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Those too large to be entirely included In one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film^s d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cllchd, II est filmi d partir de Tangle sup^rleur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haul en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes sutvants lllustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 I A AFTER THE STORM; OR, JONATHAN AND HIS NEIGHBOURS IN 1865-6. VOLUME I. A RICH. AFTER THE STORM; OR, JONATHAN AND HIS NEIGHBOURS IN 1865-6. BY J. E. HILARY SKINNER, BABBISTEB-AT-LAW, AUTHOR OP ' THE TALE OF DANISH HEROISM.' IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON : RICHARD BENTLEY, 8, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, mUiglfer in Srmmvv to ^tv MK]mu. 1866. !! i I/,/. LONDON: PraKTED BV W-. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET, AND OHAKING CROSS. TO MY DEAR MOTHER, .THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY AND RESPECfFULLT DEDICATED. I i a ei IE tl VI ex an CO m 1 Coi PREFACE. It cannot be denied that the success of the great American republic will give impetus to radical re- form in this country; and we are accustomed to associate universal suffrage with radical reform. But I have found that our Cousin Jonathan as a moneyed, educated, being, dislikes universal suffrage. Repub- lican and Democrat of the upper class have told me in confidence that they think there should be some- thing more required of a voter than sane, uncon- victed, manhood.* Here I must pause to settle the meaning of several expressions which >yill be used in the present work, and for which you might otherwise call me to ac- count ; Jonathan has had experience of a restricted franchise, since m many States the voter must possess property; ana in some- Connecticut, for example— he must be able to read. Vlll PREFACE. Jonathan,— our American cousins spoken of col- lectively, and with a tendency to imply the ruling section of the country. Sambo,— an American citizen (vide the Civil Eights Bill) of African descent, with a claim on Jonathan for work performed during the last century. Republican (when spelt with a capital letter),— a member of the political party which brought Abra- ham Lincoln into power, and which appears to be in two minds about Andrew Johnson. Democrat (when spelt with a capital letter),— a member of the political party which failed to keep Abraham Lincoln out of power, and which patronises Fenians rather than negroes. Coloured Person,— much the same as Sambo. Not used in the West Indian sense of half-caste as dis- tinguished from absolutely black; but referring to all darkeys. I have yielded to the usurpation by which our cousin calls himself "American," and his country " America," in contradistinction to other people and territories on the same continent. You will easily distinguish the political from the geographical term. f H'H. ^^^^H PREFACE. IX T8 to be in *0f Reconstruction (the building up again of the South or Dixie's Land *), I can only say that it has progressed witli marvellous rapidity. When I amved in Anaerica the conquered Southern States were hvild down by a force considerably larger than that with which Napoleon set out for Moscow : agriculture was at a standstill ; business suspended ; and free coloured labour was thought by most Southerners an impossi- bility. When I left America in the spring of the present year, Dixie's Land was but thinly garrisoned ; trade had revived ; negroes were working for wages ; and a cotton crop of two million five hundred thou- sand bales was confidently expected. Of President Johnson I will not say much, as his career is unfinished. He is reputed to be a shrewd, hard-headed politician, caring more for expediency than for principle, but anxious, nevertheless, to do as much justice as he conveniently can. Jonathan's neighbours, Canada and Mexico, have each a place m the following pages. Canada may well call for our especial attention. She is the tendon Achilles of British Coionial rule * So called nobody could or would tell me why. ■^ PREFACE. -the weak point at which our cousin threatens to wound us sorely. My best wish fr. all parties would be Canadian independence, with a neutrality guaranteed alike by John and Jonathan. More of this in Chapter XII. Mexico has been given a far worse name than she deserves. Some people have lost money in the silver mines, others have failed to make a fortune in the country which they entered penniless, and many at a distance have been disgusted by hearing of revolu- tions which they did not take tlie trouble to under- stand. Few Englishmen appreciated the grave issues at stake between Juarez and Miramon during their fierce contest, or the Quixotic nature of French intervention when, at length, Juarez had triumphed. I saw nothing in Maximilian's Empire to make me hopeful that it would continue for even a week after Marshal Bazaine and his soldiers should have re- turned to France. If Northern* Americans consider that my praises of rebel courage are too loud-though I do not think • " Northern " and " Southern " in their couventional sense • no allusion to South America. . ' PREFACE. XI that they will, for they admit that the "Kebs" resisted them stoutly — Southern Americans may perhaps take umbrage at my strong abhorrence of slavery. To neither section can I abate one jot of possible offence. The Confederates fouglit like brave men, and, especially at Fort Sumter, they main- tained the struggle with desperate energy; but there was at their side a phantom impersouati^n of wrong -which could bring them no blessing. Everything failed and withered that should have ripened into Confederate success; whilst everything prospered with the Federals, however much they might blun- der ; for justice and freedom were there, as potent, though little-heeded allies. 3, Dr. Johnson's Buildings, Temple, May 29, 1866. m 'I'll ' T.! Ti Ai Uf Ml CONTENTS OF VOL. L / I ' CHAPTER I. FAOE The Fourth of Jvirs i CHAPTER II. The Empiee City 24 CHAPTER III. An American Wedding 91 CHAPTER IV. Up the Hudson 22 CHAPTER V. Mustered out of Service 4g CHAPTER VI. A Change in Fashionable Opinion gi , ^^V CONTENTS OF VOL. I. * CHAPTER VII. Look out fob the Cars when the Bell rings .. .. ^^5 CHAPTER VIII. Yankee-land Proper .. .. go CHAPTER IX. The White Mountains go CHAPTER X. Our Anglo-French Colony iQg CHAPTER XL The St. Lawrence .^q CHAPTER XIL Canadian Defences .... -.nn lob CHAPTER XIIL The Future Capital op Canada ^^g CHAPTER XIV. The Upper Province .. ,0/ 164 CHAPTER XV. Oily Enniskillen , ^^ ^gg CONTENTS OF VOL. I. XV CHAPTER XVI. The Forest City oqi CHAPTER XVII. : Petroleum AT HIS Head Quarters £17 CHAPTER XVIII. The Border-Land ^ „„. CHAPTER XIX. A Work of Mercy CHAPTER XX. [Westward to the Mississippi gfi? CHAPTER XXI. |An Anglo-American .... „„_ '• •• .. Joo CHAPTER XXII. I Down Stream to Memphis ■ ■ — » Obs-Yol II. will carry the reader from Memphis to Mexico and thence to Fort Sumter. Mexico, :J0! AFTER THE STORM. o>»:c CHAPTER I. THE FOURTH OF JULY. Union triumph -Bamum'8 museum - Pyrotechnic display. ^HE glorious Fourth of July, 1865, deserved unusual lonour, because peace had been conquered in spite 5f every obstacle, and because Uncle Sam had con- nnced mankind that he would not submit to vivi- section. So thought New York City ; so reasoned its en- terprising boys and its crafty dealers in fireworks. I^rom day-dawn there were explosions, great and small Toy can.on, pistols, crackers, and miniature toipedoes were freely used, until November 6th in de- generate England-^m;>. Sir Richard Mayne-would lave been positive silence by comparison. Are we ^ot over-hasty in reducing our expenditure of powder VOL. I. i - - B 2 AFTER THE STORM. on Guy Fawkes' day ? There is a deep-seated crav- ing for noise in the natural man, as shown by tom- toms, royal salutes, three times three, &c. And this feeling in Young Ame^.ca finds wholesome vent on the Fourth of July. Everywhere stars and stripes ! Bunting of the right colour must have been at a premium, for surely so many flags were never seen before. The citizens wore a good-humoured look, proverbial amongst those who win — it was wonderful how popular the winning side had become — and New York was underijoino- a phase of dark-blue coats aid light-blue pantaloons. Not even Paris when Napoleon returned from Sol- ferino could have shown faces more sun-burnt and determined than were visible in the Empire City. The veterans of Grant and Sherman were crowding back from Dixie's Land with a rpgged war-worn appearance, and, greatest change of all, here was a real live coloured soldier ! He wore a coat of blue which did not suit his complexion, and was eyed askance by sundry half-hearted Unionists. But LU presence in New York was very significant. It con- vinced me that American telegrams during the last four years were often founded on fact. Arrived at Union Square, I saw some thousands of people gathered about a platform, where sat Mayor Gunther and other civic magnates, whilst | General Sanford on horseback was posted a little to one side. The police were busy with voice and THE FOURTH OF JULY. ■seated crav- owu by tom- c. And this »me vent on 5 of the right for surely so rhe citizens nongst those the winning mdergoing a ! pantaloons. id from Sol- n-burnt and Impire City, sre crowding )d war-worn here was a coat of blue id was eyed ts. But L'^ mt. It con- ring the last LB thousands , where sat lates, v/hilst 3ted a little ;h voice and 1 truncheon urging those who crowded forward to keep their places. Boys had climbed into trees, or clung, doubtfully happy, upon spiked railings! Everything was hot and dusty, as on most public oc- casions in summer time out of England. Now there was a sound of approaching music and a tramping of many feet. Bayonets glittered above the throng of spectators, whilst the leading regiment marched past in column of companies, well-ordered and steady. These New York militiamen were no bad specimens ot what a citizen-soldiery should be. Their aspect was akin to that of London Volunteers with a touch of the French National Guard about them. One corps was entirely composed of frenchmen in red pantaloons and with a tricolor flag. Another con- tained none but "Dutchmen,'^ as they here call the Germans. Then there came a regiment in ^rey jackets without cross-belts, the New York 7th, dear to Wall Street and Fifth Avenue. No cheering had yet been heard, for spectators kept their breath to honour tlie " boys " from Dixie and it was not until the boys appeared in sight that enthusiasm was awakened. Here they were at la^t ! Tattered flags, clothes that would have fetched about one pound sterling per company at a second- hand sale, and weapons in excellent condition. 8hout after shout rang forth to greet the boys ar they tramped steadily past. There was a wild Celtic "hurroo!" for the Irish Brigade, headed by General B 2 'iitMsds^. AFTER THE STORM. Nugent. Another wild "hurroo!" for this same brigade,, and yet anotlier for the warlike priests, whose rusty black coats and strong serviceable horses told that they had followed their flocks to battle. In those loud shouts were drowned the corses of a few gentlemen cloce at my elbow who muttered that " Irish mercenaries had disgraced themselves by fight- ing for the nigger." Perhaps some obstinate Jacob- ites viewed with disgust the safe return of His Royal Highness of Cumberland from Culloden, or some misguided Whigs perused with regret the dispatches of May 5th from St. Helena. Yet the political coach drove on without pause or hesitation. Is not every New Yorker entitled to damage his own eyes should he so please, although it is clear that courtesy forbids him to imprecate destruction on the visual organs of his neighbour ? Then, if so, away with melancholy and silence — the latter espe- cially—from Barnum's in the forum to Jones's Wood without the wall. In Brooklyn and Williamsburgh, on the ferry-boats which cross the East river or the Hudson, at Jersey City and Hoboken, in every dis- trict and suburb of the great American metropolis, there was holiday-making on the afternoon of the Fourth. Public dinners were being eaten, and patri- otic^ speeches were being delivered at many points. Washington had its oficial receptions and salute- firiugs. a^he gay world of Saratoga entertained Generals Sickles, Schofield, and Kilpatrick with a THE FOURTH OP JULY. 5 splendid banquet. At Gettysburg battle-field the foundation-stone of a monument was laid by Generals Meade and Howard. At Boston stout old Farrao-ut was feasted along with Anderson of Fort Sumter. In the conquered cities of the South there were' processions or mass-meetings for the coloured people and good cheer for tie Unionist garrisons. But at no place in the triumphant North or in the broken dispnuted South was the festival which called Ameri- cans together more fully honoured than in New York. Patriotism curled up in smoke-clouds from many a -lager-bier" saloon, and detonated along many a footway. It was cracked and brassy from mcessant repetitions of "Hail Columbia !"' when Jound with bands of music; and somewhat inarticu- ate about the Bowery grog-shops. Here an orator told his audience that the " American citizen would run faster, sleep sounder, dive deeper, and come up drier than any other hoss under the blue arch of heaven " J-here a party of Fenian brothers indulged in dreams of « ould Oireland's restoration," accompanying the same with strains of " Yankee Doodle ;" whilst flaxen- haired Teutons, although enthusiastic for Stars and fetripes, did not forget to ask in chorus, « Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland ?" And yet, unless a stranger had on this day seen Barnum's Museum, he would have missed the Prince of Denmark in the play of Hamlet. "Barnum's" wm^-ahs, that the past tense should be necessary f m m W AFTER THE STORM. —an Amorican institution.