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Hesperothen; Notes from the West, Vol. 1 (of 2)

by Sir William Howard Russell · English · Gutenberg #43537 · 392,524 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: Hesperothen; Notes from the West, Vol. 1 (of 2)

Author: Sir William Howard Russell


        
Release date: August 22, 2013 [eBook #43537]
                Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HESPEROTHEN; NOTES FROM THE WEST, VOL. 1 (OF 2) ***

Transcriber's Note:

  Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
  been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

  On page 59, "ever kind" should possibly be "every kind".

  References on pages 157 and 163 to dates in April should perhaps be
  to dates in May.

  On page 208, words seem to be missing from the phrase starting
  "probably a warrior of renown".

  On page 234, "drave" should possibly be "drove".




     HESPEROTHEN;
     NOTES FROM THE WEST:
     A RECORD OF A
     RAMBLE IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA
     IN THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1881.

     BY
     W. H. RUSSELL, LL. D.
     BARRISTER-AT-LAW.

     IN TWO VOLUMES.

     VOL. I.

     LONDON:
     SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON,
     CROWN BUILDINGS, 188 FLEET STREET.
     1882.

     [All rights reserved.]




     LONDON:
     PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
     STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.




     TO
     HER GRACE
     THE DUCHESS OF SUTHERLAND
     (COUNTESS OF CROMARTY),

     THIS RECORD OF THE RECENT VISIT OF THE DUKE OF SUTHERLAND
     TO AMERICA,

     IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

     BY
     WILLIAM HOWARD RUSSELL.

     LONDON, Dec. 1881.




PREFACE.


On the 16th of April last, in pursuance of an arrangement to that
effect which was entered into some months earlier with the Duke of
Sutherland,[1] a small party of gentlemen and one lady left Liverpool
in the Cunard Company's steamer "_Gallia_," with the object of making
a tour in the United States. Previous to their departure, Mr. Henry
Crosfield, the Auditor of the London and North-Western Railway
Company, had been in communication with friends in America, and had in
concert with them sketched out a general scheme to enable the visitors
to traverse the Atlantic States, to extend their journey westwards and
to obtain the best possible view of the country in the limited space
of time at their disposal. Although all were "on pleasure bent,"
those of the tourists who had interests in railways on this side of
the world were naturally anxious to study the modes of management
which were practised on the principal lines as closely as such a
hurried journey would allow them; but the main object of the
travellers was "to see the States"--to behold with their own eyes the
natural features of the vast continent which is exercising a rapidly
increasing influence on Great Britain and Europe itself, and to view
the manners and customs of the great nation which even in its present
enormous development gives only the indications of a lusty youth,
promising a manhood of irresistible vigour and strength in time to
come if the body politic fulfils its early hope. To be sure, the
inspection could not be very close, minute, or protracted. Shooting
flying is not an art given to all people, and the contemplation of man
at a hotel or in a street, as one looks around in the dining-room or
out of a railway train, does not afford satisfactory foundation for
solid knowledge or comfortable conviction. But we had to do the best
we could. There were for most of us the attractions in the journey
which novelty possesses. There were pleasures in anticipation in the
sight of the wonderful cities which man has made and of the grand
natural spectacles which God has created, and these pleasures were, I
may say now, enjoyed most fully. For my own part, having no railway
interests except those I share with so many others in being carried
safely, swiftly, and cheaply, by the lines to which I entrust myself
for conveyance, and having formerly been in the United States, my
chief desire was to revive, if not the pleasures of memory, at least
the recollections of a country in which I had spent many months of the
deepest interest and excitement, and where I made friends whose
affection and support were of invaluable assistance and comfort to me
when I much needed them at a period of terrible trial. I was also
eager to observe what changes had been effected since the close of the
Civil War, of one great incident of which I had an unfortunate
experience, and to revisit scenes the chief features of which had not
been effaced from my recollection by the lapse of nigh twenty years.
The expedition was undertaken under excellent auspices. From all
quarters of the United States, as soon as our intention was made
known, there had come not only expressions of satisfaction and offers
of assistance, but an actual competition in good offices, and amid the
friendly requests of the great Railway Corporations on the other side
of the Atlantic that the visitors would avail themselves of the
resources of their Companies the only difficulty lay in the choice of
contending routes. Tenders of palace cars and special trains, of
receptions and banquets, poured in on all sides; but the programme for
our journey was drawn up with a due regard to the number of hours at
the disposal of the travellers, and ere they set out from England, the
very day of their return from New York had been determined.

Having said so much by way of explanation of the motives which led to
the excursion, I feel called upon to account for the appearance of
these pages, because I am aware that there was not in the extent of
our journey nor in the nature of its incidents anything to justify my
rushing into print, especially as several very excellent records of
much more extensive and protracted tours in the Western World have
been recently given to the public. My reasons, or perhaps it would be
as well to write my excuses, for publishing this book are, that I was
asked to do so by friends who were desirous of possessing a memorial
of our rambles. When I left England I had not the least intention of
writing anything for publication, but after I had embarked one of my
companions, with whose wishes I was glad to comply, requested me to
send letters now and then to the _Morning Post_, and some of the
materials in them I shall incorporate in the following pages by the
permission of the proprietors. I do not feel quite satisfied that the
reasons I have given, or the excuses I have made, will be held to
exonerate me from presumption in adding to the well-filled shelves of
American travel when I have nothing new to tell of in the way of
exploration, sporting, or scenery, but one favour I beseech of those
who may be inclined to condemn me for dulness or to censure me for
want of novelty, and that is that they will not attribute my faults to
my fellow-travellers, whose originality, good humour, power of
observation, practical knowledge, and kindness cast over our journey a
charm that cannot be transferred in any degree to the pages which
record its progress, and that they will not ascribe to my companions
any responsibility for the opinions I have had occasion to express,
which are entirely and altogether my own.

                                   WILLIAM HOWARD RUSSELL.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] The party consisted of the Duke of Sutherland, the Marquis of
Stafford, M.P., Mr. Knowles, M.P., Directors L. & N. W. R., Mr.
Bickersteth, Deputy Chairman L. & N. W. R., Mr. O. L. Stephen, Mr. G.
Crosfield, Directors L. & N. W. R., Mr. H. Crosfield, Auditor L. & N.
W. R., Mr. Neale, Superintendent L. & N. W. R., and Mr. Wright, the
Duke's Private Secretary. Major-General Sir Henry and Lady Green, who
were about to visit Canada, joined the party on the invitation of the
Duke of Sutherland in London, and I embarked on board the "_Gallia_"
at Queenstown, having left London the previous week to see some
members of my family in the County Cork.




CONTENTS OF VOL. I.


     CHAPTER I.

     VOYAGE TO NEW YORK.

     Mallow to Queenstown -- The steam tender -- The "_Gallia_"
     -- Our fellow-passengers -- The first night at sea --
     Observations -- Marine inquiries -- A brilliant run -- A
     little stranger -- Approaches to New York -- Sandy Hook --
     Friends on Shore -- New York interviewers -- First
     impressions                                                Page 1


     CHAPTER II.

     NEW YORK.

     Friends on shore -- The landing -- First impressions --
     Brevoort House -- The interviewers -- Aspect of the
     streets -- 1861 and 1881 -- Cockades and armorial bearings
     -- The Union League Club -- The Fire Brigade                   18


     CHAPTER III.

     DEPARTURE FOR PHILADELPHIA.

     Our Special Train -- On the Rail -- Eye-sores -- The
     Quaker City -- The Pennsylvania Railroad -- Reminiscences
     -- Excursions -- The New Public Buildings -- Mr. Childs
     and "The Ledger" -- Mr. Simon Cameron -- Baltimore --
     Arrival at Washington                                          51


     CHAPTER IV.

     WASHINGTON.

     Heroes New and Old -- The Soldiers' Home -- The White
     House -- President Garfield -- His Visitors -- The Capitol
     -- Mount Vernon -- Mr. Blaine -- "On to Richmond!" --
     Fitzhugh Lee -- The Capitol, Return -- The Corcoran
     Gallery -- Sight-seeing                                        70


     CHAPTER V.

     HARRISBURG -- NEW YORK -- BOSTON -- CANADA.

     Departure from Washington -- Harper's Ferry -- The State
     Capital -- Rats on the Rampage -- Pennsylvania Farming        103


     CHAPTER VI.

     CANADA.

     Sight-seeing -- The Traffic Strife -- Quebec -- The
     Ursulines -- The Electric Light -- The La Chine Rapids --
     Sutherland Emigrants -- Toronto -- Niagara -- The Clifton
     House -- The Puff Demons -- "Imperial Cæsar Dead"             132


     CHAPTER VII.

     TO THE WEST.

     Buffalo -- Cleveland -- Magnificent Muldoon -- Euclid
     Avenue -- Toledo -- Detroit -- Chicago -- Jefferson Davis
     -- A Terrible Moment -- Pullman -- Milwaukee                  159


     CHAPTER VIII.

     MINNESOTA.

     The Mississippi -- St. Paul -- Minneapolis -- Le Mars --
     Sioux City -- Life on the Rail -- Muddy Missouri -- Kansas
     City -- Old and New Friends                                   191


     CHAPTER IX.

     KANSAS -- COLORADO -- NEW MEXICO.

     Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé Railroad -- Land Grants --
     Farming Statistics -- Immigration and Settling -- Colorado
     -- New Mexico -- Santa Fé -- Colossal Hotels -- Archbishop
     Lamy -- The Rio Grande                                        211




HESPEROTHEN.




CHAPTER I.

VOYAGE TO NEW YORK.

     Mallow to Queenstown -- The steam tender -- The "_Gallia_"
     -- Our fellow-passengers -- The first night at sea --
     Observations -- Marine inquiries -- A brilliant run -- A
     little stranger -- Approaches to New York -- Sandy Hook --
     Friends on shore -- New York interviewers --First
     impressions.


On Easter Day I was picked up by the mail--the very limited mail-train
at Mallow. There were few passengers in it, some half-dozen Americans
and English, all told, for the "_Gallia_." The Borough, lying snugly
in the wooded valley of the Blackwater, of the "Rakes" (who seem to
have sown their wild oats and cut them and their sticks long ago), did
not contribute so much as one spectator to the little official
group--stationmaster, police, and porters--on the platform; perhaps
the population generally was engulfed in the churches and chapels of
the district; and the half-hour or so which sufficed to reach "the
beautiful city called Cork" was passed in observation of external
objects--the trout-stream; the umbrageous glens; the fields
indifferently cultivated in the rare cases where they are not devoted
to pasturage; the ruined abbey; the ridiculous mock Round Tower; the
Hydropathic Sanitarium; the "Groves of Blarney"--chiefly of that hazy
sort, where familiar scenes are associated with the dim speculation,
"Shall I ever see them again?" which occupies the place of thought in
the mind of people on the eve of a long expedition of this kind. It is
a languid interest. But nevertheless it has its uses, which is more
than can be said of the delay on the Cork platform graciously accorded
to passengers ere the train starts for Queenstown. Every door is fast
shut, and indeed if the observance of the Sabbath were less strict,
there would not be any advantage gained by the hungry traveller, for
there is only a wilderness of small shops, all closed too, in the
dreary street which leads from the station of the Great Midland to the
city, and there is no refreshment-room at the Cork Terminus. The
directors of this well-managed line seek to combine the inculcation of
temperance and the development of habits of meditation over the flight
of time with the exercise of self-denial and patience. They do not
allow the sale of any sort of spirits, unless they be called "port,"
"sherry," or "cordial," and they have a little Maine Liquor Law of
their own at the railway stations. But our meditations on the Cork
platform on the vanity of human wishes were at last dispelled by the
ringing of the bell of the train for Queenstown, and in the prescribed
time we were duly delivered over there to the "carboys" and the
general outlawry of the agents of commerce who await the arrival of
passengers for the States--a swarm of ragged boys with newspapers
devoted to politics racy of the soil; vendors of the most primitive
bouquets of heather, hollyhocks, sweet-brier, and the like; merchants
with ragged and rugged sticks offered as genuine shillelaghs; women
with baskets of fruit of suspicious aspect--all urged on the notice of
the public with great clamour of voice. It is a quaint trade; and
wonderful was it to see the number of good Americans who invested in
these memorials, relics of European travel, bearing them on board the
steam tender with grave solicitude. The steam tender aforesaid was
already duly crammed with mail bags, passengers, and a fair proportion
of juvenile Americans revelling in the freedom and perfect
self-control proper to the race, conspicuous among whom was a pretty
little lady of some twelve or thirteen years of age, who had all the
airs and graces of "une demoiselle de la vieille Cour." The "_Gallia_"
had made a quick passage from Liverpool, and had been fuming about the
moorings off Roche's Point since 5.30 A.M. Many of her passengers had
landed and gone, some to church, others to chapel, or to the "grand
cathedral," and some to stroll about the uninviting streets, and these
were now waiting for us in the tender, but the majority of the
voyagers were on board writing letters or abusing the post-office and
the authorities generally which enforced such a waste of the time they
found so heavy on their hands. I found two acquaintances--one indeed
an old friend--among the passengers in the tender, and with them I
divided the cares of looking after my two married daughters who came
"to see me off," thereby obtaining an opportunity for a dash to "see
after" my luggage, for I am too old a traveller to trust to the
assurances of porters--"It's all right, your honour!" In twenty
minutes more the tender, inspected by hundreds of eyes from over the
bulwarks, was alongside the slim vast hull of the great Cunarder. I
looked up as the eyes looked down, and saw most of my party above, and
in a few seconds more was on deck shaking hands with them all round;
finding out my State Room--what a noble appellation for the cubicle,
"that heritage of woe," of which I was lord!--exhibiting the charms
and conveniences of the same to my anxious daughters, who with
feminine enthusiasm declared it was "delightful! so snug!" &c., and
distributing my property in its angles and covert retreats. "All on
board for the shore!" The bell is ringing for the third time! And as
the last adieux are spoken, the last kiss, the last shake of the hand,
given, and the outward and visible signs of friendship or of love are
relegated to tearful eyes and waving kerchiefs, those who are going to
sea think perhaps how pleasant it would be to return to the solid
earth, and those who are bound for road or pavement struggle with the
thought, "I wish I were going too!" Any stick will do to beat a dog!
Any umbrella or hat will do to wave at a friend. And so, at 3.30 that
afternoon, the "_Gallia_" made a graceful curtsy to an incoming wave,
screwed herself out of the roadstead, and turned her stem to the Far
West, towards the sun "which, by the bright track of his fiery car,
gave token of a goodly day to-morrow." How green and fresh seemed the
land where the fields swelled to the edge of the cliffs dotted with
whitewashed cottages! Forward, leaning over forecastle bulwarks, the
poor Irish emigrants and Irish-Americans were watching the coast-lines
and listening to the experts who were pointing out the "Killies" and
"Bailies" which adorned them. But the bell soon sounded again, this
time to prepare for dinner, and in half an hour more, from the
recesses of many cabins the multitude came trooping to the banqueting
hall, which was at the time just gently yielding to the blandishments
of the sea-nymphs to desert the line of strict propriety, and to leave
off doing its level best. The "party" had a table all to itself on the
right of the Saloon, but at the end there were two places left which
we could not occupy, and these were filled by two American gentlemen,
one of whom developed a marked talent for salads and anecdote, and the
other equal gifts in the way of silence. The Cunard cuisine is copious
at all events, and the cellar--albeit vexed by various temperatures
and altitudes--commendable. The show of strength at table was
creditable to our seagoing powers, and our first night with the
expeditionary forces was passed pleasantly in discussing plans and the
like till bed-time, when our grim chamberlain put out our candles, and
left the inmates of the cabins to rest as best they might. On the
second day people began to look more at each other at meal-times--to
take notice, as the nurses say--but a strong easterly breeze
introduced elements of discomfort and unsociability, and impeded
friendly communion even in the smoking-room for a day or two. It was
evident that the majority of the living freight of the "_Gallia_" were
returning to their native land. There is always something or other
cropping up out of the sad sea wave for those who are not absorbed in
their own sufferings from the _mal de mer_; and though I have been
fortunate enough to have escaped the slightest inconvenience in my
marine experiences, I have had that share in the misery of others
which is derived from sympathy. I have sometimes doubted whether
exemption from sea-sickness, in bad weather, is such a boon, till I
duly considered the state of those who were its victims. To be quite
well, and yet to be unable to read or to write--to sit or to stand, or
to lie down--without some sort of tension--is very aggravating. If you
go on deck you are wet by sea or spray, and can do nothing but "hold
on"; and if you go below you are half suffocated by the close air, and
altogether tortured by the cries of distress around you. My cabin was
on the main deck forward--large, airy, and, when the ports were open,
well lighted--and the only inconvenience attendant on the situation
was that it lay some distance from the bath-rooms, which are never
numerous enough for the wants of the passengers even in the most
liberally-appointed steamers. The knowing ones make a rush for the
bath-room steward and inscribe their names at once for their quarter
of an hour as soon as they come on board, and the unfortunates who
neglect that precaution are obliged to take their chance later in the
morning, and sometimes fare but badly. It was my fate once to be a
passenger on board one of the steamers of the Messagéries Impériales
to Marseilles from the East, at the close of the Crimean War. There
was an immense crowd of officers and soldiers on board, and the
weather was very hot, but the only bath-room was closed, and it was
from a conclusive answer to the demands for admission which were made
to the persecuted steward that we learned the reason why--"the bath
was occupied." It contained the body of an officer which had been
embalmed, and which was being taken to France for burial in some
martial cemetery!

Washington Irving wrote long ago that "the sea is all monotony,"
though he claimed leave to correct the expression, and if it were a
monotony of fair winds and smooth water, and eighteen miles an hour,
it would be very tolerable indeed. But surely there is no monotony in
a sea voyage in an Atlantic liner! Look at the different phases of
character exhibited on board day after day! Observe the ups and downs
of its life; watch the microcosm of the crowded deck, where every
chair holds its little Areopagus and pronounces judgment on the world
around it.

There were brave men among us who resorted to ignoble artifices, and
went by devious ways to their cabins to escape the masked batteries,
and the spectacles and glasses _en barbette_ of the long lines of
cushioned bastions where the enemy were lying in vigilant scrutiny of
every movement.

And then the Babel of tongues at times--the variety of topics one
hears discussed. Hark to that trumpet tone! It is not Jeremiah warning
the nations to flee from the wrath to come! No! it is merely a gallant
officer of a scientific corps who is expounding to some admiring
Americans a few articles of his faith, and proving that Mr. Gladstone
is the "Man of Sin" specially intended for the destruction of the
British army and Empire. And there, in a cozy nook by the wheel-house,
an earnest Democrat is holding forth to his English auditors on the
evils of democracy as illustrated by the conduct of the Republicans in
the exercise of political power, the manipulation of ballot-boxes and
public bullion; and a sturdy Briton near at hand is enlarging on the
absolute necessity of restoring the worn-out lands of the Eastern
States and Canada to fertility by the use of manures of which he is
the manufacturer. Among the Americans there were not wanting signs and
tokens that the traditions of a great war and the influence of party
politics were as powerful as social distinctions, and their cliques
were as marked as if each represented a different "set" in one of the
old countries.

