with violets, may-apple, buck-eye, blue lupin, iris,
and crow-poison. The last is like the white lily, grow-
ing close to the ground. Its root, boiled, mixed with
corn, and thrown out into the fields, poisons crows.
If eaten by cattle, it injures but does not destroy
them. The sour-wood is a beautiful shrub. To-day it
looked like a splendid white fuchsia, with tassels of
black butterflies hanging from the extremities of the
twigs. But the grandest flower of all, perhaps the
most exquisite I ever beheld, is the honeysuckle of the
southern woods. It bears little resemblance to the
ragged flower which has the same name elsewhere.

216

ECONOMY

It is a globe of blossoms, larger than my hand, growing
firmly at the end of an upright stalk, with the richest
and most harmonious colouring, the most delicate
long anthers, and the flowers exquisitely grouped
among the leaves. It is the queen of flowers. I
generally contrived, in my journeys through the
southern States, to have a bunch of honeysuckles
in the stage before my eyes ; and they seemed to
be visible wherever I turned, springing from the
roots of the forest trees, or dangling from their top-
most boughs, or mixing in with the various greens
of the thickets.

We saw to-day, the common sight of companies
of slaves travelling westwards ; and the very un-
common one of a party returning into South Caro-
lina. When we overtook such a company proceed-
ing westwards, and asked where they were going, -
the answer commonly given by the slaves was, " Into
Yellibama." — Sometimes these poor creatures were
encamped, under the care of the slave-trader, on
the banks of a clear stream, to spend a day in wash-
ing their clothes. Sometimes they were loitering
along the road ; the old folks and infants mounted
on the top of a wagon-load of luggage ; the able-
bodied, on foot, perhaps silent, perhaps laughing ;
the prettier of the girls, perhaps with a flower in
the hair, and a lover's arm around her shoulder.
There were wide differences in the air and gait of
these people. It is usual to call the most depressed
of them brutish in appearance. In some sense they
are so ; but I never saw in any brute an expression
of countenance so low, so lost, as in the most degraded
class of negroes. There is some life and intelligence
in the countenance of every animal ; even in that of
" the silly sheep," nothing so dead as the vacant,
unheeding look of the depressed slave is to be seen.
To-day, there was a spectacle by the roadside which
showed that this has nothing to do with negro

ECONOMY.

217

nature ; though no such proof is needed by those
who have seen negroes in favourable circumstances,
and know how pleasant an aspect those grotesque
features may wear. To-day we passed, in the
Creek Territory, an establishment of Indians who
held slaves. Negroes are anxious to be sold to
Indians, who give them moderate work, and accom-
modations as good as their own. Those seen to*
day among the Indians, were sleek, intelligent,
and cheerful-looking, like the most favoured house-
slaves, or free servants of colour, where the preju-
dice is least strong.

We were on the look-out for Indians, all the way
through this Creek Territory. Some on horse-
back gave us a grave glance as we passed. Some
individuals were to be seen in the shadow of the
forest, leaning against a tree or a fence. One lay
asleep by the roadside, overcome with " whiskey
too much," as they style intoxication. They are so
intent on having their full bargain of whiskey, that
they turn their bottle upside down, when it has
been filled to the cork, to have the hollow at the
bottom filled. The piazza at the post-office was
full of solemn Indians. Miserable-looking squaws
^ere about the dwellings, with their naked children,
who were gobbling up their supper of hominy from
a wooden bowl.

We left the Creek Territory just as the full mooH
rose, and hoped to reach Montgomery by two hours
before midnight. We presently began to ascend a
long hill ; and the gentlemen passengers got out, ac-
cording to custom, to walk up the rising ground. In
two minutes, the driver stopped, and came to tell us
ladies that he was sorry to trouble us to get out ;
but that an emigrant's wagon had blocked up the
ford of a creek which we had to cross ; and he
feared we might be wetted if we remained in the
Btage while he took it through a deeper part. A

VOL. I. L

218

ECONOMY.

gentleman was waiting, he said, to hand us over the
log which was to be our bridge. This gentleman, I
believe, was the emigrant himselt I made for what
seemed to me the end of the log ; but was deceived
by the treacherous moonlight, which made wood,
ground, and water, look all one colour. I plunged
up to the waist into the creek ; and, when I was
out again, could hardly keep upon the log for laugh-
ing. There was time, before we overtook the rest
of the party, to provide against my taking cold ;
and there remained only the ridiculous image of my
deliberate walk into the water.

It must not be supposed a common circumstance
that an emigrant's wagon was left in a creek. The
" camping out 99 is usually done in a sheltered, dry
spot in the woods, not far from some little stream,
where the kettle may be filled, and where the dusty
children may be washed. Sleepy as I might be, in our
night journeys, I was ever awake to this picture, and
never tired of contemplating it. A dun haze would
first appear through the darkness ; and then gleams
of light across the road. Then the whole scene
opened. If earlier than ten at night, the fire would
be blazing, the pot boiling, the shadowy horses be-
hind, at rest, the groups fixed in their attitudes to
gaze at us, whether they were stretching their sail-
cloth on poles to windward, or drawing up the carts
in line, or gathering sticks, or cooking. While
watching us, they little thought what a picture they
themselves made. If after midnight, the huge fire
was flickering and smouldering ; figures were seen
crouching under the sailcloth, or a head or two was
lifted up in the wagon. A solitary figure was seen
in relief against the fire ; the watch, standing to
keep himself awake ; or, if greeted by our driver,
thrusting a pine slip into the fire, and approaching
with his blazing torch to ask or to give information.
In the morning, the places where such encamp-

ECONOMY.

219

ments have been cannot be mistaken. There is a
clear, trodden space, strewed with chips and refuse
food, with the bare poles which had supported the
sailcloth, standing in the midst, and a scorched spot
wjhere the fire had been kindled. Others, besides
emigrants, camp out in the woods. Farmers, on
their way to a distant market, find it cheaper to
bring food, and trust otherwise to the hospitality
of dame Nature, than to put up at hotels. Be-
tween the one and the other, we were amply treated
with the untiring spectacle.

1 We had bespoken accommodations for the night
at the hotel at Montgomery, by a friend who had
preceded us. On our arrival at past eleven o'clock,
we found we were expected ; but no one would
have guessed it. In my chamber, there was neither
water, nor sheets, nor anything that afforded a
prospect of my getting to rest, wet as my clothes
were. We were hungry, and tired, and cold ; and
there was no one to help us but a slave, who set
about her work as slaves do. We ate some biscuits
that we had with us, and gave orders, and made
requests with so much success as to have the room
in tolerable order by an hour after midnight. When
I awoke in the morning, the first thing I saw was,
that two mice were running after one another round
my trunk, and that the floor of the room seemed
to contain the dust of a twelvemonth. The breakfast
was to atone for all. The hostess and another
lady, three children, and an array of slaves, placed
themselves so as to see us eat our breakfast ; but
it seemed to me that the contents of the table were
more wonderful to look at than ourselves. Besides
the tea and coffee, there were corn bread, buns,
buck-wheat cakes, broiled chicken, bacon, eggs,
rice, hominy, fish, fresh and pickled, and beef-steak.
The hostess strove to make us feel at home, and
recommended her plentiful meal by her hearty

l 2

220

ECONOMY.

welcome to it She was anxious to explain that
her house was soon to be in better order. Her hus-
band was going to Mobile to buy furniture ; and,
just now, all was in confusion, from her head slave
having swallowed a fish bone, and being unable to
look after the affairs of the house. When our
friends came to carry us to their plantation, she
sent in refreshments, and made herself one of the
party, in all heartiness.

It was Sunday, and we went to the Methodist
church, hoping to hear the regular pastor, who is a
highly-esteemed preacher. But a stranger was in
the pulpit, who gave us an extraordinary piece of
doctrine, propounded with all possible vehemence.
His text was the passage about the tower of Siloam ;
and his doctrine was that great sinners would somehow
die a violent death. Perhaps this might be thought
a useful proposition in a town where life is held so
cheap as in Montgomery ; but we could not exactly
understand how it was derived from the text. The
place was intensely light and hot, there being no
blinds to the windows, on each side of the pulpit :
and the quietness of the children was not to be
boasted of.

On the way to our friends' plantation, we passed
a party of negroes, enjoying their Sunday drive.
They never appear better than on such occasions,
as they all ride and drive well, and are very gallant
to their ladies. We passed a small prairie, the
first we had seen ; and very serene and pretty it
looked, after the forest. It was green and undu-
lating, with a fringe of trees.

Our friends, now residing seven miles from
Montgomery, were from South Carolina ; and the
lady, at least, does not relish living in Alabama*
It was delightful to me to be a guest in such an
abode as theirs. They were about to build a good
house : meantime, they were in one which I liked

ECONOMY.

221

exceedingly : a log-house, with the usual open pas-
sage in the middle. Roses and honeysuckles, to
which humming-birds resort, grew before the door.
Abundance of books, and handsome furniture and
plate, were within the house, while daylight was to
be seen through its walls. In my well- furnished
chamber, I could see the stars through the chinks
between the logs. During the summer, I should
be sorry to change this primitive kind of abode for
a better.

It is not difficult to procure the necessaries and
comforts of life. Most articles of food are provided
on the plantation. Wine and groceries are ob-
tained from Mobile or New Orleans ; and clothing
and furniture from the north. Tea is twenty shil-
lings English per lb. ; brown sugar, threepence-half-
penny ; white sugar, sixpence-halfpenny. A gentle-
man's family, where there are children to be educated,
cannot live for less than from seven hundred pounds
to one thousand pounds per annum. The sons take
land and buy slaves very early ; and the daughters
marry almost in childhood; so that education is
less thought of, and sooner ended, than in almost
any part of the world. The pioneers of civilisation,
as the settlers in these new districts may be re-
garded, care for other things more than for educa-
tion; or they would not come. They are, from
whatever motive, money-getters ; and few but
money-getting qualifications are to be looked for
in them. It was partly amusing, and partly sad,
to observe the young people of these regions;
some, fit for a better mode of life, discontented ;
some youths pedantic, some maidens romantic, to
a degree which makes the stranger almost doubt
the reality of the scenes and personages before his
eyes. The few better educated who come to get
money, see the absurdity, and feel the wearisome-
ness of this kind of literary cultivation ; but the

222

ECONOMY.

being in such society is the tax they must pay for
making haste to be rich.

I heard in Montgomery of a wealthy old planter
in the neighbourhood, who has amassed millions of
dollars, while his children can scarcely write their
names. Becoming aware of their deficiencies, as
the place began to be peopled from the eastward,
he sent a son of sixteen to school, and a younger
one to college ; but they proved " such gawks," that
they were unable to learn, or even to remain in the
society of others who were learning ; and their old
father has bought land in Missouri, whither he
was about to take his children, to remove them
from the contempt of their neighbours. They are
doomed to the lowest office of social beings ; to be
the mechanical, unintelligent pioneers of* man in
the wilderness. Surely such a warning as this
should strike awe into the whole region, lest they
should also perish to all the best purposes of life,
by getting to consider money, not as a means, but
an end.

I suppose there must be such pioneers ; but the
result is a society which it is a punishment to its
best members to live in. There is pedantry in
those who read ; prejudice in those who do not ;
coxcombry among the young gentlemen ; bad man-
ners among the young ladies ; and an absence of
all reference to the higher, the real objects of life.
When to all this is added that tremendous curse,
the possession of irresponsible power, (over slaves,)
it is easy to see how character must become, in
such regions, what it was described to me on the
spot, " composed of the chivalric elements, badly
combined :" and the wise will feel that, though a
man may save his soul anywhere, it is better to live
on bread and water where existence is most ideal-
ized, than to grow suddenly rich in the gorgeous
regions where mind is corrupted or starved amidst

ECONOMY. 223

the luxuriance of nature. The hard-working settler
of the north-west, who hews his way into indepen-
dence with his own hands, is, or may be, exempt
from the curse of this mental corruption or starva-
tion ; but it falls inevitably and heavily upon those
who fatten upon the bounty of Nature, in the so-
ciety of money-getters like themselves, and through
the labours of degraded fellow-men, whom they
hold in their injurious power.

We saw several plantations while we were in this
neighbourhood. Nothing can be richer than the
soil of one to which we went, to take a lesson in
cotton-growing. It will never want more than to
have the cotton seed returned to it. We saw the
plough, which is very shallow. Two throw up a
ridge, which is wrought by hand into little mounds.
After these are drilled, the seed is put in by hand.
This plantation consists of nine hundred and fifty
acres, and is flourishing in every way. The air is
healthy, as the situation is high prairie land. The
water is generally good; but, after rain, so im-
pregnated with lime, as to be disagreeable to the
smell and taste. Another grievance is, a weed
which grows on the prairie, which the cows like in
summer, but which makes the milk so disagreeable,
that cream, half-an-inch thick, is thrown to the
pigs. They only can estimate this evil who know
what the refreshment of milk is in hot climates.
Another grievance is, that no trees can be allowed
to grow near the house, for fear of the mosquitoes.
Everything else is done for coolness ; there are wide
piazzas on both sides of the house ; the rooms are
lofty, and amply provided with green blinds; but
all this does not compensate to the eye for the want
of the shade of trees. The bareness of the villages
of the south is very striking to the eye of a stranger,
as he approaches them. They lie scorching and
glaring on the rising grounds, or on the plain, hazy

224

ECONOMY.

with the heat, while the forest, with its myriads of
trees, its depth of shade, is on the horizon. But
the plague of mosquitoes is a sufficient warrant for
any sacrifice of the pleasures of the eye ; for they
allow but little enjoyment of anything in their pre-
sence.

On this, and many other estates that we saw,
the ladies make it their business to cut out all the
clothes for the negroes. Many a fair pair of hands
have I seen dyed with blue, and bearing the marks
of the large scissars. The slave women cannot be
taught, it is said, to cut out even their scanty and
unshapely garments economically. Nothing can
be more hideous than their working costume. There
would be nothing to lose on the score of beauty,
and probably much gained, if they could be per-
mitted to clothe themselves. But it is universally
said that they cannot learn. A few ladies keep a
woman for this purpose, very naturally disliking
the coarse employment.

We visited the negro quarter; a part of the
estate which filled me with disgust, wherever I
went. It is something between a haunt of monkeys
and a dwelling-place of human beings. The na-
tural good taste, so remarkable in free negroes, is
here extinguished. Their small, dingy, untidy
houses, their cribs, the children crouching round the
fire, the animal deportment of the grown-up, the
brutish chagrins and enjoyments of the old, were all
loathsome. There was some relief in seeing the
children playing in the sun, and sometimes fowls
clucking and strutting round the houses ; but
otherwise, a walk through a lunatic asylum is far
less painful than a visit to the slave quarter of an
estate. The children are left, during working
hours, in the charge of a woman.; and they are
bright, and brisk, and merry enough, for the season,
however slow and stupid they may be destined to
become.

ECONOMY.

225

My next visit was to a school — the Franklin In-
stitute, in Montgomery, established by a gentle-
man who has bestowed unwearied pains on its
organization, and to whose care it does great credit.
On our approach, we saw five horses walking about
the enclosure, and five saddles hung over the fence:
a true sign that some of the pupils came from a
distance. The school was hung with prints ; there
was a collection of shells ; many books and maps ;
and some philosophical apparatus. The boys, and
a few girls, were steadily employed over their books
and mapping ; and nothing could exceed the order
and neatness of the place. If the event corre-
sponds with the appearance, the proprietor must be
one of the most useful citizens the place has yet
been honoured with.

I spent some days at a plantation a few miles
from Montgomery, and heard there of an old lady
who treats her slaves in a way very unusual, but
quite safe, as far as appears. She gives them
knowledge, which is against the law ; but the law
leaves her in peace and quiet. She also commits
to them the entire management of the estate, re-
quiring onlj that they should make her comfort-
able, and letting them take the rest. There is an
obligation by law to keep an overseer ; to obviate
insurrection. How she manages about this* I
omitted to inquire : but all goes on well ; the cul-
tivation of the estate is creditable, and all parties
are contented. This is only a temporary ease and
contentment. The old lady must die; and her
slaves will either be sold to a new owner, whose
temper will be an accident; or, if freed, must
leave the State : but the story is satisfactory in as
far as it gives evidence of the trust-worthiness of
the negroes.

Our drives about the plantation and neigh-
bouring country were delicious. The inundations

220

ECONOMY.

from the rivers are remarkable; a perfect Eden
appears when they subside. At the landing place
of this plantation, I saw a board nailed near the
top of a lofty tree, and asked what it could be for.
It -was the high- water mark. The river, the Ala-
bama, was now upwards of twenty feet higher than
usual ; and logs, corn-stalks, and green boughs
were being carried down its rapid current, as often
as we went to the shore. There were evidences of
its having laid even houses under water ; but, on it&
subsiding, it would be found to have left a deposit
of two inches and a half of fine new soil on the
fields on either side of its channel. I never stood
on the banks of the southprn rivers without being
reminded of Daniell's Views in India and Ceylon;
the water level, shadowy and still, and the thickets
actually springing out of it, with dark-green re-
cesses, with the relief of a slender white stem, or
dangling creeper here and there. Some creepers
rise like a ladder, straight from the water to a
bough one hundred and twenty feet high. As for the
softness of the evening light on the water, it is in-
describable. It is as if the atmosphere were purified
from all mortal breathings, it is so bright, and yet
not dazzling ; there is such a profusion of verdure.

There were black women ploughing in the field,
with their ugly, scanty, dingy dresses, their wal-
loping gait, and vacant countenance. There were
scarlet and blue birds flitting over the dark fallows.
There was persimon sprouting in the woods, and
i the young corn-plants in the field, with a handful
of cotton- seed laid round each sprout. There was
a view from a bluff which fully equalled all my ex-
pectations of what the scenery of the southern
States would be ; yet, tropical as it was in many
respects, it reminded me strongly of the view from
Richmond Hill. We were standing on the verge
of a precipice, of a height which I dare not specify.

ECONOMY.

/II

A deep fissure to our right was spanned by a log
which it made one shudder to think of crossing.
Behind us lay a cotton-field of 7,000 acres within
one fence. All this, and the young aloes, and wild
vines, were little enough like Richmond; and so
was the faint blue line of hills on the horizon; but
it was the intervening plain, through which the
river ran, and on which an infinite variety of noble
trees grew, as it appeared, to an interminable dis-
tance. Here their tops seemed woven into com-
pactness ; there they were so sprinkled as to dis-
play the majesty and grace of their forms. I
looked upon this as a glorification of the Richmond
view.

It was now the middle of April. In the kitchen
garden the peas were ripening, and the strawber-
ries turning red, though the spring of 1835 was
very backward. We had salads, young asparagus*
and radishes.

The following may be considered a pretty fair
account of the provision for a planter's table, at
this season ; and, except with regard to vegetables,
I believe it does not vary much throughout the
year. Breakfast at seven ; hot wheat bread, gene-
rally sour; corn bread, biscuits, waffles, hominy,
dozens of eggs, broiled ham, beef-steak or broiled
fowl, tea and coffee* Lunch at eleven ; cake and
wine, or liqueur. Dinner at two \ now and then
soup (not good,) always roast turkey and ham ; a
boiled fowl here, a tongue there ; a small piece of
nondescript meat, which generally turns out to be
pork disguised ; hominy, rice, hot corn-bread, sweet
potatoes ; potatoes mashed with spice, very hot ;
salad and radishes, and an extraordinary variety of
pickles. Of these, you are asked to eat everything
with everything else. If you have turkey and ham on
your plate, you are requested to add tongue, pork,
hominy, and pickles. Then succeed pies of apple,

228

ECONOMY.

squash, and pumpkin ; custard, and a variety of
preserves as extraordinary as the preceding pickles :
pine-apple, peach, limes, ginger, guava jelly, co-
coa-nut, and every sort of plums. These are
almost all from the West-Indies. Dispersed about
the table are shell almonds, raisins, hickory, and
other nuts ; and, to crown the whole, large blocks
of ice-cream. Champagne is abundant, and cider
frequent. Ale and porter may now and then be
seen ; but claret is the most common drink. Dur-
ing dinner a slave stands at a corner of the table,
keeping off the flies by waving a large bunch of
peacock's feathers fastened inta a handle, — an
ampler fan than those of our grandmothers.

Supper takes place at six, or seven. Sometimes
the family sits round the table; but more com-
monly the tray is handed round, with plates which
must be held in the lap. Then follow tea and cof-
fee, waffles, biscuits, sliced ham or hung-beef, and
sweet cake. Last of all, is the offer of cake and
wine at nine or ten.

The profits of cotton-growing, when I was in
Alabama, were thirty-five per cent. One planter
whom I knew had bought fifteen thousand dollars'
worth of land within two years, which he could
then have sold for sixty-five thousand dollars. He
expected to make, that season, fifty or sixty
thousand dollars of his growing crop. It is cer-.
tainly the place to become rich in ; but the state
of society is fearful. One of my hosts, a man of
great good-nature, as he shows in the treatment of
his slaves, and in his family relations, had been
stabbed in the back in the reading-room of the
town, two years before, and no prosecution was
instituted. Another of my hosts carried loaded
pistols for a fortnight, just before I arrived,
knowing that he was lain in wait for by persons
against whose illegal practices he had given in-

ECONOMY.

229

formation to a magistrate, whose carriage was
therefore broken in pieces, and thrown into the
river. A lawyer with whom we were in company
one afternoon, was sent for to take the deposition
of a dying man who had been sitting with his fa-
mily in the shade, when he received three balls in
the back from three men who took aim at him
from behind trees. The tales of jail-breaking and
rescue were numberless ; and a lady of Montgo-
mery told me that she had lived there four years,
during which time no day, she believed, had passed
without some one's life having been attempted,
either by duelling or assassination. It will be un-
derstood that I describe this region as presenting
an extreme case of the material advantages and
moral evils of a new settlement, under the institu-
tion of slavery. The most prominent relief is
the hospitality, — that virtue of young society. It
is so remarkable, and to the stranger so grateful,
that there is danger of its blinding him to the real
state of affairs. In the drawing-room, the piazza,
the barouche, all is so gay and friendly, there is
su^ci a prevailing hilarity and kindness, that it
seems positively ungrateful and unjust to pro-
nounce, even in one's own heart, that all this way
of life is full of wrong and peril. Yet it is impos-
sible to sit down to reflect, with every order of
human beings filling an equal space before one's
mental eye, without being struck to the soul with
the conviction that the state of society, and no less
of individual families, is false and hollow, whether
their members are aware of it or not ; that they
forget that they must be just before they can be
generous. The severity of this truth is much soft-
ened to sympathetic persons cn the spot ; but it
returns with awful force when they look back upon
it from afar.

In the slave quarter of a plantation hereabouts

230

ECONOMY.

I saw a poor wretch who had run away three times,
and been re-captured. The last time he was found
in the woods, with both legs frost-bitten above the
knees, so as to render amputation necessary. I
passed by when he was sitting on the door-step of
his hut, and longed to see him breathe his last. But
he is a young man, likely to drag out his helpless
and hopeless existence for many a dreary year. I
dread to tell the rest ; but such things must be
told sometimes, to show to what a pass of fiendish
cruelty the human spirit may be brought by merely
•witnessing the exercise of irresponsible power over
the defenceless. I give the very words of the
speaker, premising that she is not American by
birth or education, nor yet English.

The master and mistress of this poor slave, with
their children, had always treated him and his fel-
low-slaves very kindly. He made no complaint of
them. It was not from their cruelty that he at-
tempted tot escape. His running away was there-
fore a mystery to the person to whom I have al-
luded. She recapitulated all the clothes that had
been given to him ; and all the indulgences, and
forgivenesses for his ingratitude in running away
from such a master, with which he had been blessed.
She told me that she had advised his master and
mistress to refuse him clothes, when he had torn
his old ones with trying to make his way through
the woods ; but his master had been too kind, and
had again covered his nakedness. She turned
round upon me, and asked what could make the
ungrateful wretch run away a third time from such
a master ?

" He wanted to be free."

" Free ! from such a master !."

" From any master."

" The villain ! I went to him when he had had
-his legs cut off, and I said to him, it serves you
right "

ECONOMY.

231

" What ! when you knew he could not run away
any more ?"

" Yes,- that I did ; I said to him, you wretch !
but for your master's sake I am glad it has hap-
pened to you. You deserve it, that you do. If 1
were your master I would let you die ; I'd give
you no help nor nursing. It serves you right ; it
is just what you deserve* It's fit that it should
happen to you .... !"

" You did not — you dared not so insult the mi-
serable creature !" I cried.

" Oh, who knows," replied she, " but that the
Lord may bless a word of grace in season 1"

Some readers may conceive this to be a freak of
idiotcy. It was not so. This person is shrewd and
sensible in matters where rights and duties are not
in question. Of these she is, as it appears, pro-
foundly ignorant ; in a state of superinduced dark-
ness ; but her character is that of a clever, and,
with some, a profoundly religious woman. Hap-
pily, she has no slaves of her own : at least, no
black ones.

I saw this day, driving a wagon, a man who is a
schoolmaster, lawyer, almanack-maker, speculator
in old iron, and dealer in eggs, in addition to a few
other occupations. His must be a very active
existence.

This little history of a portion of my southern
journey may give an idea of what life is in the
wilder districts of the south. I will offer but one
more sketch, and that w ill exemplify life in the wilder
districts of the north. The picture of my travels
in and around Michigan will convey the real state of
things there, at present.

Our travelling party consisted of Mr. and Mrs.
L., the before-mentioned Charley, his father and
mother, and mysel£ We were prepared to see
everything to advantage; for there was strong

232

ECONOMY.

friendship among us all ; and a very unusual agree-
ment of opinion on subjects which education, tem-
perament, or the circumstances of the time, made
most interesting to us. The great ornament of the
party — our prince of Denmark — was Charley; a boy
of uncommon beauty and promise, and fully worthy
of the character given him by one of our drivers,
with whom the boy had ingratiated himself by
his chatter on the box ; — " An eternal smart boy,
and the greatest hand at talk I ever came across."

We landed at Detroit, from Lake Erie, at seven
o'clock in the morning of the 13th of June, 1836.
We reached the American just in time for break-
fast. At that long table, I had The pleasure of
seeing the healthiest set of faces that I had beheld
since I left England. The breakfast was excel-
lent, and we were served with much consideration ;
but the place was so full, and the accommodations
of Detroit are so insufficient for the influx of people
who are betaking themselves thither, that strangers
must patiently put up with much delay and incon-
venience till new houses of entertainment are
opened. We had to wait till near one o'clock be-
fore any of us could have a room in which to dress ;
but I had many letters to write, and could wait ;
and before I had done, Charley came with his
shining face and clean collar, to show me that ac-
commodation had been provided. In the afternoon,
we saw what we could of the place, and walked by
the side of the full and tranquil river St. Clair.
The streets of the town are wide and airy ; but the
houses, churches, and stores, are poor for the
capital city of a Territory or State. This is a
defect which is presently cured, in the stirring
northern regions of the United States. Wooden
planks, laid on the grass, form the pavement, in all
the outskirts of the place. The deficiency is of
stone, not of labour. Thousands of settlers are

ECONOMY.

233

pouring in every year ; and of these, many are
Irish, Germans, or Dutch, working their way into
the back country, and glad to be employed for a
while at Detroit, to earn money to carry them
further. Paving-stones will be imported here, I
suppose, as I saw them at New Orleans, to the
great improvement of the health and comfort of
the place. The block-wood pavement, of which
trial has been made in a part of Broadway, New
York, is thought likely to answer better at De-
troit than any other kind, and is going to be
tried.

Th6 country round Detroit is as flat as can be
imagined ; and, indeed, it is said that the highest
mountain in the State boasts only sixty feet of ele-
vation. A lady of Detroit once declared, that if she
were to build a house in Michigan, she would build
a hill first. The Canada side of the river looks
dull enough from the city; but I cannot speak
from a near view of it, having been disappointed
in my attempts to get over to it. On one occa-
sion, we were too late for the ferry-boat ; and we
never had time again for the excursion.

A cool wind from the northern lakes blows over
the whole face of the country, in the midst of the
hottest days of summer; and in the depth of
winter, the snow never lies deep, nor long. These
circumstances may partly account for the healthi-
ness of the row of faces at the table of the Ame-
rican.

The society of Detroit is very choice ; and, as it
has continued so since the old colonial days,
through the territorial days, there is every reason
to think that it will become, under its new digni-
ties, a more and more desirable place of residence.
Some of its inferior society is still very youthful ;
a gentleman, for instance, saying in the reading-
room, in the hearing of one of our party, that,

234

ECONOMY.

though it did not sound well at a distance, Lynch-
ing# was the only way to treat Abolitionists: but
the most enlightened society is, I believe, equal to
any which is to be found in the United States.
Here we began to see some of the half-breeds, of
whom we afterwards met so many at the north.
They are the children of white men who have married
squaws ; and may be known at a glance, not only
by the dark complexion, but by the high cheek-
bones, straight black hair, and an indescribable
mischievous expression about the eyes. I never
saw such imps and Flibbertigibbets as the half-breed
boys that we used to see rowing or diving in the
waters, or playing pranks on the shores of Mi-
chigan.

We had two great pleasures this day ; a drive
along the quiet Lake St. Clair, and a charming even-
ing party at General Mason's. After a pilgrimage
through the State of New York, a few exciting
days at Niagara, and a disagreeable voyage along
Lake Erie, we were prepared to enjoy to the utmost
the novelty of a good evening party ; and we were
as merry as children at a ball. It was wholly un-
expected to find ourselves in accomplished society
on the far side of Lake Erie ; and there was some-
thing stimulating in the contrast between the high
civilisation of the evening, and the primitive scenes
that we were to plunge into the next day. Though

* It is possible that this term may not yet be familiar to some
of my English readers. It means summary punishment. The
modes now in use among those who take the law into their own
hands in the United States, are tarring and feathering, scourging
with a cow-hide, banishing, and hanging. The term owes its
derivation to a farmer of the name of Lynch, living on the Mis-
sissippi, who, in the absence of court and lawyers, constituted
himself a judge, and ordered summary punishment to be inflicted
on an offender. He little foresaw the national disgrace which
would arise from the extension of the practice to which he gave
his name.

0

ECONOMY*

235

we had to pack up and write, and be off very early
in the morning, we were unable to persuade our-
selves to go home till late; and then we talked over
Detroit as if we were wholly at leisure.

The scenery of Lake St. Clair was new to me.
I had seen nothing in the United States like its
level green banks, with trees slanting over the
water, festooned with the wild vine ; the groups of
cattle beneath them; the distant steam-boat, scarcely
seeming to disturb the grey surface of the still
waters. This was the first of many scenes in Mi-
chigan which made me think of Holland ; though
the day of canals has not yet arrived.

15th. An obliging girl at the American provided
us with coffee and biscuits at half-past five, by
which time our " exclusive extra" was at the door.
Charley had lost his cap. It was impossible that
he should go bare-headed through the State ; and
it was lucky for us that a store was already open
where he was furnished in a trice with a willow-hat.
The brimming river was bright in the morning
sun ; and our road was, for a mile or two, thronged
with Indians. Some of the inhabitants of Detroit,
who knew the most about their dark neighbours,
told me that they found it impossible to be roman-
tic about these poor creatures. We, however, could
not help feeling the excitement of the spectacle,
when we saw them standing in their singularly
majestic attitudes by the road-side, or on a rising
ground : one, with a bunch of feathers tied at the
back of the head ; another, with his arms folded in
his blanket ; and a third, with her infant lashed to
a board, and thus carried on her shoulders. Their
appearance was dreadfully squalid.

As soon as we had entered the woods, the roads
became as bad as, I suppose, roads ever are. Some-
thing snapped, and the driver cried out that we
were " broke to bits." The team-bolt had given

230

ECONOMY.

way. Our gentlemen, and those of the mail-stage,
which happened to be at hand, helped to mend the
coach ; and we ladies walked on, gathering abun-
dance of flowers, and picking our way along the
swampy corduroy road. In less than an hour,
the stage took us up, and no more accidents hap-
pened before breakfast. We were abundantly
amused while our meal was preparing at Danvers-
ville. One of the passengers of the mail-stage
took up a violin, and offered to play to us. Books
with pictures were lying about. The lady of the
house sat by the window, fixing her candle-wicks
into the moulds. In the piazza, sat a party of
emigrants, who interested us much. The wife had
her eight children with her ; the youngest, puny
twins. She said she had brought them in a wagon
four hundred miles ; and if they could only live
through the one hundred that remained before
they reached her husband's lot of land, she hoped
they might thrive ; but she had been robbed, the
day before, of her bundle of baby things. Some
one had stolen it from the wagon. After a good
meal, we saw the stage-passengers stowed into a
lumber wagon ; and we presently followed in our
more comfortable vehicle.

Before long, something else snapped. The
splinter-bar was broken. The driver was morti-
fied ; but it was no fault of his. Juggernaut's car
would have been " broke to bits" on such a road.
We went into a settler's house, where we were
welcomed to rest and refresh ourselves. Three
years before, the owner bought his eighty acres of
land for a dollar an acre. He could now sell it for
twenty dollars an acre. He shot, last year, a
hundred deer, and sold them for three dollars
a-piece. He and his family need have no fears of
poverty. We dined well, nine miles before reach-
ing Ypsilanti. The log-houses, — always comforta-

ECONOMY.

237

ble when well made, being easily kept clean, cool
in summer, and warm in winter, — have here an air
of beauty about them. The hue always harmonizes
well with the soil and vegetation. Those in Mi-
chigan have the bark left on, and the corners
sawn off close ; and are thus both picturesque and
neat.

At Ypsilanti, I picked up an Ann Arbor news-
paper. It was badly printed ; but its contents were
pretty good ; and it could happen nowhere out of
America, that so raw a settlement as that at Ann
Arbor, where there is difficulty in procuring decent
accommodations, should have a newspaper.

