Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, Volume XII Part 17

The reader will be mistaken if, from what has been said of good roads and fine weather, he supposes we meet with nothing else; from a few miles off Wheeling until this day or two, the air has been filled with what in England would be thought a thick fog,--here they say it is smoke arising from burning barrens and prairies which are yearly at this time set on fire; indeed we have lately pa.s.sed near enough to woodland on fire to see the flames and to hear the crackling of the timber; to our eyes a melancholy sight, accustomed as they have been to value and admire the forest growth. This brings to remembrance what has been told me of the great danger, and of lives lost in the Prairie country, from the custom of setting fire to the long gra.s.s in order to obtain a fine beautiful herbage, which, in a few weeks after succeeds it: the devouring element a.s.sisted by the wind advances so quickly that the speed of a horse has sometimes proved unavailing. The effect upon the long rushy gra.s.s as the fire reaches it, is frightfully grand; the heat first elevates and then throws it forward like waves, thus crossing the country at a rate inconceivably rapid;--instances have occurred of houses, cattle, and people suddenly falling a sacrifice to this rash {152} method of clearing the ground: the way to avoid such a catastrophe, the neglect of which occasioned to Mr. Flower the loss of some stacks, is to mow the herbage to a sufficient distance round the premises.

Nor is this danger to be apprehended only in the Prairie country. An emigrant, crossing the mountains some few years ago, wrote thus back to his alarmed friends, "the fire is before and behind me, I dare neither go forward nor return, and what will become of me I know not:" as his letter came safe we will hope he escaped.

Within this week a considerable number of waggons laden with goods and people have pa.s.sed on their way to the Western country: as this Indian summer cannot last much longer, these parties would seem to be some of the improvident of the earth not to have moved earlier to their destination.

_November 13th._ The journey to-day, though over high hills and tremendous rocky ways, has been one of the pleasantest drives we have experienced: the clouds were just sufficiently broken to throw as they flew, endless and varied light and shade over the most beautiful and extensive views; rocks of various forms presented their rugged surfaces amongst the thick growing Pines and Oaks which, though small and stunted compared {153} to those in the Western country, are not on that account the less picturesque; and though the land is also equally inferior, yet such scenery, healthy air, and good water, must I conceive render Maryland a desirable residence to the man of refinement and property, in preference to any part that I have seen.

_14th._ A day more beautiful never opened or continued throughout. The national road not being finished we had twelve miles of the old track yet to pa.s.s, over rocks and gullies.

Maryland is a country of high narrow ridges, much rock, and but little land of prime quality; the timber, chiefly pine and oak, is small,--the rock which on this route everywhere abounds, is much of it strongly impregnated with iron; there is also much of it limestone and granite.

Ridge after ridge we pa.s.sed, rewarded by many an extensive and beautiful view, until at length after an hour's toil up Sidling Hill we entered upon the new road and bowled along down to the small town of Hanc.o.c.k near the Potomac, skirting that beautiful river to Fredericktown.

_18th._ Fredericktown[55] stands in a good situation, having a fine view of the ridges of hills immediately west of it. The place is about half the size of Lexington (Kentucky): the inhabitants seem to be rich, having erected many good {154} buildings both public and private, the latter very tastefully and expensively furnished. The Court-house, a handsome building, stands in a square which is _yet to be_ gravelled; on one side we remarked a lofty shed under which were hung an enormous pair of scales, seemingly typical of the purposes to which the central building is devoted. Churches are plentiful, nine in number and some of them well built. Talbot's tavern excellent and good attendance, but charges, as they are every where on this road, very high.

This is a Slave State; an inst.i.tution hateful to English ears; yet I will observe again that after travelling through three slave States, I am obliged to go back to theory to raise any abh.o.r.ence of it: not once during the journey did I witness an instance of cruel treatment, nor could I discover anything to excite commiseration in the faces or gait of the people of colour--they walk, talk, and appear at least as independent as their masters; in animal spirits they have greatly the advantage: doubtless there may be instances of cruelty, but I am inclined to think that such are of rare occurrence, and this for other reasons, as before remarked, besides those of humanity. Upon the question "What is the proper place of the Black in the order of creation?" (a subject which, after so much has been said on both sides, yet remains {155} in dispute,) the tendency of the above observations may seem to place him subordinate to the white--the next link in that chain of gradation, almost imperceptible to us, which nature exhibits throughout all her works: yet is the man of colour in general orderly in his conduct under the every-day duties of life, and also instances are not wanting of superior abilities among them, though they have not had perhaps fair-play shewn them in this respect. I may have occasion to observe more hereafter on this subject, meanwhile let it console the philanthropist, that if the black is not in his proper place, yet he possesses comforts, and appears very contented.