* Wlion I remember that nine days afterwards tfie museum was destroyed by fire— that many of its living wonders then perished miserably — there is something impressive in the re- collection of how gorgeous a funeral pile the emperor of showmen liad unwittingly prepared. Sardana- palus would have owned himself outdone could he have visited Barnum's with a prophetic eye and be- held all tliat thirty-five cents entitled him to see. From garret to basement tliere was curiosity piled on curiosity. Great pictures hanging outside conveyed some notion of what was within, and flags of every size fluttered above the building. What were its neighbours in comparison ?— St. Paul's Church, with leafy trees and shaded grass ; tlie Astor House, an imposing blocic of masonry, but more like con- solidated law courts than an hotel ; th^ City Hall, unworthy of such a city. There was nothing in sight to fill the place in the public estimation that Bar- num's occupied. Although a private speculation, the museum was national in its style of catering for everybody's amusement and instruction. Allow an expert cracksman six companions and thirty mimriert* time to plunder the Brompton Boilers, ten mimites at Madame Tussaud's, twice as long at the Britisn Museum (stuffed animal department), and an hour for removing some choice specimens from Kegent's Park Zoological Gardens ; then take a few articles * A Barnum museiim has since been opened at another spot. THE FOURTH OP JULY. 7 from tlio Polytechnic, with a lecturer to expluiu them, and collect all the human oddities on view in London. This, with an orchestra, shooting gallery, refreshment room, and theatre, would give you a tolerable imitation of Barnum's on the Fourth. But so miscellaneous an assortment would require a master-hand to arrange and classify it. Barnum would be wanted to give you a genuine American iiiuseum ! I paid ray thirty-five cents and entered amongst a crowd of returned veterans. They were fresh from the morning's parade, or rather from the mid-day meal, and had as much liquor on board as they could conveniently carry ; yet, barring a certain degree of joyous familiarity with all present, the "boys" were well-beha\ed. Upstairs we scramble and into a room where spectators are tightly wedged. Professor Hutchins is exhibiting his powers of lightning cal- culation. I notice with pleasure that the Professor has not aged since 1860, and that rows of figures are added up with a marvellous elbow flourish as of yore. Next we have " phrenology elucidated," which irre- sistibly brings to miud the subdued excitement of Pol y technic evenings. Then Barnum's is itself again, as the Nova Scotia giantess, a lady eight feet high, draws herself up with a vast good-humoured smile. The young Circassian and the monster fat woman now claim attention ; but although gi-atified at seeing these freaks of nature, and « feeling," as one of the 8 AFTER THE STORM. soldiers says, " that we are getting someways through our thirty-five cents' worth," I miss several old favourites. Where are Eng and Chang, those in- separable natives of Siam ? Where their respective families? How fares it with Calvin Edson, the thinnest of human beings, in spite of a « voracious appetite?" Can he still repeat poetry by heart? Lastly, where is the "Human Nondescript," or " What is it," who resembled so greatly an idiotic negro, but was, we were assured, of a race hitherto supposed to be extinct? Are Barnum's proteges shortlived ? Do they seek, like domestic servants, to better themselves, or retire with ample fortunes, as it is expected that General Tom Thumb will do some day? I fancy that the Mammoth Baby of former years is now starring it as the "giant boy," and that the poor "Human Nondescript" ha« gone where physical deformities are for ever laid aside. It matters little to a gaping and intelligent public to what bourne the wonders no longer on view have departed. Let us be content to see our thirty-five cents' worth, and pass on through other portions of the museum. Without wasting a minute over third-rate wax- work, such as Baker Street would melt down and remodel, we may watch Houdin's automaton letter- writer, or the glass steam-engine, at work. Then there is a case full of historical relics; from the first American flag hoisted over New York to the playbill THE FOURTH OF JULY. 9 of Ford's Theatre picked np in President Lincoln's box on April 14th. Those who prefer living curiosities may linger round Ned, "the performing seal"— he was saved from the fire to the delight of his friends- may inspect the alligator, or marvel at the happy family. Why will they persist in calling those sub- dued broken-spirited collections of half-reconciled foes "happy families"? A pair of white porpoises, yclept for the nonce « whales," are to be seen in their tank on the second floor, whilst any number of stuffed birds and beasts may be discovered in out of the way nooks. Barnum's is something unique. A chUd would enjoy, as thousands of children are enjoying, the waxworks, the giantess, and the seal, whilst a profound zoologist might spend hours before the neglected illustrations of natural history which have drifted into this museum. Who, for histance, but Barnum himself can explain the petrified Indian horse and serpent here exhibited ?— the ma)i and horse evidently crushed by the reptile, which has been slain by its victim's poisoned arrows. All of them have died together in a dripping cave and undergone gradual incrustation. " Is it real, or is it humbug ? " asks an astonished visitor, and Mr. Barnum replies with a smile, « That's just the ques- tion ; persons who pay their money at the door have a nght to form their own opinions after they have got up stairs." Coming out once more into the sunny street, I 10 AFTEIl THE STORM. U'" took a horse-car wliicli was going up town. No question here of contest between the advocates of street raih-oads and the possessors of private arri- . ages. A weptern Beresford Hope lias not been found to do battle on behalf of axle-trees aad springs, or, if found, ho has been trampled under foot, and metals have been laid above his grave. Since my former visit the horse-cars have increased in point of number and audacity. Broadway and Fifth Avenue are scarcely free from them, whilst every other thoroughfare running up and down the city has shining rails let into its pavement. We trotted briskly p way from Barnum's and were soon crowded to excess with holiday passengers bound for Jones's Wood, the Cremorne of Manhattan. On Independence-day excuse may be made for over- filhng the public conveyances. But Americans always submit to this nuisance with a tameness which is shocking to see. Raise the fore, if you will, adopt any reasonable measure of relief, but do not let those who have paid for their places be annoyed by having other gentlemen treading upon their toes, or be forced to stand up through politeness to the weaker sex. Having seated myself in a corner, and been con- siderably squeezed by a stout man with a basket who stationed himself before me, I had leisure to while away the stifling journey by conversation with a young soldier at my side. He was a cripple, the twentieth cripple whom I had seen that morning, 1i THE FOURTH OF JULY. 11 and lio carried his cnitclies as cheerfully as though tliey liad been croquet mallets. " Been wounded long ?" said I. " No, sir, not longer than January last. We had a skirmish in front of Petersburg, and my leg was broken. It seemed as if it might have come right, but the surgeon whipped it off whilst I was asleep." " How do you mean ? Asleep with chloroform ? " " That's about it," replied the soldier, with a husky laugh. "They found it easier to slice away when each case was brougiit before them than to give the boys a chance of growing better. Surgeons aire much like other folk, and want to hurry up their work. There was a comrade of mine that had an idee he'd be wounded some day, and was fearful of losing his limbs without cause. He gave me fifty dollars to carry for him just before the big fight at the Wilderness. ' Now,' said he, ' if I get a hole knocked in my skin, you give the surgeon that's looking after me them fifty dollars, and beg him to Save every bone if he can fix it' I promised I would, and then came the battle. My comrade was hit in the arm and leg. They took him to the rear, and it warn't for several hours after that I could get leave to visit him. Five hundred dollars wouldn't have saved his limits then, for they were both taken slick off. « Wal, sir, you've been smart about it,' said I to the surgeon. 'Yes, sir,' said he, 'guess we have. Both sides uppermost with care won't do here. We've 12 AFTEU THE STORM. hard work to got tlirongli at t^ny price.' And lio was right, sir. Tho amount of arms and logs they luid taken ofl' was quite .surprisin'." My neighhour with tlio crutelies then mentioned how much kin(hie8s ho had received from the medical department, albeit tliey were so ready to amputate ; and lie spoke lu'ghly of the chief surgeons attached to Jiis division. - Hut they dew say," added lie, with a droll look in his groat wide eyes. " tliat doctors ain't fond of war, because it does killing wholesale, and makes their retail business seem almighty Tnean." "Uncle 8am will take care of that lot I" exclaims our conductor briskly, as the cripplo hobbles down a side street. So he ought, and liberally too, for the lame soldiers have lielpod him to a most signal success. Such a crush before the City Hall, fi -works ex- hibited to a delighted crowd, and tl 3 evening oppressively hot. My ticket of admission to a good place was about as useful as though it had referred to the pit at Covent Garden. Who could pcnetrat(3 that surging mass of humanity, and what did the out- siders care for ticskets or for those who held them ? Uockets went whizzing up high in air. Iloman candles and Catherine wheels were expended with reckless prodigality. It was not cpiite so good a dis- play as one sees on the ft'te Napoleon, and decidedly better than an average eHbrt at lioshervilie. There were cries of approval in all languages to greet the I,! li u i' THE FOUIITII OF JULY. 13 more sparkling developments. What v/ondcr that many tongiien and aecents should be heard, for New York contains more Germans than there are in Frankfort, and more Irishmen than dwell in Dublin ; Italians enough to man all the hand-organs that Mr. Babbage ever heard, with sufficient Frenchmen to people another Leicester Square. The hurrah, in various forms, mingles with the hoch and the viva as a grand pyrotechnic crash lights up the sea of liumnn faces for one moment, to leave blank darkness and a knowledge that the fun is over. I retreat to my hotel, have u pair of boots stolen by an evil-disposed loafer— moral, pui not out boots to be cleaned on such a night— and can hear the banging of toy cannon, or an occasional vinous shout of merriment, until slumber. supervenes. u AFTER THE STORM. CHAPTEK II. lis lis.il) h,; THE EMPIRE CITY. Brown stone fronts — Heraldic devices. On the next morning New York awoke to its usual business. No crackers were heard along the pave- ments, and acres of star-spangled bunting had been furled. Wall Street occupied itself with the " 7-30 loan," or dealt in the root of all evil