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A TRIP 
 
 TO 
 
 T H E T 1{ O 1^ I C S 
 
 AND 
 
 HO>[E THROUGH AMERKVV. 
 
 lllTCH (JAi' CANAL, AM) GROIH OK SOI.DIKKS. 
 
 • • • 
 
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 T H E ^^ 
 
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 ATJQriS a.K ...LUUXK... . *" ' 
 • : • •, i" ■■ ' " ^ . ; 
 
 LONDON: 
 HUlifST A^\) IJLACKETT, PriU.EsiI KJIS. 
 
 SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, 
 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 
 18(37. 
 
 rit( riijhi <>/ Troutlation u rtttrred. 
 
• ••' n*, 
 
 • ,•• • ••• 
 
 . , • » . • 
 
 
 
 • • • 
 •• • • • • 
 
 .*. 
 
 • ••• ••••• 
 
 • • • * • 
 
TO 
 
 MY FRIEND AND COMPANION 
 
 ARTHUR STRUTT, 
 
 THESE NOTES OF OUK JOURNEY 
 
 girc gifiittionatflg gtbitaUb. 
 
PSEFACE. 
 
 These notes are extracts from letters written when 
 I was travelling last year. I have hardly altered 
 them, thinking they would, if I did so, lose whatever 
 freshness they possess. They contain, of course, 
 merely superficial views of the men, manners, and 
 things that came under my notice ; but as the coun- 
 tries they refer to have recently been the scenes of 
 important events, I hope they may not be without 
 some interest. 
 
i < 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Departure from Southampton — First Dinner at Sea — Terns in our Wake 
 — German, French, and other Passengers — A Jamaica Planter's 
 Opinion of Gordon — Indian Coolies — Revival Meetings in Jamaica— 
 Ex-Emperor Soulouque and his Son-in-law — A Haytian's Account of 
 Hayti — The Chiqua — Heavy Seas, but " no Danger " — Gulf-weed — 
 Flying-fish — Underhill's Pamphlet — Quakers on Board — Beautiful 
 Sunset— Distance by Land and Sea — Otan's Pamphlet " On Jamaica" 
 — Barbadoes — Signs of Land — A Lawyer's Opinion on the Jamaica 
 Question — St. Thomas's — The Louisiana — Polyglot Negroes — The 
 Town, Fort, and Harbour— American Men-of-War — Santa Rosa's 
 Residence — An Ice-house — Street Scenes in St. Thomas's — The Mar- 
 ket—Visit to M. Rusi's Collection of Natural Curiosities — Star-fish — 
 Beautiful Spiny Spondylus — Intense Civility of the Blacks — Dark- 
 coloured Pelican — On Board the 2^nc— Intercolonial Boats — Port-au- 
 Prince — Porto Rico — Opening of the Jamaica Commission 
 
 pp. 1—22 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Our First Night in Niggerdom — Haytian Functionaries — Native Soldiers 
 — A Black Lady's Salutation — Negro Liuiiness— Fishing in the La- 
 goon — Hiring Horses and Mules — Port-au-Prince — Its Streets, Shops, 
 and Houses — Sharks — English Methodist Chapel — Mr. Webbly — 
 Character of the People— Squatting — Prosperity of Barbadoes — 
 Triumphal Arch — Sleepy Negro Guide — A Treasure of a Man — Vau- 
 dou Religion — Story of Haytian Cannibalism — French Patois — 
 Grande Riviere of Jacmel — Costume and Customs of the Negroes- 
 Forest Scenery — Birds and Flowers — Returned Exile — The Gros 
 Mome — Bay of Port-au-Prince — General Fauberg Petion — Plans for 
 the Improvement of his Property thwarted — Manu&cture of Sugar by 
 Negroes— -Conversation with an English Engineer — President Geff- 
 rard — Salnave — Siege of the Cape — Interference of the Bulldog — ^Ex- 
 plosion of a Shell • PP- 23 — 49 
 
Vlll CONTKNTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Port-au-Prince — Scenery near the Town — Names of Streets — Inhabitants 
 of the Town— The Military— Street Scenes— The Wharfs— The Mar- 
 ket-place — Provisions — Pottery — Tirailleurs — Beautiful View — Hay- 
 tian National Emblem — Motto adopted by the Blacks — Policy of the 
 Government towards Strangers — Population and Trade — Town and 
 Country Schools — Standing Army and Despotism — Sail among the 
 Coral Islands — Our Boatman — Destructive Effect of an Annstrong 
 Shell — Visit to our Consul — Refuge in Foreign Consulates — Trouble- 
 some Proteges — TaflSa Fires in Port-au-Prince — Fenced Clearings — 
 Rapid Growth in Hayti — Country Houses — Party at Dinner — Pro- 
 bable Fate of Hayti— EnglisL Niggers — Visit to the Presidential 
 Palace — Interview with Geffrard — Relations of White and Black in 
 the Negro Republic — Fishing Sharks — Geffrard's Opinion — Com- 
 merce of Hayti pp. 50 — 71 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Jamaica in Sight — Morant Bay — The Court- House — The Palisades — Port 
 Royal — On Board the Duncan — Model Community — Public Estima- 
 tion of Gordon— The Wire " Cats " — Negro Evidence — The Coloured 
 Class — American Buggies — Complaint as to the Administration of 
 Justice — Burned Houses — Bath — A Survivor of the Massacre at 
 Morant Bay — Rencounter with an Indignant Negro — Maroons on 
 Duty — Hire's House — Hire's Defence, and Massacre of Inmates — 
 State of Feeling among the Planters — The Anti-Buckra Movement — 
 Escape of Mr. Sinclair and his Wife — An Obedient Idol— Folly of 
 Negroes and Fears of the Planters — Scenery of Jamaica — Attack on 
 Happy Grove — Dispute about a Mule — Our Footing with the Maroons 
 — Their Manner of Fighting — Massacre and Burning by the Troops 
 — Account of Riots by a Coloured Schoolmaster — Merciless Conduct 
 of Black Troops pp. 72 — 98 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Port Antonio — Negro Method of firing Houses — Prosperous Negroes near 
 Port Antonio — Mr. Orgill's Opinion regarding the Cultivation ot 
 Sugar — Lovely Bays — Mr. Anderson, an old Scotch Gentleman — 
 Complaints as to the Want of Labonr — Negro Objection to Contracts 
 — Co-operative System for the Manufacture of Sugar — Immorality 
 and Education — Immigration — A Bastard Law — A Maroon Officer — 
 Their Mod,? of Fighting — Captain M'Fj'vlane — His Defence of the 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 Maroons — Dinner with the Maroons — A Sentiment received with 
 Great Applause — Measures proposed for the Inauguration of a Better 
 Order of Things — Reform of Elective Bodies — Of Vestries — Of the 
 Present Magistracy — Appointment of Stipendiary Magistrates — 
 Government System of Industrial Schools — An Education Tax — Fine 
 Scenery — The Rio Grande — Forest-Trees — The Cotton-Tree — Under- 
 growth and Creepers in the Woods— Birds seen in Jamaica — Immense 
 Butterfly — Botanic Garden at Bath — Court-House at Morant Bay — 
 The Volunteers — The Massacre — Gordon's Grave — The Charge against 
 him — Mr. Eyre — Mai-tial Law — The late Governor's Policy — Site of 
 Mr. Eyre's House, and View from it — ImporLanfc Document — Evi- 
 dence as to the Proceedings and Designs of the People — Illegal Drill- 
 ing — Curious Document pp. 99 — 124 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Flamstead— Cowardly Acts of Intimidation — Visit to Hill, the Naturalist 
 — Sharks — The Political Prospects of Jamaica — Probable DisappoinS 
 ment of the Furious Supporters of the Ex-Governor — Substitution of 
 English for Spanish Names of Places — The Road to Moreland — Man- 
 grove Belts — Cultivation of Sugar Estates — The Cotton-Tree — From 
 Moreland to St. Jago — Guinea Fowl — Ants — Want of Doctors — Hum- 
 ming-birds — Mandeville — Black Freeholders — A Negro's Necessaries 
 and Burdens in Jamaica— A Negro Dodge — Attorneys for Estates — 
 Laziness and Caprice of the Negroes — Stoppage of Wages — The 
 Question between Overseers and Negroes — Domestic Servants — Price 
 of Food — Position of the Black Freeholder — Precedence of Races — 
 Abolition of the House of Assembly — Extravagant Application of 
 Public Money — Neglect of Popular Education — Ignorance with re- 
 spect to Contracts — Negro Interpretation of a Public Proclamation — 
 Visit to a Large School — Congo Boys — Drunkenness among the Ne- 
 groes — Jamaica as a Place for Emigrants — A Negro's Opinion of the 
 Rioters pp. 125 — 151 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Cuba — A Midshipman — Santiago de Cuba — Country in the Neighbourhood 
 •^Spanish Volante Carriage — Reckless Negro Postilion — Our Hotel 
 — Strict Regulations — Adventure of a German in Hayti — The Thea- 
 tre — The Church — The Service and the Preacher — Music in the Public 
 Square— A Paradise for Smokers — A Volante Drive into the Country 
 — Bound Blacks and Slaves — Conversation with an American En«ri- 
 neer — The " Fah Kee " — Feelings in the Torrid and Temperate Zones 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 — Swell in the Caribbean Sea — Our Captain — His Opinion regarding: 
 the Trent Business — Slavery in the South — Story of a Negro volun- 
 tarily returning to Bondage — Approach to New York — A Fog at Sea 
 — Fort Lafayette — The Narrows — Brooklyn — View of New York- 
 Steam FeiTy-boat — General Aspect of the City — Broadway — Tram- 
 ways — Bamum's Museum pp. 152 — 174 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Activity of the People — Question of the Fishery — The Civil Rights Bill — 
 The Fenians — Reports circulated by the New YorJc Herald — Fenian- 
 ism among Waiters — Devotion of the Lower Irish to the Cause — The 
 Roberts and O'Mahoney Sections — Civil Rights and Freedmen's 
 Bureau Bill — Policy of the President — Trial of Davis — Visit to the 
 jyunderherg — Construction of the Vessel — American Workmanship— 
 Iron-clads sent round to the Pacific — Proposal of a Patriotic Member 
 of Congress — Wounded Soldiers — Germans in New York — Excitement 
 caused by the Arrival of a Pest-ship— American Railway Travelling 
 — Appearance of the Passengers — Railway Literature — Raymond and 
 the Herald — Extent of New York — The Rocks near the City — Small 
 Towns and Wooden Houses — Boston — Made a Member of the Union 
 Club — The Somerset — Longfellow's Bridge over the River Charles — 
 Cambridge University — Our Cordial Reception by American Students 
 — Boat Races on the River — The Powellian Club — Agassiz — Debate 
 at the State House — View from the Balcony — The Massachusetts 
 Regiment — Longfellow — A Lecture by Emerson . . pp. 175 — 196 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A Ride to Winchester — Moveable Family Mansion — ^American Robin — 
 Snapping Turtle — ^Amusement at the Fremont — A Fenian Waiter — 
 The States and their Soldiers — Stbte of the South — Visit to Lowell — 
 Absorption of the Military — Peaceful Tendency of the Nation — 
 Americanisms — A Yankee Steamer — Agreeable Recollections of Boston 
 — Political Spirit and Sentiment — Return to New York — The Theatre 
 — Negro Minstrels — Country beyond New York and Washington — 
 Crossing Wide Rivers with the Train — Earthworks — View of the 
 Capitol — The Streets of 'Vashington — Public Buildings — Conversa- 
 • tion with a Virginian Gentleman — Effect of the passing of the Civil 
 Rights Bill — Hopes for the Future of America — Mr. Sumner — Mili- 
 tary Commissions and the Trial of Davis — Mr. St. Leger Grenfell — 
 Reconstruction of the Union — Policy of the Radicals — An American 
 Gentleman's Opinion of Affairs in Mexico .... pp. 197 — 221 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 White Labour in the South — Dying out of the Negroes — Would the South 
 have armed the Slaves ? — Confederate Forces at the End of the War 
 — Davis's Flight from Richmond — The Capitol — Admission of Colo- 
 rado into the Union — Committee of Reconstruction — Conduct ot" 
 Business in the Senate — House of Representatives — Energy of the 
 Speakers — Peeling in Congress against the President — Federal and 
 State Authority — Southern Representatives — The Treasury — Ride 
 into Virginia — National Monument — The Long Bridge — ^Vestiges of 
 the War — General Lee's House — Interview with the President — The 
 White House — Mortality among the Blacks in the South — Navy 
 Yard — Monitors— French Occupation of Mexico— Visit to Mr. Seward 
 — The Attack maJe on him last Year — Attack on Frederick Seward 
 