There is the unfailing anxiety about the weather--and there are
remarks on its behaviour, past, present, and future, at every meal,
and there must be incessant vigilance respecting the proceedings of
the ship. The 9 o'clock observation is regarded with an interest which
culminates at noon in the proceedings of the officers engaged in
"catching the sun," and then comes the anxious waiting about of the
passengers whilst the calculations are being worked out, till the run
is announced and the result fixed over the companion. In some vessels
a chart is laid out, on which the course of the ship is marked down
daily. I have seen an expression of much comfort diffused over the
countenances of suspicious voyagers by the inspection of the final
remarks which show them "exactly where we are, you know." They are not
quite aware of the tricks of the trade, and it is perhaps just as
well. Then all operations aloft are attractive--taking in sail or
shaking out a reef, or "taking a haul on the weather braces," which
seems necessary when nothing else is to be done--and there is the
wonderful problem to study of why it is that, no matter where you put
yourself away on the deck of a ship, a "hand" comes to you at once to
pull the particular rope you are sitting or standing on, or to
otherwise civilly molest you! All these common interests bind
passengers together. The smoking-room becomes conversational after a
time, and "sets" are enlarged. The energies of life, however, are
concentrated on but a few objects on board ship, and the general
conversation and attitude of the passengers are largely regulated by
the vehicle in which they are borne. And that was the course of life
in the "_Gallia_." A flying-fish, a petrel, a porpoise, the glinting
of a sail, the smoke of a steamer, became a subject for general
conversation, if not an object of universal attraction; and when
porpoises or flying-fish came close in shoals, and the "sails" were
near, and the steamer's number, or better still, her name, could be
read, why, there was quite enough of incident to carry one through the
not very long intervals which divided the times for eating and
drinking. I have not mentioned the gulls, because I think they are
becoming decidedly demoralised and disreputable, and ought not to be
noticed. Instead of getting their subsistence and living cleanly by
honest labour, as decent gulls should do, they have become mere ocean
scavengers, and follow the steamers to and fro across the Atlantic;
some, I dare say, preferring the Cunard, others the Inman; and the
White Star, Guion, &c., lines, probably having clientelles of their
own. It is possible indeed that each vessel has its own _habitués_,
just like a club or a hotel; but this is merely a theory. I am sorry
to say that I have observed a tendency on the part of the solan geese
to be led away to following these wakes, and if that goes on, the
gulls will be driven to farming, for which, in ignorance of the
ruinous nature of the occupation they are indeed showing an increasing
predilection.

The 19th April was debited with a brilliant run--390 nautical miles in
the 24 hours, equal to 16-3/8 knots per hour!--and there was an
exceeding clangour of tongues at meal-times, attributable, it would
seem, to the "_Gallia_" having screwed her way through the ocean at
such high speed. On such occasions as these the deck-frequenting
passengers are in high spirits--they in some way unconsciously
attribute to themselves a share in the performance. The Auditor drank
his "Dry Monopole"--a good tap was discovered on board--with unusual
relish; nor was he left to do so single-handed. Mr. Bridgeman
developed a salad of great originality and power; the American
Colonel, filled with thoughts too big for utterance, smiled on society
at large.

By degrees--short and cumulative--acquaintanceship was developing;
familiarity took the place of reserve, and the game of "poker,"
inaugurated by some American experts, enlisted its votaries from
expanding circles, and usurped large sections of the saloon tables,
not only by night, but by day. It is a pity that it takes so long to
bring out or up musical talent at sea, for it is often that sweet
voices are heard warbling, deft fingers wake up the notes of the
piano, and histrionic gifts are made manifest, in unexpected quarters,
only a day or two before the end of the voyage; and just as society
begins to enjoy them it is dispersed for ever as though it were an
exploded shell! We had on board senators and judges, and men of
eminence and women of culture, as we began to find out when we were
about to lose them, and day after day jokes became more
interchangeable and transferable, like the quaint conceits in
"drinks," cocktails, and the like, which were sent round from table to
table by the cognoscenti to their friends. One night there came to me,
at dinner-time, a card with a drawing on it of a gentleman running at
full speed from a suspicion of cavalry in the rear, and underneath
were the words "Russell at Bull Run." There was just room enough on
the card to enable me to draw in front of the figure so described a
pair of legs and part of the body of another fugitive, and writing
below the legs "The last man of the Federal army on that occasion," I
returned it to my American friend, and the burst of laughter which
ensued from the company at the table showed that the _réplique_ had
been appreciated.

And there was a domestic event, soon after our departure, which
excited much interest. A poor woman, who was going out to join her
husband in some distant digging, gave birth to a little girl. Somehow
or other the Auditor became involved in the case, and got up a
subscription for the benefit of the little stranger and its mother,
which compelled him to make many journeys to the steerage, and to make
many acquaintances among the ladies, for which he had a happy knack,
in the interests of charity. A cynical officer of the ship somewhat
damped our benevolence by hinting that "that sort of thing was always
going on," and when he was pressed for information he said that
intending emigrants in the rank of life to which the mother belonged,
frequently deferred their journey to the last moment, when expecting
such events, in anticipation of a subscription from the passengers as
soon as their time had come. Ere we landed the child was baptized in
due form--one of her names being "Gallia"--and a purse of sovereigns
was presented to the grateful mother, who certainly deserved them for
her maternal solicitude and punctuality in such an important
transaction.

And there was a fair face on which we gazed every day with growing
sadness and sympathy. No one knew anything of the story of the
pensive, melancholy girl whose eyes were often suffused with tears,
but we heard that the heavy but not unbenevolent-looking ecclesiastic
in the garb of a Roman Catholic bishop with whom she was travelling
was taking her to America in order to put her into a convent. It was a
prospect which she certainly seemed to regard with grief and despair,
if one might judge from the expression of her sorrowful countenance
and mournful mien. We could pity, and that was all.

Smooth seas and favouring breezes prevailed for the greater part of
our course. Early on the morning of the 25th April land was in sight,
and Sandy Hook was visible right ahead before noon. After breakfast
came that mundane solicitude about baggage, luggage, and the like,
which betokens the end of the voyage. The stewards, always prompt, on
board the "_Gallia_," were almost aggressively attentive as though to
reproach us for going on shore from them so soon.

Outside Sandy Hook we took in a pilot, a grave bearded gentleman in a
black frock coat, tall hat, and satin waistcoat, from one of the
pretty pilot boats, the appearance of which in the distance was
attended with a good deal of anxiety connected with a sum of money in
the lottery, the ownership of which was determined by the figure on
her mainsail. But the news the pilot brought us was startling, and
engrossed every thought for the time. "Lord Beaconsfield is dead!" In
an instant it was known all over the ship. Up to the time of the
"_Gallia_" leaving Queenstown the bulletins had given ground for hope,
indeed almost the assurance, that there was no great reason to fear a
fatal termination to Lord Beaconsfield's illness, and one of us had
received a letter from the best authority, expressing the belief that
the critical period had been passed and that he might be expected to
"pull through all right." The sad intelligence for a while overpowered
all other interests. We had forgotten Europe for eight days, and now
the voice which aroused us announced "Lord Beaconsfield is dead!" The
various objects on the shores we were approaching or passing were for
a time unnoticed. Among our little party were men of different phases
of political feeling, but on one point they were all agreed--that
England had lost a great minister, and the world one of the most
brilliant and original statesmen of the age. Even amongst Americans,
who might not be expected to have much sympathy for the loss of a
statesmen of his Imperial stamp, much regret was expressed for Lord
Beaconsfield's death. "I doubt, sir," said one of them, "if he could
have done it in our country. I guess his novels would have prevented
it, even if he could have got over being a Jew. We cannot run politics
and literature together as you can--that's a fact. The writers who get
places don't amount to much--ministers and consuls, and that sort of
thing, abroad. To succeed they must take to the one line or the
other."

The Health Officer's boat came alongside with friends at the
Quarantine Ground, and Judge Pierrepoint, formerly United States
Minister at the Court of St. James's, boarded the "_Gallia_" to
welcome the Duke of Sutherland, whose guest he had been at Dunrobin
Castle, and to claim the fulfilment of the Duke's promise given in
London to dine with him in New York.

In one sense the attachment of Americans to the land of their birth or
adoption is generally intense; our fellow-passengers gazed on the
shore with delight. "You have before you, sir," said a gentleman
alongside, as I leant over the bulwarks, "the most beautiful bay in
the world!" "The most beautiful bay in the world"! I wonder how many
places there are of that description? Several I know of in Ireland and
in Scotland, some in England, a few in the Mediterranean; and others
there are in Indian and Chinese seas, right away to California, north
and south, and east and west, and in all the isles of the ocean. But,
certainly, the approach to the great city enthroned on the Hudson,
with its wide-stretching arms of river and commingling sea, is very
fine, and, although the scenery around it is not of the very highest
order of beauty, New York is grandly placed.

     "Breathes there a man with soul so dead"--

Well! though Sir Walter may have put the thought into very exalted
verse, most of us have felt the sensation he describes, and it does
not require a very remarkable or ancient pedigree among the nations
to cause a country to be beloved of its people. Woman, however, was
occupied at that particular moment on board the "_Gallia_" in devising
means to evade the inquisitorial search of the myrmidons of Uncle
Sam's Custom House, and to reduce the amount of her contributions to
the Imperial Exchequer--for a Republic can be Imperial, I presume--to
the lowest possible figure.

The manners of the Custom House officers were exceedingly bland, and
so were their customs as far as our baggage was concerned, because
they passed it with the greatest readiness on nominal parole, and I
may now declare that there was not in the whole lot a single article
subject to the smallest duty. But there was a fair and charming lady
who was returning with the purchased plunder of, I dare say, the best
milliners and dressmakers in the capitals of Europe, and on these
treasures there would be heavy duty to pay. Feminine sagacity, aided
by masculine depravity, enabled her to achieve a triumph in which most
of the outside accomplices rejoiced exceedingly. "Mrs. A., I see you
have twenty-two packages marked; have you anything to declare?" Mrs.
A. smiled, blushed, and with downcast eyes said, "Yes, sir; I have got
some lace, silk, and other things of the kind in box No. 4." "We will
search box No. 4, if you please, ma'am." The keys were produced, the
articles duly examined and assessed, and the twenty-one unexamined
boxes were marked with the sign of customs emancipation. The box which
was examined contained, as the lady declared subsequently when she got
on shore, the smallest number of articles liable to duty of the whole
number; the others were crammed with them!

I shall not attempt to describe the approaches to New York and the
various objects on shore--the towering Elevators and the antithetical
beauties of the New Jersey hills; the monumental piles of the mammoth
hotels on Coney Island--"where," whispers my American, "from 50,000 to
60,000 people go for dinner every day during the season. Why, if they
spend but 50 cents each, that's £5,000 to £6,000 a day of your money!
Just see!"--but suppose we have worked up the river, and are sidling
in to our berth through the flotillas of the white-sailed coasters and
the huge walking-beam steamers crowded with people, which impress
new-comers perhaps more than any other novelty.




CHAPTER II.

NEW YORK.

     Friends on shore -- The landing -- First impressions --
     Brevoort House -- The interviewers -- Aspect of the
     streets -- 1861 and 1881 -- Cockades and armorial bearings
     -- The Union League Club -- The Fire Brigade.


As the "_Gallia_" neared the Cunard wharf a mass of upturned faces was
visible on shore with eyes fixed on the steamer to detect friends.
"There is Jack!" "I see Lucy." "There is Sam!" and so on. And, indeed,
there was "Sam" ready to greet us, and the "_desiderium tam cari
capitis_" was gratified by the appearance of its valued owner. It was
over twenty years ago since I first landed at this very wharf on a
bright March morning in 1861, and there were some men living whom I
longed to see once more, despite the change which had been wrought in
their faith, and the time which had elapsed and separated our lives.
The States were then unconsciously preparing for the tremendous
conflict which burst on the world so suddenly. New York was divided
into two camps, in one of which was concentrated most of the ability,
culture, wealth, and political knowledge of the State, and into that I
was thrown on my arrival. I speedily found out there was another and a
tremendous power which commanded "_les gros bataillons_" arrayed on
the other side. The decks were now soon thronged with visitors and
friends, and passengers mistaken for the Duke enjoyed the
intoxication of a brief ovation till the imposture was discovered.
There was the leave-taking--the civility which costs so little, and is
so agreeable, giving even the misanthrope a kindly impression of human
nature escaping from shipboard--the telling off, with all their bags,
rugs, sticks, dressing-cases, bundles, and umbrellas, of the party to
the quaint old carriages à la Queen Anne's time, and then, scattering
groups of interviewers, we set out for our quarters. Our rooms had
been taken at the Brevoort House, and we were expected with
impatience. The purlieus on the riverside between the landing-place
and the streets in which the fashionable hotels are situated are at
least as bad as those of other great cities; but in New York the
horrors of bad pavements and filthy ways are aggravated by the ribs of
the tram-car ways, which cross the roads in every direction. However,
our first impressions were effaced by the trimness and neatness of the
better parts of the city, the brightness, and even grandeur, of the
Fifth Avenue, and by the wealth and display of Broadway. The
characteristics of hotels on the American system are well known, but
the Brevoort House is not one of these. Instead of a fixed charge per
diem, to include bed and board in all its wonderful profusion of meals
and of dishes, the Brevoort House has a varied tariff for apartments,
and meals _à la carte_. There is an old-fashioned air about the house,
combined with a great degree of comfort and a full attainment of all
the objects which American travellers desire in baths, barber's shop,
reading-room, bar, and the like. An excellent cook and a large and
well-chosen cellar leave little to be desired in the way of eating and
drinking. But as the kitchens are far away and dishes are not cooked
until the order for them is given, the service, although plentifully
armed, is necessarily slow.

Friends, railway authorities, and representatives of the press
received the travellers on their arrival, and the process of
interviewing commenced at once with great severity. As it would be
inconvenient for all the gentlemen of the press to interview the same
individual at once, a distribution of duties was made, and very soon
after our appearance at the Brevoort House each member of the party
had a little private confidence with the representative of some
leading journal. The peculiar views of the interviewers themselves
were reflected in their reports next day. Some attributed importance
to personal details; others desired to ascertain our political
opinions; some were anxious to be instructed on English social
questions; others were curious to know our views respecting the
municipal government of New York and the condition of the city,
founded on what we gleaned from our inspection of the streets from the
windows of the carriages in which we were carried to the hotel. But as
even in so small a party there was diversity of opinions, the accounts
of the general impressions of the whole body were rather contradictory
and confused. It is a novel experience to English people to be
accosted in the most familiar way by persons whom they have never
seen in their lives, and to be subjected to an examination, even to
minute particulars, respecting their views in relation to all manner
of things, knowing all the while that their answers will be given with
more or less accuracy in print in a few hours. But it is nevertheless
an ordeal to which public men and notabilities in the United States
submit generally without a struggle; and it would be considered a mark
of "aristocratic exclusiveness" if titled people from England refused
to acquiesce in the general custom.

The effect produced on the party by the first sight of the city was
not agreeable. The unwonted look of the Elevated Railway, of the
forest of crooked telegraph poles, and cobweb-like wires along the
sideways, combined to give an unpleasant sensation to the eye. We had
occasion, subsequently, to recognise the utility of the Elevated
Railway, just as we had to admit the advantages of tramcar railways
for the million; but no device can redeem the ugliness of the one, and
nothing but a fine spirit of self-sacrifice can reconcile a resident
of New York to the devastation caused in the streets, and to the
misery of travelling over the iron ruts which run through most of the
thoroughfares of the city, with the exception of Broadway. It is only
fair to state that the Elevated Railway is not commended by any one
from an æsthetic point of view, and there is a theory afloat that the
telegraph wires will, some fine day, be laid underground; but, all
said and done, there is reason to doubt whether they manage these
things in New York much better than they do in some of the decayed old
capitals of the Eastern World.

In some respects I found the old parts of New York but little changed
since 1861. The words in which I recorded my first impressions then
would not inaptly describe what one sees, in 1881, on landing at one
of the wharves and driving to the Fifth Avenue, barring the change of
seasons, for there was no snow in April, but the condition of the
streets was accounted for by the late and severe winter, of which the
effects had not yet disappeared.

I wrote on 16th March, 1861:--"We were rattling over a most abominable
pavement, plunging into mud-holes, squashing through snow-heaps, in
ill-lighted, narrow streets of low, mean-looking, wooden houses, of
which an unusual proportion appeared to be lager-bier saloons,
whisky-shops, oyster-houses, and billiard and smoking establishments.
The crowd on the pavement were very much what a stranger would be
likely to see in a very bad part of London, Antwerp, or Hamburg, with
a dash of the noisy exuberance which proceeds from the high animal
spirits that defy police regulations and are superior to police force,
called 'rowdyism.' The drive was long and tortuous; but by degrees the
character of the thoroughfares and streets improved. At last we turned
into a wide street with very tall houses, alternating with far
humbler erections, blazing with lights, gay with shop-windows,
thronged in spite of the mud with well-dressed people, and pervaded by
strings of omnibuses--Oxford Street was nothing to it for length. At
intervals there towered up a block of brickwork and stucco with long
rows of windows lighted up tier above tier, and a swarming crowd
passing in and out of the portals, which was recognised as the
barrack-like glory of American civilisation--a Broadway monster hotel.
More oyster-shops, lager-bier saloons--concert-rooms of astounding
denominations, with external decorations very much in the style of the
booths at Bartholomew Fair--churches, restaurants, confectioners,
private houses! again another series--they cannot go on expanding for
ever! This is the west-end of London--its Belgravia and Grosvenoria
represented in one long street, with offshoots of inferior dignity at
right angles to it. Some of the houses are handsome, but the greater
number have a compressed, squeezed-up aspect, which arises from the
compulsory narrowness of frontage in proportion to the height of the
building, and all of them are bright and new, as if they were just
finished to order,--a most astonishing proof of the rapid development
of the city. As the hall door is made an important feature in the
residence, the front parlour is generally a narrow, lanky apartment,
struggling for existence between the hall and the partition of the
next house. The outer door, which is always provided with fine carved
panels and mouldings, is of some rich varnished wood, and looks much
better than our painted doors. It is generously thrown open so as to
show an inner door with curtains and plate glass. The windows, which
are double on account of the climate, are frequently of plate glass
also. Some of the doors are on the same level as the street, with a
basement story beneath; others are approached by flights of steps, the
basement for servants having the entrance below the steps, and this, I
believe, is the old Dutch fashion, and the name of 'stoop' is still
retained for it."[2]

But the progress, which has never been arrested since the period of my
first acquaintance with the Empire City, is attested by statistics; it
has grown, and it is growing steadily in size, population, trade, and
wealth.

In the evening the Duke and some of the party went to the Madison
Square Theatre to see "Hazel Kirke," which has had a wonderful run:
but, truth to say, I was more struck by the commodiousness and
charming arrangements of the theatre, which are perfect, than by the
situations of the highly strained drama, which was rendered, however,
by a very effective company, and moved many of those near us to tears.

The day after our arrival (April 26th) the conviction dawned on
certain of us that we must be up and stirring, if certain articles of
baggage were to be rescued from some unknown limbo and restored to our
personal use. (I hope my readers will bear with me if I ask them to
accept a few pages now and then of my diary as the best account I can
offer them of our tour.) The worthy Briton who had borne up manfully
against the unaccustomed trials of sea-sickness, and had valiantly
kept watch and ward over the Duke's baggage and that of his friends on
board ship, had been fairly overwhelmed by the _novitas regni_ on
landing, and he maintained undefeatedly that all the things--his own
certainly--were in the hotel, but "that they would not give them up!"
There was nothing for it but an expedition to the Cunard dock. Lord
Stafford and I drove over to the river side, and there we found the
missing portmanteaux, bags, and bundles, quite safe, in a large shed,
open apparently to all the world, and returning to the Brevoort were
once more entangled in the meshes of many interviewers.

It needs some reflection to appreciate the great fact called New York;
some previous acquaintance to recognise the prodigious increase,
within the last ten or fifteen years, in all that makes a great city.
The Fifth Avenue has extended its well-ordered rows of stately
mansions and handsome houses almost to the gates of the favourite
recreation ground of fast trotters and well-appointed carriages. The
Central Park is now a beautiful resort, of which any metropolis might
be proud. "O Quirine! Rusticus tuus sumit trechedipna." If my eyes did
not deceive me, I beheld cockades in the hats of honest Republican
"helps," and armorial bearings on the panels of democratic broughams.
Should the enterprise of a gentleman who proposes to collect
particulars of Americans claiming to be sprung from the loins of kings
and emperors, to be published at a price which suggests that he must
believe in the possession of hereditary wealth by his distinguished
subscribers, be successful, imperial and royal honours will be due to
people now content with belonging to "the first families" in the
States. These, however, are but spots on the face of the sun under
which the American "Demos" basks so contentedly, and they may vary in
size and number without affecting the purity and force of the
celestial rays.

