Impressions of America During the Years 1833, 1834 and 1835. Volume 1 (of 2)
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Title: Impressions of America During the Years 1833, 1834 and 1835. Volume 1 (of 2)
Author: Tyrone Power
Release date: September 28, 2007 [eBook #22796]
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA DURING THE YEARS 1833, 1834 AND 1835. VOLUME 1 (OF 2) ***
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IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,
Dorset Street, Fleet Street.
[Illustration: SCENE BEFORE THE THEATRE AT NATCHEZ.
Drawn & Etched by A. Hervieu]
IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA,
DURING THE YEARS 1833, 1834, AND 1835.
BY TYRONE POWER, ESQ.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
Publisher in Ordinary to His Majesty.
1836.
DEDICATION
TO THE BRITISH PUBLIC.
Most persons have a Patron, from whose power and influence they have
derived support, and of whose favour they feel proud.
I cannot claim to be of the few who are above this adventitious sort of
aid, self-raised and self-sustained; on the contrary, I have a Patron,
the only one I ever sought, but whose favour has well repaid my pains of
solicitation.
The Patron I allude to is yourself, my Public, much courted, much
abused, and commonly accused of either being coldly neglectful or
capriciously forgetful of all sorts of merit. To me, at least, you have
proved most kind, and hitherto most constant.
Yes, my Public, throughout my humble career, I have at all times of
doubt or despondency invariably turned to you, and never have I been
coldly regarded. I have leaned heavily upon you, yet have never found
your aid withdrawn.
As an Actor, when managers have appeared indifferent, or critics unkind,
and my hopes have sunk within me, I have turned to your cheering
plaudits, and found in them support for the present and encouragement
for the future.
As an Author, this appeal is founded solely upon my desire, not only to
amuse, but to make you better acquainted with an important part and
parcel of yourself, to which, although widely sundered, you are
naturally and morally allied, and of which, as emanating from yourself,
and in no way degenerate, you ought to feel very proud.
If happily I succeed in effecting this--if I dissipate one common
error, eradicate one vulgar prejudice, or kindle one kindly feeling
between you and the people of whom I write, I shall feel that, by so
doing, I have at length made you some return for the high favour with
which you have repaid my efforts to please you.
In presenting this offering to you, I am aware, at this the ninth hour,
that it abounds in errors; and I would furnish a copious list of errata
from each sheet, if I thought you would find patience to compare them.
But you also know how my time has been employed since my return to you.
Whilst you have nightly laughed with me at the playhouse, I have nightly
had the devil[1] waiting for a contribution at home, and he is an imp
importunate and insatiable. To soothe him, I have worked whilst you have
slept.
I do not tell this to deprecate the censure my crude publication merits,
but only to excuse the impertinence of dedicating it to you.
Nevertheless, being the best commodity I have to lay at your feet, I beg
you to accept it, with the very sincere declaration that I am, my only
Patron and gentle Public,
Your devoted,
Humble servant,
TYRONE POWER.
_Bolton Street, May Fair,_
_Dec. 23rd, 1835._
FOOTNOTE:
[1] _i.e._ Printer's devil!
PREFACE.
Although I have hitherto forborne all preface or dedication on
exhibiting my small ware to the public, concluding that the less I said
about the matter the better, and from having some scruples about tacking
any lady's or gentleman's name to bantlings from which I had withheld my
own; yet, in the present case, do I consider myself bound, in a like
spirit of honesty, to provide this book with a few words descriptive of
its quality, lest my Readers, being disappointed, may charge me with
having deluded them under false "Impressions."
I seek, then, to describe America as I saw it,--a mighty country, in the
enjoyment of youth and health, and possessing ample room and time for
the growth, which a few escapades incident to inexperience and high
blood may retard, but cannot prevent. Heaven has written its destinies
in the gigantic dimensions allotted to it, and it is not in the power of
earth to change the record.
I seek to describe its people as I saw them,--clear-headed, energetic,
frank, and hospitable; a community suited to, and labouring for, their
country's advancement, rather than for their own present comfort. This
is and will be their lot for probably another generation.
To those, then, who seek scandalous innuendos against, or imaginary
conversations with, the fair, the brave, and the wise amongst the
daughters and sons of America, I say, Read not at all; since herein,
though something of mankind, there is little of any man, woman, or
child, of the thousands with whom I have reciprocated hospitality and
held kind communion.
On the other hand, it can be objected that I set out by giving
evidences of a partiality which may cause my judgment to be questioned.
Frankly do I avow this fault, and in my justification have but to add,
that the person who, for two years, could be in constant intercourse
with a people, to the increase of his fortune, the improvement of his
health, and the enlargement of all that is good in his mind, yet feel no
partiality in their favour, I pity for coldness more than envy for
philosophy.
But whilst I am by nature incapable of repaying kindness by aspersion, I
feel that I am no less above the meanness of attempting a return in that
base coin--flattery; that which I saw I say, and as _I_ saw it. I blame
none of my predecessors for their general views, but claim the right of
differing from them wherever I think fit; and if my account of things
most on the surface even, should sometimes appear opposite to theirs, I
would not, by this, desire to impeach their veracity, since the changes
working in society are as rapid, though not quite so apparent, as those
operating on the face of these vast countries, whose probable destinies
do in truth render almost ridiculous the opinions and speculations of
even the sagest of the pigmies that have bustled over their varied
surface.
CONTENTS
OF
THE FIRST VOLUME.
Page
EUROPE 1
The Eve of Sailing _ib._
Sailing Day 4
The Europe Packet 7
The Europe continued.--Change of Affairs. 21
Journal at Sea 28
Land, ho! 34
Port 39
NEW YORK 47
First Impressions of the City _ib._
A Bivouac 49
Cato's! 58
Theatre 60
PHILADELPHIA 74
The Theatres.--Walnut and Chestnut. 87
JOURNEY TO BOSTON 90
The East River.--Hurl-Gate.--The Sound.--Point
Judith.--Newport Harbour.--Providence. _ib._
BOSTON 101
State Prison 114
Tremont Hotel 117
The Tremont Theatre 123
JOURNAL 127
BALTIMORE 135
Baltimore.--Journal continued. 140
The Temperance House 145
Journal 153
Journal continued.--New Year's Day in New York. 166
The Dutch and Irish Colonies of Pennsylvania. 181
THE STEAM-BOAT 188
Delaware.--Newcastle.--Railroad.--French-Town.--Elk
River.--North Point.--Bay of Chesapeake.--Baltimore. _ib._
WASHINGTON 200
Theatre, Washington 210
Pierce's Garden 215
The Garden, Poetical and Political 221
The Falls of the Potomac 225
Impressions of Washington Society, public and private 240
Impressions of Alexandria.--A blank day. 246
The Fancy Ball 252
LIONS OF WASHINGTON 260
The Indian Cabinet.--House of Legislature.--Senate.--
Ladies.--Senators.--President. _ib._
BOSTON 284
Journey across the Alleghany Mountains.--Pittsburg. _ib._
PITTSBURG 309
THE HUDSON 341
ALBANY 347
JOURNEY TO COOPER'S TOWN.--OTSEGO LAKE 361
TRENTON FALLS 369
BUFFALO 386
NIAGARA 391
ERIE CANAL 412
Packet-boat.--Heat.--Cedar Swamp, Long Swamp,
and Musquito Swamp.--Utica. _ib._
LITTLE FALLS 420
Saratoga.--Ballston.--Albany.--Mountain-House.--
Catskill.--Hyde Park.--Lynn. _ib._
IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA.
EUROPE.
THE EVE OF SAILING.
In youth's wild days, it cannot but be pleasant
This idle roaming round and round the world,
With wildfire spirits and heart disengaged.
_Anster's Faustus._
When one first contemplates a voyage of many thousand miles, attended
with long absence, loss of old associates, together with all the charms
of home, country, and friends, often too lightly estimated whilst
possessed, but always sorely missed when no longer within call; one is
yet, and this through no lack of sensibility, apt to regard the
sacrifice about to be made to duty as sufficiently light, and, with the
aid of manhood and a little philosophy, easy of endurance. The very
task, which a resolution of this grave nature necessarily imposes, of
making as little of the matter as possible to those dear ones who yield
up their fears, and subdue their strong affections, in obedience to your
judgment, serves for a time the double purpose of hoodwinking oneself as
well as blinding those on whom we seek to practise this kind imposition.
Next comes the bustle of getting ready, assisted and cheered by the
redoubled attentions of all who love, or feel an interest in one's
fortunes. Amidst the excitement, then, of these various feelings, the
deep-seated throb of natural apprehension, or home regret, if even felt,
struggling for expression, is checked or smothered in the loud note of
preparation. The day of departure is fixed at length, it is true; but
then it is not yet come: even when contemplating its near approach, one
feels wondrous firm and most stoically resolved: at last, however, come
it does; and now our chief friend Philosophy, like many other friends,
is found most weak when most needed. In vain do we invoke his approved
maxims, hitherto so glibly dealt out to silence all gainsayers; yet now,
they are either found inapt or are forgotten wholly, until, after a
paltry show of defence, braggart Philosophy fairly takes to his heels,
and leaves us abandoned to the will of old mother Nature. Now, indeed,
arrives the tug; and I, for my part, pity the man who, however savagely
resolute, does not feel and own her power. The adieus of those one loves
are, at best,--that is, for the shortest absence,--sufficiently
unpleasant; but when there lie years, and, to the eye of affection,
dangers, in the way of the next meeting, as the old Scotch ballad has
it, "O but it is sair to part!" I should, I confess, were I free to
choose, prefer the ignominy of cowardly flight, to the greatest triumph
firmness ever yet achieved, and be constrained to hear and respond to
that last long "good-b'ye!"
As I honestly own that, for various good reasons, I set out with the
intention of keeping such a close record of my feelings and doings as my
errant habits might permit, with the premeditated design also of giving
them to that public which from the beginning had decided that I should
do so, I concluded there was nothing like an early start; and finding
these thoughts preface, or rather commence, my journal, so do I give
them like precedence here.
SAILING DAY.
Liverpool, Tuesday, July 16th, 1833.
I am not usually very particular about dates; but, as there is an odd
coincidence connected with the 16th, I desire to note it. On this day,
then, about 3 P.M. I was rumbled from Bold-street down to St. George's
Dock, accompanied by a few friends, who were resolute to extend their
kindness to the latest limit time and tide, those unyielding agents,
might allow.
Arrived at the ship's side, I found a number of my own poor countrymen,
_agricultural speculators_, filling up a leisure moment before seeking
harvest, in seeing "Who in the world was going to America, all that
way," with which country there are now few of the humbler class of Irish
but have some intimate associations. Disposing amongst _the boys_ the
few shillings I had left in my pocket, I jumped on board the packet-ship
Europe, without cross or coin, saving only a couple of luck-pennies, the
one an American gold eagle, the present of an amiable gentlewoman; the
other a crooked sixpence, suspended by a crimson ribbon, the offering of
a fair "maid of the inn," given to me on the very eve of sailing-day
with many kind wishes, all of which have been realized.
The wind had been all the morning, and was still, away from the
south-west; that is, right into the harbour; and I had heard many doubts
expressed whether or not we should sail at all before night tide; doubts
which, I am almost ashamed to confess, did not offend my ears so very
much, considering my avowed impatience to be gone; nay, I do further
admit having observed carelessly that I would as soon we did not sail
until night tide, though wherefore I should thus have sought to keep
chords on the stretch already too painfully braced, I leave to the wise
to resolve.
Once on board, however, doubt was at an end; since the task of warping
out from the tier was already commenced, and the noisy steamer might be
heard bellowing and fuming, impatient of delay, from where she awaited
us without the pier. We were moored inside several other ships; and the
dock being quite full of craft, to the unpractised eye there appeared no
possibility of winning a passage without doing or sustaining damage.
However, what with warps and checks, careful and well-timed hauling, and
ready backing, the gallant-looking Europe was quickly and safely handed
over to the turbid waters of the Mersey without suffering a rub on her
bright sides.
The steamer now took us in tow, and in a few minutes the busy docks and
crowded pier-heads had passed away. Our companion vessels at parting
were three only--a large private Indiaman, (the Albion,) a smaller ship
for the coast of Africa, and a little gaily-painted Irish schooner
called the Shamrock. These, it appeared, were dependent upon their own
resources, and were soon left behind contending hardily with a strong
beating wind; whilst the Europe, with yards pointed and sails closely
furled, steadily and swiftly followed in the wake of the George the
Fourth, looking like a noble giant led captive by some sooty dwarf. The
Black Rock was soon gained, Crosby and its pretty cottages showed dimly
distant; the mountains of Wales opened grandly forth before us; and,
after one last long look, I dived to my state-room, partly to busy
myself with seeing all my traps arranged and set in trim for sea, and
partly to be alone.
THE EUROPE PACKET.
"This goodly ship our palace is,
Our heritage the sea."
It will doubtless appear to many who shall win their way thus far into
this book, a work of impertinent supererogation to describe at large an
American packet-ship, together with the mode of living on board a
regular _Liner_, considering that there are some three or four of these
departing every week from Liverpool, London, and Havre, and at this same
point I can fancy some hot fellow, who has performed his twentieth trip,
here toss by my unoffending volume, with "Devil take the chap! does he
think he knows about all this better than _us_?"
But, hold hard, my fiery friend, whilst I remind your worship that there
are some thousands of the lieges out of the countless numbers who will
be our readers, who, insular though they be, and well used to ships,
have yet no conception of these wonders of the water; that is, provided
the "Europe" is to be taken as a true sample of the service she belongs
to: not to mention that what was new and notable to me, who have
voyaged much, can hardly fail to interest some gentlemen "who live at
home at ease."
Let, then, the reader who knows what a "between-decks" is, step below
with me, and there picture to himself a room forty feet long, not taking
in the deep transom, by sixteen in breadth, having on either hand a
range of inclosed state-rooms about eight feet square, each with its own
door and window, of bird's-eye maple curiously inlaid with variously
grained wood, polished as glass. The upper part of the door and the
whole of the side window are latticed; so that on both being closed, the
occupant is hidden, yet the air admitted freely.
Each of these state-rooms is furnished with a washhand stand, containing
a double service, a chest of drawers, with handles of cut glass, a shelf
or two for books, &c. and a brace of berths or bed-places of ample
dimensions, well appointed with mattress and linen, white as ever lassie
lifted off the sunny side of a brae, at whose foot brawled the burn to
which her labour owed its freshness.
Now, although each room is fitted up for two insides, you may
nevertheless conserve your individuality,--the which I recommend,--at
the cost of an additional half-fare, or, in all, about fifty-five pounds
sterling.
Being here installed, then, _solus_, you will be roused from your sound
night's sleep in the morning at eight bells, or eight o'clock A.M., by
the tinkling of a shrewish-sounding hand-bell, which says, as plainly as
ever the chimes of Bow hailed Whittington lord mayor of London, "Arise,
and shave, and make your toilet, and prepare to come forth; for the cow
is milking, and the kettle is screeching, and the hot rolls beginning to
get over-brown."
Upon this welcome summons, if you are not sea-sick, which Heaven forbid!
or insensible to the goods here by the gods provided for you, you will
bounce or creep out of your crib, according as the waves and your
agility may determine; and popping your head out of window, loudly bawl
"Thomas!" or plain "Tom!" or "Steward!" according to the terms of
friendship and familiarity on which you may stand with this dignitary,
who, by the way, has a vote on board worth canvassing for;--I say bawl
out, because, firstly, your mincing and Clarendon-like lisp of "Waiter!"
would not be heard by one used to listen to the rush of the tempest and
the shriek of the scourged Atlantic; also, for that your stirring call
may remind some wretched skulker of a circumstance which he is miserably
dozing out of remembrance, viz. that breakfast is under weigh. "Yes,
sir!" is the prompt response from the larboard corner of the cabin,
where the steward and his gang are installed with all their appointment
of glass and crockery ranged neatly within reach. Your next call will
be, "Bring me a bottle of Saratoga water"--a chalybeate, cool and brisk
on the palate as soda water, a commendable morning draught, and such a
trumpet to appetite!--well, having swallowed of this, your pint or so,
dress, mount the deck, and inquire "how she heads," and what she has
done during the long hours of night whilst you lay sleeping like a
sea-bird in your wave-borne nest.
You next take a look over the weather quarter, sweep the horizon
knowingly with your best eye, and after, walk forward towards the galley
or kitchen, pricking your ears at certain sputtering and hissing sounds,
the which, backed up by sundry savoury sniffs caught under the tack of
the main-sail, give you foretaste of broiled ham, spitch-cock, eggs,
frizzled bacon, and mutton cutlets.
One by one your messmates tumble up the companion, or cabin-stair; some
hungry and blooming as sound stomachs and clear consciences can make
them, others showing a _leetle_ blue and bilious-like; but each and all
resolute to essay the onslaught, which the train of polished covers,
making rapid transit from the caboose down the steward's hatchway,
proclaim about to begin.
Tinkle, tinkle, ting! again sounds the steward's bell; and, without any
pauses of ceremony, down dive the _convives_, turning _en que_ the foot
of the stair, some to windward, others to leeward, but all facing right
aft--a double game of "follow my leader."
"Oh! 'tis a goodly sight to see," the show which here presents
itself;--covers of all sizes glisten under the flickering rays of the
morning sun, stealing in through the open deck-light, and dancing about
to the heave of the ship over a well-laid cloth flanked by ready plates
and the weapons of attack.
The signal is made, the covers drawn; and, appetite or no appetite, here
is temptation for all. If the incipient voyager will benefit by my
experience, as he might well have done by my example had we been happy
enough to have possessed his amiable society on board the Europe, he
will develope his main battle against the mutton chops _au naturel_;
then gossip over a slice of broiled _Virginy_ ham, with an egg or twain,
whilst his souchong is getting pleasantly cool; then, having emptied his
cup, flirt with a couple of delicate morsels raised from the thin part
of a salted shad-fish, the which shad, for richness and flavour is
surpassing.
To his second cup he will dedicate the upper crust of a well-baked roll
with cold butter; and, after having duly paused a while, choose between
Cognac and Schiedam for a _chasse_. If he will yet walk with me, I say
unhesitatingly, try Schiedam, in the absence, reverently be it spoken,
of Isla or Innishowen.
Now, my pupil, if this breakfast would, which it could not fail to do,
raise the bastard appetite of your close-curtained, feather-bedded
coal-smoked, snivelling in-dweller of the city, judge of the influence
it must exercise over a child of ocean, who inhales the breath of heaven
freshly as generated beneath the blue sky that vaults his watery world,
pure, uncorrupted, untainted by touch of anything more earthly.
Why, man, it is worth a life of ordinary vegetation to be stirred but
for once by the sensations, such a morning as I draw from, in such a
place, create; and to those who sagely shake the head and doubt, if any
such cavillers there be, I say, "Pay your just debts; make your tenants
easy, that their prayers may be in your sails; forgive your enemies,
kiss your wife, draw up and add in her favour a codicil to your
testament; and your duties being thus fulfilled, with a clean heart,
backed by forty-eight clean shirts, go and try; and if you 'fall not' of
my advice before you again embrace your mother country, curse Fortune
for a perverse wench, and set your humble servant down for false
counsel."
Leaving you now, my pupil, to write, to read, to practise shooting with
ball at a bottle swinging from some outstanding spar, or to follow
whatever pursuit most engages your fancy, for the space of some four
hours, we will just name an intermediate and somewhat tempting meal,
ycleped luncheon, chiefly indeed for the purpose of advising you to
eschew it as you value unimpaired digestion, and would appreciate a
four o'clock dinner. If, however, you are obstinately self-willed, and
choose to obey a villanous unappeasable appetite, in place of following
my wholesome advice, I pray you, at least, not to sit down knife in
hand, as I have noted "some shameless creatures do;" but lift a piece of
pilot biscuit, request some kind soul to shave the under side of the
corned round for you, then desiring the steward to follow with a tumbler
of Guiness's porter, fly the place and seek the deck.