 pp. 222—243 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Conversation with a Supporter of the President — A Freedmen's Village — 
 White Labour in the South — Education of the People — Negro Enfran- 
 chisement — Feeling against the President — Politicians in Social Life 
 — The Proposed Paris Exhibition — Indian Troubles — Grant's Respect 
 for Lee — State Rights and the Union — General Grant on some of the 
 Operations of the War — Sherman and Hood — Education of the Negroes 
 — Cultivation of Land by the Black? — Negro Village at Arlington — 
 Good done by the Freedmen's Bureau — Intelligence of the Negroes — 
 Gradual Disappearance of the Antipathy -between White and Black — 
 Military Courts — Report of the Reconstruction Committee — Journey 
 to Richmond — Banks of the Potomac — Acquia Creek — Fredericksburg 
 — Richmond — State of Feeling among the Inhabitants — State Sove- 
 reignty — White and Coloured — Communicativeness of the Negroes — 
 Devotion to Kind Masters manifested by them . . . pp. 244 — 267 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Situation of Richmond — The Capitol — Governor Pierpont — The Burnt Dis- 
 trict — The Tredegar Ironworks — The Two Prisons — Treatment of 
 Prisoners of War — Sufferings of the Southern States — Loafing Negroes 
 — Blacks in Mixed Uniform — Defences of Richmond — M'Clellan's 
 Advance against Richmond — The Chickahominy — Agricultural Opera- 
 tions — Soldiers* Graves — Federal Cemetery — Antipathy ^f the South to 
 the North — Galling Treatment of Federal Officers by Southern Ladies 
 — View of Richmond from the James River — Butler's Lines — His 
 Attempt to cut through the Dutch Gap — Farms on the James — City 
 Point — Idle Negroes — Rail to Petersburg — Position of that Town — 
 Murderous Contests in its Neighbourhood — Nothing to do with 
 Yankees — Virginian Bitterness — The Natural Position of the African 
 —Parallel between English and American Parties. . pp. 268 — 287 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Virginian Country Life — Birds of Virginia — Our Host — Conduct of his 
 Sons in the War — Sufferings from the Presence of invading Armies — 
 A Negro Traitor — One Generous Action of Butler's — Union as under- 
 stood in the South — Objectionable Provision of the Civil Rights Bill- 
 Fanning Quarters, Clothing, and Nourishment of the Slaves — Ad- 
 miration of England — Federal and Confederate Government — Names 
 and Manners of the Darkies — Reverence for Age in the South — New 
 York Gamins — A Go-ahead Youngster at the Theatre — A Freedman 
 at Bermuda Hundred — Germans in Richmond — German Troops in the 
 Federal Army — A Scotch Farmer — Charlotteville — Anniversary of 
 "Stonewall" Jackson's Death — University of Virginia — A Virginian 
 Secessionist and " Rebel " — Caution to the Radicals — A Better Time 
 coming for South and West — Commemorrtion of General Jackson and 
 the Conservative Dead — University Professors and Students in the 
 Southern Army — Mr. Black's Schemes — Yankee Troops in the Uni- 
 versity — A Freedmen's School — Passengers in the Cars to Lynchburg 
 — Campbell Court-Hou*se — Host and Hostess at the Inn — Talk with 
 Niggers — Lynchburg to Staunton by Canal — Recruits for England in 
 the South — Desertions from the Confederate Army — Administration 
 of Justice by the Agent of the Bureau pp.288 — 318 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Lexington — Cadets of the Military College — Virginian Scenery — Natural 
 Bridge — White and Coloured Men on Farms — Negroes eager to visit 
 England — Education — Confederate Officers — Parties in the South and 
 North — Injurious Effect of the Course pursued by the Radicals — 
 Language of Thaddeus Stephens in the House of Representatives — 
 Weakness of State Governments — Discomfort suffered by Ladies 
 Travelling in America — Mode of serving up Dinner — A German Inn- 
 keeper — Remarkable Cave — Curious Bill — The Affairs of Virginia — 
 Working of the Freedmen's Bureau — False Prognostications of the 
 Southerners — Mixed Labour — Derision of Northern Fears — Baltimore 
 — Enthusiasm excited by Confederate War Songs — Coloured Men in 
 the Railway Cars — Action of the Civil Rights Bill — Decisions of the 
 Judges respecting the State Courts — Niagara in a Mist — Night View 
 of the Falls — Toronto — Sensible Irishmen — Kingston — Ottawa — 
 Canadian Houses of Parliament — The Ottawa — Inconvenient Position 
 of the new Canadian Capital — The Sawmills — The Fenian Invasion — 
 Rejwrts at Kingston — Skirmish at Fort Erie — Conduct of the 
 American Government — American Sympathy with Fenianism. 
 