It was past seven before we left the inn at Ypsi-
lanti, to go thirteen miles further. We departed on
foot. There was a bridge building at Ypsilanti;
but, till it was ready, all vehicles had to go a mile
down the water-side to the ferry, while the pas-
sengers generally preferred crossing the foot-bridge,
and walking on through the wood. We found in
our path, lupins, wild geraniums, blue-eye grass,
blue iris, wild sunflower, and many others. The
mild summer night was delicious, after the fatigues
of the day. I saw the youngest of golden moons,
and two bright stars set, before we reached Wal-
lace's Tavern, where we were to sleep. Of course,
we were told that there was no room for us ; but,
by a little coaxing and management, and one of
the party consenting to sleep on the parlour-floor,
everything was made easy.

16th. We were off by half-past six; and, not
having rested quite enough, and having the prospect
of fourteen miles before breakfast, we, with one
accord, finished our sleep in the stage. We reached
Tecumseh by half-past nine, and perceived that its
characteristic was chair-making. Every other house
seemed to be a chair manufactory. One bore the
inscription, " Cousin George's Store:" the meaning

238

ECONOMY.

of which I do not pretend to furnish. Perhaps the
idea is, that purchasers may feel free and easy, as
if dealing with cousin George. Everybody has a
cousin George. Elsewhere, we saw a little hotel
inscribed, " Our House ;r a prettier sign than
" Traveller's Rest," or any other such tempting in-
vitation that I am acquainted with. At Tecumseh,
I saw the first strawberries of the season. All
that I tasted in Michigan, of prairie growth,
were superior to those of the west, grown in
gardens.

Charley was delighted to-day by the sight of
several spotted fawns, tamed by children. If a
fawn be carried a hundred yards from its bush, it
will follow the finder, and remain with him, if
kindly treated. They are prettiest when very
young, as they afterwards lose their spots.

We fairly entered the "rolling country" to-day:
and nothing could be brighter and mope flourishing
than it looked. The young corn was coming up
well in the settlers' fields. The copses, called
w oak-openings," looked fresh after the passing
thunder-showers; and so did the rising grounds,
strewed with wild flowers and strawberries. " The
little hills rejoiced on every side." The ponds,
gleaming between the hills and copses, gave a park-
like air to the scenery. The settlers leave trees
in their clearings ; and from these came the song
of the wood-thrush ; and from the dells the cry of
the quail. There seemed to be a gay wood-pecker
to every tree.

Our only accident to-day was driving over a poor
hog : we can only hope it died soon. Wherever
we stopped, we found that the crowds of emigrants
had eaten up all the eggs; and we happened to
think eggs the best article of diet of all on a jour-
ney. It occurred to me that we might get some
by the way, and carry them on to our resting-

ECONOMY.

239

place. All agreed that we might probably pro-
cure them : but how to carry them safely over such
roads was the question. This day we resolved to
try. We made a solemn stir for eggs in a small
settlement ; and procured a dozen. We each car-
ried one in each hand, — except Charley, who was
too young to be trusted. His two were wrapped
up each in a bag. During eight miles of jolting,
not one was hurt; and we delivered them to
our host at Jonesville with much satisfaction. We
wished that some of our entertainers had been as
rich as a Frenchman at Baltimore, who, talking of
his poultry-yard, informed a friend that he had
" fifty head of hen."

At Jonesville, the ladies and Charley were fa-
voured with a large and comfortable chamber. The
gentlemen had to sleep with the multitude below ;
ranged like walking-sticks, or umbrellas,on a shop-
counter.

17th. The road was more deplorable than ever
to-day. The worst of it was, that whenever it was
dangerous for the carriage, so that we were obliged
to get out, it was, in proportion, difficult to be
passed on foot. It was amusing to see us in such
passes as we had to go through to-day. I gene-
rally acted as pioneer, the gentlemen having their
ladies to assist ; and it was pleasant to stand on
some dry perch, and watch my companions through
the holes and pools that I had passed. Such hop-
ping and jumping; such slipping and sliding; such
looks of despair from the middle of a pond ; such
shifting of logs, and carrying of planks, and hand-
ing along the fallen trunks of trees ! The driver,
meantime, was looking back provokingly from his
box, having dragged the carriage through; and
far behind stood Charley, high and dry, singing or
eating his bit of bread, till his father could come
back for him. Three times this day was such a

240

ECONOMY.

scene enacted; and, the third time, there was a
party of emigrant ladies to be assisted, too. When
it was all over, and I saw one with her entire feet
cased in mud, I concluded we must all be very
wet, and looked at my own shoes : and lo ! even
the soles were as dry as when they were made !
How little the worst troubles of travelling amount
to, in proportion to the apprehension of them !
What a world of anxiety do travellers suffer lest
they should get wet, or be without food ! How
many really faint with hunger, or fall into an ague
with damp and cold ? I was never in danger of
either the one or the other, in any of the twenty-
three States which I visited.

At one part of our journey to-day, where the
road was absolutely impassable, we went above a
mile through the wood, where there was no track,
but where the trees are blazed, to serve as guide-
posts, summer and winter. It was very wild. Our
carriage twisted and wound about to avoid blows
against the noble beech-stems. The waters of the
swamp plashed under our wheels, and the boughs
crunched overhead. An overturn would have been
a disaster in such a place. We travelled only forty-
two miles this long day; but the weariness of the
way was much beguiled by singing, by a mock ora-
tion, story-telling, and other such amusements. The
wit and humour of Americans, abundant under
ordinary circumstances, are never, I believe, known
to fail in emergencies, serious or trifling. Their
humour helps themselves and their visitors through
any Sloughs of Despond, as charitably as their in-
finite abundance of logs through the swamps of
their bad roads.

We did not reach Sturgis's Prairie till night
We had heard so poor an account of the stage-
house, that we proceeded to another, whose owner
has the reputation of treating his guests magnifi-

ECONOMY.

241

cently, or not at all. He treated us on juste milieu
principles. He did what he could for us ; and that
could not be called magnificent. The house was
crowded with emigrants. When, after three hours
waiting, we had supper, two full-grown persons
were asleep on some blankets in the corner of the
room, and as many as fifteen or sixteen children on
chairs and on the floor. Our hearts ached for one
mother. Her little girl, two years old, had either
sprained or broken her arm, and the mother did
not know what to do with it. The child shrieked
when the arm was touched, and wailed mournfully
at other times. We found in the morning, how-
ever, that she had had some sleep. I have often
wondered since how she bore the motion of the
wagon on the wTorst parts of the road. It was
oppressively hot. I had a little closet, whose door
would not shut, and which was too small to give
me room to take off the soft feather-bed. The
window would not keep open without being propped
by the tin water-jug; and though this was done, I
could not sleep for the heat. This reminds me of
the considerate kindness of an hotel-keeper in an
earlier stage of our journey. When he found that
I wished to have my window open, there being no
fastening, he told me, he would bring his own
tooth-brush for a prop, — which he accordingly did.

18th. Our drive of twelve miles to breakfast
was very refreshing. The roads were the best we
had travelled since we left New York State. We
passed through a wilderness of flowers; trailing
roses, enormous white convolvulus, scarlet lilies,
and ground-ivy, with many others, being added to
those we had before seen. Milton must have tra-
velled in Michigan before he wrote the garden
parts of "Paradise Lost." Sturgis's and White
Pigeon Prairies are highly cultivated, and look
just like any other rich and perfectly level land.

vol. I. M

242

ECONOMY.

We breakfasted at White Pigeon Prairie, and saw
the rising ground where the Indian chief lies
"buried, whose name has been given to the place.

The charms of the settlement, to us, were a kind
landlady, an admirable breakfast, at which eggs
abounded, and a blooming garden. Thirty-seven
miles further brought us to Niles, where we arrived
by five in the afternoon. The roads were so much
improved that we had not to walk at all; which
was well, as there was much pelting rain during
the day.

Niles is a thriving town on the river St. Joseph,
on the borders of the Potowatomie territory.
Three years ago, it consisted of three houses. We
could not learn the present number of inhabitants ;
probably because the number is never the same
two days together. A Potowatomie village stands
within a mile ; and we saw two Indians on horse-
back, fording the rapid river very majestically,
and ascending the wooded hills on the other side.
Many Indian women were atout the streets ; one
with a nose-ring ; some with plates of silver on the
bosom, and other barbaric ornaments. Such a
tremendous storm of thunder and lightning came
on, with a deluge of rain, that we were prevented
seeing anything of the place, except from our win-
dows. I had sent my boots to a cobbler, over the
way. He had to put on India rubbers, which
reached above the knee, to bring his work home ;
the street was so flooded. We little imagined for
the hour the real extent and violence of this storm,
and the effect it would have on our journeying.

The prairie strawberries, at breakfast this morn-
ing, were so large, sweet, and ripe, that we were
inclined for more in the course of the day. Many
of the children of the settlers were dispersed near
the road-side, with their baskets, gathering straw-
berries; they would not sell any: they did not

ECONOMY.

243

know what mother would say if they went home
without any berries for father. But they could
get enough for father, too, they were told, if they
would sell us what they had already gathered.
No; they did not want to sell. Our driver ob-
served, that money was "no object to them." I
began to think that we had, at last, got to the end
of the world ; or rather, perhaps, to the beginning
of another and a better.

19th. No plan could be more cleverly and con-
fidently laid than ours was for this day's journey.
We were to travel through the lands of the Poto-
watomies, and reach the shores of the glorious
Lake Michigan, at Michigan City, in time for an
early supper. We were to proceed on the morrow
round the southern extremity of the lake, so as, if
possible, to reach Chicago in one day. It was
wisely and prettily planned : and the plan was so
far followed, as that we actually did leave Niles
some time before six in the morning. Within three
minutes, it began to rain again, and continued,
with but few and short intervals, all day.

We crossed the St. Joseph by a rope ferry, the
ingenious management of which, when stage-coaches
had to be carried over, was a perpetual study to
me. The effect of crossing a rapid river by a rope-
ferry, by torch-light, in a dark night, is very strik-
ing; and not the less so for one's becoming fami-
liarized with it, as the traveller does in the United
States. As we drove up the steep bank, we found
oui selves in the Indian territory. All was very
wild ; and the more so for the rain. There were
many lodges in the glades, with the red light of
fires hanging around them. The few log huts
looked drenched ; the tree-stems black in the wet;
and the very wild flowers were dripping. The soil
was sandy; so that the ugliest features of a rainy
day, the mud and puddles, were obviated. The

m 2

244

ECONOMY.

sand sucked up the rain, so that we jumped out of
the carriage as often as a wild-flower of peculiar
beauty tempted us. The bride-like, white convol-
vulus, nearly as large as my hand, grew in trails
all over the ground.

The poor, helpless, squalid Potowatomies are
sadly troubled by squatters. It seems hard enough
that they should be restricted within a narrow ter-
ritory, so surrounded by whites that the game is
sure soon to disappear, and leave them stripped of
their only resource. It is too hard that they should
also be encroached upon by men who sit down,
without leave or title, upon lands which are not in-
tended for sale. I enjoyed hearing of an occasional
alarm among the squatters, caused by some threat-
ening demonstrations by the Indians. I should
like to see every squatter frightened away frorh
Indian lands, however advantageous their squatting
may be upon lands which are unclaimed, or whose
owners can defend their own property. I was glad
to hear to-day that a deputation of Potowatomies
had been sent to visit a distant warlike tribe, in
consequence of the importunities of squatters, who
wanted to buy the land they had been living upon.
The deputation returned, painted, and under other
hostile signals, and declared that the Potowatomies
did not intend to part with their lands. We
stopped for some milk, this morning, at the " loca-
tion" of a squatter, whose wife was milking as we
passed. The gigantic personage, her husband,
told us how anxious he was to pay for the land
which repaid his tillage so well ; but that his In-
dian neighbours would not sell. I hope that, by
this time, he has had to remove, and leave them
the benefit of his house and fences. Such an esta-
blishment in the wild woods is the destruction of
the game, — and of those who live upon it.

At breakfast, we saw a fine specimen of a set-

ECONOMY.

245

tier's family. We had observed the prosperity and
cheerfulness of the settlers, ail along the road ; but
this family exceeded the besi;. I never saw such
an affectionate set of people. They, like many
others, were from one of the southern States : and
I was not surprised to find all emigrants from North
and South Carolina well satisfied with the change
they had made. The old lady seemed to enjoy her
pipe, and there was much mirth going on between
the beautiful daughter and all the other men
and maidens. They gave us an excellent breakfast in
one of the two lower rooms ; the table being placed
across the foot of the two beds. No pains were spared
by them to save us from the wet in the stage ; but the
rain was too pelting and penetrating for any defence
to avail long. It streamed in at all corners,
and we gave the matter up for the day. We were
now entering Indiana; and one of our intentions
had been to see the celebrated Door Prairie ; so
called from exquisite views into it being opened
through intervals in the growth of wood with which
it is belted. I did obtain something like an idea of
it through the reeking rain, and thought that it was
the first prairie that I had seen that answered to
my idea of one. But I dare say we formed no con-
ception of what it must be in sunshine, and with
the cloud shadows, which* adorn a prairie as they
do still water.

We reached Laporte, on the edge of the Door
Prairie, at three o'clock, and were told that the
weather did not promise an easy access to Michi-
gan City. We changed horses, however, and set
forward again on a very bad road, along the shore
of a little lake, which must be pretty in fine wea-
ther. Then we entered a wood, and jolted and
rocked from side to side, till, at last, the carriage
leaned three parts over, and stuck. We all jumped
out into the rain, and the gentlemen literally put

246

ECONOMY.

their shoulders to the wheel, and lifted it out of its
hole. The same little incident was repeated in half
an hour. At five or six miles from Laporte, and
seven from Michigan City, our driver stopped, and
held a long parley with somebody by the road side.
The news was that a bridge in the middle of a
marsh had been carried away by a tremendous
freshet ; and with how much log-road on either side,
could not be ascertained till the waters should sub-
side. The mails, however, would have to be car-
ried over, by some means, the next day ; and we
must wait where we were till we could profit by
the post-office experiment. The next question was,
where were we to be harboured ? There was no
house of entertainment near. We shrank from
going back to Laporte over the perilous road which
was growing worse every minute. A family lived
at hand, who hospitably offered to receive us ; and
we were only too ready to accept their kindness.
The good man stopped our acknowledgments by
saying, in the most cheerful manner, " You know
you would not have staid with me, if you could
have helped it ; and I would not have had you, if I
could have helped it : so no more words about it ;
but let us make ourselves comfortable."

We perceived by a glance at the beard and cos-
tume of our host, that there was something remark-
able about him. He was of the Tunker sect
of Baptists, (from Tunken^ to dip,) a very pecu-
liar sect of religionists. He explained, without any
reserve, his faith, and the reasons on which it was
founded.

It was all interesting, as showing how the true
and the fanciful, the principle and the emblem, the
eternal truth and the supposed type, may become
all mixed together, so as to be received alike as
articles of faith. This man might almost compare
with Origen in his mystical divinations of scripture.

ECONOMY.

247

The most profitable and delightful part of his com-
munication related to the operation upon his life and
fortunes of his peace principles. He had gone through
life on the non-resistance principle ; and it was ani-
mating to learn how well it had served him; as every
high exercise of faith does serve every one who has
strength and simplicity of heart to commit himself to
it. It was animating to learn, not only his own consis-
tency, but the force of his moral power over others;
how the careless had been won to thoughtfulness of
his interests, and the criminal to respect of his rights.
He seemed to have unconsciously secured the pro-
mise and the fruit of the life that now is, more effec-
tually than many who think less of that which is
to come. It was done, he said, by always suppos-
ing that the good was in men. His wife won our
hearts by the beauty of her countenance, set off by
the neat plain dress of her sect. She was ill ; but
they made us thoroughly comfortable, without ap-
parently discomposing themselves. Sixteen out of
seventeen children were living; of whom two sons
amd fi\e daughters were absent, and six sons and
three daughters at home : the youngest was three
years old.

Their estate consists of eight hundred acres, a
large portion of which is not yet broken up. The
owner says he walks over the ground once a year,
to see the huckleberries grow. He gave the upset
price for the land ; a dollar and a-quarter an acre.
He is now offered forty dollars an acre, and says
the land is worth fifty, its situation being very ad-
vantageous ; but he does not wish to sell. He has
thus become worth 40,000 dollars in the three years
which have elapsed since he came out of Ohio. His
sons, as they grow up, settle at a distance ; and he
does not want money, and has no inducement to
sell. I have no idea, however, that the huckle-
berries will be long permitted to grow in peace and

ECONOMY.

quiet, in so busy a district as this is destined to
become. The good man will be constrained by
the march and pressure of circumstances, either to
sell or cultivate.

The house, log -built, consisted of three rooms ;
two under one roof; and another apparently added
afterwards. There were also out-houses. In one
of these three rooms, the cooking and eating went
on ; another was given up to us ladies, with a few
of the little children ; and in the other, the rest of
the family, the gentlemen of our party, and another
weather-bound traveller, slept. Huge fires of logs
blazed in the chimneys ; two or three of the little
ones were offered us as hand-maidens; and the
entire abode was as clean as could be conceived.
Here was comfort !

As we warmed and dried ourselves in the chim-
ney corners, and looked upon the clear windows,
the bright tin water-pails, and the sheets and towels
as white as snow, we had only one anxiety. It was
necessary for Mr. and Mrs. L. to be at home, a
thousand miles off, by a particular day. We had
already met with some delays ; and there was no
seeing the end of the present adventure. There
was some doubt whether we should not have done
better to cross the southern end of Lake Michigan,
from Niles to Chicago, by a little steam-boat, the
Delaware, which was to leave Niles a few hours
after our stage. It had been thought of at Niles ;
but there was some uncertainty about the departure
of the boat; and we all anxiously desired to skirt the
extremity of this great inland sea, and to see the
new settlements on its shores. Had we done right
in incurring this risk of detention? Right or wrong,
here we were ; and here we must wait upon events.

Our sleep, amidst the luxury of cleanliness and
hospitality, was most refreshing. The next morn-
ing it was still raining, hut less vehemently. After

ECONOMY.

249

breakfast, we ladies employed ourselves in sweep*
ing and dusting our room, and making the beds ; '
as we had given our kind hostess too much trouble
already. Then there was a Michigan City newspaper
to be read ; and I sat down to write letters. Before
long, a wagon and four drove up to the door, the
driver of which cried out that if there was any get-
ting to Michigan City, he was our man. We equip-
ped ourselves in our warmest and thickest clothing,
put on our india rubber shoes, packed ourselves
and our luggage in the wagon, put up our umbrel-
las, and wondered what was to be our fate. When
it had come to saying farewell, our hostess put her
hands on my shoulders, kissed me on each cheek,
and said she had hoped for the pleasure of our com-
pany for another day. For my own part, I would
w ilhngly take her at her word, if my destiny should
ever carry me near the great lakes again.

We jolted on for two miles and a half through
the woods, admiring the scarlet lilies, and the pink
and white moccasin flower, which was brilliant.
Then we arrived at the place of the vanished bridge.
Our first prospect was of being paddled over, one
by one, in the smallest of boats. But, when the
capabilities of the place were examined, it was de-
cided that we should wait in a house on the hill,
while the neighbours, the passengers of the mail-
stage, and the drivers, built a bridge. We waited
patiently for nearly three hours, watching the busy
men going in and out, gathering tidings of the
freshet, and its effects, and being pleased-to see
how affectionate the woman of the house was to her
husband, while she was cross to everybody else.
It must have been vexatious to her to have her floor
made wet and dirty, and all her household opera-
tions disturbed by a dozen strangers whom she had
never invited. She let us have some dough nuts,
and gave us a gracious glance or two at parting.

m 5

250

ECONOMY.

We learned that a gentleman who followed us
from Niles, the preceding day, found the water nine
feet deep, and was near drowning his horses, in a
place which we had crossed without difficulty. This
very morning, a bridge which we had proved and
passed, gave way with the stage, and the horses had
to be dug and rolled out of the mud, when they
were on the point of suffocation. Such a freshet
had never been known to the present inhabitants.

Our driver was an original ; and so were some of
the other muddy gentlemen who came in to dry
themselves, after their bridge making. One asked
if such an one was not a " smart fellow/' " He !
he can't see through a ladder." Our driver informed
us, " when they send a man to jail here, they put
him abroad into the woods. Only, they set a man
after him, that they may know where he is." A
pretty expensive method of imprisonment, though
there be no bills for jail building. This man con-
versed with his horses in much the same style as with
us, averring that they understood him as well. On
one occasion, he boxed the ears of one of the leaders,
for not standing still when bidden, declaring, " If
you go on doing so, Til give you something you
can't buy at the grocer's shop." 1 was not before
aware that there was anything that was not to be
bought at a back-country grocer's shop.

At half-past two, the bridge was announced com-
plete, and we re-entered our wagon, to lead the
cavalcade across it. Slowly, anxiously, with a man
at the head of each leader, we entered the water,
and saw it rise to the nave of the wheels. Instead
of jolting, as usual* we mounted and descended each
log individually. The mail-wagon followed, with
two or three horsemen. There was also a singu-
larly benevolent personage, who jumped from the
other wagon, and waded through all the doubtful
places, to prove them. He leaped and splashed

ECONOMY.

251

through the water, which was sometimes up to his
waist, as if it was the most agreeable sport in the
world. In one of these gullies, the fore part of our
wagon sank and stuck, so as to throw us forward,
and make it doubtful in what mode we should
emerge from the water. Then the rim of one of
the wheels was found to be loose ; and the whole
cavalcade stopped till it was mended. I never could
understand how wagons were made in the back-
country ; they seemed to be elastic, from the shocks;
and twisting they would bear without giving way.
To form an accurate idea of what they have to bear,
a traveller should sit on a seat without springs,
placed between the hind wheels, and thus proceed
on a corduroy road. The effect is less fatiguing
and more amusing, of riding in a wagon whose seats
are on springs, while the vehicle itself is not. In
that case, the feet are dancing an involuntary jigr
all the way ; while the rest of the body is in a state
of entire repose.

The drive was so exciting and pleasant, the rain
having ceased, that I was taken by surprise by our
arrival at Michigan City. The driver announced
our approach by a series of flourishes on one note
of his common horn, which made the most ludi-
crous music I ever listened to. How many minutes
he went on, I dare not say ; but we were so con-
vulsed with laughter that we could not alight with
becoming gravity, amidst the groups in the piazza
of the hoteL The man must be first cousin to
Paganini.

Such a city as this was surely never before seen.
It is three years since it was begun ; and it is said
to have one thousand five hundred inhabitants. It
is cut out of the forest, and curiously interspersed
with little swamps, which we no doubt saw in their
worst condition after the heavy rains. New, good
houses, some only half finished, stood in the midst

252

ECONOMY*

of the thick wood. A large area was half cleared.
The finished stores were scattered about ; and the
streets were littered with stumps. The situation
is beautiful. The undulations of the ground, within
and about it, and its being closed in by lake or
forest on every side, render it unique. An appro-
priation has been made by Government for a har-
bour ; and two piers are to be built out beyond the
sand, as far as the clay soil of the lake. Mr. L —
and I were anxious to see the mighty fresh water
sea. We made inquiry in the piazza ; and a sandy
hill, close by, covered with the pea vine, was pointed
out to us. We ran up it, and there beheld what we
had come so far to see. There it was, deep, green,
and swelling on the horizon, and whitening into a
broad and heavy surf as it rolled in towards the
shore. Hence, too, we could make out the geogra-
phy of the city. The whole scene stands insulated
in my memory, as absolutely singular ; and, at this
distance of time, scarcely credible. I was so well
aware on the spot that it would be so, that I made
careful and copious notes of what I saw : but me-
moranda have nothing to do with such emotions as
were caused by the sight of that enormous body of
tumultuous waters, rolling in apparently upon the
helpless forest, — everywhere else so majestic.

The day was damp and chilly, as we were told
every day is here. There is scarcely ever a day of
summer in which fire is not acceptable. The win-
dows were dim; the metals rusted, and the new
wood about the house red with damp. We could
not have a fire. The storm had thrown down a
chimney ; and the house was too full of workmen,
providing accommodation for future guests, to al-
low of the comfort of those present being much
attended to. We were permitted to sit round a flue
in a chamber, where a remarkably pretty and grace-
ful girl was sewing. She has a widowed mother to

ECONOMY.

253

support, and she " gets considerable" by sewing
here, where the women lead a bustling life, which
leaves no time for the needle. We had to wait long
for something to eat ; that is, till supper time ; for
the people are too busy to serve up anything be-
tween meals. Two little girls brought a music
book, and sang to us ; and then we sang to them ;
and then Dr. F. brought me two harebells, — one
of the rarest flowers in the country. I found some
at Trenton Falls ; and in one or two other rocky
and sandy places ; but so seldom as to make a soli-
tary one a great treasure.

Our supper of young pork, good bread, potatoes,
preserves, and tea, was served at two tables, where
the gentlemen were in proportion to the ladies as
ten to one. In such places, there is a large pro-
portion of young men who are to go back for wives
when they have gathered a few other comforts
about them. The appearance of health was as
striking as at Detroit, and everywhere on this side
of Lake Erie.

Immediately after supper we went for a walk,
which, in peculiarity, comes next to that in the
Mammoth Cave ; if, indeed, it be second to it. The
scene was like what I had always fancied the Nor-
way coast, but for the wild flowers, which grew
among the pines on the slope, almost into the tide.
I longed to spend an entire day on this flowery and
shadowy margin of the inland sea. I plucked
handfuls of pea-vine and other trailing flowers, which
seemed to run over all the ground. We found on
the sands an army, like Pharaoh's drowned host, of
disabled butterflies, beetles, and flies of the richest
colours and lustre, driven over the lake by the storm.
Charley found a small turtle alive. An elegant
little schooner, " the Sea Serpent of Chicago," was
stranded, and formed a beautiful object as she lay
dark between the sand and the surf. The sun was

254

ECONOMY.

going down. We watched the sunset, not remem-
bering that the refraction above the fresh waters
would probably cause some remarkable appearance.
We looked at one another in amazement at what we
saw. First, there were three gay, inverted rain-
bows between the water and the sun, then hidden
behind a little streak of cloud. Then the sun
emerged from behind this only cloud, urn-shaped ;
a glistering golden urn. Then it changed, rather
suddenly, to an enormous golden acorn. Then to
a precise resemblance, except being prodigiously
magnified, of Saturn with his ring. This was the
most beautiful apparition of all. Then it was
quickly narrowed and elongated till it was like the
shaft of a golden pillar ; and thus it went down
square. Long after its disappearance, a lustrous,
deep crimson dome, seemingly solid, rested steadily
on the heaving waters. An inexperienced naviga-
tor might be pardoned for making all sail towards
it; it looked so real. What do the Indians think
of such phenomena ? Probably as the child does of
the compass, the upas tree, and all the marvels of
Madame Genlis" story of Alphonso and Dalinda;
that such things are no more wonderful than all
other things. The age of wonder from natural ap-
pearances has not arrived in children and savages.
It is one of the privileges of advancing years. A
grave Indian, who could look with apathy upon the
cataract and all the tremendous shows of the wilder-
ness, found himself in a glass-house at Pittsburg.
He saw a glassblower put a handle upon a pitcher.
The savage was transported out of his previous si-
lence and reserve. He seized and grasped the hand
of the workman, crying out that it was now plain
that he had had intercourse with the Great Spirit.
I remember in my childhood, being more struck
with seeing a square box made in three minutes out
of a* piece of writing-paper, than with all that I

ECONOMY.

255

read about the loadstone and the lunar influence
upon the tides. In those days I should have looked
upon this Indiana sunset with the same kind of
feeling as upon a cloud which might look " very
like a whale."

We walked briskly home, beside the skiey sea,
with the half-growrn moon above us, riding high.
Then came the struggling for room to lie down,
for sheets and fresh water. The principal range
of chambers could have been of no manner of
use to us, in their present state. There were, I
think, thirty, in one range along a passage. A
small bed stood in the middle of each, made up for
use ; but the walls were as yet only scantily lathed,
without any plaster ; so that everything was visible
along the whole row. They must have been de-
signed for persons who cannot see through a ladder.

When I arose at daybreak, I found myself stiff with
cold. No wonder : the window, close to my head,
had lost a pane. I think the business of a peram-
bulating glazier might be a very profitable one, in
most parts of the United States. When we seated
ourselves in our wagon, we found that the leathern
cushions were soaked with wet ; like so many
sponges. They were taken in to a hot fire, and
soon brought out, each sending up a cloud of
steam. Blankets were furnished to lay over them ;
and we set off. We were cruelly jolted through
the bright dewy wroods, for four miles, and then
arrived on the borders of a swamp where the bridge
had been carried away. A man waded in; de-
clared the depth to be more than six feet ; how
much more he could not tell. There was nothing
to be done but to go back. Back again we jolted,
and arrived at the piazza of the hotel just as the
breakfast-bell was ringing. All the ¥ force" that
could be collected on a hasty summons, — that is,
almost every able-bodied man in the city and neigh-

256

ECONOMY.

bourhood, was sent out with axes to build us a
bridge. We breakfasted, gathered and dried
flowers, and wandered about till ten o'clock, when
we were summoned to try our fortune again in the
wagon. We found a very pretty scene at the
swamp. Part of the " force" was engaged on our
side of the swamp, and part on the other. As we
sat under the trees, making garlands and wreaths
of fiWers and oakleaves for Charley, we could see
one lofty tree-top after another, in the opposite
forest, tremble and fall ; and the workmen cluster
about it, like bees, lop off its branches, and, in a
trice, roll it, an ugly log, into the water, and pin
it down upon the sleepers. Charley was as busy
as anybody, making islands in the water at the
edge of the marsh. The moccasin flower grew
here ui great profusion and splendour. We sat
thus upwards of two hours ; and the work done in
that time appeared almost incredible. But the
Americans in the back country seem to like the
repairing of accidents — a social employment —
better than their regular labour ; and even the
drivers appeared to prefer adventurous travelling
to easy journeys. A gentleman in a light gig made
the first trial of the new bridge : our wagon fol-
lowed, plunging and rocking, and we scrambled in
safety up the opposite bank.

- There were other bad places in the road, but
none which occasioned further delay. The next
singular scene was an expanse of sand, before
reaching the lake-shore, — sand, so extensive, hot,
and dazzling, as to realise very fairly one's con-
ceptions of the middle of the Great Desert; except
for the trailing roses which skirted it. I walked
on, a-head of the whole party, till I had lost sight
of them behind some low sand-hills. Other such
hills hid the lake from me ; and, indeed, I did not
know how near it was. I had ploughed my way

ECONOMY.

257

through the ankle-deep sand till I was much heated,
and turned in hope of meeting a breath of wind.
At the moment, the cavalcade came slowly into
view from behind the hills ; the labouring horses,
the listless walkers, and smoothly rolling vehicles,
all painted absolutely black against the dazzling
sand. It was as good as being in Arabia. For
cavalcade, one might read caravan. Then the
horses were watered at a single house on the
beach ; and wre proceeded on the best part of our
day's journey ; a ride of seven miles on the hard
sand of the beach, actually in the lapsing waves.
We saw another vessel ashore, with her cargo
piled upon the beach* The sight of the clear waters
suggested thoughts of bathing. Charley dearly
loves bathing. He follows the very natural prac-
tice of expressing himself in abstract propositions
when his emotions are the strongest. He heard
the speculations on the facilities for bathing which
might offer at our resting-place ; and besought his
mother to let him bathe. He was told that it was
doubtful whether we should reach our destination
before sunset, and whether any body would be able
to try the water. Might he ask his father ? — Yes :
but he would find his father no more certain than
the rest of us. " Mother," cried the boy, in an
agony of earnestness, " does not a father know
when his child ought to bathe ?" — There was no
bathing. The sun had set, and it was too cold.

The single house at which we were to stop for
the night, while the mail-wagon, with its passengers,
proceeded, promised well, at first sight. It was a
log-house on a sand-bank, perfectly clean below
stairs, and prettily dressed with green boughs. We
had a good supper, (except that there was an ab-
sence of milk,) and we concluded ourselves for-
tunate in our resting-place. Never was there a
greater mistake. We walked out, after supper,

258

ECONOMY*

and when we returned, found that we could not
have any portion of the lower rooms. There was
a loft, which I will not describe, into which, having
ascended a ladder, we were to be all stowed, I
would fain have slept on the soft sand, out of
doors, beneath the wagon; but rain came on.
There was no place for us to put our heads into
but the loft. Enough. I will only say that this
house was, as far as I remember, the only place in
the United States where I met with bad treatment.
Everywhere else, people gave me the best they
had, — whether it was bad or good.

On our road to Chicago, the next day, — a road
winding in and out among the sand-hills, we were
called to alight, and run up a bank to see a wreck.
It was the wreck of the Delaware ; — the steamer in
which it had been a question whether we should not
proceed from Niles to Chicago. She had a singular
twist in her middle, where she was nearly broken
in two. Her passengers stood up to the neck in
water, for twenty-four hours before they were taken
off ; a worse inconvenience than any that we had
suffered by coming the other way. The first thing
the passengers from the Delaware did, when they
had dried and warmed themselves on shore, was to
sign a letter to the captain, which appeared in all
the neighbouring newspapers, thanking him for the
great comfort they had enjoyed on board his vessel.
It is to be presumed that they meant previously to
their having to stand up to their necks in water.

In the wood which borders the prairie on which
Chicago stands, we saw an encampment of United
States' troops. Since the rising of the Creeks in
Georgia, some months before, there had been ap-
prehensions of an Indian war along the whole
frontier. It was believed that a correspondence
had taken place among all the tribes, from the
Cumanches, who were engaged to fight for the

ECONOMY.

259

Mexicans in Texas, up to the northern tribes
among whom we were going. It was believed that
the w ar-belt was circulating among the Winneba-
goes, the warlike tribe who inhabit the western
shores of Lake Michigan ; and the government had
sent troops to Chicago, to keep them in awe. It
wras of some consequence to us to ascertain the real
state of the case ; and we were glad to find that
alarm was subsiding so fast, that the troops were
soon allowed to go where they were more wanted.
As soon as they had recovered from the storm
which seemed to have incommoded everybody, they
broke up their encampment, and departed.