Shuffle-board, chess, and backgammon, with exercise and pleasant
converse, will while away the intervening hours so quickly, that, if you
do not keep a bright look-out, you will be surprised by the dinner-bell
before you think of your toilet, which, if a luxury to you on shore,
will be thrice welcome at sea, besides being a pleasant way of disposing
of twenty minutes; not to mention the ladies, who, at all times sensibly
alive to any neglect in us, become doubly so here, where there is so
much to remind them that they are not ruling in their own pretty
drawing-rooms, though, as the old song has it,
"Queens they be
On the boundless sea,"
as indeed they are, and ought to be, everywhere.
_Mem._--Do not trust your appetite to forewarn you of approaching
dinner, since I have been more than once deceived by over-confidence in
that quarter: truth is, you have the cry of "wolf" from that insatiable
look-out so early and so often, that you learn after a time to treat the
call as impertinent and troublesome, and so strive to cut it until the
cutting moment really and unexpectedly comes upon you.
I have been so elaborate upon the head of breakfast, which meal, I
freely confess to be my foible, that I feel as though any description of
dinner would now come comparatively weak; besides, to speak verily, one
might, with time and prudent choice, get as good a dinner, perhaps,
a-shore in favoured countries: but for a breakfast, pho! the thing is
beyond reach, away from the stores of a well-regulated Yankee packet. I
challenge Europe, including Scotland, with all her _Finnanhaddies_,
_herrin's_, cakes, and preserves, to back her.
Suffice it then to say, that here is a dinner of three courses, with
pastry and various _confitures_ which would not shame Gunter; and, for
_boisson_, sherry, madeira, hock, and claret, with port for those who
indulge in strong potations, and three or four times a week well-iced
champagne.
A variety of dried fruits compose the dessert, since, although they
sometimes raise small salad, I feel bound to admit that they have not
yet attained to the comfort of a pinery on board: nor, let me add, did I
see finger-glasses in use; and how persons get on who have never dined
without them, I cannot guess, this not being my case, since luckily,
even in England, I had sometimes roughed it in very good society without
these necessaries. Once seated to dinner, there you remain, and imbibe
until discretion bids you hold your hand, for other check have you none,
cellar and servants remaining at your disposal.
After a walk on deck, and a cup of tea or coffee, you form your party
for whist or some round game, or join the ladies in their _boudoir_,
which I ought to have mentioned before as leading out of the great room
forward, being a pretty square apartment, fitted up with sofas, mirrors,
loo-table, and other little elegancies which ladies love to look upon
and be surrounded by. _Entre nous_, between the lights this snuggery
affords tolerable convenience for a little flirtation, if you are lucky
enough to get one up;--this broken off, you play your play, and at the
conclusion of your rubber of whist, or _parti d'ecarte_, you prepare for
bed,--early hours forming here one of those sanitary laws which the wise
feel little inclined to impinge.
Now I am quite well aware that on the head of night-caps every biped has
his own fancy, and most of the genus I also know to be infernally
pig-pated on this seemingly simple point; such incurables I abandon, to
supper, porter, night-mare, and all the other nameless horrors that
rouse them to avenge an ill-used stomach; but to the willing ear and
ductile mind I whisper again, "try mine." _Imprimis_--one cigar, one
tumbler of weak Hollands' grog, better named swizzle, all to be disposed
of in pleasant company during some half-hour's walk on deck; when, if
you should sometimes, as I hope you often may, fall in with a soft downy
south-west breeze, a clear deep-blue sky over head, gemmed full with
little stars, and fringed about, down into the watery round, by a broad
border of jet-black cloud, against which each curling wave appears to
break, and the goodly ship seems as though delving through a lake of
quick-silver--when the track of the swift porpoises show like long
furrows of dazzling flame, and over the whirling eddies of the keel's
deep wake is seen to hover a strange unearthly light,--a thin bluish,
devilish, vaporous haze, which, in the silent watch of night, maketh the
lonely gazer's flesh to creep, and conjures through the brain every wild
legend whispered of the "vasty deep," fascinating the eyes, and holding
them with spell-like power, until--until what?--why, until a sharp
twitch on the lip from the fire of the close-burned cigar we recommended
awakens you to a due sense of such a "lame and most impotent
conclusion."
Jump off the spare spar on which you have been perched whilst gazing so
dreamily over the ship's quarter, give the last half of your grog to the
old lad at the wheel, peep in on the compass, find she heads about
west-north-west, and, well satisfied, descend the stair. The steward
lights the waxen taper which fixes on a branch before your glass; when,
having performed such ceremonies as you delight in, thank God and sleep:
and thus ends the chapter of a day.
And, gentle pupil, if you would learn yet more especially to enjoy all
this, which I have for your benefit somewhat _lengthily_ detailed, give
directions to the steward to rouse you at deck-washing; that is, about
six A.M.; put on drawers and jacket of fine cotton, and, sunshine or
cloud, calm or squall, run on deck, leave your _robe de chambre_ in the
round-house, and slide down into the lee gangway, where, according to
previous contract, you see a grim-looking seven-foot seaman--pick out
the tallest--waiting for you with a couple of buckets of sea-water, one
held ready in his claw, with a half-grin upon his puckered phiz as he
inwardly blesses the simplicity of the landsman who turns out of his
hammock in the morning-watch to be soused like the captain's turtle in
cold salt water; and i' faith! startlingly cold it gets when on the
Banks, even in July, especially if within the influence of an ice-berg
or twain: think not, however, of this, the infliction is light in
comparison with the after enjoyment.
Being seated in the lee-scuppers, give the word; up goes the bucket, and
wush! down pours the deluge on your oil-capped crown. "Hah!" you cry
involuntarily, for the flesh will quiver, &c. You then compress your
lips a little closer, whilst Jack's giggle expands into a broad grin,
and in a steadier stream descends the second shower; which, having
abided to the last drop, away you scurry along the wet deck, that is,
always provided you avoid a fall or two by the way, into the
round-house, on gown, and down to your little den; where a coarse towel,
and a couple of flesh-brushes smartly applied for five minutes, will
produce such a circulation throughout your inward man, that, like bold
Waterton, you feel as though you could back an alligator, take the
sea-serpent by the beard, or kick a noisy steamboat fairly out of water.
I have, since I am at confession, sometimes in very bad weather been
tempted into bed after this ablution, when such an hour's nap awaits
one! But this is a luxury Xerxes would have given a Satrapie to have
tasted, and not to be indulged in over-often, lest it lead to
effeminacy, which is as far removed from comfort as is sensuality from
pleasure.
I have often heard objected to these fine ships the discomfort and
difficulty attending toilet; but, for my own part, I did not discover
these. Having a state-room, and possessed of the same appliances, with
perhaps a little more trouble, a man may be as scrupulously nice as in
any other dressing-room; provided always he be not prostrated by that
unsparing nausea, sea-sickness; from the which I wish you, gentle
reader, the full exemption I enjoy, and so commend you to repose.
THE EUROPE CONTINUED.--CHANGE OF AFFAIRS.
"Life's like a ship in constant motion:
Sometimes smooth, and sometimes rough."--_Song._
"Oh! the pleasures of a summer trip across the Atlantic!" Thus sung and
chorused my good friends one and all; some from experience, most from
hearsay, but ever in unison.
"You'll have quite a party of pleasure," says one. "The only thing to be
dreaded will be the _ennui_ arising out of long calms, gentle breezes,
eternal sunshine by day and moonlight by night," says another.
One would have fancied, according to their account, that sun and moon
alternated like buckets in a well, one up, the other down, with the
exception that both were to be always at full.
So constant, however, were these remarks about heat, and sun, and summer
air, that I packed up every article of clothing heavier than duck or
cachmere; nay, had not some worthy matter-of-fact soul let slip a stray
hint about ice and sleighing parties in December, I verily believe,
hating as I do all superfluous baggage, I should have left my greatcoats
to the moth and fog of Old England.
But whew! from such _airs_ the Lord preserve me!--whilst at the tail of
our honest, grimy, grumbling steamer, cutting through the Mersey or
along the coast of Wales, we were, I admit, tolerably sunned and warm
enough, though not even here bedazzled or over-heated; but on the second
morning out, what a change!
I came on deck just before six A.M. to take my shower-bath; the wind was
about west by south, blowing a brisk gale, the ship under double-reefed
topsails, with top-gallant sails set over them, making all smoke
again--on one hand lay the Isle of Rathlin, with the north coast of
Ireland, bleak and bare; on the other, the Mull of Kyntyre, with a tide
of its own rushing by like a mill-race, and over it the cloudy crest of
Isla, looming through the flitting vapours, cold, dark, and
hard-visaged, as though no drop of whisky had ever been brewed therein.
One could not recognise the misty monster, thus grimly shadowed forth,
to be the parent of that glorious sunny spirit.
We had full time afforded to become well acquainted with the changing
aspects of these and the other localities hereabouts, for we had to
battle it with their ally the wind, and with their waters, for full
sixty hours; and although we at length fought our course seaward, it was
to feel that such another victory would be anything but serviceable to
the gallant ship.
Oh that infernal Rathlin! I shall not soon forget it; it is a spot I
always held in ill odour ever since Miss Porter's "Scottish Chiefs"
taught my unsophisticated youth to weep over the wrongs of Wallace
wight. Now, although I abominate the place more, I have learned to
compassionate her ill-starred hero less, since to have been carried
southward through "merrie England" from such a place of exile, albeit
the journey ended in hanging, was yet a deliverance especially to be
rejoiced in.
We had a near view of the natives too, one day, trying to catch us in a
whale-boat, whilst we were hugging the land sculking from the strength
of the tide of flood: but, thank Heaven! they missed taking us as we
went about on the opposite tack, the which I shall ever consider a
providential escape, although at the time, a heedless confidence in our
numbers led Captain Maxwell to throw them the end of a rope. They failed
to lay hold on it, however, and away we dashed by them like a whirlwind;
whilst the disappointed men gesticulating fiercely, with their red
"fell o' hair" blowing to the four corners of the earth, and their wild
eyes and ogre mouths agape, yelled forth a volley of strange sounds,
soon drowned by the louder roar of these summer waves. This was happily
the only danger we incurred from the natives; we saw no more of them,[2]
and right glad were all-hands when the last glimpse of the Hebrides, or
Western Isles, as they are called in their charts, faded away in their
mist.
After this date one heavy blow succeeded another until the first of
August, with seldom sun enough to afford an observation: yet it mattered
not; like sea-birds we "rode and slept," for the excellence of the boat,
and the way in which she was handled, was evident enough to inspire even
the nervousness of inexperience with confidence; and the efficiency of
our domestic arrangements bade defiance to the anger of the
elements;--uninfluenced by their frowns as by their smiles, on went the
work, and meal succeeded meal with faultless regularity.
On the second of August we passed within the immediate atmosphere of a
huge iceberg. We had for some time previous been enveloped in fog, which
suddenly lifting, showed us this isle of ice, and two other smaller
ones.
The main island, by which we were most attracted, lay about a quarter of
a mile to leeward, of dazzling whiteness, and picturesque of form,
having at one end a lofty cone-shaped mountain, and at the other an
angular bold mound, crowned by what we decided to be an extensive Gothic
fortalice or castle, not unworthy the Ice-king himself if bent on a
summer trip round the gulf stream: between these promontories lay a deep
valley thickly tenanted by tribes of the white gull.
Three sides of Castle-hill were regularly scarped, the fourth
communicated by a neatly kept slope with the valley, and along this
radiated a number of well-trodden paths, all uniting at the castle gate,
at once giving evidence of considerable population, and great
hospitality on the part of the worthy castellan.
The position of these islands was unusual, and their appearance
occasioned a little surprise, although the fall of the thermometer, and
the change in the temperature of the water, had led Captain Maxwell,
some hours before we met them, to decide upon their vicinity.
On the banks of Newfoundland they are common at this season of the year,
and form, indeed, the danger most to be dreaded of the voyage; since, if
the weather should prove thick, and the ice swim deep, scarce showing
above the surface, as is commonly the case, a ship going quickly through
the water may strike before any measures can be taken to avoid the
encounter.
A fine packet, the Liverpool, but nine days out, on her first trip was
totally lost on one of these in the summer of 1822; and this very year
our captain coasted to the southward for seventy miles along the edge of
a field of ice, in which he had previously been locked-up for fifty
hours, till released by a lucky shift of wind. On this occasion he had
one on board whose experience among ice had been well tested, and was
about to be yet again tried; for Lieutenant Back was here on his
perilous adventure in quest of the long lost Captain Ross and his crew.
For the succeeding sixteen or seventeen days of our voyage the weather
was generally fine. Upon the western edge of the Banks we had a few
days' calm, which taking advantage of, I turned my morning shower-bath
into a plunge from the bowsprit, and had a delicious swim round the
ship. The passengers, however, got wind of my fun, and in obedience to
the kindly meant remonstrances of one or two of them, I forbore a
pleasure which never occurred to me to be perilous, for I have practised
it in many parts of the ocean, always taking care that there was no way
upon the ship.
We had no casualties except amongst the pigs, sheep, and poultry; and as
yet no great loss of spars, indeed in all our blows, we only sprung a
main-topsail yard, carried away a fore-topmast, and made a few
stu'n-sail booms,--for the latter, we had very little use, not having
the wind abaft the beam over five days, all counted, out of a passage of
thirty-five; and how it was accomplished in the time under the
circumstances, is yet to me a matter of some wonderment.
FOOTNOTE:
[2] To homeward-bound ships these visits of the _Rathlineans_, often
prove sufficiently welcome, as they generally provide themselves with a
cargo of ancient, fish-like milk, and fine potatoes. The Europe having
an excellent dairy and a poultry-yard of her own, stood in no need of
their supplies.
JOURNAL AT SEA.
This is usually a very monotonous task to the journalist, and can hardly
fail of soon becoming tiresome to the reader, since a voyage away from
the land affords but little to record; still, as it is my intention
occasionally to refer to this current report of my _Impressions_ and
every-day-doings, I may as well transcribe literally a page or two
illustrative of every-day life in this, our "Europe."
_July 31st._--Sixteen days out this afternoon; during which time, with
but forty-four hours that we could fairly lay our course, the good ship
has knocked off forty degrees of westing, a prodigious slant under the
circumstances. The last two days up to meridian, we have run ten degrees
of longitude and two of latitude.
_Thursday, August 1st._--Going about seven knots, heading west by north;
all well and mighty agreeable. Rifle-shooting and backgammon the great
antagonists of time before dinner--whist after. Various wagers are daily
made against time, as to the length of our passage, as well as for or
against certain ships that preceded or were to follow us. Most persons
have named some date for our arrival at New York, and backed it for more
or less; finding that these days were selected more in accordance with
the desires of the betters than their judgment, I selected an outsider,
and took the longest date named for my day, August 20th. The odds
fluctuate daily in the market, according to the view the knowing ones
take of the weather: these bets form a subject of interest and banter
which daily rises in importance.
_Wednesday, 7th._--About meridian carried away our main-topsail yard,
whilst two hands were employed rigging in the studding-sail boom; one
fell into the top, and the other caught hold of the rigging, receiving
much fright but small damage. Had they fallen on the deck or over-board,
why their chance would have been exceeding small. There surely is "a
sweet little cherub that sits up aloft," &c. or these careless rogues
could not escape so often scot-free.
To-day we have a rattling north-easter with sunshine: and the sea, which
yesterday was wild, dreary, and dark, is now beaming and light as a
beauty at a birth-day ball; and as radiant, for it sparkles in diamonds
of its own.
All hands in high spirits, the ship the favourite for odds; Time gone
back sadly; the 13th inst. named for very long odds; I offered eight to
one against it, and was taken up at a word. Made two or three entries in
my book after dinner; against the 20th, my day; take all that offers,
but have made a _leetle_ hedge on the 18th by way of a break-water.
_Saturday, 9th._--A very heavy gale from north-west, a rare occurrence
at this season; it stuck to us for fifty hours, hauling gradually round
to the south'ard. No business done to-day; 'change deserted; not a
time-bargain to be had for love or money; most of the bulls in bed.
_Tuesday, 13th._--One of the most lovely days possible: all the morning
we have been observing a large ship right a-head, on which we draw
rapidly, though a stern chase is proverbially a long chase. The alley
all alive, books and pencils in great demand: odds offered freely that
this ship is the Tallahassie, Captain Glover, which sailed from
Liverpool on the morning of the day we left; but owing to our taking the
north channel, whilst she pursued the south, had thus gotten a decided
pull upon us, besides being a very fine ship. Consultations frequent, as
we neared, between the mate and the backers of the Tallahassie,
adjournments to the top-gallant forecastle constant; every spy-glass in
requisition.
We drew near; the odds rose in favour of this being the ship in
question--she was a large ship, square-built and long, so was
Tallahassie--she was flush deck, so was Tallahassie--had stump-royal
masts, and a storm-house abaft, so had Tallahassie, hurrah! Nearer we
came, less ardour amongst the backers of Tal.--nearer still, they are
all silent; the alley is deserted for the forecastle--a straggler now
comes aft, with a sneaking offer of a hedge: no takers.
One of the opposite side's scouts next comes aft. "This can't be the
Tallahassie--this ship has no copper, Tallahassie had; she has a white
line over her bright side, Tallahassie had not--her top-rail is white,
and the yards tipped with the same colour, the Tallahassie's were
black.--In short, it could not be the Tallahassie, as any one with half
an eye might have seen from the first, and might see now."
The latter part of the proposition was already demonstrated, for we were
by this time right a-beam; the former might have been disputed,
although it certainly was not the Tallahassie.
Trifles like this were all-sufficient occupation for the day, and served
as subjects of conversation after. On this occasion we had for nearly
the first time a complete muster of our crew, the exceeding fineness of
the day brought out even our sick, and there they lounged about in the
sun, like weary birds plumeing their ruffled feathers.
_Sunday, 18th._--Wind north-west; weather fine. We are now within one
hundred and sixty miles of our port. Betting-market a little anxious,
but a good deal of business doing in a quiet way; my odds looking well,
but to-morrow, the 19th, by far the favourite, Captain Maxwell himself
indeed, considering it a hollow thing. Got a notion in my head, however,
in favour of my day, and accordingly took the odds; resolute to abide by
the 20th, and either "mak' a spune or spoil a horn."
All hands well and in motion; the crew busily employed getting the
sea-service off the rigging, and setting it all up in holiday order. The
mate is peering about jealously on all sides, eyeing his ship as a
mother would a beauty dressing for her first drawing-room, and to the
full as anxious about her appearance.
_Monday, 19th._--In the middle watch had a heavy squall, and carried
away our foretop-gallant mast. At nine o'clock, A.M. made the American
shore off Jersey, to the southward of Barney Gat. Wind light, no
betting, but anxious speculations on the probability of our getting
within Sandy Hook this day. Tuesday a hollow thing, feel "cock
sure:"--about noon, wind died away; and, right enough, it was not until
_Tuesday, August 20th_, that at three o'clock, A.M. I was called on deck
to look upon the Hook lights, and count my wagers won. I received the
omen as a good one, and so it proved.
LAND, HO!
I had often, and with much pleasure, heard intelligent Americans
describe the restless anxiety with which they approached the shores of
Britain; the almost painful degree of excitement created by the various
associations crowding on the imagination, and jostling each other for
supremacy, as they looked for the first time on their father-land.
The veneration with which they pictured her ivy-clad towers, and the
throb with which they caught the names of places long familiar to memory
and hallowed by historical events, to all of which they felt their claim
inherited from their ancestors, whether from Thames, or Tweed, or
Shannon.
To all of this I have, I say, listened with great pleasure, and with a
full sympathy in feelings at once natural and generous, yet can I hardly
admit them to possess more force, or their nature to be more exciting,
or richer in the material whence Fancy frames her chequered web, than
the recollections awakened in a well-stored imagination by a near
approach to the shores of America. Although differing widely, these are
to every philosophic mind, especially to a subject of Britain, at least
equally stirring.
When it is first remembered, that on all the long line of coast
extending from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico there was not, in
the beginning of the sixteenth century, one European family settled, or
a Christian voice that woke the forest with the name of God,--not a
civilized man from Canada to Florida, who placed his foot upon the soil
to call it home. Yet now, within this immense range may be reckoned the
mightiest States of the Union; and over its wide circumference are
scattered great cities, towns aspiring to be cities, and villages fast
growing into busy towns--possessing a population which for wealth hardly
need yield to the oldest countries of Europe, and in the general
diffusion of intelligence and education offering indeed to most of these
an example worthy of their imitation.