 pp. 319—355 
 
A TRIP TO THE TROPICS 
 
 NOTES FROM NEGRO LANDS. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 Departure from Southampt^ — First Dinner at Sea — Terns 
 in our Wake — German, French, and other Passengers — 
 A Jamaica Planter's Opinion of Gordon — Indian Coolies 
 — Revival Meetings in Jamaica — Ex-Emperor Soulouque 
 and his Son-in-law — A Haytian's Account of Hayti — The 
 Chiqua — Heavy Seas, bvit " no Danger " — Gulf- "Weed — Flying- 
 Fish — Underhill's Pamphlet — Quakers on Board — Beautiful 
 Sunset — Distance by Land and Sea — Otan's Pamphlet " On 
 Jamaica " — Barbadoes — Signs of Land — A Lawyer's Opinion on 
 the Jamaica Question — St. Thomas's — The Louisiana — Polyglot 
 Negroes — The Town, Fort, and Harbour — American Men-of- 
 War — Santa Rosa's Residence — An Ice-house — Street Scenes 
 in St. Thomas's — The Market — Visit to M. RUsi's Collection of 
 Natural Curiosities — Star-Fish — Beautiful Spiny Spondylus — 
 Intense Civility of the Blacks — Dark-coloured Pelican — On 
 Board the Tyne — Intercolonial Boats —Port-au-Prince — Porto 
 Rico — Opening of the Jamaica Commission. 
 
 TTTE left Southampton early in January, 1866, but 
 it was not till the fifth day of our voyage that 
 I was able to jot down a fo^v notes respecting our pro- 
 gress, with by no means a culm sea to help one to sit 
 
 B 
 
Z FIRST DINNER AT SEA. 
 
 still or to write plainly. Even when sea-sickness, as I 
 believed, was completely over, I did not feel quite so 
 happy during our long fadle (Tlibte as I ought to have 
 been, and was sometimes much inclined to r.oebad lan- 
 guage when a particularly distasteful dish was offered, 
 or when an unusually long time intervened between the 
 courses. The vessel in which we sailed was the La 
 Plata, one of the best in this line, and our company, 
 to judge from the number of officers* names we saw 
 on the luggage as it was being hoisted in before we 
 left Southampton waters, promised to be pleasant. 
 
 Our first dinner at sea began as we were steaming 
 past the fort guarding the entrance to Southampton 
 harbour. We fell to with great appetite, and remained 
 comfortably at work for some time ; but when near 
 the Isle of Wight the rolling began, and there was 
 a general exodus from the saloon, hardly any one 
 ■appearing anxious to stay except some naval officers, 
 who, feeling themselves as comfortable at sea as 
 on land, kept their seats. I must confess I was 
 also compelled to make my exit, though I did so 
 very slowly, grinning as if nothing were the matter. 
 Directly I was outside, however, I bolted like a rab- 
 bit to a porthole, and, in company with most of the 
 passengers, went to bed as soon as we had seen the 
 
TERNS IN OUR WAKE. 3 
 
 last lights of the English coast die out in the dark- 
 ness. Of the thirty hours that followed the less said 
 the better. 
 
 When I next went on deck I found only the officers 
 of the watch there. A heavy wind was driving the 
 spray in showers along the deck, and the vessel was 
 pitching heavily over great dark rollers that dashed 
 up against the bows in sheets of foam. That night 
 our jib-boom was carried away, an event w^hich made 
 nervous people recall the similar accident that befell 
 the London a few hours before she wxnt down, some 
 days ago, w^ith nearly all hands, just about the place in 
 which we then were. 
 
 The next day the sun came out, and though the 
 pitching of the sea was as bad as ever, walking on 
 deck was quite possible, and sometimes even pleasant. 
 The great waves we had as yet seen in grey shade 
 when they darted past our cabin porthole, darkening 
 the little room for a moment, were now glittering 
 hillocks of amethyst, that came rolling witli a force 
 that appeared irresistible against our advancing prow, 
 before which they bowed as we steadily pursued our 
 way through them, or dashed them back in showers 
 of spray. One or two sharp-winged Terns kept follow- 
 ing in our w^ake, moving along, with the strong wind 
 
 b2 
 
4 AN INDIGNANT GERMAN. 
 
 under their winjrp, mth hardly a flap, darting down to 
 the water, or skimming past us with beautiful ease 
 and power of flight. 
 
 We had an odd mixture of people on board — officers, 
 some of whom were concerned in the suppression of the 
 Jamaica riots ; emissaries of the Anti-Slavery Society 
 and of the Quakers, who were going out with the 
 worst possible impression of the conduct of these 
 officers ; and lawyers sent to help the blacks — for 
 there was a notion that the natives would not comt 
 forward to give evidence unless they were pressed to do 
 so, or had legal assistance at their side. 
 
 There is also a German Yankee-looking gentleman, 
 accompanied by about a dozen children, who walks 
 about the covered decks below, trying to soothe their 
 exasperating tempers, and to hush the horrid shrieks 
 by which they disturb every one near them. The 
 other day, when there was a practice drill for fire on 
 board, and all the crew were pumping and manning the 
 boats, and a good many passengers looking on, this 
 German rushed up with a large plate, on which was a 
 half-devoured chicken, and flew about with it from 
 group to group, thrusting it into every one's face, 
 and shouting, " Smell this ; smell this ; they would 
 give rotten food to my children — ^to my children!'* 
 
 
JAMAICA 1 LANTERS. 5 
 
 You may imagine the expression with which most 
 Enirlishmen on deck witnessed such a demonstration 
 of paternal feeling. 
 
 There are a good many Spaniards among us on their 
 way to Cuba, few of whom seem desirable acquaint- 
 ances. The Frenchmen, of whom there are several 
 aboard, seem to shake down into their places more 
 slowly than the representatives of any other nation. 
 Most of them have a chronic sickly look at sea. One 
 of them was heard asking in a plaintive tone for " one 
 very leetle piece of very meagre chicken," a morceau 
 which I am afraid did him very little good for it soon 
 reappeared. 
 
 There are Jamaica planters going out to look after 
 their estates. They express great surprise at the 
 insurrection, and say they would as soon have ex- 
 pected one in Derbyshire. Some stories they tell of 
 atrocities perpetrated by the blacks are very horrible. 
 Of Gordon they have a very bad opinion. The 
 officers speak confidently of the production of good 
 evidence of the intended insurrection. The existence 
 of papers that will astonish the friends of the 
 negroes is mysteriously hinted at. The statement 
 that the white women were to be distributed among 
 the blacks is repeated with the most perfect conviction 
 
6 A haytian's account of hatti. 
 
 of its tiuth. Coolies are well spoken of as reliable 
 workers in case of a black strike. 
 
 A Haytian on board, who was going back to his 
 ]>lace near Port-aii-Prince, told me that it was well 
 known in August of last year that the so-called revival 
 meetings taking place in the houses of Haytian 
 exiles in Jamaica were gatherings of would-be insur- 
 gents. The son-in-law of the ex-Emperor Soulouque, 
 named Villoumin, and his three sons, were also known 
 to be chief instigators of the rebellious projects 
 that had been hatching for some time. Soulouque 
 and his son-in-law are now at St. Thomas's, and as 
 Santa Anna also lives there, the place must be a 
 museum of mummy potentates. 
 
 The account of the scenery of Hayti was so 
 tempting that we thought we should very probably 
 try to see something of it. Our informant said that 
 travelling was perfectly safe, and advised us to stay a 
 short time in the island. His description of its 
 peasantry is very favourable. Hospitality is universal, 
 and President Greffrard is very friendly to strangers. 
 There is a Cuban merchant whose account of the slaves 
 in the interior of his island is bad enough. " Many 
 planters live only in Havana, and never look after 
 their estates, or concern themselves about the welfare 
 
HEAVY SEAS. 7 
 
 of their people, who are entirely neglected. The 
 quarters of the poor blacks are allowed to go half to 
 ruin, and their children suffer much from the attacks 
 of the chiqua, a little insect that eats into the flesh 
 under the nails, causing their hands and feet to swell, 
 and which cannot be got out.** 
 
 Sunday was the first day on which we really 
 felt that we had left the Northern seas behind 
 lis. The sun was hot on deck, and the ladies and 
 children, all looking pale and unwell, were able for 
 the first time to stay comfortably on the quarter- 
 deck. Two days ago the sea was very heavy ; and 
 the night before last hardly anybody slept, the ship 
 rolling in such a way that every timber creaked so 
 loudly and incessantly that it was impossible to 
 enjoy a moment's rest. About two in the morning 
 some heavy seas broke on deck, carrying away one 
 or two spars and the ladder. Some of the water 
 found its way downstairs, and the ladies, discovering 
 a little of it in their berths, jumped out and rushed 
 into the passage, all cackling in shrill tones, and by 
 declarations that it was all right, and that they were 
 not the least afraid, trying to reassure each other. 
 With every lurch there was a great clatter of plates, 
 forms, and tables overhead, accompanied by the con- 
 
8 " NO DANGER." 
 
 stant cliorns of agonized females, who were for ever 
 reiterating that they were not the least afraid. 
 