_19th._ At Baltimore. The view is fine from an eminence about half a mile from the town, nor are you disappointed on entering the city; though not so large, it is yet the most pleasing by far of the three eastern ports we have visited: whether the beauty and taste, the variety and neatness of the buildings, both public and private be considered, or the plan and situation--the whole is indeed strikingly interesting. A beautiful marble column is in part finished, a national monument to the memory of those who fell in the battle at North Point;[56] not far from this is in progress a superb Catholic cathedral, and close to it stands a Unitarian church, an edifice not surpa.s.sed {156} in beauty by any in the city. Besides these there are a variety of churches and other public buildings: one of the most prominent the College of Physicians, a very heavy combination, and not rendered the more pleasant by, we will hope, the inappropriate neighbourhood of a burial ground. On the whole the traveller cannot but be pleased with a view of Baltimore and the State of which it is the chief town.

On leaving Baltimore about half a mile, a large burial ground presents itself on the road side: the Americans inclose these places with little or no fence, and very frequently bury their dead with little or no ceremony;--as we pa.s.sed this ground a man within it was carrying a child's coffin under his arm, which he was going to inter apparently by himself.--Mr. Birkbeck mentions the summary method in the western country of felling a tree across the spot where they inhume a body: but the tree had sometimes been removed, and we frequently drove over hillocks in the wilderness under which lay the bones of the departed.

The road now led along the western edge of the grand bay of Chesapeak, of which we caught frequent and delightful views--here indeed may America justly pride herself; her bays and rivers stretching to a great distance from the coast--{157} surely nothing in nature can exceed for grandeur or utility. Havre de Grace at the mouth of the Susquehannah is a small place, but beautifully and healthfully situated: it was burned by us during the last war, they say upon very small provocation, which has given a blow to the little prosperity it enjoyed; and a bridge now building at a short distance up the river, by rendering the ferry useless and turning the present road, will further hurt it. One of the greatest dainties, the canvas-back duck, is here obtained in great numbers and sent to Philadelphia and Baltimore markets; though this was the season for them, we were not so fortunate as to feast upon the delicacy. The Susquehannah is navigable for large vessels to the bridge, and for small craft, I was informed, for near five hundred miles up the country.

The tavern at Havre de Grace is far better than that on the opposite sh.o.r.e; we had good beds and attendance. The ferry, about a mile wide, is well managed; on landing, we drove on through Elkton, Christiana, and Newport to Wilmington, a large town near the Delaware, and a place of some trade: the State Bank is a good building. At night reached Chester; the first inn was quite full and the next nearly so, which appeared very unaccountable; but on enquiry learned that it is {158} the chief _retiring place_ for Debtors, where in about five weeks residence they get cleared of the _Dun disease_ and come out themselves again.

_23d._ A beautiful day: breakfasted near the small town of Darby, and shortly after once again entered Philadelphia, after an absence of four months, and a journey of above two thousand five hundred miles performed in good health and with much interest throughout.

I now take leave of the Western country of the United States; and although the reader may perhaps be enabled to gather from the foregoing observations sufficient whereon to judge for himself, yet it may be proper to sum up that which I have to say upon it; and it may be done in a few words:--First addressing all those who are possessed of capital, I will state, that if they are content to undergo for their own lives many difficulties, and to make a certain sacrifice of many of the little comforts they can possess and have been used to enjoy at a moderate cost in England, they may then for a trifling sum establish their posterity upon a good estate in America, which hereafter may place _them_ in affluence; and this may be accomplished at a distance far short of the Prairies of Illinois;--but let them be again reminded {159} that it must be done at some risk, much trouble, and a certain sacrifice of many of their own comforts: so much for those who look forward. As to immediate prospects, taking the different ranks, professions, and businesses in turn, I must first a.s.sure the gentleman and the idle man that they have _no business_ in any part of the territory. The farmer who has been accustomed to the regular markets, the constant labourers, and the comforts of an English hearth, will here find the reverse of all these and more; not so bad perhaps in the country nearest to the eastern cities as in the west, where labour to manage more than a small portion of his land is not to be had; and if it could, there is either no market, or it is so distant that the small price he can obtain for his grain renders it little worth growing; whilst this very distance from market which thus acts against him, also renders the price of all groceries at least double that which it is in the Eastern States.[57]

