A Ramble of Six Thousand Miles through the United States of America Part 10

[19] There is an old Indian at present in the Missouri territory, to whom his tribe has given the cognomen of "much-water," from the circ.u.mstance of his having been baptized so frequently.

[20] Heriot says (page 320), "They have evinced a decided attachment to their ancient habits, and have _gained_ less from the means that might have smoothed the asperities of their condition, than they have _lost_ by copying the vices of those, who exhibited to their view the arts of civilization."

[21] This letter was dictated by Red-jacket, and interpreted by Henry Obeal, in the presence of ten chiefs, whose names are affixed, at Canandaigua, January 18, 1821.

[22] "The attachment which savages entertain for their mode of life supersedes every allurement, however powerful, to change it. Many Frenchmen have lived with them, and have imbibed such an invincible partiality for that independent and erratic condition, that no means could prevail on them to abandon it. On the contrary, no single instance has yet occurred of a savage being able to reconcile himself to a state of civilization. Infants have been taken from among the natives, and educated with much care in France, where they could not possibly have intercourse with their countrymen and relations. Although they had remained several years in that country, and could not form the smallest idea of the wilds of America, the force of blood predominated over that of education: no sooner did they find themselves at liberty than they tore their clothes in pieces, and went to traverse the forests in search of their countrymen, whose mode of life appeared to them far more agreeable than that which they had led among the French."--_-Heriot_, p.

354.

This pa.s.sage of Heriot's is taken nearly verbatim from Charlevoix, v. 2, p. 109.

CHAPTER X.

I left Kentucky, and pa.s.sed up the river to Wheeling, in Virginia. There is little worthy of observation encountered in a pa.s.sage up this part of the Ohio, except the peculiar character of the stream, which has been before alluded to. At Marietta, at the mouth of the Muskingum, s.h.i.+p-building is carried on; and vessels have been constructed at Pittsburg, full 2000 miles from the gulf of Mexico. About seventy miles up the Kenhawa river, in Virginia, are situated the celebrated salt springs, the most productive of any in the Union. They are at present in the possession of a chartered company, which limits the manufacture to 800,000 bushels annually, but it is estimated that the fifty-seven wells are capable of yielding 50,000 bushels each, per annum, which would make an aggregate of 2,850,000 bushels. Many of these springs issue out of rocks, and the water is so strongly impregnated with salt, that from 90 to 130 gallons yield a bushel. The whole western country bordering the Ohio and its tributaries, is supplied with salt from these works.

Wheeling, although not large, enjoys a considerable share of commercial intercourse, being an entrepot for eastern merchandize, which is transported from the Atlantic cities across the mountains to this town and Pittsburg, and from thence by water to the different towns along the rivers.

The process of "hauling" merchandize from Baltimore and Philadelphia to the banks of the Ohio, and _vice versa_, is rather tedious, the roads lying across steep and rugged mountains. Large covered waggons, light and strong, drawn by five or six horses, two and two, are employed for this purpose. The waggoner always rides the near shaft horse, and guides the team by means of reins, a whip, and his voice. The time generally consumed in one of these journeys is from twenty to twenty-five days.

All the mountains or hills on the upper part of the Ohio, from Wheeling to Pittsburg, contain immense beds of coal; this added to the mineral productions, particularly that of iron ore, which abound in this section of country, offers advantages for manufacturing, which are of considerable importance, and are fully appreciated. Pittsburg is called the Birmingham of America. Some of those coal beds are well circ.u.mstanced, the coal being found immediately under the super-stratum, and the galleries frequently running out on the high road. Notwithstanding the local advantages, and the protection and encouragement at present afforded by the tariff, England need never fear any extensive compet.i.tion with her manufactures in foreign markets from America, as the high spirit of the people of that country will always prevent them from pursuing, extensively, the sordid occupations of the loom or the workshop.

The upper parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania are in a high state of improvement; the land is hilly, and the face of the country picturesque.

The farms are well cultivated, and there is a large portion of pasture land in this and the adjoining states. I encountered several large droves of horses and black cattle on their way to the neighbourhood of Philadelphia and to the state of New York. The black cattle are purchased princ.i.p.ally in Ohio, whence they are brought into the Atlantic states, to be fattened and consumed. The farmers and their families in Pennsylvania, have an appearance of comfort and respectability a good deal resembling that of the substantial English yeoman; yet farming here, as in all parts of the country, is a laborious occupation.