at 40 per cent, premium. There were heavily-laden drays plying between ships and warehouses, and King Dirt sitting enthroned in every thoroughfare by the water-side. Scavengers were scarce, or the Corporation was in- dififerent. I saw it stated that New York cost more to govern than London, and the result would have been encouraging to a friend of Anglo-aldermanic rule. Whatever democratic institutions have done for America, they have not prevented a reproduction in New York of the crime and the poverty familiar to most European cities. This same civilization which THE EMPIRE CITY. 15 'S 'I ) its usual the pave- liad beeu .he " 7-30 per cent. rs plying irt sitting ater-side. 1 was in- 3ost more uld have dermanic destroys the noble savage after forbidding him to run wild in woods, must have something scorching about its footprints that quickly makes a heap of ashes for the modern giant to stand on. Should Salt Lake City contain some day a million of inhabitants, will not paupers be found in Utah? Will not the beating of one wife become a Mormon recreation ? How can I do justice to New York in a single chapter ? Shall I epitomize its merits by calling it a " bully* city "? Or give you a list of its exports and imports, public charities, and omnibus lines ? Shall I invite a committee from Longacre to visit Central Park and observe the elegant light-built carriages which may there be seen? Or shall I call upon you to weep with me over the decadence of New York fire companies ? Superseded by regular firemen, those gay pugnacious volunteers have passed away ; but they were terrible in their time of power. I re- member witnessing an extensive fire down town in 18G0. Before we casual spectators could quite realize that anything vas the matter, half a dozen com- panies charged headlong into the street, struggled resolutely for a front place, set their engines to work, demolished some houses which were " bound to' go," rescued a score of inmates, and thrashed everybody, including the police, when they interfered. It was over before one had grown weary of watching, and So Quince, of Athens, " What say'st thou, bully Bottom?" m i\t lift!: !|N 16 AFTER THE SrORM. the companies had a free fight, in which blood was copiously drawn, ere they returned home right merrily. Most English people entertain the erroneous idea that domestic seclusion is unknovwi in America. Great caravansaries with marble floors and troops of nimble waiters are thought to be the only home of Jonathan's nomadic children. They live in public, and die early through "bolting" meat three times a day. Such is the popular belief. Yet these Ameri- cans of long journeys and large hotels will reside quietly for ten months of the year in their brown- faced town mansions, or in their wooden country houses. Half their exigeant ways, when they travel in Europe, are puc on to show Old Worldlings how a republican can live ; the other half may be credited to their ancestor, Mr. Bull. Apropos to country houses in the Eastern States, I once asked a fellow-passenger «Ho\^ it was tliat Yankees could remain quietly among fields and fences ? " *' Sir," said he, « when the American takes to a quiet home he beats your countrymen at that, as you all confess he does in most things. He gets to be more prejudiced, less progressive, and quite as old- fashioned as any English squire. I guess he'd g out gunning after foxes, as your people do, if he'd no particular value for time." My informant may have over-stated his case, but THE EMPIEB CITY. 17 blood was nae right leous idea America, troops of home of n public, e times a e Ameri- 11 reside r brown- country )y travel ?8 how a credited L States, vas tliat Ids and there are thousands of solid yeomen who do remain amongst rields, and remain there moreover with pro- fitable result. In New York City the private dwellings can be counted by miles. There are not only the grand residences of the Fifth Avenue, and the dingy tene- ments about Ninth and Tenth Avenues, but street after street of comfortable well-built houses, such as would average from fifty pounds to a hundred pounds a year rent in London.* Houses which somebody occupies, too, as witness the tubs of family rubbish waiting on the pavement before them until dustmen be forthcoming. Who has caused that rubbish— cabbage-stalks, broken bottles, and the like ? It is evident that domestic life has votaries in the Empire City. See, a perambulator turns the corner ! Will it make for some hotel, or claim connection with one of these inhabited houses ? Ah, the nurse has paused; she steers past a dust-tub and runs into port. Then this house, at least, has babies belonging to it, a clear case of domesticity. Presently, I am myself entering a brown-faced side-street dwelling. The drawiug-room is neatly furnished, with pictures on its walls, and books on its tables. We converse upon different matters. xV stranger's mistakes re- specting Americans afford us one topic, with laughter at the notion that they all live in hotels. Then I hear how difficult it is to secure good servants, and * I'liey are let for twice as much when VOL. I. cy stand. C 18 AFTER THE STORM. iii.. from wages we drift into politics. " Is the city well governed?" This question leads to mention of news- paper articles, and I quote the 'New York Herald/ For the hundredth time in America, I am told not to believe the 'Herald.' "It gives foreigners an incorrect impression of our country," says my host. To which I make answer, interrogatively, "Just as the does in regard to England ?" "Something quite different and much worse !" is tlie reply. How- beit the said New York Herald, although fre- quently abused by Americans of every party, is eagerly devoured throughout the States. Can it be possible that the Herald stands towards literature as Burnum to museums, or the London, Chatham and Dover, to railways? Mr. Gordon Bennett's pub- lication is strong, successful, and reckless. It has correspondents in all quarters, and obtains full tele- graphic news no matter at what expense. A story is told of one of its staff who, wishing to keep the wires employed until he had gathered "further parti- culars," telegraphed the 'Book of Job,' and then • continued his profane narrative. I do not desire to puff the New York Herald, which sounds its own trumpet with sufficient force, but, when Englisli- men hear of its style they are apt to underrate its position. The Herald is no trumpery print, sup- plying food for mob orators. It is, as Americans say, an "almiglity foct," and deserves some notice in treating of the Empire City. THE EMPIRE CITY. 19 Eaymond's ' New York Times ' and Horace Greely's 'Tribune' would be put forward by a large class of citizens as the true representative newspapers of their country. These publications are r(38pectable for their consistency, and for the able articles which they contain ; but, as well compare the wild steed of the desert to the disciplined charger, as the Herald to its above-named cotemporaries. A foreigner, taking up Gordon Bennett's paper, is sure of bc^ing startled. Perhaps he will find a sug- gestion that the Corporation should forthwith suffer capital punishment as a caution to office-holders, or an editorial calling for immediate vengeance on England. Nothing is spared. The Herald dashes right and left, says things which no one else would venture to say, and circulates a hundred and fifty thousand copies daily. An outside observer may reasonably ask, Where are the Americans who agree mth the Herald's politics? I have sometimes thought that nobody quite agrees with it, but that It rests upon a changeable go-ahead sentiment pecu- liar to the United States. We have heard, in refer- ence to a great English newspaper, that it does not lead public opinion, but follows the same. Now, if this be also true of the New York Herald, what strange guides it must possess, and towards what unknown bourne may it not eventually be dragged. "Sensation" is native to America, and exists there in greater strength than it has yet secured c 2 20 AFTER THE STORM. u fi with us. True, we announce victories and defeats in large type, we print our placards with coloured letters irregularly placed, and advertise our books. Only six-and-thirty years ago Christopher North and the Ettrick Shepherd discussed whether an author could let advertisements vulgarize his name ! Since then our best Hterati condescend to be blazoned forth in characters a foot high. So, sensation has done no harm to that department. Our novels are, perhaps, more abruptly horrible than they used to be ; but, after looking into that unsensational work, *The Castle of Otranto,' I am inclined to believe that what they call the rose is smelling as sweetly by another name. But, despite Dion Boucicault's plays, and the Divorce Court, and the increased size of news- paper headings, we have acquired only a smattering of sensation as it is understood by Jonathan. The New World retains an unequalled faculty for pro- ducing and enjoying marvels. This gives scope to such papers as the Herald, itself the most marvellous of Western productions. AN AMERICAN WEDDING. 21 CHAPTER III. AN AMERICAN WEDDING. No chance for Cousin Felix — A chat with Horatio. Within a few hours' journey of New York, among trees and flowers, where the great city might be pleasantly forgotten, I found myself a wedding guest! No ancient mariner with glittering eye had detained me en route to hear his tale, and steam had made the distance from town appear less than it really was. An auspicious occasion of this sort is always twice as agreeable in the country, which is not " a mistake" when weddings are concerned, whatever it may be at other times. Country air and the absence of a criticizing rabble go far to compensate for not having St. G**rg*s H*n*v*r Sq**r* brought down by rail along with Gunter's breakfast. But stop ! I am letting English associations intrude upon a foreign scene. This is not a marriage in high life according to our standard, for no duke is present to give away the 22 AFTER THE STORM. ifi W m bride. The interesting event takes place beyond Gunter's domain; and we are in a land which looks to Delmonico as its prince of good cheer. Set any American to discuss the French cuism , and, ten to one, he will cite Delmonico's as the establishment at which that science is brought to perfection. The countiy air is charming, though somewhat warm when compared with our English climate. Gunter is far away (so is his mis-spelt namesake, Mayor Gunther of New York), and we have plentiful natural beauty around us. The garden is thickly shaded, whilst there are winding paths in the shrub- bery which lead to a murmuring stream. Over yonder field of tall Indian corn are obtained glimpses of wood and water, a lovely foreground with mountains to complete the view. Some white- sailed sloop glides across an opening between the trees, or a railway whistle comes faintly on our ears. We are within a populous cultivated district, but Nature around us is so grandly developed that no human handiwork can make her unpicturesque. Here is a race for you! Rail verms paddle- wheels ! and not so very far from equal ! The train of long-shaped cars darts forward at considerable speed, leaving clouds of dust behind, whilst that huge upper-decked, light-coloured craft moves stea- dily on, sending up a gush of spray from her sharp bow. Now the train has paused at a station, and the steamer sweeps ahead. No dust, no rattle AN AMERICAN WEDDING, 23 for ber passengers ; what wonder that they aie iiumerous? See, the train is recovering itself^ and probably wins ere they reach another station. Twenty miles an hour and a flood tide cannot quite keep pace with railway impetus. Well would it be to have a G. E. K. express spurred up by such competition. It may occur to British readers that the neigh- bouring peasants are busy with triumphal arches for our bride to pass under. This, however, is not the case. We have a lovely view, a pretty garden, and the merriest of parties assembled therein ; yet tenants and retainers are nowhere to be seen. The wealthy yeomen who live near would stare at being asked to an outdoor feast if others sat within. They do not feel affronted at receiving no invitations, for they are conscious of lacking social polish. But if they come at all, it must be with what diplomatists term a "favoured nation clause;" they must share with the most favoured. No blame to English labourer tenants for liking to be feasted, nor to Yankee peasant proprietors for standing above itl' I wish most earnestly that we had not so many hungry people in some of our rural districts. Arches there are certainly none in this blithe wedding programme, and they will not be missed, since the ceremony takes place at home. One has just a tinge of regret that rich and poor should not mingle in a common feast ; but the village blacksmith L, ^rr^iW^; 24 AFTER THE STORM. w II r iii sends his compliments and a request for some cake to dream on, and the butcher, who has looked round as usual, guesses tliat " they're going to have a time I" Every one is smiling and cordial, although there will be no roasted ox nor flowing ale. After briefly alluding to what is omitted, I come to one of those things which are done. Croquet flourishes greatly ! The fair young bridesmaids and the gentlemen who have returned from Grant's army play with equal zeal. Hard rules are imposed on a stranger, who is moreover croquetted with vigour into remote corners of the lawn. Was ever game so .lelightful as croqu3t? If Mr. Jacques invented it himself; why is he too modest to avow the fact? If another deserve such credit, let his or her name be at once revealed ! Her name I say, advisedly, be- cause the game is just what a clever girl would have liit on who had outgrown cricket with her brothers, and found that billiards required you to stay in doors all day. We ask no questions about Jacques, or Cremer, but enjoy several struggles for the champion- ship of the lawn. The clergyman will not play, although he looks on goodnaturedly at those whj do. Presently the sky darkens, a few drops fall. ''Begnatr exclaims he, with old-fashioned locosity, striding towards the house. I follow him, "and we talk of churches in England and America. Mr. tells me how hard it was for the Episcopalians to re-organize their establishment after the revolution of AN AMERICAN WEDDING. 