The papers contained elaborate descriptions of the Duke and of his
party from the pens of the interviewers of the day before, which
afforded us considerable amusement. His Grace of course was the
central figure, and, judging from the accounts we read, he must
certainly have assumed a variety of appearances. One paper said: "His
gait is marked by a slight limp: his manner is easy, even careless,
and his movements are noticeable for their restlessness." "Altogether
he is the picture of a well-bred English gentleman, and would never be
suspected of being the possessor of a dozen titles and an income so
vast that he cannot possibly spend it all." Another paper thought he
was "a jolly-looking man. He is above the middle height, of robust
build, and the very picture of a thoroughly happy, healthy,
well-preserved gentleman, still in the prime of life. He wears his
beard, whiskers, and moustache, which are of a bright chestnut-brown,
and as yet barely touched by the silver tint of time." The
appreciations of another reporter were very different. He wrote "the
Duke is a tall gentleman with silvery hair and a grey beard, dressed
in a sack coat and grey trowsers." According to another authority "He
has a look about him which would mark him for a Scotchman. He is tall,
of medium size, with greyish hair and whiskers and a sandy-coloured
moustache. He was dressed in a grey suit and Derby hat." He was
described elsewhere as having "a passion for steam-engines of almost
every kind, although the locomotive and the modern fire-engine are his
favourites." We all came in for our share of fancy sketching and
pen-and-ink drawing, and those who knew themselves best would have
been puzzled to detect the originals. Some of the limners thought us
"fair types of well-to-do, well-fed gentlemen, of the solid build and
florid features which English roast beef produces." Mr. Neale was
declared to have "a more elegant external appearance than the other
members of the party. On the outskirts of his features grow brown
whiskers." We all "talked more affectedly" than the Duke. Mr. Stephen
was complimented with reason on his "magnificent physique." It was
astonishing how "well posted," to use the Transatlantic idiom, the
papers were in Burke and Debrett. They gave full accounts of the ducal
house of Sutherland--of its history and possessions, expatiated on the
grandeurs of Trentham, Stafford House, and Dunrobin, the treasures of
their picture-galleries, the vast acreage of the estates, the richness
of the mines, the wealth of the salmon rivers, deer forests, and
grouse moors, with most un-Republican enthusiasm.

To millions of Americans the exact status of a Duke is as great a
mystery as the rank of a Jam or of a Thakoor is to the mass of
Englishmen out of India; but millions of Americans had heard of the
Duke of Sutherland. Stafford House is a name familiar to those who
remember the times when "Uncle Tom's Cabin," Mrs. Beecher Stowe, and
the anti-slavery agitation which emanated from Exeter Hall made noise
in the world. Still, the great gulf which the Revolution and the Act
of Independence made between the social systems of the New World and
the Old is only passed by the travelled American, except in rare
instances. The colonel who informed Martin Chuzzlewit that "your
Queen, sir, lives in the Tower of London," was scarcely an
exaggeration of popular American ignorance on such subjects. But,
after all, how many Englishmen are there who could give an exact
account of the working of the Electoral College in the election of one
of the most potential of sovereigns, or who could define the
differences between a Republican and a Democrat? An old lady on board
the "_Gallia_" who insisted that "the Duke of Sutherland was a cousin
of the Queen of England" represents a large number of people who
cannot or do not care to understand the functions and constitution of
what they call "your privileged classes." The authority to whom I
refer above was on her way to her home in the Far West after a tour in
Europe and a visit to Great Britain, and she told her auditory that
"she thought Ireland, at all events, would be a great deal better off
if there were more _dollars_ and less _dukes_ in it," which, seeing
that the Green Isle has only two peers of that rank, argued perhaps
some intolerance on her part towards the ducal aristocracy. A duke who
takes an active interest in the great works of national progress which
Americans exhibit with a just pride to all comers is sure to be
honoured in the Great Republic; and when he examines mechanical
inventions, ascends elevators, descends mines, dips into
graving-docks, investigates factories and workshops, drives an engine,
or goes deeply into the working of a farm or of a fire brigade, he
excites something like enthusiasm, especially if he be discreetly
moved to express his feelings of admiration to those around him.

It was considered by all the Duke's friends that a banquet at
Delmonico's was obligatory, and to the refined taste and
discrimination, polished by long experience of many capitals, of
"Uncle Sam," to the brilliant originality of Mr. Hurlbut, and to the
sober judgment and critical acumen of Mr. Butler Duncan, with the
proviso that there were "not to be too many dishes," the task of
ordering "a quiet little dinner" at that famous restaurant was
confided. What the notion of the _chef_ as to "much or many, more or
most," under ordinary circumstances, may have been, it would not be
easy to determine, but his inventive genius was confined within the
limits of a moderate _menu_, and the result quite justified the
reputation of the house in regard to _cuisine_ and cellar. Especially
admirable was the arrangement of the table in the cabinet, which was
set forth with exquisite flowers and fine fruit. There is no single
establishment of the kind in Paris, or in any other city, as far as I
know, which can rival Delmonico's new restaurant. It serves the
purpose of Willis's Rooms, the London Tavern, the Albion, the
Freemasons', and similar establishments in London, for public banquets
and breakfasts, civil, military, political, and social; for
anniversary convivialities as well as for little dinners and suppers;
and of the Café Anglais, Bignon's, Voisin's, &c., in Paris. It is
provided with many pretty suites of rooms, and some vast _salons_,
with a very large restaurant _à la carte_. It is a blaze of lights and
mirrors at night, and there is a _cliquetis_ of steel, plate, and
glass, a coming and going of ladies and gentlemen in evening dress, a
constant movement and an animation in the corridors and approaches,
which make one think that, if they be always in force, New York must
be in a state of perpetual festivity and luxurious enjoyment. It
should be remarked that the charges are high in comparison with the
highest standard with which I am acquainted, and that the _habitués_
should belong to classes to whom money is no object.[3] And yet close
at hand there is much poverty, if not absolute misery. The sewerage of
streets not far off the Fifth Avenue in all its glory was, we were
told, in the worst possible condition, and some of the houses, filled
with squalid people packed as they are in the lowest parts of London,
were pestilential and poisonous. Some people who do not like
Republican Republicanism in power, though they do not object to
Democratic Republicans in office, seem inclined to lay the blame of
bad sewers, bad air, bad pavements, and bad water on the various
Commissioners, the elected of the people, who have charge of such
things in the Empire City. I was especially warned against the water.
It was denounced and charged, in the press, with many serious offences
against the public health and against nose, eye, and palate, and I did
not test the truth of the accusation.

The Delmonico dinner was but a preparation for a function at the Union
League Club, which was giving a "Ladies' Reception" at the Club-house
in Fifth Avenue, where "all New York was to be present." The boast, or
threat, was scarcely an empty one. As far as the spacious premises
could accommodate New York, its fathers and mothers, indeed its
grandfathers and grandmothers, its uncles and its aunts, they were
there; but the sisters and daughters appeared either to be kept at
home, or to dislike the Union League Club, for there were in the vast
crowd of well-dressed people of both sexes but few young ladies, which
was a bitter disappointment to the gayer of the party; and when one of
them repaired to a supper-table, at which there was a rolling fire of
corks going on, and asked for a glass of champagne to keep up his
spirits, the domestic whom he addressed demanded his wine-ticket, and
he, being destitute of any such document, retired disconsolate and
thirsty. Mr. Hamilton Fish, the President of the Club, and other
members of the Committee did the honours for the Duke, and presented
many ladies and gentlemen in their progress through the Club to him,
and many amiable offers of service and suggestions for the disposal of
our time were tendered, which the time aforesaid would not permit us
to accept. It was trying to wander about long series of rooms upstairs
and downstairs, and to struggle up and down staircases and along
corridors in a throng of strangers; more trying still to be brought up
all standing, and to be made an involuntary enemy to progress by the
ill-timed but well-meant efforts of the Committee of Reception to
introduce eminent citizens or citizenesses to the Duke and his
friends. The walls were hung with paintings lent for the occasion by
members of the Club, and the predominance of the Foreign schools in
the American market was very clearly marked in the names of the
painters and the choice of subjects. There were Meissoniers and Rosa
Bonheurs, and pictures from Brussels, Paris, Dusseldorf, and Munich,
as well as a display of native works, but there were few, if any,
specimens of the divisions of the English school. Mr. Bierstadt told
me subsequently that there was a growing appreciation of the works of
British artists in the States, and that some valuable examples of our
best modern painters had been recently acquired for their galleries by
private collectors. At all events, on the present occasion the best
pictures in the world would literally have gone to the wall, as there
was no chance of seeing them thoroughly, although the rooms were
brilliantly lighted. Mr. J. Milbank is the fortunate owner of De
Neuville's "Reconnaissance," as well as of a good Bonnat and
Bouguereau, and Mr. Sloane lent a Gerome (a Moulvie) and a De
Neuville, Mr. Raynor sent a "Mussulman at Prayer" by Gerome and good
examples of Troyon. Of Corot there were numerous pictures belonging to
different members. Mr. J. C. Runkle was happy in the possession of
Millets, Geromes, Corots, and Troyons, and liberal in lending them.
Detaille's "Halte" (belonging to Mr. C. S. Smith), Meissonier's
"Trumpeter," and many other pictures exhibited by members betokened
the existence of taste and money, and altogether--"glimpsed" as it
was--we saw an excellent selection and had a fair criterion of the
value of New York art interiors. There was a sprinkling of naval and
military United States officers in uniform among the guests, and I
observed that since I was last here an innovation has been made on the
Republican simplicity which affected indifference to ribands and
decorations, and that several of the officers wore emblems of service
on their breasts and in their button-holes--whether authorised by the
State or the tokens of voluntary association, like Freemasons' badges,
&c., I could not ascertain, as I did not like to ask. The Union League
dates from the early period of the Civil War, when, as I remember,
there were two opinions in New York, and it was started by prominent
members of the Republican party to support Mr. Lincoln in the Empire
State and city when he much needed help. The attack on Fort Sumter
gave a powerful impetus to the development of the national sentiment
in favour of union and unity, and the death of Ellsworth and the
defeat of the first Federal army at Bull Run added such an intensity
and coherence to the feeling that the Union League became a power in
the State, equipped regiments, raised funds, and in every way
contributed to the carrying on of the war with spirit, affording by
its action and success a powerful illustration of the vigour with
which voluntary associations can be worked in America. That there was
still in New York a strong party which by no means belonged to the
Union League Club or approved of the principles of the association,
however, we had reason to suspect from the manner in which our
announcement that we were going to the Ladies' Reception there was
received by some of our American acquaintances. At one of the several
clubs of which our party were made honorary members during our stay in
the city, I happened, the same night, to ask a gentleman with whom I
was speaking, "Have you been at the Union League Club Reception?"
"Union League! What on earth would take me or any one there who could
go anywhere else? No, sir! I should be very sorry to meet a friend of
mine inside that sort of place." It was, I suppose, like asking a
member of Brooks's if he went much to the City Conservative, or a
Carlton man if he was going to the Cavendish, but that sort of
knowledge which enables people to avoid social rocks does not come but
by experience.

Long as the day, and trying as our experiences had been, our labours
were not yet over. The Duke's fame as an amateur of fire-engine work
had been proclaimed and insisted upon in the American papers, and it
would be difficult to say whether an ordinary reader thought the
principal object of his Grace's visit was to buy railway shares or
land, or to put out fires in the United States. If there is any one of
the many things of which Americans are proud, that they take more
pride in than another, it is their Fire Department. And their pride is
not at all diminished by the reflection that fires are perhaps more
frequent and destructive in the United States than in any country in
the world, not even excepting Russia.

Mr. Butler Duncan had arranged before dinner that we should visit a
fire-station; but it was understood that no warning should be given,
and that we were to take any station near at hand _à l'improviste_.
Accordingly we went from one of the clubs down Fifth Avenue, and
turned up a cross street to a house not distinguishable from those on
either side of it, except by a lamp and the name and number of the
station. On the ringing of a bell the door was opened by a man in a
kind of uniform, and we were shown into a hall occupying the whole of
the ground floor, in the centre of which there was a fire-engine and
tender, and at one side stalls, in which four horses were peaceably
nibbling their fodder by gas-light. The officer in charge summoned his
chief, who came downstairs partly dressed, and who, when made
acquainted with the desires of his visitors, quickly set to work to
carry them out. On his pressing a brass knob in the side of the wall,
we heard the clang of an alarm-bell, and in a second or two, down the
stairs, pell-mell, there came a gang of firemen, who had evidently
been sleeping in their boots and breeches, and who were hastily
buttoning their coats as they descended. In the twinkling of an eye
they were in their places on the fire-engine and the horses trotted
out and placed themselves in position of their own accord, so that by
an electric arrangement the harness was lowered on their backs from
the ceiling, and secured in a moment. The gate in the wall was thrown
open in front to the street, and out dashed the engine ready for work.
All this was exceedingly well done. The Duke was so pleased with it
that the experiment was repeated again, and we retired thanking the
courteous chief of the establishment for the trouble he had taken, and
with the conviction that if they do not always put out fires in New
York, it is not owing to any deficiency in the speed with which the
engines are turned out of the stations, or the efficiency of the Fire
Department.

_April 27th._--The early morning was devoted to a stroll down Fifth
Avenue and Broadway, and then we returned to the hotel and gave some
time to the consideration of the plans for the journey which was to be
made to the Far West, and to the details of the excursions which had
been arranged before we left England. We had "friends in council," and
it says a good deal for the care and forethought with which the
expedition had been sketched out that but very few alterations, and
those of a trifling character, were necessary in the programme. The
hall of the Brevoort House was still thronged with gentlemen desirous
of interviews with the new-comers, or verifying the descriptions of
them in the newspapers.

In the forenoon we were conducted to the Elevated Railway, and took
our places in the special train which started from a station in a
cross street close to the Brevoort House, off the Fifth Avenue. I am
not going to be the world's policeman, or to inveigh against a mode of
conveyance which is tolerated by the people most affected by it; but
as I travelled along this extraordinary construction, I could not but
feel, as I inadvertently looked into a long series of private
interiors, through the open windows on a level with me, and beheld the
domestic arrangements of family after family carried out under my
eyes, that I was taking a great liberty with private life. Here, drawn
by an engine which in common with the carriages distilled oil
plentifully on the road below, at a height varying from 20 to 40
feet, was I being borne along in the middle of streets thronged with
people and filled with vehicles, looking into drawing-rooms or
third-floor windows as I travelled. In a city elongated for miles as
New York is, the convenience, no doubt, is very great; but I fail to
see why the railway should not have been made on the plan of our own
Metropolitan underground system. The speed, in spite of the numerous
stoppages, was very respectable, more than 15 miles an hour; but we
were retarded from time to time by the trains in advance of us.
Wonderful was it to see them gliding round the sharp curves as the
line pursued its sinuous course through the streets like a monster
millipede. At some parts of its career the railway seems to run right
over the pavements, and if the passers-by are not careful, they may
receive some of the _disjecta_ of the carriages on their clothes and
faces; indeed I am not sure that any amount of care would prevent that
sometimes occurring. The remarks which I made to one of the railway
officials respecting the inconvenience to which the railway must
subject the people living in the houses on either side of it, were met
by the statement that "the rents had not diminished." The case of a
householder who brought an action against the Company for damages and
got a verdict in his favour was not regarded with much favour, and
was, I was told, not likely to become a precedent, inasmuch as the
final appeal did not lie with the court in which the judgment had been
entered; and it was the intention of the company to carry the cause
to a higher jurisdiction, where their contention that they had right
to cause inconvenience to the few on account of the benefit of the
many would be accepted, probably, as good morality and law. To my
mind, however, nothing but hard necessity could compel people to live
under such conditions as those to which the inhabitants of the houses
exposed to the nuisance of the Elevated Railway must submit. It is not
alone that they are under incessant inspection of the passengers if
they keep blinds and windows up or open, but that the noise and whirl
must be distracting. A train passes every minute, I was told, during
the hours of business. There are two of these elevated railways, one
going east from the Battery to Harlem, the other west from the same
starting-point to Fifty-Ninth Street. The Metropolitan line starts
from a point near West Broadway to the Central Park. The line on which
we were travelling ultimately struck out for the more open country
till we came to the Harlem river. There we got out and inspected a
very remarkable bridge, with a draw of a most ingenious construction
for the passage of vessels, which will be completed speedily. From the
railway we enjoyed a fine view of the Croton Aqueduct, of which New
York may well be proud, the high bridge by which it is carried across
the Harlem River being an imperial work recalling the grandest
enterprises of the kind of the Roman engineers. There was a good view
of the Central Park and of the country which has been so rapidly
encroached upon by the builders; but there is still a considerable
tract of land occupied by sheds and shanties of a very abject and
miserable aspect, in the possession of squatters who cause much
anxiety to landowners, and are very difficult to dispossess. Whether
they have rights of disturbance or not I cannot say. Probably if they
were to introduce some of the machinery of the law which is considered
peculiarly suited to the wants of Ireland, the New Yorkers might find
it to their advantage.

On the route to the Harlem River the line rises to a dizzy height,
quite above the tops of houses of three stories. Now that the system
has been adopted, it seems impossible to change it, as these "L
Lines," as they are called, have cost too much money (I think more
than twelve millions sterling) to be abandoned or bought up, and they
are still in course of construction. No amount of utility can
compensate for the intrinsic ugliness of these erections which block
up the vista and darken the streets below; and in winter time, when
New York, groaning under a burden of snow, has to suffer from the
accumulations thrown down by the railway, the inconvenience must be
greatly aggravated.

When this very interesting excursion was over, the party returned to
the Brevoort House, and after a short interval for repose they were
off again, this time to visit Wall Street, the Chamber of Commerce,
and the Sub-Treasury of the United States. The latter is an
exceedingly fine Doric building of white marble, with a noble rotunda,
supported inside by sixteen Corinthian columns. It stands upon the
site of the Federal Hall, where Washington delivered his first address
as President of the United States. The Duke and his friends were
received here by General ----, and conducted through the various
departments to the strong rooms, in which were deposited, in neat
jackets of canvas, many millions of gold. At the Chamber of Commerce
we found some interesting memorials of the old British occupation,
portraits of governors and generals of the ante-revolutionary period.
The venerable statistician, Mr. Ruggles, gave us much valuable and
elaborate information respecting the enormous development of the trade
of New York, and expatiated on the vast extension of the wheat and
corn-growing power of the United States, and its increasing
exportations to Europe.

In the evening the Duke and his friends were entertained by the Hon.
Edwards Pierrepoint, where we met a very distinguished party--Mr.
Blaine, Secretary of State, Governor Cornell, Mr. Hamilton Fish, Mr.
Jay, Mr. Low, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Royal Phelps, Mr. Stout, Mr. Potter,
Mr. Choate, Messrs. Beckwith, Mr. Robinson. The honours of the mansion
in Fifth Avenue, which contains many interesting souvenirs of Mr.
Pierrepoint's official career in England, were graciously rendered by
Mrs. Pierrepoint. And later, there was a reception, at which a number
of eminent persons were presented to the Duke.

I am not sufficiently versed in the details of fire department
management in great cities to offer an opinion on the merits of any
particular system. I have seen many fires in my life, and I can only
suppose that if the present arrangements are nearly perfect in any one
place fires must be regarded as invincible, and fire departments can
only report progress and stay the march of the well-called devouring
element towards universal sway. Alderman Waite was very anxious that
the Duke, as an expert, should have an opportunity of seeing
officially the working of the New York system, and it was arranged
that what was styled another "impromptu" should be made.

On our way from dinner at Mr. Pierrepoint's to a fire station near our
hotel we had to pass the house in the Fifth Avenue where Mr. Edison's
head-quarters are situated, and the party turned in to pay him a
visit. We found him, a bright-eyed, smooth-faced, broad-browed, almost
boyish-looking man, with a pleasant, gentle manner, literally in a
blaze of his own making, as far as the manifestation of the electric
light was concerned, in a room clear as day, in which Edison lamps
were doing the work of the sun, or of a moon with sunny proclivities.
He turned his lights off and on at discretion. Coal-owners and gas
share proprietors trembled. "But," said Mr. Edison, "there is a great
deal yet to be done." And indeed the world is wide enough for gas and
electric lighting--for old Captain Shandy and the new blue bottle.