I crossed the Monongahela at Williamsport, and the Youghaghany at Robstown, and so on through Mountpleasant to the first ridge of mountains, called "the chestnut ridge." I determined on crossing the mountains on foot; and after having made arrangements to that effect, I commenced sauntering along the road. Near Mountpleasant, I stopped to dine at the house of a Dutchman by descent. After dinner, the party adjourned, as is customary, to the bar-room, when divers political and polemical topics were canva.s.sed with the usual national warmth. An account of his late Majesty's death was inserted in a Philadelphia paper, and happened to be noticed by one of the politicians present, when the landlord asked me how we elected our king in England. I replied that he was not elected, but that he became king by birthright, &c. A Kentuckian observed, placing his leg on the back of the next chair, "That's a kind of unnatural." An Indianian said, "I don't believe in that system myself." A third--"Do you mean to tell me, that because the last king was a smart man and knew his duty, that his son, or his brother, should be a smart man, and fit for the situation?" I explained that we had a premier, ministers, &c.;--when the last gentleman replied, "Then you pay half-a-dozen men to do one man's business. Yes--yes--that may do for Englishmen very well; but, I guess, it would not go down here--no, no, Americans are a little more enlightened than to stand that kind of wiggery." During this conversation, a person had stepped into the room, and had taken his seat in silence. I was about to reply to the last observations of my antagonist, when this gentleman opened out, with, "yes! that may do for Englishmen very well"--he was an Englishman, I knew at once by his accent, and I verily believe the identical radical who set the village of Bracebridge by the ears, and pitched the villagers to the devil, on seeing them grin through a horse-collar, when they should have been calculating the interest of the national debt, or conning over the list of sinecure placemen. He held in his hand, instead of "Cobbett's Register," the "Greenville Republican."--He had subst.i.tuted for his short-sleeved coat, "a round-about."--He seemed to have put on flesh, and looked somewhat more contented. "Yes, yes," he says, "that may do for Englishmen very well, but it won't do here. Here we make our own laws, and we keep them too. It may do for Englishmen very well, to have _the liberty_ of paying taxes for the support of the n.o.bility. To have _the liberty_ of being incarcerated in a gaol, for shooting the wild animals of the country. To have _the liberty_ of being seized by a press-gang, torn away from their wives and families, and flogged at the discretion of my lord Tom, d.i.c.k, or Harry's b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

At this, the Kentuckian gnashed his teeth, and instinctively grasped his hunting-knife;--an old Indian doctor, who was squatting in one corner of the room, said, slowly and emphatically, as his eyes glared, his nostrils dilated, and his lip curled with contempt--"The Englishman is a dog"--while a Georgian slave, who stood behind his master's chair, grinned and chuckled with delight, as he said--"_poor_ Englishman, him meaner man den black n.i.g.g.e.r."--"To have," continued the Englishman, "_the liberty_ of being transported for seven years for being caught learning the use of the sword or the musket. To have the tenth lamb, and the tenth sheaf seized, or the blanket torn from off his bed, to pay a bloated, a plethoric bishop or parson,--to be kicked and cuffed about by a parcel of 'Bourbon _gendarmerie_'--Liberty!--why h.e.l.l sweat"--here I--slipped out at the side door into the water-melon patch. As I receded, I heard the whole party burst out into an obstreperous fit of laughter.--A few broken sentences, from the Kentuckian and the radical, reached my ear, such as "backed out"--"d.a.m.ned aristocratic." I returned in about half an hour to pay my bill, when I could observe one or two of those doughty politicians who remained, leering at me most significantly. However, I--"smiled, and said nothing."

"The Chestnut ridge" is a chain of rocky, barren mountains, covered with wood, and the ascent is steep and difficult. It is named from the quant.i.ty of chestnut trees that compose the bulk of its timber. Being a little fatigued in ascending, I sat down in a wood of scrub oak. When I had been some time seated on a large stone, my ear caught the gliding of a snake.

Turning quickly, I perceived, at about a yard's distance, a reptile of that beautiful species the rattle-snake. He ceased moving: I jumped up, and struck at his head with a stick, but missed the blow. He instantly coiled and rattled. I now retreated beyond the range of his spring.