When it is called to mind that the waters of her vast line of coast, now
daily ploughed by thousands of busy prows, were at this same not very
distant day as desert as her swamps and as unfurrowed, except where the
canoe of the scared Indian left its light track behind, when driven from
the shelter of some near river:--silent and shadowless, except when the
sail of the adventurous explorer flitted slowly over the waves, as he
steered his doubtful course filled with the many wonders seen and
fancied by his watchful, credulous crew,--some band of daring spirits
tempted hither in search of gold, or wild adventure, perhaps to perish
suddenly by the arrow of the savage, or slowly to wither beneath the
influence of the climate--God! what wonderful changes have been wrought
here, and what a living marvel is this land! Changes, which it has
required the labour of ages to accomplish elsewhere, have here been
effected by the energy of a few busy generations, whose toil was begun
and carried on amid want, and sickness, and a struggle against ignorance
and neglect without, as well as a war of extermination within; a war
which may be said to exist even to this day, for yet is the ever-growing
frontier from time to time awakened by the night whoop of the savage and
the answering shot of the hardy pioneer.
Then come the recollections connected with the war of the
Revolution,--the noble declaration of independence, for truly noble it
was: no dark compact of a crew of ruffian conspirators, but a generous
bond that their aggrieved country should be freed, given by a band of
citizen gentlemen, husbands, fathers, and brothers, to the fulfilment of
the which they pledged unto each other their lives, their fortunes, and
their sacred honour; and having placed their hands to this bold deed,
they gave it to their people and the world.
Their bond is cancelled, and they are dismissed beyond the hearing of
praise or censure; yet shall these, the names of their country's
fathers, be read and blessed by ages yet to come, and shall stand for
ever, each a synonyme for patriot honour.
Washington, and the long wars he conducted through defeat and disaster
to such a glorious end for his country, together with that large list of
famous names connected with those and later events formed no mean
subject for reverie, and these were the fancies conjured through my
brain by a near approach to the shores of America. I confess I
contemplated her triumphs with a participation in her glory where
England was not a party, with no other feeling than regret when she
was,--with regret that the hands of brothers should ever have been
opposed in deadly enmity.
I give back in love of country to no man, and to no foe under heaven
would I yield up one jot due to Britain's well-won supremacy, but to the
United States we may surely spare without envy the leaf she so hardily
plucked from our thick laurels. The glory of having given her birth,
language, and laws, she cannot rob us of; this will endure until her
mountains crumble: and all else she has acquired at the expense of
Britain, Britain can well spare, and still stand foremost on the roll of
Fame.
PORT.
On the morning of Tuesday, August 20th, I was roused, according to a
request I had left to that effect with Captain Maxwell, to look on the
Hook Lights, the entrance to the outer bay and harbour of New York. It
was three o'clock in the morning, a fresh yet bland breeze was just
giving motion to the smooth sea, and above, the firmament showed thickly
studded with heaven's lights; but the dazzling pharos of the Hook, to my
mind, were brighter at this hour than the best twinklers on the floor of
heaven,--so welcome were they.
While waiting on deck, a couple of sky-rockets were discharged from the
storm-house by way of signal for a pilot. The effect of the sudden blaze
was fine; and the rush of each fiery messenger on its upward mission, as
it burst away from the Europe's deck, seemed a glad sound of welcome,
for it spoke of safe arrival, and consequent freedom from our present
thrall; for, however pleasant a ship may be, and however poetical our
notions about the "deep sea," after having been in the one and on the
other for five or six weeks, there are few bipeds who do not hail the
shore as a type of recovered liberty, and, however barren it may be,
right joyfully embrace it.
About 7 A.M.--for here it appears pilots do not hurry themselves--we
made out a couple of schooner-rigged boats standing right for us, which
were at first taken for pilots, but proved to be news-boats. Several
such are, as it appears, kept in commission by the New York journals,
and the struggle for early intelligence between the rivals occasions a
display of considerable adventure not unattended with risk, since these
news-boats are out in all weathers, and from a great distance often
bring to the city a ship's letters, &c. many days before she makes her
own appearance.
The news-collectors were welcomed civilly by our captain, bagged their
papers, made out a list of the passengers, and in a few moments were
again on the wing for shore, looking right into the wind, and with
smooth water and a light breeze, they drew rapidly away from the heavier
ship. I must observe that our Mercury's correctness was by no means
commensurate with his activity; for such ingenious changes did this
worthy contrive in the names of the passengers, that the mothers of some
would have failed to have discovered the arrival of their sons, except
upon instinct.
At length, after long watching, a couple of pilot-schooners were
discovered standing out from under the high land, and in due time their
boats boarded us nearly together; and hence arose a dispute as to whose
particular prey the good Europe was to be considered.
Each Pilot was voluble, and accused the other of violating the laws made
and provided in such cases for their better government: who was wrong in
this case it was difficult to say, but I very clearly made out that both
parties had cheated on former occasions, were willing to cheat in this,
and resolute to continue a like commendable practice in all others that
might offer, as far as in them lay. What arrant rogues are we in all
climes and under whatever rule, quoth I, internally, as I listened to
these wordy disputants; for, to do messieurs the pilots justice, the
matter was conducted in a manner more worthy the courts, better argued,
and in language less offensively figurative, than similar disputes at
which it has been my chance to assist between angry members of our own
_bars_.
At length the elder pilot left the deck, and returned to his attendant
yawl, in evident dudgeon and disgust; when the junior, being hailed by
his comrades in the schooner on the opposite quarter, was advised to
give up the Europe, since they had made out a second ship quite as large
in the offing.
Whether this information, or a latent sense of justice prevailed, it is
hard to say; but on the tidings our man hailed his irate senior--who was
borne away amidst deeply-muttered vows of vengeance--desired him to
return, and told him he would give up the ship. Thereon, back rowed our
ancient mariner; and after a few explanatory sentences, mutually offered
as salvos to their hurt honour, the rivals parted, to all outward
seeming as good friends as ever.
Which had right I know not, but one of them had fish, and we of the
Europe had no cause to mourn the departure of that one, since, having
gained his deck, he sent us back a basket of newly-taken porgies, and
various other fishes with unpoetical names but of marvellous sweetness,
and sumptuous was our _dejeuner_ in consequence of this unlooked-for
addition.
Henceforward, all between-decks presented a scene of bustle and
preparation; the most sluggish natures amongst us appeared now inspired,
whilst on all sides were heard good-humoured congratulations and glad
anticipations. I confess, although a very experienced voyager, I felt a
little touch of softness striving to sneak into and coil about my heart,
as the words,--home--friends, with other household sounds, fell thick
upon my hearing; for, all our passengers being American, I stood alone
here on this day of happy greeting, a stranger amongst strangers.
Let me add, that this was the last day on which I felt so during my long
sojourn in the hospitable land; and even on this I possessed buoyancy
enough of spirit to keep down these selfish reflections, and, I thank
Heaven, sympathy enough to rejoice in the gladness of my comrades.
I did not lack amusement, either after the first hurry was past; an
intelligent friend or two busied themselves pointing out to me the
various localities in detail, with whose general character Carey's
excellent atlas had already made me tolerably conversant.
The day was clear and cloudless; and when to this advantage is added a
light head wind, which compelled us to work our way inward, no harbour
could be approached under auspices more favourable, or better calculated
to afford a complete and varying view of its beauties.
Just as we had opened the Narrows, the entrance to the inner bay so
called, the wind grew so unpromising that a party of us decided to
engage the pilot vessel to take us as far as Staten Island, which they
"calculated" they could reach before the departure of the steamer for
New York.
Bidding adieu to the Europe, away we dashed in the little witch of a
pilot, a craft of some eighty tons' burthen, but, viewed from a short
distance, not looking more than half that size, so snug was her build,
as well as from the absence of every kind of hamper; her shrouds were
without ratlins, and her deck without even the protection of a
rough-tree--a nakedness I should by no means like in bad weather. The
afterpart, however, or stern-sheets, is sunk about four feet; and as the
bowsprit is a mere stump, and the sheets of both foresail and jib lead
aft, all the work may be done here when under snug sail.
The necessity, during our trip in the schooner, of working up between
the shores of Long and Staten Islands, was a chance that added to the
charm of our approach.
Standing into the Narrows, under the guns of a formidable fort, the
pretty-looking village of Staten, where quarantine is performed, first
presented itself: the smoke of the steamer assured us she had not yet
departed, and two or three tacks brought us within signaling distance,
just as she broke away from the shore: our desire was readily
understood, and, slightly changing her course, she soon after received
us in addition to her already crowded freight.
I found the upper deck of the Bolivar, the name of our steamer,
uncommonly hot, but it afforded a good place from which to view the
harbour and city as they were now rapidly unfolded: here, therefore, I
planted myself, all eyes; and certainly have rarely been better repaid
for a broiling.
As we neared the Battery, we were afforded a passing glance up the East
and North Rivers,--the great waters which give wealth to Manhattan, and
jealously clip her beauty about, in equal participation. The _coup
d'oeil_ thus taken is very imposing, and at once awakens the stranger
to a sense of the commercial importance of the _entrepot_ whose walls he
perceives shaded by such a forest of lofty masts.
NEW YORK.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE CITY.
On landing at the Battery, our first visit was to an office of the
customs here; and, instead of the dogged, sulky, bribe-demanding scowl,
too commonly encountered from our own low-class officials, who seem to
consider the custom-house as a means rather of annoyance to the lieges
than a protection to trade, we were met by civility, respect, and prompt
despatch. The luggage we had brought with us on shore was not subjected
to the least examination, and we went on our way highly pleased. First
impressions give their colour to succeeding matters; and surely those
derived from my encounter with the officials of a service at best
annoying, were much in favour of the land.
On entering the quiet Bowling Green, where many of the houses have
coloured fronts, and all gaily painted jalousies, with trees shadowing
the _stoups_, I was reminded of Cape Town: but the impression was
momentary; a few yards on, and the long line of Broadway, with its
crowded side walks, showy shops, and numerous hotels, at once transports
you back to Europe; and, were it not for the sprinkling of black faces
with which the mass is chequered, one might swear oneself in Paris on
some portion of the Boulevards not altogether familiar to the eye, but
offering most of the points needful to prove identity, from the monkey
and hurdy-gurdy of the Savoyard, the _blouse_ of the carman and
_Conducteur_, to the swagger of the citizen-soldier, and the mincing
step and "_tournure charmante_" of the _belles_. The fronts of the
_cafes_ and hotels, too, as you pass along, you perceive to be covered
by chairs occupied by similar loungers to those on the Boulevards.
Such were my impressions whilst moving on a hot day from the Battery to
the City Hotel, and so give I them place here; since I have often, after
a long residence in a place, found myself referring back to these first
glimpses, when desirous to present it at once fresh and comprehensive to
the eye of the stranger, and for such these sketches are chiefly
designed.
A BIVOUAC.
The day after my arrival, I was both interested and amused by
accidentally falling on the bivouac of a Swiss family of emigrants.
I had risen early for the purpose of bathing, and was making my way to
the fort through the grounds of the Battery as the rising sun was just
adding new light and life to the most beautiful of harbours, when I came
suddenly upon the barriers of a little encampment perfectly Teutonic in
its arrangement; it was, however, no surprisal to the hive within, for
their morning operations had already begun.
Within a circular rampart, formed out of various articles of household
gear,--three or four antique-looking spinning-wheels, a pair of churns,
a few clumsy chairs, a large chest, together with a couple of small
heavy waggons not yet placed upon the wheels,--were a few as lively
recruits as any land desirous of population could wish to welcome.
The party consisted, first, of a right venerable-looking old man, the
patriarch of the tribe, as he told me, seventy-four years old; six men,
his sons and grandsons; seven lively boys, his great-grandchildren, and
about an equal number of girls, the patriarch's wife, nearly as aged as
himself, but with a shrill piercing voice and the activity of a girl of
nineteen, with four other women, the wives of the ancient's sons.
At the moment I came upon them the whole camp was rousing into full
activity. The grandmother, assisted by a couple of her young women,
found ample occupation in first catching and next washing the junior
branches of the colonists: these appeared already aware of their being
in a country where every individual thinks for himself, or at least
thinks he does, which comes to the same thing, for they stoutly
resisted, to the last extremity, the soapless saline ablutions profusely
administered by their great grandam.
Meantime a couple of the more staid of the youngsters, who had been
passed outside the lines, were busied beneath the trees collecting
fallen sticks, leaves, &c. for keeping up the fire already lighted and
presided over by one of the females, whose task it evidently was to
prepare breakfast.
A couple of the men yet slept soundly; another pair were composedly
leaning against a waggon smoking their pipes; whilst a third, the
youngest of the grown men, and evidently the _beau-garcon_ of the party,
was busied about the completion of a careful toilet before six square
inches of looking-glass, held up to him by a young lass, rather
good-looking, who, kneeling before this Adonis in evident admiration,
most patiently abided the completion of his equipment previous to
commencing her own.
My course was at once arrested by a scene so new and unexpected; and I
stood for a long time contemplating the repose of this little group,
camping here in the midst of a busy population on the banks of the
Hudson, in the same manner and after the same fashion their ancestors
are described to have followed by the Rhone and the Danube in the time
of Caesar.
There was an air of confident security about the whole arrangement, that
spoke equally in favour of the hardy simplicity of these strangers and
the courtesy and honesty of their adopted country; for I know no
European capital wherein such a group could have sat them down and
passed a summer night, unhoused and unwatched, without receiving
annoyance, if not suffering loss.
I learned that the family had been landed late on the preceding
afternoon from a French ship; so that, not being able, as is the wont of
this people, to depart for their destination immediately, they had in
the most prompt and orderly manner pitched their tents here for the
night, and were now preparing for their march into the wilderness.
This sight, striking in itself, was no less illustrative of the country
and the time: these arrivals are of daily occurrence here during the
season; every one of the northern nations of Europe is contributing her
quota out of the most enterprising of her children to swell the numbers,
and give additional pith and vigour to the population, of this land of
wonder.
About three hours after this first rencounter, whilst seated in our
parlour at breakfast, I pointed out to my friend P---- the whole family
passing the city hotel _en route_.
They had now gotten one of their clumsy waggons mounted, and rudely
harnessed to a stout-looking horse, and on this vehicle was piled all
their worldly store. The males, pipe in hand and marching four abreast,
strode boldly on before; next came the waggon, surrounded and followed
by the women and children: the heads of one or two of the youngest of
these, by the bye, might just be seen poking out from the lumber amongst
which they were ensconced upon the car.
I observed that the old dame now carried in her hand a wicker-cage,
containing a little captive of the goldfinch tribe, some home-bred
favourite, whose simple notes will often call up the memory of
father-land, when this family of humble adventurers shall be located,
happily I trust, on some wild stream of the far west, for thither were
they bound, and, with the appliances I have sketched, were cheerfully
setting forth to perform a journey of some two thousand miles. These,
however, are the sort of persons who may look most to benefit by such a
change; after a few to them trifling privations, and an industrious
struggle, they have the certain satisfaction of beholding their
offspring surrounded by comfort, and their means yearly increasing. They
presently exchange want for plenty, and cease to look upon the coming
time with fear or doubt for even their children's children; since
generations must rise and pass away before enterprise and honest
industry will feel any lack of elbow-room here.
The weather was awfully hot during the last week of this month; and
great was my delight, on entering the parlour of a morning, to look upon
the butter luxuriating beneath a large wedge of clear ice: only for the
cutting up, I should have gloried in being a _Pat_ of butter myself.
This article of ice is presented here in a purity of form, and is withal
so plentiful, that it almost makes amends for the dog-days.
Our breakfasts were excellent--fish, fruit in abundance, chickens,
omelette, &c. with good coffee, and the best black tea I ever drank. The
parlour was a very large well-furnished room, level with and fronting on
the busiest part of Broadway; and a more amusing stand than one of the
windows, for a stranger, it would be difficult to select. The whole busy
population, I should imagine, passed in review here once, at least, in
six hours; together with samples of all the nondescript vehicles city or
country rejoices in.
To one worthy I owe many a hearty laugh,--who knows but I may have
repaid the good soul in kind?--I hope I have, for my gratitude is his.
Let the reader imagine a long street, very crowded, and about noon
shadeless, with the thermometer at 98 deg. in the sun. In the very middle
of this broiling thoroughfare, fancy a low carriage on four wheels,
ycleped a Jersey waggon, having a seat with a high back hung by straps
athwart-ships; over this seat a buffalo robe of vast dimensions, the
thick fur outside and a red lining within, falling in heavy folds to the
waggon floor; upon this buffalo skin, seated right in the centre, with
knees and elbows spread as far apart as possible, a huge mass of
humanity clothed in a dark jacket of home-spun cloth, with vest and
trousers of blue cotton; his pumpkin-like head covered by a broad-leafed
straw hat, a Dutch pipe on his lip, and before him a hard-mouthed
awkward little horse pulled about by both hands, now right, now left,
but rarely going out of a walk. Above a high shirt-collar his full-blown
cheeks might be seen, as he sucked in the hot air and rejected it again
like a blowing porpoise: cravat he had none, because he had no neck to
tie it about; but in lieu of this article he carried, knotted over his
broad shoulders, a little red handkerchief. Daily did I ask myself for a
whole week "Will it walk again?" and, so surely as the shadeless hour of
noon arrived, did my Dutch fire-king arrive with it, steering his waggon
through the sweltering mass with a composure--coolness I could not call
it--most enviable.
I would have given anything to have known him and his history; but
though I had opportunities of pointing him out to my friends
occasionally, no one knew him. Son of a thousand burgomasters, may your
shadow never grow less! for I owe to you the beguilement of many a hot
hour: but I fear me my friend must be "larding six feet of lean earth,"
somewhere in the vicinity of Manhattan, since for the last year I have,
on every day that the sun shone intensely with the glass over 90 deg.,
watched in vain for his coming.
In the cool of the afternoon, if there chance to be any cool, it is a
common custom for the young men of all classes to drive or ride some
five or six miles along the north avenue,--an excellent road leading to
the pretty village of Harlaem; and on this line, about sunset, the
amateur of horse-flesh may see done, the fastest pace in the trotting
world; double-horse waggons of the neatest and lightest construction,
gig, sulky, and saddle, all are alike borne along by trotters or pacers
at a speed varying from the pair that are doing their mile in three
minutes, to the sulky or saddle nag flying at the rate of a mile in two
minutes, thirty seconds.
The first time I was whirled along this road at the heels of one of the
crack goers of the city, amidst clouds of dust through which the rushing
of other vehicles might be dimly made out, and startled by the wild
cries used by the rival drivers, at once to encourage their horses and
prove the impossibility of scaring them into breaking up, I thought it
one of the most exciting things I had ever met; and on getting down at
Cato's, involuntarily found myself drawing a long breath.
CATO'S!
And what is Cato's? and who is Cato? Shade of Rome's patriot and sage,
anger not! for Cato is a great man, foremost amongst cullers of mint,
whether for _julep_ or _hail-storm_; second to no man as a compounder of
_cock-tail_, and such a hand at a _gin-sling_!
Cato is a gentleman of colour who presides at a little tavern, named
after its proprietor, lying just off the dust of the road between two
sharp hills, and situated some four miles from New York--a good
breathing distance for a fast burst--and here consequently most men halt
to give their horses breath, and wash the dust out of their own throats
with some one of Cato's many excellent compounds. The convenience of the
place is enhanced by the manner of its master, who for courtesy and
_bienseance_ might serve as a model to most of his young friends. His
society indeed is of the very best, including all the first sporting
youths of the city; and his liquors are equal to his breeding.
Cato will give a few select friends breakfast too on a hot morning, if
it be especially ordered; and, certes, a woodcock and toast as served up
by him on these occasions is a thing not to be forgotten. It was my
fortune, under the auspices of my friend, Mr. M'L--d, an especial
favourite of "mine host," to pay several visits to Cato's, and to come
away at each with added respect for the great man, and increased regard
for his excellent entertainment.
THEATRE.