Whilst the Duke and his friends were visiting Mr. Edison there was a
small gathering of gentlemen on their way to the quarters of Engine
Company No. 4 in Eighteenth Street, near Broadway, where we speedily
joined them, and saw a repetition of the business of last night. The
engine was reposing in its bedroom--the horses, near at hand, were at
work in their cribs and mangers. Foreman Shay strikes a gong and
manipulates an electric bell, and down tumbles at once, ready for
work, a gang of firemen from their beds in the room above, and in an
instant lead out the horses, which rush to the shafts, are harnessed
at once by a detachment of the harness, all ready above them hanging
from the roof, by the electric power of the station, and are in
galloping trim in 2 minutes 30 seconds. This was done several times;
the horses seemed to like it more than the firemen. The Alderman and
the Fire Commissioners, and others were much pleased at the expression
of the Duke's satisfaction, and a gentleman whom I regarded with much
interest on account of his title (which I commend to our army
reformers), "Fire Master" Sheldon, was especially gratified. It would
seem as if the title was honorary or undeserved, for there is no
master of fire in New York, as several conflagrations during our stay
in the city proved in a very conclusive manner. But in order to show
how a fire ought to be put out the Duke, instead of going to bed, was
taken off to the corner of Twelfth Street on Fifth Avenue, after the
inspection of the premises, stables, sleeping-rooms, and office. The
Fire Commissioners, marshals, and aldermen trooped in front of us till
we come to the "alarm," which lived in a little pillar-looking box by
the side of the kerbstone. The Duke, properly instructed _ad hoc_,
turned on the alarm, and hey presto!--well, nearly so--the effect of
his operations became manifest.

Be it noted that our small crowd at the corner of a street close to
the most dignified thoroughfare in New York attracted little or no
notice from the passers-by; but presently there was a thunder of
wheels and hoofs, and a cry of "Hi! hi!" up Fifth Avenue, and vomiting
out sparks of fire, snorting, and curveting, came down the engine of
our friend Captain Shay from Eighteenth Street, No. 14, in 2' 5"; and
in fast succession rushed up engine No. 18, from Tenth, Greenwich
Avenue, in 2' 40"; No. 3 Hook and Ladder, from Thirteenth, near Fourth
Avenue, in 3'; No. 33, from Mercer Street, near Fourth, in 3' 25"; the
Insurance Patrol from Great Tower Street in 4'; and No. 5 Hook and
Ladder Company, from Charles Street, in 4' 25". It was very fine to
see these engines and their attendants as they made night hideous
hastening to the summons, and then ranging up in order to begin, for
which there was happily no need. A strong patrol of police came up at
the double, formed across the road, charged the crowd to keep them
back, and made a resolute demonstration of physical force on the Duke
as he was in the act of examining an engine; but such interludes
speedily lost all interest in the necessity which presented itself for
working out the law of self-preservation, for a special call having
been made for the self-propelling engine, No. 24, from Morton Street,
near Hudson, and in 6' 15" that fearful mechanism made its
appearance--a veritable Stromboli on wheels, and apparently quite wild
with fine spirits, and perfectly unmanageable, for it went rampaging
up and down the Avenue, vomiting fire and sending the spectators
flying for their lives. The hydrant was opened, and the cold water had
a calming effect on No. 24, which began to propel a strong jet of
water down the Avenue, and, after covering itself with glory and some
unwary passers-by with wet, was taken off, and our little party broke
up for the night.

_April 28th._--Our last day in New York! Our visit to the Empire City
was just long enough to satisfy us that it would need a longer sojourn
than we could afford to enable us to gain even a general idea of its
sights and institutions, and a lifetime to exhaust its hospitality. We
perched for a moment on the rim of the Circean bowl and flew off after
a glance at the surface, not taking even a sip of the contents, unless
the dinner at Mr. Edwards Pierrepoint's pleasant house, the feast of
Spartan simplicity at Delmonico's, where every dish was a culinary
triumph, and the glasses were charged with wines of race, could be
likened to a draught.

"Surgit amari aliquid de fonte." I wonder who was behind "Box 2174,
Post Office, New York"? Because we all had a circular to-day
containing two printed papers, one entitled "Who is my neighbour?" the
other, "Shall the Victors of Spitzkop fight in vain?" in which
reference was made to that box as the centre of an organisation--based
on the supposition that there is an ever-present feeling of hate to
England in the mind of the American people, which, I believe, is
erroneous--to make a war against Great Britain for the purpose of
assisting the Boers to obtain the restoration of their independence.
The man behind the box, however, stated his case artfully and
forcibly, if not truthfully. He declared that the immediate and
provocative cause of the annexation of the Transvaal was the attempt
of the "Republic" to construct a railway to Delagoa Bay. "Alas, they
did not know the depths of English hate and English greed! First the
English missionary, next the English Consul, and then her hireling
soldiery. This is the policy of England--first lies, next intrigue,
then butchery." There was an appeal to Mr. Gladstone, however,
following one "to the American people," which argued that the man
behind the box had more confidence in the former than in the latter,
though they were reminded and adjured "We have fought for the African!
Let us now fight for the Africander!" and there were model resolutions
to be adopted at imaginary public meetings; the last of all
was--"Resolved: That we advise the English masses to take the
government of their country into their own hands, for their dukes,
their earls, their knights, and their lords and their merchant princes
can only lead them in the future as they are now doing, and have done
in the past, to war, dishonour, desolation, death, debt, misery, and
taxes." The appeal terminated with some doggerel, headed "War Song of
the Africanders." Some one else sent us numbers of a comic
periodical, with a woodcut of our respectable old British Lion, in a
shako and uniform, retreating precipitately from a very bandit-looking
person, with the words, "The British Lion meets a Real Live White
Man!"

If Americans are subjected in England to the same fire of paper
projectiles that was opened on the Duke and his friends, there is some
reason for their avoiding our country. Circulars we are accustomed to
at home--announcements of alarming sacrifices and reckless sale we can
bear with patience. But here we have ways and means revealed to us of
achieving absolute health, wealth, and happiness--patents and
portents--mechanical inventions certain to "annihilate both time and
space," and make "investors" happy--parents with children to be
adopted--patent safes--veritable El Dorados--mines of gold and
silver--medicines of subtlest power--agricultural implements--chemical
products--hair dyes--new motive forces--astrologers burning to reveal
the secrets of the world of spirits and stars--mediums palpitating
with anxiety for conference and confidence--the Atomic Steam Coal Gas
Reform's disciples insisting on our using their gas "made from refuse
coal-dust and steam" and joining the "National Gas Reform Syndicate."

Having completed all our baggage arrangements and handed the pile over
to Mr. Trowbridge, the obliging agent of the London and North-Western
Railway, to see safely stowed in the special train at the other side
of the river, we drove down to the wharf, where the steamer
"_Juniata_," chartered by our indefatigable hosts, the Philadelphia
Railway Company, was awaiting us. We embarked, and made an agreeable
excursion up and down the river, inspecting the termini of the
railways and the corn elevators, and passing under the great bridge
which is to connect Brooklyn with the city. The lively aspect of the
waterway, crowded with shipping, and the incessant movement of the
vast ferry-boats and steamers, impressed us greatly. When one thinks
that it is not three centuries ago since Henry (whom the Americans
persist in calling Hendrick) Hudson made his way up the stream and
began the civilising processes on the Red man, which have ended in
their disappearance, New York, with its forest of steeples and
chimneys, and great elevators, is indeed a marvel. At the beginning of
this century its population was very little over 60,000; last year it
was 1,207,000.

The four Commissioners sent over by Charles II. "to reduce the Colony
into bounds" in 1664, who, August 29, "marched with 300 red-coats to
Manhadoes and took from the Dutch the chief town, then called New
Amsterdam, now New York, and turned out their Governor, with a Silver
Leg, and all the rest but those who acknowledged subjection to the
King of England, suffering them to enjoy their houses and estates as
before," had a very easy task if the old book[4] from which I quote be
correct. "Thirteen days after," continues the writer, "Sir Robert
Carr took the fort and town of Aurania, now called Albany, and twelve
days after that the fort and town of Avasapha, then Delaware Castle,
manned with Dutch and Swedes, so that the English are now masters of
three handsome towns, three strong forts, and a castle, without the
loss of one man." In those days New York was reputed a large place,
"containing five hundred well-built houses of Dutch brick, the meanest
not valued under one hundred pounds--to the landward it is encompassed
with a wall of good thickness, and fortified at the entrance of the
river, so as to command any ship that passeth that way, by a fort
called James Fort." The inhabitants "were supplied with venison and
fowl in the winter and fish in the summer by the Indians at an easie
price, and had a considerable trade for the skins of elkes, deers,
bears, beaver, otter, racoon, and other rich furs." These Indians are
described as well proportioned, swarthy, black-haired, very expert
with their bows and arrows, very serviceable and courteous to the
English, being of a ready wit and very apt to receive instruction from
them, "but there are now but few Indians on the island, being
strangely decreased since the English first settled there, for not
long ago there were six towns full of them which are now reduced to
two villages, the rest being cut off by wars among themselves or some
raging mortal diseases." The question arises, however, how it was that
these wars and diseases did not reduce the numbers of the Indians
before the arrival of the English, and the answer might point to the
theory that the latter had had something to do with the spread of
both. And, indeed, the author soon tells the terrible secret of it
all. "They are very great lovers of strong drink, so that without they
have enough to be drunk they care not to drink at all--if any happen
to be drunk before he has taken his share, which is ordinarily a quart
of brandy, rum, or strong waters, to show their justice they will pour
the rest down his throat, in which debauches they often kill one
another, which the friends of the dead revenge upon the murtherer." He
declares they are descendants of the Jews, and gives some curious
reasons for it. In another place the author says, "Don't abuse them,
but let them have justice and you win them. The worst is that they are
the worse for the Christians, who have propagated their vices and have
given them tradition for ill, and not for good things." Alas, that it
should be so! How little was the pious prayer he offers heard on High!
"I beseech God to incline the hearts of all that come into these parts
to outlive the knowledge of the Natives by a fixed obedience to their
greater knowledge of the will of God, for it were miserable indeed for
us to fall under the just censure of the poor Indian conscience whilst
we make profession of things so far transcending it." What Nemesis has
followed the wrong the English white man rendered to his fellow? None,
I trow.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] 'My Diary North and South,' vol. i. p. 17. Bradbury and Evans,
London, 1863.

[3] At starting, the party formed a common purse, which was placed in
the hands of Mr. Neale, and a most excellent Chancellor of the
Exchequer he proved from our departure to cross the Atlantic till he
left us to return to England.

[4] "The Present State of His Majesties Isles and Territories in
America, &c. London: Printed by H. Clark, for Dorman Newman, at the
King's Arms, in the Poultry, 1687."




CHAPTER III.

DEPARTURE FOR PHILADELPHIA.

     Our Special Train -- On the Rail -- Eye-sores -- The
     Quaker City -- The Pennsylvania Railroad -- Reminiscences
     -- Excursions -- The New Public Buildings -- Mr. Childs
     and "The Ledger" -- Mr. Simon Cameron -- Baltimore --
     Arrival at Washington.


At 12.30 we landed at the Pennsylvania Terminus or Depôt, where our
special train was in readiness, consisting of several Pullman
palace-cars and the private car of President Roberts, and a staff of
smart, well-uniformed coloured waiters, and, as we found, with an
ample store of creature comforts. At the Depôt the experts examined
the whole system of transportation of freight, stowage, passenger
traffic, and baggage checking. As far as I could gather from Mr. Neale
and the Directors, who applied their minds to the subject, the
American system of checking luggage offers no advantages which would
recommend its introduction in England, although it may be, and is, no
doubt, exceedingly well suited to the United States, where passengers
may have to travel thousands of miles continuously over different
lines of railway with many breaks. It seemed to our London and
North-Western Directors that English travellers would not put up with
the delays which would be experienced in the transportation of their
baggage from the railway stations to the hotels, under the American
check system, and that they would prefer a short detention when the
train arrived, in order to pick out their own property and carry it
away with them bodily.

Presidents and vice-presidents of railways in this country are great
powers, and exercise vast influence, if not in the State, at least on
their own lines--aye, and farther too. On one occasion I was informed,
when inquiring into the functions of the several officers of a great
company, that one of them was charged especially with looking after
those interests of the railway which might be affected by
legislation--in other words, that he had to see lest the company
should suffer detriment from the views of persons who might be
returned to positions in which they might carry out theories dangerous
to their monopoly. The distance from New York to Philadelphia is
ninety miles, which, under ordinary circumstances, is traversed in two
hours and a half, or thereabouts; but our special was timed to do it
in considerably less. The train passes right through the streets of
Jersey City, which would be considered a large town in the old
country, and boasts of a population of nearly 90,000. As the bell of
the engine tolled, women and children skipped out of the way or ran
across the line, when they eluded the vigilance of the railway
officials who lowered ingenious barriers as the train approached. But
although they say "practice makes perfect," "killed by the cars" is a
very ordinary head-line in the American newspapers. The country
outside "Jersey City," which is like an ugly continuation of New York,
is flat and uninteresting, but the low land which the railroad
traverses is dotted by factories and industrial establishments of all
kinds. We were soon aware that we were carrying with us the plague of
hideous advertisements plastered upon walls, and even upon the natural
features of the country, which we had observed in the environs of New
York. From imperious commands to "smoke" somebody's "mixture" down to
wheedling supplications to "use" somebody else's "oil," the eye
encountered at every hundred yards on the hoardings, on the sides of
houses, on trees and palings, the mendacious advertisements of quack
doctors and sellers of patent or unpatent nostrums, frequently
illustrated by woodcuts set forth in glaring colours. So close to
Jersey City that we were scarcely aware that it was separated from it
by a few fields, we came to Newark, a great town of brick and wood
houses, chimneys, factories, and churches, containing more than
120,000 people, and as we ran through the streets we got glimpses of
some fine-looking buildings, of which we have nothing more to say.

Then came Elizabeth City, with many well-to-do houses and country
seats around, and some small mansions with patches of ground, which
would not be quite dignified with the name of "park" in England. "New
Brunswick," a manufacturing town of 20,000 people, thirty-two miles
from New York, was specially commended to our notice on account of
the College called Rutgers', and a few miles farther on we were told
that we were passing Princetown College, which is one of the most
celebrated institutions in the United States. "Trenton," the capital
of New Jersey, is famous for its potteries, but to us it was chiefly
attractive in connection with lunch, and we were whirled past the
State House, the Penitentiary, and Lunatic Asylum at a speed
unfavourable for the calm contemplation of the town which Washington
made historical by the defeat he inflicted on the unfortunate subjects
of the Grand Duke of Hesse, in the pay of King George. The conviction
is growing upon my mind that the party of travellers, of which I have
the honour of being one, is not likely to have much experience of
actual American railway life, or much knowledge of the ordinary
conditions in which people live in the United States. It is neither
our fault nor misfortune that we are so specially well taken care of;
but my recollection of what the traveller had to endure in crowded
railway cars in former days, and in the rush and scuffle at the
_tables d'hôte_ of the hotels, whilst it induces me to congratulate
myself and our friends on our exemption from such trials, is a
satisfactory demonstration that we are not likely to gain much insight
into the manners and customs of those who, like ourselves, are
wandering over the face of the Union.

Passing a very small Bristol, the train brought us in sight of
Philadelphia, where we were safely handed over to a number of
gentlemen who were awaiting our arrival with most hospitable intent,
and thence we were driven to the Continental Hotel. In the drive
through the streets between the railway terminus and the hotel, our
friends were very much struck by the fine appearance of the town,
which was far superior to New York in the cleanliness of the streets,
and quite rivalled the Empire City in the display in the shop-windows
and the gay appearance of the large establishments in the main
thoroughfares. At the Continental Hotel there was the usual crowd in
the hall, before whom we had to defile on our way to our rooms, after
the necessary process of inscription in the hotel registry. Then after
a short interval for repose we made an excursion through the city, and
drove out to the beautiful grounds of Fairmount Park, "the largest in
any city in the world," in which stands all that remains of the
buildings of the Great Exhibition. If I were writing a guide-book I
might give some details, out of many with which our friends favoured
us, respecting the World's Fair and the Quaker City, but I am rather
inclined to make this a narrative of what we did. Marvellous as are
most of the great cities in the States, in relation to their recent
origin and extension, Philadelphia, which has a respectable antiquity,
is entitled to a high place amongst the wondrous works of American
man. In an old book which I came across, describing the colonies and
settlements as they were 200 years ago, an anonymous writer, under the
date of 1682, says:--"Philadelphia, our intended metropolis, is to be
two miles long, and a mile broad. At each end it lies upon a
navigable river. Besides the High Street that runs in the middle from
river to river, and which is 100 feet broad, it has eight streets laid
out to run the same course which are 50 feet broad. Besides Broad
Street, which crosses the town in the middle, which is 100 feet broad,
there are twenty streets that run the same course, also 50 feet broad.
The names of these are to be taken from the things that spontaneously
grow in this country, such as the Vine, the Mulberry, the Chestnut,
Walnut, Filbert, and the like." And there, sure enough, they were
inscribed on the corners of the houses as they are to be seen at this
day.

At the Continental Hotel, which must be classed among the number, not
very large, of first-class hotels in the Old and New World, we found
the dining saloons, halls, passages, and the street in front
illuminated by the electric light, which will probably come into use
in similar establishments in London in a generation or two; and in the
room in which we dined two electric burners were doing the work which
ten gas chandeliers each with ten burners were wont to do, as was
apparent from their neglected splendour.

The Pennsylvania Railway authorities, represented by Mr. G. B.
Roberts, Mr. F. Thomson, and others, did all that lay in their power
(and that was great) to enable us to turn our visit to the best
account. But it was trying, after all our efforts, to leave so much
unseen, and yet be obliged to confess that our powers were taxed by
trying to see too much. And the same remarks apply to our journey
throughout, which, as my readers will see if they care to read, was
performed under high pressure almost from the beginning to the end.
There was something more than an exhibition of mere courtesy towards
brother directors in the attention paid by the representatives of the
great American railway company to the party. They had reason to show
attention to Mr. Crosfield, the Auditor, for he had rendered them
substantial service, I was told--and I need not say it was not Mr.
Crosfield who gave me the information--on one occasion, when they were
engaged in a financial operation in London, by testifying to the
satisfactory condition of their affairs and accounts. They got their
money forthwith. Whatever may be the length and capital of other great
railways in the States, our experience, I may say at once, was that in
the excellence of the permanent way and carriages, punctuality and
speed, the Pennsylvania was not excelled, if closely approached, by
any. It is a great corporation. The four general divisions (of which
each is subdivided, to the discomfiture somewhat of students of
time-tables) of the line comprise 1845 miles, and it is stated that
the Company is engaged in extensive absorptions and acquisitions, and
that many little lines will be "bolted," and I hope digested, in due
course. Their capital is too serious and complicated a matter for me
to deal with, but I believe we wise men from the East were convinced
that it is as sound as the ground on which the line runs, though I
shall not forget the look of incredulity with which one of the
gentlemen in the train with us heard the answer to his question
respecting the capital of the London and North-Western. "A hundred
millions! Dollars, of course, you mean?" "No, sir, a hundred millions
sterling." After a while incredulity gave place to respectful
admiration. "Five hundred million dollars. Well! that's a big pile,
I'll allow." The appearance of Philadelphia caused a most agreeable
surprise to the party, and Chestnut Street was voted to excel Broadway
in the elegance and magnificence of the shops, although it cannot
boast--nor, as far as I know, can any city in the world--of such a
colossal store as Stewart's. We especially admired the Park and the
Girard Bridge, one of the grandest and most beautiful in existence;
but the object which challenged the admiration of the visitors more
than anything they had seen so far was the vast pile in which the
public departments are to find their gorgeous home, the effect of
which will, some of us think, be spoiled rather than enhanced by the
portentous clock-tower which is to be raised to a height that shall
dwarf all known steeples, campaniles or towers in the two hemispheres
by many gratifying feet.

To strangers, interesting and attractive, with many fine buildings and
noble public institutions to show, Philadelphia is connected with the
most important events in the early life of the Republic, and possesses
for an American larger and more numerous souvenirs of the fathers of
the Union and of their labours than any other place on the Continent.
From some points in the park there is a good _coup d'oeil_ to be
obtained of the monuments, churches, and undulating sea of roofs
between the Schuylkill and the Delaware. The Girard Bridge, on the
way, is one of the finest in the world. On every side there was much
to admire, but the sun was blazing and fierce--unusually so--and at
last we sought the shades of the Continental. There was none very soon
after our arrival, for the hotel was, as I have said, illuminated by
electricity. I could not recognise the place in which I had once stood
in a time of wild excitement. "Sumter was to be relieved!" A throng of
men discussing the news that was destined to lead to such stupendous
results, so dense I could not make my way to the office where there
was now only a crowd of some dozen people waiting to see "this Duke
and the Britishers." The clerk, or one of those gentlemen in the
office who control the destinies of travellers and visitors to hotels
in the States, remembered the time well. He had served in a
Pennsylvania regiment (not one of those which went away from McDowell
the morning of Bull Run), and had been lieutenant, if not captain, and
now, like many of his comrades in higher places, he was engaged in
civil pursuits. Many interviews, and to bed.