Perceiving that I had no intention of giving him fair play by coming within his reach, he suddenly uncoiled and glid across a log, thinking to make good his retreat; but being determined on having--not his scalp, for the head of a rattle-snake is rather a dangerous toy--but his rattle, I pursued him across the log. He now coiled again, and rattled most furiously, thus indicating his extreme wrath at being attacked: the bite of this reptile is most venomous when he is most enraged. I took up a flat stone, about six inches square, and lobbed it on his coil. He suddenly darted out towards me; but, as I had antic.i.p.ated, he was enc.u.mbered with the stone. I now advanced, and struck him on the head with my stick. I repeated the blow until he seemed to be deprived of sensation, when I drew my hunting knife and decapitated him. For a full hour afterwards the body retained all the vigour and sensitiveness which it possessed previous to decapitation, and on touching any part of it, would twist round in the same manner as when the animal was perfect. Sensation gradually disappeared, departing first from the extremities--more towards the wounded extremity than towards the other, but gradually from both, until it was entirely gone. The length of this reptile was about four feet, and the skin was extremely beautiful. Nothing could exceed the beauty of his eye. A clear black l.u.s.tre characterizes the eye of this animal, and is said to produce so powerful an effect on birds and smaller animals, as to deprive them of the power of escaping. This snake had eight rattles, so that he must have been at least eleven years old. I understood afterwards that there was a rattle-snakes' den in the neighbourhood. They appear to live in society, and the large quant.i.ties that are frequently found congregated together are astonis.h.i.+ng. The Jacksonville (Illinois) Gazette of the 22d April, 1830, says, "Last week, a den of rattle-snakes was discovered near Apple Creek, by a person while engaged in digging for rock in that part of our country. He made known the circ.u.mstance to the neighbours, who visited the place, where they killed 193 rattle-snakes, the largest of which (as our informant, who was on the spot, told us) measured nearly four feet in length. Besides these, there were sixteen black snakes destroyed, together with one copper-head. Counting the young ones, there were upwards of 1000 killed." There are two species of rattle-snake, which are in constant hostility with each other. The common black snake, whose bite is perfectly innoxious, and the copper-head, have also a deadly enmity towards the rattle-snake, which, when they meet it, they never fail to attack.

The next ridge of mountains is called the "laurel hills," which are covered with an immense growth of different species of laurel. Between these and the Alleghany ridge are situated "the glades"--beautiful fertile plains in a high state of cultivation. This district is most healthy, and fevers and agues are unknown to the inhabitants. Here the "Delawares of the hills" once roamed the sole lords of this fine country; and perhaps from the very eminence from whence I contemplated the beauty of the scene, some warrior, returning from the "war path" or the chase, may have gazed with pleasure on the hills of his fathers, the possessions of a long line of Sylvan heros, and in the pride of manhood said--'The Delawares are men--they are strong in battle, and cunning on the trail of their foes--at the 'council fire' there is wisdom in their words. Who counts more scalps than the Lenni Lenape warrior?--he can never be conquered--the stranger shall never dwell in his glades.' Where now is the "Delaware of the hills?"--gone!--his very name is unknown in his own land, and not a vestige remains to tell that _there_ once dwelt a great and powerful tribe. When the white man falls, his high towers and lofty battlements are laid crumbling with the dust, yet these mighty ruins remain for ages, monuments of his former greatness: but the Indian pa.s.ses away, silent as the noiseless tread of the moccasin--the next snow comes, and his "trail"

is blotted out for ever.

I toiled across the Alleghanies, which are completely covered with timber, and pa.s.sed on to a place within about thirty miles of Chambersburg, on a branch of the Potomac. Here, coming in upon _civilization_, I took the stage to Baltimore. In my pedestrian excursion the road lay for several miles along the banks of the Juniata, which is a very fine river. The scenery is romantic, and is much beautified by a large growth of magnificent pines. The Alleghany ridge is composed chiefly of sand-stone, clay-slate, and lime-stone-slate, sand-stone sometimes in large blocks.

I encountered several parties of French, Irish, Swiss, Bavarians, Dutch, &c. going westward, with swarms of children, and considerable quant.i.ties of household lumber:--symptoms of seeking _El dorado_.