 Another lurch, and an officer comes down the 
 stairs. 
 
 " Oh, sir, what is the matter ?" exclaim the ladies. 
 
 "Oh, nothing at all — glass is rising, and wind 
 going down." 
 
 "Oh! there*s no danger?'* chimes in the chorus, 
 with a tone of interrogation. 
 
 " No danger whatever, ma'am." 
 
 Some hereupon giggle hysterically, while one again 
 asks whether there is really no danger, and says she 
 never can believe officers, because they never will 
 speak the truth. 
 
 Splash comes a sea over the deck, and a little cata- 
 ract flows down the stairs, followed by general shrieks, 
 in the midst of which the ladies were assured by the 
 stewardess that she had never seen passengers behave 
 so well. Meanwhile stewards came to swab up the 
 counters, and from their conversation we learned that 
 they agreed in thinking it was *"d — d weather." One 
 of them said — 
 
 " Dear me ! if we go down now, what will become 
 ofpoorPoy?" ^^ 
 
 We wondered why Poy should be particularly 
 
• PLYING FISH. 9 
 
 pitied, and, on inquiry, found that, as lie was engaged 
 at the time in putting on shoes and stockings, he 
 could not be considered, in case of such a catastrophe, 
 quite so ready to meet it as the rest of his brethren 
 on board. 
 
 To-day we had service iu the cabin. A little beard- 
 less Missionary read the prayers in a voice that could 
 scarcely be heard three feet off. I have been standing 
 at the bow, watching the wonderfully blue sea, and 
 the lumps of yellow gulf-weed floating past, the homes 
 of little crabs of so exactly the same colour as the 
 weed, that the] are not distinctly visible, except when 
 they leave their resting-place for a moment, at the 
 approach of the vessel, to sidle quickly across the in- 
 tervening water to another swimming islet. Flying- 
 fish, too, now made their appearance. I had no idea 
 that their flight was such a prolonged aflair as it is. 
 One I saw must have flown fifty or sixty yards. 
 Their flight is heavy, the little animals' tails, as they 
 skim along, sometimes touching the tops of the waves. 
 When in the air they appear to one looking from 
 above like heavy dragon-flies. 
 
 I have been reading Underhill's West Indian book, 
 and his last pamphlet. It is curious how flatly planters 
 and missionaries contradict each other. Underhill's 
 
10 
 
 THE AZORES. 
 
 book is full of accounts respecting the irregular pay- 
 ments on plantations to labourers, statements which M. 
 flatly denies, at least with regard to such plantations as 
 he knows, and they are many. He declares that when- 
 ever labour is forthcoming, it is always punctually 
 paid for. I have finished an American account 
 of Toussaint I'Ouverture — badly written, but very 
 complete. 
 
 If all went well, the captain expected to sight 
 Sombrero, the outermost of the Virgin Islands, on 
 Friday morning ; and then St. Thomas's is only 
 eighty miles further on. The hope of seeing land 
 again was a great relief, as we had seen none since 
 leaving England. The evening we passed the Azores 
 was hazy, and we could only tell that Terceira was 
 not far off by the unusually thick bank of cloud that 
 rested on the horizon where the island lay. One 
 of the group, named Pico, a high mountain, we 
 passed when night had already fallen. The weather 
 was on the whole delicious, and so hot that 
 we had an awning on the deck. The sea was per- 
 fectly calm, only rippled by a breeze strong enough 
 to make it glitter in the bright sun-light, while large 
 shoals of porpoises were seen leaping in our wake. 
 
 After dinner everybody usually came on the 
 
IDEAS OF DISTANCE, H 
 
 quarter-deck to see tlie sunset, which sometimes was 
 very fine ; the west being lit up with a fiery copper, 
 while great bands of dark cloud with gold-tipped 
 edges hung across the sky. The twilight is very 
 short, but the moon, at this time nearly full, cast a 
 pillar of silver light in the water that reminded me of 
 Dunrobin. All on board, about a hundred and fifty 
 people, were walking about, as there was to be a dance 
 under the awning, to the music of a fiddle, concertina, 
 and a pair of castanets and cymbals. 
 
 On January 30tb we finished another long run, 
 this time of two hundred and ninety-two miles, in 
 spite of a slight head wind ; and another of equal 
 length would bring us to the tropics. The thermo- 
 meter stood at 75°, and the sun was very powerful 
 when it showed itself, which was not always, as heavy 
 clouds were drifting over us. The warm weather is 
 the only thing that tells that England is far away. 
 A land journey gives a great idea of distance, from 
 the number of objects passed en route. At sea one 
 has few opportunities of realizing by such means the 
 distance traversed. On this route we have hardly met 
 any ships, only three having as yet been seen. 
 
 I read on board one of the plentiful crop of 
 pamphlets that have sprouted on the Jamaica ques- 
 
12 THE JAMAICA QUESTION. 
 
 tion. This was one by Mr. , who had lived 
 
 thirty years in the island, and ought to know some- 
 thing about it. They say he is crotchety. His main 
 point is the advocacy of leases for sugar or other 
 estates, and he holds that labour should be con- 
 tracted for by tbe year. The representatives of the 
 plantocracy on board said they would have no objec- 
 tion to the annual contracts for labour, but they ask 
 how such an engagement can be entered into. The 
 negro thinks anything binding him to work for a 
 longer time than he chooses a species of slavery, and 
 will not consent to be bound by any such contract, ex- 
 cept for wages which it would be ruinous to give. As 
 to leases, the planters say, " There are not capitalists 
 in the island, and the people who would be willing to 
 be lessees would raise a handsome sum from the land, 
 and then skedaddle. America is too near to trust 
 lessees. Leases have in a few cases been tried, but 
 have come generally to grief, though in some places 
 negroes have taken small properties on lease, and are 
 paying regular fixed rents. These farms, however, 
 are only for coffee; sugar-growing would require 
 capital, which they have not got. But things may 
 get better, now that the Legislative Chambers have 
 been replaced by a Council." In the opinion of the 
 
IN THE TROPICS. 13 
 
 planters, an " enlightened despotism" is what is wanted 
 in Jamaica. They say, " All we want is to be left alone, 
 with life and property secured." "What one hears of 
 the prosperous islands makes one wish to visit them. 
 The accounts of Barbadoes especially were refreshing, 
 after the lamentations that come from the mouths of 
 Jamaicans. 
 
 When we got fairly into the tropics, Panama hats 
 and white waistcoats, trousers and coats, came into 
 requisition. Only a fortnight after we left England, 
 how great was the change from the cold and 
 drizzling rain, and the grey, dull, winter seas of the 
 Channel ! I was never tired of watching the won- 
 derful blue of the water, in colour like that of the 
 Ehone. 
 
 Flying-fish continued to be observed in great num- 
 bers, skimming over the waves, scared by the approach 
 of our great black hull. None, however, were caught, 
 or flew on board. They say their flesh is like herring, 
 but not so rich. As we came near to the termination 
 of our voyage, the luggage was taken out of the hold, 
 and we began packing our carpet-bag for our Hayti 
 travels. Our plan was to land at Jacmel, and ride 
 over the mountains, a distance of eighty miles, to Port- 
 au-Prince. Mr. S. was to go with us. We had an 
 
14 riRST SIGN OF LAND. 
 
 opportunity of sending letters to England by the 
 boat by which we came, which left St. Thomas's about 
 a fortnight after, on her return voyage. 
 
 The first sign of land we saw was a dark bird, 
 which flew i-ound and round the ship one afternoon. 
 The only other living thing that showed itself was a 
 large fish, nine or ten feet in length, which we saw a 
 few hundred yards astern, leaping continually out of 
 the water, its sides gleaming in the sun. The men 
 thought it was a Thresher. 
 
 Wt expected to see the island of Sombrero on the 
 1st of February, about twelve at night, and to be at 
 St. Thomas's at eight or nine the folloAving morning. 
 The Quakers' friend whom we had on board I found 
 to be a lawyer, going out on his own hook to collect 
 evidence about Eyre's administration, and the causes 
 of negro discontent. In his opinion the island legis- 
 lation had been abominable, and the Colonial Office 
 was equally responsible with the governor if it allowed 
 bills oppressive to the negroes to become law after 
 passing the Colonial Legislature. The main points 
 that seemed to require explanation were the large 
 taxes imposed on single beasts of burden kept by 
 small freeholders, while planters' stock was very 
 
ST. Thomas's. 15 
 
 cheaply rated, and the enormous sum of 45,000/. 
 devoted to Church-of-England purposes, while only a 
 very small proportion of the population, and that the 
 richest, belonged to her communion. 
 