_April 29th._--The Duke was carried off at an early hour to begin the
work of the day, into which was to be crammed many inspections and
sights. These tell on the tourists somewhat; for as we are handed
over, day after day, from one important body of ever kind and
indefatigable guides and hosts, we are, of course, paying with our
persons, whereas, for those on whom we descend there is but a few
hours' hard labour, and then comes repose to them and "good-bye" to
us. There is an eminently respectable air about Philadelphia; the
shops in the main streets are attractive and beautiful; the citizens
look prosperous; the vehicles are soberly luxurious, and the horses
sleek. The Auditor, who belongs to the Society of which the founder of
the State and city was the great ornament and chief, finds himself at
home among many "Friends," and albeit they do not generally affect the
attire of the sect, and the broad-brimmed hats, upright collars,
single-breasted coats, and knee-breeches of sober hue, of the men, and
the coal-scuttle bonnets, square, plain collars, and straight-cut
cloth dresses of the women, have given place to garments of modern
fashion, the good people called Quakers still form a numerous and
influential community. We were told, and I believe truly, that there
are more house-proprietors--that is, more people who own the houses
they live in--in the population than in any city of the Union; and I
was struck by the immense number of dwellings of moderate dimensions,
all trim and nice, freshly painted, with flowers in the windows, and
little gardens of which we caught glimpses in our early drives through
the clean, neat, well-ordered streets. There was a lunch or breakfast
at the house of General and President Roberts to fortify the party for
a minute inspection of the terminus of the Pennsylvania Railroad at
Fifteenth and Filbert Street, where all the arrangements for
freighting and unloading the trains and for the great passenger
traffic were explained and closely examined, and then they were
conducted to the Elevated Road, and found a special train of Pullman
palace-cars waiting to convey them to West Philadelphia; and a
distinguished company of railway and other potentialities--Mr. G. A.
Childs; Vice-Presidents Cassatt, Kneass, and Strickland; Mr. Dubarry,
President of the Philadelphia and Erie Company; a number of
directors--Messrs. Morris, Felton, Biddle, Shortridge, Cummins, Welsh,
&c.--of the main line; Mr. Hinckley, President of the Philadelphia,
Wilmington, and Baltimore Company; Mr. Griscom, of the International
Navigation Company; Mr. Drexel, and many others, to do them honour.
The drawing-rooms of the cars were ornamented with bouquets of the
most lovely flowers; it is a never-failing and always welcome
compliment, and Americans rival Parisians in the love, skill, and
taste they display in the arrangement of these floral triumphs. The
party visited Greenwich Point and Girard Point, and I saw with alarm
some stupendous elevators in the distance, for the sun was exceedingly
powerful, and we had already been called upon to witness the storage
of corn _non sine pulvere_, at the terminus, but our kindly guardians
were not imperative, and an outside view was all that was demanded of
us. Passing under the Market Street bridge by the west bank of the
river, and crossing to the east side by the line to the Delaware, we
found a steamer waiting for us, in which we embarked, and were treated
to a very pleasant excursion along the front of the city by water, to
Port Richmond and to the freight station, where more elevators menaced
us, but were appeased by external worship. The railway cognoscenti
declared that all the details of the railroad management, and the
sheds, warehouses, &c., were excellent, and this they did before the
lunch (No. 2) which awaited the party at the offices of the
Pennsylvania Railway in Fourth Street, whereof certain terrapin
arrangements elicited expressions of much approval. After lunch, the
party were led off, with re-invigorated powers, to visit Independence
Hall, calling on Mayor Mr. King, at his office _en route_. Here there
were more introductions, and Mr. Mayor, a bland and genial gentleman,
made pretty little speeches to his visitors--"welcomed them as well on
account of their distinction among the governing influences of their
country, as for their useful mission in effecting an interchange of
ideas in connection with improvements in transportation of products
and diffusion of commerce." (Not a word of protective duties, Mr.
Mayor!) From the Mayor's presence to Independence Hall was but a short
way, and after we had inspected the building and its contents (_vide_
Guide-Books), we were taken on to "_The Ledger_" Office, which is one
of the sights of Philadelphia, as Mr. Childs is one of the
institutions which his friends would desire to be immortal if that
were possible, and the Duke and his friends were received with much
courtesy by the learned, urbane, and energetic gentleman, who, having
built up a fortune as well as one of the finest newspaper offices in
the world, devotes the former to most worthy and liberal objects, and
directs in the latter a journal of the highest reputation for literary
excellence and political honesty.

Bibliopolery and bibliomania are rather rampagious in America. Were
not Caxton and Wynkyn de Worde ancestors of English born in America as
well as of English born in England? And who shall say Shakespeare is
not the common property of the Anglo-Saxon race wherever they are
found? As to that "_quae regio in terris_," &c. When I was in New York
the other day, I was shown the outside of a house on the borders of
the Central Park, filling an entire block from Seventieth to
Seventy-first Street, and of the interior I heard such an account from
"Uncle Sam" that I felt burglarious proclivities, which were
restrained possibly by physical feebleness and the chastening
reflection that I could not dispose of my plunder without the
certainty of detection. It was the Lenox Library, containing priceless
early Bibles, Shakespeares, and the like, in addition to treasures of
art and _belles lettres_ of the highest order, guarded by a one-headed
Cerberus who would not let us in when we sought admission later in the
year, for the same reason that London clubs are closed in the autumn.
I dare say I could have obtained admission to the Lenox Hospital close
at hand had I been duly qualified. Here in Philadelphia Mr. Childs has
a library which, _tout vu_, is a credit to his taste and his industry,
and which is rich in the autographic letters of English and American
authors and MSS. In a small pamphletette from Robinson's 'Epitome of
Literature' there is a very pleasant account of some of the treasures
of the collection, and Mr. Childs is as liberal as the day in the
display of them to all who desire to see them.

From "_The Ledger_" Office _en route_ once more. There was still the
new City Hall to inspect--a day's work in itself. A short drive
brought us to the stupendous mass; Mr. Perkins, President of the
Commission, and Mr. McArthur, the architect, received the Duke and his
friends, and led them over some portion of the vast erection. It would
be impossible, without a series of photographs, to give an idea of the
"New Public Buildings," as they are called, which are described as "an
immense architectural pile," occupying an area of four and a half
acres under one roof, in a square of 428 feet, which with the
projections for convenience and architectural effect are extended on
the flanks to 470 feet from east to west, and 486½ feet from north to
south. It is of the Renaissance, "modified and adapted," as the
architect states, "to the varied and extensive requirements" of the
great American municipality. I am sorry to say that amongst these is
included the necessity for a clock-tower or campanile so out-Heroding
Herod in its enormous altitude and ungainly bulk as to give in the
architectural drawing an idea of comparative meanness to the bold
elevation of the building below. It would seem as if the people of
Philadelphia were bent upon emulating the Tower of Babel, or at all
events of thrusting up towards heaven a shaft of stone which should be
far nearer to it than anything hitherto erected by the hand of man;
for this clock-tower is to be reared to such a height, that the centre
of the clock-face shall be 361 feet above the level of the pavement.
The diameter of the face of the clock is in proportion--20 feet--and
even that will not be too much for time-keeping in such an elevated
position. Those who revel in such details ought really to get the
account of the contractor's work, of the 46,000,000 of bricks, and the
476,000 cubic feet of marble, and of the excavations and tonnage of
iron used up already in this building, which is to contain the city
offices, the law offices of the State, the military headquarters, and
in fact everything State and municipal that requires a local
habitation and a name for administrative and executive purposes. The
reasons for such a creation were well set forth in the oration of Mr.
Benjamin Brewster, on the occasion of the laying of the corner stone
seven years ago. It causes one to think what "posterity" means when it
is used as a phrase to express the people who live after us according
to the orator's position, as we read that amongst those whose names
posterity will not willingly let die are "Rittenhouse and Bush,
Godfrey and Bartram." British posterity very probably would hear of
the extinction of these respected memories without a pang--American
posterity is called upon to keep them alive for ever. But tall
buildings are appropriately inaugurated by tall talk. Penn and
Franklin, it must be admitted, notwithstanding the somewhat narrow
view of the character of the Great Quaker taken by very eminent
historians in this country, were certainly men deserving well of
their fellows, and to be remembered always on the American Continent,
and on those portions of the earth where English is the language and
English ideas are found; but why should the others "be passed down
through time linked with Solon, Lycurgus, Pythagoras, Archimedes,
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, the crowned monarchs of human
thought"?

There was still a visit to be paid to the Academy of Fine Arts, and I
can answer for myself at least when I say it was, though it came last,
the most agreeable incident in the long day's work. It is an
institution of which the promoters may boast with every reason, and
which must in time develop the taste and skill of native artists, of
which its walls already exhibit creditable specimens.

One little incident of the visit was amusing. In one of the rooms, by
way of a surprise to the Duke, and to give a local colour to the place
in his eyes, there was in waiting, amidst a group of lady pupils and
students of the sculpture models, a full-dressed Highlander. He was
all alive, too, and made his bow very nicely, but he was exceedingly
disconcerted when the Duke exclaimed, "He has got on his plaid over
the wrong shoulder." The Highlander, amid the laughter which followed
the remark, merely said in good American, "I'm not a Scotchman nor a
Highlander at all." I believe there are many in the kilted regiments
at home who might make a similar confession. He had been evidently
dressed after a photograph, and the plaid reversed.

In development of public spirit and wealth, in the beautiful park, the
public buildings, the scientific and literary societies, and
commercial activity, the city possesses an indefeasible title to be
considered the real capital of the State of Pennsylvania.

_April 30th._--After three separate heads had popped in at my bedroom
this morning and popped back again, seeing that it was "tubbing" time,
at 8 A.M. I bolted the door and proceeded to finish my business.
Desperate attempts to get in--knock! knock! knock! "You can't come in!
I'm undressed!" "Only for a minute!" "I tell you I'm undressed." A
card was pushed under the door. Presently I go to the spot, and find
on the card in pencil, "S. Cameron, Harrisburg, Pa." It was my old
friend, the venerable ex-Senator of Pennsylvania, Mr. Lincoln's first
War Secretary, Simon Cameron! I hurried down-stairs to the office. Mr.
Cameron was not staying in the Hotel. After a time it was ascertained
that he was quartered at the Girard House, nearly opposite, but he was
not in, and I had to go away without seeing him.

At 10.30 we bade good-bye to Philadelphia and many friends, and
departed in a special train for Baltimore (98 miles) by the
Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railway on our way to
Washington. In Mr. Hinckley, the President of the line, who
accompanied us and told us he was about to be boa-constrictored by the
P. R. R., we found a delightful companion, and a most agreeable guide;
a man of wit and travel, full of observation and anecdote; a
sportsman, a naturalist, as well as a railway president; conversant
with prairie and Indian life, abounding in anecdote concerning beasts,
birds, devil-fish, grizzlies, buffaloes, Red men, as well as the
newest devices and dodges of civilised life in the dreadful forms of
oleomargarine, butterine, glucose, and the like. Just imagine the
atrocity of filling bee-hives with glucose, and selling them as
charged with bee-made honey! Fancy, again, the ingenuity of providing
the industrious little hymenoptera with artificial hives, with cells
and all complete, made out of gutta-percha or papier-mâché, or the
like, so that the bee is free to expend all his energy in storing up
honey at once, and need not bestow a thought upon making wax, or
gathering the materials for it!

The line of railway to Baltimore passes through a populous,
unattractive country, which seemed exceedingly prosperous. On our way
we passed the oldest city in the State, which, though it bears the
name of Chester, was founded by the Swedes about the time of our Civil
War, shortly before the raising of the standard by Charles I. It is
now remarkable for the ship-building yards of a gentleman of Irish
origin, named Roach, and the Swedes have all vanished. A little
farther on is the Brandywine River, on which, in 1777, was fought the
battle which the Americans have somehow persuaded themselves was a
victory. The stones set up to mark "Mason and Dixon's Line" are near
Newark, close to Maryland, and the special was stopped to enable us to
visit them. Mr. Hinckley told us some very interesting facts connected
with the original survey, the dispute between Lord Baltimore and the
colony of Pennsylvania concerning their boundaries, the verification
of the original survey by the Special Commissioners, and knocked
several ignorant delusions on the head.

There was but one expression of feeling at our departure--one of
regret; into our short stay in Baltimore, which we reached in a couple
of hours, there was compressed so much cordiality and hospitable
intent that we were beggared even in thanks. There was a drive with
Mayor Latrobe through the city and Druid Park, following an excursion
down the harbour and Fort M'Henry in a steamer, visits to elevators
and wharfs and landing-piers, and lunches without speechmaking, all to
be got through ere the special resumed the run to Washington, of which
the Capitol loomed in sight just as the last rays of the sun shot up
from behind the ridge which I remember white with the tents of the
army of the Union. The long drive to Rigg's House--a magnificent
creation of the last few years--was a succession of surprises; new
streets, splendid mansions, smooth pavements, electric lights, private
carriages, an animated crowd of well-dressed, pleasant-looking people
in Pennsylvania Avenue, reminiscences of Paris and New Vienna all
around us, instead of mud and closed shutters, gloom, and "John
Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave" sounding out of patriotic
cellars, horses tethered to every tree, orderlies galloping, patrols
marching, and the noise of never-ending convoys of warlike stores. It
was indeed a happy change. _Si sic omnia, si sic semper!_




CHAPTER IV.

WASHINGTON.

     Heroes New and Old -- The Soldiers' Home -- The White
     House -- President Garfield -- His Visitors -- The Capitol
     -- Mount Vernon -- Mr. Blaine -- "On to Richmond!" --
     Fitzhugh Lee -- The Capitol, Return -- The Corcoran
     Gallery -- Sight-seeing.


_May 1st._--Such a May-day as our poets sang of ere there was a change
of style, and of climate too! A local paper remarks that "the
remarkable facility with which an Englishman takes to water under
certain conditions was exhibited by the word 'bath' appended on the
register of the hotel to the name of every gentleman of the party;"
but it was not quite so easy to obtain the thing as to write the word.
However, everything comes to him who knows how to wait, and we were
all provided at last. By some mischance it was ordered that we should
have a private room (No. 32), instead of breakfasting in the common
room, which was large and airy, and our "aristocratic exclusiveness,"
which was quite involuntary, was punished by immurement in an
_inferno_ which daylight could not reach, and which was perforce
illuminated by gas. It was "_ad suffocandum_," as Dr. Syntax would
say, hot and stuffy. There was a great clangour of church bells after
breakfast. The air was resonant with invitations, and we had choice of
many places and forms of worship. The Church of the Epiphany in our
street was near at hand, and those who attended there found a large
congregation, an excellent preacher, and a well-ordered service. Mr.
Victor Drummond gave the Duke and myself lunch at his lodgings, where
we met Lord G. Montagu and Mr. De Bunsen, of the Legation, and as we
walked to the house I had ample opportunities, though I still know the
names of my friends, of lamenting the effects of the "_longa oblivio_"
of which Juvenal writes, for the changes which have been made in the
city have obliterated most of the landmarks, and time has done the
rest. I could not identify "Jost's," where I lived for so many weeks
between the rout of Bull Run and the winter of McClellan's
preparations in 1861, nor quite satisfy myself as to the precise house
"in Seventeenth Street, at the corner of I," where so many anxious
days and nights were passed during "the Mason and Slidell"
_pourparlers_, and where "the Bold Buccaneers" were wont to meet.
There were new squares and streets in the way, and, moreover, there
were statues to heroes whose lights were then hidden under a bushel.
In addition to the colossal statue of Washington, by Clark Mills, at
the crossing of the Pennsylvania and New Hampshire Avenues, there are
the equestrian statue (heroic) of General Scott, by H. Brown, at the
crossing of Massachusetts and Rhode Island Avenues; Balls' enormous
and "characteristic" statue of Lincoln (paid for by negro
subscription) in Lincoln Park; an equestrian statue of Nathaniel
Greene, the revolutionary general; one of General Rawlins (to me an
unknown quantity--ignoramus that I am!). To these (most of them
"_buccæ bene notæ oppido_") must be added a statue of Admiral
Farragut, very like, but complicated by a ridiculous telescope; a fine
statue on horseback of General Thomas, one of the best of the Federal
generals (_pace_ General Grant and General Badeau); another of General
McPherson, who fell at Atalanta, and the Naval Monument, near the
Capitol, to the sailors who were killed in the Civil War. These were
all Federal heroes, and Washington is a Federal capital. I could not
but think how near it was, for the time at least, being a Confederate
capital after that memorable July day in 1861, when in despair Mr.
Lincoln crossed the Potomac to visit the only fortified port which lay
between Washington and the victorious but inept Southerners at
Manassas, and found the defenders in flagrant disobedience to orders.
But that time is as dead and gone as the period of the Wars of the
Roses, albeit the evil that men do lives after them, and the Southern
fire blazes no longer--it burns all the same.

Later in the day the Attorney-General, Mr. MacVeagh, drove the Duke
and myself out to the Soldiers' Home, which gave me another
opportunity for meditations, with which I shall not weary my readers.
The drive revealed new improvements and grand efforts on the part of
"the city of magnificent distances" to come to terms with its outlying
boundaries. How pure the air, how bright the sky, how fair the scene!
The wide expanse of roofs, the still waves of the ordered house-tops,
above which rose the rocky steeples, the colossal mass of the Capitol
on the Virginian shore, the rolling wooded heights of Arlington, the
Potomac shining like a sinuous belt of burnished gold in the setting
sun! It seemed so peaceful and so secure. And yet we are climbing to
"the Soldiers' Home," the outcome of one of the most sanguinary wars
of modern times, of which in one sense this District of Columbia was
the cause and end. It consists of a number of detached buildings of
stone or marble, on a high plateau broken into wooded dells and
undulating gently towards the south and west, where the ground dips so
as to give a fine view of the city some three miles away. The Home
stands in a large enclosed park (500 acres), and there is plenty of
land beside for the soldiers to cultivate for the benefit of the
institution. In these grounds there is a pleasant detached house,
which is set apart for the use of the President _pro tem._, when the
heat renders Washington more than usually abominable in summer time,
and Mr. MacVeagh said he thought it very possible the President would
move out as soon as he could. Mr. Lincoln was very fond of his
_villeggiatura_ here. As it was Sunday there was no work going on,
and, moreover, it was not easy, we found, for even an Attorney-General
of the Republic and a Minister of State to get in through the closed
gates, so the Duke got out of the phaeton which Mr. MacVeagh's fast
trotters had whirled up the steep at a creditable rate, and sought to
repeat the miracle of Samson at Gaza, but we managed to dispense with
it. Probably it was because of the day of rest so many old men were
crawling about the avenues smoking pipes, and looking very unhappy, I
thought. It struck me that there were many small and weak-looking
veterans among them--dwindled by the fatigues of war and lapse of
years--not such "stalwarts" as I remembered to have seen encamped at
Arlington yonder. There were men of all nations amongst them--many
Irish and Germans--and foreigners from all the corners of the earth;
but Northern American officers say, one and all, that the Americans
_pur sang_ bore the brunt of the fighting. Their uniform is neither
neat nor becoming; though neither the "Invalos" nor the Chelsea
Pensioners have much to boast of in their apparel, they have the
advantage of the U.S. veteran. The Duke was received at the central
building by the Commandant, to whom he was presented by the
Attorney-General, and we were shown over the library, sleeping-wards,
dining-rooms, &c., which have a strong family likeness all over the
world. A glance at the bookshelves enabled me to come to the
gratifying conclusion, and the English litterateur ought to take
comfort from the fact, that English literature solaces the leisure of
the American veteran very largely. The "_genius loci_" seems to be a
rather deplumed and demoralised-looking eagle, in a cage on the ground
outside the central building. I was reminded, as I surveyed his
"cadaverous aspect and battered beak," of Audubon's ineffectual
protest against the adoption of the bird as the symbol of the
Republic. I believe the "_aquila chrysaëtos_," the Golden Eagle, is
not known in America. The eagle which our cousins have taken up with
(though it has not two heads, is not black, and does not wear a crown)
is but a poor bald-headed falcon, of uncleanly habits and sordid
appetites, not very much given to use claws or beak against a vigorous
enemy--so, at least, wrote the naturalist--therefore very
inappropriate as the type of a brave, generous, and bellicose people.
As we turned citywards, the beauty of the landscape was glorified by
one of the sunsets which rival the most brilliant phenomena of the
kind in India after the monsoons, and Washington, bathed in purple,
looked every inch an empire city. The Duke and some others of the
party dined with Sir Edward Thornton in the evening, where we spent a
very pleasant time, and heard many interesting things about Washington
and its society.