25 1775. They were obliged to act very cautiously, as the same sort of diflficulty then hindered them which had embarrassed the Romanists in England a century before— people associated their faith with ideas of foreign domination. " But now, sir, we are fully estab- lislied as a branch of the Episcopal church, and are also considered loyal citizens. We have made a few alterations in the prayer-book, disusing the Atha- nasian Creed and substituting for your prayers for the Royal Family a short petition for the Presi- dent." Thus much I have said on matters concerning more or less directly the happy event, yet not a word of the event itself! Know then that American law does not require marriages to be performed before noontide. This croquet and those glimpses of a lovely view are between breakfast and limcheon. We take it easy, spending a pleasant day as becomes wedding guests. The shadows are lengthening, and there are bright tints in the western sky, when all being ready we assemble in the drawing-room. I will not describe that bonny bride, nor her manly consort. If men generally come home from the wars to be so married, they may account themselves lucky. It ^ a simple service— our own, with part left out— and the group of coloured servants filling the doorway lends a somewhat unfamiliar aspect to the gathering. Tears are shed ; the homely-featured black nurse presses forward to shake my hostess by 26 \P 1; Birr AFTER THE STORM. the hand, general congratulations follow, and we adjourn to the supper-room. Here is the critical moment ! Will they extinguish themselves by speeches, or maintain a masterly in- action? I watch with anxiety. The eldest guest moves in his seat. Now surely will come "the bride and bridegroom," to be answered, in much distress, by the happy man. Not an attempt to rise by anybody I The supper is disposed of, and we enter another apartment for the cake. Ha, my friends, you're about to speak! What would a wedding be without its emotional breakdowns ? The bridesmaids, too, they must be proposed ; it makes them look so arch. Still not a word, whilst that plateful of small cakes is distributed amongst bache- lors and spinsters. A fortunate youth of seveutoen, who has secured the hidden ring, blushes at being told that he will marry within the year. We are actually playing croquet again during the bride's preparations lor departure, and nothing has been said by way of rivalry to Cousin Felix. Americans ad- here to cake and cards, but they frequently drop speechifying. I will not seek to excuse such con- duct, for every possible institution connected with a wedding should be religiously preserved. Cake, he greatest of them to begin with, cards, speeches, cham- pagne, and old shoes, to follow in their proper order. If one custom must go, let it be the extorting broken- sentences from those unused to public speaking ; but AN AMERICAN WEDDING. 27 there is no need to make a wedding less traditional iji its observances. We are getting sadly practical, and should cherish our faith even in white satin favours and in the men with cotton gloves from round the corner. I instigated the throwing of ancient slippers alter the carriage which bore away our bride and bride- groom. It was an open carriage, with three seats. So a couple of friends, who wished to catch the same train, were taken up by the happy pair, and they drove off together with a glow of purple light doing duty for "the sunbeam mellow^ed by painted glass " which would, in fiction, have played round the bride's head when she uttered those irrevocable words. No chariot and post boys,--more deviation from English forms— but a hearty unaffected start in life that it is refreshing to see. And they will travel in a car with fifty other people, where Lady Alexandrina Crosbie's bonnet would have been quite safe. A different view of the honeymoon to ours, though quite as reasonable. There goes the train which bears them away ; we can see its lights glimmering along the waterside, and we stand watching until the mos- quitoes, with combined forces, drive us from the verandah. A bright moon has risen above that loftiest hill-top, making the morning's landscape re- appear like its own ghost in a silver veil ; and flitting fire-flies show clearly in every shaded spot. Now passes a first-class hotel from fairvlaud. stowed imnn -.- — 28 APTEK THE STORM. f I'll, • - the deck of a Cunarder cut down ten feet. It is the New York night-boat, which leaves gurgling ripples to spread over the water and break against the shore long after she has gone. I was driven to the station, when my turn came for going, by a coloured man who served in the stable department — to call him the coachman would convey an erroneous notion of his aspect. He held himself bolt upright, wore thick moustaches, and was inno- cent of anything approaching livery. His degree of black blood was not sufficient to make him darker than an Arab, but there was clear token in his woolly hair of what Americans call " colour." He was, to use an expression satirical in some mouths, though events have given it substantial meaning, " an American citizen of African descent." Ere many furlongs had been travelled, and before quitting the grounds of my hospitable friend, a dead snake was seen at th^ loadside. " Yes, sar, I killed him," remarked Horatio, pointing to the reptile. " Tell you I'm more scared at a snake than most anything on earth. I always kills 'em right away !" Horatio had been in the army, and served as sergeant of cavalry under General Thomas. He narrated the circumstances of his enlistment for three hundred dollars bounty, and described various incidents of the Western campaign. The Union soldiers were paid sixteen dollars a month, and received large allowances for clothing besides plentiful rations. AN AMERICAN WEDDING. 29 " Tell you," said Horatio, " it warn't bad times, only for the guerillas. [Pronounced gorillas.] I'm wuss scared of a gorilla than anything on earth, 'cept snakes, and, by Gum ! I killed em right away when I got a chance. See, sir, we cullud troops didn't dare be took prisoners for fear of what them Kebs might do to us. Once they caught me though, and if a stampede hadn't come soon after, I think really they'd have made an example of this boy." "How did you escape?" I enquired, willing to hear more. " Why, see, a considerable stampede cleared the enemy out of that section, and as I ain't over dark and had a uniform just like the regiment that took me, I slipt away and persecuted my journey to head-quarters through the woods. Hadn't gone far when I met a contraband* skulking unbeknownst in a little thicket. See, sar, them poor contrabands war scared out of their lives between our boys and the Eebs. They'd been told that 'mancipation meant runnin' hot needles through their tongues, and they knew so little they'd believe anything. Wal, this contraband hollered out, * Don't'ee fire, massa, I'm on your side ! ' 'Which side's that?' said I, going up to him. He seemed sort o' fixed, and looked hard to see what uniform I wore. Then he got a good sight of my face, and knew that I must be a Federal, so he went that ticket double-quick. Said I, ' Just show me the way * A sonthern slave. 30 AFTER THE STORM. "". ■.i,;:'!( i^'-i *!*''•;-' f|fj! M mi to our camp.' He in a confused ignorant sort of way, scratching his head to give himself confidence, answered, ' Look here, you, sar. Dere bin so much fightin' up an' down, de last month, I don't know whar nobody is. Beckon I've gone mad with changin' about from Massa Linkum to Massa Davis ebery udder day.' And so," said Horatio, « I came back as I could, and was a long time at that. It, wam't no use explainin' 'mancipation to a mad nigger." Our conversation now turned upon weapons, and Ho- ratio listened to my account of the lance with interest. He had never seen this formidable agent for shorten- ing human life. It is curious that the arm which has decided a thousand battles, which was carried by Greek phalanges, by knights of the Middle Ages, by Sobieski's Poles, and which is still used in the' armies of Europe, had no part in the great American war. A breech-loading carbine, a sword, and revolv- ing pistol were sufficient for the Yankee dragoon. He seldom charged home, but trusted rather to the heavy fire which he could deliver, and was frequently dismounted to skirmish through underwood. He was a practical modern soldier, the creature of mo- dern weapons, and had little about him of the beau sabreur. 1 would not willingly see our Life Guards changed into mounted riflemen without helmet or cuirass, yet we must be careful that other nations do not get hold of thirty-two-shooters before we shall have adopted sixteen-shooters. These new- AN ^iMERICAN WEDDING. 31 fangled fire-arms, when they fulfil their purpose, are dangerous to all who serve them as targets. Horatio had been wounded three times, and had a pleasant recollection of his surgical attendants. " See, sar, they made no difference for us cuUud men, but cut right on most scientific. It warn't bad, tell you, being in hospital, though I was glad to join the boys again." Whilst he was speaking we had reached a railway crossing, and as no gates or signalmen hindered our advance, we passed over. The road here made a bend, running parallel to the rail for some distance, with nothing between, so it was disagreeable to see a train approaching us at half-speed. Round went our horses, plunging right in front of the engine. Horatio reined them back on their haunches, until there was room for it to pass. Then the rrified animals set off side by side with the train, and would have jammed themselves between it and a slanting wall where the road crossed the railway-track. But again they were strongly curbed, until we bumped amongst some timber which lay near the wall. An- other spring, when the train had gone by, placed IIS on our proper course. The light-built carriage, though strained in its fore part because the front wheels refused to lock under, had not capsized, and Horatio, holding in the frightened horses with an iron grip, leant back gracefully to exclaim, " Wal, now, if that ain't ridic'lous ! " 32 AFTER THE STORM. !^4l^lt- CHAPTER IV. UP THE HUDSON. A fine river, with floating palaces thereon. 1 SHALL not easily forget my first sight of the Hudson. It was an evening in the summer time during that eventful year which saw Garibaldi land at Marsala, and Abraham Lincoln elected President. New York Bay was crowded with yachts and steamers, an im- mense multitude of people lined the shore, and, as the Great Eastern moved slowly past Staten Island, she was greeted with loud cheers, and with discharges of cannon ; Captain Ericsson had been warmly wel- comed when he arrived in a very small ship, and now we came in the largest ship ever built. So New York was all astir. How the people waved their hats and handkerchiefs I how Mr. Murphy, our pilot, shouted and gesticulated! There lay the broad river with a city on either bank, its mass of shipping cleared to one side, and hundreds of gay streamers waving in the hot sunshine. I had climbed to the fore- UP THE HUDSON. 