 We safely anchored at St. Thomas's on February 2nd, 
 the ship lying motionless in the little land-locked 
 harbour. The long-continued beat of the engines 
 stopped for the first time since leaving Southampton. 
 I had stayed upon deck the previous night for the Trst 
 glimpse of Sombrero. Great rippled rivers of cloud 
 hung over our heads, and the horizon was sharp and 
 clear. " There's the island," somebody said ; and ono 
 could just make out a dim, blue, low ledge, which was 
 my first sight of the New World. I tumbled down 
 to my berth, and, on ascending next morning, found 
 we were passing along through a group of small 
 islands. In the distance was Santa Cniz, and nearer 
 to us St. Thomas's. Every spy-glass was directed to 
 a large steamer, the chief object of observation, which 
 was running into the harbour ahead of us. She 
 turned out to be the Louisiana, a French steamer, 
 that started two days before us. She and we steamed 
 in abreast, and cast anchors almost at the same time. 
 We got slowly warped alongside of two other 
 
 <t* 
 
16 ST. Thomas's harbour. 
 
 steamers — one going to Jamaica, the other to 
 Trinidad — to transfer the luggage and passengers. 
 
 After breakfast we all went on shore, although the 
 place did not look verv inviting. Some moderately 
 high hills, covered with short scrubby trees, send 
 down their spurs to the harbour, in w^hich there was 
 a great number of vessels, chiefly belonging to the 
 company that owned our steamer. The little town 
 is a* thickly-built collection of small Dutch houses, 
 looking very neat and clean from a distance, and 
 extending some way up the hill buttresses. On a 
 little bit of a fort, a few hundred yards from us, 
 floated the Dannebrog. We were besieged by 
 numbers of small boats, filled with varnished-looking 
 negroes in large straw hats, jabbering to every pas- 
 senger they saw in Danish, German, English, Spanish, 
 and French — all spoken a la Nigger. 
 
 St. Thomas's harbour, which used to be considered 
 a very deadly place, is now much more healthy, 
 owing to a cut they have made through one of its 
 arms to the sea on the other side, by which much of 
 the pestilential garbage is led away, and got 
 rid of. 
 
 We were told our new boat did not start till four, 
 
NEGRO BOATMEN. 17 
 
 and after arranging for the transference of luggage, 
 we scrambled into one of the negroes' boats, and were 
 rowed ashore. Our two negroes pointed out to us the 
 different ships — " Da, massa, dem's two Yankee men- 
 of-wa'a" — and we rowed across their bows. One was 
 a nice screw vessel, the other a clumsy -looking paddle, 
 with a beam engine on deck, and an exposed rudder, 
 a specimen of the class of indifferent hulks got ready 
 in great haste during the war. Under an awning 
 stretched on the paddle-boxes paced a Federal marine, 
 rifle in hand. Tlie uniform looked well : white 
 trousers and blue tunic, with a belt and a kepi. Next 
 to these lay a Spanish steamer, with the red and gold- 
 barred flag flaunting at the peak. 
 
 " Where does Santa Anna live ?" 
 
 " Da, massa ; dat's him in de large red house, round 
 the corner," pointing to a red ochre-coloured house, 
 on the top of one of the little clumps of Dutch 
 buildings. * . 
 
 Soulouque was gone, but, for a wonder, of his own 
 accord, to Cura^oa, with his daughter, the Princess 
 Olive. 
 
 We landed at a little brick-built pier, and walked to 
 the post-office through a crowd of cotton-ciad negroes, 
 
 c 
 
 1 
 
18 WALK OF THE WOMEN. 
 
 who looked intensely lazy, and chattered unceasingly. 
 The heat was so great that we put up our umbrellas, 
 and felt as if we should like to lie down in the dust, 
 and eat lollipops like the negroes. 
 
 The ice-house was the first attraction. We sat for 
 some time looking at the strange scene before us. A 
 small boy, with a guitar, was singing Italian songs, 
 with a refrain of " Garibaldi e Liberta !" A number 
 of small darkies crowded the door, looking at us new- 
 comers. The ice-shop opened into the one long street 
 of the town that runs along the shore. The houses 
 on each side were generally two-storied, and always 
 tinted, which gives them rather a neat look. The 
 dusty road was full of people, nearly all blacks, or at 
 least coloured, most of them carrying a bundle of 
 sugar-canes, and with a piece of one sticking out 
 from between their thick lips. The walk of the 
 women is wonderfully upright, from always carry- 
 ing everything on their heads. Several had nothing 
 but a small saucer ; but whatever it is, small cup or 
 big package, it is carried at the top. The hands dangle 
 loosely, or swing, breast high, backwards and forwards. 
 The stores seem to be kept chiefly by men of colour, 
 and occupy the whole of the lower part of the 
 
M. RUSl's COLLECTION. 19 
 
 house, opening with high doors to the street. "We 
 went to the market, but there was not much to be 
 seen there. It was a small square, planted round 
 with trees, under which old negresses squatted, 
 with a collection of oranges, bananas, cocoa-nuts, and 
 yams, which look like enormous long black potatoes, 
 before them. 
 
 After purchasing light coats, and white stuff to put 
 round our hats, we went with Mr. M. to see M. Riisi, 
 a Dane, who has a beautiful collection of the natural 
 history of the island. Some of the star-fish of the 
 place were curious, delicate, and long in the arm. 
 Several had bodies not bigger than two pins' 
 heads, but with thread-like arras, an inch or two 
 in length. There was one beautiful spiny spon- 
 dylus, that would have brought a large price 
 in the London market, and a fine collection 
 of land shells. Several of the shells M. Rlisi had 
 found recently, and one he has not yet described. 
 Considering that the thermometer was 84° in the 
 shade, the trouble he took to show us everything was 
 wonderful. *' 
 
 The intense civility of the blacks to each other is 
 amusing. • • ' 
 
20 ON BOARD THE " TYNE. 
 
 >» 
 
 " How are you to-day, madame ?* 
 " Quite well dis morning, thank you, sar," 
 This was the morning greeting between a lady with 
 nothing on but some blue gauze and a scarlet hand- 
 kerchief, and a shoeless fellow with a battered straw 
 hat about two yards round. 
 
 As we rowed back to our ship, a dark-coloured 
 Pelican flew over our heads — a hideous bird, not the 
 least like its Asiatic cousin, except in form. Left 
 at five in the evening, not badly pleased with St. 
 Thomas's, probably because we had heard it painted 
 much blacker than it really is, and because we enjoyed 
 on it our first stroll on shore after the long knocking 
 about on the Atlantic. 
 
 Next day we found ourselves on board the Ti/ne, 
 at sea, between Porto Rico and St. Domingo. "VVe 
 had on board one or two of the officers of the La 
 Plata, which did not leave the West Indies to return 
 to Southampton for another fortnight. The Steam 
 Pa-cket Company has hardly officers enough for all 
 
 its vessels, and has to shift them about from one to 
 another. " , t 
 
 " Well, Doctor, you and I are in for a long stay, 
 
 and for one of the Intercolonials," I heard a young 
 
PORTO RICO. 21 
 
 officer say, with a sigli, and an attempt to look bright 
 wliich was a failure. 
 
 The Intercolonial boats ply only between the 
 islands, and their officers have, of course, more chance 
 of catching the *' Yellow Jack " than those on the 
 other routes. These ships are now, however, worked 
 almost entirely by black men, the officers only being 
 white. 
 
 We heard that all was pretty quiet at present at 
 Hayti. The insurgent Salnave was still at a small 
 town in the Spanish part of the island, where he was 
 taken by an American man-of-war, after being forced 
 to leave the Cape, and he was now reported to be 
 raising troops for another attempt to get it back. 
 The island is shaped like a lobster's claw. The main 
 part is Spanis}\ ; the two pincers and a strip of the 
 rest are French. Our ride took us across the lower 
 pincer. 
 
 On the 4th we sailed along in sight of the shore of 
 Porto Rico, a long mountainous land, but too distant 
 from us to see much of it, except with powerful 
 glasses. Two beautiful birds, called Boatswains, 
 which looked like a species of Tern, white in he 
 body, with some black in the wing, followed us 
 all day. • 
 
29 THE JAMAICA COMMISSION. 
 
 We had news of the opening of the Jamaica Com- 
 mission, and heard reporters were to be present. A 
 Jamaica letter says : " I always said we should go 
 from King Log to King Stork ; and, as Sir Henry is 
 come, I suppose I may consider myself a prophet." 
 