_May 2nd._--This was indeed a busy day, in which were to be
concentrated, we found, many incidents not included in the
"programme." Early in the morning, that is, soon after breakfast,
amidst much bustle and business carried on in the presence of many
visitors--for we were obliged to make the most of our short stay in
Washington--the Duke received a message from the Secretary of State,
that the President of the United States would receive the party at the
White House, and that Mr. Blaine--having courteously sent his son to
act as our guide--would be in waiting to introduce them. And so about
10 o'clock we strolled out of the hotel and walked up the avenue
which leads by the Treasury Buildings to the residence of the chief
magistrate of the Great Republic. It is somewhat singular that books
of travel do not deal a little more with the really fine city which
Washington of late years has become--a capital worthy of so vast an
empire. On our way we had occasion to admire the grand frontage of the
National Buildings, which rise up close to the Presidential mansion,
and which cause the rather homely proportions of the latter to come
out in greater relief. There is an absence of state and of any
pretence of it in the approaches to the White House; no sentries, not
even a policeman on duty, and the only sign that it is not a private
citizen's residence about it are the open door and the appearance of
many persons passing unconcernedly in and out. A domestic in black
received the party at the entrance hall, and ushered them into a
waiting-room furnished in quiet and unobtrusive colours, without any
pretension to much decoration; and soon afterwards Mr. Blaine made his
appearance and led us into what is called the Blue Room, where we were
engaged for some moments in conversation with him. We were reminded
that the Executive Mansion was burned down by the British in 1814; but
it was quickly rebuilt, and was occupied four years afterwards. It is
not to be expected that with the modest appointments accorded to the
Presidential office there should be any great display of pictures or
of objects of art, but there were some exceedingly interesting Louis
Quinze and Quatorze clocks and _ameublements_ in the apartments, and
Mr. Blaine gave us several interesting particulars respecting their
acquisition, of which I have no memoranda. In fact, we were all too
much occupied with the expectation of the entrance of the President to
pay much attention to details. Presently our urbane guide left the
room, and returned in a moment followed by Mr. Garfield.[5] "In
appearance the President is striking, of erect, soldierly bearing,
above the middle height--in fact, very nearly six feet high--with
broad shoulders, and powerful, muscular, well-set frame. His head is
large, with a fine frontal development; eyes bright and penetrating,
of a mild and kindly expression; the mouth firm, and the jaw, as well
as contour can be traced beneath the full rich brown beard shaded with
grey, indicative of resolution and strength." In his manner the
President was exceedingly affable--courteous and simple--without any
of that ceremonious stiffness which is sometimes to be found amongst
Americans in official life, and his greeting to the strangers was most
kindly, as if he were welcoming friends whom he had known. He engaged
the Duke in conversation for a short time, all of the party having
been presented in turn, and then he addressed a few remarks to each of
them, principally about travelling in the States and the difference
that might be observed in the railway conveyances in this country and
our own. It is a custom for an American, when you are introduced to
him, to repeat your name, which strikes English people, but which, on
reflection, I think is eminently utilitarian. For example Mr.
Bickersteth is introduced. The President says: "Mr. Bickersteth, sir,
I am happy to know you!" We all know what a melancholy jumble is
frequently made of names in introductions; but the person whose name
may be mispronounced has, on the American principle, an immediate
opportunity of correcting any mistake, and of saying: "My name is not
Bickerstaff, it is Bickersteth"; and so on, as the case may be. When I
was presented to the President he said: "I think we have met before,
long ago. You brought us, Mr. Russell, the worst news that ever could
be heard by a people; but I do not suppose that you were much more
pleased with it than we were," or words to that effect. I said: "I
assure you, Mr. President, that no one was ever more unwilling than I
was to take such a ride and to bring back such news. I would much
rather have had a victory and a rest at the end of the day." "Well,"
he said, smiling, "we learnt our lesson, and I am sure that we were
very much the better for all you told us, though we did not quite
relish it at the time." As there were, at the Presidential hours of
reception, many people waiting for their turn, the interview was a
short one. These calls on the President must be a great, if a
necessary tax upon his time. In the grand parlour, called the East
Room, which is open from an early hour in the morning until three
o'clock, there is generally a gathering of some sort or other, and the
Blue, Red, and Green Rooms are also appropriated to the purposes of
audience, the private rooms of the President and his family being of
restricted number and size on the second floor. The day that we called
there was a delegation of one-armed and one-legged veterans with a
petition demanding that in Federal appointments preference should be
given to discharged soldiers and sailors; and the President seems to
have craftily met the requisition by declaring that he was heartily in
sympathy with them; that he would, so far as he was concerned, see
that preference should always be given to such disabled veterans,
there being equal competency among the candidates, which, as the
petitioners certainly had lost a leg or an arm each, might, _cæteris
paribus_, be held as hard to be established. Then there were all kinds
of senators, big and little (if there be such a thing as a little
senator), newspaper editors, city delegates urging the promotion of
particular men to different appointments, and mere idlers, who, having
nothing else to do, turned in and wanted to have a talk with the
President.

From the White House we were driven to the Capitol, which has
undergone great improvement since the time of the War. A little more,
however, remains to be done in the substitution of the real for the
sham; but it would be difficult perhaps to effect that completely. The
general effect of the building, which is exceedingly fine--though I
doubt if it can be fairly said to be "the most magnificent public
edifice in the world"--reminds one strongly of St. Peter's. It towers
above all the city, and can be seen from an immense distance. The
western front is perhaps the weakest portion of the building. In the
decorations of the interior there is much to be desired; and I hope it
is not offensive to say that the colossal statue of Washington on the
Esplanade in front of the central portico strikes me as being
pretentious rather than grand. There is a fine bronze door, cast at
Munich, commemorating the discovery of America by Columbus; but the
panels in the Rotunda, which have been painted by American artists,
are surely not in the best style of American art. It is not
remarkable, considering what the history of art is in England, that
the best works about the Capitol should have been executed by
foreigners, or at least by men with foreign names; but Crawford's
statue of Liberty on the ball over the Capitol is worthy of praise,
and is undoubtedly American. The Hall of Representatives is a fine
apartment with very little ornamentation. There is a portrait of
Washington, as a matter of course, and another of Lafayette, and there
are two good pictures by Bierstadt in panels on the wall. At the time
of our visit there was what they call "nothing" going on in the Senate
Chamber. The senators, each at his little desk, were mostly engaged in
writing notes or reading newspapers. In the chair sat Mr. Arthur, the
Vice-President, a massive man in the prime of life, with a large
round head and face, whose look gave one the impression that he might
be a person of great common sense without any pronounced ability or
character, his expression, perhaps, being that of benevolent sagacious
repose. But there seemed to us a good deal going on, because a
gentleman was engaged in denouncing in a highly excited manner some
other gentleman for his conduct in reference to a proposition before
the House, that had been occupying them for many days. "He has been
perorating," said one of our friends, "for the last hour, and will go
on for another hour, good. That is Dawes." I do not wish to be in the
least disrespectful to Mr. Dawes, and I doubt not that if I had had
the advantage of hearing him from the beginning, I should have been
carried away by his argument, but under the circumstances his
vehemence seemed uncalled for. At 1 o'clock we drove down to the Navy
Yard and embarked on board the United States steamer "_Despatch_," a
large party having been invited by Secretary Blaine to accompany the
Duke for an excursion to Mount Vernon--the British Minister, Sir
Edward Thornton, Lady Thornton, and his daughters; Mr. Victor
Drummond, Mr. De Bunsen, and the members of the Legation; the
representatives of France, Turkey, and Spain; Sherman, the General at
the head of the army (looking as if he were quite ready to make
another march into Georgia), his wife and daughter. General Sheridan,
who had been summoned on business to Washington, and Colonel M.
Sheridan were also of the party; and all the principal members,
official and non-official, of Washington society, among whom must not
be forgotten Mr. Corcoran, Mrs. Wadsworth, and Miss Eustis; the
Attorney-General, Mr. MacVeagh, and many others. Nor must I omit my
old friend and captor Admiral Porter, who took me in gentle fashion
and carried me on board the "_Powhattan_," in 1861, as I was running
the blockade of Pensecola from Mobile. The excellent band of the
United States Marines received the Duke with the air of "Hail to the
Chief"; and off Alexandria a salute of nineteen guns from the shore
battery was repeated from the "_Portsmouth_" corvette, and the crew of
the "_Saratoga_," lying close at hand, saluted as the "_Despatch_"
steamed by. Awnings were spread from one end of the deck to the other,
and, as the party found out, there was an excellent lunch prepared in
the saloons below. The day was warm, the weather delightful, and the
company included all that was distinguished and sociable in the
society of Washington--foreign ministers, and _attachés_, and most of
the gentlemen in office, many senators and a number of agreeable
ladies. It had been bruited that there was considerable irritation in
Washington society because the incoming powers, represented by their
wives, had introduced new rules of etiquette with respect to calls and
such like important duties of life; but certainly less pretentious
leaders of fashion never were than those who were good enough to join
the little expedition to Mount Vernon.

There is among the American officers of both services a _camaraderie_
which is not always exhibited in our own. There may be official
jealousies between the Secretary of State of the Navy and the
Secretary of State of the Army, and the respective heads of these
departments, though I am not aware that there are any; but I was
struck by the terms of good-fellowship on which a man occupying the
high position of General Sherman appeared to be with the young
officers of the United States steamer on board which we were carried
to the scene of our entertainment, and the latter had all the
frankness and cordiality which the sea service somehow seems to
inspire. They exhibited the action of the machine gun for the
visitors, and I learned that the result of the experiments made by the
Navy on the merits of various systems did not lead them to the
conclusion at which our own people had arrived, and that the
Nordenfeldt was not thought so well of by them as it is by us. Senator
Burnside talked of his experiences at Versailles in the Franco-German
war, where I encountered him engaged upon a mysterious philanthropic
mission having relation, I believe, to the liberation of friends from
Paris, and to the larger object of bringing about terms of peace
between the belligerents--a kindly, large-minded man, to whom fortune
was not favourable when he was summoned to command the armies of the
Republic at a period when success would have made him unquestionably
the foremost citizen and soldier of the United States. The same
anomaly exists in the administration of the army as is found in
England. The present Secretary of State for War, Mr. Lincoln, son of
the President, is a very young man, and has no military experience.
Nevertheless he has very considerable power, and while we were in the
United States he thought nothing of summoning General McDowell from
San Francisco or General Sheridan from Chicago to consult with them,
which was complimentary, if rather troublesome; but he is said to be
possessed of great business capacity and of sound common sense, and to
take the advice of his military counsellors with facility.

It is about an hour by a quick steamer from the Navy Yard to Mount
Vernon, and a little after 2 o'clock the steam launches, which were in
waiting, were busily engaged in transferring the guests from the
man-of-war to the landing-place below the wooded heights on which
stands the American Mecca, Mount Vernon. The ascent to the house is
rather sharp, and I presume it has been the object of the committee
who have charge of the place to meddle with its natural features as
little as possible. Mount Vernon House, familiar to so many thousands
of Americans, remains as it was, so far as the lapse of time will
permit it to do so, at the time of Washington's death. The wings to
the centre of the house, which is built of wood, were contributed by
him; and, but for the relics inside--the key of the Bastille presented
by Lafayette to the President, and a few articles belonging to
him--there would be little to see, unless the visitor is enabled to
throw into the contemplation of the objects around him something of
the admiration and hero-worship with which the name of "the Father of
his Country--first in peace, first in war, and first in the affections
of his people"--inspires the American.

The excellent band of the Marines was playing under the trees on the
plateau, and the strains of "God Save the Queen" greeted the English
visitors as they gained the portico. If the shadow of the departed
hero could but have emerged from the tomb, close at hand, in which his
remains repose, it would have been astonished perhaps at the change in
costume, and in appearance, of the ladies and gentlemen, from that
which had been familiar to Washington on earth. For the great citizen
was by no means indifferent to the outward forms. Black silk
stockings, knee-breeches, ruffles, and sword would in his mind have
been the necessary attire and adjuncts of the heads of the army and
navy, and of the ministers and others who were now walking about in
pot-hats, morning jackets, and frock coats. As to the ladies, it is
not too much to say that Mrs. Martha Washington would have probably
disapproved of their pretty Parisian costumes so much that she would
have sent out some of her black menials, whom we shall not call
slaves, to request their removal from the premises. The ladies of
America, however, have a right to claim position in Mount Vernon, for
it was their "association" which raised the money with which the
demesne and the house were purchased, in order to be handed over by
them to the nation. Our own interest in the spot is derived from the
English origin of the great man who lived there; and we are not
altogether quite cut off from it even in name, because that is derived
from the stout old Admiral Vernon, in remembrance of whom Laurence
Washington, who fought under him against the Spaniards, named the
place.

It was five o'clock ere we embarked on board the "_Despatch_" for the
Navy Yard, after three hours of very pleasant pilgrimage and prattle
at "the Mount," and we ran up the river to our destination in less
than an hour, passing on our way the "_Portsmouth_" and "_Saratoga_,"
which saluted the steamer.

The Duke and some of the party dined with Mr. Blaine, the Secretary of
State, where we met General Garfield. It is rare to meet the President
at dinner in Washington, as it is not considered etiquette for him to
dine out. To do honour to the occasion, the Duke wore his Garter star,
and Sir Edward Thornton the riband of the Bath. The only other person
who had any decoration was General Sherman, who wore a small badge at
his button-hole. I believe that Congress authorised the wearing of
distinctions conferred for military and naval services on the
fortunate leaders of the Federal armies and fleets after the war.

The President's manner was singularly easy, natural, and frank. With
his Secretary of State he appeared to be on terms of great friendship;
and by the latter he is evidently regarded with admiration and
affection. He was desirous of learning the impressions produced by his
short visit on the mind of the Duke, rather than of leading the
conversation; but farther on he became much interested in a
discussion respecting recent English novelists. Mr. Black would have
been gratified could he have heard the praise bestowed by General
Garfield upon his descriptions of natural scenery, of the sea-coast,
and of the islands of the West of Scotland, which, said he, "have
filled me with a desire that I hope some day to be able to gratify--to
visit the scenes he has described." And, having mentioned several
writers, especially George Eliot, in reply to a remark that it was
wonderful he could have found time to have read so many works of
fiction, he said laughingly, "Well, I don't suppose I shall have much
time now, or for some years to come; but I am glad to say I have not
always been so busy;" and then he quoted a little bit of Horace, to
which I think he is rather addicted, inasmuch as he certainly again
popped in a quotation. Mrs. Garfield appeared to be an admirable
President's wife--calm and simple, with unaffected manners and quiet
dignity; and Mrs. Blaine was one of the most charming and lively of
hostesses, so that our evening passed very agreeably. When the
President and Mrs. Garfield retired, a few of the guests lingered on,
listening to the interesting conversation of some gentlemen who
remained for an hour longer and gave us many new views of American
politics and life.

_May 3rd._--We are going to Richmond to-day. In the first or original
"programme" (a word which is spelt by Americans without the final
"me," and, as it strikes me, correctly, if "telegram" be proper) the
excursion on which the party started at 9 A.M. this morning was not
included. However they were impressed with some of the reasons which
were suggested for devoting one day to a Southern City which has
especial claims to the consideration of Englishmen in the antecedents
of the State of which it is the capital. At the outset of the war, the
name became the watchword of the North, "On to Richmond!" was the cry.
How it rung in one's ears in Washington that fervent summer of 1861!
How it met the eye in broad type at the head of every leading article!
It was as the "_à Berlin!_" of the Paris mob in 1870. For a time it
seemed as though the answer might be given by the sound of the enemy's
guns at Baltimore, Philadelphia or New York. From Washington to
Richmond is only 116 miles. The road was barred for four years by the
genius of Lee, the skill of his generals, and the fiery valour of the
South. It would perhaps be ungenerous and unjust to say that the
ineptitude of the North entered for something into the estimate of the
causes which impeded the march of the Federal armies till Grant
"whittled away" the life of his opponents. My friends had none of
these recollection to distract their minds from the contemplation of
the present.

And this is Washington? How strange it all seems to one like myself,
whose latest memories of the city which has expanded into such placid
beauty teem with vision of vast camps--the march of serried
battalions--the roll of artillery--the circumstance and pride,
without the pomp, of war--the passion and fury of civil strife--the
agony of a nation--to see it now staid and stately and calm as some
lake which rests in the embrace of the mountain shores after the
subsidence of the storm! Down Pennsylvania Avenue I have seen in full
flow a river of sparkling bayonet waves, and have heard the refrain of
"John Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave" pealing from myriads
of lips, where now the bourgeois 'bus rolls over the asphalte, and the
greatest excitement is a pair of fast trotters behind the vehicle of
some well-to-do legislator on his way to or from the Capitol. There
was a special train at "the Depôt" at 10 o'clock A.M.--palace
cars--our ever-obliging, smiling, active attendants--the usual
official courtesies--giant bouquets on the tables, and all the luxury
of the road which Presidents and directors' friends enjoy in the
Republic of Railroads. The old Long Bridge over which I rode the night
of Bull Bun, bringing the news of the defeat to Lord Lyons at the
British Legation, has been removed, and the Baltimore and Potomac
Railway is carried across the Potomac on a more recent structure
rejoicing in the old name. How could I expect my companions to be much
interested in "Alexandria," once so conspicuous in the history of the
Civil War, when I found an American gentleman beside me quite ignorant
of the fate of "Ellsworth," the protomartyr of the Union?

In travelling from Washington to Richmond, and in passing through part
of Maryland, the visitors were struck by the dilapidated appearance of
the large farmhouses, mostly built of wood, to many of which there
were attached curtilages, where the slaves were formerly penned in at
night; and it was observed that the fences were very ragged, that the
fields were left full of stumps of trees, and that the careful
cultivation which had struck our eyes in the more northern States was
wanting. One gentleman told us that the railway, passing through the
worst and most neglected portion of the country, did not form a
favourable platform from which to judge of the general condition of
the State. But it is, I believe, undeniable that the soil has been
very much exhausted on the Atlantic side in Virginia and in Maryland
by the constant succession of crops of tobacco, and that it is
necessary to use manure, not sparingly, in order to farm the land with
advantage. The country by the right bank of the river seems very much
as it was at the period of the war or before it--rugged, unkempt--with
patches of forest and low swampy land, perforated by sullen lagoons
and marshy streams.