For professional men I saw no opening, unless it may be for dissenting teachers in religion.--There are many young physicians spread about the country who keep taverns for their support; as to lawyers, there are enough for the population. {160} For manufacturers there may perhaps be found some employ: but it is princ.i.p.ally the young poor man who can turn his hand to anything--the stout agricultural labourer, for whom this country is at present calculated; here such men may, with reasonable labour and activity, in a short time realise a little property, and after living in comparative plenty and comfort, leave their families to enjoy the same with independence. It is emphatically the country for the poor man; but he must not go thither, as many have done, expecting no difficulties to be encountered, no privations to be endured; nor must he be disheartened at finding a cool reception, and work not immediately offered on his arrival at the Eastern ports;--he must push forward westward without idly stopping to spend his money and waste his time; work his way if money runs short (he may at all places get food at least for his services,) until he arrives at a place where hands are wanted and good wages are offered for them; he has then a fair and near prospect of comfort, taking care only to be industrious, frugal, and especially to avoid habits of drinking, a vice the most difficult to withstand where the spirits of the country are to be obtained for half a crown the gallon.

There are people with us in England who object {161} to giving the poor man any facility of emigration, and who are disposed to condemn prospects held out to him of improving his present condition by a change of country; I shall not stop to argue with such narrow policy and truly anti-christian reasoners more than to say, that I will leave them to point out, for I cannot, even in a political point of view, any loss to a country arising from the emigration of a _redundant_ population.

A WINTER AT PHILADELPHIA

Though a winter pa.s.sage across the Atlantic may be quick it is almost always unpleasant; this thought, aided by a wish to see a little more of the climate and people ere I should bid to both farewell, determined me to stay till spring. The following notes and reflections are the fruit of the protracted residence, and they are presented to the reader nearly as they stand in my journal: in their nature they must be desultory, and by essaying to render them more connected, the little interest they may possess might be made yet less.

_December_ 6th. A beautiful day, even warm, as indeed the mid-day has. .h.i.therto been, yet the {162} thermometer in an east room window opened at early morning stood at 33.

Rode with D***** to the view on the Schuylkil called the "Flat Rock." On the way called at Mr. Fletcher's screw factory,--Mr. F. took pains to explain to us the machinery, though after all we best understood the _result_; one of the machines cut the iron rod into proper lengths and turned out seven screws complete per minute; with only the attendance of a boy, it forms thirty-five gross per day. Two miles more partly along the bank of the river, and amongst its beautiful scenery, brought us to the Flat Rock, and we crossed by an inclosed wood bridge. One of the dams which have been already mentioned is here formed, and there is a ca.n.a.l on one side with locks for the pa.s.sage of vessels;--the broad cascade of the silvery waters sparkling in the sun over the dam, and the high, broken, and wooded banks of the river, presented a scene, even without the aid of foliage, enchanting. We returned by the old Lancaster road, making a pleasant ride of about twenty miles. In the evening called with D**** on Mr. H. This gentleman's life affords an instance of successful industry, by no means uncommon in this country of enterprise and speculation; it is also interwoven with some extraordinary incidents. At setting out in life's {163} career he and a brother laid out their several portions in goods such as they judged best for the market, and with them sailed for this country: the venture proved fortunate; the goods were quickly sold to great profit, and his brother again set sail for England to purchase more with the produce. But here a cruel disappointment awaited Mr. H., for his relative instead of pursuing the intentions of his voyage, engaged on his arrival in Europe in other speculations, lost the whole of the money, and his anxious partner in America, when riches seemed already to be within his grasp, received notice of his brother's misconduct, and found himself suddenly reduced to his last s.h.i.+lling, in a foreign land, and without a friend!