88 topsail-yard, and sat looking over the magnificent scene below me—Staten Island, soft and fertile, covered with villas and gardens. Long Island, with Greenwood Cemetery and the houses of Brooklyn, Manhattan Island, bearing its New World Babylon, acre upon acre of roof and chimney, with flag-staflf or church spire shovNiug here and there above them, and a comer of New Jersey which rises beyond Jersey City into lofty cliffs called the Palisades. Astern of us was the Narrows, or principal channel for navigation to seaward, flanked by Fort Lafayette. Ahead was the Hudson curving out of sight between Manhattan and the Palisades. Smoke rose into the clear air from furnaces on shore and from innumer- able steamboat funnels. There rolled across the water a many-voiced murmuring of human life. Hammers sounded from some places, music could be heard in others, and engine-whistles, bellowing rather than screaming, came mingled with the beat of steamboat paddles and the ringing of bells. Such had been my introduction to the Hudson, and to revisit it, was like going again to a favourite opera with keen anticipation of its well-remembered beauties. Could any vessel be cleaner or better of her kind than our river steamboat in 1865? The signal was given ; the wheels turned slowly at first, then faster and faster, as we shot into mid-stream and strained forward with our great mechanical heart throbbing until every timber quivered. VOL. I. J) 34 AFTER THE STOIIM. Ifiii m Since Fulton tried his first steamer in 1807, there has been steady progress in the development of everj^- thing connected with inland navigation. The typical schoolboy of twelve would be staggered if Mississippi statistics were forced upon his young mind, and he might suffer quite as much as any reasonable teachers could wish by being compelled to master the arith- metic of the Hudson trade. I will not inflict either the one or the other upon you, but merely point out, that, although bearing the na^ie of the same great explorer, the Hudson river has nothing to do with Hudson's Bay. Does not that schoolboy smile iron- ically and feel inclined to give the latitude and lon- gitude of a dozen Arctic discoveries ? Of course we all know that the Hudson or "North Eiver," on which stands New York City, is not under the domi- nion of an intelligent fur company, but flows through regions where the grand old experiment of repub- lican government is being tried, and tried with con- siderable success. " r Whatever government had swayed the fortunes of New York State, the Hudson would have in- evitably become a parent of first-class steamers. It leads to, the unsettled back country, where farms can be bought cheaply, to the lakes and to the Far West. A restless energetic people desired to reach these places, and they called for larger faster vessels with every year that passed. So it has happened that North Eiver boats are models of speed and UP THE HUDSON. 35 comfort. Such craft as the *St. John' and the 'Dean Richmond' are peculiar to America. They are rivaUed by the line which is worked through Long Island Sound, and by a few Lake or jVIississippi steamers, but they stand at the head of their class. These upper deck monsters are unknown in Europe, and liave been copied in Asia on a very limited scale, though, with Californian influence daily in- creasing, the Yang-tse-Kiang may soon have a fleet of them. Europe has none, chiefly because she pos- sesses no rivers of sufficient size where there are people with sufficient energy to build floating pa- laces. Englishmen have been given a tiny saloon packet, the 'Lord of the Isles,' on Southampton Water, and a more powerful vessel of the same sort plying to Gravesend ; but, for genuine upper-deckers there is no opening in our tight little island. Mon- sieur Crapaud has rather less excuse, and, as to Rhine navigation, I leave it to the travelling public to explam why Rhenish steamers are allowed, in spite of common sense, to be ship-shape and Bristol fashion. Perhaps the Czar may intend to give his subjects a Volga line of Americanized craft — why should he not ? — and issue tickets via Astracan and the Caspian to the Oxus and Kokand Central Rail- way Terminus. Russia has apparently some such design, and well may Anglo-Indian hair bristle at the bare suggestion. But we may leave His Impe- rial Majesty Alexander II. to civilize Tartary, with- D 2 U- 36 AFTER THE STORM. "lli :■ :|i ■ \. out fear that he will do it too quickly. He is not a Connecticut Yankee, and has a very difficult country before him. I took post on the upper deck, forward of the saloon, in the steamer * Chauncey Vibbard,' when, as before observed, she had shot into mid-stream and commenced her voyage. New York was left behind, the Palisades were passed, and we were in the Tappan Zee. Towns and villages could be seen dotted along the river banks ; sloops, with snowy- white sails, tacked from side to side against a light head-wind; whilst barges were towed in slow pro- cession by snorting tugs. Coming from the heat of New York it was delightful to spend a day both cool and breezy. We did not envy the railway passengers who were carried forward rather faster aan our- selves, for they had to put up with choking dust. In the steamer there was comfort and tranquillity. People could sit on the forward deck, where the ■**wind was strongest, and listen to the fluttering awnings and the rush of our sharp bow ihrougli the water; they could lounge in the handsome saloon, get shaved in the barber's shop, *' licker " at the bar, or seek the more sheltered repose of the after-deck. An excellent dinner was served in the lower cabin, for which only one dollar was charged, and, as baggage was " checked through " to Albany, the voyager, free from care, might roam where he pleased about the ship. We were advertised to UP THE HUDSON. 87 complete the hundred and sixty miles in about nine hours, including stoppages, so that a speed of twenty miles an hour must have been attained by the ' Chauncey Vibbard,' and she did not blow up. Think of that, ye Khenish slow coaches ! Even a river-side railway, nay, two of them, may be competed with, in boats that can make such time. Yet size and accommodation are more to be desired for sight- seeing than mere speed which leaves us no time to read our guide-book. My pleasantest trip on the Rhine was not by steam at all, but in a pair-oar boat from Strasbourg to Rotterdam. In a few hoars we passed many places of note on the Hudson. Sunnyside, where Washington Irving lived, and West Point, where United States officers are educated. The scenery round West Point is very fine, and the reach of river which is entered upon after quitting the highlands offers a delightful view. Immediately to the left, on a sloping hill-side, is Idlewild, the residence of N. P. Willis, than whotw./ few have wielded a pleasanter or more graphic pen. Below Idlewild is the entrance of the littl:^ river Moodna, and, further up, on the same shore, is Newburgh, a thriving town, once General Washing- ton's head quarters. I remember visiting the house which the liberator had occupied, and being shown, amongst other relics, a bayonet that had, as the inscription beneath it stated, "killed an English officer." Was he stabbed in leading a desperate if! 38 AFTER THE STORM. uf-' !i?fi Ur',' » ' ■ 1 ■^f the Federal armies by comparing them with En^^ish troops similarly named. So long as we speak only of pro- fessional soldiers there is no difficulty ; but the words "militia" and "volunteers" have a special meaning with us, which is not quite what they bear when used by Americans. Like that indefinite expression "rifleman," used as a distinctive term when all troops carry rifles, "militia" has, in England, a less stylish sound than volunteer. Yet our militiamen are voluntary wearers of red coats for twenty-eight days a year, or, if such regiments were recruited by ballot, as they will be in time of need, the most re- spectable persons might become militiamen. Then, again, regarding volunteers, the whole British army is composed of men who, liquor apart, have freely eulisted. American volunteers receiving pay and serving in the field were but regulars engaged for a short time and enjoying certain privileges, whilst VOL. I. E mh 50 AFTER THE STORM. #■■■; 'i m :i P';ii ■i American militia, when embodied under that name, are usually of the quality we assign to volunteers. There is great elasticity in the United States sys- tem of raising troops. Those who lightly threw aside their ordinary employments to try what soldiering was like and to defend the Union, who struggled for years against sickness and defeat, until success re- warded their efforts, and who retired quietly from the scene when no longer needed, would come out once more by hundreds of thousands if America called for soldiers. Western freedom and prosperity tend to reproduce the condition of nations under patriarchal government. Every man may be reckoned as part of the army of reserve. It is only an unsound state of society, where the rulers are worthless, or the l)eople are discontented, or where both these things exist together, which requires a sword in every tenth man's hand to rule the other nine. I will not say anything about the pride which Britons may feel at being able to trust themselves with arms, form a magnificent volunteer force, &c., lest I should plagi- arize upon a host of leading articles and after-dinner returnings of thanks; but it is a comfort that M^e can, like our transatlantic cousins, display a patriarchal elasticity for self-defence. The boys were mustered out of service and every train had its quota of discharged veterans, with knap- sacks and bronzed faces, loud speech, and strange stories to tell, proceeding to their respective homes. MUSTERED OUT OP SERVICE. 51 Many who Lad adopted a civilian costume dis- played the metal badge of their corps, and many others who were without such mark could be recog- nized by their weather-beaten features and easy car- riage. I have spoken of seeing returned coloured troops, but these were not numerous, as a great pro- portion of such regiments was retained under arms to do duty down South. In New York the arrival of soldiers was incessant. Some came by sf ^ »ut most by the railways to Jersey City, and thenct c«c.ross the ferry to Pier No. 1. They landed near the open space by the Battery and marched up town in full cam- paigning guise. Pet dogs ran behind many companies, whilst adopted contrabands, acting as water-carriers, trudged in the rear of others. The veterans cared nothing for appearance, but strode forward, beneath the hot summer sun, in wide-awakes or straw hats, as fancy suggested. A few detachments had bands of music, and, where music was wanting, the buglers relieved each other, French fashion, in a lively /aw- jare, Eegiments known in the city were of course more warmly greeted than strangers passing through. The Irish Legion, which returned soon after the Irish Brigade, found itself among enthusiastic friends ; so did other bodies of Federal troops. Heavy losses had been sustained by some corps. The New York 52nd regiment, for example, came back less than three hundred strong, having had on its muster rolls, dunng the war, two thousand six hundred names. E 2 52 AFTER THE STORM. i If rt*", ■ There were great numbers of veterans sent through Albany and Troy to the different Eastern States and the northern part of New York. At Troy I found myself amongst a regiment of stalwart Vermonters, newly arrived from Washington. They marched gaily into the railway station with a band at their head, formed line from one end of the building to the other, and piled arms. Then civilians gathered round, asking the soldiers for news of absent friends. "Where was Colonel Slick's regiment?" or, " What had become of the 500th New York?" Short an- swers were alone vouchsafed— « Guess the Colonel's bin a gineral and got killed." "Never heard of the 500th New York. Which corps was it in?" Some bystanders recognized old acquaintances in the regiment before them, and hands were cordially grasped, as, "Bully for you, old man!" was met by enquiries about the folk '• down to hum ?" A dark-featured officer was particularly merry. He stood by the regimental flags, one of which I was told that he had helped to save in a moment of great danger, and mercilessly " chaffed " those who surrounded him. There seemed at first a con- tradiction to American prejudices in seeing that swarthy face above an officer's uniform, but the high cheek-bones and straight hair spoke plainly of Indian descent. His ancestors might have been famous sachems, and taken the scalps 'of many Yengcse. MUSTERED OUT OP SERVICE. 