23 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Our First Night in Niggerdom — Ilaytian Functionaries — Native 
 Soldiers — A Black Lady's Salutation — Xegro Laziness — Fishing 
 in the Lagoon — Hiring Horses and Mules — Port-au-Prince — 
 Its Streets, Shops and Houses — Sharks — English Methodist 
 Chapel — Mr. Webbly — Character of the People — Squatting — 
 Prosperity of Barbadoes — Triumphal Arch — Sleepy Negro 
 Guide — A Treasure of a Man — Vaudou Religion — Story of 
 Haytian Cannibalism — French Patois — Grande Riviere of 
 Jacmel — Costume and Customs of the Negroes — Forest 
 Scenery — Birds and Flowers — Returned Exile — The Gros 
 Morne — Bay of Port-au-Prince — General Fauberg Petion — 
 Plans for the Improvement of his Property thwarted — Manu- 
 facture of Sugar by Negroes — Conversation with an English 
 Engineer — President Geffrard — Salnave — Siege of the Cape — 
 Interference of the Bulldog — Explosion of a Shell. 
 
 TT7E arrived in Hayti on the 5th February, and 
 spent our first night in Niggerdom very com- 
 fortably, in spite of the prophecies of our friends in 
 the steamer. One of them asked if we had insured 
 our lives ; a second, how many revolvers there were 
 among our party; another hoped satirically that we 
 should enjoy Jacmel ; and Captain C. gavQ a solemn 
 promise that, in case we were taken by bandits or 
 imprisoned by the authorities, he would come with 
 
24 HAYTI. 
 
 the Wolverine to set us free. It is curious how people 
 imagine all sorts of Iiorrors about a place, simply 
 because they know nothing of it, and it is out of the 
 beaten track. 
 
 We did not get into theoffing till about eleven o'clock 
 at night — an inconvenient hour, as all the town had 
 gone to bed. We had been in sight of the coast since 
 two P.M., and kept steaming along, looking out for the 
 lighthouse. At one turn we thought we saw it, but 
 the light was only from a vessel. It turned out 
 that the people on shore had, as usual, not taken the 
 trouble to show a light at all. We went on till 
 within about a mile from the shore, sending up a 
 rocket and firing a ^v .. The mail agent very kindly 
 offered to take some of our party ashore in his boat, 
 the first which was to be had. The swell made a good 
 deal of surf on the shore, and there was only an indif- 
 ferent jetty to land at. As the waves swung us up 
 near to the tumble-down timbers, each man by turns 
 scrambled on to them, and the mail bags were flung 
 after us. 
 
 We walked down a deserted street to the post-office, 
 a wooden building, like all others in the town, roofed 
 with shingle, and having a verandah and raised 
 rough-tile flooring. We were directed to an hotel 
 
NATIVE SOLDIERS. 25 
 
 with three rooms, pretty large, with wooden floor, 
 walls, and ceiling. Every room had large open 
 windows, through which came the shrill, monotonous 
 chirp of the cicada. Our luggage could not be got 
 the previous night, having been confiscated by the 
 douanier as soon as we landed. Even coats and 
 umbrellas had to remain. Almost at daybreak the 
 douanier came to look at our passports. He was very 
 civil, talked very good French, made very good bows, 
 and wore a very good French- made coat, with brass 
 buttons, and laurel sprigs in gold on the collar — a much 
 better equipped man than other Haytian functionaries 
 we saw this morning and yesterday evening. 
 
 Upon landing, we were stopped by two ragamuffin 
 negroes, with bad wide-awakes, and trousers that came 
 down no further than the calves of their legs. Though 
 they wore no uniform, these were native soldiers. 
 Each had an old musket, which he rested against the 
 ground, holding it slantindicularly, so that the bayonets 
 of the two formidable weapons crossed. They waited 
 till we came close up to them, when each sprang to a 
 rigid attitude of attention, and let us pass. 
 
 The douanier has been about our house ever since 
 we entered. We gave him a glass of sherry, which 
 put him into such good-humour, that he condescended 
 
26 CURIOUS VISITOR. 
 
 to tell a freckled German clerk in the verandali " what 
 beasts his countrymen were, and how they talked from 
 the bottom of their stomachs !" 
 
 Doors and windows being always wide open, many 
 visitors, chiefly Hayti gentlemen with very black faces 
 and very white waistcoats, walked freely in and out. 
 Just now a black lady came in with a triumphant stride, 
 her chin in the air and arms akimbo, and regarded me 
 kindly for several minutes as I sat writing. I remained 
 still, not taking any notice of her till I was startled by 
 a change in her attitude, which drew my attention to 
 her. She had assumed a magnificent pose. Her breast 
 thrown out, her arm extended, and her shiny face glow- 
 ing with satisfaction, she said, "You is Englis ; I know 
 you is. Me said last night, when you was in Massa 
 Tansen's store, you was Englis. They said you was 
 French, but you is Englis ! Ha !'* With which 
 climax she marched out with a stride no less stately 
 than that which had given so much dignity to her 
 entrance. 
 
 Though we were to start in a few hours for Port-au- 
 Prince, there was time, before our departure, for a hot 
 walk through part of the town and down to the sea. 
 We visited an old black merchant, who was very civil. 
 The space in front of his house was piled with log- 
 
VEGETATION. 27 
 
 wood, for which he said he got 21. a ton. This wood and 
 coffee are t . le only products that are much exported. 
 Sugar is hardly cultivated at all, except for home use. 
 Whether it is that its cultivation is associated in the 
 minds of the people with old slavery times, or whether 
 it be for no other reason than want of energy, I 
 do not know ; hut a more favourable climate or soil 
 for sugar plantations it is not possible to find, even 
 in Cuba. The truth is that there is no work done 
 here. People talk of going to work, and dawdle, and 
 smoke a few cigars, and that is nearly all their travail 
 comes to. Of course there are exceptions, but laziness 
 is the rule. 
 I The wooden houses of the town are topped in all 
 directions with the great tufted heads of the cocoa- 
 palm, the green fruit hanging in enormous masses at 
 the top of the long thin stem. The walk to the 
 shore, only a short distance, was agreeable enough. 
 The ground was covered with thick vegetation. Low 
 
 t' acacia plants and numberless short tropical shrubs 
 formed a thick undergrowth, while the palm stems 
 f rose in numbers above, waving their green bayonet- 
 fringed branches in the sea breeze ; and the great 
 : almond ^-^ie, with its deep green leaves, gave a deli- 
 cious shade. Numbers of birds — one of them called 
 
28 THE PEOPLE OF WAYTI. 
 
 the Mocking-bird, though it was not the true one — 
 and small insect-eaters were flitting from branch to 
 branch. Every stick and leaf was new to me, and the 
 variety and quantity of animal life seemed wonderful. 
 Lizards were darting about under foot in every direc- 
 tion. Large butterflies were flapping their bright red 
 and gold and black-barred wings on every flower ; and 
 in one place, poised in the air at the mouth of a large 
 yellov^ cactus blossom, I saw a Humming-bird. It 
 was one of the larger sort — black, with dark green 
 breast. 
 
 A little further on was a fisherman throwing a cast 
 net into the shallow lagoon waters, under a grove of 
 palm. Nothing but very small fish came up in the 
 net. One like a dace was the most common, but 
 there were many large craw-fish, which, he said, were 
 very good pour les malades. 
 
 We had dinner en famille with our young host, 
 
 Mr. F , who, if not a white, was very near being 
 
 one, and we were shortly afterwards to start for a long 
 ride. 
 
 What a people this is ! Such energy in gesticula- 
 tion, in talking, and in laughing, and how little in 
 acting ! We expected to get away from Jacmel at 
 four in the afternoon of the 5th at latest. Horses, 
 
WALK THROUGH THE TOWN. 29 
 
 we were told, it was difficult to get. It w^as the season 
 that they were oat on the mountains, and not many- 
 were left in the town ; but we were promised enough 
 for our party, especially as the two T/s had resolved 
 to remain another day, and to come on after. Three 
 of us found horses easily, but there were violent dis- 
 putes as to where mules were to be procured. The 
 gesticulations made by the blacks in determining the 
 price we were to pay for the mules and horses, when got, 
 were perfectly frantic. One would have thought they 
 were going to tear each other to pieces. They 
 loafed about the verandah of our little inn, and talked 
 till tired, when they w^ent and slept at the back of the 
 house. 
 