Young and active, however, his mind bore up against poverty, and, though at the age now of three and twenty, he took the resolution to bind himself apprentice to a trade of which he already knew a little; at this he served his time; by steadiness and application perfected himself in the business; then set up for himself in prosperous times, and rapidly made a handsome income, which he now comfortably enjoys. Let us here venture reverentially to trace the moral justice of Providence in the life of the brother, who, though enterprising and at one period apparently prosperous, was reduced by successive losses;--{164} was taken by the French and imprisoned for several years;--being at length set at liberty he got together sufficient money to freight a vessel at one of the southern ports of that country, but which in coming round from thence for England was lost; and himself also soon after perished at sea.

9th. Just returned from a shooting excursion in Jersey. We saw pheasants, partridges, and rabbits, but few of any of these were shot: the American pheasant seems half grouse, the partridge half quail, and the rabbit half hare.[58] Buffon and the Abbe Raynal[59] have both remarked that the animals of this continent are larger than those of Europe, but the fox, pheasant, partridge and woodc.o.c.k are all certainly much smaller.--The Jersey horses are excellent hacknies, for a pair of them drew us in a lumbering vehicle eight miles with ease in about an hour along a heavy sandy road.

We have been told there are no taxes in America, or that they are few and light; I insert therefore a copy of a tax paper handed to me by a gentleman of Philadelphia.

+-------+-----------+--------------+------------+------+-------+---+ | | City. | | Poor. | | | | |Rates. | 50 Cents. | Co. 25 Cents.| 30 Cents. |Water.|Total. | | | | 100 $ | 100 $ | 100 $ | | | | +-------+-----------+--------------+------------+------+-------+---+ |$ Cts.| $ Cts. | $ Cts. | $ Cts. | .... |$ Cts.| | | | | | | | | | |88 : 00| 44 : 00 | 22 : 00 | 26 : 40 | |92 : 40| | +-------+-----------+--------------+------------+------+-------+---+

{165} Besides these there are still levied a poll-tax of one dollar; a dog-tax of one dollar, and I believe some others. During the last war, a tax was laid upon top-boots, watch-chains, part of household furniture, and various other articles.--Horses and carriages are also virtually taxed, for the a.s.sessor calling to put his queries in order to make out the a.s.sessment asks, among other questions, "Does Mr. ***** keep a horse or mare, a gig or other carriage?" and upon being answered in the affirmative he increases the poll-tax in proportion: this district or parish officer has, or I am misinformed, in great measure discretionary powers, and as he is elected by _all_ the inhabitants of the district, whether they do possess property or not, the consequence may be easily foreseen.--Thus are the Americans pretty well taxed according to their means of paying: in the country indeed taxes are very little if at all paid, for the reason that the government either cannot or dare not levy them; hardly indeed, in some places dare the owners claim the land itself from the _Squatters_. An instance of this lately occurred in a distant part of Pensilvania: a proprietor having heard of several settlers upon his land without purchase or permission, mounted his horse and journeying to his allotment soon came up to a good log house; a Squatter was at his door, {166} and the owner, by way of entering into conversation with him, observed that he had erected a comfortable dwelling there; to which the other a.s.sented.--"But, my friend, I am told that you and several more have built here without any t.i.tle to the land, and the owner is coming to remove you." The man, who had his rifle in his hand, immediately pointing to a pig at a distance took aim and shot it dead; then turning to the alarmed proprietor told him, that if the owner should ever come to disturb him he would serve him as he had served that pig.

_Sunday_ 12th. In the morning attended the episcopal church, a building handsomely decorated withinside: near the pulpit, which was placed within the altar, sat a Bishop in his lawn sleeves, &c. supported in a chair of state of carved wood, the mitre surmounting the back;--he took no part in the service, but I understood he would officiate in the ceremony of admission to a young minister. In the middle of the service, otherwise conducted with decency, a man with a money box came into every pew to levy contributions for the support of the church. In the evening went to the Presbyterian church, where we heard much singing. Here a purse at the end of a long stick was thrust into every pew for contributions: this mode of raising funds for whatever purpose is an abomination.

{167} Marriage is here a civil contract, though some parties have the ceremony read by a minister; in general they may and do go before the Mayor, a Justice, or as they are called here a 'Squire, and declaring their resolution to take each other for man and wife, the contract is binding. As to registers I understand they are very inaccurately kept, if at all in many places, of either marriages, christenings, or burials, which must occasion most profitable confusion for the lawyers.