At a station near Quantico Creek General Fitzhugh Lee, nephew of the
great Confederate leader, the daring chief of the Confederate cavalry
after the death of "Jeb" (J. E. B.) Stewart in battle, joined our
party; a soldierly-looking man, broad-browed, bright and keen-eyed, of
immense breadth of chest, thick throated, large limbed, with a
resemblance to Pelissier in his best days, to which, no doubt, a
massive moustache and a heavy _barbe d'Afrique_ somewhat contribute.
He is now settled as a farmer on the banks of the Potomac, in a
region every foot of which reeks with the memories of the four years'
war. He lives on his estate and cultivates it with profit, and he
draws, moreover, a rich harvest, at the time of the shad fishing, from
the river, where his nets sweep in occasionally 60,000 or even 80,000
of these much-prized fish at a haul! Fitzhugh Lee told the Duke that
he fully and entirely accepted the situation: he acknowledged the
Union, and he would not, if he could, go back to the old order of
things. Nay, more, he declared that the Virginians round about him
were of the same way of thinking. Labour was to be had when needed.
The negroes tilled the fields for wages, and the hirer had no further
care about them when their work was done. Contrast that with his
trouble with his biped property! The ladies of his house had to look
after the women in travail. The negroes, when sick, were thrown on the
hands of the master. When worn out with work or stricken by illness,
the coloured people became burdens on the farm; and any one who has a
breeding establishment for cattle or horses knows what infinity of
demands on purse and patience the accidents and maladies to which all
living things are exposed produce. Into Quantico Creek flows the
stream of Bull Run, and away on our right was fought the first of the
three battles which make the name renowned in the annals of the war.
General Fitzhugh Lee did not dwell on the first defeat of the Federals
with any relish either, but he could not forget all that happened on
that memorable 3rd of July, 1861, any more than he could forget the
long years of incessant combat of which it was the precursor, and when
our train approached Fredericksburg, the scene of Burnside's disaster,
and he was warmed up by the interest and interrogatories of his
companions to recall the episodes of the three days' sanguinary
fighting, the fire was kindled within him, and the burly Virginian
farmer, standing beside the Duke on the carriage platform, described
the position and the movements of the two great armies as if he were
still engaged in it. Without any vaunting, the Southern leader spoke
of his experiences in the war, and those who heard him recollected
with feelings not easy to analyse that but a few hours before they had
been listening with equal interest to General Sheridan, the antagonist
of the gallant gentleman who was now talking to them and describing
some of their cavalry engagements. He pointed out Maree's Hill, and
the slopes on which the Irish Brigade lay in long rows of dead and
dying at the close of Meagher's desperate assault, the site whence Lee
surveyed and directed the action, the hills on which the Confederates
were entrenched, the plains over which Burnside's column advanced and
deployed under the Confederate fire, and the cardinal mistake of the
Federal leader in attacking the left instead of the exposed right of
the Southern army. "I have often spoken about it to Burnside since. He
and I are very good friends now. I have often fought the battle over
with him, and told him his best chance would have been against our
right, which he could have got at by crossing the river lower down
than he did." It was but the day before we had been chatting with the
Federal general, now a senator of the United States, at Washington,
and as genial and lusty[6] as he was when he came to the German
headquarters at Versailles on the chivalrous if somewhat Quixotic
enterprise of saving Paris from the last necessities of defeat.

There was a body of Virginian gentlemen at the Richmond station, which
is some way from the town, to welcome the Duke, and carriages were
awaiting the train. After the usual introductions our guides,
philosophers, and friends drove us round and did the honours of their
capital with much kindness and courtesy. The weather was disagreeable,
but it was certainly exceptional--there was a grey sunless sky; bitter
blasts swept the dusty roads, raising clouds of fiery red sand from
the brickfield soil on which the city is built, and quite destroying
previous impressions of the climate of Virginia. At Richmond itself
there is not very much to be seen by an unsympathetic stranger, but
for Americans of every stripe of political opinion the scene of such
important events must be intensely interesting. We found the traces of
the works thrown around the Confederate capital had nearly
disappeared. A remnant of some of the earthworks may still be seen up
the river, and in the Cemetery, marked by a pyramid of stone, lie Jeb
Stewart and many a valiant comrade. The cemeteries, which form a
melancholy addition to the interesting spots around the Virginian
capital, are filled with the remains of the victims of that long and
deadly struggle. Petersburg, from which Lee, after his brilliant and
skilful defence, was obliged to fall back to the Court-House of
Appomatox, where he surrendered, was too far for us to visit, but we
saw much that was of interest in our hurried drive--the house in which
ex-President Davis lived, the church in which he was at prayers when
the news of Lee's abandonment of Petersburg was brought to him, the
Tredegar Foundry where the Confederate guns were made, the Capitol
which resounded to the ardent declamation of the statesmen who made
Virginia illustrious, and to the eloquence of those who shared her
evil fortunes. We saw the abodes of despairing or hopeful multitudes,
of the sickness unto death, and of the death which is a release, the
ruinous brick walls of Libby Prison, the Hospital, and we thought that
it would be just as well to level the ugly piles to the ground. Later
in the day we met one who had charge of the Federal prisoners, of whom
some 75,000, he told us, had been under his care, a grave and
courteous man, deeply imbued with the teaching of the fathers of the
Constitution, who as a Judge believed that Heaven, in siding with _les
gros bataillons_, had not done justice to a holy cause, and he made a
remark which illustrated, I think, the spirit of many of those who
accept the actual results of the contest as inevitable if not
equitable. "At the outset of the war," he said, "all the prisoners
were either Yankees or Irish; at the end of it the great proportion
of the prisoners were Dutchmen--Germans, who could not understand a
word of English, and who had come to fight for pay." The Irish ceased
to enlist as soon as the Federal Government let loose and enlisted the
negroes, and the war, he explained, was carried on by the foreign
immigration from Europe. The Judge, indeed, held that if the North and
the South had been left to fight it out the latter must have won. But
what avail these speculations now? Let the dead bury their dead, and
let the victors suffer the living to dwell in peace. Here are men,
Southerners and Northerners, living in the same land, who have stood
face to face in battle, and would live all the better if the sleeping
dogs of war were let lie in peace. We were shown on our way to
Richmond the humble shanty in which Stonewall Jackson breathed his
last, and in the grounds of the Capitol itself the statue raised by
admiring strangers to the memory of the Virginian Havelock--and it
cannot be held, I think, that such a memorial as the latter can be
classed with the celebration of the defeats of the Southern armies by
permanent military organisations. He would be a very thin-skinned and
ridiculous sort of Briton who took umbrage at the forthcoming festival
at Yorktown which is to commemorate the surrender of Cornwallis to
Rochambeau and Washington; but the Americans would have good reason to
be moved to anger if we in England were to appoint a day for the
glorification of the capture and destruction of Washington in the last
war, an act of which none of us feel very proud, and of which most
Englishmen are utterly ignorant, even though they may have heard of
New Orleans, Lundy's Lane, and Plattsburg.

The State Capitol is said to be an imitation of the square house at
Nismes. It stands in a fine situation in a park which is decorated
with statues and planted with trees, peopled by beautiful grey
squirrels--evidently the pets of the people. Its principal treasure is
the statue of Washington, by Houdon; but there is a dishevelled-looking
Library of 40,000 volumes, amongst which are some valuable works
connected with the early history of the colony. In front of the
Capitol there is another statue of Washington, equestrian and
colossal, surrounded by statues of Henry, Jefferson, Marshall, Mason,
Nelson, and Lewis; and there is also a fine statue of Henry Clay in
the grounds; but I think we strangers regarded with a deeper interest,
derived from the recollection of more recent exploits, the statue of
Stonewall Jackson, erected by subscriptions raised in England to the
memory of one of the most single-minded and gallant soldiers who ever
fought for a lost cause.

The manufacture of tobacco still flourishes in the capital of
Virginia. We were conducted to two of the largest establishments,
where we were shown, with great courtesy by the managers and owners,
the processes by which the most celebrated preparations for smoking
and chewing are turned out from beginning to end; but I observed
that--whether to prevent idle strangers from gratifying their
curiosity, or an unauthorised investigation of trade secrets--we were
always personally introduced by our guides, and that the doors of the
factories were closed. The most interesting part of the interior was a
long room, in which was a crowd of coloured people, men, women, and
children, sorting tobacco, rolling up the leaves, and manipulating it
for the various preparations which it undergoes in the presses and in
the addition of saccharine matter, and the like, before it is packed
up or cut for use. A happier looking people could not be seen, and at
times their feelings of contentment burst out into song. They all
joined, singing in chorus, with a great sweetness, some of the
extraordinary melodies--half comic, half religious--of which we had a
good experience subsequently.

Colonel Carrington, the proprietor of Ballard House, the principal
Richmond Hotel, had sent a telegram before we started to request the
Duke to postpone his visit for a week, as there was a Medical
Conference being held, and all the hotels were filled, his own
included, at the time. But our arrangements had been made, and it was
not possible to alter them. What would become of our "programme"?
Colonel Carrington did his best to accommodate the party, but the
Medical Conference was in the ascendant. It was amusing to read in a
Washington paper that the Duke had "expressed a desire to partake of a
real old Virginia dinner," and that Colonel Carrington had gratified
him to his heart's desire, so that "his Grace declared it was the best
meal he had had since he landed." This announcement was made under
capital letters: "The Duke's Dinner. He Gets A Square Meal In
Richmond." It was late at night when we reached Washington.
Notwithstanding the exceedingly unpleasant day the visit was
exceedingly interesting, and I was more than ever content that I had
persuaded my friends to visit the place which was once the centre of
political life to the Southern Confederacy.

_May 4th_ was devoted to an inspection of various objects of interest.
It was our last day in Washington, and many visits had to be paid and
cards left, for in no country in the world are the obligations of
courtesy connected with card-leaving more rigidly exacted than in the
United States; and perhaps there are no people usually so negligent in
such matters as our own countrymen, unless they are connected with
diplomacy. English travellers--at least if we are to judge from recent
books--seldom come to a capital which is in every way worthy of
inspection. In the two latest and best books of travel there is no
mention of it at all. It is now incomparably the most beautiful city
in the Union; the broad streets, asphalted, or well paved, lined with
trees, no longer strike right and left into illimitable distances of
unoccupied space, but present long rows of well-built houses.

At the time of the advance of the Federals the feeling of Washington
was unmistakably Confederate, or "Secesh," as it was called in those
days. I scarcely knew a man of any prominence there who was not
opposed to the policy of the Government and Mr. Lincoln; always
excepting, of course, the senators and the Congress-men then sitting
at the Capitol, though even amongst them there were dissidents, for
Breckenridge and his friends had not yet left Washington. There were
suspects whom it was desirable to intimidate, or necessary to molest;
and amongst these were Mr. Corcoran, who is regarded with respect by
all who know him, and who now occupies the highest position in the
estimation of the society of the city, to which he has been a large
benefactor. The Corcoran Gallery owes its origin and its maintenance
to his taste, wealth, and public spirit; and the visit which was paid
to it to-day was well rewarded by the inspection of a number of very
fine paintings and statues of very high order.

Amongst the survivors of the time, now so far back, of my long
residence at Washington, I was glad to find General Emory and his
wife. One of the earliest explorers of the territories acquired from
Mexico at the outset of the war, he commanded the 6th Cavalry, which
was quartered at Washington on ground which is at present covered with
fine houses. After a distinguished career in the campaign he became
Governor of New Orleans, where he re-established confidence and did
much to abate the bitter feelings which had been aroused by the acts
of his predecessors in the minds of the inhabitants. Of the officers
of that gallant corps, after whom I enquired, there were none left
that I knew; and the same answer was made to each name I uttered.
"What has become of W----?" "Oh! dead long ago." "What of L----?" "He
is dead, too." "What of K----?" "Oh; poor fellow, he died not very
long ago;" and so on. "The Commodore," our neighbour, witty, shrewd,
quaint, and the embodiment of kindly fun and satire, he too is gone!
It is the penalty of living to lose one's friends. The feelings which
were aroused by these memories were not diminished by a visit to Brady
the photographer, who displayed whole albums filled with likenesses of
deceased friends, and worse still, with photographs--alas! no longer
likenesses--of men and women taken twenty years ago, now offering
painful contrasts to their recognisable semblances in the life and
flesh.

Another old friend, General Hazen, called on us to-day. General Hazen
visited the headquarters of the German army during the siege of Paris,
and was for some time in residence at Versailles, where I often had
the pleasure of meeting him, and he subsequently made an extensive
tour over Europe, with the view of examining the military
establishments of the Great Powers, of which he recorded the results
in a very useful volume. He is now in charge of the Meteorological
Department, to which the Duke paid a visit in the afternoon; and the
mechanism and arrangement of the extensive system of observations for
national purposes conducted under his care were shown and explained to
us by the officers of the department in the most painstaking manner.

And then there was the Smithsonian to be visited, where the rooms
seemed to me haunted by the shade of the dear Professor Henry who was
wont to accompany me through the galleries in times past, explaining
the mysteries of the contents of the institution over which he
presided with such care, knowledge, and judgment, with that gentle and
persuasive inductiveness which we recognise in the style of Professor
Owen.

The Patent Office, which would repay a week's careful study, was
hurriedly inspected, and the Post Office and Agricultural Department
shared the same fate. Everywhere we had to acknowledge the extreme
courtesy of the officials of the national establishments in the United
States.

In a restaurant in Pennsylvania Avenue, where, in the midst of all
these multifarious labours, we took refuge for a moment, to eat an
oyster, there was lying on the table a dish of frogs' legs about the
size of those of a chicken, neatly garnished with green leaves,
beneath a block of ice. The Duke asked the attendant whether they were
really good to eat. "I believe you!" he replies. "For myself I cannot
bear poultry, but I can always eat those. And now look!" said he, "I
will show you a curious thing. You would think that these legs have no
life in them. But just watch." He took up a pinch of salt from a
cellar near at hand and sprinkled it on the legs, which immediately
were agitated with convulsive twitches, amounting in several instances
to vigorous kicks. I felt as surprised as Galvani was when he touched
the leg of the frog with his scalpel. Apropos of this _plat_ I may
mention that subsequently we overcame our repugnance so far as to
order a dish, and found it very excellent indeed, and whenever the
delicacy was obtainable it became quite a usual portion of our more
sumptuous entertainments. But for my part I considered it very like
flavourless but tender chicken. Once, indeed, long ago, I had had an
involuntary experience of the taste, for, walking one morning with a
southern planter by the side of a shallow ditch bordering his
sugar-cane field, I saw an enormous thing about the size of the top of
a man's hat, struggling in the mud, upon which one of the black
attendants precipitated himself, and seizing it, he mounted the bank
with a frog the size of a good fowl in his hand. "What on earth is
that for?" "Oh, it is most excellent eating," said my friend. "I would
die of starvation," exclaimed I, "before I would touch a morsel of
it." At lunch that day there was put upon the table a spatch-cock
fowl, which my host asked me to try. "What do you think of it?" "It is
excellent." "That," he said, "is a part of the frog you despised so
much this morning."

The Attorney-General, Mr. MacVeagh, assembled a party to meet the Duke
at dinner; and our last night, which was passed at his hospitable
mansion, was the pleasantest we had in Washington.

FOOTNOTES:

[5] It is under the impression of the sad event which has caused the
world to take such a profound interest in the President's life that I
transcribe the record of the moment.

[6] General Burnside, I regret to see, died since our return to
England.




CHAPTER V.

HARRISBURG--NEW YORK--BOSTON--CANADA.

     Departure from Washington -- Harper's Ferry -- The State
     Capital -- Rats on the Rampage -- Pennsylvania Farming.


Next day (May 5th), at 10 o'clock, we left by the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad, sorry we had not more time to enjoy the hospitalities of our
friends, and to see more of the interesting people and scenes with
which we made such a short acquaintance; but, indeed, the number of
attractions presented for the time that we had at our disposal was
quite embarrassing enough, and whilst we were at Washington the party,
broken up in detachments under the care of various friends, lost no
time, but went to racecourses, galleries, and national institutions,
crossed the Potomac to the heights of Arlington, and visited the
cemeteries where tens of thousands of stone memorials, placed, as the
dead men beneath them once stood, in orderly array, attest the
severity of the tremendous conflict in which the first shots were
fired, not very far from the spot, more than twenty years ago. It is
said that there are about 15,000 bodies buried in one enclosure; even
in death the white and the black are divided--the former are buried
near Arlington House, the coloured men's remains lie half a mile or
more away. Another cemetery, containing 5400 soldier's bodies, is near
the Soldiers' Home. These and many other places were visited; but we
must leave Washington at last, and were carried at express speed to
the Shenandoah Junction. We are on our way to Harrisburg. Fortunately
the day is bright and clear, and the sun not too warm, so that we can
enjoy the charming scenery through which the railway passes, and we
are interested in observing that the canal, in spite of the
competition of the iron road, still keeps up navigation, and that
strings of gaily-painted barges with the national flag are passing to
and fro close at hand. The course of the Potomac, to which we now and
then come near, is marked by the wooded heights which once formed the
skirmish-ground of two great armies. It would not have been safe at
one time for a man to have shown his head above the cutting of the
canal, or to have ridden by the river-banks, for in all probability a
Secesh bullet would have found him out or dismounted him, as there was
fighting-ground all about; and the peaceful scene seemed strange to me
when I contrasted it with the sight it presented as I saw it after the
battle in which Senator Baker was killed and many Union men with him,
and great gloom reigned at Washington--when General McClennan led all
the troops that could be spared, who were pouring out in a long column
on this road, and the country-side was alive with armed men in order
to counteract the menaced invasion of Maryland. At the Shenandoah
Junction, six miles west of Harper's Ferry, we halted for a while. It
seemed to me as if it had not quite recovered from the ravages of war,
and Harper's Ferry appeared as if the storm of battle that had passed
over it--taken and retaken as it was so many times--had left an
indelible mark of wreck and ruin about it. Nothing, however, can
destroy the charm of the scenery of the beautiful valley in which the
Potomac and the Shenandoah meet. We got out on the platform and walked
a little way to look at the ruin of the Arsenal which was occupied by
John Brown when he led his forlorn hope, "shouting the battle-cry of
freedom," little deeming that the hills and valleys would re-echo with
the hymn-song which so often heralded the Federal soldiers on their
march to battle, to defeat or victory.

As we stood on the bridge surveying the scene, a decrepit and not very
cleanly-looking old man, who was regaling himself with a use of
tobacco of which the issues were visible around him, came up to have a
look at the strangers. He knew every inch of the place; had been here
all during the war. Sometimes the Secesh had it, and then the
Federalists would drive them out; then the Confeds would take it, and
so on. "There was pretty considerable fighting all round. See them
hills? That one there had a Federal fort on top of it; that other one
the Confeds used to hold." Why, he remembered old John Brown's scare
as if it was yesterday. "Yes, sir! But they hanged him pretty smart!
He and his people could make no fight of it when Uncle Sam's reg'lars
came up." And in front of us were the walls of the burned armoury of
the Government, and the name of the United States officer in command
still visible over the doorway--the gaunt ruin, roofless, windowless,
of a time which seemed so remote and which was not a generation gone
by.

After our short stay there we went on to Hagerstown, where Colonel
Kennedy, the President, and Judge Watts, one of the Directors, of the
Cumberland Valley Railroad, joined us, after a divergence to the
junction of the two rivers to get a sight of the country.

The Cumberland Valley is one of the most fruitful tracts in the United
States. It presented in its substantial farmhouses, clean well-tilled
fields and kempt fences, strong contrast to the untidy-looking farms
in Maryland and Virginia on the road to Richmond; we heard that the
soil had somewhat suffered from incessant cropping, and that the
competition of the Western States is causing the cultivation of corn
to be neglected. The towns appeared to be numerous and thriving, and
the people well-to-do. It had been arranged that we should pay a visit
on our way to a very interesting establishment, as it proved, at Fort
Carlisle, and I give elsewhere a detailed account of what we saw in
connection with a subject which appears to me to be of great, if
somewhat sentimental, interest--the condition and future of the Indian
race. The Duke's address to the Red children seemed to give them
great satisfaction, and he said with truth that nothing we had seen
since we had arrived in the United States interested us so much as the
establishment where they were the objects of a philanthropic
experiment, to which every one all over the world will, I am sure,
wish success.

It was evening when the train reached the end of our day's journey,
and the party drove in a shower of rain to their quarters at the
hotel.

Harrisburg has apparently seen its best days without having ever
witnessed very good ones, but our means of judging were meagre indeed.
The weather was bad, and our visit was very brief. It must be
understood that I write of places as I see or find them, and the
contrast between Philadelphia and the capital of the State of
Pennsylvania, as we beheld it in the drive from the station to our
hotel, was very marked in favour of the former. The shops in the main
street belonged to the old country rather than to the new, and there
was an aspect of "want of flourishing," as a friend said, which was
not in keeping with the surroundings. And yet when John Harris, after
his rescue from the Indians who were about to torture him and did not,
though they did not foresee that they were about to be disposed of
without torture, founded the city, less than a hundred years ago, on
the banks of the Susquehanna, he had a very fine eye for a situation,
and had fair grounds for thinking he had done a very good thing. But
why was it made the State capital in 1812? Surely Philadelphia even
then deserved the honour. We were told we should have put up at the
Lochiel House (something to do with Simon Cameron who lives here, I
suppose), but we did not, and that which was selected for the party
was not of the first or second class. The sewers of the city were
open, or only partially covered. The rats which played about in view
of our sitting-room window were of a size of which Harrisburg may be
justly proud, and I observed from the windows of the hotel many fine
animals come up to take the air and see what was going on, with the
style of well-to-do citizens, meaning no harm and fearing none. They
were, perhaps, a little too numerous for the comfort of nervous
people, though I will not aver that there is not plenty for them to
do. The market-place across the way was ancient and dilapidated, or,
as it was of wood, delignified.