_Great heat--doubts, dubitations, and debut._
I do not intend to bore my readers with a series of play-bills, or a
journal of my theatrical career; but I feel that on this head there may
be some little curiosity, and that it would on my part be an affectation
to eschew the subject, as well as an injustice to my American comrades
of the buskin, to whom I owe some kind mention, since it was my lot to
add considerably to their labours. I will therefore just notice my
appearance in each city as it occurred, and that as briefly as may be
consistent; when any fun turns up, I promise the reader the benefit of
it. I shall also give my impressions of the various audiences I
encountered; because I think there is no place where the characteristics
of a people are more clearly shown than at a theatre, where all mix upon
a footing more purely democratic than in any other whatever, and each
man having a right to evince his taste after his own fashion, opinion
becomes the only conservation of propriety.
To my first night at New York, then, I looked with much anxiety, and
not without reason. I had, contrary to the advice of many friends, given
up a large income, the continuance of which the increasing favour of the
public gave me reasonable promise of. I had vacated my seat and quitted
my country on no other engagement than one for twelve nights at New
York, the profits of which were wholly dependent upon my success, as
were my engagements in other cities dependent upon my reception in this.
One kind soul assured me that every drama I possessed had been already
anticipated; another, that they had no taste for Irish character, or
that accustomed, as they had long been, to associate with the
representative of my poor countrymen a ruffian with a black eye, and
straw in his shoes, the public taste was too vitiated to relish a quiet
portrait of nature undebased.
This was flattering, but not pleasant: the only man whose views appeared
sanguine was Mr. P----, who had been my companion on the voyage, and
whose cheering reply to all doubters was, "I tell you, sir, it must do."
The theatre was announced to be re-opened on the 28th of August, with
the "Irish Ambassador" and "Teddy the Tiler." The day was one of the
hottest we had known, and towards night it became oppressively close.
No strange actor of the least note could open in New York, to anything
short of a full house; it seems to be a hospitable principle to give the
aspirant for fame a cordial welcome and a fair hearing; let it not be
considered egotistical, therefore, when I say that the house was
crowded; from pit to roof rose tier on tier one dark unbroken mass; I do
not think there were twenty females in the dress circle; all men, and
enduring, I should imagine, the heat of the black hole at Calcutta. I at
the time regretted the absence of the ladies, when, had I been less
selfish, I should have rejoiced at it.
The moment came when "Sir Patrick" was announced; and amidst greetings
as hearty as ever I received in my life, I made my first bow to the Park
audience. I saw no coats off, no heels up, no legs over boxes--these
times have passed away; a more cheerful, or apparently a more English
audience, I would not desire to act before.
I was called for at the end of the play, and thanked the house for its
welcome. If the performance had not gone off with that electric and
constant laughter and applause to which I had grown accustomed at home,
I had received positive assurance that my new clients were intelligent
and very attentive, and I therefore no longer entertained fears for the
result.
Not so, however, one or two of my friends, whose anxiety and kind wishes
it would have been hard indeed for any measure of applause to have
satisfied: amidst the congratulations they brought me were therefore
mixed up little cautionary drawbacks.
"It was capital," said one; "but you must not be so quiet: give them
more bustle."
"In some other piece," replied I; "here it is not in the bond."
"You must paint a little broader, my dear fellow," says
another:--"you're too natural for them; they don't feel it."
"If it's natural they must feel it," said I, adding, "each of my
characters are, according to my ability, painted from nature; they are
individual abstractions with which _I_ have nothing to do; the colouring
is a part of each, and I can't change it as I change my audience:--'tis
only for me to present the picture as it is; for them to like or dislike
it."
For the six following evenings the houses, though not great, were equal
and good; each night I found my audience understanding me better, and
felt that I was grappling them closer to me. The arrival of Mrs. and Mr.
Wood earlier than the manager counted upon, created a difficulty; to
obviate which I waived my claim to six of my nights, as my acting must
have kept them idle.
A day or two before my departure for Philadelphia, I witnessed the first
appearance of this lady and her husband. Her reception was enthusiastic,
but Malibran had left impressions it was difficult to compete with; and,
although her brilliant talent was on all hands admitted, I am not sure
whether her husband's manly style of singing a ballad was not to the
full as much considered as her execution of the most brilliant scena.
The Park Theatre is, as well as I could judge, about the size of the old
Lyceum, of the horse-shoe form; has three tiers of boxes; is handsome,
and in all respects as well appointed as any theatre out of London.
The orchestra is at present excellent, and under the direction of a
very clever man--Penson, formerly leader at Dublin. The company I found
for my purpose a very fair one, my pieces requiring little save
correctness from most of those concerned, except where old men, like
"Aspen," "Frederick II." &c. occur, and all such parts found an
excellent representative in an American actor, called Placide. Descended
of a long line of talented players, he possesses a natural talent I have
rarely seen surpassed, together with a chastity and simplicity of style
that would do credit to the best school of comedy; yet he has never been
away from his own country. I trust the model may not be lost on those
who have to follow him.
There is a representative of old women here, too, a native, Mrs.
Wheatley, an inartificial charming actress, with a perfect conception of
all she does, and a humorous _espieglerie_ of manner that is admirable.
This lady has a daughter, a girl of fourteen, one of the cleverest
mimics I ever saw: she would imitate Miss Fanny Kemble throughout a
whole character, or think, talk, and walk, like her in private,--all
with a slight dash of caricature, but in a spirit of truth and acute
observation worthy of the inimitable Matthews himself.
With these exceptions, the company is, I think, made up of English
actors, many of whom have held respectable situations in the London
houses.
I had heard a good deal of the disorder of the American stage, and the
intractability of American actors; with this specimen I had therefore
every reason to be pleased. I am rather a hard drill, too; but I also
know how painful is the task of studying and practising long parts for
the star of the day, to be thrust out by some fresh stuff got up for his
successor: I am aware of this, and therefore strive to make the pill
less bitter by doing my "spiriting gently," where I see a desire to be
attentive on the part of my friends.
As I may not have occasion to revert to New York theatrically again, let
me here say that, after repeated renewal of my engagements during two
years, my last were amongst the greatest I made in this city: how, after
this, the American public can be called cold or fickle, I at least have
no means of judging.
After a stay of three weeks in New York, rendered as agreeable as fine
weather, kind friends, warm welcome, and success could make it, I took
my departure for Philadelphia by the Camden and Amboy line of steam-boat
and rail-road. Punctual to the minute advertised, we left the wharf;
and, although the day was cold for the season, I was charmed with our
trip across the harbour towards Raritan Creek.
From about half-way over this channel, which separates Staten Island
from the city, I should say, after some experience, the best general
view of New York and its most prominent environs may be obtained.
Behind you rise the heights of Brooklyn, undulating along your left to
the passage of the Narrows, through which you catch a glimmer of the sea
beyond; close on your right lies the picturesque-looking old city of
Jersey; and immediately beyond, the village of Hoboken, famous for
turtle and pistol-matches: its neighbourhood to the Elysian fields
renders it a singularly lucky site for the fire-eaters, since, if shot,
they have no Charon to pay; the turtle-eaters here find, no doubt, equal
facilities. Far to the north, the dark promontory of the Palisadoes
beetles broadly forth, marking the course of the Hudson.
In the middle distance lies the city, looking as though it floated deep
upon the bosom of the ready waters that encompass it about. It is
happier in its place of rest than most Dutch towns, and well merited the
name of New Amsterdam, given it by its founders. The ground it covers
was at one time divided into hill and dale; but with eyes wide open to
business, and close sealed against taste, the conscript fathers of our
infant Rome shaved smooth every ant-hill that rose in their path, and to
their inheritors have bequeathed a love of their trim lines of beauty,
for they are proceeding on the levelling system with a worthy
pains-taking that will in due time render the whole island as flat as a
tulip-bed.
The passage up the Raritan or Amboy Creek, between Staten Island and the
main, is uninteresting enough; the channel reminding one very much of
the left bank of the Thames about Erith,--swampy levels, with flat
barges, and river-side public houses. The village of Perth Amboy is the
first attractive object; it is built upon the face of a hill rising
gently from the water, and is well shaded, looking healthy, fresh, and
neat. Here the steamer stops for a minute to land or receive passengers,
and then makes for Amboy landing, about a couple of miles distant. Here
we left our boat, and were immediately transferred to the cars of the
new railroad connecting the Raritan with the Delaware, and pursued our
way to Bordentown, through a dreary, barren-looking country, whose only
attractions were occasional orchards of a most fruitful kind, if one
might judge by the plenteous gathering already in progress. In many
places were piled up little mountains of apples, destined chiefly for
the cider press.
The loco-motives not being in condition to do duty, the horses occupied
as yet their legitimate station, going at the rate of about eight miles
per hour.
Near the entrance to Bordentown, the present mansion of the ex-king of
Spain was pointed out: it does not appear to be very happily located,
but commands, I understand, an extensive view of the broad Delaware, and
affords room enough to bustle in, even for one whose domain was once
royal.
Here we once more embarked; and hence to Philadelphia the Delaware is a
broad placid stream, with low banks of alternate wood and meadow, having
sprinkled along them numbers of well-built houses of all sizes, from
the shingle cottage to the imposing-looking mansion with its lofty
portico of painted pine.
The boat touches on its way at two very charming-looking villages,
Bristol and Burlington, situated at opposite angles of a fine bend of
the river. On the quay of the latter I noticed, as we halted, a group of
fairy-looking lassies watching for the landing of some friend; and their
animated expression, delicate proportions, and graceful _tournure_, did
much to bespeak favour for the girls of Pennsylvania.
It was night before we gained the Quaker city, and exceeding dark
withal; so that the long dotted lines of lights, regularly intersecting
each other until lost in distance, had the effect of a general
illumination, whilst it gave evidence of a widely-spread and populous
city.
We drove to Mr. Head's hotel, the Mansion House, where we were welcomed
by the worthy host in person; although he had not bed-rooms for us that
night, for we were three in company. We were, however, soon furnished
with a most excellent supper; and after, two of us got, not "three
chairs and a bolster," but a couple of camp bedsteads with good
mattresses, and sheets white as snow. Our senior companion, Mr. P----,
was provided with a bed-chamber; and what could the heart of weary
traveller wish for more?
On the morrow I also was installed in a capital chamber; and if those
incarnate demons the musquitoes would have made peace with me, I should
have scorned comparisons with the Nabob of the Carnatic. But, oh!
immortal gods, how they did hum and bom, and bite and buzz! and how I
did fume, and slap, and snatch, and swear, partly in fear, and partly
through sheer vexation of spirit, at having no means of vengeance
against a foe whose audacity was open and outrageous, whose trumpets
were for ever sounding a charge, yet who were withal, as impassable as
Etna.
I would rather hear the roar of lions about my resting-place than the
vicious hum of these infernal wee beasts; and I may be allowed to
decide, having listened to both: the latter never failed to keep me
wakeful through fair fright; but when well worn with fatigue, after a
shiver and a start or two, I have slept sound, in safe company, although
the crunch and roar of the nobler _varmint_ sounded near enough to make
our terrified horses press to the watch-fire with breathings thick and
loud,--a neighbourhood anything but agreeable, but, I swear, infinitely
preferable to an incursion of hungry musquitoes.
The next morning, Sept. 12th, rose early, took a hot bath, and dressed
for a hot day; but the day was resolute not to be hot: a north-east wind
had set in after breakfast, and down went the thermometer from
seventy-nine to forty-five. "Zooks, what a tumble!" as Mister Poll says:
all the time too the sky was cloudless, and the sun shining most
treacherously. I wasn't to be done, however; so, after an hour, jumped
again into my broad-cloth for comfort.
During my first week here I occupied private apartments,--which may be
had at every hotel, by the way,--and being in company with a friend, we
had our meals at our own hours, all of which were excellent and well
served, with wines most unexceptionable. My friend leaving me, however,
I took the advice of my good host, Mr. Head, and, quitting my sulky
solitude, joined the public table,--a change I had every reason to be
satisfied with, since, however, unpleasant the bustle occasioned by a
hundred or a hundred and fifty persons dining _ensemble_, no such
objection can apply here, where the guests rarely exceed twenty-five or
thirty, including from time to time men of the first rank and
intelligence in the States. This dinner-table indeed is as well
appointed in every way as any gentleman could desire; the attendants
numerous and well ordered; the service, including every luxury the
season can furnish, is of three courses; and the cloth is never drawn
under an hour. I am thus particular, because, as much has been said of
the badness of hotels in America, it is but fair to give place to a
notice of those which are good; and so essentially good a _table d'hote_
as that of the Mansion House at Philadelphia, whether for variety,
cooking, wine, or all these things combined, I never yet met in any
country of Europe.
PHILADELPHIA.
I pity the man who, on a fine morning, can walk through the shady and
clean streets of Philadelphia and cry, "all is barren!" In my eyes, it
appeared, even at first sight,--and no place improves more upon
acquaintance,--one of the most attractive-looking towns I had ever
beheld.
Coming immediately out of the noise, bustle, and variety of Broadway,
its general aspect appears quiet, almost _triste_; but the cleanliness,
the neatness, the air of comfort, propriety, and health, that reigns on
all sides, bespeaks immediate favour.
The progress of improvement, and enlargement too, are sufficiently
evident, for at either extremity of the city, the fall of hammer and
chisel give unceasing note of preparation. The circle designed and
marked out as the limit of its future greatness by the sanguine mind of
its sagacious founder has long since been overleaped; the wide Delaware
on one side, and on the other the Schuylkill, seem incapable of bounding
the ambitious city. Already does Market-street rest upon these two
points, which cannot be less than three miles apart.
Touching Market-street I ought to know something, since, on two
occasions, I got out of my bed to visit it at four A.M. I am curious in
looking upon these interesting _entrepots_ whence we cull the dainties
of a well-furnished larder, and a view over this was truly worth the
pains; for in no place have I ever seen more lavish display of the good
things most esteemed by this eating generation, nor could any market
offer them to the amateur in form more tempting. Neatness and care were
evident in the perfect arrangement of the poultry, vegetables, fruit,
butter, &c.; and the display of well-fed beef, with the artist-like way
in which it was dressed, might have excited our Giblets' spleen even in
the Christmas week.
Poultry of all kinds here is equal to that of any country, and the
butter almost as good as the best Irish, which I think the sweetest in
the world. The market, at the early time I mentioned, offered a busy and
amusing scene, and I passed away a couple of hours here very much to my
satisfaction, besides cheating those souls of d----d critics, the
musquitoes, out of a breakfast; for each day, about the first light, I
used to be awakened by their assembling for a little _dejeuner dansant_,
whereat I was victim.
One of the pleasantest visits a man can pay in Philadelphia on a hot
day, is to the water-works at Fair-mount, on the Schuylkill: the very
name is refreshing with the mercury at 96 deg. in the shade; and, if there
be a breeze in Pennsylvania, you will find it here. No city can be
better supplied with water than this; and I never looked upon the pure
liquid, welling through the pipes and deluging the thirsty streets,
without a feeling of gratitude to these water-works, and of respect for
the pride with which the Philadelphians regard their spirited public
labour. They have evinced much taste, too, in the quiet, simple
disposition of the ground and reservoirs connected with the machinery;
the trees and plants are well selected for the situation, and will soon
add to the natural beauty of this very fine reach of the river.
Mounting the east bank of the stream, from this to the village of
Manayunk, you have a very pretty ride; and crossing the bridge at the
"Falls of the Schuylkill,"--falls no longer, thanks to the dam at
Fair-mount,--the way back winds along by, or hangs above, the canal and
river, here marching side by side; offering, in about four miles, as
charming a succession of river views as painter or poet could desire. It
is a lovely ramble by all lights, and I have viewed it by all,--in the
blaze of noon, and by the sober grey of summer twilight; I have ridden
beneath its wooded heights, and through its overhanging masses of rare
foliage, in the alternate bright cold light and deep shade of a
cloudless moon; and again, when tree, and field, and flower were yet
fresh and humid with the heavy dew, and sparkling in the glow of early
morning.
At the period of my first visit, the huge piers of a new bridge,
projected by the Columbian Railroad Company, were just appearing in
different degrees above the gentle river's surface. The smoke of the
workmen's fires rising from the wood above, and the numerous attendant
barges moored beneath the tall cliff from which the road was to be
thrown, added no little to the effect. I have since seen this viaduct
completed, and have been whirled over it in the train of a locomotive;
and, although it is a fine work, I cannot but think every lover of the
picturesque will mourn the violation of the solitude so lately to be
found here.
I could not refrain from picturing to myself the light canoes of the
Delaware Indians as at no very remote period they lay rocking beneath
the shelter of that very bluff where now were moored a fleet of
deep-laden barges: indeed these ideas were constantly forcing
themselves, as it were, into my mind as I wandered over the changeful
face of this singular land, where the fresh print of the moccasin is
followed by the tread of the engineer and his attendants, and the light
trail of the red man is effaced by the road of iron: hardly have the
echoes ceased to repeat through the woods the Indian's hunter-cry before
this is followed by the angry rush of the ponderous steam-engine, urged
forward! still forward! by the restless pursuer of his fated race.
Wander whither you will,--take any direction, the most frequented or the
most secluded,--at every and at all points do these lines of railway
intercept your path. Each state, north, south, and west, is eagerly
thrusting forth these iron arms, to knit, as it were, in a straiter
embrace her neighbours; and I have not a doubt but, in a very short
time, a man may journey from the St. Lawrence to the gulf of Mexico
coastwise with as much facility as he now does from Boston to
Washington, a distance of four hundred and fifty miles, which may be at
this day performed within forty hours, out of which you pass a night in
New York.
But to leave anticipations and imaginings,--which, by the way, is a
forbearance hard of practice in a region where all things are on the
whirl of speculative change, and where practical results outrun the
projections of even the most visionary theorist,--and return to make
such rapid survey of this interesting city as may be ventured on during
a first visit of some twenty days. I feel, indeed, that but little can
be really known in so short a time of a place containing two hundred and
twenty thousand souls, and having in a rapid state of advancement
various alterations and improvements, including nearly five thousand new
buildings all immediately required: although there are persons gifted
with such power of intuition, that, as I learn from their own showing,
they are enabled in half the period to decide upon the condition of the
whole state of Pennsylvania; to discover the wants of its capital, the
defects of its institutions, the value of its commerce, the drift of its
policy; to gauge its morals, become intimate with its society, and make
out a correct estimate of its relative condition and prospects compared
with the other great divisions of the Union, surveyed, I presume, with
equal rapidity, judged with equal candour, and estimated with equal
correctness.
Each in his degree: and so, in my way, good reader, I will endeavour to
give you some notion of this capital of old Penn's Sylvania; but if your
own imagination come not to the help of my outline, I fear, after all my
painstaking, your notion of the subject will be only a faintish one.
Philadelphia is built upon a peninsula formed by two rivers, the
Delaware and the Schuylkill, having a long graduated rise from each, the
highest point being about the centre of the city. It is laid out in
squares, and the streets run in parallel lines of two and three miles in
length, retaining the same names throughout, only divided by
Market-street into north, and south: with the exception of this dividing
street, those running east and west are named after trees, flowers, and
fruits,--as chestnut, walnut, peach, &c.; and those parallel with the
rivers, first, Front-street, or that facing the water; next,
Second-street, third, fourth, fifth, &c. distinguished as, divided by
Market-street, into South-second, North-second, &c.; a simplicity of
arrangement which is unique, and renders the stranger's course an
exceeding easy one: all he has to do is, first, to run down the latitude
of his street by any of the great avenues, and, having fairly struck it,
steer north or south, as may be, till he hits upon the friendly number.
The side-walks throughout are broad and well-ordered, neatly paved with
brick, and generally bordered by rows of healthful trees of different
kinds, affording in hot weather a most welcome shade, and giving to the
houses an air of freshness and repose rarely to be met with in a
populous city.
The dwellings are chiefly of brick, of a good colour, very neatly
pointed; and nothing can be more tasteful than their fitting-up
externally. The windows are furnished with latticed shutters; these,
when not closed, fold back on either hand against the wall, and being
painted green, and kept with much care and freshness, would invest
humbler dwellings with an attractive air, especially in the eyes of an
Englishman, accustomed to the dingy aspect of our city residences, which
look as though the owners had resolved on making them as forbidding as
possible without, in order to enhance the excelling comforts within.