In the neighbourhood of Baltimore there are many handsome residences, and the farms are all well cleared, and in many cases walled in. The number of comparatively miserable-looking cabins which are dispersed along the road near this town, and the long lists of crimes and misdemeanours with which the Journals of Baltimore and Philadelphia are filled, sufficiently indicate that these cities have arrived to an advanced state of civilization. For, wherever there are very rich people, there must be very poor people; and wherever there are very poor people, there must necessarily exist a proportionate quant.i.ty of crime. Men are poor, only because they are ignorant; for if they possessed a knowledge of their own powers and capabilities, they would then know, that however wealth may be distributed, all real wealth is created by labour, and by labour alone.

Baltimore is seated on the north side of the Patapsco river, within a few miles of the Chesapeak bay. It received its name in compliment to the Irish family of the Calverts. The harbour, at Fell Point, has about eighteen feet water, and is defended by a strong fort, called Mc Henry's fort, on Observation Hill. Vessels of large tonnage cannot enter the basin. In 1791 it contained 13,503 inhabitants; in 1810, 46,487; and at present it contains 80,519. There are many fine buildings and monuments in this city; and the streets in which business is not extensively transacted, are planted with Lombardy poplar, locust, and pride-of-china trees,--the last mentioned especially afford a fine shade.

A considerable schooner trade is carried on by the merchants of Baltimore with South America. The schooners of this port are celebrated for their beauty, and are much superior to those of any other port on the Continent.

They are sharp built, somewhat resembling the small Greek craft one sees in the Mediterranean. A rail-road is being constructed from this place to the Ohio river, a distance of upwards of three hundred miles, and about fourteen miles of the road is already completed, as is also a viaduct. If the enterprising inhabitants of Baltimore be able to finish this undertaking, it must necessarily throw a very large amount of wealth into their hands, to the prejudice of Philadelphia and New York. But the expense will be enormous.

I left Baltimore for Philadelphia in one of those splendid and s.p.a.cious steam-boats peculiar to this country. We paddled up the Chesapeak bay until we came to Elk river--the scenery at both sides is charming. A little distance up this river commences the "Chesapeak and Delaware ca.n.a.l," which pa.s.ses through the old state of Delaware, and unites the waters of the two bays. Here we were handed into a barge, or what we in common parlance would term a large ca.n.a.l boat; but the Americans are the fondest people in the universe of big names, and ransack the Dictionary for the most pompous appellations with which to designate their works or productions. The universal fondness for European t.i.tles that obtains here, is also remarkable. The president, is "his excellency,"--"congressmen,"

are "honorables,"--and every petty merchant, or "dry-goods store-keeper,"

is, at least, an esquire. Their newspapers contain many specimens of this love of monarchical distinctions--such as, "wants a situation, as store-keeper (shopman), a gentleman, &c." "Two gentlemen were convicted and sentenced to six months' imprisonment for horse-stealing, &c." These two items I read myself in the papers of the western country, and the latter was commented on by a Philadelphia journal. You may frequently see "Miss Amanda," without shoes or stockings--certainly for convenience or economy, not from necessity, and generally in Dutch houses--and "that _ere_ young lady" scouring the pails! An accident lately occurred in one of the factories in New England, and the local paper stated, that "one young lady was seriously injured,"--this young lady was a spinner.

Observe, I by no means object to the indiscriminate use of the terms _gentleman_ and _lady_, but merely state the fact. On the contrary, so far am I from finding fault with the practice, that I think it quite fair; when any portion of republicans make use of terms which properly belong to a monarchy, that all cla.s.ses should do the same, it being unquestionably their right. It does not follow, because a man may be introduced as an _American gentleman_, that he may not be simply a mechanic.

The Chesapeak and Delaware ca.n.a.l is about fourteen miles in length; and from the nature of the soil through which it is cut, there was some difficulty attending the permanent security of the work. On reaching the Delaware, we were again handed into a steamer, and so conducted to Philadelphia. The merchant s.h.i.+pping, and the numerous pleasure and steam-boats, and craft of every variety, which are constantly moving on the broad bosom of the Delaware, present a gay and animated scene.

Philadelphia is a regular well-built city, and one of the handsomest in the states. It lies in lat.i.tude 39 56' north, and longitude, west of London, 75 8'; distant from the sea, 120 miles. The city stands on an elevated piece of ground between the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers, about a mile broad from bank to bank, and six miles from their junction. The Delaware is about a mile wide at Philadelphia, and s.h.i.+ps of the largest tonnage can approach the wharf. The city contains many fine buildings of Schuylkill marble. The streets are well paved, and have broad _trottoirs_ of hard red brick. The police regulations are excellent, and cleanliness is much attended to, the kennels being washed daily during the summer months, with water from the reservoirs. The markets, or shambles, extend half-a-mile in length, from the wharf up Market-street, in six divisions.