Went with ***** to one of the many billiard tables in this city; the game usually played is the four b.a.l.l.s, two red and two white. This seemed to me a very childish play and well suiting the table-keeper, as from the facility of _cannoning_ the game is soon finished. Returning home my companion proposed to dive into one of the Oyster Cellars, to which agreeing we vanished in a trice, and entering the infernal abode, the heat of which was at least that of a hot-house, we found a room well lighted and boxes arranged like our coffee-houses, except that the part.i.tions were carried to the ceiling and the addition of curtains in front.--We supped well upon stewed oysters brought upon a chaffing dish, and a sallad of finely shredded raw cabbage and celery, which I found very palatable; for these with beer we paid half a dollar, and again rose to encounter the keen air of a {168} frosty night. It is I apprehend these constant sudden changes of temperature, and not severity of climate, which destroy the const.i.tutions of many here, and render the use of flannel next the skin indispensable.

No one will again say that this country is free from paupers when he learns that there are subscriptions for the support of public soup establishments, which find plenty of employment throughout the winter.

'Tis true the poor here seem to be more fastidious than with us, for a pauper in my hearing the other day objected to some good cold meat offered to her, because it was too cold for her stomach, and said she would prefer some money if the giver pleased.

_Sunday_ 26th. Went with ***** to a Roman Catholic church: the altar very handsome, but the architecture and decorations more calculated for a temple dedicated to Venus, than for the sanct.i.ty of a christian church. Between the pillars of corinthian order which supported the altar was a view of the Holy City and the Temple, well painted in distemper, and before this full as large as life the Crucifixion, the first view of which sight of horror, must make a sickening impression; but its constant presence deadens the feelings, and renders devotion grounded upon it a mere ceremony, as the "nods and becks and wreathed {169} smiles" between acquaintances coming in during the prayers plainly proved. The priest on his entrance, being finely enrobed in a scarlet velvet and worked muslin petticoat, commenced his operations by a very hearty and plentiful use of his pocket handkerchief, which "I thought to myself" might as well have been done before his entree; he then with a voice like a bull-frog began prayers, but after some progress turned short round from the altar to the congregation and in very familiar language said he was too hoa.r.s.e to preach, but would, as I understood, give them more prayers instead. He again during prayers took sudden occasion to remind them of some particular day in the ensuing week, and then finished the orisons;--the priest's voice was very pleasingly relieved by the singing from the organ-loft, it was fine and impressive.

The ceremony of the purse was here too gone through and then we departed, the organ playing very well but not very apropos "_Adeste fideles_."

An affair occurred last week at New York which caused a considerable sensation,--a young man in a fit of angry malice stabbed another in the open street with a concealed cane dirk. He fled, but was pursued and taken: when brought before the magistrates twenty thousand dollars were offered as bail for his appearance, which {170} has not been in this case accepted; though I am told it is not at all uncommon here to take bail in cases of murder, or rather manslaughter to speak technically. No wonder then that duels of that a.s.sa.s.sin character are of so frequent occurrence. It is common to practise beforehand on giving or receiving a challenge, and I believe rifle-barrelled pistols have been used; if after this a man is admitted to bail, let the a.s.sa.s.sin go free.

31st. After a long continuance of fine mild weather, in the mid-day sometimes even hot, winter comes clothed in his thickest fleecy covering, ushered in by as fine and gentle a rain as ever fell in autumn; the snow is already a foot deep, and sleds, or as they are called here sleighs, are moving in all directions. These carriages are not only applied to the useful purposes of life at this season, but they also afford an amus.e.m.e.nt much indulged in by all who can afford it;--there are sleighs of various sizes drawn by from one to four horses, and some of these carriages are of a form elegant enough, and handsomely covered within by the rich furry skins of the Bear and Buffalo; the horses wear belts of bells round their necks and bodies, and also some at their ears; this, which is a legal regulation intended to give notice of their approach, and thus to prevent accidents, {171} is rendered an affair of ornament to delight the eye and the ear, the bells being nicely a.s.sorted to harmonize, and affixed to handsome leather belts. The fun and frolic consists in large parties forming a cavalcade of these sleighs to some place of public resort at a distance, where when arrived, the dance is struck up, hot wines are drunk as a refreshment, and in the night, after a good supper, wrapped in furs and huddled together, they drive helter skelter home not "alone by the light of the moon."