It was not till a year before the Civil War Harrisburg received a
charter, and at the moment of our visit the population did not number
80,000. A State House and Library, a State Arsenal, a State Lunatic
Asylum, a County Prison, Opera houses, Masonic Hall, churches, Harris
Park and Cemetery, and great ironworks, all unvisited, but duly
enumerated by citizens zealous of the honour of their city, haunted
conscientious tourists as things which ought to be seen, but they were
not in the programme--we could not find them in the bond--and so they
were taken for granted; not so the substantial interviews which had to
be attended to, and the arrangements for visiting the Baldwin Iron
and Steel Works, and Colonel Long's farm at Middleton, which were to
be taken on our way to New York.

On the 6th we left Harrisburg, at 9 o'clock in the morning, for New
York, visiting the famous Iron Works on our way, and halting at
Middleton to inspect the farm of Colonel Long, which is one of the
sights of the country, and which all the agriculturalists of the party
declared was an exceedingly well-managed display of agricultural
skill; an admirable exhibition of what may be done in the States to
emulate the best establishments of the old country. The produce of the
farm was pronounced to be excellent, the fields clean and well
apportioned, beautiful pasture for stock, and fine arable for various
crops, but the result of conversation with Colonel Long led some of
the party to the conclusion that a farmer with good land in England
can, at present prices, hold his own with any farmer in the Eastern
States. The most interesting fact connected with the investigation was
the discovery that the cultivation of tobacco is making great way in
Pennsylvania, and that wheat has been abundant in consequence of the
impossibility of competing with the West. Heavy manuring is requisite;
nevertheless large tracts of Pennsylvania are passing under
cultivation for tobacco-growing, and are stated to produce a weed
almost equal to the best Maryland or Virginia.

But the coal and iron and the manufactures of this favoured region
must ensure it a long continuance of the extraordinary prosperity
which was visible on all sides, if the asses in their fatness do not
kick over the traces. For many miles of the country over which we
travelled yesterday the storm of war had rolled heavily, and every
town near at hand had some record of suffering or lucky escape from
Lee's invading host. The Confederates had come within six miles of
Harrisburg. Martinsburg, Frederic--in fact, every town near at hand
had felt the hand of the South at its throat, till at Gettysburg the
blow was struck which paralysed it for ever. At Carlisle one of our
friends mentioned incidentally that his house had been "shelled by
that confounded Fitzhugh Lee"--our travelling companion of a few days
before. There were strong expressions uttered by others concerning the
partition of Virginia and the State debt, but these were mysteries to
us, and all we could see was that, in spite of past sufferings, there
was now a vigorous, healthy, wealthy life in the land, of which the
signs and tokens were visible as far as the eye could reach in our
long day's travel. Our railway directors studied maps and asked
questions and made notes indefatigably, and they no doubt comprehended
the connections and arms of the railroads which were spread over the
country--a mighty range, and all _with_ a plan--but I cannot pretend
to share any of their knowledge, and can only say that we had a very
pleasant, if somewhat warm, journey to New York, which we reached at
4.30 o'clock. Here we found a new wonder awaiting us in the aspect of
the Falls River boat, on which we embarked for Boston at one of the
piers on the North River. It was the happy idea of Mr. Crosfield that
we ought to leave the iron road for a few hours and take to the
water, and for it and much besides the members of the party were
indebted to him. The service of the steamboat line is admirable. To
begin with, the steamers (of which there are two, the "_Bristol_" and
"_Providence_") are floating palaces for King Populus, of such vast
dimensions that we could scarcely "take in" all at once that in which
we were to make our voyage as it lay at the pier; its bright white
side towering far above the roof of the wharf shed, with tiers of
windows lighted up as if _en fête_, like an old three-decker at the
least. Our surprise did not diminish when we got on board and found
ourselves in a vast sort of gilt and painted courtyard, surrounded by
galleries with many hundreds of passengers--a band playing, electric
lights, a book-stall, newspapers, a restaurant, hairdresser's
establishment, boot-cleaning corner, bar and liquor saloon, hot baths,
cold baths--I should not like to say what that marine monster did
_not_ contain. There were waiters in neat, clean dresses, in swarms,
and clerks and officers of the service in much gold lace and brass
buttons--formidable as admirals, and civil as dancing-masters. The
sleeping-saloons were perfectly arranged; and when the dinner or
supper bell rang, and the streams of people were set in motion, it was
if some small city was on the tramp. The great creature was moving! Up
went the vast walking-beam on high, with the polished piston smoothly
gliding from its case, and then, trembling in every airy plank to the
beat of the mighty paddles, the steamer backed off into the stream,
and with that indescribable tumult of creaks, squeaks, rattles and
clatters, which may be taken as the breathing of this sort of thing,
set off on its way rejoicing as a giant to run its course, and far
better able to do it. There was light enough for us to see the city of
New York, and the forest of steeples and towers above the serried
lines of illimitable roofs, the fringe of masts and chimneys on one
side, and the interesting islands where the Law, Medicine, and Charity
have their palaces--Penitentiaries, Hospitals, Asylums, Nurseries,
Refuges--and where Crime, Smallpox, Typhus, Idiotcy, and incurable
Disease hold their separate courts in granite cells, and the Brooklyn
shore, as the steamer threaded her way through the ruck of tugs,
flats, coasters, ferry-boats, and steamers, big and little, to the
great boil of waters well-named Hell Gate, in Long Island Sound--a
veritable Maelstrom, which the engineers are blasting, boring, and
blowing up and down as hard as they can. As we bore down the adverse
fury of the swirling tideway with our irresistible wheels, the mighty
vessel trembled with the strain, but we prevailed, and went through
the Gate past the dredges, which were shovelling up the rocks from the
bottom, and had time to enjoy the scenery of Long Island glorified by
a fine sunset, ere darkness shut out all but the lights on shore, and
those which marked out what to seek and avoid for the toiler on the
seas. The course of the steamer for the greater part of the night lay
in tranquil waters, for Long Island was on our right, and on our left
was the shore of Connecticut; but after midnight I awoke, and had no
doubt as to what the wild waves were saying, and looking out of my
window saw a confused sea, to the lively forces of which our steamer
was making unmistakable submission. A less confidence-inspiring craft
for rough weather than our palace I thought I never had been in, and I
was not dissatisfied when the trial of her powers was at an end, and
the tyranny of the seas was overpast as we approached Newport and got
under the shelter of Martha's Vineyard at some early hour in the
morning. Says I to a nautical gentleman on the staff of the noble
ship, "Would she cross the Atlantic, do you think?" "Certainly," quoth
he, "if it wasn't bad weather." "Well! but how would she do in a
gale?" "It would just be as well not to try, but if we could keep her
head right to it there would not be much harm--no forcing, though--no,
sir!" At Newport there was a great exodus of passengers and baggage
about 3 o'clock, and some two hours later the steamer, passing up
Narraganset Bay, arrived at Fall River, where we landed, and took our
places in a train of the Old Colony Railroad for Boston. Fall River,
which one might take to be a cascading stream, turned out to be an
enormous manufacturing town of some 50,000 people, all factories,
chimneys, and storehouses, and what we saw of Massachusetts as we ran
through it gave us a higher idea of its commercial activity and
manufacturing industry than of its natural advantages. I cannot say
how many towns of note we skirted or ran through in our two hours'
journey--glimpses of magazines, stores, warehouses, smoke-stacks,
staring placards at intervals here and there, were all we knew of
them; but the land did not seem rich nor the scenery attractive, and
yet there are good crops to be had, and fruit is abundant and
excellent. There is a long hard winter and an ardent summer here, and
some of the weaker vessels among the Pilgrim Fathers (and mothers)
must have often wished themselves back in the clammy East Countree on
the German Ocean, or in their foster-mother Holland, when, like so
many Calibans (for conscience' sake), they were persecuted by Indians,
Witches, Quakers, and the climate, in the days before they were strong
enough to persecute in their turn, and so reconcile themselves to
atmospheric vicissitudes. Among our fellow-passengers in the
"_Gallia_" was Mr. Washburn, ex-Governor of the State, and one of a
very eminent band of brothers who have risen to deserved distinction
in America, and to his kind offices were the Duke of Sutherland and
his friends indebted for the graceful _empressement_ of the leading
men of Boston to do the honours of their city. On our arrival at the
terminus we found every preparation had been made for our reception,
and several gentlemen were in attendance to meet the Duke on the
platform. Well-appointed carriages whirled the party off to one of the
finest hotels in the world--"The Brunswick"--and not only that, but
one of the most comfortable. How these old names hold! It is a long
time since "Braunschweig" had aught to do with the "old Colony"--some
time since the House of Hanover (from which we parted company in 1866)
has had any relation to Massachusetts. There may be some good reason
for the appellation of our excellent hostelry--it is quite enough to
say it could not be sweeter or neater with any other name, and it made
us reflect with some feelings of humiliation on the sort of
accommodation an American would find in a large town in England till
the recent improvements in the establishments which have chiefly
sprung out of the enterprises of the great railways. The British
colours floated above the building beside the Stars and Stripes--a
compliment which was very much appreciated; and the good Bostonians
allowed us fair time for breakfast and a little unpacking and settling
down before they came to take the party in charge and show them over
their noble city. Mr. Rice, formerly Governor of the State, Mr. Fitz,
President of the Board of Trade, Mr. Beard, Collector of the Port,
Alderman O'Brien, came as a committee to tender us all the civilities,
and many more than we could accept, and had a programme, which even
their kindness could not render of easy accomplishment, for the
disposal of our time. First there was a long drive through the
principal quarters of the town--innumerable phoenixes in marble,
granite, iron, and brick, reared out of the ashes of the Great Fire
nine years ago--Sears, Brewer, Franklin, Rialto, Cathedral and other
Buildings, and monumental insurance offices and stores. Then there is
a stately quarter built on land where was once water--on an artificial
foundation made by filling up part of a shallow arm of the harbour
called Back Bay. One peculiarity about the city is the localisation of
trades and professions. If I had not seen their names on the brightest
brass plates in the clearest of engraving, I could not have believed
there were so many doctors and surgeons in any one city in the world.
Surely they must practise on one another? They were in rows up and
down long streets. And yet the citizens and citizenesses did not look
unhealthy--rather otherwise--and the younger people mounted on street
skates were portentously active on the pavements--pretty well-dressed
little ladies doing the _pas des patineurs_ with all their might, and
sweeping resistlessly over the flags on their way from school. I am
not going to describe Boston. There is a refrain in my ears, "All this
was built since the fire!" I can only say the fire was a great
regenerator. I could understand why Boston people are proud of their
work, and I could look up at Bunker Hill without any sense of shame,
as I beheld such a wonderful display of energy and progress in the
fair city, with its monuments, statues, parks, public buildings,
churches, and on the sea furrowed by keels and studded with sunny
canvas. We were taken out on that same sea. The Collector, Mr. Beard,
one of the most courteous of men, had the Government Revenue Cruiser
prepared for a cruise in the harbour, and we examined the Navy Yard,
the wharves, and the extension works, the forts, &c., with an interest
which was enhanced by the intelligent explanations of our guides,
varied with little discussions about Free Trade and Protection, the
future of Boston, projected improvements, and general conversation,
till it was time to return to land and finish with an inspection of
more "objects" on shore. And then, to end the work of the day, there
was an "informal dinner" at the Brunswick, to which the Duke and his
friends were bidden without yea or nay--"it was quite informal." I
presume that means, in Boston, an elaborate banquet. We were told,
however, that it merely meant that we were to dress as we pleased, and
that there were to be no set speeches. Alderman O'Brien presided;
Governor Rice, Mr. Beard, Mr. Choate, President of the Old Colony
Railroad, Genl. Wilson, President of the New York and North-Eastern
Railroad, Mr. E. C. Fitz, Mr. Sears, Mr. Spaulding, Mr. Phillips,
Aldermen Whitten, Haldemann, Slade, Curtis, Frost, Caldwell, &c., were
our hosts, and our party was sandwiched pleasantly between our
American friends--all _point de vice_--evening dress--flowers in
buttonholes, flowers on the table, but "no formality." And then, just
by way of an exception, Alderman O'Brien to do honour to the occasion,
with a facility which showed that he had not lost the _potestas
loquendi_ attributed to his race, made an "informal" speech in
proposing "informally" the health of the Duke, who made an informal
reply, and from that time till the company broke up, towards midnight,
there was a succession of toasts, speeches, speeches and toasts, till
every man had had his turn at one and the other, and informality could
do no more with a very pleasant evening. There was a good deal of
railway talk, in which prophecy was not neglected. It so happened that
among the guests or hosts was a gentleman whom I had met at the St.
Patrick's dinner, New York, in 1861, and we had an agreeable
conversation respecting the events of that time. I could not help
thinking how very much changed was the tone in which slavery was
discussed then from that in which it is now mentioned. On that
occasion the American gentleman (one of the first men in New York, and
by no means Irish except in name and descent) inveighed against Boston
with something like ferocity. He declared that Mr. George Thompson,
who had lectured on slavery long ago, was the most diabolical
scoundrel who ever trod the earth, that the people of Boston ought to
have hanged or burned him and Garrison and his accomplices in 1835, as
the authors of the fearful war which was inevitable--the sure
precursor of the disruption of the Union--for which Boston,
represented by Mr. Sumner, was responsible, and he indignantly
denounced the Bostonians--they who had fattened on the slave-trade and
on the South--for their anti-slavery proclivities. There are not many
who hold such opinions now. Bristol and Liverpool forget they ever
made money out of "black ivory," and Boston has an equal right to take
its share of the waters of Lethe. And so to bed.

_May 8th._--By the kindness of Mr. Sears, seats were obtained for the
whole party at the morning service in Trinity Church, a vast and
highly ornate structure, of fine proportions externally, alight with
gilding, profuse in mosaic, lavish in stained glass, and exquisite
woodwork inside; a very noble temple, in good truth, if somewhat
theatrical in effect, Romish, or more correctly Byzantine, producing
the same sort of feeling that a Russian or Greek Church does on
strangers not to the manner born; but still grand, rich, and
luxurious. And the congregation, which filled every part of the sacred
edifice, was suitable unto it. It was obviously composed of the great
ones of the city--the cream of the Episcopalian flock--satined,
silked, fine feathered, Paris bonneted, sleek hatted, glisteningly
black, delicately perfumed--a very goodly company. The musical part of
the service was evidently what might be called a feature of the
attractions, though they be considered to culminate in the person of
the pastor of the fold. The organ, an instrument of extraordinary
size, power, and richness, was moved by skilful fingers to interpret
passages which led one to imagine that the selector had acted on John
Wesley's advice, "not to let the Evil one have all the good music to
himself," and that he had invaded the repertoires of secular enjoyment
in that way, and the choir delivered psalm and hymn with an artistic
finish which at once gave rise to suspicions that it was not "wild
warbling nature all beyond the reach of art." "Professional," I asked
on a proper opportunity; "is it not?" "Not all; the tenor and the bass
are, I think, and one or two others, perhaps." Well, the harmony was
full and fine, and I preferred it to the unassisted efforts in that
matter of rural religionists. It is mainly to the impetus of the
personal character of the Rev. Phillips Brooks that the erection of
this magnificent edifice and the maintenance of the service in such
Christian state are due. The Book of Common Prayer was used with
trifling variations--some small sacrifices to prudery or decency, or
whatever words you will array them in; but to me the most interesting
portion of the service was the part in it of the pastor--a man of
great corpulence and stature, with a massive head cast in a mould to
match, and features with a resemblance to those of Sydney Smith, or
perhaps more nearly those of Charles James Fox. He was attired in
black silk gown and bands, but did not, I think, show any academic
badge. The sermon, which had for its text "Bow down the heavens, O
Lord! touch the mountains, and they shall smoke!" delivered with
extraordinary rapidity--sometimes, in fact, approaching to the verge
of jumble--flowed on in a stream of language, often beautiful and
occasionally grand, with a great clatter of metaphor, and a rolling
noise of poetical images of a very pleasing character, for a long
half-hour or more, without causing any desire for the preacher to
desist; and indeed the ingenuity with which he illustrated and dragged
in his unpromising text occasioned a series of intellectual shocks.
The influence of Mr. Brooks must be, I think, as beneficial as it is
powerful, and he has at all events given the world a splendid
demonstration of what can be done by the voluntary principle in a
wealthy democracy. It was not to his detriment, in the eyes of his
stern Republican flock, that, on the occasion of a recent visit to
Europe, he was received with favour in high places; or that "Your
Queen Victoria had him to stay with her at Windsor Palace."

I was doomed to a great disappointment to-day after our return from
church. A little excursion had been planned for the party by Mr. Sears
to visit Harvard University and a pilgrimage to Longfellow, at
Cambridge, and I was up in my room waiting for a summons to join the
party, when it was said by some one he believed I had gone out, or
would not go, and so they drove out without me, and I "was left
lamenting." Had I been a revengeful person, I might have taken
pleasure in the thought that they had an utterly abominable drive, for
there was a bitter wind and clouds of the finest and most choking
dust, but I was very sorry indeed. The "old man eloquent" was
delighted to welcome the Duke, whom, as a boy, he remembered well at
the time of his lengthened visit to England, when he was a frequent
and honoured guest at Stafford House, where he was held in great
esteem by the gracious lady who presided. He was courteous to all the
other visitors; but they did not place a heavy tax on his patience,
for they had to go over Harvard, where they were received by some of
the authorities and conducted over the University, and then the
inevitable drive through the city had to be accomplished. As for me,
despite the dust and wind, I walked through some of the staid,
discreet, and sombre streets and squares of opulent merchantdom, all
very quiet and decorous, with fair faces at the windows, and groups of
prettily dressed children in the balconies, and went to the Somerset
Club and to the Union Club, which had extended their courtesies to the
strangers, and left cards. I had the fortune to foregather for a while
with Mr. L. Curtis, an old acquaintance of the time of the Prussian
occupation of Versailles, when his venerable father--a veteran of the
United States navy--and family, were caught there by the flood of
invaders, as they were about to escape from Paris. We had an early
dinner, and then had to prepare for another flitting, about which some
of us were much exercised, for it was to take us back to New York
again! I must confess to a sense of shame at such a hurried visit to
the "hubbiest" of American cities. The excuse was, that there was an
imperious desire on the part of our directors to see the Hudson River
Line, and Albany, the capital of the State of New York, and so at 10
P.M. we were "all on board" and rattling in a Wagner palace-car over
rather a rough line down South; needless to say, we did not see much
of the country, though it was not easy to sleep, owing to the
jumpiness of the carriages.

_May 9th._--Next morning before 6 o'clock, after a journey of 230
miles, we were delivered on the platform of the station in New York.
All our roads lead to it apparently! We walked through the silent
streets to Sherwood House, in Fifth Avenue, where a welcome and
excellent breakfast had been ordered. The arrangements, the air, and
the perfect repose of the place produced a most agreeable impression.
The landlord informed us that it was almost exclusively frequented as
a family hotel, and that when the New York season was over he closed
his doors, shut up his windows, and went off for his holiday. At 9.30
A.M. we were on our way to Albany accompanied by Mr. Vanderbilt,
junior, and several of the directors of the New York Central and
Hudson River Railroad Company. Americans are justly proud of the
Hudson; it delights the eye of every traveller, and in some respects,
particularly in the beauty of the autumn foliage, it excels the most
famous rivers of Europe. All the more ought they to wage war against
the disgusting outrages on the face of nature which are permitted to
disfigure its banks. The very stones prate of the whereabouts of some
loathsome quack or some ludicrous nostrum, and aggravating repetitions
of the same names and specifics, painted in staring colours, mile
after mile, force the philanthropic traveller to sigh for a measure of
dynamite, and to thirst for the ruin of the miscreants who so disturb
his peace. The Hudson river-side close to the capital is not very
inviting; the works of the Elevated Railway, which is preparing for a
tremendous spring over its Harlem tributary, do not appeal to one's
sense of the beautiful; and a squatter population in what one of my
friends called "very squattery shanties" does not prepare the
traveller for the long stretch of _maisons de plaisance_, country
houses, airy villages, and flourishing townlets which greet his eye as
the train speeds in close 

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