Chicago looks raw and bare, standing on the
high prairie above the lake-shore. The houses
appeared all insignificant, and run up in various
directions, without any principle at all. A friend
of mine who resides there had told me that we
should find the inns intolerable, at the period of the
great land sales, which bring a concourse of specu-
lators to the place. It was even so. The very
sight of them was intolerable ; and there was not
room for our party among them all. I do. not know
what we should have done, (unless to betake our-
selves to the vessels in the harbour,) if our coming
had not been foreknown, and most kindly provided
for. We were divided between three families, who
had the art of removing all our scruples about in-
truding on perfect strangers. None of us will lose
the lively and pleasant associations with the place,
which were caused by the hospitalities of its in-
habitants.

I never saw a busier place than Chicago was at
the time of our arrival. The streets were crowded
with land speculators, hurrying from one sale to
another. A negro, dressed up in scarlet, bearing
a scarlet flag, and riding a white horse with hous-
ings of scarlet, announced the times of sale. At

260

ECONOMY.

every street-corner where he stopped, the crowd
flocked round him ; and it seemed as if some pre-
valent mania infected the whole people. The rage
for speculation might fairly be so regarded. As
the gentlemen of our party walked the streets,
store-keepers hailed them from their doors, with
offers of farms, and all manner of land-lots, ad-
vising them to speculate before the price of land
rose higher. A young lawyer, of my acquaintance
there, had realised five hundred dollars per day, the
five preceding days, by merely making out titles
to land. Another friend had realised, in two years,
ten times as much money as he had before fixed
upon as a competence for life. Of course, this
rapid money-making is a merely temporary eviL
A bursting of the bubble must come soon. The
absurdity of the speculation is so striking, that the
wonder is that the fever should have attained such
a height as I witnessed. The immediate occasion
of the bustle which prevailed, the week we were at
Chicago, was the sale of lots, to the value of two
millions of dollars, along the course of a projected
canal; and of another set, immediately behind
these. Persons not intending to game, and not
infected with mania, would endeavour to form some
reasonable conjecture as to the ultimate value of
the lots, by calculating the cost of the canal, the
risks from accident, from the possible competition
from other places, &c, and, finally, the possible
profits, under the most favourable circumstances,
within so many years' purchase. Such a calcula-
tion would serve as some sort of guide as to the
amount of purchase-money to be risked. Whereas,
wild land on the banks of a canal, not yet even
marked out, was selling at Chicago for more than
rich land, well improved, in the finest part of the
valley of the Mohawk, on the banks of a canal which
is already the medium of an almost inestimable

ECONOMY.

261

amount of traffic. If sharpers and gamblers were
to be the sufferers by the impending crash at Chi-
cago, no one would feel much concerned : but they,
unfortunately, are the people who encourage the
delusion, in order to profit by it. Many a high-
spirited, but inexperienced, young man ; many a
simple settler, will be ruined for the advantage of
knaves.

Others, besides lawyers and speculators by trade,
make a fortune in such extraordinary times. A
poor man at Chicago had a pre-emption right to
some land, for which he paid in the morning one
hundred and fifty dollars. In the afternoon, he
sold it to a friend of mine for five thousand dollars.
A poor Frenchman, married to a squaw, had a suit
pending, when I was there, which he was likely to
gain, for the right of purchasing some land by the
lake for one hundred dollars, which would imme-
diately become worth one million dollars.

There was much gaiety going on at Chicago,
as well as business. On the evening of our arrival
a fancy fair took place. As I was too much fa-
tigued to go, the ladies sent me a bouquet of prairie
flowers. There is some allowable pride in the
place about its society. It is a remarkable thing
to meet such an assemblage of educated, refined,
and wealthy persons as may be found there, living
in small, inconvenient houses on the edge of a wild
prairie. There is a mixture, of course. I heard
of a family of half-breeds setting up a carriage,
and wearing fine jewellery. When the present in-
toxication of prosperity passes away, some of the
inhabitants will go back to the eastward; there
will be an accession of settlers from the mechanic
classes ; good houses will have been built for the
richer families, and the singularity of the place
will subside. It will be like all the other new and
thriving lake and river ports of America. Mean-

262

ECONOMY*

time, I am glad to have seen it in its strange early
days.

We dined one day with a gentleman who had
been Indian agent among the Winnebagoes for
some years. He and his lady seem to have had
the art of making themselves as absolutely Indian
in their sympathies and manners as the welfare of
the savages among whom they lived required.
They were the only persons I met with who,
really knowing the Indians, had any regard for
them. The testimony was universal to the good
faith, and other virtues of savage life of the unso-
phisticated Indians ; but they were spoken of in a
tone of dislike, as well as pity, by all but this fa-
mily ; and they certainly had studied their Indian
"neighbours very thoroughly. The ladies of Indian
agents ought to be women of nerve. Our hostess
had slept for weeks with a loaded pistol on each
side her pillow, and a dagger under it, when ex-

Secting an attack from a hostile tribe. The foe
id not, however, come nearer than within a few
miles. Her husband's sister was in the massacre
when the fort was abandoned, in 1812. Her fa-
ther and her husband were in the battle, and her
mother and young brothers and sisters sat in a
boat on the lake near. Out of seventy whites, only
seventeen escaped, among whom were her family.
She was wounded in the ankle, as she sat on her
horse. A painted Indian, in warlike costume,
came leaping up to her, and seized her horse, as
she supposed, to murder her. She fought him
vigorously, and he bore it without doing her any
injury. He spoke, but she could not understand
him. Another frightful savage came up, and the
two led her horse to the lake, and into it, in spite
of her resistance, till the water reached their chins.
She concluded that they meant to drown her ; but
they contented themselves with holding her on her

ECONOMY.

263

horse till the massacre was over, when they led her
out in safety. They were friendly Indians, sent by
her husband to guard her. She could not but ad-
mire their patience when she found how she had
been treating her protectors.

We had the fearful pleasure of seeing various
savage dances performed by the Indian agent and
his brother, with the accompaniments of complete
costume, barbaric music, and whooping. The
most intelligible to us was the Discovery Dance, a
highly descriptive pantomime. We saw the Indian
go out armed for war. We saw him reconnoitre,
make signs to his comrades, sleep, warm himself,
load his rifle, sharpen his scalping-knife, steal
through the grass within rifle-shot of his foes, fire,
scalp one of them, and dance, whooping and tri-
umphing. There was a dreadful truth about the
whole, and it made our blood run cold. It realised
hatred and horror as effectually as Taglioni does
love and grace.

We were unexpectedly detained over the Sun-
day at Chicago ; and Dr. F. was requested to
preach. Though only two hours' notice was given,
a respectable congregation was assembled in the
large room of the Lake House ; a new hotel then
building. Our seats were a few chairs and benches,
and planks laid on trestles. The preacher stood
behind a rough pine-table, on which a large Bible
was placed. I was never present at a more inte-
resting service ; and I know that there were others
who felt with me.

From Chicago, we made an excursion into the
prairies. Our young lawyer-friend threw behind
him the five hundred dollars per day which he
was making, and went with us. I thought him
wise ; for there is that to be had in the wilderness
which money cannot buy. We drove out of the
town at ten o'clock in the morning, too late by two

264

ECONOMY.

hours ; but it was impossible to overcome the in*
troductions to strangers, and the bustle of our pre-
parations, any sooner. Our party consisted of
seven, besides the driver. Our vehicle was a
wagon with four horses.

We had first to cross the prairie, nine miles
wide, on the lake edge of which Chicago stands.
This prairie is not usually wet so early in the
year ; but at this time the water stood almost up
to the nave of the wheels : and we crossed it at a
walking pace. I saw here, for the first time in the
United States, the American primrose. It grew in
profusion over the whole prairie, as far as I could
see; not so large and fine as in English green-
houses, but graceful and pretty. I now found
the truth of what I had read about the difficulty
of distinguishing distances on a prairie. The
feeling is quite bewildering. A man walking near
looks like a Goliath a mile off. I mistook a co-
vered wagon without horses, at a distance of fifty
yards, for a white house near the horizon : and so
on. We were not sorry to reach the belt of trees,
which bounded the swamp we had passed. At a
house here, where we stopped to water the horses,
and eat dough nuts, we saw a crowd of emigrants ;
which showed that we had not yet reached the
bounds of civilisation. A little further on we came
to the river Aux Plaines, spelled on a sign board
" Oplain." The ferry here is a monopoly, and
the public suffers accordingly. There is only one
small flat boat for the service of the concourse of
people now pouring into the prairies. Though we
happened to arrive nearly first of the crowd of to-
day, we were detained on the bank above an hour ;
and then our horses went over at two crossings,
and the wagon and ourselves at the third. It was
a pretty scene, if we had not been in a hurry ; the
country wagons and teams in the wood by the side

ECONOMY.

265

of the quiet clear river ; and the oxen swimming
over, yoked, with only their patient faces visible
above the surface. After crossing, we proceeded
briskly till we reached a single house, where, or
nowhere, we were to dine- The kind hostess be-
stirred herself to provide us a good dinner of tea,
bread, ham, potatoes, and strawberries, of which a
whole pailful, ripe and sweet, had been gathered by
the children in the grass round the house, within
one hour. While dinner was preparing, we amused
ourselves with looking over an excellent small
collection of books, belonging to Miss Cynthia, the
daughter of the hostess.

I never saw insulation, (not desolation,) to com-
pare with the situation of a settler on a wide
prairie. A single house in the middle of Salis-
bury Plain would be desolate. A single house on
a prairie has clumps of trees near it, rich fields
about it; and flowers, strawberries, and running
water at hand. But when I saw a settler's child
tripping out of home-bounds, I had a feeling that
it would never get back again. It looked like put-
ting out into Lake Michigan in a canoe. The soil
round the dwellings is very rich. It makes no dust,
it is so entirely vegetable. It requires merely to be
once turned over to produce largely ; and, at pre-
sent, it appears to be inexhaustible. As we pro-
ceeded, the scenery became more and more like
what all travellers compare it to, — a boundless
English park. The grass was wilder, the occa-
sional footpath not so trim, and the single trees
less majestic; but no park ever displayed any-
thing equal to the grouping of the trees within
the windings of the blue, brimming river Aux
Plaines.

We had met with so many delays that we felt
doubts about reaching the place where we had in-
tended to spend the night. At sunset, we found

VOL. i. n

•266

ECONOMY.

ourselves still nine miles from Joliet;* but we
were told that the road was good, except a small
" slew" or two ; and there was half a moon shining
behind a thin veil of clouds; so we pushed on.
We seemed latterly to be travelling on a terrace
overlooking a wide champaign, where a dark,
waving line might indicate the winding of the
river, between its clumpy banks. Our driver de-
scended, and went forward, two or three times, to
make sure of our road ; and at length, we rattled
down a steep descent, and found ourselves among
houses. This was not our resting-place, however.
The Joliet hotel lay on the other side of the river.
We were directed to a foot-bridge by which we
were to pass ; and a ford below for the wagon.
We strained our eyes in vain for the foot-bridge ;
and our gentlemen peeped and pryed about for
some time. All was still but the rippling river,
and everybody asleep in the houses that were scat-
tered about. We ladies were presently summoned
to put on our water-proof shoes, and alight. A
man showed himself who had risen from his bed to
help us in our need. The foot-bridge consisted, for
some way, of two planks, with a hand-rail on one
side : but, when we were about a third of the way
over, one half of the planks, and the hand-rail, had
disappeared. We actually had to cross the rush-
ing, .deep river on a line of single planks, by dim
moonlight, at past eleven o'clock at night. The
great anxiety was about Charley ; but between his
father and the guide, he managed very well. This
guide would accept nothing but thanks. He " did
not calculate to take any pay." Then we waited
some time for the wagon to come up from the

* preserve the original name, which is that of the first French
missionary who visited these parts. The place is now commonly
called Juliet; and a settlement near has actually been named
Romeo : so that I fear thereis little hope of a restoration of the
honourable primitive name.

ECONOMY. 267

ford. I suspected it had passed the spot where we
stood, and had proceeded to the village, where we
saw a twinkling light, now disappearing, and now
re-appearing. It was so, and the driver came
back to look for us, and tell us that the light we
saw was a signal from the hotel-keeper, whom we
found, standing on his door-step, and sheltering
his candle with his hand. We sat down and drank
milk in the bar, while he went to consult with his
wife what was to be done with us, as every bed in
the house was occupied. We, meanwhile, agreed
that the time was now come for us to enjoy an ad-
venture which we had often anticipated ; sleeping
in a barn. We had all declared ourselves anxious
to sleep in a barn, if we could meet with one that
was air-tight, and well-supplied with hay. Such a
barn was actually on these premises. We were
prevented, however, from all practising the freak
by the prompt hospitality of our hostess. Before
we knew what she was about, she had risen and
dressed herself, put clean sheets on her own bed,
and made up two others on the floor of the same
room ; so that the ladies and Charley were luxuri-
ously accommodated. Two sleepy personages
crawled down stairs to offer their beds to our gen-
tlemen. Mr. L. and our Chicago friend, however,
persisted in sleeping in the barn. Next morning,
we all gave a very gratifying report of our lodgings.
When we made our acknowledgments to our
hostess, ,she said she thought that people who
could go to bed quietly every night ought to be
ready to give up to tired travellers. Whenever she
travels, I hope she will be treated as she treated
us. She let us have breakfast as early as half-past
five, the next morning, and gave Charley a bun at
parting, lest he should be too hungry before we
could dine.

The great object of our expedition, Mount

n 2

268

ECONOMY

Joliet, was two miles distant from this place. We
had to visit it, and perform the journey back to
Chicago, forty miles, before night. The mount is
only sixty feet high ; yet it commands a view which
I shall not attempt to describe, either in its vast-
ness, or its soft beauty. The very spirit of tran-
quillity resides in this paradisy scene. The next
painter who would worthily illustrate Milton's
Morning Hymn, should come and paint what he
sees from Mount Joliet, on a dewy summer's
morning, when a few light clouds are gently sailing
in the sky, and their shadows traversing the prairie.
I thought I had never seen green levels till now ;
and only among mountains had I before known the
beauty of wandering showers. Mount Joliet has
the appearance of being an artificial mound, its
sides are so uniformly steep, and its form so regu-
lar. Its declivity was bristling with flowers ; among
which were conspicuous the scarlet lily, the white
convolvulus, and a tall, red flower of the scabia
form. We disturbed a night-hawk, sitting on her
eggs, on the ground. She wheeled round and
round over our heads, and, I hope, returned to her
eggs before they were cold.

Not far from the mount was a log-house, where
the rest of the party went in to dry their feet, after
having stood long in the wet grass. I remained
outside, watching the light showers, shifting in the
partial sunlight from clump to level, and from
reach to reach of the brimming and winding river.
The nine miles of prairie, which we had traversed
in dim moonlight last night, were now exquisitely
beautiful, as the sun shone fitfully upon them.

We saw a prairie wolf, very like a yellow dog,
trotting across our path, this afternoon. Our
hostess of the preceding day, expecting us, had an
excellent dinner ready for us. We were detained
a shorter time at the ferry, and reached the belt

ECONOMY.

269

of trees at the edge of Nine-mile Prairie, before
sunset. Here, in common prudence, we ought to
have stopped till the next day, even if no other
accommodation could be afforded us than a roof
over our heads. We deserved an ague for crossing
the swamp after dark, in an open wagon, at a foot
pace. Nobody was aware of this in time, and we
set forward ; the feet of our wearied horses plash-
ing in water at every step of the nine miles. There
was no road ; and we had to trust to the instinct
of driver and horses to keep us in the right direc-
tion. I rather think the driver attempted to amuse
himself by exciting our fears. He hinted more
than once at the difficulty of finding the way; at
the improbability that we should reach Chicago
before midnight; and at the danger of our wan-
dering about the marsh all night, and finding our-
selves at the opposite edge of the prairie in the
morning. Charley was bruised and tired. All the
rest were hungry and cold. It was very dreary.
The driver bade us look to our right hand. A
black bear was trotting alongside of us, at a little
distance. After keeping up his trot for some time,
he turned off from our track. The sight of him
made up for all, — even if ague should follow,
which I verily believed it would. But we escaped
all illness. Tt is remarkable that I never saw ague
but once. The single case that I met with was in
autumn, at the Falls of Niagara.

I had promised Dr. F. a long story about English
politics, when a convenient opportunity should
occur. I thought the present an admirable one ;
for nobody seemed to have anything to say, and it
was highly desirable that something should be said.
I made my story long enough to beguile four miles ;
by which time, some were too tired, and others too
much disheartened, for more conversation. Some-
thing white was soon after visible. Our driver

270

ECONOMY.

gave out that it was a house, half a mile from Chi-
cago. But no : it was an emigrant encampment,
on a morsel of raised, dry ground ; and again we
were uncertain whether we were in the right road.
Presently, however, the Chicago beacon was visible,
shining a welcome to us through the dim, misty
air. The horses seemed to see it, for they quick-
ened their pace ; and before half -past ten, we were
on the bridge.

The family, at my temporary home, were gone
up to their chambers ; but the wood-fire was soon
replenished, tea made, and the conversation grow-
ing lively. My companions were received as rea-
dily at their several resting-places. When we next
met, we found ourselves all disposed to place warm
hospitality very high on the list of virtues.

While we were at Detroit, we were most strongly
urged to return thither by the Lakes, instead
of by either of the Michigan roads. From
place to place, in my previous travelling, I had
been told of the charms of the Lakes, and espe-
cially of the Island of Mackinaw. Every officer's
lady who has been in garrison there, is eloquent
upon the delights of Mackinaw. As our whole
party, however, could not spare time to make so
wide a circuit, we had not intended to indulge our-
selves with a further variation in our travels than
to take the upper road back to Detroit; having
left it by the lower. On Sunday, June 27th, news
arrived at Chicago that this upper road had been
rendered impassable by the rains. A sailing vessel,
the only one on the Lakes, and now on her first
trip, was to leave Chicago for Detroit and Buffalo,
the next day. The case was clear: the party
must divide. Those who were obliged to hasten
home must return by the road we came : the rest
must proceed by water. On Charley's account,

ECONOMY.

271

the change of plan was desirable; as the heats
were beginning to be so oppressive as to render
travelling in open wagons unsafe for a child. It
was painful to break up our party at the extreme
point of our journey ; but it was clearly right. So
Mr. and Mrs. L. took their chance by land ; and
the rest of us went on board the Milwaukee, at
two o'clock on the afternoon of the 2Sth.

Mrs. F. and I were the only ladies on board ;
and there was no stewardess. The steward was
obliging, and the ladies' cabin was clean and capa-
cious ; and we took possession of it with a feeling
of comfort. Our pleasant impressions, however,
were not of long duration. The vessel was crowded
with persons who had come to the land sales at
Chicago, and were taking their passage back to
Milwaukee; a settlement on the western shore of
the lake, about eighty miles from Chicago. Till
we should reach Milwaukee, we could have the
ladies' cabin only during a part of the day. I say
a part of the day, because some of the gentry did
not leave our cabin till near nine in the morning ;
and others chose to come down, and go to bed, as
early as seven in the evening, without troubling
themselves to give us five minutes' notice, or to
wait till we could put up our needles, or wipe
our pens. This ship was the only place in America
where I saw a prevalence of bad manners. It was
the place of all others to select for the study of
such ; and no reasonable person would look for
anything better among land-speculators, and set-
tlers in regions so new as to be almost without
women. None of us had ever before seen, in
America, a disregard of women. The swearing was
incessant; and the spitting such as to amaze my
American companions as much as myself.

Supper was announced presently after we had
sailed ; and when we came to the table, it was full,

272

ECONOMY.

and no one offered to stir, to make room for us.
The captain, who was very careful of our comfort,
arranged that we should be better served hence-
forth; and no difficulty afterwards occurred. At
dinner, the next day, we had a specimen of how
such personages as we had on board are managed
on an emergency. The captain gave notice, from
the head of the table, that he did not choose our
party to be intruded on in the cabin ; and that any
one who did not behave with civility at table should
be turned out. He spoke with decision and good-
humour; and the effect was remarkable. Every-
thing on the table was handed to us; and no more
of the gentry came down into our cabin to smoke,
or throw themselves on the cushions to sleep, while
we sat at work.

Our fare was what might be expected on Lake
Michigan. Salt beef and pork, and sea-biscuit ;
tea . without milk, bread, and potatoes. Charley
throve upon potatoes and ^>read : and we all had
the best results of food, — health and strength.

A little schooner which left Chicago at the same
time with ourselves, and reached Milwaukee first,
was a pretty object. On the 29th, we were only
twenty-five miles from the settlement; but the
wind was so unfavourable that it was doubtful
whether we should reach it that day. Some of the
passengers amused themselves by gaming, down in
the hold ; others by parodying a methodist sermon,
and singing a mock hymn. We did not get rid of
them till noon on the 30th, when we had the plea-
sure of seeing our ship disgorge twenty-tive into
one boat, and two into another. The atmosphere
was so transparent as to make the whole scene ap-
pear as if viewed through an opera-glass ; the still,
green waters, the dark boats with their busy oars,
the moving passengers, and the struggles of one, to
recover his hat, which had fallen overboard. We

ECONOMY.

273

were yet five miles from Milwaukee ; but we could
see the bright, wooded coast, with a few white dots
of houses.

While Dr. F. went on shore, to see what was to
be seen, we had the cabin cleaned out, and took,
once more, complete possession of it, for both day
and night. As soon as this was done, seven young
women came down the companion-way, seated
themselves round the cabin, and began to question
us. They were the total female population of Mil-
waukee ; which settlement now contains four hun-
dred souls. We were glad to see these ladies ; for
it was natural enough that the seven women should
wish to behold two more, when such a chance
offered. A gentleman of the place, who came on
board this afternoon, told me that a printing-press
had arrived a few hours before ; and that a news*
paper would speedily appear. He was kind enough
to forward the first number to me a few weeks
afterwards ; and I was amused to see how pathetic
an appeal to the ladies of more thickly-settled dis-
tricts it contained ; imploring them to cast a favour-
able eye on Milwaukee, and its hundreds of
bachelors. Milwaukee had been settled since the
preceding November. It had good stores, (to
judge by the nature and quality of goods sent
ashore from our ship ;) it had a printing-press and
newspaper, before the settlers had had time to get
wives. I heard these new settlements sometimes
called " patriarchal f but what would the patri-
archs have said to such an order of affairs ?

Dr. F. returned from the town, with apple-pies,
cheese, and ale, wherewith to vary our ship-diet.
With him arrived such a number of towns-people,
that the steward wanted to turn us out of our
cabin once more ; but we were sturdy, appealed to
the captain, and were confirmed in possession.
From this time began the delights of our voyage.

n 5

274

ECONOMY.

The moon, with her long train of glory, was mag-
nificent to-night; the vast body of waters on which
she shone being as calm as if the winds were dead.

The navigation of these lakes is, at present, a
mystery. They have not yet been properly sur-
veyed. Our captain- had gone to and fro on Lake
Huron, but had never before been on Lake Michi-
gan ; and this was rather an anxious voyage to him.
We had got aground on the sand-bar before Mil-
waukee harbour ; and on the 1st of July, all hands
were busy in unshipping the cargo, to lighten the
vessel, instead of carrying her up to the town. An
elegant little schooner was riding at anchor near us ;
and we were well amused in admiring her, and in
watching the bustle on deck, till some New-
England youths, and our Milwaukee acquaintance,
brought us, from the shore, two newspapers, some
pebbles, flowers, and a pitcher of fine strawberries.

As soon as we were off the bar, the vessel hove
round, and we cast anchor in deeper water. Charley
was called to see the sailors work the windlass,
and to have a ride thereon. The sailors were very
kind to the boy. They dressed up their dog for
him in sheep-skins and a man's hat; a sight to
make older people than Charley laugh. They
took him down into the forecastle to show him
prints that were pasted up there. They asked him
to drink rum and water with them : to which
Charley answered that he should be happy
to drink water with them, but had rather not
have any rum. While we were watching the
red sunset over the leaden waters, betokening a
change of weather, the steamer "New York" came
ploughing the bay, three weeks after her time;
such is the uncertainty in the navigation of these
stormy lakes. She got aground on the sand-bank,
as we had done ; and boats were going from her to
the shore and back, as long as we could see.

ECONOMY.

275

The next day there was rain and some wind.
The captain and steward went off to make final
purchases : but the fresh meat which had been be-
spoken for us had been bought up by somebody
else ; and no milk was to be had ; only two cows
being visible in all the place. Ale was the only
luxury we could obtain. When the captain re-
turned, he brought with him a stout gentleman,
one of the proprietors of the vessel, who must have
a berth in our cabin as far as Mackinaw; those
elsewhere being too small for him. Under the cir-
cumstances, we had no right to complain; so we
helped the steward to partition off a portion of the
cabin with a counterpane, fastened with four forks.
This gentleman, Mr. D., was engaged in the fur
trade at Mackinaw, and had a farm there, to which
he kindly invited us.

On Sunday, the 3rd, there was much speculation
as to whether we should be at Mackinaw in time
to witness the celebration of the great day. All
desired it ; but I was afraid of missing the Manitou
Isles in the dark. There was much fog ; the wind
was nearly fair ; the question was whether it would
last. Towards evening, the fog thickened, and the
wind freshened. The mate would not believe we
were in the middle of the lake, as every one else
supposed. He said the fog was too warm not to
come from near land. Charley caught something
of the spirit of uncertainty, and came to me in high,
joyous excitement, to drag me to the side of the
ship, that I might see how fast we cut through the
waves, and how steadily we leaned over the water,
till Charley almost thought he could touch it. He
burst out about the " kind of a feeling" that it was
" not to see a bit of land," and not to know where
we were ; and to think " if we should upset !" and
that we never did upset : — it was " a good and a bad
feeling at once f and he should never be able to

276

ECONOMY.

tell people at home what it was like. The boy had
no fear : he was roused, as the brave man loves to
be. Just as the dim light of the sunset was fading
from the fog, it opened, and disclosed to us, just at
hand, the high, sandy shore of Michigan. It was well
that this happened before dark. The captain has-
tened up to the mast-head, and reported that we were
off Cape Sable, forty miles from the Manitou Isles.

Three bats and several butterflies were seen to-
day, clinging to the mainsail, — blown over from
the shore. The sailors set their dog at a bat, of
which it was evidently afraid. A flock of pretty
pigeons flew round and over the ship ; of which six
were shot. Four fell into the water ; and the
other two were reserved for the mate's breakfast;
he being an invalid.

We were up before five, on the morning of the
4 th of July, to see the Manitou Isles, which were
then just coming in sight. They are the Sacred -
Isles of the Indians, to whom they belong. Mani-
tou is the name of their Great Spirit, and of every-
thing sacred. It is said that they believe these
islands to be the resort of the spirits of the de-
parted. They are two : sandy and precipitous at
the south end ; and clothed with wood, from the
crest of the cliffs to the north extremity, which
slopes down gradually to the water. It was a cool,
sunny morning, and these dark islands lay still,
and apparently deserted, on the bright green
waters. Far behind, to the south, were two glitter-
ing white sails, on the horizon. They remained in
sight all day, and lessened the feeling of loneliness
which the navigators of these vast lakes cannot but
have, while careering among the solemn islands
and shores. On our right lay the Michigan shore,
high and sandy, with the dark eminence, called the
Sleeping Bear, conspicuous on the ridge. No land
speculators have set foot here yet. A few Indian

ECONOMY.

277

dwellings, with evergreen woods and sandy cliffs,
are all. Just here, Mr. D. pointed out to us a
schooner of his which was wrecked, in a snow-
storm, the preceding November. She looked
pretty and forlorn, lying on her side in that deso-
late place, seeming a mere plaything thrown in
among the cliffs. " Ah !" said her owner, with a
sigh, " she was a lovely creature, and as stiff as a
church." Two lives were lost. Two young Ger-
mans, stout lads, could not comprehend the orders
given them to put on all their clothing, and keep
themselves warm. They only half-dressed them-
selves : " the cold took them," and they died.
The rest tried to make fire by friction of wood;
but got only smoke. Some one found traces of a
dog in the snow. These were followed for three
miles, and ended at an Indian lodge, where the
sailors were warmed, and kindly treated.

During the bright morning of this day we passed
the Fox and Beaver Islands. The captain was in
fine spirits, though there was no longer any pros-
pect of reaching Mackinaw in time for the festivi-
ties of the day. This island is chiefly known as a
principal station of the great north-western fur
trade. Others know it as the seat of* an Indian
mission. Others, again, as a frontier garrison. It
is known to me as the wildest and tenderest little
piece of beauty that I have yet seen on God's
earth. It is a small island, nine miles in circum-
ference, being in the strait between the Lakes Mi-
chigan and Huron, and between the coasts of Mi-
chigan and Wisconsin.

Towards evening the Wisconsin coast came into
view, the strait suddenly narrowed, and we were
about to bid farewell to the great Lake whose total
length we had traversed, after sweeping round its
southern extremity. The ugly light-ship, which
looked heavy enough, came into view about six

278 ECONOMY.

o'clock ; the first token of our approach to Mack-
inaw. The office of the light-ship is to tow ves-
sels in the dark through the strait. We were too
early for this ; but perhaps it performed that office
for the two schooners whose white specks of sails
had been on our southern horizon all day. Next
we saw a white speck before us ; it was the bar-
racks of Mackinaw, stretching along the side of its
green hills, and clearly visible before the town
came into view.

The island looked enchanting as we approached,
as I think it always must, though we had the ad-
vantage of seeing it first steeped in the most golden
sunshine that ever hallowed lake or shore. The
colours were up on all the little vessels in the har-
bour. The national flag streamed from the garri-
son. The soldiers thronged the walls of the bar-
racks ; half-breed boys were paddling about in their
little canoes, in the transparent waters; the half-
French, half-Indian population of the place were all
abroad in their best. An Indian lodge was on the
shore, and a picturesque dark group stood beside
it. The cows were coming down the steep green
slopes to the milking. Nothing could be more
bright and joyous.

The houses of the old French village are shabby-
looking, dusky, and roofed with bark. There are
some neat yellow houses, with red shutters, which
have a foreign air, with their porches and flights
of steps. The better houses stand on the first of
the three terraces which are distinctly marked.
Behind them are swelling green knolls; before
them gardens sloping down to the narrow slip of
white beach, so that the grass seems to grow al-
most into the clear rippling waves. The gardens
were rich with mountain ash, roses, stocks, currant
bushes, springing corn, and a great variety of
kitchen vegetables. There were two small piers

f

ECONOMY.

1279

with little barks alongside, and piles of wood for
the steam-boats. Some way to the right stood the
quadrangle of missionary buildings, and the white
mission church. Still further to the right was a
shrubby precipice down to the lake ; and beyond,
the blue waters. While we were gazing at all this,
a pretty schooner sailed into the harbour after us,
in fine style, sweeping round our bows so suddenly
as nearly to swamp a little fleet of canoes, each
with its pair of half-breed boys.

We had been alarmed by a declaration from the
captain that he should stay only three hours at the
island. He seemed to have no intention of taking
us ashore this evening. The dreadful idea oc-
curred to us that we might be carried away from
this paradise, without having set foot in it. We
looked at each other in dismay. Mr. D. stood our
friend. He had some furs on board which were to
be landed. He said this should not be done till
the morning; and he would take care that his
people did it with the utmost possible slowness.
He thought he could gain us an additional hour in
this way. Meantime, thunder-clouds were coming
up rapidly from the west, and the sun was near its
setting. After much consultation, and an assurance
having been obtained from the captain that we
might command the boat at any hour in the morn-
ing, we decided that Dr. F. and Charley should go
ashore, and deliver our letters, and accept any ar-
rangements that might be offered for our seeing
the best of the scenery in the morning.

Scarcely any one was left in the ship but Mrs.
F. and myself. We sat on deck, and gazed as if
this were to be the last use we were ever to have
of our eyes. There was growling thunder now,
and the church bell, and Charley's 'clear voice from
afar : the waters were so still. The Indians lighted
a fire before their lodge ; and we saw their shining

280

ECONOMY.

red forms as they bent over the blaze. We
watched Dr. F. and Charley mounting to the gar-
rison ; we saw them descend again with the com-
manding officer, and go to the house of the Indian
agent. Then we traced them along the shore, and
into the Indian lodge; then to the church; then
the parting with the commandant on the shore, and
lastly, the passage of the dark boat to our ship's
side. They brought news that the commandant
and his family would be on the watch for us before
five in the morning, and be our guides to as much
of the island as the captain would allow us time to
see.

Some pretty purchases of Indian manufactures
were brought on board this evening ; light matting
of various colours, and small baskets of birch-bark,
embroidered with porcupine-quills, and filled with
maple sugar.

The next morning all was bright. At five
o'clock we descended the ship's side, and from the
boat could see the commandant and his dog hast-
ening down from the garrison to the landing-place.
We returned with him up the hill, through the bar-
rack-yard ; and were joined by three members of
his family on the velvet green slope behind the
garrison. No words can give an idea of the charms
of this morning walk. We wound about in a vast
shrubbery, with ripe strawberries under foot, wild
flowers all around, and scattered knolls and open-
ing vistas tempting curiosity in every direction.
" Now run up," said the commandant, as we ar-
rived at the foot of one of these knolls. I did so,
and was almost struck backwards by what I saw.
Below me was the Natural Bridge of Mackinaw, of
which I had heard frequent mention. It is a lime-
stone arch, about one hundred and fifty feet high
in the centre, with a span of fifty feet ; one pillar
resting on a rocky projection in the lake, the other

ECONOMY.

281

on the hill. We viewed it from above, so that the
horizon line of the lake fell behind the bridge, and
the blue expanse of waters filled the entire arch.
Birch and ash grew around the bases of the pillars,
and shrubbery tufted the sides, and dangled from
the bridge. The soft rich hues in which the whole
was dressed seemed borrowed from the autumn
sky.