Americans make amends for the want of originality of invention by a quick perception and adoption of whatever is useful in other nations; without owning that they do so, they servilely copy us in every thing; for examples among so many, Savings Banks are adopted to great extent.

Lotteries are of as frequent occurrence as with us; schemes are for ever publis.h.i.+ng, and without any other difference than the subst.i.tution of dollars for pounds; head prize, 20,000 dollars, second 10,000, and so on down to 10 and 5. The state of pauperism has even obliged them to adopt the before-mentioned soup inst.i.tutions, which are now in daily action at each quarter of the city, besides other places where bread, and at some, clothing, is given away to proper objects of the charity; many of whom they say are Emigrants {172} out of employ.[60] The newspapers indeed are full of advertis.e.m.e.nts for employ, and societies are established by Englishmen to relieve and forward poor emigrants to where their services may be wanted; but I am informed by a subscriber that the applications to them for working hands are just now but few: work would be plentiful, but money is wanting, meanwhile Penitentiaries and prisons and poor-houses are full! This does not form an inviting picture to the emigrant.

Writers on the United States have too much said the _thing which is not_, and too little the thing which is; consequently I entered the country with impressions which have almost all been totally changed by actual observation. We have been told that suits at law are here quickly heard and as quickly determined: walking the other day in Philadelphia with a gentleman, he pointed to some buildings we were pa.s.sing, and surprised me by observing that he had for _many years_ been disputing at law the possession of them. My landlady too is engaged in a lawsuit of many years standing, and of which she knows not the probable termination. Whether these evils are some for which they may thank our administration is {173} not here worth enquiring, as a wise nation should have remedied them when it formed for itself a Const.i.tution; but in this and many other instances they still suffer under many of the evils of which we complain.

In a statement of grievances drawn up by a Grand Jury at a late county a.s.size in Pensilvania, it is complained that improper persons are put into the commission of the peace, and of the improper conduct of such in their magistracy: it also contains a strong remonstrance against the practice in prisons of putting the tried and untried culprits together: the bringing before the Grand Jury causes of a petty nature, and which therefore should have been tried in inferior courts, is also objected to.

The militia laws here bear hard upon the Foreigner, towards whom they are a vexatious tax. A residence in the country of, I believe, only six months renders him liable to be called out, and enrolled, or to pay a fine for absence; yet were a war to take place with the government to which an enrolled stranger is subject, he is sent up the country, instead of accepting of his military services; as it happened to the English who were resident here during the last war, to the great detriment of their affairs. The foreigner of course generally submits to pay the fine rather than be {174} subject to the demand of a military duty so unjust towards him; but that the practice of procuring subst.i.tutes, should be gaining ground among the citizens themselves, proves pretty clearly a falling off from the republican spirit. I have somewhere met with the remark that the Athenians were so wholly devoted to public life that they neglected the private virtues: the moderns on the contrary, and the remark may be applicable equally elsewhere as here, may be said to neglect their public interests in a constant attention to their private affairs; when this is the case, parties may hold intemperate language, journalists may snarl at each other, but all will not preserve the liberties of a people who have ceased to be true to themselves, when, from whatever cause, they shall hold back from their public duties, more especially those which are military; they then soon sink into effeminacy, lose that manliness of character which such exercises would give them, and becoming indifferent to all else but sordid gain, let their liberties sooner or later become the sacrifice to despotism. A militia may not go through its evolutions so quick and exact as a standing army--the latter is also a fine spectacle on a field-day, when the sun s.h.i.+nes--it is likewise, it must be confessed, very enticing to indolence to be able to sit at home and nurse "its dainty {175} sympathies" while the army is abroad fighting its battles; but the Republic that would long preserve its freedom, that would truly enjoy the shade of its own vine and fig-tree, must keep the sword belted to its own side; must know how to use it, and submit with chearfulness and energy to its military duties. A standing army and disarmed population is the awful lever wherewith despotism and crooked policy have everywhere overturned the temple of liberty.