53 The boys were in a cheerful mood, varied by touches of ferocity where too much liquor had been imbibed. Twice or thrice scuffles, commenced in fun, grew earnest as blows were given; and the spectators drew back alarmed when weapons flashed out and laughter was exchanged for imprecations. I noticed that the officers took all this coolly. They would step amongst their men, pushing them asunder like troublesome children, yet arrogating no autho- rity in manner. Once an indignant veteran, who swore that he had done for many better men than liis offending comrade, refused to move aside when pushed, and even threatened his officer. He was instantly tripped by some lover of discipline, getting a heavy tumble, whilst the lieutenant strolled away, with the remark, " You shouldn't have talked like that in Virginia, but its most over now." Several popular airs were played by the brass band, winding up with " Old John Brown " and "Hail Columbia!" All was ready for departure ; each company mounted its allotted car, and there was whistling and bell-ringing as they rumbled slowly out of the station. Men who had lingered behind engaged in conversation, or had visited neighbouring bar-rooms, came panting after the train, and could be seen climbing on to its hindmost platform, as the engineer drove slowly to give them a chance. In a thriving little town of Vermont which stands upon the shore of Lake Champlain were returned III:.' 54 AFTER THE STORM. *•■• i 31" volunteers who awaited their discharge. There was a camp near the town, and thither the boys betook themselves every evening according to order. But, during the day, they showed their threadbare uni- forms in the streets and about the hotels. It was near sunset. The lake stretched calmly away to right and left, resembling a section of some mighty river ; the Green Mountain range behind us was covered with low drifting clouds, and the Adiron- dack peaks loomed tall and misty on the western horizon. Gleams of yellow light shot through the cloud-banks amongst which the sun was sinking ; the dust lay in heaps upon every roadway, only requiring that some carriage should pass to make it rise with choking volume. I had been watching a small boat which was far out upon the waters, and wondering how long her wake would remain visible, when my shoulder was roughly slapped, and a friend, newly made at the hotel, exclaimed, " Wal, mister, you'll be late for supper if you enjoy them nat'ral beauties much longer." The speaker was clad in dusty, tat- tered garments, and wore a black wide-awake riddled with shot-holes. His metal badge would have shown him to be a Federal soldier, even had dust and rough usage completely obliterated the colour of his uni- form. Sergeant Warren had been seated next me at dinner, when we freely exchanged ideas upon mili- tary tactics, and he had become so well disposed towards me that he acted as cicerope for an hour in MUSTERED OUT OF SERVICE. 55 the afternoon. I was not therefore sui-prised at his taking interest in my prospects with regard to supper. " Come on," said he, " the boys will leave nothing for you and me if we don't hurry up." So hurry up we did, and supped along with men in every stage of undress uniform, if I may use such a word to describe gradual declension from United States sol- dier's garb to civilian costume. One had a brown holland coat, here called a railway duster, and regu- lation pantaloons ; another, fancy continuations sur- mounted by a military frock-coat, and so on. Many of the " boys " were boys indeed ; veterans of nineteen and twenty, whose beardless faces had been burnt to a rich nut-brown colour by Virginian summers, and whose thin, wiry figures lacked the breadth and weight of maturity. Side by side with such young soldiers were men advanced in life who had been tempted by liberal bounties to enlist. They wore an expression less pleasing than that of the youngsters, whilst their oaths were more frequent. Then there was a class of genuine Yankee adventurers, well represented by my friend Sergeant Warren. His age could only be matter of the vaguest conjecture, as he might be anything between twenty-five and fifty. A pair of slight moustaches and an imperial of a few dozen particular hairs gave him a military finish, but he would have come out just as well, after shaving, as a preacher or a steamboat captain. His bold grey eyes shone with intelligence, and his figure, though 56 AFTER THE STORM. dr'"'. * rather tall, was slimly built. A few inches more round th6 chest and a greater width of shoulder would have made him a fine man to look at. He evidently possessed influence over his comrades, and when some of them spoke rudely to the Britisher, Warren put a stop to it in the manner of— enough I ye all know of Jolm Brent. " Sir," said he, addressing one who declared an inability to distinguish between a d d Britisher and a d d Reb, " jist you step out with me for five minutes, and I'll convince you that there is a difference, leastways in this gen- tleman." The objector was silenced, and afterwards told me that Warren was a smart man. "Means what he says, mister ! Darned if he don't ! " Our after-supper chat in the verandah, where a crowd of veterans assembled, was not interrupted by any necessity for convincing people that a Britisher dillered from a Eeb. We listened to stories of the war, and speculated upon the probability of trouble in Mexico, without touching on the Canadian question. Sergeant Warren merely observed, when Canada was mentioned, " Wal I guess it's got to come some day, but there ain't no hurry. We shall have a peti- tion, all in good time, from your aristocracy, headed by the Prince of Wales, to let England share our national greatness— you to preserve your institutions, but to sail under the Stars and Stripes, with another star added for John Bull." This sally of wit produced loud laughter, with MUSTERED OUT OF SERVICE. 67 cries of "Good! that's sol" and "Bully for you!" American humour is dry and peculiar. What other nation could have invented the plate-glass which it took two boys to see through, or the oyster so tame that it would follow its master up and down stairs ? An oflicer was pointed out to me as he passed the verandah where we sat, an^^ I learnt that he had been first over the intrenchments at Petersburg. Wounded through both cheeks, he had remained for some time in hospital, but -as now sufficiently re- covered to return home for the mustering out. Other officers who came in sight, were briefly described as " considerable of a man," or " nothing to count ;" whilst one found so little favour with the boys, that they said he njight as well have " let his coat and pantaloons go on duty without him." Eemembering that most of the subalterns and many of the captains had started for Virginia with musket and knapsack, I was not surprised at their being sharply criticized by former comrades. What struck mo was rather the tone of respect with which, as a class, they were treated. Sergeant Warren explained how promotion had gone in his own corps. " See, mister, we none of us knowed much about soldiering when the war began, for Injin fighters and Mexican heroes war scarce in the th. We had to go right on and do the best we could. Somebody was bound to be officer, and they got the rank by interest. Then came the killino- nff. nnrl wIiaii t,<^,«- appointments war made, boys that had done well J 'M - Uf 58 AFTER THE STORM. ill"-:.. I Jrv: ■*' had a chance. Take 'era as a 'hull, our officers aire about the smartest critturs in the regiment. We volunteers haven't the discipline of regular United States infantry, as to saluting every darned lieutenant that passes you, but what's saluting worth, come to get one side of a snake-fence with a lot of Secesh skirmishers on the other ? " The veterans told me of their hunts for food in Southern farmyards, and showed small prizes which they had brought away. One had a photographic album, filled with likenesses of rebels great and small. Another boasted that half-a-dozen silver spoons were stowed in his sack. Very few would own to having taken money, and they denied that their corps had committed personal outrage upon the inhabitants. " The worst I ever did to any rebel woman was making an old gal down Lynchburg way trade her watch for mine," said a small Unionist, who looked about eighteen. "And that was wrong of you," broke in Sergeac Warren. « The President had forbidden trade with rebels." " Wal, my' watch had the inwards out of order, so she had a bad exchange. Warn't that enough ?" Warren looked grave. " Tell you, boys," said he, "thar's been some dreadful suffering among them proud Southern families, and it's hard times for any people that have a war in their country." The audience assented. " Division of property is what I say," remarked MUSTERED OUT OF SERVICE. 59 an elderly soldier. " Kimmed to a house with the mistress crying before a drawerful of money. She called out to mo not to take the dollars. So I said, ' I'd count them right away and she should keep half and I'd take half, and that would make all smooth between us.' Wal, there were a hundred dollars in gold, and I took fifty. Guess that war fair ! " To a question regarding the merits of their dif- ferent generals, I received answers which did not by any means agree. Sheridan was placed next to Grant by some, although the majority considered Sherman their second star. Amongst commanders of less note each volunteer had his hero— Fighting Joe Hooker, Thomas, and Kilpatrick being men- tioned with hearty praise. It was allowed that Ge- neral Lee was very skilful, whilst Stonewall Jackson had evidently assumed a place in history so far as these rough historians were concerned, and was ho- noured beyond all other Confederates. I found that Andersonville and the cruelties there practised upon Federal prisoners occupied a larger space in American minds than I had supposed before leaving Europe. Great bitterness was exhibited against rebel poli- ticians and stay-at-home Southerners, such as guarded the Confederate prisons, but of their enemies in the field the veterans spoke most cordially. *' Why, if they'd been more numerous, darned if I don't think they'd have whipped us," said Sergeant Warren, "for it's easier to keep where you're sot than to go where you're told." iiumiil^ak "i •if t 1, : t ,'1 .' *■■ ■■ ' ' it • i ■.11 60 AFTER THE STORM. Of coloured regimonts. the men spoke without showing a trace of that coatempt for " darkeys," so common in the Northern States a few years since. It had been seen that, whatever his deficiencies, the negro could display animal courage, and, measured by the gauge of public opinion, wiiich makes courage stand for so much, the negro had gone far towards proving his position as a man and a brother. It had been ordered that any soldier who chose to pay six dollars for the rifle which he had carried might keep it on being mustered out of service. A large number of men paid for this privilege, wishing to retain the companion of their marches and battles. "There goes Dick Johnson," said my friend the Sergeant ; " he's bought his rifle to hang up to hum. So have five others in our company. They feel a sort o' fondness for the piece that's bin rubbin' their shoulder down in Dixie. Them rifles will have gone out of fashion before we've campaigning again on this continent, but they'll be jist as good for telling long stories over." "Then you give up all idea of enlisting again ?" I suggested. The Sergeant's grey eyes twinkled merrily, as he made answer—" See, sir, I'm going to open an hotel somewhere in this State when I can find capital to begin with. If it succeeds, they'll have to give a high bounty to get me to the army again." A CHANGE IN FASHIONABLE OPINION. 