Now the houses of Philadelphia are as clean and neat in all the detail
of the exterior, as they are well-ordered and admirably furnished. The
mountings of the rails and doors are either of polished silver plating
or brass, and kept as bright as care can make them. The solid hall-door,
in hot weather, is superseded by one of green lattice-work, similar to
the window-shutters, which answers the purpose of keeping out every
intrusive stranger, except the air,--air being at such seasons, as most
strangers are at all times, especially welcome to Philadelphia, which is
about the hottest place I know of in the autumn; the halls are commonly
flagged with fine white marble, are spacious, lofty, and well fitted-up.
The houses average three stories, but in the best streets, those of the
first class are run up to five, and even six, and are of great depth:
indeed, I should say, the inhabitants of this city generally enjoy
greater space in their lodgings than is afforded to those of any other
large capital. Where population increases rapidly rents are necessarily
high; and a good house in Philadelphia costs about as much, independent
of taxation, as a dwelling of the same class in London.
Besides the great market, which gives its name to the dividing line of
the city, and runs through its whole breadth, there are several others,
less extensive perhaps, but all alike under cover, well adapted to the
purpose, and boasting a due proportion of the abundance of good things,
which, profusely displayed on all sides, give ready evidence of the
agricultural wealth of the neighbourhood.
Numbers of the best market-farmers for vegetables, poultry, butter, &c.
are Germans, who, although most earnest in enriching the country by
their labour, yet cling with strange tenacity to the customs and
language of "Fader-land." Their costume and manner yet continues as
distinct and recognizable as was the appearance of their progenitors on
landing here some eighty years back, for the colony from which they are
chiefly derived had existence about the middle of the eighteenth
century; and many of these men, yet speaking no word of English, are of
the third generation. They have German magistrates, an interpreter in
courts when they act as jurors, German newspapers, &c.; and are the
stoutest, if not the promptest, asserters of democracy.
They are usually found a little in arrear on the subject of all passing
events; and at election times, or on occasions of extraordinary stir,
when a man is striving to render them _au courant_ with late
occurrences, they will now and then interrupt their informant with, "Bud
why de teufel doesn't Vashington come down to de Nord and bud it all to
rights?"
The public buildings are here of a more ambitious style of architecture
than any of the other cities can boast, and some of them are built in
exceeding good taste; but the one which had most interest in my eyes was
the old State-house, wherein the "Declaration of Independence" was
signed. The Senate-chamber is, I fancy, little changed since that
period; and contained, when I was last within it, models for various
public works: amongst others, several for a heroic statue of Washington,
about to be erected, somewhat late in the day to be sure, by the city;
others for the new college, now building, according to the will of the
late S. Girard, and intended to assist in perpetuating his name and
wealth to all posterity.
Such appears to have been the great object of the will of this worthy
citizen, and there is every prospect of its fully answering the purpose,
since it has already set the whole community by the ears, and promises
to prove as prolific of evils as the strong box of Miss Pandora, without
having even Hope at the bottom.
This man, who has been so much eulogized dead, seems, as well as I could
glean amongst his contemporaries, to have been anything but estimable in
his living character. He is universally described as having been tricky,
overreaching, and litigious in his dealings as a merchant; an unfeeling
relation, an exacting, ungrateful, and forgetful master; and a selfish,
cold-hearted man: unoccupied with any generous sympathy, public or
private, throughout a long life, devoted to one purpose with sleepless
energy, and to one purpose only--making and hoarding money; which,
living, he contrived, as far as in him lay, to render as little
beneficial to any as possible, and, dying, disposed of to his own
personal glorification, but to the vexation of the community, amongst
which he appeared to have lived unhonoured, and certainly died
unregretted!
I am aware that "de mortuis nil nisi bonum" has usually been applied to
cases similar to the above; "nil nisi _justem_" I think a sounder
reading where a man is held up as a public example, and deem that the
selection of a church or a college for a monument should not be
permitted to shield the base from animadversion, or call for honours to
the worthless.
THE THEATRES--WALNUT AND CHESTNUT:
So called were the houses at which I first acted here, situated in the
two fine streets bearing the same names.
The Walnut is a summer theatre, and the least fashionable; and here it
was my fortune to make my _debut_ to the Philadelphians with good
success: a French company occupied at the same time the Chestnut, where,
after a seven nights' engagement at the other house, I succeeded them;
the proprietors being the same at both.
These houses are large, handsome buildings, marble-fronted, having ample
and well-arranged vomitories; and are not stuck into some obscure alley,
as most of our theatres are, but standing in the finest streets of the
city, and every way easy of approach: within, they are fitted up
plainly, but conveniently, and very cleanly and well kept. I prefer the
Chestnut, as smaller, and having a pit--as I think all pits ought to
be--nearly on a level with the front of the stage, instead of being sunk
deep below, looking, when filled, like a huge dark pool, covered with
upturned faces.
A crowded audience here presents as large a proportion of pretty,
attractive women as are anywhere to be seen; and the male part is
singularly respectable and attentive. Here again I must protest against
the charge of insensibility being laid at their doors; that is, as far
as my own feeling and experience goes.
If by applause, a constant clapping of palms or hammering of sticks is
only meant, interspersed with cries of "Bravo!" I admit they are
deficient; but if an evident anxiety to lose no word or look of the
artist, an evident abstraction from everything but the scene, with
demonstrations of admiration discriminating and well applied, may be
accepted as sufficient marks of approval, then has the actor no cause of
complaint.
With the tragedian, who strains after what in stage parlance are called
_points_, and calculates on being interrupted by loud clapping before
the sense of the sentence be complete, or else wants breath to finish
it, a Philadelphian audience might prove a slippery dependence, since
they come evidently to hear the author as well as see the actor, and are
"attentive, that they may hear."
For myself, the unreserved laughter in which they indulged I found
abundant applause, and in well-filled houses the best assurance that
they were pleased. The company here was a very good one, and the pieces
as well gotten up as anywhere in the States.
I paid frequent visits to this charming city, and shall have occasion
again to refer to it. My first impressions are here set down, and
favourable as these were, a more intimate knowledge only served to
confirm them.
JOURNEY TO BOSTON.
THE EAST RIVER.--HURL-GATE.--THE SOUND.--POINT JUDITH.--NEWPORT
HARBOUR.--PROVIDENCE.
On Saturday morning, at 7 A.M. Sept. 28th, quitted Philadelphia; arrived
in New York at 2 P.M.; and transferring my baggage from the steamer on
the North River to the one about to depart for Providence, and whose
wharf lay upon the East River, I had a couple of hours' leisure, which I
employed in writing home, for the packet of the 1st of October; and at
five o'clock P.M. left the city, in the noblest steam-vessel I had yet
seen.
The view of Brooklyn, the Navy Yard, and this part of the harbour, is
very attractive from the point of departure; and the numerous little
steamers, actively plying to and fro at the various ferries, give an
unceasing air of bustle to the scene. I was greatly charmed by our sail
up this passage into the Sound dividing Long Island from the continent,
which it flanks and protects for a distance of one hundred miles.
The banks on either side do not vary a great deal in elevation, but are
of a slightly undulating character, beautifully wooded, and sprinkled
with the attractive-looking villas of the country. Mr. Cooper's graphic
description of Hurl-gate, in his novel of the "Red Rover," led me to
look out for it with an interest which the reality did not repay,
although the tide was in a favourable state. I confess, however, I think
that my imagination rather outran discretion than that the whirlpool
lacked grandeur: that it was not to be encountered without some peril we
had very good evidence; for, on a rocky islet to the southward of the
worst part of the fall, a large schooner lay hove up on her beam-ends,
with all her spars aloft and her sails half furled, as she had been
abandoned by her crew. Our pilot informed me that the accident had
occurred the day previous, and was by no means a rare example, the
downward passage at the last of the ebb requiring great care and
experience.
Our powerful engines forced the vessel through the dark eddies,
apparently without difficulty; and in a little while this long
looked-for wonder was forgotten.
I remained on deck until after midnight; for there was a bright moon and
a calm clear sky, and the Sound was sprinkled with craft of all kinds.
I must not omit to notice supper, or tea,--for it was both, and an
excellent meal it was,--served about eight o'clock upon two parallel
tables, which ran the whole length of the cabin, at least one hundred
and eighty feet; and to which sat down about one hundred persons of all
ranks,--the richest merchants, the most eminent statesmen, and the
humblest mechanic who chose to pay for a cabin fare, as most of these
persons who travel do. I was seated with an exceeding lady-like and
well-bred woman on my left hand, and on my right sat a man who, although
decently dressed, was evidently a working operative of the humblest
class; yet was there nothing in either his manner or appearance to annoy
the most refined female: he asked for what he wanted respectfully,
performed any little attention he could courteously, and evinced better
breeding and less selfishness than I have witnessed at some public
dinners at home, where the admission of such a person would have been
deemed derogatory.
I do not mean by this description to infer that a crowded table of this
kind is as agreeable as a party whose habits, education, and sympathies,
being on a level, render intercourse a matter of mutual pleasure: what I
would show is, that in this mingling of classes, which is inevitable in
travelling here, there is nothing to disgust or debase man or woman,
however exclusive; for it would really be impossible to feed a like
multitude, of any rank or country, with slighter breaches of decency or
decorum, or throw persons so wholly dissimilar together with less
personal inconvenience either to one class or another.
I had been accustomed to see this set down as one of the chief nuisances
of travelling in this country, and the consequences greatly exaggerated:
things must have improved rapidly; since, as far as I have hitherto
gone, I protest I prefer the steam-boat arrangements here to our own,
and would back them to be considered less objectionable by any candid
traveller who had fairly tested both.
During the night it blew fresh, and the vessel pitched a little, the
consequence of which movement was evident in the desertion of the upper
deck in the morning. I had noticed it, the evening previous, occupied by
sundry little groups reading or chatting, and with more than one couple
of merry promenaders: I now made its circuit, meeting with but one
adventurer, a lively-looking old gentleman, of whom I inquired where all
our passengers were vanished to.
"Most of them in bed yet," said the old gentleman, "or keeping out of
the way in one hole or another. If there's any wind or sea, you always
find the deck pretty clear till we get round Point Judith. Once let us
get to the other side that hill yonder, and you'll see the swarm begin
to muster pretty smart."
I had often heard "Point Judith" mentioned by the New-Yorkers, as the
Cockney voyager talks of Sea-reach, or the buoy at the Nore; and here it
was close under our lee,--a long, low point of land, with a lighthouse
upon it.
We soon after opened the entrance to the fine harbour of Newport, and,
as my informant predicted, the deck gradually recovered its population:
some came up because they felt, and others because they were told, we
had passed Point Judith.
It was about seven o'clock A.M. that we ran alongside the wharf at
Newport to land passengers. The appearance of the town, rising boldly
from the water's edge, was imposing enough; but trade, judging from the
deserted state of the wharves, is now inconsiderable, although formerly
of much importance.
After a delay of a quarter of an hour, we once more got under weigh; and
one of the chief advantages of a steamer is the ease and facility with
which this important movement is effected: nowhere is the management of
these immense bodies, in my thinking, so perfect: the commanding
position of the wheel, clear of all obstruction, and under the hand of
the pilot, whose finger also directs the machinery below, through the
medium of a few well-arranged bells,--the absence of all bawling and
shouting, and the being independent of transmitted directions, gives
these craft facilities which make their movements appear like
inspiration.
This system I found prevailing all through the States; and, as far as
possible, it would be well to adopt it here. The arrangement of the
wheel, or steering apparatus, if I remember rightly, was fully and
technically described by Captain Hall. I do not know whether it has in
any case been adopted; but if it were enforced upon our crowded rivers,
there would, I feel assured, be fewer accidents.
The fogs of the Sound, in this passage,--a highway as much travelled as
the Clyde,--and indeed on all the great American rivers, are only to be
paralleled by a London specimen about Christmas, in addition to the
former being more frequent; yet accidents arising from running foul are
of very rare occurrence, although the desire to drive along is yet
stronger than with ourselves.
The river up to Providence is of a breadth and character to command the
voyager's attention, but offers little in detail to repay him for it.
With the exception of the time devoted to breakfast, which a supply of
newly-caught fish, taken on board at Newport, rendered a positive treat
to me, I paced the upper deck, according to my custom, until we arrived
at Providence, a very thriving place, seated on a commanding ridge, and
already having, as viewed from the river, an air and aspect quite
city-like.
Here we found a line of coaches drawn up upon the wharf, awaiting our
arrival. I had already secured a ticket for the Mail Pilot: and in a
few minutes the luggage was packed on; the passengers, four in number,
were packed in; and away we went, rolling and pitching, at the heels of
as likely a team of four dark bays as I would wish to sit behind. At our
first halt, I left the inside to the occupation of my companions,--a
handsome girl, with, "I guess," her lover, and a rough specimen of a
Western hunter or trader, who had already dubbed my younger companion
Captain and myself Major, and invited us both to "liquor with him." I
declined, but _the Captain_, to his evident satisfaction, frankly
accepted his offer; and whilst I mounted the box, and the horses were
changing, they entered the house together.
This is a courtesy the traveller to the South will find constantly
proffered to him by a class of honest souls, whose good-fellowship
sometimes exceeds their discretion; and I had been told it was not at
all times possible to decline the offer without risking insult. I
discovered by experience this to be one of the numerous imaginary
grievances conjured up to affright the innocent. In this, as in all
other points, I have never departed from my own habits; and although
often in remote parts of the Union strongly urged "to liquor," have
always found my declaration that it was a custom which disagreed with
me, an excuse admitted without hesitation or ill-humour.
In this, my first experiment, indeed, I had to deal with the most
punctilious specimen I ever afterwards encountered; for when, some two
hours after I had declined his request, I called for a glass of
lemonade, my friend popped his head out of the coach-window, calling out
with a most beseeching air--
"Well but, Major, I say; stop till I get out: you'll drink _that_ with
me any how, won't you?"
He was in the bar-room at my heels in a twinkling, and I need hardly say
we emptied our glasses together very cordially, although their contents
would, I fancy, in my friend's opinion, have assimilated best in a mixed
state; for, giving his _sling_ a knowing twist as I swallowed my
excellent lemonade, he observed:
"Now that's a liquor I never could bring myself to try nohow, though I'm
sometimes rather speculatin' in drink, when I'm travellin' or out on a
frolic. Poorish stuff, I calculate: but _you_ hav'nt got the dyspepsy,
have you, Major?"
I assured my friend that I was perfectly free from dyspepsia, and that
it was because I desired to continue so that I avoided any stronger
drink before dinner.
We were now summoned to our places, my companion declaring--
"It is past my logic how lemon and water can prevent dyspepsy better
than brandy and water;" adding, with a look half comic, half serious--
"But I suppose everybody will go for the Temperance-ticket soon, and I
shall be forced to clear out of all my spirits; for I never can drink by
myself, if I'm forced to take to the milk and water line for company."
Our road was a tolerably good one as roads go here, and the horses
excellent. We arrived in Boston about half-past three, having performed
forty miles in five hours, all stoppages included; and the whole
distance from Philadelphia, being three hundred and twenty miles, in
thirty-two hours and a half, including about three hours passed in New
York. Quick as this travelling is, they contemplate, when the railroad
to Providence shall be opened, by the aid of that and an improved
steam-boat, to deduct eight or nine hours from the time between this
and New York.
Alighting at the Tremont hotel, I found dinner over, as on Sunday they
accommodate the hour of dining to the time of church service: I was,
however, quickly provided with a good meal, which a keen breeze, a long
ride, and a long fast enabled me to do good justice to. In the
afternoon, _malgre_ a cutting east wind, which was anything but
agreeable after the hot weather I had been living in, I took a long walk
about the town, accompanied by an old friend of mine and a
constitutional grumbler, who yet joined with me in declaring that a
first impression of Boston could hardly fail pleasing any man who could
be pleased by a near view of a city, well and substantially built, as it
is undoubtedly nobly situated.
BOSTON.
The approach to Boston, either by sea or land, gives to it an extremely
bold and picturesque character. It is spread over a series of lofty
heights, nearly insulated, and is surrounded by a marshy level running
from the highlands on the main, to which the city is united by a very
narrow isthmus to the southward.
The lofty dome of its State-house, and the numerous spires and towers of
its churches, rising between two and three hundred feet above the
surrounding level of either land or sea, combine to produce a _coup
d'oeil_ more imposing than is presented by either New York or
Philadelphia.
The streets of the city generally are narrow and irregular, following
the windings of the lofty hills over which it is spread, and having more
the air of an old English county-town than any place I have yet seen in
the country.
Its wharfs are spacious and well constructed, and it is not without
surprise that one views the evidently rapid growth of these best
evidences of prosperous commerce. I observed in my walks lines of
substantial granite-built warehouses and quays, newly redeemed from the
water: all were in occupation; tiers of vessels of every kind thronged
them; and the inner harbour was thick with masts.
The most modern quarter of the city lies to the west, surrounding the
park, or common, as it is termed,--an ancient reserve of some sixty
acres, the property of the citizens, beautifully situated and tastefully
laid out. It is bordered on the lower side by a mall of
venerable-looking elms; has a pretty pond of water under a rising ground
near its centre, the remains of an English fort; and open to the front
is the Charles River.
On three sides, this common is flanked by very fine streets, having
houses of the largest class, well built, and kept with a right English
spirit as far as regards the scrupulous cleanliness of the entrances,
areas, and windows. The English are a window-cleaning race, and nowhere
have I observed this habit so closely inherited as here. Overlooking
this common, too, is the State-house; and, on a line with it, the
mansion of its patriot founder, Mr. Hancock, a venerable stone-built
edifice, raised upon a terrace withdrawn a few yards from the line of
the present street. The generous character of its first owner has made
this house an object of great interest, and it is to be hoped the
citizens will look carefully to its preservation as a worthy fellow to
Fanieul Hall, for by no one was the "cradle of Liberty"[3] more
carefully tended than by the owner of "Hancock House."
Here, as in the other great cities of the Union, upon a close survey, I
found the prevailing impression on my mind to be surprise at the
apparent rapidity of increase made manifest in the great number of
buildings either just completed or in progress. If the possession of
inexhaustible supplies of the finest granite, marble, and all other
material, be accompanied with taste and spirit in their use, the future
buildings of this city will have an air of grandeur and stability
superior to those of any other in the States.
To reach the surrounding country in any direction from the peninsula
the city occupies, one of its great bridges must be crossed. Of these
there are six, besides the Western Avenue as it is called, a dam of vast
extent; and they form the peculiarities of this place, to a stranger,
most curious, and, in truth, most pleasing. By day, they form agreeable
walks or rides, offering a variety of charming views; and, if crossed on
a dark night, when their interminable lines of lamps are beheld
radiating, as it were, from one centre, and multiplied by reflection on
the surrounding waters, the effect is perfectly magical. The stars show
dimly in comparison: and casting your eyes downward, it appears as
though you beheld another and a brighter sky glittering beneath your
feet.
The great dam rises about five feet above the tide, is provided with
enormous flood-gates, and in length is something over a mile and a half.
The length of the other bridges varies from two thousand five hundred to
one thousand four hundred feet.
Crossing at any one of these points, you gain the open heights upon the
main. Here you are first struck by the aspect of the soil, everywhere
having huge masses of dark rock protruded above its surface. The
country is said to be poor: of this I cannot judge, but I know it to be
beautiful. It is everywhere undulating, and often broken in the wildest
and most tropical manner. Like the interior of Herefordshire, it is cut
up in all directions by rural lanes, bordered by stone walls and high
hedges, and dotted thickly with handsome houses, whose verandahs of
bright green, and whitened walls, show well amidst the luxuriant foliage
by which they are commonly surrounded.
About five miles from the city are a couple of delightful pieces of
water, called Jamaica and Fresh-ponds; each bordered by wood, lawn, and
meadow, naturally disposed in the most attractive manner. At the
last-named pond,--which sounds unworthily on my ear when applied to a
piece of water covering a surface of two hundred and fifty acres,--I
passed an afternoon during the period of my first visit here.