But whither is fancy leading me to wander? forgetful that I am where true liberty is unknown, or where the G.o.ddess has only deigned to shed the rays of her intelligence on the favoured head of a Was.h.i.+ngton, a Franklin and a few others; while a spirit totally irreconcileable with the n.o.ble, disinterested, high minded, true republican pervades each bosom--money--gain--sordid gain is the predominant, almost the sole pa.s.sion; scarcely leaving room for vanity; which shews itself not only in a firm belief and modest a.s.sertion that they alone among the nations of the earth hold the palm in Arts, Arms, and Science, but also in the important object of decorating the person. Reader--know, that the tailor, hatter, bootmaker, here give to our modern Republican his rank; and by the cut of his habiliments is known the circle in which he moves, and in which he {176} must continue to move. As unbending an order of aristocracy exists here as in any old court of Europe; and if an unfortunate individual is known ever to have appeared in an inferior circle, the ostracism banishes him for ever from the double refined society of this upper order of store keepers.

_January_ 31st, 1820. Went last evening to attend service at the African Church: a charity sermon was preached and the whole very decently conducted. Contemplating however the sable countenances around us, the observation that the black forms a grade just below the white again occurred; 'tis true the former seems capable of all the common mental exertions, so nearly equal with the white man that it must be confessed he treads close upon his heels, yet notwithstanding, perhaps the result of a close examination and comparison of their mental faculties might shew as much difference between them as may be observed in the features of the countenance. On whichever side the truth of the question may lie, the general opinion in those States which have formally and publicly called the men of colour "Men and Brothers" is pretty clearly shewn in various ways--separate churches--civil disabilities, besides such common advertis.e.m.e.nts in the daily papers as the following; which I copy from the Aurora[61] of Friday, 25th March, 1820:--

{177} BAKER'S

EXCHANGE AND INTELLIGENCE-OFFICE

For SALE:--A black girl 20 years old, and 8 to serve.

Ditto 17 and 11 ditto.

Ditto 13 and 15 ditto, from the country.

Ditto 18 and 10 ditto.

Ditto 13 and 15 ditto.

A black boy 16 and 15 ditto, &c. &c.

To BIND:--White boys 11, 12, 13, &c. years of age.

White girls 8, 11, 12, &c.

Thus in free Pensilvania are blacks positively sold for a limited period, and though the law does not allow the purchaser the power of life and death over this sort of slave, yet to all other intents and purposes he is in as complete subjection as any slave in Virginia or Kentucky.

We have lately attended service at the churches of the Anabaptists, the Swedenborgians, &c.--Contemplating the various sects of religion in the United States, men will be pleased or otherwise, according to their private sentiments, to see the people on a Sunday quietly moving to the places of wors.h.i.+p belonging to their several persuasions, without the least symptom of disrespect or rancorous spirit towards each other; thus forming an exception to the rest of the globe.--Whether such a state of religion will long continue, or whether, professing the same end (happiness hereafter,) {178} they may at length unite in the same means, one form of religion, time only will demonstrate: there are indeed people who seem to be of opinion that it will end in no religion at all; and I must confess thus much, that though theoretically it is certainly pleasing to contemplate religion free from state trammels, and each man walking before his G.o.d as his unbia.s.sed conscience shall dictate, yet, as religion ought to influence men's conduct in the world, and "a tree is known by its fruit," it would be satisfactory to perceive, as the result of such religious liberty, more probity in the every day dealings between man and man than I have witnessed in the United States. While they talk of the moral and religious principle; of true liberty, honesty, &c. their actions belie their words, and make them appear a nation of unprincipled atheists; by the bye, a description of people perhaps more general over the world than we might be inclined to allow; people, who outwardly profess belief in a Creator and future Judge of our actions, yet whose daily acts contradict their professions.

But to return to America, where integrity is at so low an ebb at present, that the nearest relative or friend can scarcely be safely trusted. One instance of baseness and ingrat.i.tude, among the many, I will relate. A man some time ago became insolvent--_retired_ for the {179} usual period of five or six weeks, during which time he obtained signatures of release from his creditors, and came out whitewashed: one would naturally suppose that at least towards these men he would feel a debt of grat.i.tude as well as of money due, and he had soon an opportunity of shewing it; for one of them, to whom he had been most indebted, in his turn got into difficulties,--and what followed--the scoundrel seized the occasion by the help of chicanery to turn his former creditor into the street and sold up his goods! Can either a religious or moral principle prevail where such things are _commonly_ perpetrated?--Can the laws be good?--Can the government be efficient?

Can a country last where such things pa.s.s as clever strokes of practice, and the most successful swindler is praised as the _smartest_ fellow?