61 CHAPTER VI. A CHANGE IN FASHIONABLE OPINION. Port it is, sir ! — Starboard ! Aye, aye, sir, starboard ! Those who declare that the scenery of the United States is monotonous should make some of the excursions from Albany mentioned in a previous chapter. Half a dozen watering places would be within easy reach, and at any of them the traveller might not only enjoy pleasant society, but might see how Americans do not live when they are at home. He might if only his purse were long enough, go to Saratoga and take part in a score of fashionable pastimes. Never was the place so madly merry as in 1865. One large hotel had been reduced to ashes, which made the street near the railway station somewhat dreary. But other hotels were flourishing, and the trains brought new swarms of excursionists to fill every hole and corner in the ugly village. Prices were fabulously high. A man miglit hope to ^et iW 62 AFTER THE STORM. ■.:! I 11 shaved, have an hour's drive in a carriage and buy a cigar, for a pound sterling— but nothing morel Saratoga did not want poor people, and took a very effectual means to keep them away. Great was the flirting, and the dancing, prodigious the consumption of champagne! Officers returned from the army, with wealthy merchants from east and west, met " shoddy " and " petroleum " in eager rivalry. If the officers could afford to stay long enough, they were sure to win, as they deserved, the greater share of ladies' favour ; while he who carried an empty sleeve or a scar upon his face was a lion in Saratoga. The races of this season were unusually good, and I regretted that I had not time to wait for them. Talking of horse races, there is no doubt that what concerns sport is making rapid progress in America. The grave Puritan spirit of New England, which objected to trivial amusements, has been overborne by the modern demand for relaxation, even in New England itself. New York State has exhibited cos- mopolitan eagerness in such matters, and Saratoga was always gay. One great difference did I observe bet\7een the Springs in 1860, and in 1865. Southerners had formerly been the leaders of fashion at this and other summer resorts in the North. Their elegant equipages and profuse expenditure made them con- spicuous in the eyes of the most careless lounger; whilst on looking beneath' the surface and learning J'* 1 A CHANGE IN FASHIONABLE OPINION. 63 who governed society, it became vhax tl'ttt Southern influence and opinion had do^ root amongst well- dressed Northerners. So it w... at ,. 'e Saratoga of 1800. But when five years Iiad i.ussed, secession and war had rooted up the c]4 ..Bsociations, iresh names were held in honour, and fresli families dis- played their wealth. The planters of other days were killed or ruined, society had abhorred a vacuum, and their place was supplied by oil and shoddy. What did it matter to Saratoga, viewed as a village Imugering for spoil, to whom its mineral waters were given ? There was no falling off of custom at the hotels; no abatement in the demand for carriages to drive to the Lake. I spent a pleasant week at that hotel, now lying in ashes, during the by-gone period of Saratogan life! We had prominent men from both sections of the country staying in the house, and one evening in particular, when some strolling musicians performed before a group of laughing guests, there were citizens standing side by side convulsed with merriment, who have since been deadly enemies. They were then persuaded that, although differences of opinion existed between North and South, no bloodshed need be feared. Poor human foresight I I have often thought of that evening when telegrams announced some desperate battle in Tennessee or Virginia. During my former stay we had not any heroes to adorn the Springs whose achievements were more recent than Buena Vista and Cherubusco. Civilian 64 AFTER THE STOEM. potabilities were feted in default of men of the sword; a distinguished foreigner, especially if he were Eng- lish and had a handle to his name, was the most desired acquisition at ball or picnic ; whilst native captains and colonels, unless real West Pointers, counted for nothing. When tired of Mexican glories people went a few years further back, and spoke with freshness of events in 1812. It was some time since the last war with Great Britain certainly, but was not Winfield Scott a veteran of that war, and did not the Lieutenant General in his vigorous old age serve as a reminder of what had been? Many advocates of peace principles thought that armed strife amongst civilized communities would in future be prevented by arbitratioh. To support their theory they pointed to the short duration of the Italian campaign of the previous summer, and to the fact that no foreign power meddled with the struggle going on in Sicily. Nations had grown too sensible for fighting ! A few bloodless overturnings of monarchies by the people were alone needed before mankind should enter upon a millenn ium of progress and prosperity. Fashionable circles were not given to abolition principles. They faintly believed in a disappearance of the " peculiar institution" at some distant day, and never dreamt of civil war as possible under any circumstances. Who could be safer or more moderate than Mr. Buchanan ? At his retirement from office, Senator Douglas would doubtless succeed him, and Douglas was sound about the " institution." It was a pity tliat some hot-headed A CHANGE IN FASHIONABLE OPINION. 65 young Southerners should excite tliemselves respect- ing that Illinois man, called Lincoln, for society did not intend that he should become President. And all this time a storm was brewing which was destined to burst over the United States before another season brought fashionable idlers to Saratoga. Buena Vista and Cherubusco were to be eclipsed by battles nearer home. That was a grand standing point for Americans in 1860. The census had been taken and showed thirty millions of blacks and whites in the Eepublic. There was an insignificant debt and a standing army of only twenty thousand men. The pony express had been started to California and a column of troops had brought the Mormons at Salt Lake under Federal authority. East and West, North and South, there was prosperous commerce. Though the telegraph cable, which lay under the ocean from continent to coutinent, would take no messages, science had triumphed in another direction by bringing out so vast a ship as the Great Eastern, and friendship with England was to be for ever cemented by the courteous reception of the Prince of Wales. Thinking men could see that slavery must some day be dealt with, but they hoped to defer the question until the Free States of the North and West should have utterly outgrown the Slave States of the South, or until the Southerners should become convinced that free labour was most profitable. Efforts were made to check the VOL. I y I I GC) AFTEIl THE STOUM. si)rea(l of the "institution" to Western territories. Kansas and Nebiaska vvere to be free soil, wlavery should ho shut up in its present domain, where it might gra(hially llieker out as the planters (exhausted their soil or changed their opinions. ISuch was the plan of nioderatii law-abiding citizens iu the Free States. A sale and practical plan, we must admit, though with nothing entliusiastic or noble about it, no grappling witlj difliculties or upholding right for the sake of right. It deserved to fail, though its failure was curiously brought about by the very people who had bettor have let it succeed. The South has suffered terribly and has been over- thrown after a struggle of four years; but fatal as was its miscalculation of strength, sad as have been its losses, the slave power acted consistently in striving to gain an independent position and to secure its share of the Western wilderness. Of course Mr. Davis was shortsighted, those men who fail always are. Julian tried, in vain, to re-establish the ancient worship of the Emi)ire and to give their former vigour to the legions of declining Rome. Yet Julian was an able ruler and the best general of his day. To defend slave institu- tions in this century is as much a turning back of the tide by human hands, as it was, when Julian reigned, to keep lu^athendom against Christianity. It would indeed liave been hard to reconcile the creation of a great slave-liolding republic with other features of our time, wlieu Uussiau serfs have at last obtained their i'vi A CUANGE IN FASHIONABLE OPINION. 67 ^ freedom, and Turkish ryots are impracticably pro- tected by treaty. Jelferson Davis was wrong. His treason did not I)rosper, and men dare to call it by hard names. But putting aside those broad principles which make a championship of slavery resemble the efforts of Mr. Gibbon's pet reactionist, there was courage and genius in the slave-holders' rebellion. They saw more clearly the strength and progress of Aboli- tionists than did easy-going Northern merchants or pleasure-seekers at Saratoga. They felt, that, with Abraham Lincoln's election, their cherished system of life was seriously tlireatened. It had come to this: either the South must wait patiently to be reformed when its enemies were ready, or must make a bold effort, break the old bonds of Unioii and force back the tide of opinion which seemed about to flow over it unchecked. History will de- cide where President Davis committed blunders, and will pronounce upon the Fabian tactics of General Lee. It would seem as though when Euro[)e began to fool sure that the Confederates must win, their doom was sealed. The best blood of the South had gone into the ranks, giving fearful ^mvfry to an assault by 8uutliern troops and indomitable ^bstiaacy to a defouce. But a year's ligliting had not ended the stru'^'vle ; the chance of m.^s ;Vingon Washington liad boon lost, and an exhausting drain -of the best F -1 68 AFTER THE STORM. l^: .1 ~ if". Southern blood had begun. If we look to the other side, we see that a year's warfare had enabled the North to shake itself together, forming an army of disciplined troops and equipping a powerful navy. Washington city was securely fortified ; Maryland held down by force ; Kentucky overrun ; Missouri conquered. Naval expeditions had seized many im- portant points on the Confederate coasts, and Admiral Farragut was witliin a few weeks of taking New Or- leans. So much at the end of the first year. If it is added that a Federal blockade had been established, sufficiently strict to raise three-fold the price of every- thing down South ; that the ' Trent ' affair had blown over without causing England to abandon her neutra- lity, and that Abolitionists began to have the Union feeHng at their backs; a year's contest will be seen to have ruined the hopes of the Southern leaders. They could always have returned into the Union on con- dition of waiting to see their institution flicker out and abiding by the will of the majority. But a proud race, accustomed to carry arms and to rule over slaves, would not submit. They fought on during three years within a constantly narrowing circle, and, whilst the fiery youth of the upper class remained in their ranks, frequent victories were gained. At last, however, the Confederate regiments dwindled away, their favourite generals were killed or wounded, and they had no resource save in levies of A CHANGE IN FASHIONABLE OPINION. 69 poor whites, who would usually desert, and of negroes who conld not be trusted.* The North grew stronger and stronger. Each de- feat roused it to fresh exertions, whilst Union feelin^ became closely linked with emancipation. Incom! petent generals were thrust aside; heavy public debt was mcurred. " Our Union must be preserved," said the nation at large ; « And slaverj^ be exterminated ' " muttered the Abolitionists, in tones which became more imperative with each succeeding month. Both objects were gained, though not without woeful slaughter. To a foreign looker-on the first of these objects may seem almost .varfhless beside the second but It struck Americans very differently. They were' led into the abolition of slavery by what, for them was the paramount necessity of re-union. Perhaps St. George killed the dragon, not because of 8abina who with a red cap on her head might stand for freedom, but on account of some secession which had taken place in the worthy knight's family as to whether the dragon was harmful or no. And how stood North and South when those five years, with their century of change, had passed 9 Saratoga couU boast its gayest season in the summer that witnessed the wholesale mustering out of service Ne^^ort was equally full. Every steamer bound for Europe carried a crowd of wealthy travellers, * It was not until the eleventh hour that the Confedemte Cxovernment resolved to arm Sambo. v,onieaemte I . 