We sailed about, exploring every harbour of the little sea, caught our
fish for dinner, and by the hotel were furnished with a well-broiled
chicken and a good glass of champagne, with ice worthy of being
dissolved in such liquor. I fell premeditatedly in love with the place;
and D----, who was on the look-out for a location, and something hard
to please withal, had already selected a site for building: but, alas!
even Paradise, before the mission of St. Patrick, had serpents; and the
delightful copses and rich meadows of Fresh-pond are, it appears, the
haunts especially favoured by the incarnation of all Egyptian plagues,
musquitoes.
During the winter this is a great resort of the lovers of _bandy_ and
_skating_; and from this ample reservoir is taken that transparent ice
which gladdens the eyes and cools the throat of the dust-dried traveller
throughout this part of the State. Nor is its grateful service confined
to these limits; for cargoes of it are, during the spring, regularly
shipped to the Havannah, New Orleans, Mobile, &c.; and,--for where will
enterprise find limits?--this very season has a shipment of three
hundred tons of the congealed waters of this pond of Massachusetts been
consigned to Calcutta. Ice floating on the Ganges! How old Gunga will
shiver and shake his ears when the first crystal offering is dropped on
his hot bosom!
Wild as the idea may at first appear of keeping such a commodity for a
voyage of probably a hundred days in such latitudes, I am informed the
speculator is assured, that with an ordinary run, enough of his cargo
may be landed to pay a good freight.[4]
Near to this pond lies another favourite spot of mine, "Mount Auburn;" a
tract of woodland, bordering on Charles River, appropriated and
consecrated as a cemetery, on the plan of "Pere la Chaise," but having
natural attributes for such a purpose infinitely superior. It is covered
by a thick growth of the finest forest-trees, of singular variety; and
presents a surface, now gently undulating in hill and dale, now broken
into deep ravines, or towered over by bold rocky elevations; and,
intersecting the whole space from north to south, runs a natural
terrace, having a surface so well and evenly levelled that one almost
doubts its being other than the work of art.
It takes its name from a lofty eminence, which, rising high over the
surrounding level, commands as fine a view as any spot in the vicinity.
Winding and well-kept avenues intersect the ground in all directions,
giving it an appearance of much greater extent than it in reality
possesses, and rendering the most secluded spot easy of access to those
who desire to
"Choose their ground,
And take their rest."
The ostentatious mausoleum may be placed by a broad carriage avenue,
where its hollow walls will reverberate to every passing triumph of the
tomb; the quiet and the lowly can build their humbler dwelling in some
secluded nook, bordered by a narrow path the foot of affection alone
will seek to tread, and where no heavier sound will ever echo!
The perpetual right of sepulture may be purchased of the company whose
property the place is; and already a number of monuments, in marble and
granite, betoken the favour with which this place of "everlasting rest"
is viewed. Most of these monuments are of a simple, unassuming
character, and some of them gracefully appropriate.
A wooden fence encircles the cemetery, and a lofty gateway leads into
it, of Egyptian fashion, but of the like American material, which, it is
to be presumed, will speedily be superseded by suitable erections of
the fine dark granite found here in abundance.
This spot, if presided over by anything like taste, must become, in a
very few years, one of the places one might reasonably make a pilgrimage
to look upon; so lavish has Nature been in its adornment, and so
admirably are its accessories fitted to its present purpose.
Boston and its neighbourhood possess, in the eyes of a British subject,
a number of sites of singular historical interest.
On Hancock's Wharf that tea-party was held which cost Britain ten
millions of gold, and reft from the empire one quarter of the globe. The
lines of the American army at Cambridge are still to be readily traced
throughout their whole extent; the forts at the extremities, north and
south, are yet perfect in form as when designed by the engineer.
Across the peninsula, to the west of the isthmus, may be traced the
British lines and the broad deep fosse which, filled by the tide,
insulated the city these were projected to defend: their remains testify
to the care and labour bestowed upon their completion.
Bunker's Hill and the Breeds, where the first determined stand was made
against the British army, is commanded from the steeples and many
house-tops of the city.
If the defenders of these miserable lines knew that they were observed
by their kindred on this day, they took, at least, especial care that
the lookers-on should have no cause to blush for their lack of manhood.
Under cover of a hastily thrown-up breastwork, of which no trace
remains, did those hardy yeomen abide and repulse several assaults of a
regular and well-officered force; nor was it until their last charge of
ammunition was delivered that they turned from the defences their
courage alone had made good. The result proved how few charges of theirs
were flung away; these men knew the value of their ammunition, they were
excellent shots, and the word was constantly passed amongst them to
"take sure aim."
On Bunker's Hill a national monument is in progress, which, when
completed, will form an obelisk of fine granite, according to the
published plan, thirty feet square at the base, two hundred and twenty
feet high, and fifteen feet square at the summit. After considerable
progress had been made in this most durable memorial, the funds ran out
and the work stood still; however, the reproach of its remaining
unfinished is now likely to be speedily removed, for during this last
year, I believe, the necessary sum has been raised, and the national
monument of Massachusetts put _en train_ for completion.
Below this celebrated hill lies one of the most complete and extensive
navy-yards in the States. At the period of my visit its dry dock was
occupied by a pet ship of the American navy, "the Constitution," or, as
this fine frigate is familiarly called, "Old Ironsides." She was
stripped down to her kelson outside and in, for the purpose of
undergoing a repair that will make her, to all intents, a new ship.
She is what would now be called a small frigate, but one of the
prettiest models possible as high as the bends; above, she tumbles in a
little too much to please the eye. Nor did her gun-deck appear to me
particularly roomy for her burthen.
She was logged nearly eleven feet during the whole of the period she was
last afloat, yet is said to have sailed faster than anything she met;
this defect the builders have now remedied, and expect that, on a
straight keel, she will prove the fastest ship afloat.
I also went on board a seventy-four, employed as a receiving ship; "a
whapper! of her size," low between decks, but with a floor like a barn,
and the greatest beam I ever saw in a two-decker. Here were also on the
stocks a three and a two decker, both to be rated as seventy-fours; the
latter a model of beauty.
From the roof of the house covering this ship I enjoyed the finest
panoramic view imaginable. Boston, its long bridges, and the great dam
connecting the blue hills of the main with the peninsulas of Boston, and
that on which the populous village of Charleston stands, all lay beneath
the eye on the land side; whilst looking seaward, the inner and outer
harbours, together with their numerous islands, stretched away far
beyond the ken; and, were these islands only wooded, no harbour in the
world would excel this in beauty: at present, though grand, from its
great extent it looks bleak and naked, so completely have the islands
and the surrounding heights been denuded of wood.
I like this view better than either the one from the dome of the
State-house or that from the summit of Mount Auburn: a few glances from
this point affords one a good practical notion both of the city and the
populous environs, which may be said to form a part of it, besides being
in itself a varied and beautiful picture, viewed, as I first saw it, on
the afternoon of a calm clear day.
FOOTNOTES:
[3] Fanieul Hall, so called, the old Town Hall,--a spot dedicated by the
Bostonians to the recollections of their country's first struggle for
independence, and greatly venerated.
[4] This calculation was more than realised, the loss not exceeding
one-fourth on the whole cargo shipped. The grateful epicures of Calcutta
made an offering of a splendid cup to the merchant, in return for his
spirited speculation, which I believe he has this year (1835) repeated.
STATE PRISON.
Whilst here, I visited the state-prison, the first I had seen where the
Auburn system is pursued; that is, solitary night-cells, silence, and
labour in gangs. The building itself is a fine one, having nearly four
hundred cells, enclosed within external walls, round which run galleries
that command a view of the interior of every cell without disturbing or
annoying the confined; the whole covered by a common roof of the
strongest kind, lighted and ventilated in the best manner.
The merits of this plan will be fairly set forth long before this trifle
meets the public eye, a commission being now in progress throughout
these States for the purpose of relieving England from the stigma of
having no means of employment in her prisons less brutalizing than the
tread-mill.
I here saw about two hundred convicts actively employed at various
trades, preparing granite for building, doing smiths' work, making
shoes, brushes, &c.; all very clean, but certainly not looking very
healthy.
A single overseer went the rounds of each building or department, and
kept the hive in motion, without a word spoken, unless in reference to
the task in hand. Whilst passing through the masons' shed, I noticed two
persons make inquiries of the superintendent: their questions were to
the point, given in few words, but with an air perfectly free and
unrestrained, and were replied to in the like manner.
Upon the value of this system as a preventive of crime, according to my
view of human nature, I may be allowed to express a doubt, as well as of
its applicability to the condition of Great Britain; but viewing it in
the abstract, without such reference, I confess no philanthropic object
ever struck me as so completely illustrative of the principles of true
benevolence. This was, in fact, returning good for evil, in the most
Christian sense of the word; "chastening as a father chasteneth." It
would appear that a convict must be unnaturally hardened not to quit
this abode a better man. Let him arrive here, however outcast, vile,
ignorant, knowing no honest calling, broken in health and savage in
spirit, here he will find teachers, masters, physicians, all provided
for him by the community whose laws he has violated. His spirit is
soothed, his health is recruited, his ignorance enlightened: he is made
master of a sufficient calling; and, when restored to society, is able
to contrast the value of the meal earned by the honest sweat of his brow
with the bitter fruit of idleness and crime.
Such is the result contemplated by the benevolent promoters of the
prison system of this country, which everywhere has societies of
voluntary philanthropists who watch over and study to improve it. One is
ashamed, after this, to avow a doubt of its success in practice, since
it almost amounts to an admission that man is indeed the brute our
European legislators appear to think him.
The subject is, at least, one that demands from England a rigid inquiry,
when we call to mind what a den of debasement, what a sink of soul and
body, a prison yet is amongst the most civilized and humane people in
the world.
TREMONT HOTEL.
My last, though not least, lion of Boston is the "Tremont House," which
being, in my opinion, the very best of the best class of large hotels in
the Union, I shall select as a specimen.
With externals I have little to do, although the architecture of this
fine building might well claim a particular description: its frontage is
nearly two hundred feet, with two wings about one hundred each in depth:
it is three stories high in front above the basement, and the wings are
each of four stories: the number of rooms, its proprietor informed me,
amount to two hundred, independent of kitchens, cellars, and other
offices: it contains hot and cold baths, and is, in fact, wanting in
nothing essential to the character of a well-contrived hotel.
The curious part of the affair, however, to a European, and more
especially to an Englishman, is the internal arrangement of such a huge
institution, the machinery by which it is so well and so quietly
regulated.
Let the reader reflect, that here are two public tables daily, one for
men resident in the house, together with many gentlemen of the city, who
regularly dine here; the other for ladies, or families who have not
private apartments: of the latter there are a dozen, consisting of two
or more chambers attached to each parlour; these are seldom unoccupied,
and have also to be provided for: add to all this an occasional dinner
or supper to large public parties, and he will then be enabled to
appreciate the difficulties and do justice to the system which works as
I shall presently describe.
At half-past seven A.M. the crash of a gong rattles through the remotest
galleries, to rouse the sleepers: this you may hear or not, just as you
choose; but sound it does, and loudly. Again, at eight, it proclaims
breakfast on the public tables: as I never made my appearance at this
meal, I cannot be expected to tell how it may be attended. The lover of
a late _dejeuner_ may either order his servant to provide one in his own
room, or at any hour, up to noon, direct it to be served in the common
hall: it will, in either case, consist of whatever he may desire that is
in the house.
At three o'clock, dinner is served in a well-proportioned, well-lighted
room, seventy feet long by thirty-one wide, occupied by two parallel
tables, perfectly appointed, and provided with every delicacy of the
season, well dressed and in great abundance,--the French cooking the
best in the country,--this _par parenthese_. Meantime, the attendance is
very sufficient for a man not in a "devouring rage," and the wines of
every kind really unexceptionable to any reasonable _gourmet_.
At this same hour, let it be borne in mind, the same play is playing in
what is called the ladies' dining-room, where they sit surrounded by
their husbands, fathers, brothers, or lovers, as may be; and surely
having no meaner table-service. As for the possessors of an apartment,
these persons order dinner for as many as they please, at what hour they
please, and in what style they please, the which is duly provided in
their respective parlours.
In the public rooms tea is served at six, and supper at nine o'clock; it
being yet a marvel to me, first, how all these elaborate meals are so
admirably got up, and next, how the plague these good people find
appetite to come to time with a regularity no less surprising.
It was a constant subject of no little amusement to me to observe a few
of the knowing hands hanging about, as feeding-time drew near, their
ears on the prick and their eyes on the door, which is thrown open at
the first bellow of the gong.
As to the indecent pushing and driving, so amusingly described by some
travellers, I never saw a symptom of it in any hotel I visited
throughout the country: on the contrary, the absence of extraordinary
bustle and confusion, where such numbers have to be provided for, is not
the least striking part of the affair; and only to be accounted for by
supposing that the habit of living thus together, and being in some sort
accountable to one another, renders individuals more considerate and
courteous than they can afford to be when congregated to feed amongst
us.
I confess that, at first, a dinner of a hundred, or a hundred and fifty
persons, on a hot day, alarmed me; but, the strangeness got over, I
rather liked this mode of living, and, as a stranger in a new country,
would certainly prefer it to the solitary mum-chance dinner of a
coffee-room.
By eleven o'clock at night the hive is hushed, and the house as quiet as
any well-ordered citizen's proper dwelling. The servants in this
establishment were all Irish lads; and a civiller or better-conducted
set of boys, as far as the guests were concerned, I never saw, or would
desire to be waited on by. The bar was also well conducted, under the
care of an obliging and very active person; and the proprietor, Mr.
Boydon, or his father, constantly on the spot, both most active in all
matters conducive to the ease and comfort of the visitors.
This city abounds in charitable institutions, and nowhere have more
princely contributions been made for philanthropic purposes,--witness
the recent gift of Colonel Perkins of a mansion, valued at thirty
thousand dollars, as a permanent asylum for the blind; one of those
institutions most interesting in themselves, and which confer dignity
and honour upon the age and upon human nature.
The Bostonians are said to be proud of their literary character, and
boast a number of societies whose object it is to justify their claim to
this honourable distinction. The only one I can speak of from personal
observation is the Athenaeum, an excellently-supplied reading-room;
having attached to it a library of thirty thousand volumes, a valuable
collection of coins and medals, a gallery for the exhibition of
pictures, and lecture-rooms well furnished with the necessary apparatus
for philosophical and practical illustration.
This institution is provided for by subscription: the principal portion
of the mansion it occupies being the free gift of the same open hand
which so munificently endowed the asylum for the blind.
The private literary society here is said to be very superior to that of
any other city of the States, and by no means small. Of society so
called I nothing know, never having had the honour of being admitted of
the community, or indeed having made any attempts upon their proper
realm beyond an occasional rude foray on the border, uncontinued, and
consequently little noted.
Private intercourse is gay and agreeable, and less restrained by the
exclusive pretension to dress and fashion which prevails in society both
at New York and Philadelphia; whilst, if attractive women are less
numerous here than in those cities, beauty is by no means rare; indeed
Boston boasts of one family whose personal attractions might serve to
sustain the pretensions of a larger population.
THE TREMONT THEATRE.
In the same street, and immediately opposite the great hotel, is the
Tremont Theatre, certainly the most elegant exterior in the country, and
with a very well-proportioned, but not well-arranged _salle_, or
audience part.
I commenced here on Monday the 30th of September, three days after
closing at Philadelphia, to a well-filled house, composed, however,
chiefly of men, as on my _debut_ at New York. My welcome was cordial and
kind in the extreme; but the audience, although attentive, appeared
exceedingly cold. On a first night I did not heed this much, especially
as report assured me they were very well pleased; but throughout the
week this coldness appeared to me to increase rather than diminish, and
so much was I affected by it, that, notwithstanding the houses were very
good, I, on the last day of my first engagement of six nights, declined
positively to renew it, as was the custom in such cases, and as, in
fact, the manager and myself had contemplated: on this night, however,
the aspect of affairs brightened up amazingly; the house was crowded; a
brilliant show of ladies graced the boxes; the performances were a
repetition of two pieces which had been previously acted, and from first
to last the mirth was electric; the good people appeared, by common
consent, to abandon themselves to the fun of the scene, and laughed _a
gorge deployee_. At the fall of the curtain, after, in obedience to the
call of the house, I had made my bow, the manager announced my
re-engagement; and from this night forth I never met a merrier or a
pleasanter audience.
It was quite in accordance with the character ascribed to the
New-Englanders that they should coolly and thoroughly examine and
understand the novelty presented for their judgment, and that, being
satisfied and pleased, they should no longer set limits to the
demonstration of their feelings.
In matters of graver import they have always evinced the like deliberate
judgment and apparent coldness of bearing; but beneath this prudential
outward veil they have feelings capable of the highest degree of
excitement and the most enduring enthusiasm.
I do not agree with those who describe the Yankee as a naturally
cold-blooded, selfish being. From both the creed and the sumptuary
regulations of the rigid moral censors from whom they sprung, they have
inherited the practice of a close self-observance and a strict attention
to conventional form, which gives a frigid restraint to their air that
nevertheless does not sink far beneath the surface.
A densely-populated and ungrateful soil has kept alive and quickened
their natural gifts of intelligence and enterprise, whilst the shifts
poverty imposes upon young adventure may possibly at times have impelled
prudence to degenerate into cunning. But look at their history as a
community; they have been found ever ready to make the most generous
sacrifices for the commonwealth. In their domestic relations they are
proverbial as the kindest husbands and most indulgent fathers; whilst as
friends they are found to be, if reasonably wary, at least steadfast,
and to be relied on to the uttermost of their professions.
I can readily understand a stranger, having any share of sensibility,
not liking a people whose observances are so peculiar and so decidedly
marked; but I do think it impossible for an impartial person to spend
any time in the country, or have any close intercourse with the
community, without learning to respect and admire them, _malgre_ their
calculating prudence, and the many prejudices inseparable from a system
of education even to this day sufficiently narrow and sectarian.
As far as my personal experience is worthy of consideration, I must
declare that some of the kindest, gentlest, and most hospitable friends
I had, and, I trust I may add, have, in the Union, were natives of
New-England, or, as they say here, "real Yankee, born and raised within
sight of the State-house of Bosting."
JOURNAL.
_Oct. 20th, New York._--Began my second engagement here,--the weather
divine. Procured a very good hack at Tattersal's, and daily "skir the
country round." The environs of this city possess more variety of
scenery than one would suppose from a cursory glance at the country,
which appears tame and unbroken. The river views are most attractive to
me.
Rode to the race-course on Long Island, this being the period of the
"Fall Meeting," as it is termed. The assemblage thin on the first
day--Appointments of the negro jockeys more picturesque than
race-like,--ill-fitted jackets, trousers dirty, and loose, or
stocking-net pantaloons ditto, but tight, with Wellingtons over or
under, according to the taste of the rider; or shoes without stockings,
or stockings without shoes, as weight may be required or rejected. They
sit well forward on to the withers of the horses; do not seem over
steady in their saddles, but cling like monkeys, their whole
sleight-of-hand appears to consist of a dead pull; and their mode of
running, with their time for lying back or making play, seems to be
entirely governed by their masters, who, on a mile-course, they must
frequently pass in heats, and who appear ever on the alert to direct
them.
After the running, which was indifferent, went to see "Paul Pry," a
trotting-horse of Mr. M'Leod's, now in training to do a match of
eighteen miles in the hour.[5] With the exception of a few scratches on
one of his legs, he looked in slapping order; a powerful grey horse,
just sixteen hands, with a fine countenance, and appearing to be nearly,
if not quite, thorough-bred.
_Second day._--Witnessed a good race, which a little mare, called
Trifle, won in two four-mile heats. She had, on a former occasion, run
four heats, or twenty miles, over the central course at Baltimore, and
was beaten by one of her present competitors, a fine mare called Black
Maria. Trifle is very little, but powerfully put together, and
exceedingly handsome; her only drawback being a pair of mulish-looking
ears. She has uncommon speed, and is one of the steadiest and smoothest
gallopers I ever saw go over turf.
I, at the start, took a great fancy to the little pet, and backed her
even against the other two horses for a dozen of gloves with my friend
Mr. C----n. By the close of the second heat our bet had increased
ninefold,--Next morning received a box containing nine dozen of French
gloves. It will be my duty henceforth to back Trifle.
_October 29th._--The city yet crowded with strangers; every hotel full.