 In about four hours after the time we were to have 
 started, all the necessary beasts — three horses and 
 three mules — were actually collected in the yard. One 
 of the horses was Mr. S.'s own, a bony white ; the 
 other two were sturdy, ill-fed ponies. But although 
 horses were ready, there were no saddles, and it was 
 late at night before they were procured. Then all 
 was dark, and we were told we must wait till the 
 
 rising of the moon. F asked us meanwhile to 
 
 take a walk and see some of the town with him. To 
 pass the time, therefore, we made a long round. 
 
30 J ACM EL. 
 
 stumbling over the ill-paved streets, the most wretched 
 thoroughfares I ever saw, in which there was no 
 attempt at levelling. The French, at the beginning 
 of the century, left the whole place tolerably well 
 paved. Nothing has been done since, and, of course, 
 most of the stones have disappeared. The wonder is 
 that any are left still. 
 
 Nothing has been done to light the town, even 
 with oil-lamps. The only light to be had on a 
 cloudy night comes from the open doors of the 
 wooden houses. These looked comfortable enough ; 
 and the liltle shops seemed generally neatly kept. 
 No glass was to be seen, for even one pane would 
 occasion a sensation of heat and closeness in this 
 climate. The only window covering is the folding 
 wooden shutter, which is rarely closed. Every shanty 
 looks thirsty for air ; and fortunately, in these islands, 
 there is generally a pleasant land or sea breeze, without 
 which one would stifle. The least walking makes 
 one long for a bath ; and the long surf rolling on the 
 beach in the clear moonlight looks so deliciously 
 tempting, that one would at once plunge in were 
 it not for the sharks, of which, however, the negroes 
 say one need not be much- afraid except in deep 
 water. Even then they do not rise to gulp you 
 
SHARKS. 31 
 
 (lo^vn, unless they happen to be particularly hungry. 
 They would rather take a snap at something that 
 does not move and splash, as they are horrible 
 cowards. A man told me the other day, that having 
 waded out some way along a coral reef, with a 
 black servant behind him, to fish, he had got on a 
 jutting piece of coral, and was busy fishing, when 
 he saw three large sharks near him, watching him 
 intently, their heads all turned towards him, and 
 their tails gently moving to keep themselves in position. 
 As they were between him and the shore, there was 
 no avoiding them. He took the gafi* the negro carried, 
 and began at once to retreat ; the sharks, as they got 
 into deeper water, approaching uncomfortably close. 
 As he waded back with his servant in dreadful alarm, 
 the negro suddenly missed his footing, and fell with a 
 splash into the deep water — a calamity by which his 
 companion had no doubt the sharks would know how 
 to profit; but what was his astonishment when 
 [he discovered that they had been so alarmed by 
 [the noise that they had considered it prudent to 
 skedaddle ! 
 
 r spoke badly of the Eoman Catholic priests, 
 
 asserting that they did nothing, or very little, to stem 
 the enormous amount of immorality in the place, and 
 
32 THE HATTIANS. 
 
 that several of them were as bad as any of the people. 
 The English Methodists' chapel, and tLo house of 
 Mr. Webbly, the minister, were pointed out to us, the 
 house with verandah above, and the chapel below. 
 The congregation only numbered about a hundred, 
 although Mr. Webbly has been twenty years in the 
 place. He speaks enthusiastically of the capabilities 
 of the blacks. 
 
 The old merchant we saw to-day was a fair specimen 
 of good ability and moderate energy; but such examples 
 of the capacity of the negro make their general infe- 
 riority only more deplorable. Here the race has had full 
 scope, assisted by the men of colour, to make a respect- 
 able community. They have had a great deal in their 
 favour. The French left tolerable roads, and taught 
 them the proper method of making the most of their 
 land, by availing themselves of the best means of 
 cultivation. It is true they also left their demoraliza- 
 tion ; but victory over their former masters ought to 
 have inspired them with a self-respect which would 
 have raised them above the childish vanity which is 
 now their most marked characteristic. They imitate 
 the white man's dress and ape his manners with 
 great satisfaction to themselves ; but even in imitation 
 they are destitute of the power of continuous appli- 
 
SQUATTING. 33 
 
 cation. Now that the lash is no longer to be seen, 
 they give themselves up to enjoyment. PoveHy is 
 unknown ; but, except with a few, there is no ambition 
 to push their w\ay. If ihere w^as only a little more 
 white blood in the island, one might hope for an 
 energetic race of half-breeds, but there is no hope of 
 such a desirable consummation. The black population 
 is infinitely the largest ; and few in number as the 
 whites are, in all probability they will be still fewer 
 in future ; and as the possessors of white blood dis- 
 appear, it is to be feared that all trace of white spirit 
 will also depart from the island. 
 
 Throughout the West Indies the prosperity of the 
 country has, till within the last few years, when immi- 
 gration has somewhat altered matters, been in pro- 
 portion to the amount of land the negro population 
 has been able to secure for squatting. A great 
 amount of squatting is sure to involve a great want 
 f labour. Barbadoes has had very little land to spare 
 or the negroes to occupy ; and every square foot of 
 hat island is under cultivation. The price of land is 
 normous, the labour market is full, and the island 
 ihrives amazingly. Many of its people emigrate, 
 chiefly to Trinidad and Demerara ; and some find em- 
 ployment as seamen in steamers, in which they work* 
 
34 A TRIUMPHAL ARCH. 
 
 well, and are well paid. In Hayti land is easily got, 
 and the people will only work for a very liij^li profit 
 in any business. 
 
 In the immediate neighbourhood of towns there is 
 a good deal of rough cultivation, and for some time 
 after riding out of Jacmel we passed between rough 
 clearings in the woods where coffee and bananas were 
 growing. By law every owner must keep his pro- 
 perty fenced about, or, in course of time, it is claimed 
 as common. Rude palings of bamboo are, therefore, 
 kept up. The end of the town is marked by a 
 triumphal arch, with a small flagstaff on the top. 
 This magnificent erection is ten feet high, and 
 would take an English carpenter about two hours 
 to put up. There is an inscription on it, and close 
 by a Hayfian soldier sleeps at his post beside a 
 charcoal fire. 
 
 For some time the road we took was so darkened 
 by trees that we could not see much of the country 
 we were passing. We were an odd procession. First 
 came a little mule, heavily laden on each side with 
 luggage, on the top of which snoozed an enormous 
 negro, who was to act as o-ir guide. He was one 
 of those who had been most furious in gesticu- 
 lating all day, and was so tired, that unless we had 
 
 
AN ODD PROCESSION. 35 
 
 knocked him up, and almost pulled the ugly mous- 
 tached animal out of bed, we should not have started 
 till morning had dawned. This original wore an 
 enormous brown wide-awake, a light cotton jacket, 
 all torn, in which there was a hole that showed a 
 great bronze bit of his shoulder, and the usual short 
 white cotton trousers. He was always asle(?p, now 
 leaning on one side, then on the other, of the patient 
 little animal, which proceeded with a steady pace, as 
 if unconscious of the fact that it was carrying a 
 weight nearly equal to its own. We had to shout, 
 and shake him at least a dozen times on the road, 
 when he would stretch himself, repeat what was said 
 o him in a lazy drawl, give some blows and bad 
 language to the mule, and relapse into sleep again. 
 After him came another mule, fortunate in having 
 othing but heavy baggage to carry. This little beast 
 l^-as a capital guide, always knowing the way, and 
 taking it quite independently of the sleeping negro and 
 less intelligent beast in front. He was followed by a 
 third mule, and by a black — one of three brothers in 
 IVIr. S.'s employment — a perfect treasure of a man, very 
 quiet and steady, acting both as that gentleman's gar- 
 dener at his villa, and as his traveUing servant, and 
 always ready and willing to do anything required. • 
 
36 THE HAYTIAN PATOIS. 
 
 A story of Ha} tian cannibalism that appeared in 
 English newspapers some time ago, it may be re- 
 membered, caused some sensation. A child, the son 
 of a brother of this man, was the victim. The mother 
 of the boy belonged to a religion which it is supposed 
 is of African origixi, and is here called the Vaudou. 
 Little is known of its mysterious ceremonies and ob- 
 servances, but it seems to be the worship of a serpent. 
 The subject is one on which it is scarcely prudent to 
 speak aloud in this country, as, though the religion is 
 prohibited by Government, many of the people are 
 supposed to belong to it, who would certainly resent 
 any remarks depreciatory of their faith. Geffrard has 
 done all he can to put it down ; and all who were 
 concerned in the eating of this child were shot at 
 Port-au-Prince. 
 
 It is difficult to understand the French patois 
 
 spoken here. They clip and round off their words in 
 
 a very odd way. Instead of saying ''jusquil fait 
 
 joury they say '' jouk li fait." Instead of saying 
 
 " droit,'' they say '' dreuat net'' for straight on. 
 