In addition to the shambles, farmers' waggons, loaded with every kind of country produce for sale, line the street.

There are five banking establishments in the city: the Bank of North America, the United States Bank, the Bank of Pennsylvania, the Bank of Philadelphia, and the Farmers' Bank.

The princ.i.p.al inst.i.tutions are, the Franklin library, which contains upwards of 20,000 volumes. Strangers are admitted gratis, and are permitted to peruse any of the books. The Americans should adopt this practice in all their national exhibitions, and rather copy the liberality of the French than the sordid churlishness of the English, who compel foreigners to pay even for seeing the property of the nation. The other inst.i.tutions are, the University of Pennsylvania, a College, Medical Theatre, College of Physicians, Philosophical Hall, Agricultural and Linnean Societies, Academy of Fine Arts, and the Cincinnati Society, which originated in an attempt to establish a sort of aristocracy. The members were at its formation the surviving officers of the revolution; they wear an eagle, suspended by a ribbon, which, at their death, they have appointed to be taken by their eldest sons. There are besides, the Academies of the Philadelphian Friends, and the German Lutherans; Sunday and Lancasterian schools; and, of course, divers Bible and Tract Societies, which are patronized by all the antiquated dames in the city, and superintended by the Methodist and Presbyterian parsons. The Methodist parsons of this country have the character of being men of gallantry; and indeed, from the many instances I have heard of their propensity in this way, from young Americans, I should be a very sceptic to doubt the fact.

There are also St. George's, St. Patrick's, St. David's, and St. Andrew's Societies for the relief and colonization of British emigrants; a French and a German Emigrant Society, and several hospitals. There are two theatres and an amphitheatre. Peal's Museum contains a large collection, which is scientifically arranged; among other fossils is the perfect skeleton of a mammoth, found in a bed of marle in the state of New York.

The length of this animal, from the bend of the tusks to the rump, was about twenty-seven feet, and the height and bulk proportionate.

The navy-yard contains large quant.i.ties of timber, spars, and rigging, prepared for immediate use, as also warlike stores of every description.

There is here, a s.h.i.+p of 140 guns, of large calibre, and a frigate. Both are housed completely, and in a condition to be launched in a few months, if necessary. They are constructed of the very best materials, and in the most durable and solid manner. There are now being constructed, seriatim, twenty-five s.h.i.+ps of the line--one for every state in the Union. The government occasionally sells the smaller vessels of war to merchants, in order to increase the s.h.i.+pping, and to secure that those armed vessels which are afloat, may be in the finest possible condition. A corvette, completely equipped, was lately sold to his majesty the autocrat of the Russias; but was dismasted in a day or two after her departure from Charleston. She was taken in tow by the vessel of a New York merchant, and carried into the port of that city. The merchant refused any compensation from the Russian minister, although his vessel was, when she fell in with the wreck, proceeding to the Austral regions, and her putting about was greatly disadvantageous. The minister returned thanks publicly, on the part of his master, and expressed his majesty's sense of the invariable consideration and friends.h.i.+p with which his majesty's subjects are treated by the citizens of America. There appears to be a universal wish among the Americans to cultivate an alliance, offensive and defensive, with his majesty of Russia. The cry is, "all the Russians want is a fleet, and we'll lend them that." In fact, a deadly animosity pervades America towards Great Britain; and although it is not publicly confessed, for the Americans are too able politicians to do that, yet it is no less certain, that "_Delenda est Carthago_," is their motto. Let England look to it. Her power is great; but, if the fleets of America, France, and Russia, were to combine, and land on the sh.o.r.es of England hordes of Russians, and battalions of disciplined Frenchmen--if this were to be done, with the Irish people, instead of allies as they should be, her deadly enemies, her power is annihilated at a blow! For let it be remembered, that there is no rallying principle in the temperament of the ma.s.s of the English people; and that formerly one single victory,--the victory of Hastings, completely subjugated them. Hume, who was decidedly an impartial historian, is compelled to say of that conquest, "It would be difficult to find in all history a revolution more destructive, or attended with a more complete subjection of the ancient inhabitants. Contumely seems even to have been wantonly added to oppression; and the natives were universally reduced to such a state of meanness and poverty, that the English name became a term of reproach; and several generations elapsed before one family of Saxon pedigree was raised to any considerable honours, or could so much as obtain the rank of baron of the realm."--Yet the English people owe much to the ancestors of the aristocracy, who introduced among them the arts and refinements of civilization, and by their wisdom and disciplined valour have raised the country to that pitch of greatness, so justly termed "the envy of surrounding nations." I do not contend, that because a nation may have acquired the name of great, that therefore _the people_ are more happy; but am rather inclined to think the contrary, for conquests are generally made and wealth is acc.u.mulated for the benefit of the few, and at the expense of the many.