Find out that I am No. 1. in this enormous house; the first time I ever
could boast such an honour, and now am by no means certain that it is
worth the labour it imposes, since it leads me a dance to the third
story: however, it is an excellent room, very large, and removed from
the bustle below; the sound of the dustman-like bell, which calls the
house to meals, barely reaches my ear. I often catch myself parodying
poor Maturin's lines, which I have applied to this unpoetical grievance,
and concluded most impotently--
----"Bell echoes bell,
Meal follows meal,
Till the ear aches for the last welcome summons
That tolls an end to the day's cookery."
At this time there cannot be far short of one hundred and fifty persons
dining daily in the public room: did I desire to dine at it, however,
the hospitality of my friends I find would render this impracticable.
_November 3rd._--Dined at Harlaem, a pretty village eight miles from the
city, but daily drawing closer to it. Here a certain Mrs. Bradshaw fries
chickens in a _sauce tartarre_, to the which could pen of mine do
justice, "I guess" I know folk "our side" the water who would be
stealing across to Harlaem some fine day to dine. We had tarapins too,
of whose excellence most unfortunates in Europe, happily for their poor
wives and innocent children, are ignorant.
On our way home halted at Cato's, and discussed the comparative merits
of hail-storm and julep, demonstrating our arguments by the practical
experiments of this distinguished spirituous professor.
The day deliciously genial, and the night like a fine harvest-moon at
home. Of a verity this American autumn, or fall, as they call it, is a
most delicate season.
_Friday, 8th._--Up with the lark, and, accompanied by Captain D----n,
got on board the steamer for Philadelphia, _via_ Amboy.
The morning was clear, with a warm sun just tempered by a breeze balmy
and soft: the packet was crowded, and our passage across the harbour a
pleasure to remember. We were soon, however, to have all the happy
recollections of this journey miserably blotted out by one of the most
fearful accidents I ever beheld.
At Amboy we took the railroad; and every one was delighted to find that
the locomotives were now in operation, anticipating a quick and pleasant
ride to Bordentown. For a time all went well: various surmises were made
as to our rate; some calculated it at twenty miles in the hour; D----n
and the Belgian minister, Baron de B----r, were disputing the point,
watch in hand, when an alarm was given from the rear: our attention was
quickly arrested by loud cries to "stop the engine," coming from the
windows of every carriage in the train.
On the halt being accomplished, the carriages were deserted in a moment;
for it was discovered that one of those in the rear had been overturned
in consequence of the axle breaking,--its occupants' fate as yet
unknown.
I was soon on the spot, and what a scene was here to witness! Out of
twenty-four persons only one had escaped unhurt. One man was dead,
another dying, and five others had fractures, more or less serious; a
couple of ladies (sisters) dreadfully wounded; the children of one of
them, two little girls, with broken limbs.
Never were sufferers more patient; one of them was a surgeon, a fine
young fellow, who immediately set about doing the best his skill could
accomplish for those most desperately hurt. D----n and I volunteered as
his assistants; and with such splints as the shattered panels of the
carriage supplied, the fractured limbs were bound up.
It was a melancholy task; but this gallant fellow stuck to it until he
saw such of his patients as it was possible to remove disposed of in one
of the baggage-cars, emptied for this purpose. I had, in the course of
his task, frequently observed him pause, as though either faint, or
finding some difficulty in the act of stooping, which was constantly
required; but it was not until he had seen the last of his
fellow-sufferers disposed of to his best ability that he examined his
own condition, when it was discovered that two of his ribs were broken.
It was full three hours before the wounded could be removed from the
sandy bank on which they had been stretched; and it was an afflicting
thing to see them lying here, bloody and disfigured, exposed to the
glare of a hot sun, without the possibility of procuring them shelter;
for we were some miles from the nearest village when the accident
occurred.
The ex-president, Mr. Quincy Adams, was in the carriage immediately
attached to the one overturned: by his direction an inquest was held
upon the deceased before we departed; and, this being concluded, the
train once more moved forward, but with a character mournfully altered
since our first departure.
We found the steam-boat yet in waiting at Bordentown; and, bearing with
us those of the wounded who could proceed so far, we reached
Philadelphia at a late hour in the afternoon, with such a freight as I
trust may never again visit its wharves.
_Saturday._--Called to inquire after such of our wounded
fellow-passengers as we could trace. The lady so severely hurt
pronounced out of all danger; and her dear baby still living, with hopes
of saving it. A man with numerous fractures, who had been left behind,
report says, is relieved by death from all farther suffering.
This is the first serious accident that has occurred upon this line,
which appears to be most carefully conducted; one of the active
proprietors or more--the Messrs. Stevens, men of great prudence and
practical skill--being constantly upon the road, and personally
supervising every department connected with both boats and railway.
_Sunday, 10th._--At six A.M. departed for Baltimore, _via_ the Delaware
and Newcastle railroad: the day was cloudless, and as warm as it is in
England in June. I often, on these bright days, think of my good folk in
Kent,--clouds and fog without, and sea-coal fire within: no bad
substitute for a sun, by the way, after all; especially after one has
had a sniff of the anthracite coal used in the close stoves here, an
atmosphere which dread of freezing only could reconcile me to.
FOOTNOTE:
[5] Which he shortly after won with ease, and was backed on the ground
to perform nineteen, and twenty. No takers.
BALTIMORE.
The day upon which I first approached this city would have given a charm
even to desolation. It was on the tenth of November; the air elastic,
but bland as on a fine June morning at home; the temperature was about
the same too, but attended with a clearness of atmosphere in all
quarters that seldom falls out within our islands.
The passage down the Elk river is quite beautiful: the shores on either
hand are bold and undulating; the country finely wooded; the banks
indented by numerous bays and inlets, whose jutting capes so intersect
each other that in several reaches the voyager is, as it were,
completely land-locked, and might imagine himself coasting about some
pretty lake.
We neared the well-closed harbour amidst a fleet of some hundred and
fifty sail, of all sizes and of every variety of rig, from the simple
two-sailed heavy sloop to that perfection of naval architecture, the
Clipper schooner of Baltimore, with her long tapering masts raking over
her taffrail, and her symmetrical hull fairly leaping out of water, as
though she moved from wave to wave by a succession of graceful bounds
rather than held her course by cleaving a pathway through them, as did
her more cumbrous fellows.
The eye was charmed and the heart elevated by these unequivocal
evidences of thriving commerce sweeping towards the city; which rises
gradually, as it spreads over the face of the irregular hill it
occupies. Several domes of considerable magnitude, a tall column or two,
with various towers and spires, rendered conspicuous from the nature of
the site, invest it with an air of much importance, and have gained for
it the title of the City of Monuments.
The main street, like that of Boston, has very much the look of an
English county-town; and the air of the shops is wholly English. I
wandered about here guided by curiosity and caprice,--the only cicerone
I ever desire,--and saw most things worthy note. I attended service at
the cathedral, where I heard mass admirably performed, for in this
choir are several voices of a very high order.
The interior of the church is good; the altar most worthily fitted up;
and the general effect would be imposing were it not marred by the
introduction of regular lines of exceedingly comfortable but most
uncatholic-looking pews, with the which, I confess, I felt so vexed,
that I could have found in my heart, Heaven pardon me! to have wished
them fairly floating in the bay, only for the delicate creatures who sat
within them, on whose transparent brows and soft dark eyes it was
impossible to look and breathe a wish or harbour a thought of evil.
I next mounted the Washington column, as it is called, and beheld a
sunset from its top that would have well recompensed a poet or painter
for a journey over "the broa-a-d At-alantic," as poor Incledon used to
emphasize it.
This is a noble column and splendidly put together, of workmanship and
material calculated to endure,--lasting, unimpeachable by time or
change, as is the fame of the patriot to whose virtues it is well
inscribed; but the statue itself is bad, ineffective, and in no
situation or distance I could discover at all like the great original,
whose personal characteristics were nevertheless striking, and well
adapted for the artist.
The inverted bee-hive too, which is overturned on the head of the
capital, for the purpose, as it were, of hoisting the figure a little
higher, is in bad taste, and detracts from the plainness of the column,
which, if divested of both bee-hive and figure, would be an object
worthy to commemorate the citizen Washington, in whose character
simplicity gave lustre to the grandeur with which it was happily
blended; softening and chastening it, and making him, even in the
sternest times, more loved than feared.
I rode hard for a few hours to the north and west of the city,
accompanied by a Scotch friend; in the course of which ride we dived
down some wooded glens, and crossed some rock-strewn brooks, that called
to his memory the brawling waters of his own rugged land,--so
constantly, at all times and in all places, is the wanderer's mind
prepared to veer homeward.
I have sometimes smiled at the total absence of similarity between the
distant original and the subject that has served to challenge
comparison. In this case, however, there was, in my mind, good ground
enough for the recollection: at one spot, in particular, we broke from
a thickly-wooded hill side that we had for some time been blindly
threading, and found ourselves just over a clear pebbled stream, skirted
on the opposite bank by a fair fresh meadow, itself bounded again by a
wooded height yet more stony and steep than that by which we sought to
descend: on our right, in an angle of the meadow, stood a farmhouse,
roughly built of grey-stone and lime, surrounded by numerous offices;
and, lower down the brook, a mill of similar character.
After a long look upon this pretty sequestered spot, we descended to the
bed of the stream, and found a railroad already skirting its course.
Passing the mill by a bridle-path, we here saw the bed of our little
brook, fallen far beneath, tossing, raging, and whirling its way amongst
great masses, and tumbling over the rocky ledges dividing smooth beds of
close black gneiss. Yet a little lower, we struck a road leading over a
bridge, by which we re-crossed the now important current; and hence the
upward view was as glen-like, gloomy, and wild as Scottish imagination
could desire.
BALTIMORE.
JOURNAL CONTINUED.
_Monday, 11th._--Find other Richmonds in the field, the Kembles being
announced also, for to-night, at the Holiday Theatre, under the
management of Mr. De Camp: I occupying "Front Street," with what is
termed the regular Baltimore company. My front will prove in the rear, I
fear.
This _untoward_ meeting was purely accidental; a thing not desired or
premeditated by either party: my interest and inclination making it
desirable that I should give these attractive objects to the rest of the
world, what sailors term, "a wide berth." Shame that I should say so,
and a lady concerned too!
_The Front Street._--A huge theatre, nearly as large as Covent-Garden.
At night, I found there was indeed ample space "and verge enough." My
clients, however, were uproariously merry, and made up for half an
audience by bestowing upon the performance a double allowance of
applause.
_Tuesday, 12th_--At 'em again!--"the Holiday" against "the Front!" I
have discovered that the _people_ are with _us_; "the Holiday" being
considered the aristocratic house, and "the Front," being, indeed, the
work of an opposition composed of the sturdy democracy of the good city.
The manager says that last night our side was taken by surprise, but
that now our forces are afoot. The worst of my case is, that I am
compelled, _mal-gre bon-gre_, to laugh at my "beggarly account of empty
boxes:" my tragic rivals may, at least, have the satisfaction of
lowering upon their empty pit. But the _people_ are for us, consequently
the right is with us; _ergo_, we must prevail.
_Eight o'clock_ P.M.--A narrower selvage round the vast area of our
_parterre_. "Front Street" for ever!
_Wednesday, 12th._--I, this night at least, had the satisfaction of
seeing my antagonists; for in the side-box I spied Messrs. Kemble and De
Camp laughing to my teeth. I would have forgiven this, and joined with
the wags, had my forces been assembled; but the musters on our side I
find are not yet quite complete.
_Tuesday, 18th._--The struggle continued until yesterday without either
party being able to claim an absolute victory; nor is it for me now to
record a triumph, since I left the allies yet camping on the field,
whilst on their part they must at least admit that I marched off with
all the honours of war.
This day returned to Philadelphia--weather yet unbroken. Reached Mr.
Head's in time to come in with the dinner.
_Wednesday, Nov. 20th._--Took a long walk round the city; the weather
fine. About midday Chestnut-street assumed quite a lively and very
attractive appearance, for it was filled with shopping-parties of
well-dressed women, and presented a sprinkling of carriages neatly
appointed and exceedingly well horsed.
Satisfied that I am correct in my judgment, when I assert that this
population has the happiness to possess an unusual share of handsome
girls. They walk with a freer air and more elastic step than their fair
rivals of New York; have clear brunette complexions, and eyes of great
beauty.
The theatre very full, and the dress-boxes containing a large
proportion of ladies.
_21st._--On horseback early; crossed the Schuylkill, over the Manayunk
bridge, and back by the right bank of the river. The piers of a viaduct,
about to be thrown from the opposite heights by the Lancaster Rail-road
Company, already much elevated since my first visit here in September.
Highly beneficial to the community, no doubt; but destructive of the
repose and seclusion of this charming scene. The sweetest spots, and
such as one would most desire to conserve, seem to be always the places
peculiarly selected for these useful but most unpicturesque invasions.
_23rd._--Visited the dock-yard in company with Lieutenant I----d. A
three-decker, classed according to law as a seventy-four, almost ready
to be sent off the stocks--a noble ship. A frigate is housed close by
her, but looks a mere toy when one views it immediately after having
contemplated the proportions of the Pennsylvania. This dockyard is
smaller, and in appearance inferior every way to that of Boston.
_27th._--Having exhausted all the rides in the immediate neighbourhood,
I this day determined upon widening my circle; so went, accompanied by
K----r, about fifteen miles up the Delaware by the Bristol road.
On the way-side we halted to look upon a mansion, made memorable for
ever by one of those wild atrocities, the details of which indeed
appear, upon review, fitter for the pages of romance than for a journal
of every-day life, yet too striking to be heard and forgotten, or passed
by without comment. I must only premise, that the affair I am about to
describe is of recent occurrence, and strictly true in all its horrible
details.
THE TEMPERANCE HOUSE.
Within these three years the house in question was inhabited by its
builder, a respectable citizen, together with his wife, a woman of much
intelligence, and possessed of considerable beauty, though no longer
young. They had for many years kept a creditable academy; but had, a
short time before the commencement of this relation, retired with ample
means from the exercise of their honourable profession, built this
house, and with an only child, a handsome girl of sixteen, here dwelt,
as far as their neighbours could judge, contented and happy. It is
certain that they were well considered and respected by all who knew
anything of them.
One afternoon, whilst the master was busied in his garden before the
house, a passing wayfarer halted by his fence, and besought some
refreshment. The accent of the stranger was foreign, and his aspect and
whole appearance, although haggard and miserably needy, still bore
evidence of better days, as his address did of gentle condition.
After a moment's questioning, Mr. C---- asked the hungered and weary
traveller to enter his house; and, with the hospitable promptitude of
country life, a comfortable meal was set before him.
Before another hour had elapsed, so strongly did the stranger's story of
himself interest the kind nature of his host, this act of common charity
was succeeded by an invitation to him to remain for a few days as the
guest of the house, which was thankfully accepted.
Senhor Mina, for this was the guest's name, was, as he said, a political
exile, and having strong claims of a pecuniary kind upon the American
government, he was on his way to the capital to prosecute them; when,
through a total failure of his resources, he became exposed to the
misery and want from which this providential chance had so happily
rescued him. His appearance at this point arose from his inability to
pay his fare on board the steam-boat; where some altercation taking
place between him and the captain, who charged him with a design to
cheat, it ended in his being summarily set ashore to make the best of
his way to the end of his journey.
The senhor was a scholar, was intelligent, and, what was better,
interesting, having visited many lands, and encountered many of the
adventurous perils of war and travel. He was here a penniless soldier in
"the land of the brave"--a friendless exile for liberty in the "home of
the free." He talked well; and by his enthusiastic discourses in favour
of equality and independence,--topics which possess a charm for most
American ears,--he quickly gained an interest in the best feelings of
his honest host. He sang as all Spaniards sing, and touched the guitar
as only Spaniards can; and with this artillery won yet more suddenly the
love of his host's frail wife.
Time passed rapidly in a little circle so happily constituted to banish
tedium: nor was business wanting to occupy a due share, for the senhor
despatched many letters; and, having established a correspondence with
the foreign-office, the necessity for his own presence at the seat of
government next became manifest. This was no sooner made known to Mr.
C---- than ample means were placed at Senhor Mina's disposal; when, with
the best wishes of the whole family, he took a short farewell of
Pennsylvania.
The absence of the interesting stranger was signalized by a change in
the habits and condition of this household as sudden as that which had
attended his first introduction to it. Mrs. C---- grew gradually
fretful, restless, and anxious; which might well be, for her husband was
on a sudden laid up with sickness, and their only child studiously
shunned their society, locking herself within her chamber, or moping
about the grounds she had so lately bounded over in the buoyancy of
health and happy youth.
The sequel was not long in arriving: the sick man daily grew worse and
weaker; and his wife, as was perfectly natural, daily grew more wretched
and impatient. She was assiduous to a jealous degree in the performance
of her duties and close attendance on her husband's bed; she mixed his
medicines, prepared his food and such diluents as were considered best
calculated to allay the fever that for ever burned him up. With his hand
within her's, she watched his last agonies, which were protracted and
extreme; and received from his lips grateful acknowledgments of her
unwearied kindness, and his dying blessing.
So far all went unsuspectedly and well: for one month the widow lived
unseen and retired, as became a sorrowing woman; but about the end of
that period, to the great surprise of the neighbourhood, she was made
again a bride by the grateful stranger, Senhor Mina.
And now it was that men began to shake their heads and find their
tongues; comments upon the shameless precipitancy of this wedding were
everywhere heard, mixed up with strange surmises, and suspicions too
horrible to remain long suppressed.
Curious inquiries were next made amongst the domestics, and one servant
girl quickly called to mind having noticed a sediment in the remains of
a basin of soup prepared by her mistress for the sick man, which having
been thrown to the poultry, together with some of the rice, these had
all since withered and died; nay, a hardy hog even, whose portion had
been small, with difficulty weathered an attack of sickness which had
quickly followed.
A legal inquiry was next demanded by the roused public, upon which such
strong evidence appeared as to render the exhumation of the body
necessary: the contents of the stomach were yet in a condition to admit
of chemical analyzation, and the exhibition of a large portion of
arsenic was by these means proven past doubt.
The unconscious senhor--with whom, during this part of the process, they
had prevented the miserable woman holding any communication--was
meantime busily prosecuting his affairs, whatever they were, amidst the
gaieties of Washington. One night, upon his return from a public ball,
he was arrested by an officer who had just reached his quarters with a
criminal warrant, taken back to the scene of his ingratitude, and,
together with the partner of his crime, put upon trial for the murder of
his benefactor.
The guilt of both parties was established, I believe, beyond a doubt;
but some legal loophole was found by which the woman was permitted to
elude the capital punishment, and condemned to live. The ungrateful
guest was sentenced to be hanged: shortly before the time of execution
he made full confession of his having planned and instigated the
poisoning of his unsuspecting host, and died the death of an assassin.
Here is a suite of horrors, plainly and briefly set down, sufficient to
supply stuff for any murder-loving three-volume novelist; yet is there
one other, and that not least, to be added; for it appeared in the
progress of the trial, and time in the ordinary course confirmed this
evidence, that the poor child, the daughter of the murderess, had fallen
a victim to the lust of this devil, Mina.
The fate of the girl and her infant I could not rightly learn; all that
was known, indeed, being her removal to some distant part of the
continent. The mother, it was believed, yet resided within the walls her
guilt has made for ever infamous.
The house is always pointed out to the passing stranger, and was, when I
saw it, no unfit monument of its owner's crime, and the curse which so
quickly followed on it. Its fences were thrown down, its outhouses in
ruin, the paths about it overgrown with filthy weeds; and the latticed
window-shutters, once gay as green paint could make them, now dirty and
broken, were left to swing loose from every wall. Still, evidences of
its being inhabited were exhibited about the yard, where a dog and a few
fowls lay basking; and suspended from the branch of a blighted tree,
standing near the fallen entrance-gate, hung an ill-inscribed sign,
bearing the inscription "_Temperance House_" in large characters.
A singular change,--the abode of the grossest lust, and the scene of the
foulest murder, perhaps, ever combined in the full catalogue of crime,
changed into a temple to Temperance.
JOURNAL.