But even this scene was nothing to one we
saw from the fort, on the crown of the island ; old
Fort Holmes, called Fort George when in the pos-
session of the British. I can compare it to nothing
but to what Noah might have seen, the first bright
morning after the deluge. Such a cluster of little pa-
radises rising out of such a congregation of waters,
I can hardly fancy to have been seen elsewhere.
The capacity of the human eye seems here sud-
denly enlarged, as if it could see to the verge of
the watery creation. Blue, level waters appear to
expand for thousands of miles in every direction ;
wholly unlike any aspect of the sea. Cloud sha-
dows, and specks of white vessels, at rare intervals,
alone diversify it. Bowery islands rise out of it;
bowery promontories stretch down into it; while at
one's feet lies the melting beauty which one almost
fears will vanish in its softness before one's eyes ;
the beauty of the shadowy dells and sunny mounds,
with browsing cattle, and springing fruit and flowers.
Thus, and no otherwise, would I fain think did the
world emerge from the flood. I was never before
so unwilling to have objects named. The essential
unity of the scene seemed to be marred by any dis-
tinction of its parts. But this feeling, to me new,
did not alter the state of the case ; that it was Lake
Huron that we saw stretching to the eastward;
Lake Michigan opening to the west ; the island of
Bois Blanc, green to the brink in front ; and Round
Island and others interspersed. I stood now at

282

ECONOMY,

the confluence- of those great northern lakes, the
very names of which awed my childhood ; calling
up, as they did, images of the fearful red man of
the deep pine-forest, and the music of the moaning
winds, imprisoned beneath the ice of winter. How
different from the scene, as actually beheld, dressed
in verdure, flowers, and the sunshine of a summer's
morning !

It was breakfast-time when we descended to the
barracks; and we despatched a messenger to the
captain to know whether we might breakfast with
the commandant. We sat in the piazza, and over-
looked the village, the harbour, the straits, and the
white beach, where there were now four Indian lodges.
The island is so healthy that, according to the
commandant, people who want to die must go
somewhere else. I saw only three tombstones in
the cemetery. The commandant has lost but one
man since he has been stationed at Mackinaw;
and that was by drowning. I asked about the cli-
mate ; the answer was, " We have nine months
winter, and three months cold weather."

It would have been a pity to have missed the
breakfast at the garrison, which afforded a strong
contrast with any we had seen for a week. We
concealed, as well as we could, our glee at the
appearance of the rich cream, the new bread and
butter, fresh lake trout, and pile of snowwhite
eggs.

There is reason to think that the mission is the
least satisfactory part of the establishment on this
island. A great latitude of imagination or repre-
sentation is usually admitted on the subject of mis-
sions to the heathen. The reporters of this one
appear to be peculiarly imaginative; I fear that
the common process has here been gone through
of attempting to take from the savage the venerable
and the true which he possessed, and to force upon

ECONOMY.

283

him something else which is to him neither vener-
able nor true.

The Indians have been proved, by the success of
the French among them, to be capable of civilisa-
tion. Near Little Traverse, in the north-west part
of Michigan, within easy reach of Mackinaw, there
is an Indian village, full of orderly and industrious
inhabitants, employed chiefly in agriculture. The
English and Americans have never succeeded with
the aborigines so well as the French ; and it may
be doubted whether the clergy have been a much
greater blessing to them than the traders.

It was with great regret that wre parted with the
commandant and his large young family, and step-
ped into the boat to return to the ship. The cap-
tain looked a little grave upon the delay which all
his passengers had helped to achieve. We sailed
about nine. We were in great delight at having
seen Mackinaw, at having the possession of its sin-
gular imagery for life : but this delight was at pre-
sent dashed with the sorrow of leaving it. I could
not have believed how deeply it is possible to re-
gret a place, after so brief an acquaintance with it.
We watched the island as we rapidly receded,
trying to catch the aspect of it which had given it
its name— the Great Turtle. Its flag first va-
nished : then its green terraces and slopes, its white
barracks, and dark promontories faded, till the
whole disappeared behind a headland and light-
house of the Michigan shore.

Lake Huron was squally, as usual. Little re-
markable happened while we traversed it. We en-
joyed the lake trout. We occasionally saw the
faint outline of the Manitouline Islands and Ca-
nada. We saw a sunset which looked very like
the general conflagration having begun : the whole
western sky and water being as if of red flame and
molten lead. This was succeeded by paler fires.

284

ECONOMY.

A yellow planet sank into the heaving waters to
the south ; and the northern lights opened like a
silver wheat-sheaf, and spread themselves half over
the sky. It is luxury to sail on Lake Huron, and
watch the northern lights.

On the 7th we were only twenty miles from
the river St. Clair: but the wind was "right
ahead," and we did not reach the mouth of the
river till the evening of the 8th. The approach
and entrance kept us all in a state of high excite-
ment, from the captain down to Charley. On the
afternoon of the 8th, Fort Gratiot and the narrow
mouth of the St. Clair, became visible. Our scope
for tacking grew narrower, every turn. The cap-
tain did not come to dinner; he kept the lead going
incessantly. Two vessels were trying with us for
the mouth of the river. The American schooner
got in first, from being the smallest. The British
vessel and ours contested the point stoutly for a
long while, sweeping round and crossing each other,
much as if they were dancing a minuet. A squall
came, and broke one of our chains, and our rival
beat us. In the midst of the struggle, we could
not but observe that the sky was black as night to
windward ; and that the captain cast momentary
glances thither, as if calculating how soon he must
make all tight for the storm. The British vessel
was seen to have come to an anchor. Our sails
were all taken in, our anchor dropped, and a grim
silence prevailed. The waters were flat as ice
about the ship. The next moment, the sky-organ
began to blow in our rigging. Fort Gratiot was
blotted out; then the woods ; then the other ship ;
then came the orderly march of the rain over the
myrtle-green waters ; then the storm seized us.
We could scarcely see each others' faces, except
for the lightning ; the ship groaned, and dragged
her anchor, so that a second was dropped.

ECONOMY.

285

In twenty minutes, the sun gilded the fort, the
woods, and the green, prairie-like, Canada shore.
On the verge of this prairie, under the shelter of the
forest, an immense herd of wild horses were seen
scampering, and whisking their long tails. A cloud
of pigeons, in countless thousands, was shadowing
alternately the forests, the lake, and the prairie ;
and an extensive encampment of wild Indians was
revealed on the Michigan shore. It was a dark
curtain lifted up on a scene of wild and singular
beauty.

Then we went to the anxious work of tacking
again. We seemed to be running aground on
either shore, as we approached each. Our motions
were watched by several gazers. On the Canada
side, there were men on the sands, and in a canoe,
with a sail which looked twice as big as the bark.
The keepers of the Gratiot light-house looked out
from the lantern. A party of squaws, in the In-
dian encampment, seated on the sands, stopped
their work of cleaning fish, to see how we got
through the rapids. A majestic personage, his
arms folded in his blanket, stood on an eminence
in the midst of the camp ; , and behind him, on the
brow of the hill, were groups of unclothed boys
and men, looking so demon-like, as even in that
scene to remind me of the great staircase in the
ballet of Faust. Our ship twisted round and round
in the eddies, as helplessly as a log, and stuck, at
last, with her stern within a stone's throw of the
Indians. Nothing more could be done that night.
We dropped anchor, and hoped the sailors would
have good repose after two days of tacking to
achieve a progress of twenty miles. Two or three
of them went ashore, to try to get milk. While
they were gone, a party of settlers stood on the
high bank, to gaze at us ; and we were sorry to see
them, even down to the little children, whisking

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ECONOMY.

boughs without ceasing. This was a threat of
mosquitoes which was not to be mistaken. When
the sailors returned, they said we were sure to
have a good watch kept, for the mosquitoes would
let no one sleep. We tried to shut up our cabin
from them ; but they were already there ; and I,
for one, was answerable for many murders before
I closed my eyes. In the twilight, I observed
something stirring on the high bank ; and on look-
ing closely, saw a party of Indians, stepping along,
in single file, under the shadow of the wood. Their
simplest acts are characteristic ; and, in their wild
state, I never saw them without thinking of ghosts
or demons.

In the morning, I found we were floating down
the current, stern foremost, frequently swinging
round in the eddies, so as to touch the one shore
or the other. There seemed to be no intermission
of settlers' houses ; all at regular distances along
the bank. The reason of this appearance is a good
old French arrangement, by which the land is di-
vided into long, narrow strips, that each lot may
have a water frontage. We were evidently re-
turning to a well-settled country. The more com-
fortable houses on the Canada side were surrounded
by spacious and thriving fields: the poorer by
dreary enclosures of swamp. We saw a good garden,
with a white paling. Cows were being milked.
Cow-bells, and the merry voices of singing chil-
dren, were heard from under the clumps ; and piles
of wood for the steam-boats, and large stocks of
shingles for roofing were laid up on either hand.
The Gratiot steamer puffed away under the Mi-
chigan bank. Canoes shot across in a streak of
light ; and a schooner came down the clear river,
as if on the wing between the sky and the water.
J watched two horsemen on the shore, for many
miles, tracing the bay pony and the white horse

ECONOMY.

287

through the woody screen, and over the brooks,
and along the rickety bridges. I could see that
they were constantly chatting, and that they stopped
to exchange salutations with every one they met or
overtook. These, to be sure, were few enough. I
was quite sorry when the twilight drew on, and
hid them from me. I saw a little boy on a log,
with a paddle, pushing himself off from a bank of
wild roses, and making his way in the sunshine, up
the river. It looked very pretty, and very unsafe ;
but I dare say he knew best. The captain and
mate were both ill to-day. The boat was sent
ashore for what could be had. The men made
haste, and rowed bravely ; but we were carried
down four miles before we could " heave to," for
them to overtake us. They brought brandy for
the captain; and for us, butter just out of the
churn. The mosquitoes again drove us from the
deck, soon after dark.

The next morning, the 10th, the deck was in
great confusion. The captain was worse : the
mate was too ill to command ; and the second mate
seemed to be more efficient in swearing, and getting
the men to swear, than at anything else. After
breakfast, there was a search made after a pilferer,
who had abstracted certain small articles from our
cabin; among which was Charley"^ maple-sugar
basket, which had been seen in the wheel-house,
with a tea-spoon in it. This seemed to point out
one of the juniors in the forecastle as the offender;
the steward, however, offered to clear himself by
taking an oath, " on a bible as big as the ship,"
that he knew nothing of the matter. As we did
not happen to have such a bible on board, we could
not avail ourselves of his offer. A comb and tooth-
brush, which had been missing, were found, restored
to their proper places : but Charley's pretty basket
was seen no more.

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ECONOMY.

It was a comfortless day. We seemed within
easy reach of Detroit ; but the little wind we had
was dead ahead ; the sun was hot ; the mosquitoes
abounded ; the captain was downcast, and the pas-
sengers cross. There was some amusement, how-
\ ever. Dr. F. went ashore, and brought us milk, of
which we each had a draught before it turned sour.
He saw on shore a sight which is but too common.
An hotel-keeper let an Indian get drunk ; and then
made a quarrel between him and another, for selfish
purposes. The whites seem to have neither honour
nor mercy towards the red men.

A canoe full of Indians, — two men and four chil-
dren,— came alongside, this afternoon, to offer to
traffic. They had no clothing but a coarse shirt
each. The smallest child had enormous ear-
ornaments of blue and white beads. They were
closely packed in their canoe, which rocked
with every motion. They sold two large baskets
for a quarter dollar and two loaves of bread.
Their faces were intelligent, and far from so-
lemn. The children look merry, as children
should. I saw others fishing afar off, till long after
dark. A dusky figure stood, in a splendid attitude,
at the bow of a canoe, and now paddled with one
end of his long lance, now struck at a fish with the
other. He speared his prey directly through the
middle ; and succeeded but seldom. At dark, a
pine torch was held over the water ; and by its
blaze, I could still see something of his opera-
tions.

The groaning of our ship's timbers told us, before
we rose, that we were in rapid motion. The wind
was fair ; and we were likely to reach Detroit, forty
miles, to dinner. Lake St. Clair, with its placid
waters and low shores, presents nothing to look at.
The captain was very ill, and unable to leave his
berth. No one on board knew the channel of the

ECONOMY.

Detroit river but himself ; and, from the time we
entered it the lead was kept going. When we
were within four miles- of Detroit, hungry, hot,
tired of the disordered ship, and thinking of friends,
breezes, and a good dinner at the city, we went
aground, — grinding, grinding, till the ship trem-
bled in every timber. The water was so shallow
that one might have touched the gravel on either
side with a walking-stick. There was no hope of
our being got off speedily. The cook applied him-
self to chopping wood, in order to lighting a fire,
in order to baking some bread, in order to give us
something to eat ; for not a scrap of meat, or an
ounce of biscuit, was left on board.

It occurred to me that our party might reach the
city, either by paying high for one of the ship's
boats, or by getting the mate to hail one of the
schooners that were in the river. The boats could
not be spared. The mate hoisted a signal for a
schooner ; and one came alongside, very fully laden
with shingles. Fifteen of us, passengers, with our
luggage, were piled on the top of the cargo, and
sailed gently up to the city. The captain was too
ill, and the mate too full of vexation, to bid us fare-
well; and thus we left our poor ship. We were
glad, however, to pass her in the river, the next
day, and to find that she had been got off the shoal
before night.

As we drew near, Charley, in all good faith,
hung out his little handkerchief to show the people
of Detroit that we were come back. They did not
seem to know us, however. " What !" cried some
men on a raft, to the master of our schooner,
" have you been robbing a steam-boat?" f No,"
replied the master, gravely ; " it is a boat that has
gone to the bottom in the lakes." We expected
that some stupendous alarm would arise out of this.
When we reached New York, a fortnight after, we

VOL. I. O

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ECONOMY.

found that our friends there had been made uneasy
by the news that a steam-boat had sunk on the
lLakes, and that eight hundred passengers were
drowned. Catastrophes grow as fast as other things
in America.

Though our friends did not happen to see Char-
ley's pocket-handkerchief from the river, they were
soon about us, congratulating us on having made
the circuit of the Lakes. It was indeed matter of
congratulation.

I have now given sketches of some of the most
remarkable parts of the country, hoping that a pretty
distinct idea might thus be afforded of their primary
resources, and of the modes of life of their inha-
bitants. I have said nothing of the towns, in this
connexion; town-life in America having nothing
very peculiar about it, viewed in the way of general
survey. The several departments of industry will
now be particularly considered.

291

CHAPTER L
AGRICULTURE.

" Plus un peuple nombreux se rapproche, moins le gouvernd-
ment peut usurper sur le Souverain. L'avantage d'un gouverne-
mpnt tyrannique est done en ceci, d'agir a grandes distances. A
1'aide des points d'appui qu'il se donne, sa force augmente au loin,
cowine celle des leviers. Celle du peuple, au contraire, n'agit
que concentree : elle s'evapore et se perd en s'6tendant, comma
1'efTet de la poudre Sparse a terre, et qui ne prend feu que grain
a grain. Les pays les moins peuples sont ainsi les plus propres
a la tyrannic Les betes feroces ne regnent que dans les
deserts.''

Rousseau.

The pride and delight of Americans is in their
quantity of land. I do not remember meeting with
one to whom it had occurred that they had too
much. Among the many complaints of the minority,
this was never one. I saw a gentleman strike his
fist on the table in an agony at the country being so
" confoundedly prosperous :" I heard lamentations
over the spirit of speculation; the migration of
young men to the back country; the fluctuating
state of society from the incessant movement west-
wards; the immigration of labourers from Europe ;
and the ignorance of the sparse population. All
these grievances I heard perpetually complained of;
but in the same breath I was told in triumph of the

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AGRICULTURE.

rapid sales of land ; of the glorious additions which
had been made by the acquisition of Louisiana and
Florida, and of the probable gain of Texas. Land
was spoken of as the unfailing resource against
over manufacture ; the great wealth of the nation ;
the grand security of every man in it.

On this head, the two political parties seem to be
more agreed than on any other. The federalists
are the great patrons of commerce ; but they are
as proud of the national lands as the broadest of
the democrats. The democrats, however, may be
regarded as the patrons of agriculture, out of the
slave States. There seems to be a natural relation
between the independence of property and occupa-
tion enjoyed by the agriculturist, and his watchful-
ness over State Rights and the political importance
of individuals. The simplicity of country life, too,
appears more congenial with the workings of de-
mocratic institutions, than the complex arrange-
ments of commerce and manufactures.

The possession of land is the aim of all action,
generally speaking, and the cure for all social evils,
among men in the United States. If a man is dis-
appointed in politics or love, he goes and buys land.
If he disgraces himself, he betakes himself to a lot in
the West. If the demand for any article of manu-
facture slackens, the operatives drop into the un-
settled lands. If a citizen's neighbours rise above
him in the towns, he betakes himself where he can
be monarch of all he surveys. An artisan works,
that he may die on land of his own. He is frugal,
that he may enable his son to be a landowner.
Farmers' daughters go into factories that they may
clear off the mortgage from their fathers' farms ;
that they may be independent landowners again.
All this is natural enough in a country colonised
from an old one, where land is so restricted in
quantity as to be apparently the same thing as

AGRICULTURE.

293

wealth. It is natural enough in a young republic,
where independence is of the highest political value.
It is natural enough in a country where political
economy has never been taught by its only effec-
tual propounder — social adversity. And, finally,
it falls out well for the old world, in prospect of
the time when the new world must be its granary.

The democratic party are fond of saying that the
United States are intended to be an agricultural
country. It seems to me that they are intended to
be everything. The Niagara basin, the Mississippi
valley, and the South, will be able to furnish the
trading world with agricultural products for ever, —
for aught we can see. But it is clear that there
are other parts of the country which must have
recourse to manufactures and commerce.

The first settlers in New England got land, and
thought themselves rich. Their descendants have
gone on to do the same ; and they now find them-
selves poor. With the exception of some South-
erners, ruined by slavery, who cannot live within
their incomes, I met with no class in the United
States so anxious about the means of living as the
farmers of New England. In the seventeenth cen-
tury, curious purchases of land were made, and
the fathers were wealthy. In those days, a certain
farmer Dexter bought the promontory of Nahant,
which stretches out into Massachusetts Bay, of
Black Willey, an Indian chief, for a suit of clothes ;
the part of the promontory called Great Nahant
measuring a mile and a half in circuit. Others,
who held land in similar or larger quantities, di-
vided it equally among their children, whose por-
tions had not been subdivided below the point of
comfort, when the great west on the one hand, and
the commerce of the seas on the other, opened new
resources. From this time, the consolidation of
estates has gone on, nearly as fast as the previous

294

AGRICULTURE.

division. The members of a family dispose of their
portions of land to one, and go to seek better
fortunes elsewhere than the rocky soil of New
England can afford. Still, while the population
of Massachusetts is scarcely above half that of
London, its number of landowners is greater than
that of all England.

The Massachusetts farmers were the first to de-
cline ; but now the comparative adversity of agri-
culture has extended even into Vermont. A few
years ago, lenders of money into Vermont received
thirty per cent, interest from farmers : now they
are glad to get six percent.; and this does not arise
from the farmers having saved capital of their own.
They have but little property besides their land.
Their daughters, and even their sons, resort to do-
mestic service in Boston for a living. Boston used
to be supplied from Vermont with fowls, butter, and
eggs : but the supply has nearly ceased. This is
partly owing to an increased attention to the growth
of wool for the manufacturers ; but partly also to
the decrease of capital and enterprise among the
farmers.

In Massachusetts the farmers have so little pro-
perty besides their land, that they are obliged to
mortgage when they want to settle a son or daughter,
or make up for a deficient crop. The great Insur-
ance Company at Boston is the formidable creditor
to many. This Company will not wait a day for
the interest. If it is not ready, loss or ruin ensues.
Many circumstances are now unfavourable to the
old-fashioned Massachusetts farmer. Domestic
manufactures, which used to employ the daughters,
are no longer worth while, in the presence of the
factories. The young men, who should be the
daughters' husbands, go off to the west. The idea
of domestic service is not liked. There is an ex-
pensive family at home, without sufficient employ-

AGRICULTURE.

295

merit ; and they may be considered poor. These
are evils which may be shaken off any day. I speak
of them, not as demanding much compassion, but
as indicating a change in the state of affairs; and
especially that New England is designed to be a
manufacturing and commercial region. It is already
common to see agriculture joined with other employ-
ments. The farmers of the coast are, naturally,
fishermen also. They bring home fish, manure their
land with the offal ; sow their seed, and go out again
to fish while it is growing. Shoemaking is now
joined with farming. In the long winter evenings,
all the farmers' families around Lynn are busy shoe-
making ; and in the spring, they turn out into the
fields again. The largest proportion of factory
girls too is furnished by country families.

The traveller may see, by merely passing through
the country, without asking information, how far
New England ought to be an agricultural country,
if the object of its society be to secure the comfort
of its members, rather than the continuance of old
customs. The valleys, like that of the Connecticut
river, whose soil is kept rich by annual inun-
dations, and whose fields have no fences, gladden*
the eye of the observer. So it is with particular
spots elsewhere, where, it may be remarked, the
fences are of the ordinary, slovenly kind, and too
much care does not seem to have been bestowed
on the arrangements and economy of the estate.
Elsewhere, may be seen stony fields, plots of the
greenest pasture, with grey rocks standing up in
the midst, and barberry bushes sprinkled all about:
trim orchards, and fences on which a great deal of
spare time must have been bestowed. Instead of
the ugly, hasty snake-fence, there is a neatly built
wall, composed of the stones which had strewed the
fields : sometimes the neatest fence of all ; a wall of
stones and sods, regularly laid, with a single rail

296

AGRICULTURE.

along the top : sometimes a singular fence, which
would be perfect, but for the expense of labour re-
quired; roots of trees, washed from the soil, and
turned side upwards, presenting a complete che-
vaux-de-frise, needing no mending, and lasting the
"for ever" of this world. About these farm-houses,
a profusion of mignonette may be seen ; and in
the season, the rich major convolvulus, or scarlet
runners, climbing up to the higher windows. The
dove-cotes are well looked to. There has evidently
been time and thought for everything. This is all
very pretty to look at, — even bewitching to those
who do not see beneath the surface, nor know that
hearts may be aching within doors about perilous
mortgages, and the fate of single daughters ; but, it
being known that such worldly anxieties do exist,
it is not difficult to perceive that these are the places
in which they abide.

/ There is, of course, a knowledge of the difficulty
on the spot; but not always a clear view of coming
events, which include a remedy. The commonest
way of venting any painful sensibility on the sub-
ject, is declamation against luxury ; or rather,
against the desire for it in those who are supposed
unable to afford it. This will do no good. If the
Pilgrim Fathers themselves had had luxury before
their eyes, they would have desired to have it ; and
they would have been right. Luxury is, in itself,
a great good. Luxury is delicious fare, — of any
and every kind : and He who bestowred it meant all
men to have it. The evil of luxury is in its restric-
tion ; in its being made a cause of separation be-
tween men, and a means of encroachment by some
on the rights of others. Frugality is a virtue only
when it is required by justice and charity. Luxury
is vicious only when it is obtained by injustice, and
carried on into intemperance. It is a bad thing
that a Massachusetts farmer should mortgage his

AGRICULTURE.

297

farm, in order that his wife and daughters may dress
like the ladies of Boston ; but the evil is not in the
dress ; it is rather in his clinging to a mode of life
which does not enable him to pay his debts. The
women desire dress, not only because it is becom-
ing, but because they revolt from sinking, even out-
wardly, into a lower station of life than they once
held : and this is more than harmless ; it is honour-
able. What they have to do is to make up their
minds to be consistent. They must either go
down with their farm, for love of it, and the ways
which belong to it : or they must make a better
living in some other manner. They cannot have
the old farm and its ways, and luxury too. Nobody
has a right to decide for them which they ought ta
choose ; and declaiming against luxury will there-
fore do no good. It is, however, pretty clear which
they will choose, while luxury and manufactures
are growing before their eyes ; and, in that case,
declaiming against luxury can do little but harm :
it will only destroy sympathy between the declaimers
and those who may find the cap fit.

One benevolent lady strongly desires and advises
that manufactures should be put down ; and the
increased population all sent away somewhere, that
New England may be as primitive and sparsely
peopled as in days when it was, as she supposes,
more virtuous than now. Whenever she can make
out what virtue is, so as to prove that New Eng-
land was ever more virtuous than now, her plans
may find hearers ; but not till then. I mention
these things merely to show how confirmed is the
tendency of New England to manufactures, in pre-
ference to agriculture.

There is one certain test of the permanent fitness
of any district of country for agricultural purposes ;
the settlement of any large number of Germans iij
it. The Germans give any price for good land, and

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298

AGRICULTURE.

use it all. They are much smiled at by the viva-
cious and enterprising Americans for their plod-
ding, their attachment to their own methods, and
the odd direction taken by their pride.* The part
of Pennsylvania where they abound is called the
Bceotia of America. There is a story current
against them that they v/ere seen to parade with a
banner, on which was inscribed " No schools," when
the State legislature was about establishing a school
system. On the other hand, it is certain that they
have good German newspapers prepared among
themselves : that their politics do them high honour,
considering the very short political education they
have had : and that they know more of political
economy than their native neighbours. They show
by their votes that they understand the tariff and
bank questions ; and they are staunch supporters
of democratic principles.

Nothing can be more thriving than the settle-
ments of Germans, when they have once been
brought into order. Their fields are well fenced ;
their implements of the most substantial make;
and their barns a real curiosity. While the family
of the farmer is living in a poor log-house, or a
shabby, unpainted frame-house, the barn has all
the pains of its owner lavished upon it. I saw
several, freshly painted with red, with eleven glass
windows, with Venetian blinds, at each end, and

* I might add their matter-of-fact credulity, strongly resembling
romance. As a specimen of the quizzing common with regard
to the Germans, 1 give an anecdote. At the time when the strug-
gle between Adams and Jackson was very close, a supporter of
Adams complained to Mr. W. that it was provoking that somebody
had persuaded the Germans in Pennsylvania that Mr. Adams haa
married a daughter of George III. ; a report which would cost
him all their votes. Mr. W. said, " Why do not you contradict it V
" O," replied his friend, " you know nothing of those people.
They will believe everything, and unbelieve nothing. No : in-
stead of contradicting the report, we must allow that Adams mar-
ried a daughter of George III. ; but add that Jackson married two."

AGRICULTURE,

299

twelve in front. They keep up the profitable
customs of their country. The German women are
the only women seen in the fields and gardens in
America, except a very few Dutch, and the slaves
in the south. The stores of pumpkins, apples, and
onions in the stoup (piazza) are edifying to behold.
Under them sits the old dame of the house, spin
ning at her large wheel; and her grand-children,
all in grey homespun, look as busy as herself.

The German settlers always contrive to have a
market, either by placing themselves near one, or
bestirring themselves to make one. They have no
idea of sitting down in a wilderness, and growing
wild in it. A great many of them are market-gar-
deners near the towns.*

It is scarcely possible to foresee, with distinct-
nessj the destination of the southern States, east of
the Alleghanies, when the curse of slavery shall be
removed. Up to that period, continual deteriora-
tion is unavoidable. Efforts are being made to
compensate for the decline of agriculture by push-
ing the interests of commerce. This is well; for
the opening of every new rail-road, of every new
pier, is another blow given to slavery. The agri-
culture of Virginia continues to decline ; and her
revenue is chiefly derived from the rearing of slaves
as stock for the southern market. In the north and
west parts of this State, where there is more farming
than planting, it has long been found that slavery is

* I heard some interesting facts about the Germans in Pennsyl-
vania from Mr. Gallatin, who lived among them for some time.
A fact regarding this gentleman shows what the obscurity of
country life in the United States may be. His estate was origi-
nally in Virginia. By a new division, it was thrown into the back
of Pennsylvania. He ceased to be heard of, for some years, in the
interval of his engaging in public arfairs. During this time, an
advertisement appeared in a newspaper, asking for tidings of
" one Albert Gallatin;" and adding that if he were still living,
he might, on making a certain application, hear of something to
his advantage.

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AGRICULTURE.

ruinous ; and when I passed through, in the sum-
mer of 1835, I saw scarcely any but whites, for some
hundreds of miles along the road, except where a
slave trader was carrying down to the south tne
remains that he had bought up. Unless some new
resource is introduced, Virginia will be almost im-
poverished when the traffic in slaves comes to an
end ; wrhich, I have a strong persuasion, will be the
case before very long. The Virginians themselves
are, it seems, aware of their case. I saw a factory at
Richmond, worked by black labour, which was
found, to the surprise of those who tried the expe-
riment, to be of very good quality.

The shores of the south, low and shoal}', are
unfavourable to foreign commerce. The want of a
sufficiency of good harbours will probably impel the
inhabitants of the southern States to renew their
agricultural pursuits, and merely confine themselves
to internal commerce. The depression of agricul-
ture is only temporary, I believe. It began from
slavery, and is aggravated by the opening of the
rich virgin soils of the south-west. But the time
will come when improved methods of tillage, with
the advantage of free labour, will renew the pros-
perity of Virginia, and North and South Carolina.

No mismanagement short of employing slaves
will account for the deterioration of the agricultural
wealth of these States. When the traveller ob-
serves the quality of some of the land now under
cultivation, he wonders how other estates could
have been rendered so unprofitable as they are.
The rich Congaree bottoms, in South Carolina, look
inexhaustible ; but some estates, once as fine, now
lie barren and deserted. I went over a plantation,
near Columbia, South Carolina, where there were
four thousand acres within one fence, each acre
worth fifteen hundred dollars. This land has been
cropped yearly with cotton since 1794, and is now

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301

becoming less productive ; but it is still very fine.
The cotton seed is occasionally returned to the soil ;
and this is the only means of renovation used. Four
hundred negroes work this estate. We saw the
field trenched, ready for sowing. The sowing is
done by hand, thick, and afterwards thinned. I saw
the cotton elsewhere, growing like twigs. I saw
also some in pod. There are three or four pick-
ings of pods in a season ; of which the first gather-
ing is the best. Each estate has its cotton press.
In the gin, the seed is separated from the cotton ;
and the latter is pressed and packed for sale.

There seems nothing to prevent the continuance
or renovation of the growth of this product, under
more favourable circumstances. Whether the rice
swamps will have to be given up, or whether they
may be tilled by free black labour, remains to be
seen. The Chinese grow rice ; and so do the Ita-
lians, without the advantage of free black labour.
If, in the worst case, the rice swamps should have
to be relinquished, the loss would be more than com-
pensated by the improvement which would take
place in the farming districts; land too high for
planting. The western, mountainous parts of these
States would thus become the most valuable.

It was amusing to hear the praises of corn (In-
dian corn) in the midst of the richest cotton, rice,
and tobacco districts. The Indian looks with silent
wonder upon the settler, who becomes visibly a
capitalist in nine months, on the same spot where
the red man has remained equally poor, all his life.
In February, both are alike bare of all but land,
and a few utensils. By the end of the next No-
vember, the white settler has his harvest of corn ;
more valuable to him than gold and silver. It will
procure him many things which they could not. A
man who has corn, may have everything. He can
sow his land with it ; and, for the rest, everything

302

AGRICULTURE.

eats corn, from slave to chick. Yet, in the midst
of so much praise of corn, I found that it cost a
dollar a bushel; that every one was complaining
of the expenses of living ; that, so far from mutton
being despised, as we have been told, it was much
desired, but not to be had ; and that milk was a
great rarity. Two of us, in travelling, asked for a
draught of milk. We had each a very small tum-
bler-full, and were charged a quarter-dollar. The
cultivation of land is as exclusively for exportable
products, as in the West Indies, in the worst days
of their slavery ; when food, and even bricks for
building, were imported from England. The total
absence of wise rural economy, under the present
system, opens great hope of future improvement.
The forsaken plantations are not so exhausted of
their resources as it is supposed, from their pro-
ducing little cotton, that they must be. The de-
serted fields may yet be seen, some day, again
fruitful in cotton, with corn-fields, pasturage, and
stock, (not human,) flourishing in appropriate
spots.

Adversity is the best teacher of economy here, as
elsewhere. In the first flush of prosperity, when a
proprietor sits down on a rich virgin soil, and the
price of cotton is rising, he buys bacon and corn
for his negroes, and other provisions for his family,
and devotes every rod of his land to cotton-growing.
I knew of one in Alabama, who, like his neigh-
bours, paid for his land and the maintenance of
his slaves with the first crop, and had a large sum
over, wherewith to buy more slaves and more land.
He paid eight thousand dollars for his land, and
all the expenses of the establishment, and had, at
the end of the season, eleven thousand dollars in
the bank. It was thought, by a wise friend of this
gentleman's, that it was a great injury, instead of
benefit to his fortune, that his labourers were not

AGRICULTURE.

free. To use this wise man's expression, " it takes
two white men to make a black man work;" and
he was confident that it was not necessary, on any
pretence whatever, to have a single slave in Alabama,
Where all the other elements of prosperity exist,
as they do in that rich new State, any quality and
amount of labour might be obtained, and the per-
manent prosperity of the country might be secured.
If matters go on as they are, Alabama will in time
follow the course of the south-eastern States, and
find her production of cotton declining; and she
will have to learn a wiser husbandry by vicissitude.
But matters will not go on as they are to that
point. Cotton-growing is advancing rapidly in
other parts of the world where there is the advan-
tage of cheap, free labour ; and the southern States
of America will find themselves unable to withstand
the competition of rivals whom they now despise,
but by the use of free labour, and of the improved
management which will accompany it. There is
already a great importation of mules for field work
from the , higher western States. Who knows but
that in time there may be cattle-shows, (like those
of the more prosperous rural districts of the north,)
where there are now slave markets; or at least
agricultural societies, whereby the inhabitants may
be put in the way of obtaining tender " sheep's
meat," while cotton may be grown more plentifully
than even at present ?

I saw at Charleston the first great overt act of
improvement that I am aware of in South Carolina.
One step has been taken upwards; and when I saw
it, I could only wish that the slaves in the neigh-
bourhood could see, as clearly as a stranger could,
the good it portended to them. It is nothing more
than that an enterprising gentleman has set up a
rice-mill, and that he avails himself to the utmost
of its capabilities ; but this is made much of in that

304

AGRICULTURE.

land of small improvement; as it ought to be.
The chaff is used to enrich the soil ; and the pro-
prietor has made lot after lot of bad land very pro-
fitable for sale with it, and is thus growing rapidly-
rich. The sweet flour, which lies between the
husk and the grain, is used for fattening cattle.
The broken rice is sold cheap ; and the rest finds a
good market. There are nine persons employed in
the mill, some white and some black; and many
more are busy in preparing the lots of land, and in
building on them. Clusters of houses have risen
up around the mill.

Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, present the
extreme case of the fertility of the soil, the prosperity
of proprietors, and the woes of slaves. I found
the Virginians spoke with sorrow and contempt of
the treatment of slaves in North and South Caro-
lina : South Carolina and Georgia, of the treatment
of slaves in the richer States to the west : and, in
these last, I found the case too bad to admit of ag-
gravation. It was in these last that the most
heart-rending disclosures were made to me by the
ladies, heads of families, of the state of society, and
of their own intolerable sufferings in it. As I went
further north again, I found an improvement.
There was less wealtrrin the hands of individuals,
a better economy, more intelligent slaves, and more
discussion how to get rid of slavery. Tennessee
is, in some sort, naturally divided on the question.
The eastern part of the State is hilly, and fit for
farming; for which slave labour does not answer.
The western part is used for cotton-planting ; and
the planters will not yet hear of free labour. The
magnificent State of Kentucky has no other draw-
back to its prosperity than slavery ; and its inha-
bitants are so far convinced of this that they will,
no doubt, soon free themselves from it. They can-
not look across the river, and witness the pros-

AGRICULTURE.

305

perity of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, without being
aware that, with their own unequalled natural ad-
vantages, they could not be so backward as they
are, from any other cause.

Kentucky is equally adapted for agriculture and
commerce. She may have ports on the rivers,
along her whole northern and western boundary;
and she has already roads superior to almost any
in the United States. She is rich in stone, and
many other minerals ; in mineral waters, and in a
soil of unsurpassed fertility. The State is more
thickly settled than is evident to the passing tra-
veller ; and the effect will appear when more mar-
kets, or roads to existing markets, are opened. In
one small county which I visited, my host and his
brother had farms of fifteen hundred acres each;
and there were two hundred and fifty other farms
in the county. Sometimes these farms are divided
among the children. More commonly, all the
sons but one go elsewhere to settle. In this case,
the homestead is usually left to the youngest son,
who is supposed likely to be the most attached to
the surviving parent.

The estates of the two brothers, mentioned
above, comprising three thousand acres, were
bought of the Indians for a rifle. We passed
a morning in surveying the one which is a grazing
farm. There is a good red-brick house for the
family: and the slave-quarter is large. Nothing
can be more beautiful than the aspect of the estate,
from the richness of its vegetation, and the droves
of fine cattle that were to be seen everywhere. I
never saw finer cattle. The owner had just refused
sixty dollars apiece for fourteen of them. Fifteen
acres of the forest are left for. shade ; and there,
and under single oaks in the cleared pasture, were
herds of horses and mules, and three donkeys ; the
only ones I saw in the United States.

306

/

AGRICULTURE.

We passed an unshaded meadow, where the grass
had caught fire every day at eleven o'clock, the
preceding summer. This demonstrates the neces-
sity of shade.

We passed " a spontaneous rye-field." I asked
what " spontaneous" meant here; and found that a
fine crop of rye had heen cut the year before ; and
that the nearly equally fine one now before us
had grown up from the dropped seed.

We enjoyed the thought of the abundance of
milk here, after, the dearth we had suffered in the
South. Forty cows are milked for the use of the
family and the negroes, and are under the care of
seven women. The proprietor declared to me that
he believed his slaves would drive him mad.
Planters, who grow but one product, suffer much
less from the incapacity and perverse will of their
negroes : th§ care of stock is quite another matter;
and for any responsible service, slaves are totally
unfit.

Instead of living being cheaper on country
estates, from the necessaries of life being raised on
them, it appears to be much more expensive.
This is partly owing to the prevailing pride of hav-
ing negroes to show. One family, of four persons,
of my acquaintance, in South Carolina, whose style
of living might be called homely, cannot manage
to live for less than three thousand dollars a year.
They have a carriage and eleven negroes. It is
cheaper in Kentucky. In the towns, a family may
live in good style for two thousand five hundred
dollars a year ; and for no great deal more in the
country. A family entered upon a good house,
near a town, with one hundred and twenty acres of
land, a few years ago, at a rent of three hundred
dollars. They bought house and land, and brought
their slaves, and now live, exclusive of rent and
hire of servants, for two thousand dollars a year, in

AGRICULTURE.

307

greater numbers and much higher style than the
South Carolina family.

The prospects of agriculture in the States north-
west of the Ohio are brilliant. The stranger who
looks upon the fertile prairies of Illinois and In-
diana, and the rich alluvions of Ohio, feels the
iniquity of the English corn laws as strongly as in
the alleys of Sheffield and Manchester. The in-
human perverseness of taxing food is there evident
in all its enormity. The world ought never to hear
of a want of food, — no one of the inhabitants of its
civilised portions ought ever to be without the
means of obtaining his fill, while the mighty west-
ern valley smiles in its fertility. If the aristocracy
of England, for whom those laws were made, and
by whom they are sustained, could be transported
to travel, in open wagons, the boundless prairies,
and the shores of the great rivers which would
bring down the produce, they would groan to see
from what their petty, selfish interests had shut out
the thousands of half-starved labourers at home.
If they could not be convinced of the very plain
truth, of how their own fortunes would be benefited
by allowing the supply and demand of food to take
their natural course, they would, for the moment,
wish their rent-rolls at the bottom of the sea,
rather than that they should stand between the
crowd of labourers and the supply of food which
God has offered them. The landlords of England
do not go and see the great western valley ; but,
happily, some of the labourers of England do.
Far off as that valley is, those labourers will make
themselves heard from thence, by those who have
driven them there; and will teach the brethren
whom they have left behind where the blame of
their hunger lies. Every British settler who
ploughs a furrow in the prairie, helps to plough up
the foundations of the British Corn Laws.

308

AGRICULTURE.

There is a prospect, not very uncertain or re-
mote, of these prairie lands bringing relief to a yet
more suffering class than either English labourers or
landlords; the sugar-growing slaves of the south.
Rumours of the progress of sugar-making from beet
in France have, for some time past, been interesting
many persons in the United States ; especially capi-
talists inclined to speculate, and the vigilant friends
of the slave. Information has been obtained, and
some trials made. Individuals have sown ten
acres and upwards each, and manufactured sugar
with a small apparatus. The result has been en-
couraging; and a large manufactory was to be
opened in Philadelphia on the 1st of November
last. Two large joint-stock companies have been
founded, one in New Jersey and the other in Illi-
nois. Their proceedings have been quickened by
the frosts of several successive seasons, which have
so cut off the canes in the south, as that it cannot
supply one quarter of the domestic consumption :
whereas it had previously supplied half. Some of
the southern newspapers have recommended the
substitution of beet for canes. However soon this
may be done, the northern sugar planters, with
their free labour, will surely overpower the south
in the competition. This is on the supposition
that beet will answer as well as canes ; a supposi-
tion which will have been granted whenever the
south begins to grow beet in preference to canes.

A heavy blow would be inflicted on slavery by
the success of the beet companies. The condition
of the cane- growing slaves cannot be made worse
than it is. I believe that even in the West Indies
it has never been so dreadful as at present in some
parts of Louisiana. A planter stated to a sugar-
refiner in New York, that it was found the best
economy to work off the stock of negroes once in
seven years.

AGRICULTURE.

309

The interest excited by this subject of beet-
growing is very strong throughout the United
States. Some result must ensue which will be an
instigation to further action. The most important
would be the inducing in the south either the use
of free labour in sugar-growing, or the surrender
of an object so fatal to decent humanity.

The prettiest amateur farm I saw was that of
the late Dr. Hosack, at Hyde Park, on the Hud-
son. Dr. Hosack had spared no pains to improve
his stock, and his methods of farming, as well as
the beauty of his pleasure-grounds. His merits in
the former departments the agricultural societies
in England are much better qualified to appreciate
than I ; and they seem to have valued his exertions ;
to judge by the medals and other honourable testi-
monials from them which he showed to me. As
for his pleasure-grounds, little was left for the hand
of art to do. The natural terrace above the
river, green, sweeping, and undulating, is surpass-
ingly beautiful. Dr. Hosack's good taste led him
to leave it alone, and to spend his pains on the
gardens and conservatory behind. Of all the
beautiful country-seats on the Hudson, none can,
I think, equal Hyde Park ; though many bear a
more imposing appearance from the river.

Though I twice traversed the western part of the
State of New York, I did not see the celebrated
farm of Mr. Wads worth ; the finest, by all accounts,
in the United States. The next best thing to see-
ing it was hearing Mr. Wadsworth talk about it, —
especially of its hospitable capabilities. This only
increased my regret at being unable to visit it.

The most remarkable order of land-owners that
I saw in the United States was that of the Shakers
and the Rappites ; both holding all their property
in common, and both enforcing celibacy. The in-
terest which would be felt by the whole of society

>210

AGRICULTURE.

in watching the results of a community of property
is utterly destroyed by the presence of the other
distinction ; or rather of the ignorance and super-
stition of which it is the sign.

The moral and economical principles of these
societies ought to be most carefully distinguished
by the observer. This being done, I believe it
will be found that whatever they have peculiarly
good among them is owing to the soundness of
their economical principles ; whatever they have
that excites compassion, is owing to the badness of
their moral arrangements.

I visited two Shaker communities in Massachu-
setts. The first was at Hancock, consisting of
three hundred persons, in the neighbourhood of an-
other at Lebanon, consisting of seven hundred per-
sons. There are fifteen Shaker establishments or
" families" in the United States, and their total
number is between five and six thousand. There
is no question of their entire success, as far as
wealth is concerned. A very moderate amount of
labour has secured to them in perfection all the
comforts of life that they know how to enjoy, and
as much wealth besides as would command the
intellectual luxuries of which they do not dream.
The earth does not show more flourishing fields,
gardens, and orchards, than theirs. The houses are
spacious, and in all respects unexceptionable. The
finish of every external thing testifies to their
wealth, both of material and leisure. The floor of
their place of worship, (the scene of their pecu-
liar exercises,) the roofs of their houses, their stair-
carpets, the feet of their chairs, the springs of their
^ates, and their spitting-boxes, — for even these
neat people have spitting-boxes — show a nicety
which is rare in America. Their table fare is
of the very best quality. We had depended on
a luncheon among them, and were rather alarmed

AGRICULTURE.

311

at the refusal we met, when we pleaded our long
ride and the many hours that we should have to
wait for refreshment, if they would not furnish us
with some. They urged, reasonably enough,
that a steady rule was necessary, subject as the
community was to visits from the company at Le-
banon Springs. They did not want to make
money by furnishing refreshments, and did not de-
sire the trouble. For once, however, they kindly
gave way; and we were provided with delicious
bread, molasses, butter, cheese and wine; all home-
made, of course. If happiness lay in bread and
butter, and such things, these people have attained
the sumrnum bonum. Their store shows what
they can produce for sale. A great variety of
simples, of which they sell large quantities to Lon-
don ; linen-drapery, knitted wares, sieves, baskets,
boxes, and confectionary ; palm and feather fans,
pin-cushions, and other such trifles ; all these may
be had in some variety, and of the best quality. If
such external provision, with a great amount of
accumulated wealth besides, is the result of co-
operation and community of property among an
ignorant, conceited, inert society like this, what
might not the same principles of association achieve
among a more intelligent set of people, stimulated
by education, and exhilarated by the enjoyment of
all the blessings which Providence has placed
within the reach of man?

The wealth of the Shakers is not to be attri-
buted to their celibacy. They are receiving a
perpetual accession to their numbers from among
the " world's people," and these accessions are
usually of the most unprofitable kind. Widows
with large families of young children, are perpetu-
ally joining the community, with the view of ob-
taining a plentiful subsistence with very moderate
labour. The increase of their numbers does not

312

AGRICULTURE.

lead to the purchase of more land. They supply
their enlarged wants by the high cultivation of the
land they have long possessed ; and the superfluity
of capital is so great that it is difficult to conceive
what will be done with it by a people so nearly
dead to intellectual enjoyments. If there had been
no celibacy among them, they would probably have
been far more wealthy than they are; the expenses
of living in community being so much less, and the
produce of co-operative labour being so much
greater than in a state of division into families.
The truth of these last positions can be denied by
none who have witnessed the working of a co-ope-
rative system. The problem is to find the prin-
ciple by which all shall be induced to labour their
share. Any such principle being found, the wealth
of the community follows of course.

Whether any principle to this effect can be
brought to bear upon any large class of society in
the old world, is at present the most important dis-
pute, perhaps, that is agitating society. It will
never now rest till it has been made matter of ex-
periment. If a very low principle has served the
purpose, for a time at least, in the new world, there
seems much ground for expectation that a far
higher one may be found to work as well in the
more complicated case of English society. There
is, at least, every encouragement to try. While
there are large classes of people here whose condi
tion can hardly be made worse ; while the present
system (if such it may be called) imposes care on
the rich, excessive anxiety on the middle classes,
and desperation on the poor : while the powerful
are thus, as it were, fated to oppress ; the strivers
after power to circumvent and counteract ; and the
powerless to injure, it seems only reasonable that
some section, at least, of this warring population
should make trial of the peaceful principles which

AGRICULTURE.

313

are working successfully elsewhere. The co-ope-
rative methods of the Shakers and Rappites might
be tried without any adoption of their spiritual
pride and cruel superstition. These are so far
from telling against the system, that they prompt
the observer to remark how much has been done
in spite of such obstacles.

There must be something sound in the princi-
ples on which these people differ from the rest of
the world, or they would not work at all ; but the
little that is vital is dreadfully encumbered with
that which is dead. Li£e all religious persuasions
from which one differs, that of the Shakers appears
more reasonable in conversation, and in their daily
actions, than on paper and at a distance. In actual
life, the absurd and peculiar recedes before the
true and universal ; but, I own, I have never wit-
nessed more visible absurdity than in the way of
life of the Shakers. The sound part of their prin-
ciple is the same as that which has sustained all
devotees ; and with it is joined a spirit of fellowship
which makes them more in the right than the an-
chorites and friars of old. This is all. Their spi-
ritual pride, their insane vanity, their intellectual
torpor, their mental grossness, are melancholy to
witness. Reading is discouraged among them.
Their thoughts are full of the one subject of celi-
bacy: with what effect, may be easily imagined.
Their religious exercises are disgustingly full of it.
It cannot be otherwise : for they have no other in-
teresting subject of thought beyond their daily rou-
tine of business; no objects in life, no wants, no
hopes, no novelty of experience whatever. Their
life is all dull work and no play.

The women, in their frightful costume, close
opaque caps, and drab gowns of the last degree of
tightness and scantiness, are nothing short of dis-
gusting. They are averse to the open air and ex-

VOL. I. p

314

AGRICULTURE.

ercise ; they are pallid and spiritless. They look
far more forlorn and unnatural than the men.
Their soulless stare at us, before their worship be-
gan, was almost as afflicting as that of the lowest
order of slaves ; and, when they danced, they were
like so many galvanised corpses. I had been rather
afraid of not being able to keep my countenance
during this part of their worship; but there was
no temptation to laugh. It was too shocking for
ridicule. Three men stood up, shouting a mono-
tonous tune, and dangling their crossed hands, with
a pawing motion, to keep time, while the rest
danced, except some old women and young chil-
dren, who sat out. The men stamped, and the
women jerked, with their arms hanging by their
sides; they described perpetually the figure of a
square ; the men and boys on one side, the women
and girls on the other. There were prayers be-
sides, and singing, and a sermon. This last was
v of a better quality than usual, I understood. It
was (of all improbable subjects) on religious liberty,
and contained nothing outrageously uncommon, ex-
cept the proposition that the American revolution
had drawn the last of the teeth of the red dragon.

It is not to be supposed that the children who
are carried in by their widowed, or indolent, or
poor, or superstitious parents, are always acquies-
cent in their destination. I saw many a bright
face within the prim cap-border, which bore a pro-
phecy of a return to the world; and two of the
boys stamped so vigorously in the dance, that it was
impossible to imagine their feelings to be very de-
votional. The story of , one often serves as an index
to the hearts of many. I knew of a girl who was
carried into a Shaker community by her widowed
mother, and subjected early to its discipline. It
was hateful to her. One Sunday, when- she was, I
believe, about sixteen, she feigned illness, to avoid

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315

going to worship. When she believed every one
else gone, she jumped out of a low window, and upon
the back of a pony which happened to be in the field.
She rode round and round the enclosure, without
saddle or bridle, and then re-entered the house.
She had been observed, and was duly reprimanded.
• She left the community in utter weariness and
disgust. A friend of mine, in a neighbouring vil-
lage, took the girl into her service. She never
settled well in service, being too proud for the oc-
cupation ; and she actually went back to the same
community, and is there still, for no better reason
than the saving of her pride. Her old teachers
had, it thus appeared, obtained an influence over
her, notwithstanding the tyranny of their discipline ;
and it had not been of a wholesome moral nature.
But no more words are necessary to show how
pride, and all other selfishness, must flourish in a
community which religiously banishes all the ten-
derest charities of life.

The followers of Mr. Rapp are settled at Eco-
nomy, on the Ohio, eighteen miles below Pitts-
burgh. Their number was five hundred when I
was there ; and they owned three thousand acres
of land. Much of their attention seems to be given
to manufactures. They rear silkworms, and were
the earliest silk-weavers in the United States. At
my first visit they were weaving only a flimsy kind
of silk handkerchief ; last summer I brought away
a piece of substantial, handsome black satin. They
have sheep-walks, and a large woollen manufac-
tory. Their factory was burnt down in 1 834 ; the
fire occasioning a loss of sixty thousand dollars ; a
mere trifle to this wealthy community. Their
vineyards, corn-fields, orchards, and gardens glad-
den the eye. There is an abundance so much be-
yond their need that it is surprising that they
work ; except for want of something else to do. The

p2

316

AGRICULTURE.

Dutch love of flowers was visible in the plants that
were to be seen in the windows, and the rich car-
nations and other sweets that bloomed in the gar-
den and green-house. The whole place has a
superior air to that of either of the Shaker " families1'
that I saw. The women were better dressed ; more
lively, less pallid; but, I fear, not much wiser. Mr.
Rapp exercises an unbounded influence over his
people. They are prevented learning any language
but German, and are not allowed to converse with
strangers. The superintendent keeps a close watch
over them in this respect. Probationers must serve
a year before they can be admitted : and the ma-
nagers own that they dread the entrance of young
people, who might be " unsettled f that is, not suf-
ficiently subservient.

I was curious to learn how five hundred persons
could be kept in the necessary subjection by one.
Mr. Rapp's means are such that his task is not very
difficult. He keeps his people ignorant; and he
makes them vain. He preaches to them their
own superiority over the rest of the world so in-
cessantly that they fully believe it ; and are per-
suaded that their salvation is in his hands. At first
I felt, with regard both to them and the Shakers, a
strong respect for the self-conquest which could
enable them to endure the singularity, — the one
community, of its non-intercourse with strangers ;
the other, of its dancing exhibitions ; but I soon
found that my respect was misplaced. One and all,
they glory in the singularity. They feel no awk-
wardness in it, from first to last. This vanity is the
handle by which they are worked.

Mr. Rapp is now very old. His son is dead. It
remains to be seen what will become of his com-
munity, with its immense accumulation of wealth,
when it has lost its dictator. It does not appear
that they can go on in their present state without a

AGRICULTURE.

317

dictator. They smile superciliously upon Mr.
Owen's plan, as admitting " a wrong principle," —
marriage. The best hope for them is that they will
change their minds on this point, admitting the
educational improvements which will arise out of
the change, and remaining in community with re-
gard to property. This is the process now in ac-
tion among the seceders from their body, settled
on the opposite bank of the river, a short distance
below Economy.

These seceders were beguiled by Count Leon, a
.stranger, who told the people a great deal that was
true about Mr. Rapp, and a great deal that was
false about himself. It is a great pity that Count
Leon was a swindler ; for he certainly opened the
eyes of the Economy people to many truths, and
might have done all that was wanted, if he had him-
self been honest. He drew away seventy of the
people, and instigated them to demand of Mr. Rapp
their share of the accumulated property. It was
refused ; and a suit was instituted against Mr. Rapp,
in whose name the whole is invested. The lawyers
compromised the affair, and Mr. Rapp disbursed
120,000 dollars. Count Leon obtained, and ab-
sconded with almost the whole, and died in Texas ;
the burial-place of many more such men. With the
remnant of their funds, the seventy seceders pur-
chased land, and settled themselves opposite to
Beaver, on the Ohio. They live in community, but
abjuring celibacy; and have been joined by some
thorough-bred Americans. It will be seen how
they prosper.

Though the members of these remarkable com-
munities are far from being the only agriculturists
in whom the functions of proprietor and labourer
are joined, the junction is in them so peculiar as to
make them a separate class, holding a place between
the landowners of whom I have before spoken, and
the labourers of whom I shall have to treat.

318

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

SECTION I.

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

The political economists of England have long
wondered why the Americans have not done what
older nations would be glad to do, if the opportunity
had not gone by; — reserved government lands,
which, as it is the tendency of rent to rise, might
obviate any future increase of taxation. There are
more good reasons than one why this cannot be
done in America.

The expenses of the general government are so •
small that the present difficulty is to reduce the
taxation so as to leave no more than a safe surplus
revenue in the treasury ; and there is no prospect
of any increase of taxation ; as the taxpayers are
likely to grow much faster than the expenses of the
government.

The people of the United States choose to be
proprietors of land, not tenants. No one can yet
foresee the time when the relation of landlord and
tenant (except in regard to house property) will
be extensively established in America. More than
a billion of acres remain to be disposed of first. ■

The weightiest reason of all is that, in the United
States, the people of to-day are the government of
to-day ; the people of fifty years hence will be the
government of fifty years hence ; and it would not
suit the people of to-day to sequestrate their pro-
perty for the benefit of their successors, any better
than it would suit the people of fifty years hence to
be legislated for by those of to-day. A democratic
government must always be left free to be operated

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

319

upon by the will of the majority of the time being.
All that the government of the day can do is to
ascertain what now appears to be the best principle
by which to regulate the disposal of land, and then
to let the demand and supply take their natural
course.

The methods according to which the disposal of
land is carried on are as good as the methods of
government almost invariably are in America. The
deficiency is in the knowledge of the relation which
land bears to other capital and to labour. # A few
clear-headed men have foreseen the evil of so great
a dispersion of the people as has taken place, and
have consistently advocated a higher price being set
upon land than that at which it is at present sold.
Such men are now convinced that evils which seem
• to bear no more relation to the price of land than
the fall of an apple to the motions of the planets,
are attributable to the reduction in the price of go-
vernment lots: that much political blundering, and
religious animosity ; muclv of the illegal violence,
and much of the popular apathy on the slave ques-
tion, which have disgraced the country, are owing to
the public lands being sold at a minimum price cf
a dollar and a-quarter per acre. Many excellent
leaders of the democratic party think the people at
large less fit to govern themselves wisely than they
were five-and-twenty years ago. This seems to me
improbable ; but I believe there is no doubt that
the dispersion has hitherto been too great ; and
that the intellectual and moral, and, of course,
the political condition of the people has thereby
suffered.

The price of the public lands was formerly two
dollars per acre, with credit. It was found to be a

* I need bardly mention that I read " England and America"
b?fore 1 set out on my travels. It will appear that I am under
obligations to that valuable work for much guidance.

320

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

bad plan for the constituents of a government to be
its debtors ; and there was a reduction of the price
to a dollar and a quarter, without credit. In forty
years, above forty millions of acres have been sold.
The government cannot arbitrarily raise the price.
If any check is given to the process of dispersion, it
must arise from the people perceiving the true state
of their own case, and acting accordingly.

Some circumstances seem at present to favour the
process of enlightenment ; others are adverse to it.
Those which are favourable are, the high prospe-
rity of manufactures and commerce, the essential
requisite of which is the concentration of labourers :
the increasing immigration of labourers from Eu-
rope, and the happy experience which they force
upon the back settler of the advantage of an increased
proportion of labour to land ; and the approaching I
crisis of the slavery question ; when every one will
see the necessity of measures which will keep the
slaves where they are. Of the extraordinary, and
I must think, often wilful error of taking for granted
that all the slaves must be removed, in order to
the abolition of slavery, I shall have to speak else-
where.

The circumstances unfavourable to an under-
standing of the true state of the case about the dis-
posal of land are, the deep-rooted persuasion that
land itself is the most valuable wealth, in all places,
and under all circumstances : and the complication
of interests connected with the late acquisition of
Louisiana and Florida, and the present usurpation
of Texas.

Louisiana was obtained from the French, not on
account of the fertile new land which it compre-
hended, but because it was essential to the very
existence of the United States that the mouth of
the Mississippi should not be in the possession of
another people. The Americans obtained the

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

321

mouth of the Mississippi ; and with it, unfortunately,
large tracts of the richest virgin soil, on which
slavery started into new life, and on which " the
perspiration of the eastern States" (as I have heard
the settlers of the west called) rested, and grew
barbarous while they grew rich. A fact has lately
transpired in the northern States which was already
well known in the south, — that the purchase of
Florida was effected for the sake of the slave-
holders. It is now known that the President was
overwhelmed with letters from slave-owners, com-
plaining that Florida was the refuge of their runa-
ways ; and demanding that this retreat should be
put within their power. Florida was purchased.
Many and great evils have already arisen out of its
acquisition. To cover these, and blind the people
to the particular and iniquitous interests engaged
in the affair, the sordid faction benefited raises a
perpetual boast in the ears of the people about
their gain of new territory, and the glory and profit
of having added so many square miles to their al-
ready vast possessions.

In the eyes of those of the people who do
not yet see the whole case, the only evil which
has arisen out of the possession of Florida, is
the Seminole warfare. They breathe an in-
tense hatred against the Seminole Indians; and
many fine young men have gone down into Florida,
and lost their lives in battle, without being aware
that they were fighting for oppressors against the
oppressed. Probably few of the United States
troops who fell in the late Seminole war knew how
the strife arose. According to the laws of the
slave States, the children of the slaves follow the
fortunes of the mother. It will be seen, at a glance,
what consequences follow from this ; how it ope-?
rates as a premium upon licentiousness among
white men ; how it prevents any but mock mar?

322

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

riages among slaves ; and also what effect it must
have upon any Indians with whom slave women
have taken refuge. The late Seminole war arose
out of this law. The escaped slaves had intermar-
ried with the Indians. The masters claimed the
children. The Seminole fathers would not deliver
them up. Force was used to tear the children from
their parents' arms, and the Indians began their
desperate, but very natural work of extermination.
They have carried on the war with eminent success,
St. Augustine, the capital, being now the only place
in Florida where the whites can set their foot. Of
course, the poor Indians will ultimately succumb,
however long they may maintain the struggle : but,
before that, the American people may possibly
have learned enough of the facts of the case to
silence those who boast of the acquisition of Flo-
rida, as an increase of the national glory.

It would be a happy thing for them if they should
know all soon enough to direct their national repro-
bation upon the Texan adventurers, and wash their
hands of the iniquity of that business. This would
soon be done, if they could look upon the whole
affair from a distance, and see how the fair fame of
their country is compromised by the avarice and
craft of a faction. The probity of their people, their
magnanimity in money matters, have always been
conspicuous, from the time of the cession of their
lands by the States to the General Government,
till now : and, now they seem in danger of forfeit-
ing their high character through the art of the few,
and the ignorance of the many. The few are ob-
taining their end by ^flattering the passion of the
many for new territory, as well as by engaging their
best feelings on behalf of those who are supposed to
be fighting for their rights against oppressors.
There is yet hope. The knowledge of the real
state of the case is spreading ; and, if only time can

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

323

be gained, the Americans will yet be saved from
the eternal disgrace of adding Texas to their ho-
nourable Union.

The brief account which I shall give of what is
prematurely called the acquisition of Texas, is
grounded partly on historical facts, open to the
knowledge of all ; and partly on what I had the op*
portunity of learning at New Orleans, from some
leaders and agents in the Texan cause, who did
what they could to enlist my judgment and sympa^
thies on behalf of their party. I went in entire
ignorance of the whole matter. My first knowledge
of it was derived from the persons above-mentioned,
whose objects were to obtain the good-will of such
English as they could win over ; to have their affairs
well spoken of in London ; and to get the tide of
respectable English emigration turned in their direc-
tion. With me they did not succeed : with some
others they did. Several English are already buried
in Texas; and there are others whose repentance
that they ever were beguiled into aiding such a
cause will be far worse than death. The more I
heard of the case from the lips of its advocates, the
worse I thought of it : and my reprobation of the
whole scheme has grown with every fact which has
come out since.

Texas, late a province of Mexico, and then one
of its confederated States, lies adjacent to Louisiana.
The old Spanish government seem to have had
some foresight as to what might happen, to judge
by the jealousy with which they guarded this part
of their country from intrusion by the Americans.
The Spanish Captain-general of the internal pro-
vinces, Don Nemisio Salcedo, used to say that he
would, if he could, stop the birds from flying over
the boundary between Texas and the United States.
Prior to 18*20, however, a few adventurers, chiefly
Indian traders, had dropped over the boundary linq

324 DISPOSAL OF LAND.

and remained unmolested in the eastern corner of
Texas. In 1820, Moses Austin, of Missouri, was
privileged by the Spanish authorities to introduce
three hundred orderly, industrious families, profes-
sing the Catholic religion, as settlers into Texas,
Moses Austin died ; and his son Stephen prosecuted
the scheme Before possession of the land was ob-
tained, the Mexican Revolution occurred; but the
new government confirmed the privilege granted
by the old one, with some modifications. The chief
of the settlers and his followers were liberally en-
riched with lands, gratis ; on the conditions of their
occupying them ; of their professing the Catholic
religion ; and of their being obedient to the laws of
the country.

Other persons were tempted by Austin's success
to apply for grants. Many obtained them, and dis-
posed of their grants to joint stogk companies; so
that Texas became the scene of much land-specu-
lation. The companies began to be busy about
" stock" and " scrip," which they proffered as pre-
paratory titles to land ; and a crowd of ignorant and
credulous persons, and of gamblers, thus became
greedy after lands which no more belonged to any
Americans than Ireland.

Leave was given to the actual settlers by the
Mexican Government to introduce, for ten years,
duty free, aU articles, not contraband, that were
necessary for their use and comfort. Under this
permission, much smuggling went on : and many
adventurers settled in Texas for the very purpose
of supplying the neighbouring Indian tribes with
contraband articles. Arms and ammunition were
plentifully furnished to the savages ; and slaves to
the settlers ; though slavery had been abolished in
the country, by whose laws the settlers had engaged
to live.

The next step was, an offer on the part of the

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

325

United States Government to purchase Texas, in
order to incorporate it with the Union. The offer
was instantly and indignantly rejected by the Mexi-
cans. It may seem surprising that even with the
passion for territory that the people of the United
States have, they should desire to purchase Texas,
while above a billion of acres of land at home were
still unoccupied. Slavery is found to be the solu-
tion of this, as of almost every other absurdity and
unpleasant mystery there. Slavery answers only
on a virgin soil, and under certain conditions of the
supply of labour. It is destined to die out of the
States which it has impoverished, and which come
most closely into contrast with those which are
flourishing under free labour. It is evidently des-
tined soon to be relinquished by Missouri, Ken-
tucky, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware ; and not
very long afterwards, by the Carolinas, and per-
haps Tennessee. The proprietors of slaves have a
double purpose in acquiring new territory : to ob-
tain a fresh field for the labour of the slaves they
possess; and, (what is at least as important,) to
keep up the equality of the representation of the
slave and free States in .Congress. We have before
seen that there is a provision against the introduc-
tion of slavery into the lands north-west of the Ohio.
When to the representation of the new States of
this region, shall be joined that of the old States
which relinquish slavery, the remaining slave States
will be in a hopeless minority in Congress, unless
a representation from new slave regions can be pro-
vided. Texas is to be obtained first ; and, if de-
sirable, to be divided into several States ; and after-
wards, the aggressions on the Mexican territory
will doubtless be repeated, as often as a new area
for slave labour is wanted ; and an accession of re-
presentation, for the support of slavery, is needed
in Congress. Thus it happens that a host of land-

326

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

speculators, adventurers and slave-owners have, for
a long series of years, been interested in the acqui-
sition of Texas. x

On the refusal of the Mexican Government to
sell Texas, the newspapers of the slave- holding por-
tion of the United States began to indicate methods
of obtaining the territory, and to advocate the use
of any means for so desirable an object. The agent
of the United States at the Mexican capital is be-
lieved to have been instigated by his government to
intrigue for the purpose which could not be obtained
by negotiation. The settlers in Texas made it
known along the Mississippi that they might soon
be strong enough to establish slavery openly, in
defiance of Mexico. This brought in an accession
of slave-holding settlers, who evaded the Mexican
laws, by calling their slaves " apprentices for ninety-
nine years." The Mexicans took alarm ; decreed
in the State Legislature of Texas that no appren-
ticeship should, on any pretence, be for a longer
term than ten years; forbade further immigration
from the United States ; and sent a small body of
troops to enforce the prohibition. This was in 1829
and 1830.

In 1832, the Mexican troops were unfortunately
wanted near the capital, and called in from the
frontiers and colonies. The settlers shut up the
custom-houses in their part of the country, and
defied the laws as much as they pleased. Then a
great number of restless, bad spirits Jbegan to pour _
into Texas from the whole of the United States ;
men who had to fly from their creditors, or from the
pursuit of justice. There was probably never seen
a more ferocious company of ruffians than Texas
contains at this moment. These men, who had no-
thing to lose, now set to work to wrench the ter-
ritory from the hands of the Mexicans. They
actually proceeded, in 1833, to organize a State

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

327

Government ; opposed earnestly but feebly by the
honest, original settlers, who were satisfied with the
contract under which they had settled, and had
everything to lose by the breach of it. A Conven-
tion was called, to prepare a State Constitution,
which Stephen Austin had the audacity to carry to
the Mexican capital, to pray for its ratification by
the Mexican Congress. After some time, he was
committed to prison on a charge of treasonable con-
spiracy. He was still in prison when I was at New
Orleans, in May, 1835; and no one of the persons
who conversed with me on Texan affairs alluded to
the fact. They spoke of him as if living and acting
among the settlers. He wrote to the colonists from
his prison, advising strict obedience to the Mexi-
can laws ; and, finally, gave his promise to the
government to promote ordeir in the colonies ; and
was dismissed, by the clemency of the administra-
tion, without further punishment than an imprison-
ment of nearly two years.