A law has been lately pa.s.sed by the legislature of Pennsylvania, taxing wholesale and retail dealers in merchandize, excepting those importers of foreign goods who vend the articles in the form in which they are imported. This act cla.s.ses the citizens according to their annual amount of sales, and taxes them in the same proportion. Those who effect sales to the amount of fifty thousand dollars, const.i.tute the first cla.s.s; of forty thousand dollars, the second cla.s.s; of thirty thousand dollars, the third cla.s.s; of twenty thousand dollars, the fourth cla.s.s; of fifteen thousand dollars, the fifth cla.s.s; of ten thousand dollars, the sixth cla.s.s; of five thousand dollars, the seventh cla.s.s; and all persons effecting sales not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars, const.i.tute the eighth cla.s.s. The first cla.s.s shall pay for license, annually, fifty dollars; the second cla.s.s, forty dollars; the third cla.s.s, thirty dollars; the fourth cla.s.s, twenty-five dollars; the fifth cla.s.s, twenty dollars; the sixth cla.s.s, fifteen dollars; the seventh cla.s.s, twelve dollars and fifty cents, and the eighth cla.s.s ten dollars.

Direct taxation has been found in all cases to be obnoxious, and this particular mode, I apprehend, is calculated to produce very pernicious effects. The laws of a republic should all tend to establish and support, as far as is practicable, the principle of equality, and any act that has a contrary tendency must be injurious to the community. Now this act draws a direct line of demarcation between citizens, in proportion to the extent of their dealings; and as in this country a man's importance is entirely estimated by his supposed wealth, the citizens of Pennsylvania can henceforth only claim a share of respectability, proportionate to the _cla.s.s_ to which they belong. The west country ladies have shewn a great apt.i.tude for forming "circles of society," and the promulgation of this law affords them a most powerful aid in establis.h.i.+ng a _store-keeping aristocracy_.

The large cities in America are by no means so lightly taxed as might be supposed from the cheapness of the government; the public works, public buildings, and police establishments, requiring adequate funds for their maintenance and support; however, the inhabitants have the consolation of knowing that this must gradually decrease, and that their money is laid out for their own advantage, and not for the purpose of pensioning off the mistresses and physicians of viceroys, as in Ireland.[23] Another thing is to be observed, that in addition to the _national_ debt, each state has a _private_ debt, which in many cases is tolerably large. These debts have been created by expenditures on roads, ca.n.a.ls, and public buildings. The mode of taxation latterly adopted by the legislature is not popular, and many of the public prints have remonstrated against the system. "The Philadelphia Gazette," of the 24th Sept. 1830, makes the following remarks--"The subject of unequal and oppressive taxation deserves more attention than it has. .h.i.therto received from our citizens. The misery of England is occasioned less by the amount of revenue that is raised there, than by the manner in which it is raised. In Pennsylvania we are going on rapidly, making our state a second England in regard of debt and taxation.

Our public debt is already 13,000,000 dollars; and before our ca.n.a.ls and rail-roads shall be completed, it will probably amount to 18 or 20 millions. The law imposing taxes of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 dollars on retailers, is not the only just subject of complaint. The _collateral inheritance_ tax is equally unjust. The tavern-keepers are besides to be taxed from 20 to 50 dollars each. Nor does the matter end here. At the next session of the legislature, it will, in all probability, be found necessary to lay on additional taxes: and when the principle of unjust taxation is once admitted in legislation, it is difficult to say how far it will be carried."

Whilst staying at Philadelphia an account of the French revolution arrived, and the merchants, there and at New York, were in high spirits, thinking that war was inevitable. A war in Europe is always hailed with delight in America, as it opens a field for commercial enterprise, and gives employment to the s.h.i.+pping, of which at present they are much in need.