_Sunday, December 1st._--A little cloudy, but mild and pleasant. We have
up to this date no severe weather; and, indeed, with the exception of
now and then a day not colder than some which we experienced in
September, have had no remembrancer of the approach of frost: but I
fancy old father Winter "'bides his time," and will not spare us when
his icy wings are once loosed upon the north-east wind.
Rode to German Town, and down the ravine of the Wisihissing. A stranger,
looking over the continuous level which is presented to his view on a
first glance at the country surrounding Philadelphia, has many pleasant
surprises in store, if he be of an errant habit and much given to
exploration; since there are several ravines of singular wildness in
this vicinity, having bridle-paths connecting them with the different
roads, and a great deal of broken country, whose variety well repays the
adventurous equestrian.
This is a mode of proceeding I would counsel every traveller to follow
who desires to become well acquainted with the general character of a
country, as but little of this can be known from a hasty drive along the
common line of road. Never let the idea of being badly mounted deter a
man from this experiment; but let him send for the best hack that the
place may afford, or, what is a better plan, go and see after one.
In America, although all the nags thus procured may not prove the
smoothest goers in the world, they will uniformly be found strong and
well up to their work. Only let the stranger acquire the habit of
getting into saddle with promptitude on arriving at a strange place, and
more may be seen of its neighbourhood, and known of its condition, by
this means, in a morning foray or two, than a month of idling will
compass.
_Saturday, 14th._--Back again to Baltimore to act in Front-street the
same night.
A clear cold morning until about midday, when it became overcast, with
some rain and wind, which, just as we cleared the Elk river, was
exchanged for snow. Not an inch of our way did we see after this: the
boat was frequently stopped, and soundings carefully made; our speed
was reduced to the slowest possible pace, and every precaution taken
that prudence could suggest to the experience of our captain. Night came
on, however, and we had the pleasant prospect of passing it in the bay
of the Chesapeake, or on one of the shoals, or shores, about us, when
happily our look-out got a momentary glimpse of Fort M'Henry, which we
were about to pass to the southward. Had we done so, we must in a short
time have grounded in the Patapsco, there to rest for the coming clear
weather: as it was, a short time saw us snug in harbour, although we
could hardly see ourselves when we got there.
I was too late for Front-street, a circumstance which I did not regret,
remembering its situation and the state of the weather, but consoled
myself readily over a canvass-back duck and a tumbler of
Monongahela,--when old, equal, if mixed with hot water, even to
Innishtowen; at least I remember I thought so on this occasion.
Retired early to my room, intending to read for an hour, having observed
a cheery-looking fire in it whilst changing my wet things. It was
exceedingly cold without; the snow fell thick, and the sight of a grate
full of cinders, glowing like lumps of iron at red heat, was especially
enlivening. I sat down to read, but in a few minutes found my eyes
become strangely dim: after a vain attempt to clear them by ablution, I
resigned my book, gave way to the headache and weariness, which grew
worse every minute, and got into my bed, concluding these unpleasant
symptoms were occasioned by previous cold and exposure to the weather.
I lay down, but to rest was impossible; my temples throbbed, the veins
became swollen and tense, whilst my breathing grew short and difficult:
getting at last a little alarmed, and, indeed, fearing a fainting fit, I
rose to ring for my servant; but not finding the bell, opened my
chamber-door with the intention of seeking some assistance.
I had not proceeded many steps down the passage before I felt my illness
abate, in a manner quite as sudden and strange as its advance had been;
my sight became clear, my pulse grew regular, my breathing natural; and
after a momentary pause, almost of doubt at this rapid restoration to
health and ease, I retraced my steps to my chamber, feeling glad that I
had not communicated a false alarm in a house where two or three sudden
deaths, from what was called cholera, had already predisposed the
inmates to be nervous.
On re-entering my room, the cause of my late symptoms became manifest in
the first breath I inhaled of the atmosphere; even as it now was,
comparatively purified by a current of fresh air, the gaseous smell
continued disagreeable and distressing.
I sent for the fireman of the hotel,--that is, the person so called who
lights and looks after the hundred fires going in one of these
establishments: he was a countryman and a staunch personal friend; and,
after hearing my story and removing the anthracite coal, he pledged
himself never to burn anything but wood in my chamber for the time to
come.
I next questioned my friend as to whether he had ever before known any
person as severely affected from the same cause. He said he had heard
gentlemen complain now and again, "But the cowld soon makes them get
used to it," said Pat; adding, that most persons left a little of the
window open if the weather permitted.
This was my first and last experiment with this coal, which is
nevertheless burned almost universally in the north, though they have
abundance of fine Nova Scotia coal, that appears little inferior to the
best Lancashire. Liverpool coal is a good deal used in New York; but the
ladies give the preference uniformly to the anthracite, which does not
yield much dust or black smoke, and consequently preserves for a longer
period both furniture and dress: it also renders a room quickly and
equally warm without requiring attendance, when once lighted, burning
constantly with a red heat, and fiercely or otherwise in proportion to
the draft, which all the stoves here permit to be regulated at will.
Nevertheless, I think all its advantages are nothing when weighed
against the injurious effect the atmosphere it generates must have upon
the health of those constantly within its influence.
It may, with great advantage, be used for hall-stoves, for heating
air-pipes, or in situations where there is a ready circulation of air;
but ought not, I think, to be continued in the drawing-rooms of families
or in the chambers of the studious.
_Sunday, 15th._--The snow lying about a foot deep in the streets, but in
places drifted to a great height: numbers of make-shift sleighs already
jingling about the town, Baltimore having precedence of the northern
cities this year in an amusement not often enjoyed here.
I had a trial of the sleigh for a couple of hours; and in company with a
fat friend was bumped over the gutters through the soft snow,--for on it
we could not be said to ride,--whilst every inequality of the streets
was made evident to our bones.
This is a species of amusement into which the Northerns enter with a
spirit of positive enthusiasm: man, woman, and child all talk of, and
look forward to, the arrival of sleighing-time as a season of the
highest festivity. In New York, I am told, the first heavy fall of snow
brings even business to a stand-still, and the whole population is seen
whirling over the streets in every description of vehicle that can be
lifted off its wheels and lodged upon runners.
The regular fancy sleighs I have frequently examined: they are
tastefully and comfortably built, and fitted up with all sorts of
furs,--skins of bear and buffalo, and various other beasts; are lined
and betasseled in a way that renders them quite beautiful; and might
defy the recognition of their nearest of kin.
_18th._--The snow has vanished wholly, and the weather is again mild as
spring: the Southerners yet lingering here upon the confines of the
north are, however, alarmed by this early demonstration of the absence
of winter so far south, and daily set off for their yet sunny abodes in
Georgia, the Carolinas, Alabama, or Louisiana.
Our excellent table is gradually thinning off; and King David's labour,
as grand carver, is daily abridged. We this day had a haunch of Virginia
venison, with fat an inch and half deep, the flavour equal to anything I
ever ate: it is the first fat venison I have seen in the country.
Canvass-back still in abundance, and not to be wearied of. This, I find,
is the true place to eat these rare birds: their case is well understood
here, and they are treated to a nicety.
_Saturday, 21st._--Back to Philadelphia, on my way to New York--will
pass this night in the City of Squares, and Sunday--the day positively
warm; observed, however, a thin flaking of ice stealing over the shaded
surface of the Elk river.
_Monday, 23rd._--Once more in New York, _via_ the Delaware and Raritan.
Although on Sunday it was feared that these rivers would be closed with
ice, we had only a little coating of Jack Frost to break through,
suffering no detention, and found the bay perfectly free; arriving here
about three o'clock.
_27th._--Walked to the top of Broadway, which has lost much of its
crowd, but is yet quite bustling enough to be a very lively and pleasant
lounge.
Went into the Episcopalian church near the Park, the graves of
Montgomery and Emmett being the chief attraction: the monuments erected
to their memories stand outside, close upon the street. Just as I turned
out of the gate, after having read the inscription upon the monument of
the latter, I was joined by R----t, who gave me an interesting account
of the last meeting of the devoted brothers.
Thomas Emmett being at Rotterdam, after his release from Fort George, on
his way to the United States, chanced to be in waiting for his letters
at the post-office, when a man stepping from the crowd threw himself
into his arms with exclamations of glad recognition: it was his brother
Robert, just arrived from Paris, and attending here on a like errand.
"And from whence come you?" demanded Robert, the first congratulations
being past.
"Just escaped from poor Ireland," replied the senior brother; adding,
"and whither are you now bound?"
"Just escaping to poor Ireland," was the reply.
The meeting was a short one; Robert would listen to no word of
accompanying his family in their exile. He declared his only desire was
either to procure for his country even justice, and freedom from neglect
and oppression, or for himself a grave, and oblivion of her people's
sufferings and degradation.
The brothers parted here, never again to meet. Robert quickly found the
fate he courted, and sleeps beneath the soil he died for,--mistakingly
it may be, but neither unwept, unpitied, nor unsung.
The senior pursued his more prudent course, and landed with his wife and
children in this city, unknown, and having slight recommendation beyond
his misfortunes and his country; these, however, proved all-sufficient
to procure for him the sympathy and respect of the citizens from whom he
sought adoption. He rested amongst them, became one of them, and lived
to see his children standing with the best and most esteemed of the
country.
In the fulness of his honours Thomas Addis Emmett died, and on the most
conspicuous part of Broadway stands the obelisk of marble reared in
honour of his memory, and bearing testimony to the high talent and the
many virtues of the Irish exile, the banished rebel, or the unsuccessful
patriot; for the terms are yet unhappily considered by some as
synonymous, and may be selected by each according to his political
creed. By his family and associates, however, he appears to have been
truly beloved, and by all men to have been viewed as an upright citizen
and a most able counsel; his eloquence at the bar being still the theme
of frequent enthusiastic eulogium.
This night went to a dance at the hospitable house of Mr. C----ne, the
first occasion which afforded me a view of the New York belles in
society. The party was not large, but there were several very pretty
women, and waltzing and music alternated in charming succession: there
were two ladies who sang with infinite taste and sweetness, and we kept
it up until rather a late hour for a sober country. My impression of the
New York women is, that they are frank, lively, and intelligent, with
much gentleness in their manners and address: in short, that these were
very amiable and attractive specimens of their sex and country.
_20th._--Went to look over the Opera-house, which has been built here
very suddenly by subscription. It is about the size of the Lyceum;
arranged after the French fashion, having stalls, a _parterre_, and
_balcon_ below; and above, two circles of private boxes, the property of
subscribers. Some of these are fitted up in a style of extravagance I
never saw attempted elsewhere. There has been a sort of rivalry
exercised on this head, and it has been pursued with that regardlessness
of cost which distinguishes a trading community where their _amour
propre_ is in question.
Silk velvets, damask, and gilt furniture form the material within many;
and, as the parties consult only their own taste, the colours of these
are various as their proprietors' fancies. I do not find the _ensemble_
bad, however; whilst the shape and mounting of the _salle_ are both
unexceptionable.
This effort, however creditable to the good taste of the city, is
premature, and must be doomed to more failures than one before it
permanently succeeds. A refined taste for the best kind of music is not
consequent upon the erection of an opera-house, nor is it a feeling to
be created at will. Even in the metropolis of England, with a capital so
disproportionate, and possessing such superior facilities for the
attainment of novelty, did the continuance of this refined amusement
depend solely upon the love of good music, it would quickly die, if not
be forgotten.
From time to time, a small, but efficient and really good Italian troop,
will, beyond doubt, find liberal encouragement in the great northern
cities, and also in New Orleans, provided they make a short stay in
each; but, rapidly as events progress here, I will undertake to predict
that a century must elapse before even New York can sustain a permanent
operatic establishment.
JOURNAL CONTINUED.
NEW YEAR'S DAY IN NEW YORK.
With an unclouded sky, and a sun as bright and genial as we would desire
on a May morning, the first day of January 1834 makes its bow to the New
York public; and in no place does this same day meet heartier welcome,
or witness better cheer.
On this day, from an early hour, every door in New York is open, and all
the good things possessed by the inmates paraded in lavish profusion.
The shops and banks alone are closed: Mammon for this day sees his
altars in one spot on earth deserted. Meantime every sort of vehicle is
put in requisition; and if a man owns but a single acquaintance in the
wide city, he on this day sets forth in kind heart to seek and shake him
by the hand.
On this day all family bickerings are made up; fancied or real wrongs
admitted, explained, and forgiven. The first twenty-four hours of the
new year in New York is a right _Treve de Dieu_, during which foes
cease from strife, the long divided are re-united, and friendly compacts
renewed and drawn closer: even Avarice, more wary of approach than the
hare, on this day forgets to bolt his door, or calculate the cost of
bidding welcome to his visitor.
The stranger is also made sensible of the benevolent influence of this
kindly day, if I may draw any inference from my own case. At an early
hour a gentleman of whom I had a slight knowledge entered my room,
accompanied by an elderly person I had never before seen, and who, on
being named, excused himself for adopting such a frank mode of making my
acquaintance, which he was pleased to add he much desired, and at once
requested me to fall in with the custom of the day, whose privilege he
had thus availed himself of, and accompany him on a visit to his family.
I was the last man on earth likely to decline an offer made in such a
spirit; so, entering his carriage which was in waiting, we drove to his
house in Broadway, where, after being presented to a very amiable lady,
his wife, and a pretty, gentle-looking young girl, his daughter, I
partook of a sumptuous luncheon, drank a glass of champagne, and, on
the arrival of other visitors, made my bow, well pleased with my visit.
My host now begged me to make a few calls with him, explaining, as we
drove along, the strict observances paid to this day throughout the
State, and tracing the excellent custom to the early Dutch colonists.
I paid several calls in company with my new friend, at each place met a
hearty welcome, and witnessed the same abundant preparation; but to
lunch at each was, with the best intentions possible, quite out of the
question. After a considerable round, my companion suggested that I
might possibly have some compliments to make on my own account, and so
leaving me, begged me to consider his carriage perfectly at my disposal.
This was very kind, but I at the time knew only two or three families;
and indeed, on being left to myself in solitary state, where every
carriage that whirled by was filled with merry stranger faces, my
courage oozed away. So, leaving a card or two, and making a couple of
hurried visits, I returned to my hotel, to think over the many
beneficial effects likely to grow out of such a charitable custom, and
to wish for its continued observance.
We have days enough of division in each year, and should indeed welcome
and cherish one which inculcates peace and good-will to all; a day on
which little coolnesses are explained away, past kindnesses confirmed,
and injuries consigned to oblivion.
At night, the theatre was filled to suffocation by a joyous throng,
although this portion of the season is not propitious to theatricals;
but on to-day, as though no house must be left unvisited by any of its
ordinary frequenters, the Park came in for a full participation in the
benefit of this honoured custom.
_Friday, 3rd._--The prevailing topics of the new year are the President
and his _quondam_ chum, Major Jack Downing;[6] the agitation of the
community on the Bank question becoming daily more violent, as the
limitation placed on credit embarrasses trade by narrowing its
resources. I observe, however, that, in the midst of much wordy
violence, the bulk of the people appear confident that matters will, to
use a coinage of their own, "_eventuate_ for their ultimate benefit."
Meanwhile, the government and the laws appear equally omnipotent; and
although much embarrassment is unquestionably felt in the money-market,
and all stock become unseasonably low for the sellers, yet is the
country generally admitted to be very prosperous, and perfectly able to
meet this shock without any permanent or ruinous difficulty. We shall
see.
Went to Mrs. H----'s box at the opera,--the "Donna del Lago," for
Bordogni's benefit: a very pretty woman, very well instructed; but with
a little pipe, in which sweetness cannot make up for want of force.
Fanti, a really good actress, and, although with a veiled voice, a
capital singer, is not so much considered, I discover, as Bordogni.
The house was quite filled, the boxes rejoicing in a display of pretty
faces few _salles d'opera_ might be admitted to rival. The prevailing
head-dress exceedingly showy and fanciful, a little too much so
perhaps:--but these are doings which, after all, change with each
season; therefore fashion can alone be arbiter. On the subject of beauty
I speak fearlessly, all men, having clear eyesight, being, upon this
point, admitted as competent witnesses. The _parterre_, too, was
occupied by a few parties of well-dressed women; but its prevailing
character, stalls included, was sombre and great-coatish,--not quite up
to the pit of the King's Theatre;--there was more applause though,
therefore I presume more enjoyment, which is the main object after all.
At the close of the performance several delicate bouquets, together with
a pretty coronal or two of choice flowers, were showered on the stage in
compliment to the fair _beneficiere_.
_Wednesday, 12th._--Winter has at length arrived in person, and his
active bridge-maker is laying for him a firm icy path across the waters.
It was reported yesterday that the passage between Staten Island and New
Jersey was no longer open, Amboy Creek being thickly frozen from Newark
Bay to the Raritan. On reaching the steamboat this morning, I found that
the report was a correct one, and that our only practicable passage lay
through the Narrows and round the south end of Staten Island. The
occasion thus presented of a winter view of the bay quite reconciled me
to this more exposed and circuitous route, as it, in truth, amply
compensated for it.
It was just seven A.M. when I reached the dock where the boat lay, to
all appearance firmly imbedded in thick ice; the river, I perceived, was
still pretty clear. Punctual as usual, the bell ceased to clang; the
paddle-wheels were vigorously applied; and in a few moments we burst our
bonds, thrusting the thick flakes of ice aside, and darting into the
clear river free from all farther impediment.
There were very few passengers, and I had the promenade deck to my
exclusive use. Although day had not long broke, the clearness and purity
of the atmosphere gave to the most distant parts of the landscape an
outline cold and distinct, and brought all objects apparently much
nearer to each other, and to the looker-on, than they had ever before
appeared. The city of Jersey, the woods of Hoboken, and the far-off
bluffs of the Palisadoes, were each seen to stand separated and alone;
not blended together into one harmonizing mass, as, through the medium
of a rich warm atmosphere, I had hitherto viewed them. The effect was
for a moment to render this scene, which frequent observation had made
familiar, quite strange to me; and at the same time to invest its now
separate portions with new and peculiar attractions.
The yet quiet city soon dropped astern; and on a good plan of its
streets one might have traced the earliest and most notable of its
sections, if not the particular houses, by the thin spiral lines of
smoke which curled distinctly high above the chimneys from which they
escaped.
We held our course close along the east side of Staten Island; and as we
shot by the quarantine establishment, with its hospital and many
offices, the sun rose, without one attendant cloud, over the forest
heights of Brooklyn, burnishing, as with gold, every window and
weathercock opposed to its radiance.
The drooping boughs of the graceful willow tribes, and all the
neighbouring shrubs, which only a moment before I had shivered to look
upon, bent down, as they appeared, beneath a load of ungenial icicles,
were now, as though touched by some enchanter's wand, sparkling and
brilliant, reminding one of the diamond-growing trees of young Aladdin's
cave.
The Narrows were next passed, but the view seaward was bleak and
cheerless: the Neversink hills for the first time appearing to me worthy
such a high-sounding distinction. Not a symptom of frost was here,
although the wind had ceased to stir the waters of the bay, and to the
sun alone was left the task of opposing the advance of the ice-king.
Sol, though with diminished powers, had made a glorious rally on this
day; for not a thicket or creek within sight but rejoiced in his
cheering rays, and gladly owned his supremacy.
The smoothness of the sea enabled our boat to make rapid way; and by a
little after ten o'clock we were landed at Amboy, where we found the
train awaiting our arrival. As we left our first stage, Hights-town, an
accident occurred similar to the one I had, on my last trip southward,
seen attended by such fearful consequences. We were proceeding, luckily
at a moderate rate, when the axle of the engine-tender broke in two:
the car occupied by myself and three others led the van, yet the first
intimation we got of the break-down of our tender was our running foul
of it with a bump that fairly unshipped us all, pitching the occupiers
of the hind-seats head-on into the laps of those _vis-a-vis_ to them.
Happily, this was the worst of the present mischance: the engine was
speedily arrested, a sound axle drawn from the near car to replace the
one fractured, myself and the others belonging to the carriage thus
hauled out of the line were stowed in, as supernumeraries, elsewhere,
and, after a delay, of some forty minutes, off we bowled again.
Halting for a few moments at Bordentown, where the Delaware steamer
waits when the river is practicable, it now spread away below us in a
solid mass; and we pursued our journey by the railroad provid
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