The wilder adventurers among the settlers had
chafed at his advice, but found it necessary to be
quiet for a time. The Mexican government put
too much trust in them on this account, and re-
stored, during Austin's imprisonment, the freedom
of immigration, on the old conditions. The liberty
was again shamelessly abused. Slaves were im-
ported from Africa, via Cuba, and illegal land spe-
culations were carried on with more vigour than
ever. Troops were again sent from the capital to
re-open the custom-houses, and enforce their re-
gulations. But it was now too late.

It had long been a settled agreement between
the Texan adventurers and many slave-holders of
the south, that if slavery could no otherwise be
perpetuated in Texas, it should be done by the
seizure of that province; all possible aid being
given by the residents in the United States, who

328

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

were a party to the agreement. This was avowed
by the adventurers in Texas ; and the avowal has
been justified by the subscriptions of money, arms,
and stores, which have been sent through New
Orleans; the companies of volunteers that have
given their strength to the bad cause ; and the
efforts of members of Congress from the south to
hurry on the recognition of the independence of
Texas by the United States Government. It was
with shame and grief that I heard, while I was in
New York, last spring, of the public meeting there,
which had been got up by men who should have
put the influence of their names to a better use, —
a public meeting in behalf of the Texan adven-
turers, where high-sounding common-places had
been played off about patriotism, fighting for the
dearest rights of man, and so forth. The purpose
was, I believe, answered for the time. The price
of stock rose ; and subscriptions were obtained.
The Texan cause was then in the lowest state of
depression. It soon revived, in consequence of an
unfortunate defeat of the Mexicans, and the cap-
ture of the President of their republic, Santa Anna.
This, again, was made to serve as the occasion of
a public dinner at New York, when some eminent
members of Congress were passing through, to the
Springs, in the summer. The time will come when
those gentlemen will look back upon their speeches
at that dinner as among the deeds which, dying,
they would most wish to blot. By this time, how-
ever, the true character of the struggle was be-
ginning to be extensively recognised : and, day by
day, ther" people of the United States have been
since awakening to the knowledge of how they
have been cheated in having their best sympathies
called forth in behalf of the worst of causes. The
great fear is, lest this should prove to be too late ;
lest, the United States having furnished the means

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

329

by which the usurpation of Texas has been achieved,
the people of the Union should be persuaded that
they must follow their common, and otherwise fair
rule, of acknowledging the independence of all
States that are - de facto independent, without
having anything to do with the question de jure.

What has been the national conduct of the United
States on this great question ? The government
has been very nearly impartial. It must be allowed
that factions and individuals were already doing so
much that, if the government wished all possible
success to the Texans, it could hardly do better
than be quiet while they were receiving the aid of
its constituents. While the theft of Texas has been
achieved, (if it be achieved,) by United States
men, money and arms, the general government has
been officially regarding it as ostensibly and actually
a foreign affair. However much may be true of
the general belief in the interest of its members in
the success of the Texan aggression, the govern-
ment has preserved a cool and guarded tone
throughout ; and the only act that I know of for
which it can be blamed is for not removing General
Gaines from his command on the frontier, on his
manifestation of partisanship on the Texan side.
General Gaines was ordered to protect the settlers
on the south-western frontier, who might be in
danger from the Mexicans, and from the fierce
Indians who were engaged on the Mexican side of
the quarrel. General Gaines wrote to head quar-
ters of his intentions of crossing, to attack the
Mexicans, not only the inner bounds of the United
States territory, but the disputed boundary, claimed
by the United States, and disallowed* by Mexico.
Immediate orders were despatched to him to do no
such thing; to confine himself, except in a strong
emergency, to the inner boundary ; and on no ac-
count whatever to cross the disputed line. This

330

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

was not enough. An officer who had shown him-
self so indisposed to the neutrality professed by
his government, should have been sent where he
could indulge his partialities with less hazard to the
national honour.

Some senators from the south pressed, last ses-
sion, with indecent haste, for the recognition of
the independence of Texas. The speech of Ex-
President Adams remains as an eternal rebuke to
such.* This speech was the most remarkable in-
dividual act of the session ; and no session has
been distinguished by one more honourable. There
was no attempt at a reply to it, in or out of either
House. Mr. Adams left no resource to the advo-
cates of the Texan cause but abuse of himself-:
the philosophy of which he, no doubt, understood
as well as other people. Various public men, in
various public assemblies, have declared their de-
sire for the success of the Texans ; and have joined
with this the avowal that the value of slaves will
rise fifty per cent., as soon as the independence of
Texas is acknowledged.

The war is not yet over. The vicissitudes have
been so great, — each party has appeared at times
in so hopeless a condition, that the friends of Ame-
rican honour, and the foes of slavery, do not yet
despair of the ultimate expulsion of the aggressors,
and the restoration of Texas to Mexico. If these
hopes must be surrendered, — -if slavery is to be re-
established on a constitutional basis, in a vast ter-
ritory where it had been actually abolished, — if a
new impulse is thus to be given to the traffic in
native Africans,! — if the fair fame of the Anglo-

* See Appendix A.

t The Texans pretend to deny that the slave-trade will receive,
or is receiving, an impulse from them. The case is this. In the
Texan constitution, the importation of, slaves, except from the
United States, is declared piracy. A most wealthy slave-owner of

DISPOSAL OF LAND. 331

Americans is to be thus early, and thus, deeply
stained, good men must rouse themselves the more
to enlighten the ignorance through which the mis-
fortune has happened. They must labour to ex-
hibit the truth, keeping unshaken their faith in the
theory of their constitution that " the majority will
be in the right."

It is much to be feared that, even if Texas were
acknowledged to-morrow to be a Mexican State,
an injury would be found to have been done to the
American people, which it will take a long time
and much experience to repair. No pains have
been spared to confirm the delusion, that the pos-
session of more and more land is the only thing to
be desired, alike by the selfish and the patriotic ;
by those who would hastily build up their own for-
tunes, and by those who desire the aggrandisement
% of their country. No one mourned with me more
earnestly over this popular delusion than a member
of Congress, who has since been one of the most
vehement advocates of the Texan cause, and has
thereby done his best to foster the delusion. He
told me that the metaphysics of society in the south

Louisiana told me, in 1835, that the annual importation of native
Africans (by smuggling) was from thirteen thousand to fifteen
thousand. This has much increased since. As long as there is a
market for slaves, there will be the slave-trade, though there were
a preventive cruiser to every mile of the ocean.

An official gentleman, from the British West Indies, informed
me that much mischief has ensued from the withdrawing of two
or three small British schooners, which used to cruise about the
islands, and were broken up on the plea of economy ; — it being
supposed that vessels so small could do no good which would
compensate for their expense. This is a mistake. If a slave ship
surrenders on summons, the ship and cargo are forfeited, and that
is all. If a gun is fired, in defence, the captain and crew become
thereby liable to be nanged as pirates. Of course, those who man
a slave sMp are ready to surrender to a cock-boat, with two men
in it, raiher than become liable to hanging for property in which
they can have, at most, but a very small interest. Thus a schooner
renders as good aid, and is as much an object of dread, in this kin4
of service, as a larger vessel.

332

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

afford a curious study to the observer ; and that
they are humbling to a resident. He told me that,
so far from the honour and happiness of any region
being supposed to lie in the pursuit of the higher
objects of life, any man would be pronounced
" imbecile" who, having enough for his moderate
wants, should prefer the enjoyment of his patri-
mony, his family relations, and intercourse with
the society in which he was brought up, to wander-
ing away in pursuit of more land. He complained
that he was heart-sick when he heard of American
books : that there was no character of permanence
in anything ; — all was fluctuation, except the pas-
sion for land, which, under the name of enterprise,
or patriotism, or something else that was creditable,
would last till his countrymen had pushed their
out-posts to tfye Pacific. He insisted that the only
consolation arose from what was to be hoped when
pioneering must, perforce, come to a stop. He
told me of one and another of his intelligent and
pleasant young neighbours, who were quitting their
homes and civilised life, and carrying their brides
" as bondwomen" into the wilderness, because fine
land was cheap there. If all this be true of the
young gentry of the south, as I believe it is, what
hope is there that the delusion will not long remain
among those who have no other guides than Ex-
perience ; — that slowest of all teachers ?

The people of the United States have, however,
kept their eyes open to one great danger, arising from
this love of land. They have always had in view the
disadvantage of rich men purchasing tracts larger
than they could cultivate. They saw that it was
contrary to the public interest that individuals
should be allowed to interpose a desert between
other settlers whose welfare depends much on their
having means of free communication, and a peopled
neighbourhood ; and that it is inconsistent with re-

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

333

publican modes that overgrown fortunes should
arise by means of an early grasping of large quan-
tities of a cheap kind of property, which must in-
evitably become of the highest value in course of
time. The reduction in the price of land would
probably have been greater, but for the temptation
which the cheapening would hold out to capitalists.
Another reason assigned for not still further lower-
ing the price is, the danger of depreciating a kind
of property held by the largest proportion of the
people. This is obviously unsound ; since the
property held by this large proportion of the people
is improved land, whose relation in value to other
kinds of property is determined by quite other
circumstances than the amount of the original pur-
chase-money. The number of people who sell
again unimproved land is so small as not to be
worthy to enter into the account.

Large grants of land have been made to schools
and colleges. Upwards of eight millions of acres
have, I believe, been thus disposed of. There
seems no objection to this, at the time it was done ;
as there can be no doubt that grants will be culti-
vated that have such an interest hanging on their
cultivation. These grants were made while there
was a national debt. Now, there is a surplus re-
venue ; and appropriations of this kind had better
be made henceforth from the money which has
arisen from the sale of land than in a way which
would force more land into the market. It is to
be hoped, too, that no more recompenses for public
service will be offered in land, like the large grants
which were made to soldiers after the revolutionary
war. The soldiers have disposed of their lands
much under the government price, in order to ob-
tain a sale ; and the hurtful dispersion of settlers,
and the sale of tracts too large to be well-cultivated,
have been thereby assisted.

334

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

The great question incessantly repeated through-
out the United States is, what is to be done with
the immense amount of land remaining unsold;
and with the perpetually increasing revenue arising
from the sale, as it proceeds ? Various proposi-
tions are afloat, — none of which appear to me so
wise as some which remain to be offered. One
proposition is to divide the lands again among the
States, apportioning the amount according to the
representation in Congress, or to the population as
given by the last census. Besides the difficulty of
making the apportionment fairly, this plan would
afford fatal inducements to a greater dispersion of
people than has yet taken place. It is also argued
that no constitutional power exists by which the
cession of 1787 can be reversed.

Another proposition is, to let the sale of lands
go on as it does now, and divide the proceeds among
the several States, for purposes of Education, Co-
lonisation of the coloured race, and Internal Im-
provements. Under such a plan, there would be
endless disputes about the amounts to be paid over
to the different States. The general government
would have a new and dangerous function assigned
to it. Besides, as much of the surplus revenue is
derived from duties, it seems a shorter and more
natural method to leave off levying money that is
not wanted, than to levy it, use it, and make a dis-
tribution of other funds among the States. This
subject will, however, come under consideration
hereafter*

Others propose that nothing should be done :
that the lands should go on being sold according to
the present demand, and the proceeds to accumu-
late, till some accident happens, — a war, or other
expensive adventure, — to help to dissipate them.
The first part of the proposition will probably
stand good ; for it seems a difficult thing to rais%

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

335

the price of land again : — an impossible thing, till
the people shall show that they understand the
case by demanding an increase of price : but the
second part of the proposition cannot be acceded
to. It is inconsistent with the first principles of
democracy that large sums of money should accu-
mulate in the hands of the general government.
The accumulation must be disposed of, and the
sources of revenue restrained.

There are modes of advantageously disposing of
the surplus revenue which are obvious to those
whose economical experience is precisely the re-
verse of that of the people of the United States.
They are not likely to be at present assented to, —
perhaps even to be tolerated by the inhabitants of
the new world. Such as they are, they will be
presented in the next section.

The lowest price given of late for land, that I
heard of, was a quarter-dollar per acre ; (for these
are not times when three thousand acres are to be
had for a rifle; and a whole promontory for a suit
of clothes.) Some good land may be still had, at
a distance from roads and markets, from those who
want to turn their surplus land into money, for a
quarter-dollar per acre. Some that I saw in New
Hampshire under these circumstances has ad-
vanced in five years to a dollar and a half per acre :
and some of about equal quality, about fifteen
miles nearer to a market, sold at the same time for
ten dollars per acre. I saw some low land, on the
banks of the river, near Pittsburg, which would
not sell at any price a few years ago, when salt
was brought over the mountains on pack-horses,
and sold at a dollar a quart. Now salt is obtained
in any quantity by digging near this land ; and the
meadow is parted into lots of ten acres each, which
sell at the rate of one thousand dollars per acre.
This is, no doubt, in prospect of the salt-works

336

DISPOSAL OF LAND

wnicn are destined to flourish here. The highest
price I heard of being given (unless in a similar
case in New York) was for street lots in Mobile ;
one hundred and ten dollars per foot frontage.

For agricultural purposes, the price of land
varies, according to its fertility, and, much more,
to its vicinity to a market, in a manner which can-
not easily be specified. I think the highest price I
heard of was fifteen hundred dollars per acre.
This was in the south. In the north and west, I
heard of prices varying from thirty to one hundred
dollars, even in somewhat retired situations. One
thing seems to be granted on all hands : that a set-
tler cannot fail of success, if he takes good land, in
a healthy situation, at the government price. If
he bestows moderate pains on his lot, he may con-
fidently reckon on its being worth at least double
at the end of the year : much more, if there are
growing probabilities of a market.

The methods according to which the sales of the
public lands in the United States are conducted
are excellent. The lots are so divided as to pre-
clude all doubt and litigation about boundaries.
There .is a general land-office at Washington, and
a subordinate one in each district, where all busi-
ness can be transacted with readiness and exacti-
tude. Periodical sales are made of lands which it
is desirable to bring into the market. These are
disposed of to the highest bidder. The advance of
the population into the wilderness is thus made
more regular than it would be if there were not a
rendezvous in each district, where it could be as-
certained how the settlement of the neighbouring
country was going on ; titles are made more secure ;
and less impunity is allowed to fraud.

The pre-emption laws, originally designed for
the benefit of poor settlers, have been the greatest
provocatives to fraud. It seemed hard that a squat-

DISPOSAL OF LAND.

337

ter, who had settled himself on unoccupied land, and
done it nothing but good, should be turned off with-
out remuneration, or compelled to purchase his
own improvements; and in 1830, a bill was there-
fore passed, granting a pre-emption right to squat-
ters who had taken such possession of unsold lands.
It provided that when two individuals had culti-
vated a quarter section of land, (one hundred and
sixty acres,) each should have a pre-emption right
with regard to half the cultivated portion : and
each also to a pre-emption of eighty acres any-
where else in the same land district. Of course,
abundance of persons took advantage of this law to
get the best land very cheap. Two men, by
merely cutting down, or blazing a few trees, or
" camping out" for a night or two, on a good
quarter-section, have secured it at the minimum
price. A Report to Congress states that there is
reason to believe that " large companies have been
founded, who procure affidavits of improvements to
be made, get the warrants issued upon them, and
whenever a good tract of land is ready for sale,
cover it over with their floats, (warrants of the re-
quired habitation,) and thus put down competition.
The frauds upon the public, within the past year,
(1835,) from this single source, have arisen to
many millions of dollars." Such errors in matters
of detail are sure to be corrected soon after being
discovered. The means will speedily be found of
showing a due regard to the claims of squatters,
without precipitating the settlement of land by un-
fairly reducing its price in the market. Whatever
methods may tend to lessen rather than to increase
the facilities for occupying new land, must, on the
whole, be an advantage, while the disproportion
between land and labour is so great as it now is in
the western regions of the United States.

VOL, I.

Q

338

RURAL LABOUR,

SECTION II.

RURAL LABOUR,

English farmers settling in the United States
used to be a joke to their native neighbours. The
Englishman began with laughing, or being shocked,
at the slovenly methods of cultivation employed by
the American settlers : he was next seen to look
grave on his own account ; and ended by following
the American plan.

The American ploughs round the stumps of the
trees he has felled, and is not very careful to mea-
sure the area he ploughs, and the seed he sows.
The Englishman clears half the quantity of land, —
clears it very thoroughly; ploughs deep, sows
thick, raises twice the quantity of grain on half
the area of land, and points proudly to his crop.
But the American has, meantime, fenced, cleared,
and sown more land, improved his house and stock,
and kept his money in his pocket. The English-
man has paid for the labour bestowed on his beau-
tiful fields more than his fine crop repays him.
When he has done thus for a few seasons, till his
money is gone, he learns that he has got to a place
where it answers to spend land to save labour ; the
reverse of his experience in England ; and he soon
becomes as slovenly a farmer as the American, and
begins immediately to grow rich.

It would puzzle a philosopher to compute how
long some prejudices will subsist in defiance of,
not only evidence, but personal experience. These
same Americans, who laugh (reasonably enough)
at the prejudiced English farmer, seem themselves
incapable of being convinced on a point quite as

RURAL LABOUR.

339

plain as that between him and themselves. The
very ground of their triumph over him is their
knowledge of the much smaller value of land, and
greater value of labour, in America than in Eng-
land : and yet, there is no one subject on which so
many complaints are to be heard from every class
of American society as the immigration of foreign-
ers, The incapacity of men to recognise blessings
in disguise has been the theme of moralists in all
ages : but it might be expected that the Americans,
in this case, would be an exception. It is wonder-
ful, to a stranger, to see how they fret and toil,
and scheme and invent, to supply the deficiency of
help, and all the time quarrel with the one means
by which labour is brought to their door. The
immigration of foreigners was the one complaint
by which I was met in every corner of the free
States ; and I really believe I did not converse
with a dozen persons who saw the ultimate good
through the present apparent evil.

It is not much to be wondered at that gentle-
men and ladies, living in Boston and New York,
and seeing, for the first time in their lives, half-
naked and squalid persons in the street, should
ask where they come from, and fear lest they
should infect others with their squalor, and wish
they would keep away. It is not much to be won-
dered at that the managers of charitable institu-
tions in the maritime cities should be weary of the
claims advanced by indigent foreigners : but it is
surprising that these gentlemen and ladies should
not learn by experience that all this ends well, and
that matters are taking their natural course. It
would certainly be better that the emigrants should
be well clothed, educated, respectable people ; (ex-
cept that, in that case, they would probably never
arrive ;) but the blame of their bad condition rests
elsewhere, while their arrival is, generally speaking,

Q 2

340

RURAL LABOUR.

almost a pure benefit. Some are intemperate and
profligate ; and such are, no doubt, a great injury
to the cities where they harbour ; but the greater
number show themselves decent and hardworking
enough, when put into employment. Every Ame-
rican acknowledges that few or no canals or rail-
roads would be in existence now, in the United
States, but for the Irish labour by which they have
been completed : and the best cultivation that is to
be seen in the land is owing to the Dutch and Ger-
mans it contains. What would housekeepers do
for domestic service without foreigners? If the
American ports had been barred against immigra-
tion, and the sixty thousand foreigners per annum,
with all their progeny, had been excluded, where
would now have been the public works of the Uni-
ted States, the agriculture, the shipping ?

The most emphatic complainers of the immigra-
tion of foreigners are those who imagine that the
morals of society suffer thereby. My own convic-
tion is that the morals of society are, on the whole,
thereby much improved. It is candidly allowed,
on all hands, that the passion of the Irish for the
education of their children is a great set-off against
the bad qualities some of them exhibit in their own
persons ; and that the second and third generations
of Irish are among the most valuable citizens of the
republic. The immigrant Germans are more sober
and respectable than the Irish ; but there is more
difficulty in improving them and their children.
The Scotch are in high esteem. My own opinion
is that most of the evils charged upon the immi-
grants are chargeable upon the mismanagement of
them in the ports. The atrocious corruption of
the New York elections, where an Irishman, just
landed, and employed upon the drains, perjures
himself, and votes nine times over, is chargeable,
not upon immigration, nor yet upon universal suf-

RURAL LABOUR*

341

frage, but upon faults in the machinery of registra-
tion. Again, if the great pauper-palace, over the
Schuylkill, near Philadelphia, be half full of fo-
reigners ; if it be true that an Irish woman was
seen to walk round it, and heard to observe that
she should immediately write over for all her
relations ; the evil is chargeable upon there being
a pauper-palace, with the best of food and clothing,
and no compulsion to work, in a country where
there is far more work and wages than there are
hands to labour and earn. There is in New York
a benevolent gentleman who exercises a most use-
ful and effectual charity. He keeps a kind of re-
gistry office for the demand and supply of emigrant
labour; takes charge of the funds of such emi-
grants as are fortunate enough to have any; and
befriends them in every way. He declares that he
has an average of six situations on his list ready
for every sober, able-bodied man and woman that
lands at New York.

The bad moral consequences of a dispersion of
agricultural labour, and the good moral effects of an
adequate combination, are so serious as to render it
the duty of good citizens to inform themselves fully
of the bearings of this question before they attempt
to influence other minds upon it. Those who have
seen what are the morals and manners of families
who live alone in the wilds, with no human opinion
around them, no neighbours with whom to ex-
change good offices, no stimulus to mental activity,
no" social amusements, no church, no life^ nothing
but the pursuit of the outward means of living, — any
one who has witnessed this will be ready to agree
what a blessing it would be to such a family to
shake down a shower of even poor Irish labourers
around them. To such a family no tidings ought
to be more welcome than of the arrival of ship-load
after ship-load of immigrants at the ports, some

342

RURAL LABOUR.

few of whom may wander hitherwards, and by
- ' entering into a combination of labour to obtain
means of' living, open a way to the attainment
of the ends, t Sixty thousand immigrants a-year !
What are these spread over so many thousand
square miles? If the country could be looked
down upon from a balloon, some large clusters of
these would be seen detained in the cities, because
they could not be spared into the country ; other
clusters would be seen about the canals and rail-
roads ; and a very slight sprinkling in the back
country, where their stations would be marked by
the prosperity growing up around them.

The expedients used in the country settlements
to secure a combination of labour when it is abso-
lutely necessary, show how eminently deficient it
is. Every one has heard of the " frolic " or " bee,"
by means of which the clearing of lots, the
raising of houses, the harvesting of crops is
achieved. Roads are made, and kept by contribu-
tions of labour and teams, by settlers. For the
rest, what can be done by family labour alone is so
done, with great waste of time, material, and toil.
The wonderful effects of a " frolic," in every way,
should serve, in contrast with the toil and difficulty
usually expended in producing small results, to
incline the hearts of settlers towards immigrants,
and to plan how an increase of them may be ob-
tained.

Minds are, I hope, beginning to turn in this
direction. In New England, where there is the
most combination of labour, and the poorest land, it
is amusing to see the beginning of discoveries on this
head. I find, in the United States' Almanack for
1835, an article on agricultural improvements, (pre-
supposing a supply of labour as the primary requi-
site, ) which bears all the marks of freshness and ori-
ginality, of having been a discovery of the writer's.

RURAL LABOUR.

343

" If such improvements as are possible, or even
easy," (where there is. labour at hand,) " were
made in the husbandry of this country, many and
great advantages would be found to arise. As
twice the number of people might be supported on
the same quantity of land, all our farming towns
would become twice as populous as they are likely
to be in the present state of husbandry. There
would be, in general, but half the distance to travel
to visit one's friends and acquaintances. Friends
might oftener see and converse with each other.
Half the labour would be saved in carrying the
corn to mill, and the produce to market ; half the
journeying saved in attending our courts ; and half
the expense in supporting government, and in
making and repairing roads ; half the distance
saved in going to the smith, weaver, clothier, &c. ;
half the distance saved in going to public worship,
and most other meetings ; for where steeples are
four miles apart, they would be only two or three.
Much time, expense and labour would, on these
accounts, be saved ; and civilisation, with all the
social virtues, would, perhaps, be proportionally
promoted and' increased."

Before this can be done, there must be hands to
do it. Steeples must remain four or fourteen miles
apart, till there are beings enough in the interven-
ing space to draw them together. I saw, on the
Mississippi, a woman in a canoe, paddling up against
the stream ; probably, as I was told, to visit a
neighbour twenty or thirty miles off. The only
comfort was that the current would bring her back
four times as quickly as she went up. What a
blessing would a party of emigrant neighbours be
to a woman who would row herself twenty miles
against the stream of the Mississippi for companion-
ship !

Instead of complaining of the sixty thousand

344

RURAL LABOUR.

emigrants per annum, and lowering the price of
land, so as to induce dispersion, it would be wise, if
it were possible, in the people of the United States
to bring in sixty thousand more labourers per an-
num, and raise the price of land. This last can-
not, perhaps, be done : but why should not the
other ? With a surplus revenue that they do not
know what to do with, and a scarcity of the labour
which they do not know how to do without, why
not use the surplus funds accruing from the lands
in carrying labour to the soil ?

It is true, Europeans have the same passion for
land as the Americans ; and such immigrants would
leave their employers, and buy for themselves, as
soon as they had earned the requisite funds : but
these, again, would supply the means of bringing
over more labour ; and the intermediate services of
the labourers would be so much gained. If the
arrangements were so made as to bring over sober,
respectable labourers, without their being in any
way bound to servitude, (as a host of poor Ger-
mans once were made white slaves of,) if, the land
and labour being once brought together, and repay-
ment from the benefited parties being secured, (if
desired,) things were then left to take their natural
course, a greater blessing could hardly befal the
United States than such an importation of la-
bourers.

I was told, in every eastern city, that it was a
common practice with parish officers in England
to ship off their paupers to the United States. I
took some pains to investigate the grounds of this
charge, and am convinced that it is a mistake ; that
the accusation has arisen out of some insulated case.
I was happy to be able to show my American
friends how the supposed surplus population of the
English agricultural counties has shrunk, and in
most cases disappeared, under the operation of the

RITRAL LABOUR.

345

new Poor Law, so that, even if the charge had ever
been true, it could not long remain so. By the
time that we shall be enabled to say the same of the
parishes of Ireland, the Americans will, doubtless,
have discovered that they would be glad of all the
labourers we had ever been able to spare ; if only
we could send them in the form of respectable men
and women, instead of squalid paupers, looking as
if they were going from shore to shore, to rouse
the world to an outcry against the sins and sorrows
of our economy.

It will scarcely be credited by those who are not
already informed on the subject, that a proposition
has been made to send out of the country an equal
number of persons to the amount brought into it ;
ship loads of labourers going to and fro, like
buckets in a well : that this proposition has been
introduced into Congress, and has been made the
basis of appropriations in some State legislatures :
that itinerant lecturers are employed to advocate
the scheme : that it is preached from the pulpit,
and subscribed for in the churches, and that in its
behalf are enlisted members of the administration,
a great number of the leading politicians, clergy,
merchants, and planters, and a large proportion of
the other citizens of the United States. It matters
little how many or how great are the men engaged
in behalf of a bad scheme, which is so unnatural
that it cannot but fail : — it matters little, as far as
the scheme itself is concerned ; but it is of incalcu-
lable consequence as creating an obstruction. For
itself, the miserable abortion — the Colonisation
scheme — might be passed over; for its active re-
sults will be nothing ; but it is necessary to refer to
it in its passive character of an obstruction. It is
necessary to refer thus to it, not only as a matter
of fact, but because, absurd and impracticable as

Q5

346

RURAL LABOUR.

the scheme clearly is, when viewed in relation to
the whole state of affairs in America, it is not so
easy on the spot to discern its true character. So
many perplexing considieratons are mixed up with
it by its advocates ; so many of those advocates are
men of earnest philanthropy, and well versed in the
details of the scheme, while blind to its general
bearing, that it is difficult to have general princi-
ples always in readiness to meet opposing facts; to
help adopting the partial views of well-meaning
and thoroughly persuaded persons; and to know
where to doubt, and what to disbelieve. I went to
America extremely doubtful about the character of
this institution* I heard at Baltimore and Wash-
ington all that could be said in its favour, by per-
sons conversant with slavery, which I had not then
seen. Mr. Madison, the President of the Coloni-
sation Society, gave me his favourable views of it.
Mr. Clay, the Vice-President, gave me his. So did
almost every clergyman and other member of so-
ciety whom I met for some months. Much time,
observation, and reflection were necessary to form a
judgment for myself, after so much prepossession,
even in so clear a case as I now see this to be.
Others on the spot must have the same allowance
as was necessary for me : and, if any pecuniary in-
terest be involved in the question, much more. But,
I am firmly persuaded that any clear-headed man,
shutting himself up in his closet for a day's study
of the question, or taking a voyage, so as to be able
to look back upon the entire country he has left, —
being careful to take in the whole of its economical
aspect, (to say nothing, at present, of the moral,)
can come to no other conclusion than that the
scheme of transporting the coloured population of
the United States to the coast of Africa is abso-
lutely absurd ; and, if it were not so, would be ab-
solutely pernicious. But, in matters of economy,

RURAL LABOUR.

347

the pernicious and the absurd are usually iden-
tical.

No one is to be blamed for the origin of slavery.
Because it is now, under conviction, wicked, it does
not follow that it was instituted in wickedness.
Those who began it, knew not what they did. It
has been elsewhere* ably shown how slavery has
always, and, to all appearance, unavoidably existed,
in some form or other, wherever large new tracts of
land have been taken possession of by a few agricul-
tural settlers. Let it be granted that negro slavery
was begun inadvertently in the West India islands,
and continued, by an economical necessity, in the
colonies of North America.

What is now the state of the case ? Slavery, of a
very mild kind, has been abolished in the northern
parts of the Union, where agricultural labour can
be carried on by whites, and where such employ-
ments bear a very reduced proportion to manufac-
turing and commercial occupations. Its introduc-
tion into the north-western portions of the country
has been prohibited by those who had' had expe-
rience of its evils. Slavery, generally of a very
aggravated character, now subsists in thirteen
States out of twenty-six, and those thirteen are
the States which grow the tobacco, rice, cotton
and sugar; it being generally alleged that rice
and sugar cannot be raised by white labour,
while some maintain that they may. I found
few who doubted that tobacco and cotton may be
grown by white labour, with the assistance from
brute labour and machinery which would follow
upon the disuse of human capital. The amount
of the slave population is now above two millions
and a half. It increases rapidly in the States which
have been impoverished by slavery ; and is killed
off, but not with equal rapidity, on the virgin soils

* England and America.

848

RURAL LABOUR.

to which alone it is, in any degree, appropriate.
It has become unquestionably inappropriate in
Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and Kentucky. To
these I should be disposed to add Missouri, and
North Carolina, and part of Tennessee and South
Carolina. The States which have more slave la-
bour than their deteriorated lands require, sell it to
those which have a deficiency of labour to their
rich lands. Virginia, now in a very depressed con-
dition, derives her chief revenue from the rear-
ing of slaves, as stock, to be sent to Alabama, Mis-
sissippi, and Louisiana. The march of circum-
stance has become too obvious to escape the atten-
tion of the most short-sighted. No one can fail to
perceive that slavery, like an army of locusts, is com-
pelled to shift its place, by the desolation it has
made. Its progress is southwards ; and now, having
reached the sea there, south-westwards. If there
were but an impassable barrier there, its doom
would be certain, and not very remote. This doom
was apparently sealed a while ago, by the abolition
cf slavery in Mexico, and the fair chance there
seemed o^ Iviissouri and Arkansas being subjected
to a restriction of the same purport with that im-
posed on the new States, north-west of the Ohio.
This doom has been, for the present, cancelled by
the admission of slavery into Missouri and Arkan-
sas, and by the seizure of Texas by American citi-
zens. The open question, however, only regards
its final limits. Its speedy abolition in many of the
States may be, and is, regarded as certain.

The institution of slavery was a political anoma-
ly at the time of the Revolution. It has now be-
come an economical one also. Nothing can pre-
vent the generality of persons from seeing this,
however blind a few, a very few persons on the spot
may be to the truth.*

* It may surprise some that I speak of those who are blind to

RURAL LABOUR.

349

It has thus obviously become the interest of all
to whom slavery still is, or is believed to be, a gain ;
of those who hold the richest lands ; of those who
rear slaves for such lands ; of all who dread change ;
of all who would go quietly through life, and leave
it to a future generation to cope with their difficul-
ty,— it has become the interest of all such to turn
their own attention and that of others from the
fact that the time has come when the slaves ought
to be made free labourers. They cannot put down
the fact into utter silence. Some sort of compro-
mise must be made with it. A tub must be thrown
to the whale. A tub has been found which will
almost hold the whale.

It is proposed by the Colonisation Society that
free persons of colour shall be sent to establish and
conduct a civilised community on the shores of
Africa. The variety of prospects held out by this
proposition to persons of different views is remarka-
ble. To the imaginative, there is the picture of
the restoration of the coloured race to their paternal
soil : to the religious, the prospect of evangelising
Africa. Those who would serve God and Mam-
mon are delighted at being able to work their slaves
during their own lives, and then leave them to the
Colonisation Society with a bequest of money,
(when money must needs be left behind,) to carry
them over to Africa. Those who would be doing,
in a small way, immediately, let certain of their
slaves work for wages which are to carry them

slavery being an anomaly in economy as 1 few.' Among the many
hundreds of persons in the slave States, with whom I conversed
on the subject of slavery, 1 met with only one, a lady, who de-
fended the institution altogether: and with perhaps four or five
who defended it as necessary to a purpose which must be fulfilled,
and could not be fulfilled otherwise. All the rest who vindicated
its present existence did so on the ground of the impossibility of
doing it away. A very large number avowed that it was indefen-
sible in every point of view.