During the long and ruinous war in Europe, the mercantile and s.h.i.+pping interests of the United States advanced with an unexampled degree of rapidity. The Americans were then the carriers of nearly all Europe, and scarcely any merchandize entered the ports of the belligerent powers, but in American bottoms. This unnatural state of prosperity could not last: peace was established, and from that era the decline of commerce in the United States may be dated. The merchants seem not to have calculated on this event's so soon taking place, or to have overrated the increase of prosperity and population in their own country, as up to that period, and for some years afterwards, there does appear to have been no relaxation of s.h.i.+p-building, and little diminution of mercantile speculations. At present the s.h.i.+p-owners are realizing little beyond the expenses of their vessels, and in many cases the bottoms are actually in debt. The frequent failures in the Atlantic cities, of late, are mainly to be attributed to unsuccessful s.h.i.+p speculations; and I am myself aware of more than one instance, where the freight was so extremely low, as to do little more than cover the expenditure of the voyage. On my return to Europe, while staying at Ma.r.s.eilles, twelve American vessels arrived in that port within the s.p.a.ce of two months; and before my departure, nine of these returned to the United States with ballast (stones), and I believe only two with full cargos.

In a national point of view, the difficulty of obtaining employment for the s.h.i.+pping of America may not have been so injurious as at first view it appears to be; on the contrary, I am of opinion that it has been advantageous. Whilst a profitable trade could with facility be carried on with and in Europe, the merchants seldom thought of extending their enterprises to any other parts of the world; but since the decline of that trade, communications have been opened with the East Indies, Africa, all the ports of the Mediterranean, and voyages to the Pacific, and to the Austral regions, are now of common occurrence. The museums in the Atlantic cities bear ample testimony to the enterprising character of the American merchants, which by their means are filled with all the curious and interesting productions of the East. This has encouraged a taste for scientific studies, and for travelling; which must ultimately tend to raise the nation to a degree of respectability little inferior to the oldest European state.

FOOTNOTES:

[23] An Irish viceroy lately paid his physician by conferring on him a baronetcy, and a pension of two hundred pounds a year, of the public money.

CHAPTER XI.

Having sojourned for more than three weeks at Philadelphia, I departed for New York. The impressions made on my mind during that time were highly favourable to the Philadelphians and their city. It is the handsomest city in the Union; and the inhabitants, in sociability and politeness, have much the advantage of any other body of people with whom I came in contact.

The steamer takes you up the Delaware river to Bordentown, in New Jersey, twenty-four miles from Philadelphia. The country at either side is in a high state of cultivation. It is interspersed with handsome country seats, and on the whole presents a most charming prospect. There is scarcely a single point pa.s.sed up the windings of the Delaware, but presents a new and pleasing variety of landscape--luxuriant foliage--gently swelling hills, and fertile lawns; which last having been lately mown, were covered with a rich green sward most pleasing to the eye. The banks of the river at Bordentown are high, and the town, as seen from the water, has a pretty effect. Here a stage took us across New Jersey to Amboy. This is not a large town, nor can it ever be of much importance, being situated too near the cities of New York and Philadelphia. At Amboy we again took the steam-boat up the bay, and after a delightful sail of thirty miles, through scenery the most beautiful and magnificent, we arrived at New York.

When I was at New York about fifteen months before, I was informed that the working cla.s.ses were being organized into regular bodies, similar to the "union of trades" in England, for the purpose of retaining all political power in their own hands. This organization has taken place at the suggestion of Frances Wright, of whom I shall again have occasion to speak presently, and has succeeded to an astonis.h.i.+ng extent. There are three or four different bodies of the "workies," as they call themselves familiarly, which vary somewhat from each other in their principles, and go different lengths in their attacks on the present inst.i.tutions of society. There are those of them called "agrarians," who contend that there should be a law pa.s.sed to prohibit individuals holding beyond a certain quant.i.ty of ground; and that at given intervals of time there should be an equal division of property throughout the land. This is the most ultra, and least numerous cla.s.s; the absurdity of whose doctrines must ultimately destroy them as a body. Various handbills and placards may be seen posted about the city, calling meetings of these unions. Some of those handbills are of a most extraordinary character indeed. I shall here insert a copy of one, which I took off a wall, and have now in my possession. It may serve to ill.u.s.trate the character of those clubs.

THE CAUSE OF THE POOR.