70 AFTER THE STORM. iii:'"-' who had hift their business prospering behind them. Tlie railroads and canals of the Northern States were burdened witli valuable freight. Immigrants arrived bv thousands : now territories were s(;ttled in the Far West, while the pony express to California was to bo sup(^rseded by a lino of rail and telegraph. There was plenty of c'rimo it is true, twenty thousand arrests being made in the Empire City alono during three months of 1865. There were also manv deso- late homes from which soldiers had gone to the war never to return, and many wounded men limj)ing through the streets of Northern cities. But the North was marvellously prosperous. It had, without wishing to do so, speculated in its own paper currency; and, when gold fell from "280" to " 140," that cur- rency doubled in value. The poor nigger, kicked about from party to party, had been jokingly called " irre- pressible." Now the really irrepressible thing was Yankee prosperity. Captain Semmes had damaged Northern trade to a certain extent, and a corner of Pennsylvania had seen the stern work of Gettysburg ; but to talk of bloodshed and desolation in regard to the North was delusive. Those bronzed soldiers, whose ju'esence changed the outward aspect of New York and other places, might have come home from a contest in Peru; and the sight of coloured men in uniform, which of itself marked a great transition, might be explained as a compliment to Horace Greeley; for the Northern cities siiowed no trace of war. i*' A CHANGE IX FASHIONABLE OPINION. 71 Yet there was not so smooth a prospect as in 18G0. A vast section of the country, which had increased the census of that year, whence sprightly ladies and polished gentlemen had thronged to Saratoga, and where the negro had been supposed to fill up his leisure hours by composing Ethiopian serenades, was now completely beggared. It, too, had natural re- sources, but they were for a time rendered useless. War had fallen heavily upon the Southern States. Poverty and hunger had followed their desperate effort for independence, whilst their social system was disorganized by the change from slave to free labour, and the flower of their youth had died leaving sorrow throughout the land. We heard that people were begging for rations in one county, or had taken to the woods as guerillas in another. A gloomy picture was given of the state of things down South ; and "reconstruction," although steadily pushed for- ward by President Johnson, had not by Midsummer done much to ameliorate the distress of the Con- federacy. It was painful to know that the idle apprentice who had lived upon other people's toil was so severely punished, whilst his industrious neigh- bour, who had worked for himself, received more than a merited reward. Had not the former acquired his vicious habits from English ancestors ? and had not the latter connived at wrong-doing through many money-making years ? But such is the broad ...ugh justice of history. I have always felt sorry for those '41 72 AFTER THE STORM. particular wicked Counts and gay Countesses on whom the guillotine descended. Their class had mis- governed France, preparing the way for revolution, yet they were no worse than generations which had gone quietly off the stage. Unhappily for them the crash came in their day ; that was all. So with the Confederates of 1861 ! And these, moreover, strove against their fate with an energy that well-nigh secured success. It was not Legree, we may be sure, who gave spirit to the defence of Charleston or to the onslaught at Chancellorsville ; but Shelby and St. Clair, the generous masters, who, when they reflected upon their position, were half ashamed of holding slaves! "Old Stonewall," the hero of the South, was only drawn into rebellion through devotion to his native State and had no faith in the divine right of slavery ; while General Lee, whose talents so long upheld a sinking cause, disbelieved in the institution which that cause represented. The idle apprentice was banished from Saratoga during its carnival time after the return of peace. Former fashions were flung aside, and former modes of thought were entirely forgotten. Instead of the respect with which «F. F. V." had been used to signify "First Families of Virginia," those initials were now almost a term of reproach. Slaveholders, not Abolitionists, must be burnt in effigy, for which sort of change there is always a Tony Fire-the-Fagot at hand; and the South, that had once seemed so A CHANGE IN FASHIONABLE OPINION. 73 near, was looked at through the large end of the telescope until it appeared to be very distant. A nightmare of doubt and reticence was removed from the public mind, no subject was under taboo, no institution too "peculiar" to be discussed. People felt relieved at having tried conclusions with the South, and could see, with the acuteness of after wisdom, that a war had been inevitable. Greenbacks had risen in value, trade was flourishing, why should not the great watering-place run riot in alf manner of extravagance ? I remained there but a short time, and yet more life wag to be seen in that period than in twice as long a stay five years before. I could only wish, that, if Sharon Springs were pro- portionately amusing, it had been my fortune to follow the course of a previous journey and go thither from Saratoga. Sharon was a charming retreat, and there is no reason why it should have changed its character. Ten miles driving from the Palatine Bridge Bailway- station brought me to the wooded valley where are springs so unpalatable that they would^ make any place famous. The village lies high and has cool bracing air; but as I did not visit it in character of an mvalid, neither its nauseous fountains, nor its re- freshing breezes occupied much of my attention. Sharon's cliief interest consisted in the near neighbour- hood of Cooperstown and Lake Otsego, the s^cene of more than one of the Natty Bumpo novels. Young 74 AFTER THE STORM. hi: Deerslayer roamed over this country, and won his name of Hawk Eye in the woods near Otsego. Long afterwards he is found, as Leathe--stocking, beside the same lalce; whilst, in another tale, Mt. Cooper makes Eve EfFmgham reside in his favourite rlistriet. When I returned after a trip to Otsego there was music in the hotel. Some pretty Spaniards from Havana, whose papa had brought them north for the summer, sang very sweetly. There was no need to trouble about its being one's duty to drink sul- phureous draughts, or to understand the songs which were sung. An hour of ease and contentment might be passed, listening contentedly to the music, whilst thinking of dear old Natty Bumpo. Modern boys have migrated westward in the exciting pages of Mayne Reid, but give me those wonderful shots with Killdeer and the smoke from the Lenapi wig- wams for the poetical prose of forest life I Li*.,.. J /,( LOOK OUT FOR THE CARS WHEN THE BELL RINGS. 75 CHAPTER VII. LOOK OUT FOR THE CARS WHEN THE BELL RINGS ! Brazen tallies — Sleeping cars. Are there proportionately more disasters by rail in America than in England? Does not our stolid temperament with a high rate of speed set off against their gross carelessness with a lower rate of speed ? I ask because I want to know, and shall feel much obliged to any one who will collect statistics for me.* As to the relative comfort of English and Ame- rican travelling, we have faults on both sides. Would that a score of directors could be sacrificed as a pro- pitiatory offering, and our systems amalgamated with the weaker parts left out. English carriages are free from draught, and each compartment is a cozy den for six or eight passengers. American cars, though draughty and public, secure you, by their open con- * He must prepay his letter, and be careful that it is not over weight. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // .^. % i6 1.0 [f liM IIM I.I 1.25 1^ i^ 2^ 2.2 •Uuu lis 10 1.4 1.8 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation * iV :\ ,v \ ^R) V ^^l 4^ 6^ ^> 98 AFTKU THE STOHM. i Horry to hoo his lliij? so dis^mccd. * My lads,' said ho; *rvo a wifo and iiino cliildron, so nm only jist j^it hlonp;, or (»lso I Would buy soiu«>thinj; lit for you to oat; Itut 1 and my civw will aharo this rotten briMid with you, till such tiint> as wii nuiko tho Knglish Ijiud.' Now, sir, thoy hud chosou out a lunulrod Yiudvoo boys of uudor twcMity-livo, so thore was no holding hand auu>ng us, but tho oUh^st olmp s[)o\w out for tho rest. ' C^ip'n/ said ho, ' wo prisouors «!oncludo to nuiko no couiplnint, s(>(Mu' its all fair and hoarty botwoiMi yew and us ; ' and though ono died of tho food going ovor and othors war' brought very low, no ooniplaiut did we make. It was a sight 1 tell vow, when the iirst boat-load o( whoh^sonio bnuid nnu'hed us otY rortsnumlh in Englnnd. " As to hanging, both (itnernnients kinder backed down, and we j^risoiun-s sulVered nothing wors(» than two yeai-s' iletentiou at SIuhmdoss, on a hulk that had been U\\\on i\\nn the Panes. 1 could see the snu)ke of London, but never visittMl the city. The nt^xt place thevtot>k nuMo\\a<^ Plvniouth, from which, wlu^n i)eace wjus declared, I came straight back to Anun-ico. That, sir. is how I came to travel to England against my will, and I've always been friends with yo\U' people s'lve. when any of them have chanced to steer the SiUin^ cinu*se as me." We tinisiheil our forest tlrive. anil drew up at the «UH)r of the Glen House imnuHliately after the old siiilor's storv had ended. This hotel, with its clear- THE WHITE MOUNTAINa 99 inar of « few acres in extent, its etnblos ami offices *,u H like an „„«is i„ the midst of primeval woods winch oovor the eurronndinR hill-sides. Eigl,t miles on « Corliani Station, with a eouple of dwellin^H "pon tho road thither ; !,„,„ in other .lirections, the . rtance t„ „„y ,„tt,.„„„„t ;, ,o„,i,,,,„^,y ^^^^^^ 1 he hotel j.ropn.tor, with <.o>„men,l«ble enterpria. provides, dnrinf? »,„nn,er. a staff of waiter, an excel- lent euhine. a bar-room, hair-dresscrs shop, and post- inR departn,ont. His guests are well I„,lged an.l I'oHrded; there is t,.|eKraphic eomn.unieation with' all parts, from a s.nall burean railed off near the hotel door ; an.l ,0 completely is evorythin.- arrange.!, that, althonKh when I arrive t,vo hundred visitors are staying nn.ler Mr. Thon.psons roof, we are not ineouveniently crowded. Supper being over, some Imhes and gentlemen have a dance h. the principal ■•omdor, whilst others, strolling into the verandah, «a ol, the lading of salmon-coloured clouds over the Inll-tops and the con.ing out of twinkling stai-s as evenuig deepens into night. I have sought this verandah and am lookinn- to- wards Mom,t Washington's sumn.it which shows ont '■oWly against the sky, when the veteran of ISl- addresses me. " A fine pro.i>ect, sir," says lie ; « those IiiJIs are even grander wlieu hiit' seen than in the ^lare of •Iftv-tiine." "^ •' Yes," I reply ; "and the won^h Innt n-v. ...i H 2 I I in 'i, rt , 1. ''4 , i ■ -^ 100 AFTER THE STORM. i )*■ ■ S- mysterious. How strange, that, in a century at most, your backwoodsmen should have driven west, or exterminated, not only those luckless red-skins, but all the wild animals of the forest, and left that forest like a dead thing with the moving living principle gone." " Stop, sir ! Hold on thar ! You're wrong in thinking that them woods air' entirely deserted, and, what's more, you're doin' as Englishmen generally will about this country — you're building up a big theory before gittin' your facts all square." "Then there are beasts still lingering amongst these hills?" " Wal, that's what I meant when I told you to stop. Why, sir, 'tis but two seasons ago that I was coming on a fine evening like this up yonder track from Gorham, when I sighted a t«'ll stout-looking figure standing in the middle of the road. I walked on, thinking nothing of bears, until the stranger turned round and gave a low growl. Presently a pair of cubs shambled across the track and took to the woods on the other side. The old she-bear re- treated after them, coming down on all fonis a? she fell into the line of march." I heard many things about the White Moimtains during the next morning, was told how the Alpine House proprietor, although his chief establishment is at Gorham, had cut past Mr. Thompson and opened a " Tip-Top Summit House," on the highest point of THE WHITE M(JIINTAINS. 101 Mount Waslungton. I hea.-.l also how a company, under charter from the State of New Hamprhire. had constructed u carriage-road to the said tip-top ™mm,t and that a telegraphic wire waa stretehed beside the road, keeping mankind in communication with the hummit House a. with Thompson's Gien House five thousand feet below. Would not our Alpme Club recoil in disgust at the notion of such a cmh.ed mountain, even if grizzly bears roamed at .ts base ms<«.d of mild honey-loving vegetarians? I wiU spare the feelings of Switzerland and her ' friends, nor induce that brave S