350

RURAL LABOUR.

over to Africa. Those who have slaves too clever
or discontented to be safe neighbours, can ship
them off to Africa. Those who are afraid of the
rising intelligence of their free coloured neigh-
bours, or suffer strongly under the prejudice of
colour, can exercise such social tyranny as shall
drive such troublesome persons to Africa. The
clergy, public lecturers, members of legislatures,
religious societies, and charitable individuals, both
in the north and south, are believed to be, and be-
lieve themselves to be, labouring on behalf of slaves,
when they preach, lecture, obtain appropriations,
and subscribe, on behalf of the Colonisation So-
ciety. Minds and hearts are laid to rest, — opiated
into a false sleep.

Here are all manner of people associated for
one object, which has the primary advantage of
being ostensibly benevolent. It has had Mr. Ma-
dison for its chief officer : Mr. Clay for its second.
It has had the aid, for twenty years, of almost all
the presses and pulpits of the United States, and
of most uf their politicians, members of govern-
ment, and leading professional men and merchants,
and almost all the planters of twelve states, and
all the missionary interest. Besides the subscrip-
tions arising from so many sources, there have been
large appropriations made by various legislatures.
What is the result ? — Nothing. Ex nihilo nihil Jit.
Out of a chaos of elements no orderly creation can
arise but by the operation of a sound principle :
and sound principle here, there is none.

In twenty years, the Colonisation Society has
removed to Africa between two and three thou-
sand persons ; * while the annual increase of the
slave population is, by the lowest computation,

* With the condition of the African colony, we have here
nothing to do. We are now considering the Colonisation Society
in its professed relation to American slavery.

RURAL LABOUR.

351

sixty thousand ; and the number of free blacks is
upwards of three hundred and sixty-two thousand.

The chief officers of the Colonisation Society
look forward to being able, in a few years, to carry
off the present annual increase, and a few more ;
by which time the annual increase will amount to
many times more than the Society will have car-
ried out from the beginning.

The leading Colonisation advocates in the south
object to abolition, invariably on the ground that
they should be left without labourers : whereas it
is the Colonisation scheme which would carry away
the labourers, and the abolition scheme which
would leave them where they are. To say no-
thing of the wilfulness of this often-confuted ob-
jection, it proves that those who urge it are not
in earnest in advocating Colonisation as ultimate
emancipation.

As far as I could learn, no leading member of
the Colonisation Society has freed any of his slaves.
Its president had sold twelve, the week before I
first saw him. Its vice-president is obsede by his
slaves ; but retains them all. And so it is, through
the whole hierarchy.

The avowal of a southern gentleman, — " We have
our slaves, and we mean to keep them," — is echoed
on political occasions by the same gentlemen of the
Colonisation Society, who, on politic or religious
occasions, treat of colonisation as ultimate eman-
cipation.

While labourers are flocking into other parts of
the country, at the rate of sixty thousand per an-
num, and are found to be far too few for the wrants
of society, the Colonisation scheme proposes to
carry out more than this number ; and fails of all
its ostensible objects till it does so. A glance at
the causes of slavery, and at the present economy
of the United States, shows such a scheme to be
a bald fiction.

352 RURAL LABOUR.

It alienates the attention and will of the people,
(for the purposes of the few,) from the principle of
the abolition of slavery, which would achieve any
honest objects of the Colonisation Society, and
many more. Leaving, for the present, the moral
consideration of the case, abolition would not only
leave the land as full of labourers as it is now, but
incalculably augment the supply of labour by sub-
stituting willing and active service, and improved
methods of husbandry, for the forced, inferior la-
bour, and wasteful arrangements which are always
admitted to be co-existent with slavery.

The greater number of eminent Abolitionists, —
eminent for talents, zeal and high principle, — are
converted Colonisationists.

This is surely enough.

It appears to me that the Colonisation Society
could never have gained any ground at all, but for
the common supposition that the blacks must go
somewhere. It was a long while before I could
make anything of this. The argument always ran
thus.

" Unless they remain as they are, Africa is
the only place for them. — It will not do to give
them a territory ; we have seen enough of that with
the Indians, We are heart-sick of territories : the
blacks would all perish. — Then, the climate of Ca-
nada would not suit them : they would perish there.
The Haytians will not take them in : they have a
horror of freed slaves. — There is no rest for the
soles of their feet, anywhere but in Africa !"

" Why should they not stay where they are ?"

" Impossible. The laws of the States forbid freed
negroes to remain."

" At present, — on account of the slaves who re-
main. In case of abolition, such laws would be
repealed, of course : and then, why should not the
blacks remain where they are ?"

RURAL LABOUR.

353

" They could never live among the whites in a
state of freedom."

" Why ? You are begging the question."

" They would die of vice and misery."

" Why more than the German labourers ?"

" They do in the free States. They are dying
out there constantly."

"What makes them more vicious than other
people ?"

" The coloured people always are."

" You mean because their colour is the badge of
slavery ?"

" Yes."

" Then, when it is no longer so, the degradation,
for aught you know, will cease."

This is the circle, described by those who pity the
slaves. There is another, appropriate to those who
pity the masters.

" What is to become of the planters, without any
labourers ? They must shut up and go away ; for
they cannot stay in their houses, without any la-
bourers on the plantations."

" Are the slaves to be all buried ? Or are they
to evaporate ? or what ?"

" O, you know, they would all go away. No-
thing would make them stay when they were once
free."

" They would change masters, no doubt. But
as many would remain in the area as before. Why

not?"

" The masters could not possibly employ them.
They could never manage them, except as slaves."

" So you think that the masters could not have
the labourers, because they would go away : and
the labourers must go away, because the masters
would not have them."

To prevent any escape by a nibble in this circle,
the other is brought up round it, to prove that there

354

RURAL LABOUR.

is no other place than Africa for the blacks to go
to : and thus, the alternative of slavery or coloni-
sation is supposed to be established.

All action, and all conversation, on behalf of this
institution, bears the same character, — of arguing in
a circle. A magic ring seems drawn round those
who live amidst slavery; and it gives a circular
character to all they think and say and do upon the
subject. There are but few who sit within it who
distinctly see anything beyond it. If there were but
s any one moral giant within, who would heave a blow
at it with all the force of a mighty principle, it
would be shattered to atoms in a moment ; and the
white and black slaves it encloses would be free at
once. This will be done when more light is poured
in under the darkness which broods over it : and
the time cannot now be far off.

Whenever I am particularly strongly convinced
of anything, in opposition to the opinion of any or
many others, I entertain a suspicion that there is
more evidence on the other side than I see. I felt
so, even on this subject of slavery, which has been
clear to English eyes for so long. I went into the
slave States with this suspicion in my mind ; and I
preserved it there as long as possible. I believe
that I have heard every argument that can possibly
be adduced in vindication or palliation of slavery,
under any circumstances now existing ; and I de-
clare that, of all displays of intellectual perversion
and weakness tbat I have witnessed, I have met
with none so humbling and so melancholy as the
advocacy of this institution. I declare that I know
the whole of its theory ; — a declaration that I dare
not make with regard to, I think, any other subject
whatever : the result is that I believe there is no-
thing rational to be said in vindication or pal-
liation of the protraction of slavery in the United
States. — Having made this avowal, it will not be

RURAL LABOUR.

355

expected that I should fill my pages with a wide
superficies of argument which will no more bear a
touch than pond-ice, on the last day of thaw. As I
disposed in my mind the opposite arguments of
slave-holders, I found that they ate one another up,
like the two cats that Sheridan told of ; but with-
out leaving so much as an inch of tail.

One mistake, perhaps, deserves notice. Rest-
less slave-holders, whose uneasiness has urged them
to struggle in their toils, and find themselves unable
to get out but by the loss of everything, (but honour
and conscience,) pointed out to me the laws of their
States, whereby the manumission of slaves is ren-
dered difficult or impossible to the master, remain-
ing on the spot, and prospectively fatal to the freed
slave ; — pointed out to me these laws as rendering
abolition impossible. To say nothing of the feeble^
ness of the barriers which human regulations pre-
sent to the changes urged on by the great natural
laws of society, — it is a sufficient answer that
these State laws present no obstacle to general,
though they do to particular, emancipation. They
will be cancelled or neglected by the same will
which created them, when the occasion expires with
which they sprang up, or which they were designed
to perpetuate. The institution of slavery was not
formed in accordance with them : they arose out ot
the institution. They are an offset; and, to use
the words of one of their advocates, spoken in an-
other connexion, " they will share the fate of offsets,
and perish with the parent."

It is obvious that all laws which encourage the
departure of the blacks must be repealed, when
their slavery is abolished. The one thing necessary,
in the economical view of the case, is that efficient
measures should be taken to prevent an unwise dis-
persion of these labourers : measures, I mean,
which should in no way interfere with their per-

356

RURAL LABOUR.

sonal liberty, but which should secure to them
generally greater advantages on the spot than they
could obtain by roaming. It has been distinctly
shown that slavery originated from the difficulty of
concentrating labour in the neighbourhood of capi-
talists. Where the people are few in proportion to
the land, they are apt to disperse themselves over it ;
so that personal coercion has been supposed neces-
sary, in the first instance, to secure any efficient
cultivation of the land at all. Though the danger
and the supposed necessity are past, in all but the
rawrest of the slave States, the ancient fact should
be so borne in mind as that what legislation there
is should tend to cause a concentration, rather than
a dispersion of the labourers. Any such tendency
will be much aided by the strong local attachments
for which negroes are remarkable. It is not only
that slaves dread all change, from the intellectual
and moral dejection to which they are reduced; fear-
ing even the removal from one plantation to another,
under the same master, from the constant vague
apprehension of something dreadful. It is not only
this, (which, however, it would take them some
time to outgrow,) but that all their race show akindof
feline attachment to places to which they are accus-
tomed, which will be of excellent service to kind
masters when the day of emancipation comes. For
the rest, efficient arrangements can and will doubt-
less be made to prevent their wandering further
than from one master to another. The abolition of
slavery must be complete and immediate : that is
to say, as a man either is or is not the property of
another, as there can be no degrees of ownership of
a human being, there must be an immediate and
complete surrender of all claim to negro men, wo-
men, and children as property : but there may and
will doubtless be arrangements made to protect,
guide, and teach these degraded beings, till they

RURAL LABOUR.

857

have learned what liberty is, and how to use it.
Liberty to change their masters must, under cer-
tain reasonable limitations, be allowed ; the educa-
tion of their children must be enforced. The
amount of wages will be determined by natural
laws, and cannot be foreseen, further than that they
must necessarily be very ample for a long time to
come. It will probably be found desirable to fix
the price of the government lands, with a view to
the coloured people, at that amount which will best
obviate squatting, and secure the respectable set-
tlement of some who may find their way to the
west.

Suggestions of this kind excite laughter among
the masters of slaves, who are in the habit of think-
ing that they know best what negroes are, and what
they are capable of. I have reasons for estimating
their knowledge differently, and for believing that
none know so little of the true character and capa-
bilities of negroes as their owners. They might
know more, but for the pernicious and unnatural
secrecy about some of the most important facts
connected with slave-holding, which is induced
partly by pride, partly by fear, partly by pecuniary
interest. If they would do themselves and their
slaves the justice of inquiring with precision what
is the state of Hayti ; what has taken place in the
West Indies ; what the emancipation really was
there ; what its effects actually are, they would ob-
tain a clearer view of their own prospects. So they
would, if they would communicate freely about cer-
tain facts nearer home : not only conversing as
individuals, but removing the restrictions upon the
press by which they lose far more than they gain,
both in security and fortune, — to say nothing of
intelligence. Of the many families in which I en-
joyed intercourse, there was, I believe, none where
I was not told of some one slave of unusual value.

358

RURAL LABOUR.

for talent or goodness, either in the present or a
former generation. A collection of these alone, as
they stand in my journal, would form no mean tes-
timony to the intellectual and moral capabilities of
negroes : and if to these were added the tales which
I could tell, if I also were not bound under the laws
of mystery of which I have been complaining, many
hearts would beat with the desire to restore to their
human rights those whose fellow-sufferers have
given ample proof of their worthiness to enjoy
them. The consideration which binds me to silence
upon a rich collection of facts, full of moral beauty
and promise, is regard to the safety of many whose
heroic obedience to the laws of God has brought
them into jeopardy under the laws of slave-
holders, and the allies of slave-holders. Nor would
I, by any careless revelations, throw the slightest
obstacle in the way of the escape of any one of the
slaves who may be about to shirk their masters, by
methods with which I happen to be acquainted.
* It can, however, do nothing but good to proclaim
the truth that slaves do run away in much greater
numbers than is supposed by any but those who
lose them, and those who help them. By which I
mean many others besides the abolitionists par
excellence. Perhaps I might confine the knowledge
to these last ; for I believe no means exist by which
the yearly amount of loss of this kind may be veri-
fied and published in the south. Everybody who
has been in America is familiar with the little news-
paper picture of a black man, hieing with his stick
and bundle, which is prefixed to the advertisements
of runaways. Every traveller has probably been
struck with the number of these which meets his
eye ; but unless he has more private means of in-
formation, he will remain unaware of the streams of
fugitives continually passing out of the States. There
is much reserve about this in the south, from pride;

RURAL LABOUR.

359

and among those elsewhere who could tell, from far
other considerations. The time will come when the
whole story, in its wonder and beauty, may be told
by some who, like myself, have seen more of the
matter, from all sides, than it is easy for a native to
do. Suffice it, that the loss by runaways, and the
generally useless attempts to recover them, is a
heavy item in the accounts of the cotton and
sugar-growers of the south ; and one which is sure
to become heavier till there shall be no more bond-
age to escape from. It is obvious that the slaves
who run away are among the best : an escape being
usually the achievement of a project early formed ;
concealed, pertinaciously adhered to, and endeared
by much toil and sacrifice undergone for its sake,
for a long course of years. A weak mind is inca-
pable of such a series of acts, with a unity of pur-
pose. They are the choicest slaves who run away.
Of the cases known to me, the greater number of
the men, and some of the women, have acted
throughout upon an idea ; (called by their owners
" a fancy," — a very different thing :) while some
few of the -men have started off upon some sud-
den infliction of cruelty; and many women on
account of intolerable outrage, of the grossest kind.
Several masters told me of leave given to their
slaves to go away, and of the slaves refusing to avail
themselves of it. If this was meant to tell in favour
of slavery, it failed of its effect. The argument was
too shallow to impose upon a child. Of course,
they were the least valuable slaves to whom this
permission was given : and their declining to depart
proved nothing so much as the utter degradation of
human beings who could prefer receiving food and
shelter from the hand of an owner to the possession
of themselves.

Amidst the mass of materials which accumulated
on my hands during the process of learning from all

f

360

RURAL LABOUR.

parties their views on this question, I hardly know
where to turn, and what to select, that will most
briefly and strongly show that the times have out-
grown slavery. This is the point at which every fact
and argument issue, whatever may be the intention
of those who adduce it. The most striking, per-
haps, is the treatment of the Abolitionists : a sub-
ject to be adverted to hereafter. The insane fury
which vents itself upon the few who act upon the
principles which the many profess, is a sign of the
times not to be mistaken. It is always the pre-
cursor of beneficial change. Society in America
seems to be already passing out of this stage into
one even more advanced. The cause of abolition
is spreading so rapidly through the heart of the na-
tion ; the sound part of the body politic is embrac-
ing it so actively, that no disinterested observer can
fail to be persuaded that even the question of time
is brought within narrow limits. The elections will,
ere long, show the will of the people that slavery be
abolished in the District of Columbia. Then such
truckling politicians, mercenary traders, cowardly
clergy, and profligate newspaper corps, as are now
too blind to see the coming change, will have to
choose their part ; whether to shrink out of sight, or
to boast patriotically of the righteous revolution
which they have striven to retard, even by the ap-
plication of the torture to both the bodies and the
minds of their more clear-eyed fellow-citizens.

After giving one or two testimonies to the neces-
sity of a speedy change of system, I will confine
myself to relating a few signs of the times which I
encountered in my travels through the south.

In 1782, Virginia repealed the law against manu-
mission ; and in nine years, there were ten thou-
sand slaves freed in that State. Alarmed for the
institution, her legislature re-enacted the law. What
has been the consequence ? — Let us take the testi-

RURAL LABOUR.

361

mony of the two leading newspapers of the capital
of Virginia, given at a, time when the Virginian le-
gislature was debating the subject of slavery ; and
when there was, for once, an exposure of the truth
from those best qualified to reveal it. In 1832,
the following remarks appeared in the " Richmond
Enquirer."

" It is probable, from what we hear, that the
committee on the coloured population will report
some plan for getting rid of the free people of co-
lour. But is this all that can be done ? Are we
for ever to suffer the greatest evil which can
scourge our land not only to remain, but to in-
crease in its dimensions ? * We may shut our eyes
and avert our faces, if we please,' (writes an elo-
quent South Carolinian, on his return from the
north a few weeks ago,) 6 but there it is, the dark
and growing evil, at our doors : and meet the ques-
tion we must at no distant day. God only knows
what it is the part of wise men to do on th^tt mo*
mentous and appalling subject. Of this I am very
sure, that the difference — nothing short of frightful
- — between all that exists on one side of the Poto-
mac, and all on the other, is owing to that cause
alone. The disease is deep seated; it is at the
heart's core; it is consuming, and has all along
been consuming, our vitals ; and I could laugh, if
I could laugh on such a subject, at the ignorance
and folly of the politician who ascribes that to an
act of the government, which is the inevitable ef-
fect of the eternal laws of nature. What is to be
done ? O my God, I don't know ; but something
must be done.'

"Yes, something must be done; and it is the part
of no honest man to deny it ; of no free press to
affect to conceal it. When this dark population is
growing upon us ; when every new census is but
gathering its appalling numbers upon us; when

t VOL. U R

362

RURAL LABOUR.

within a period equal to that in which this federal
constitution has been in existence, those numbers
will increase to more than two millions within Vir-
ginia; when our sister States are closing their
doors upon our blacks for sale; and when our
whites are moving westwardly in greater numbers
than we like to hear of; when this, the fairest land
on all this continent, for soil and climate and situ-
ation combined, might become a sort of garden
spot if it were worked by the hands of white men
alone, can we, ought we to sit quietly down, fold
our arms, and say to each other, 6 well, well, this
thing will not come to the worst in our day ? We
will leave it to our children and our grand-children
and great-grand-children to take care of themselves,
and to brave the storm. Is this to act like wise
men? Heaven knows we are no fanatics. We de-
test the madness which actuated the Amis des
Noirs. But something ought to be done. Means,
sure hut gradual, systematic but discreet, ought to
be adopted for reducing the mass of evil which is
pressing upon the south, and will still more press
upon her the longer it is put off. We ought not to
shut our eyes, nor avert our faces. And though we
speak almost without a hope that the committee or
the legislature will do anything, at the present ses-
sion, to meet this question, yet we say now, in the
utmost sincerity of our hearts, that our wisest men
cannot give too much of their attention to this sub-
ject, nor can they give it too soon."

The other paper, the " Richmond Whig," had
the same time, the following :

" We affirm that the great mass of Virginia her-
self triumphs that the slavery question has been
agitated, and reckons it glorious that the spirit of
her sons did not shrink from grappling with the
monster. We affirm that, in the heaviest slave dis-
tricts of the State, thousands have hailed the dis-

RURAL LABOUR.

363

cussion with delight, and contemplate the distant,
but ardently desired result, as the supreme good
which Providence could vouchsafe to their country."

This is doubtless true. One of the signs of the
times which struck me was the clandestine encou-
ragement received by the abolitionists of the north
from certain timid slave-holders of the south, who
send money |br the support of abolition publica^
tions, and an earnest blessing. They write, " For
God's sake go on ! We cannot take your publica-
tions ; we dare not countenance you ; but we wish
you God speed ! You are our only hope." There
is nothing to be said for the moral courage of those
who feel and write thus, and dare not express their
opinions in the elections. Much excuse may be
made for them by those who know the horrors
which await the expression of anti-slavery senti-
ments in many parts of the south. But, on the
other hand, the abolitionists are not to be blamed
for considering all slave-holders under the same
point of view, as long as no improved state of opi-
nion is manifested in the representation ; the na*
tural mirror of the minds of the represented.

Chief Justice Marshall, a Virginian, a slave-
holder, and a member of the Colonisation Society,
(though regarding this society as being merely a
palliative, and slavery incurable but by convulsion,)
observed to a friend of mine, in the winter of 1834,
that he was surprised at the British for supposing
that they could abolish slavery in their colonies by
act of parliament. His friend believed it would be
done. The Chief Justice could not think that
such economical institutions could be done away
by legislative enactment. His friend pleaded the
fact that the members of the British House of
Commons were pledged, in great numbers, to their
constituents on the question. When it was done,
the Chief Justice remarked on his having been

R 2

364

RURAL LABOUR.

mistaken ; and that he rejoiced in it. He now saw
hope for his beloved Virginia, which he had seen
sinking lower and lower among the States. The
cause, he said, was that work is disreputable in a
country where a degraded class is held to enforced
labour.# He had seen all the young, the flower
of the State, who were not rich enough to remain
at home in idleness, betaking themselves to other
regions, where they might work without disgrace.
Now there was hope; for he considered that in
this act of the British, the decree had gone forth
against American slavery, and its doom was sealed.

There was but one sign of the times which was
amusing to me ; and that was the tumult of opi-
nions and prophecies offered to me on the subject
of the duration of slavery, and the mode in which
it would be at last got rid of; for I never heard oi
any one but Governor M'Dufiie who supposed that
it can last for ever. He declared last year, in his
message to the legislature of South Carolina, that
he considers slavery as the corner-stone of their
republican liberties : and that, if he were dying,
his latest prayer should be that fiis children's chil-
dren should live nowhere but amidst the institu-
tions of slavery. This message* might have been
taken as a freak of eccentricity merely, if it had
stood alone. But a committee of the legislature,
with Governor Hamilton in the chair, thought pro-
per to endorse every sentiment in it. This con-
verts it into an indication of the perversion of
mind commonly prevalent in a class when its dis-
tinctive pecuniary interest is in imminent peril. I
was told, a few months prior to the appearance of

* Governor M'Duffie's message to the legislature of South Ca-
rolina contains the proposition that freedom can be preserved
only in societies where either work is disreputable, or there is an
hereditary aristocracy, or a military despotism. He prefers the
first, as being the most republican.

RURAL LABOUR*

365

this singulai; production, that though Governor
M'Duffie was a great ornament to the State of
South Carolina, his opinions on the subject of sla-
very were ultra^ and that he was left pretty nearly
alone in them. Within a year, those who told me
so went, in 'public^ all lengths with Governor
M'Duffie.

I believe I might very safely and honourably
give the names of those who prophesied to me in
the way I have mentioned ; for they rather court
publicity for their opinions, as it is natural and
right that they should, as long as they are sure of
them. But it may suffice to mention that they are
all eminent men, whose attention has been strongly
fixed, for a length of years, upon the institution in
question.

A. believes that slavery is a necessary and de-
sirable stage in civilisation : not on the score of
the difficulty of cultivating new lands without it,
but on the ground of the cultivation of the negro
mind and manners. He believes the Haytians to
have deteriorated since they became free. He be-
lieves the white population destined to absorb the
black, though holding that the two races will not
unite after the third mixture. His expectation
is that the black and mulatto races will have disap-
peared in a hundred and fifty years. He has no
doubt that cotton and tobacco may be well and
easily grown by whites.

B. is confident that the condition of slaves is
materially improved, yet believes that they will die
out, and that there will be no earlier catastrophe.
He looks to colonisation, however, as a means of
lessening the number. This same gentleman told
me of a recent visit he had paid to a connexion of
his own, who had a large " force," consisting chiefly
of young men and women : not one child had been
born on the estate for three years. This looks very

366

RURAL LABOUR.

like dying out ; but does it go to confirm the mate-
rially improved condition of the slaves ?

C. allows slavery to be a great evil ; and, if it
were now non-existent, would not ordain it, if he
could. But he thinks the slaves far happier than
they would have been at home in Africa, and con-
siders that the system works perfectly. He pro-
nounces the slaves " the most contented, happy,
industrious peasantry in the world." He believes
this virtue and content would disappear if they were
taught anything whatever ; and that if they were
free, they would be, naturally and inevitably, the
most vicious and wretched population ever seen.
His expectation is that they will increase to such
a degree as to make free labour, " which always
supersedes slave labour" necessary in its stead ;
that the coloured race will wander off to new re-
gions, and be ultimately " absorbed" by the white,
fie contemplates no other than this natural change,
which he thinks cannot take place in less than a
century and a half. A year later, this gentleman
told a friend of mine that slavery cannot last above
twenty years. They must be stringent reasons
which have induced so great a change of opinion in
twelve months.

D. thinks slavery an enormous evil, but doubts
whether something as bad would notarise in its stead.
He is a colonisationist, and desires that the general
government should purchase the slaves, by annual
appropriations, and ship them off to Africa, so as
to clear the country of the coloured people in forty
or fifty years. If this is not done, a servile war,
the most horrible that the world has seen, is in-
evitable. Yet he believes that the institution,
though infinitely bad for the masters, is better for
the slaves than those of any country in Europe for
its working classes. He is convinced that the
tillage of all the crops could be better carried on

RURAL LABOUR.

367

by whites, with the assistance of cattle and imple-
ments, than by negroes.

E. writes, (October 1835,) " Certain it is that if
men of property and intelligence in the north have
that legitimate influence which that class has here,
nothing will come of this abolition excitement. All
we have to say to them is, 4 Hands off!' Our
political rights* are clear, and shall not be invaded.
We know too much about slavery to be slaves our-
selves. But I repeat, nothing will come of the
present, or rather recent excitement, for already
it is in a great degree passed. And the time is
coming when a struggle between pauperism and
property, or, if you choose, between labour and
capital in the north, stimulated by the spirit of
Jacksonism, will occupy the people of that quarter
to the exclusion of our affairs. If any external in-
fluence is ever to affect the institution of slavery
in the south, it will not be the vulgar and ignorant
fanaticism of the northern States, intent upon a
cheap charity which is to be done at our expense;

* The dispute between the abolitionists and their adversaries is
always made to turn on the point of distinction between freedom
of discussion and political interference. With the views now en-
tertained by the south, she can never be satisfied on this head.
She requires nothing short of a dead silence upon the subject of
human rights. This demand is made by her state governors of
the state governors of the north. It will, of course, never be
granted. The course of the abolitionists seems to themselves
clear enough ; and they act accordingly. They labour politically
only with regard to the District of Columbia, over which Congress
holds exclusive jurisdiction. Their other endeavour is to pro-
mote the discussion of the moral question throughout the free
States. They use no direct means to this end in the slave States ;
— *in the first place, because they have no power to do so ; and in
the next, because the requisite movement there is sure to follow
upon that in the north. It is wholly untrue that they insinuate
their publications into the south. Their only political transgres-
sion (and who will call it a moral one?) is, helping fugitive
slaves. The line between free discussion and political interfe-
rence has never yet been drawn to the satisfaction of both par-
ties, and never will be.

368

RURAL LABOUR.

but that influence will be found in English litera-
ture, and the gradual operation of public opinion.
0 Slavery, so to speak, may be evaporated ; — i't can-
not be drawn off. If it were, the whole land would
be poisoned and desolated."

The best reply to this letter will be found in
the memorable speech of Mr. Preston, one of the
South Carolina senators, delivered in Congress,
last spring. It may be mentioned, by the way,
that the writer of the above is mistaken in sup-
posing that there is at present, or impending, any
unhappy struggle in the north between pauperism
and property, or labour and capital. It is all pro-
perty there, and no pauperism, (except the very
little that is superinduced ; ) and labour and capital
were, perhaps, never before seen to jog on so lov-
ingly together. The "cheap charity " he speaks
of is the cheap charity of the first Christians, with
the addition of an equal ability and will to pay
down money for the abolition of the slaves, for
whose sake the abolitionists have already shown
themselves able to bear, — some, hanging ; — some,
scourging, and tarring and feathering ; some, pri-
vation of the means of living ; and all, the being
incessantly and deeply wounded in their social re-
lations and tenderest affections. Martyrdom is
ever accounted a " cheap devotion," or " cheap
charity," to God or man, by those who exact it of
either religious or philanthropic principle.

Mr. Preston's speech describes the spread of
abolition opinions as being rapid and inevitable.
He proves the rapidity by citing the number of
recently-formed abolition societies in the north ;
and the inevitableness, by exhibiting the course
which such convictions had run in England and
France. He represents the case as desperate.
He advises, — not yielding, but the absolute exclu-
sion of opinion on the subject, — exclusion from

RURAL LABOUR.

369

Congress, and exclusion from the slave States.
This is well. The matter may be considered to
be given up, unless this is merely the opinion of an
individual. The proposal is about as hopeful as
it would be to draw a cordon round the Capitol to
keep out the four winds ; or to build a-wall up to
the pole-star to exclude the sunshine.

One more sample of opinions. A gentleman
who edits a highly-esteemed southern newspaper,
expresses himself thus. " There is a wild fana-
ticism at work to effect the overthrow of the sys-
tem, although in its fall would go down the for-
tunes of the south, and to a great extent those of
the north and east ; — in a word, the whole fabric of
our Union, in one awful ruin. What then ought
to be done ? What measures ought to be taken to
secure the safety of our property and our lives?
We answer, let us be vigilant and watchful to the
last degree over all the movements of our enemies
both at home and abroad. Let us declare through
the public journals of our country, that the ques-
tion of slavery is not, and shall not be open to dis-
cussion;— that the system is deep-rooted amongst
us, and must remain for ever ; — that the very mo-
ment any private individual attempts to lecture
us upon its evils and immorality, and the necessity
of putting measures into operation to secure us
from them, in the same moment his tongue shall
be cut out and cast upon the dung-hill. We are
freemen, sprung from a noble stock of freemen,
able to boast as noble a line of ancestry as ever
graced this earth ; — we have burning in our bosoms
the spirit of freemen — live in an age of enlightened
freedom, and in a country blessed with its privi-
leges— under a government that has pledged itself
to protect us in the enjoyment of our peculiar
domestic institutions in peace, and undisturbed.
We hope for a long continuance of these high pri-

i 5

370

RURAL LABOUR.

vileges, and have now to love, cherish, and defend,
property, liberty, wives and children, the right to
manage our own matters in our own way, and, what
is equally dear with all the rest, the inestimable
right of dying upon our own soil, around our own
firesides, in struggling to put down all those who
may attempt to infringe, attack, or violate any of
these sacred and inestimable privileges/'

If these opinions of well-prepared persons, dis-
persed through the slave States, and entrusted
with the public advocacy of their interests, do not
betoken that slavery is tottering to its fall, there
are no such things as signs of the times.

The prohibition of books containing anything
against slavery, has proceeded to a great length.
Last year, Mrs. Barbauld's works were sent back
into the north by the southern booksellers, because
the " Evenings at Home" contain a " Dialogue be-
tween Master and Slave." Miss Sedgwick's last
novel, " The Linwoods " was treated in the same
way, on account of a single sentence about slavery.
The " Tales of the Woods and Fields," and other
English books, have shared the same fate. I had
a letter from a southern lady, containing some
regrets upon the necessity of such an exclusion of
literature, but urging that it was a matter of prin-
ciple to guard from attacks " an institution ordained
by the favour of God for the happiness of man :"
and assuring me that the literary resources of
South Carolina were rapidly improving. — So they
had need ; for almost all the books already in ex-
istence will have to be prohibited, if nothing con-
demnatory of slavery is to be circulated. This
attempt to nullify literature was followed up by a
threat to refuse permission to the mails to pass
through South Carolina: an arrangement which
would afflict its inhabitants more than it could in-
jure any one else.

RURAL LABOUR.

371

The object of all this is to keep the children in
the dark gbout how the institution is regarded
abroad. This was evident to me at every step :
and I received an express caution not to commu-
nicate my disapprobation of slavery to the children
of one family, who could not, their parents declare,
even feel the force of my objections. One of them
was " employed, the whole afternoon, in dressing
out little Nancy for an evening party ; and she
sees the slaves much freer than herself." Of
course, the blindness ot this policy will be its
speedy destruction. It is found that the effect of
public opinion on the subject upon young men who
visit the northern States, is tremendous, when they
become aware of it: as every student in the col-
leges of the north can bear witness. I know of
one, an heir of slaves, who declared, on reading
Dr. Channing's " Slavery," that if it could be
proved that negroes are more than a link between
man and brute, the rest follows of course, and he
must liberate all his. Happily, he is in the way
of evidence that negroes are actually and altogether
human.

The students of Lane Seminary, near Cincin-
nati, of which Dr. Beecher is the president, became
interested in the subject, three or four years ago,
and formed themselves into an Abolition Society,
debating the question, and taking in newspapers.
This was prohibited by the tutors, but persevered
in by the young men, who conceived that this was
a matter with which the professors had no right to
meddle. Banishment was decreed; and all sub-
mitted to expulsion but fourteen. Of course, each
of the dispersed young men became the nucleus of
an Abolition Society, and gained influence by per-
secution. It was necessary for them to provide
means to finish their education. One of them,
Amos Dresser, itinerated, (as is usual in the

372

KURAL LABOUR.

sparsely-peopled west,) travelling in a gig, and
selling Scott's Bible, to raise money for his educa-
tional purposes. He reached Nashville, in Ten-
nessee ; and there fell under suspicion of abolition
treason ; his baggage being searched, and a whole
abolition newspaper, and a part of another being
found among the packing-stuff of his stock of bibles.
There was also an unsubstantiated rumour of his
having been seen conversing with slaves. He was
brought to trial by the Committee of Vigilance;
seven elders of the presbyterian church at Nash-
ville being among his judges. After much debate
as to whether he should be hanged, or flogged with
more or fewer lashes, he was condemned to receive
twenty lashes, with a cow-hide, in the market-
place of Nashville. He was immediately conducted
there, made to kneel down on the flint pavement,
and punished according to his sentence ; the mayor
of Nashville presiding, and the public executioner
being the agent. He was warned to leave the city
within twenty-four hours: but was told, by some
charitable person who had the bravery to fake him
in, wash his stripes, and furnish him with a dis-
guise, that it would not be safe to remain so long.
He stole away immediately, in his dreadful con-
dition, on foot; and when his story was authen-
ticated, had heard nothing of his horse, gig, and
bibles, which he values at three hundred dollars.
Let no one, on this, tremble for republican free-
dom. Outrages upon it, like the above, are but
extremely transient signs of the times. They no
more betoken the permanent condition of the re-
public, than the shivering of one hour of ague ex-
hibits the usual state of the human body.

The other young men found educational and
other assistance immediately; and a set of noble
institutions has grown out of their persecution.
There were professors ready to help them ; and a

RURAL LABOUR.

373

gentleman gave them a farm in Ohio, on which to
begin a manual labour college, called the Oberlin
Institute. It is on a most liberal plan • young
women who wish to become qualified for " Christian
teaching" being admitted; and there being no
prejudice of colour. They have a sprinkling both
of Indians and of negroes. They do all the farm
and house work, and as much study besides as is
good for them. Some of the young women are
already fair Hebrew and Greek scholars. In a
little while, the estate was so crowded, and the
new applications were so overpowering, that they
*wrere glad to accept the gift of another farm. When
I left the country, within three years from their
commencement, they had either four or five flou-
rishing institutions in Ohio and Michigan, while
the Lane Seminary drags on feebly with its array
of tutors, and dearth of pupils. A fact so full of
vitality as this will overbear a hundred less cheer-
ing signs of the times. A very safe repose may be
found in the will of the majority, wherever it acts
amidst light and freedom.

Just before I reached Mobile, two men were
burned alive there, in a slow fire, in the open air,
in the presence of the gentlemen of the city gene-
rally. No word was breathed of the transaction in
the newspapers : and this is the special reason why
I cite it as a sign of the times ; of the suppression
of fact and repression of opinion which, from the
impossibility of their being long maintained, are
found immediately to precede the changes they are
meant to obviate. Some months afterwards, an
obscure intimation of something of the kind having
happened appeared in a northern newspaper; but
a dead silence was at the time preserved upon what
was, in fact, the deed of a multitude. The way
that I came to know it was this. A lady of Mobile
was opening her noble and true heart to me on the

374

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horrors and vices of the system under which she and
her family were suffering in mind, body, and estate.
In speaking of her duties as head of a family, she had
occasion to mention the trouble caused by the licen-
tiousness of the whites, among the negro women. It
was dreadful to hear the facts which had occurred
in her own household ; and the bare imagination
of what is inflicted on the negro husbands and
fathers was almost too much to be borne. I asked
the question, "Does it never enter the heads of
negro husbands and fathers to retaliate ?" " Yes,
it does." " What follows ?* u They are murdered,
— burned alive." And then followed the story of
what had lately happened. A little girl, and her
still younger brother, one day failed to return from
school, and never were seen again. It was not till
after all search had been relinquished, that the
severed head of the little girl was found in a brook,
on the borders of a plantation. Circumstances
were discovered that left no doubt that the murders
were committed to conceal violence which had been
offered to the girl. Soon after, two young ladies
of the city rode in that direction, and got olf cheir
horses to amuse themselves. They were seized
upon by two slaves of the neighbouring plantation ;
but effected their escape in safety, though with
great difficulty. Their agitatiori prevented their
concealing the fact ; and the conclusion was imme-
diately drawn that these men were the murderers
of the children. The gentlemen of Mobile turned
out ; seized the men ; heaped up faggots on the
margin of the brook, and slowly burned them to
death. No prudish excuses for the suppression of
this story will serve any purpose with those who
have been on the spot, any more than the outcry
about " amalgamation,' ' raised against the abo-
litionists by those who live in the deepest sinks
of a licentiousness of which the foes of slavery do

RURAL LABOUR.

375

not dream. No deprecatory plea regarding pro-
priety or decency will pass for anything but hypo-
crisy with those who know what the laws against
the press are in the south-west, and what are the
morals of slavery in its palmy state. I charge the
silence of Mobile about this murder on its fears ;
as confidently as I charge the brutality of the vic-
tims upon its crimes.

Notwithstanding the many symptoms of an un-
manly and anti-republican fear which met my ob-
servation in these regions, it was long before I
could comprehend the extent of it; especially as I
heard daily that the true enthusiastic love of free-
dom could exist in a republic, only in the presence
of a servile class. I am persuaded that the
southerners verily believe this ; that they actually
imagine their northern brethren living in an ex-
ceedingly humdrum way, for fear of losing their
equality. It is true that there is far too much
subservience to opinion in the northern States :
particularly in New England. There is there a
self-imposed bondage which must be outgrown.
But tins is no more like the fear which prevails in
the south than the apprehensiveness of a court-
I hysician is like the terrors of Tiberius Caesar.

I was at the French theatre at New Orleans. The
party with whom I went determined to stay for the
after-piece. The first scene of the after-piece was
dumb-show ; so much noise was made by one single
whistle in the pit. The curtain was dropped, and
the piece re-commejiced. The whistling continued ;
and, at one movement, the whole audience rose and
went home. I was certain that there was something
more in this than was apparent to the observation
of a stranger. I resolved to find it out, and suc-
ceeded. The band was wanted from the orchestra,
to serenade a United States senator who was then
in the city; and one or two young men were re-

376

RURAL LABOUR.

solved to break up our amusement for the purpose
of releasing the band. But why were they allowed
to do this ? Why was the whole audience to sub-
mit to the pleasure of one whistler ? Why, in New-
Orleans it is thought best to run no risk of any
disturbance. People there always hie home di-
rectly when things do not go off quite quietly.

It is the same, wherever the blacks outnumber
the whites, or their bondage is particularly severe.
At Charleston, when a fire breaks out, the gentle-
men all go home on the ringing of the alarm-bell ;
the ladies rise and dress themselves and their chil-
dren. It may be the signal of insurrection : and
the fire burns on, for any help the citizens give, till
a battalion of soldiers marches down to put it out.

When we were going to church, at Augusta,
Georgia, one Sunday afternoon, there was smoke
in the street, and a cry of fire. When we came
out of church, we were told that it had been very
trifling, and easily extinguished. The next day, I
heard the whole. A negro girl of sixteen, the
property of a lady from New England, had set her
mistress's house on fire in two places, by very in-
artificially lighting heaps of combustible stuff piled
against the partitions. There were no witnesses,
and all that was known came from her own lips.
She was desperately ignorant; laws having been
fully enforced to prevent the negroes of Georgia
being instructed in any way whatever. The girl's
account was, that she was " tired of living there,"
and had therefore intended to burn the house in the
morning, but was prevented by her mistress having
locked her up for some offence : so she did it in
the afternoon. She was totally ignorant of the
gravity of the deed, and was in a state of great
horror wThen told that she was to be hanged for it.
I asked whether it was possible that, after her
being prevented by law from being taught, she was

RURAL LABOUR.

377

to be hanged for her ignorance, and merely on her
own confession ? The clergyman with whom I was
conversing sighed, and said it was a hard case ; but
what else could be done, considering that Augusta
was built of mood ? He told me that there was
great excitement among the negroes in Augusta ;
and that many had been saying that " a mean white
person" (a white labourer) would not have been
hanged ; and that the girl could not help it, as it
must have been severity which drove her to it. In
both these sayings, the slaves were partly wrong.
A white would have been hanged; but a white
would have known that she was committing crime.
It did not appear that the girl's mistress was harsh.
But what does not the observation convey ? I have
never learned, nor ever shall, whether the hanging
took place or not. The newspapers do not insert
such things.

This burning would be a fearful art for the
blacks to learn. There were four tremendous fires
in Charleston, during the summer of 1835 ; and
divers residents reported to the north that these
were supposed to be the work of slaves.

Wherever I went, in the south, in whatever town
or other settlement I made any stay, some startling
circumstance connected with slavery occurred,
which I was assured was unprecedented. No
such thing had ever occurred before, or was likely
to happen again. The repetition of this assurance
became, at last, quite ludicrous.

The fear of which I have spoken as prevalent,
does not extend to the discussion of the question
of slavery with strangers. My opinions of slavery
were known, through the press, before I went
abroad : the hospitality which was freely extended
to me was offered under a full knowledge of my
detestation of the system. This was a great ad-
vantage, in as much as it divested me entirely of the

378

RURAL LABOUR.

character of a spy, and promoted the freest discussion,
wherever I went. There was a warm sympathy
between myself and very many, whose sufferings
under the system caused me continual and deep
sorrow, though no surprise. Neither was I sur-
prised at their differing from me as widely as they
do about the necessity of immediate action, either
by resistance or flight, while often agreeing, nearly
to the full, in my estimate of the evils of the pre-
sent state of things. They have been brought up
in the system. To them, the moral deformity of
* the whole is much obscured by its nearness ;
while the small advantages, and slight prettinesses
which it is very easy to attach to it, are promi-
nent, and always in view. These circumstances
prevented my being surprised at the candour with
which they not only discussed the question, but
showed me all that was to be seen of the econo-
mical management of plantations ; the worst as
well as the best. Whatever I learned of the sys-
tem, by express showing, it must be remembered,
was from the hands of the slave-holders themselves.
Whatever I learned, that lies deepest down in my
heart, of the moral evils, the unspeakable vices
and woes of slavery, was from the lips of those who
are suffering under them on the spot.

It was there that I heard of the massacre in
Southampton county, which has been little spoken
of abroad. It happened a few years ago; before
the abolition movement began ; for it is remarkable
that no insurrections have taken place since the
friends of the slave have been busy afar off. This
is one of the most eloquent signs of the times, —
that, whereas rebellions broke out as often as once
a month before, there have been none since. Of
this hereafter. In the Southampton massacre, up-
wards of seventy whites, chiefly women and chil-
dren, were butchered by slaves who fancied them-

RURAL LABOUR. 379

selves called, like the Jews of old, to " slay and
spare not."

While they were in full career, a Virginian gen-
tleman, who had a friend from the north staying
with him, observed upon its being a mistaken Opi-
nion that planters were afraid of their slaves ; and
offered the example of his own household as a re-
futation. He summoned his confidential negro,
the head of the house establishment of slaves, and
bade him shut the door.

" You hear," said he> that the negroes have
risen in Southampton."

" Yes, massa."

" You hear that they have killed several fami-
lies, and that they are coming this way."
" Yes, massa."

" You know that, if they come here, I shall
have to depend upon you all to protect my fa-
mily."

The slave was silent.

" If I give you arms, you will protect me and
my family, will you not ?"
" No, massa."

" Do you mean, that if the Southampton negroes
come this way, you will join them ?"
" Yes, massa."

When he went out of the room, his master wept
without restraint. He owned that all his hope, all
his confidence was gone. Yet, who ever deserved
confidence more than the man who spoke that last
" No" and " Yes ?" The more confidence in the
man, the less in the system. This is the philo-
sophy of the story.

I have mentioned the fact that no insurrections
have for a long time taken place. In some parts
of the slave regions, the effect has been to relax
the laws relating to slaves ; and such relaxation
was always pointed out to me as an indication

\

380 RURAL LABOUR.

that slavery would go out of itself, if it were let
alone. In other parts, new and very severe laws
were being passed against the slaves ; and this was
pointed out to me as a sign that the condition of
the f negro was aggravated by the interference of
his friends ; and that his best chance lay in slavery
being let alone. Thus the opposite facts were made
to yield the same conclusion. A friend of mine,
a slave-holder, observed to me, that both the re-
laxation and the aggravation of restrictions upon
slaves were an indication of the tendency of public
opinion : the first being done in sympathy with it,
the other in fear of it.

There was an outcry, very vehement, and very
general among the friends of slavery, in both north
and south, against the cruelty of abolitionists in
becoming the occasion of the laws against slaves
being made more severe. In my opinion, this
affords no argument against abolition, even if the
condition of the slaves of to-day were aggravated
by the stir of opinion. The negroes of the next
generation are not to be doomed to slavery for fear
of somewhat more being inflicted on their parents :
and, severe as the laws already are, the conse-
quence of straining them tighter still would be
that they would burst. But the fact is, that so far
from the condition of the slave being made worse
by the efforts of his distant friends, it has been
substantially improved. I could speak confidently
of this as a necessary consequence of the value set
upon opinion by the masters ; but I know it also
from what I myself saw; and from the lips of
many slave-holders. The slaves of South Caro-
lina, Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana, have less
liberty of communication with each other; they
are deprived of the few means of instruction that
they had ; they are shut in earlier in the evening,
and precluded from supping and dancing for half

RURAL LABOUR*

38]

the night, as they used to do ; but they are sub-
stantially better treated ; they are less worked by
hard masters ; less flogged ; better fed and clothed.
The eyes of the world are now upon the American
slave and his master : the kind master goes on as
he did before : the hard master dares not be so
unkind as formerly. He hates his slave more than
ever, for slavery is more troublesome than ever;
but he is kept in order, by the opinion of the
world abroad and the neighbours around ; and he
dares not vent his hatred on his human property,
as he once could. A slave-holder declared in
Congress, that the slaves of the south knew that
Dr. Channing had written a book on their behalf.
No doubt. The tidings of the far-off movement
in their favour come to them on every wind that
blows, calming their desperation, breathing hope
into their souls ; making the best of their masters
thoughtful and sad, and the worst, desperate and
cruel, though kept within bounds by fear.

The word 6 hatred' is not too strong for the feel-
ing of a large proportion of slave-holders towards
particular slaves; or, as they would call them, (the
word ' slave1 never being heard in the south,) their
c force,' their 6 hands/ their * negroes,' their
' people.' I was frequently told of the 6 endearing
relation' subsisting between master and slaves ;
but, at the best, it appeared to me the same 6 en-
dearing relation' which subsists between a man
and his horse, between a lady and her dog. As
long as the slave remains ignorant, docile, and con-
tented, he is taken good care of, humoured, and
spoken of with a contemptuous, compassionate kind-
ness. But, from the moment he exhibits the attri-
butes of a rational being, — from the moment his
intellect seems likely to come into the most dis-
tant competition with that of whites, the most
deadly hatred springs up ; — not in the black, but

382

RURAL LABOUR.

in his oppressors. It is a very old truth that we
hate those whom we have injured. Never was it
more clear than in this case. I had, from time to
time in my life, witnessed something of human ma-
lice ; I had seen some of the worst aspects of do-
mestic service in England ; of village scandal ; of
political rivalship; and other circumstances pro-
vocative of the worst passions; but pure, unmi-
tigated hatred, the expression of which in eye and
voice makes one's blood run cold, I never wit-
nessed till I became acquainted with the blacks of
America, their friends and oppressors : the blacks
and their friends the objects ; their oppressors the
far more unhappy subjects. It so happens that the
most remarkable instances of this that I met with
were clergymen and ladies. The cold livid hatred
which deformed, like a mask, the faces of a few,
while deliberately slandering, now the coloured
race, and now the abolitionists, could never be
forgotten by me, as a fearful revelation, if the whole
country were to be absolutely christianized to-
morrow. Mr. Madison told me, that if he could
work a miracle, he knew what it should be. He
would make all the blacks white ; and then he
could do away with slavery in twenty-four hours.
So true it is that all the torturing associations of
iryury have become so connected with colour, that
an institution which hurts everybody and benefits
none, which all rational people who understand it
dislike, despise, and suffer under, can with difficulty
be abolished, because of the hatred which is borne
to an irremovable badge.

This hatred is a sign of the times ; and so are
the alleged causes of it ; both are from their na-
ture so manifestly temporary. The principal cause
alleged is the impossibility of giving people of
colour any idea of duty, from their want of natural
affection. I was told in the same breath of their

RURAL LABOUR.

383

attachment to their masters, and devotion to them
in sickness ; and of their utter want of all affection
to their parents and children, husbands and wives.
For " people of colour," read " slaves," and the
account is often correct. It is true that slaves will
often leave their infants to perish, rather than take
any trouble about them ; that they will utterly
neglect a sick parent or husband ; while they will
nurse a white mistress with much ostentation. The
reason is obvious. Such beings are degraded so
far below humanity that they will take trouble, for
the sake of praise or more solid reward, after they
have become dead to all but grossly selfish induce-
ments. Circumstances will fully account for a
great number of cases of this sort: but to set
against these, there are perhaps yet more instances
of domestic devotion, not to be surpassed in the
annals of humanity. Of these I know more than
I can here set down ; partly from their number,
and partly from the fear of exposing to injury the
individuals alluded to.

A friend of mine was well acquainted at Wash-
ington with a woman who had been a slave ; and
who, after gaining her liberty, worked incessantly
for many years, denying herself all but absolute
necessaries, in order to redeem her husband and
children. She was a sick-nurse, when my friend
knew her ; and, by her merits, obtained good pay.
She had first bought herself ; having earned, by
extra toil, three or four hundred dollars. She
then earned the same sum, and redeemed her
husband ; and had bought three, out of her five,
children when my friend last saw her. She made
no boast of her industry and self-denial. Her
story was extracted from her by questions ; and she
obviously felt that she was doing what was merely
unavoidable. It is impossible to help instituting a
comparison between this woman and the gentlemen

384

RURAL LABOUR.

who, by their own licentiousness, increase the num-
ber of slave children whom they sell in the market.
My friend formerly carried an annual present from
a distant part of the country to this poor woman :
but it is not known what has become of her, and
whether she died before she had completed her ob-
ject, of freeing all her family.

There is a woman now living with a lady in
Boston, requiring high wages, which her superior
services, as well as her story, enable her to
command. This woman was a slave, and was
married to a slave, by whom she had two chil-
dren. The husband and wife were much attached.
One day, her husband was suddenly sold away to
a distance; and her master, whose object was to
increase his stock as fast as possible, immediately
required her to take another husband. She stoutly
refused. Her master thought her so far worthy
of being humoured, that he gave her his son, —
forced him upon her, as her present feelings show.
She had two more children, of much lighter com-
plexion than the former. When the son left the
estate, her master tried again to force a negro hus-
band upon her. In desperation, she fled, carrying one
of her first children with her. She is now working to
redeem the other, a girl ; and she has not given up
all hope of recovering her husband. She was asked
whether she thought of doing anything for her two
mulatto children. She replied that, to be sure,
they were her children ; but that she did not think
she ever could tell her husband that she had had
those two children. If this be not chastity, what
is ? Where are all the fairest natural affections, if
not in these women ?

At a very disorderly hotel in South Carolina, we
were waited upon by a beautiful mulatto woman
and her child, a pretty girl of about eight. The
woman entreated that we would buy her child.

RURAL LABOUR.

385

On her being questioned, it appeared that it was
" a bad place" in which she was : that she had got
her two older children sold away, to a better place ;
and now, her only wish was for this child to be
saved. On being asked whether she really desired
to be parted from her only remaining child, so as
never to see her again, she replied that " it would
be hard to part," but for the child's sake she did
wish that we would buy her.

A kind-hearted gentleman in the south, finding
that the laws of his State precluded his teaching
his legacy of slaves according to the usual methods
of education, bethought himself, at length, of the
moral training of task- work. It succeeded ad-
mirably. His negroes soon began to work as slaves
are never, under any other arrangement, seen to
work. Their day's task was finished by eleven
o'clock. Next, they began to care for one another :
the strong began to help the weak: — first, hus-
bands helped their wives ; then parents helped their
children ; and, at length, the young began to help
the old. Here was seen the awakening of natural
affections which had lain in a dark sleep.

Of the few methods of education which have
been tried, none have succeeded so well as this
task-work. As its general adoption might have
the effect of enabling slavery to subsist longer than
it otherwise could, perhaps it is well that it can
be employed only to a very small extent. Much
of the work on the plantations cannot be divided
into tasks. Where it can, it is wise in the masters
to avail themselves of this means of enlisting the
will of the slave in behalf of his work.

No other mode of teaching serves this purpose
in any degree. * The shutting up of the schools,
when I was in the south, struck me as a sign of
the times, — a favourable sign, in as far as it showed
the crisis to be near; and it gave me little regret

vol. i. s

386

RURAL LABOUR.

on account of the slave children. Reading and
writing even (which are never allowed) would be
of no use to beings without minds, — as slaves are
prior to experience of life ; and religious teaching is
worse than useless to beings who, having no rights,
can have no duties. Their whole notion of reli-
gion is of power and show, as regards God ; of sub-
jection to a new sort of reward and punishment,
as regards themselves; and invisible reward and
punishment have no effect on them. A negro, con-
ducting worship, was heard to pray thus ; and broad
as the expressions are, they are better than an ab-
ject, unintelligent adoption of the devotional language
of whites. " Come down, O Lord, come down, —
on your great white horse, a kickin' and snortin'."
An ordinary negro's highest idea of majesty is
of riding a prancing white horse. As for their
own concern in religion, I know of a " force"
where a preacher had just made a strong impres-
sion. The slaves had given up dancing, and sang
nothing but psalms : they exhibited the most ludi-
crous spiritual pride, and discharged their business
more lazily than ever, taunting their mistress with,
" You no holy. We be holy. You no in state o*
salvation." Such was the effect upon the majo-
rity. Here is the effect upon a stronger head.

" Harry," said his master, " you do as badly as
ever. You steal and tell lies. Don't you know
you will be punished in hell ? "

" Ah, massa, I been thinking ''bout that. I been
thinking when Harry's head is in the ground,
there'll be no more Harry, — no more Harry."

" But the clergyman, and other people who
know better than you, tell you that if you steal
you will go to hell, and be punished there."

" Been thinking 'bout that too. Gentlemen be
wise, and so they tell us 'bout being punished,
that we may not steal their things here: and then
we go and find out afterwards how it is."

RURAL LABOUR.

387

Such is the effect of religion upon those who
have no rights, and therefore no duties. Great
efforts are being now made by the clergy of four
denominations* to obtain converts in the south.
The fact, pointed out to me by Mr. Madison, that
the " chivalrous" south is growing strict, while the
puritanic north is growing genial, is a very remark-
able sign of the times, as it regards slavery. All
sanctions of the institution being now wanted, re-
ligious sanctions are invoked among others. The
scene has been acted before, often enough to make
the catastrophe clearly discernible. There are no
true religious sanctions of slavery. There will be
no lack of Harrys to detect the forgeries put forth
as such : and, under the most corrupt present-
ments of religion, there lives something of its ge-
nuine spirit, — enough to expand, sooner or later,
and explode the institution with which it can never
combine. Though I found that the divines of the
four denominations were teaching a compromising
Christianity, to propitiate the masters, and gross
superstitions to beguile the slaves, — vying with
each other in the latter respect, that they might
outstrip one another in the number of their con-
verts,— I rejoiced in their work. Anything is bet-
ter for the slaves than apathetic subjection ; and,
under all this falsification, enough Christian truth
has already come in to blow slavery to atoms.

The testimony of slave-holders was most ex-
plicit as to no moral improvement having taken
place, in consequence of the introduction of reli-
gion. There was less singing and dancing ; but as
much lying, drinking, and stealing as ever : less do-
cility, and a vanity even transcending the common
vanity of slaves, — to whom the opinion of others is
all which they have to gain or lose. The houses
are as dirty as ever, (and I never saw a clean room

* Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Methodists and Baptists.

s 2

388

RURAL LABOUR.

or bed but once, within the boundaries of the slave
States ;) the family are still contented with their
" clean linen, as long as it does not smell badly."
A new set of images has been presented to the
slaves; but there still remains but one idea, by
and for which any of them live ; the idea of freedom.

Not for this, however, is the present zeal for
religion a less remarkable sign of the times.

Another is, a proposition lately made in Charles-
ton to remove the slave-market further from pub-
lic observation. This acknowledgment, in such a
place, that there is something distasteful, or other-
wise uncomfortable, in the sale of human beings,
is portentous. I was in that Charleston slave-
market ; and saw the sale of a woman with her
children. A person present voluntarily assured
me that there was nothing whatever painful in the
sight. It appears, however, that the rest of Charles-
ton thinks differently.

I was. witness to the occasional discussion of
the question whether Congress has power to pro-
hibit the internal slave trade ; and found that some
very eminent men had no doubt whatever of such
power being possessed by Congress, through the
clause which authorises it to " regulate com-
merce among the several States." Among those
who held this opinion were Mr. Madison and Mr.
Webster.

The rapid increase of the suffrage in the north,
compared with the south, affords an indication of
some speedy change of circumstances. Three
fifths of the slave population is represented ; but
this basis of representation is so narrow in contrast
with that of the populous States where every man
has the suffrage, that the south must decrease and
the north increase, in a way which cannot long be
borne by the former. The south has no remedy
but in abolishing the institution by which her pros-

RURAL LABOUR.

389

perity is injured, and her population comparatively
confined. She sees how it is in the two conti-
guous States of Missouri and Illinois: that new
settlers examine Illinois, pass on into Missouri,
where land is much cheaper, and return to Illinois
to settle, hecause there is no slavery there : so that
the population is advancing incalculably faster in
Illinois than in Missouri. Missouri will soon and
easily find her remedy, in abolishing slavery ; when
the whites will rush in, as they now do into the
neighbouring States. In the south, the case is
more difficult. It will be long before white labour be-
comes so reputable there as elsewhere ; and the pre-
sent white residents cannot endure the idea of the
suffrage being freely given, within any assignable
time, to those who are now their slaves, or to their
dusky descendants. Yet this is what must be
done, sooner or later, with more or fewer precau-
tions, if the south means to hold an important rank
in Congress. It is in contemplation of this diffi-
culty that the loudest threats are heard of seces-
sion from the Union; a movement which, as I
have before said, would be immediately prevented,
or signally punished. The abolition of slavery is
the only resource.

Upon the most remarkable of all the signs of
the times relating to slavery, it is not neces-
sary to say much. Those which I have men-
tioned are surely enough to show, as plainly as
if a ghost had come from the grave to tell us, that
the time is at hand for the destruction of this mon-
strous anomaly. What the issue of the coming
change will be is, to my mind, decided by a con-
sideration on which almost every man is vociferat-
ing his opinion, — the character of the abolitionists.

It is obvious enough why this point is discussed so
widely and so constantly, that I think I may say I
heard more upon it, while I was in America, than

390

RURAL LABOUR.

upon all other American matters together. It i»
clearly convenient to throw so weighty a question
as that of abolition back upon the aggregate cha-
racters of those who propose it; convenient tc
slave-holders, convenient to those in the north
whose sympathies are with slave-holders, or who
dread change, or who want an excuse to them-
selves for not acting upon the principles which all
profess. The character of the abolitionists of the
United States has been the object of attack for
some years, — of daily and hourly attack ; and, as
far as I know, there has been no defence; for
the plain reason that this is a question on which
there can be no middle party. All who are not
with the abolitionists are against them ; for silence
and inaction are public acquiescence in things as
they are. The case is, then, that everybody is
against them but their own body, whose testimony
would, of course, go for nothing, if it were offer-
ed; which it never is. — I know many of them well;
as every stranger in the country ought to take pains
to do. I first heard everything that could b&
said against them : and afterwards became well ac-
quainted with a great number of them.

1 think the abolitionists of the United States
the most reasonable set of people that I ever
knew to be united together for one object.
Among them may be enjoyed the high and rare
luxury of having a reason rendered for every act
performed, and every opinion maintained. The
treatment they have met with compels them to
be more thoroughly informed, and more com-
pletely assured on every point on which they
commit themselves, than is commonly considered
necessary on the right side of a question, where
there is the strength of a mighty principle to
repose upon. The commonest charge against them
is that they are fanatical. I think them, gene-

RURAL LABOUR.

391

rally speaking, the most clear-headed, right-mind-
ed class I ever had intercourse with. Their ac-
curacy about dates, numbers, and all such mat-
ters of fact, is as remarkable as their clear per-
ception of the principles on which they proceed.
They are, however, remarkably deficient in poli-
cy,— in party address. They are artless to a fault;
and probably, no party, religious, political, or be-
nevolent, in their country, ever was formed and
conducted with so little dexterity, shrewdness, and
concert. Noble and imperishable as their object
is, it would probably, from this cause, have slipped
through their fingers for the present, if it had
not been for some other qualities common among
them. It is needless to say much of thejr heroism ;
of the strength of soul with which they await
and endure the inflictions with which they are vi-
sited, day by day. Their position indicates all
this. Animating as it is to witness, it is less
touching than the qualities to which they owe the
success which would otherwise have been forfeited
through their want of address and party organisa-
tion. A spirit of meekness, of mutual forbear-
ance, of mutual reverence, runs through the
whole body ; and by this are selfish considerations
put aside, differences composed, and distrusts ob-
viated, to a degree which I never hoped to witness
among a society as various as the sects, parties and
opinions which are tne elements of the whole com-
munity. With the gaiety of heart belonging to
those who have cast aside every weight ; with the
strength of soul proper to those who walk by faith ;
with the child-like unconsciousness of the inno-
cent; living from hour to hour in the light of that
greatest of all purposes, —to achieve a distant ob-
ject by the fulfilment of the nearest duty, — and
therefore rooting out from among themselves all
aristocratic tendencies and usages, rarely speaking

392

RURAL LABOUR.

of their own sufferings and sacrifices, but in ho-
nour preferring one another, how can they fail to
win over the heart of society, — that great heart,
sympathising with all that is lofty and true?*

As was said to me, " the Searcher of hearts is
passing through the land, and every one must
come forth to the ordeal." This Searcher of
hearts comes now in the form of the mighty prin-
ciple of human freedom. If a glance is cast over
the assemblage called to the ordeal, how mean and
trivial are the vociferations in defence of property,
the threats of revenge for light, the boast of phy-
sical force, the appeal to the compromises which
constitute the defects of human law ! How low and
how sad appear the mercenary interests, the social
fears, the clerical blindness or cowardice, the mor-
bid fastidiousness of those who, professing the
same principles with the abolitionists, are bent
upon keeping those principles for ever an abstrac-
tion ! How inspiring is it to see that the community
is, notwithstanding all this, sound at the core, and
that the soundness is spreading so fast that the health
of the whole community may be ultimately looked
for ! When a glance shows us all this, and that the
abolitionists are no more elated by their present
success than they were depressed by their almost
hopeless degradation, we may fairly consider the

* It may, at the first glance, appear improbable that such a cha-
racter as this should belong to any collection of individuals. But
let it be remembered what the object is ; an object which selects
for its first supporters the choicest spirits of society. These
choice spirits, again, are disciplined by what they have to undergo
for their object, till they come out such as I have described them.
Their's is not a common charitable institution, whose committees
meet, and do creditable business, and depart homewards in peace.
They are the confessors of the martyr-age of America. As a mat-
ter of course, their character will be less distinctive as their num-
bers increase. Many are coming in, and more will come in, who
had not strength, or light, or warmth enough to join them in the
days of their insignificance.

RURAL LABOUR.

393

character of the abolitionists a decisive sign of the
times, — a peculiarly distinct prophecy that the co-
loured race will soon pass from under the yoke.
The Searcher of hearts brings prophecies in his
hand, which those who will may read.*

I cannot give much space to the theories which
are current as to what the issue will be if the abo-
lition of slavery should not take place. To me it
seems pretty clear, when the great amount of the
mulatto population is considered. Within an al-
most calculable time, the population would be
wholly mulatto ; and the southern States would be
in a condition so far inferior to the northern, that
they would probably separate, and live under a
different form of government. A military despo-
tism might probably be established when the mix-
ture of colours had become inconvenient, without
being universal : slavery would afterwards die out,
through the general degradation of society ; and
then the community would begin again to rise,
from a very low point. But it will be seen that I
do not anticipate that there will be room or time
for this set of circumstances to take place. I say
this in the knowledge of the fact that a very per-
ceptible tinge of negro blood is visible in some of
the first families of Louisiana; a fact learned from
residents of high quality on the spot.

* While I write, confirmation comes in the shape of Governor
M'Duffie's message to the legislature of South Carolina, in which
lie speaks of the vast and accelerated spread of abolition princi-
ples ; of the probability that slavery in the District of Columbia
will be soon abolished ; and of the pressing occasion that thence
arises for South Carolina to resolve what she shall do, rather than
part with her domestic institutions, lie recommends her to de-
clare her intention of peaceably withdrawing from the Union, in
such a case. Time will show whether the majority of her citi-
zens will prefer sacrificing their connexion with the Union, or
their slavery ; whether the separation will be allowed by the other
States to take place ; or, if it be, whether South Carolina will not
speedily desire a readmission.

s 5

394

RURAL LABOUR.

How stands the case, finally ? — A large propor-
tion of the labour of the United States is held on
principles wholly irreconcilable with the principles
of the constitution : whatever may be true about
its origin, it is now inefficient, wasteful, destruc-
tive, to a degree which must soon cause a change
of plan: some who see the necessity of such a
change, are in favour of reversing the original po-
licy ; — slavery having once been begun in order to
till the land, they are now for usurping a new ter-
ritory in order to employ their slaves : others are
for banishing the labour which is the one thing
most needful to their country, in every way. While
all this confusion and mismanagement exist, here
is the labour, actually on the land, ready to be
employed to better purpose ; and in the treasury
are the funds by which the transmutation of slave
into free labour might be effected, — at once inethe
District of Columbia; and by subsequent arrange-
ments in the slave States. Many matters of detail
would have to be settled : the distribution would be
difficult ; but it is not impossible. Virginia, whose
revenue is derived from the rearing of slaves for the
south, whose property is the beings themselves,
and not their labour, must, in justice, receive a
larger compensation than such States as Alabama
and Louisiana, where the labour is the wealth, and
which would be therefore immediately enriched by
the improvement in the quality of the labour which
would follow upon emancipation. Such arrange-
ments may be difficult to make ; but " when there's
a will there's a way ;" and when it is generally per-
ceived that the abolition of slavery must take
place, the great principle will not long be allowed
to lie in fetters of detail. The Americans have
done more difficult things than this ; though as-
suredly none greater. The restoration of two mil-
lions and a half of people to their human rights

RURAL LABOUR. 395

will be as great a deed as the history of the world
will probably ever have to exhibit. In none of its
pages are there names more lustrous than those of
the clear-eyed and fiery-hearted few who began
and are achieving the virtuous revolution.

END OF VOL. I.

LONDON :

IBOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTERS, SAVOY STREET, STRAND.

1