 Half an hour's walk brought us to the banks of 
 the Grande Riviere of Jacmel. The bed of the tor- 
 rent is fully two hundred yards wide, a little wil- 
 derness of rolled white stones, through one strip of 
 
THE GRAND RIVIF.RE. 37 
 
 which the river, shallow at this time of the year, 
 flowed as if ashamed of the devastation it had 
 causi'd durinj; the r.iinv season. At tliat time 
 the streams come down in furious torrents, sweep- 
 ing over and covering with grav^el everything in 
 their way. Our course for the first few hours led 
 up this river bed, and we crossed it more than a 
 hundred times. The banks and country far and near 
 were covered with forest. At first the hills were far 
 off, but as we rode up they closed more and more 
 upon us. It was too dark to see either them or the 
 foliage of the trees very distinctly ; but as we rode on, 
 now crossing the white river bed, and then plunging 
 for a time into the gloom of the bordering forests, we 
 came upon scenes of wonderful beaut3\ The river, 
 shut in by steep banks that rose precipitately on 
 each side, was overshadowed by gigantic vegetation, 
 and crept along, now in moonlight, now in shadow, — 
 now forming delicious pools deep shaded by over- 
 jlianging boughs, now again winding round the great 
 limestone rocks thiit it had hollowed into a thousand 
 fantastic shapes. The light, feathery foliage, so diffe- 
 rent from the solid clothing of English timber, hung 
 down from the drooping trees. Here and there 
 the straight stem of a tall palm gleamed in sharp 
 
38 :negro guides. 
 
 relief, or the huge hhick mass of the great almond or 
 bread-fruit towered like an old castle high aoove the 
 path. To me it was like a scene of enchantment, and 
 I was almost sorry when, by the pearly grey that 
 gradually succeeded the darkness, we knew that the 
 sun would soon rise and disperse the gloom that 
 rendered these novel objects so fantastic in our eyes. 
 Before it was quite light, we passed a tall rock, on the 
 face of which have been observed traces of curious 
 ancient carvings, supposed to have been executed by 
 the aboriginal Indians. We could, however, see 
 nothing except the sharply-defined horizontal strata. 
 
 Our guides here stopped suddenly without conde- 
 scending to tell us why. On inquiry, however, we found 
 it was to give themselves and us, if we liked, some coffee, 
 which they got ready in a wicker hovel where they 
 had lighted a fire. "VVe sat for some time sipping it 
 with the negroes, who were immensely jolly, laughing 
 at anything and everything. One man, who took my 
 long black gaiters for Wellington boots, called me 
 ** Grosses Bottes," thus creating roars of laughter. 
 These men are, however, really very civil in manner. 
 Every countryman whom we passed bowed a polite 
 French bow, and wished us hon jour. I think 
 courtesy sits well upon them, and that we shall miss 
 
LUXURIANT GROWTH OF TREES. 39 
 
 it among the Jamaica negroes. How any one can 
 talk as if this country were unsafe for travellers I 
 cannot imajjine. Provided the stranjjer is civil to 
 those about him, everybody is civil to him, and a 
 request for a cigar is the only form of begging that is 
 met with. They dress quite in the style of the French 
 labourer. The blouse seems very common, though it 
 is often discarded for a white tunic. The large straw 
 hat is, however, peculiar. 
 
 By the time our coffee was done the sun w^as up, 
 and the full glory of the landscape was revealed. No 
 word-painting can describe the charm of the scene, 
 but its great peculiarity was the universality of the 
 luxuriant tree-growth with which, from summit to 
 base, the mountains were covered. Compared with 
 English woods, in which every branch would be 
 waving in the wind, the stillness here was remarkable, 
 every spray being motionless. 
 
 We rode on, always near the river, which now 
 wound along through deep glens. The rocks were 
 covered with magnificent aloes, whose long stems 
 bore round yellow blossoms. The red flower of the 
 
 Of 
 
 arrowroot was almost the only one I knew, except the 
 convolvulus that covered a great many of the low- 
 shrubs. Orange-trees were growing everywhere. 
 
40 TREES AND BIRDS. 
 
 their fruit often covering the ground beneath them. 
 Tlie wild orange is so sour that one cannot eat it with 
 any satisfaction. The absence of large ferns struck 
 me. There were several small sorts, but nothing that 
 could compare with our own bracken. The trees 
 were covered with parasitical plants — plants that 
 sometimes grew well alone. Tlie clioking fig, for 
 instance, grew straight and tall, but it was more 
 common to see it clasped to an acacia, or any other 
 rough-barked tree. The smooth-stemmed cocoa scarcely 
 seems capable of supporting these parasites. The 
 lieight of the bamboo was, in some cases, immense. 
 They rose together in clumps, each stem after a time 
 bending outwards, and looking like a gigantic ostrich 
 plume. On branches above the stream were great 
 grey Kingfishers, with white faces, sitting watching 
 the water, occasionally darting down like lightning, to 
 rise again with a small fish in their beak. At one 
 place there was a curious little brown Heron, and fur- 
 ther on some lovely insectivorous birds, among which 
 the " green robin " (the Todus viridis) was common. 
 
 The ascent of the hills was steep, but we still rode 
 on through the tangled woods. A Haytian gentleman 
 who had before passed us, and who had been a 
 passenger from St. Thomas's, here joined us. He was 
 
VIEW FROM A HILL-TOP. 41 
 
 an exile whose pardon had just been procured from 
 the President. When we stopped to rest our horses 
 and eat some bread, the Haytian gentleman sat down 
 and ate some pills. Numbers of mules laden with 
 coffee bags and attended by a few men passed on their 
 way down to Jacmel. 
 
 As we got higher up we had extensive views of the 
 country through which we had passed. We were now 
 on volcanic rock-trap, alternated with what looked 
 like disintegrated lava, which, when washed dov/n, as 
 it was by the rain, in some places formed a rich soil. 
 The high summits of the hills seemed to be all com- 
 posed of this material. The sharp gullies that swept 
 down to the lower glens were probably formed by the 
 rain washing the lighter lava down. Sharp-ridged 
 spurs were left between them, and all was covered 
 with forest. 
 
 We stopped at the top of the first hill, beneath the 
 shade of a thick mango, and looked long from under 
 half-closed eyelids at the gorgeous scene below us. 
 Ridge rose on ridge till far in the distance we could 
 
 I see the heights above Jacmel. Down in the val- 
 leys the sun shone on the glittering cocoas and 
 I bananas, while on little cleared spaces were neat w^hite- 
 painted cottages covered with heavy grass thatch. 
 
42 THE GROS MORNE. 
 
 The people held in their hands, or wore suspended 
 from their waists, a long straight knife they call a 
 manchette — a formidable weapon. This they use for 
 mowing grass, for hewing a way in the woods, or for 
 procuring their food. 
 
 The bridle path was sometimes so steep, and the 
 clay covering it so slippery, that it was all the horses 
 could do to struggle up. When we arrived at the 
 top, we were on the Gros Morne, and at a height of 
 about 3,900 feet above the sea. This was the highest 
 point we had to cross. Before us, forty miles off, 
 further than the northern slopes of the hills, beyond 
 the great plain at their foot, was the Bay of Port-au- 
 Prince, stretching right and left as far as the eye 
 could reach, and in the centre of the panorama, rising 
 from the sea, the mountains on the island of 
 Gonaive. 
 
 Kight came upon us as we rode down, and for the 
 next few hours we had no lights but the stars and the 
 fireflies. Of these there were myriads flitting from 
 bush to bush. We crossed swampy lands where the 
 frogs were croaking an extraordinary croak. It was 
 a snore, kept up at a pace and with a continuity that 
 no one could imitate, and at a high pressure that 
 made sleep within reach of it impossible. There were 
 
I GENERAL F. PETION. 43 
 
 n 
 
 I sixteen miles to get to Port-au-Prince after we liad 
 I arrived at Mommense, which we did at 10.30. 
 
 i 
 
 I We had expected to find General Fauberg Petion 
 
 I there, a very distinguished Haytian, grandson of two 
 
 I . 
 
 I presidents, and almost the only soldier in the country 
 
 I who, having been in Europe, had really studied 
 
 I military affairs. We were much disappointed when, 
 
 t after trotting through thick enclosures, planted with 
 
 I bananas, we found that he had left the day before 
 
 for the capital. To his ojjicicr d'ordon nance, Mr. 
 
 Borjelat, who was in charge of the house, we hinted 
 
 I that the horses were tired, and that we should like 
 
 I rest for them, and something to eat for ourselves, 
 
 I on which he immediately asked us most cordially to 
 
 : stop, and entertained us very hospitably. 
 
 We found an English engineer, a Liverpool man, 
 
 who had been working for some time in Glasgow, and 
 
 had been sent out by a company, whom the general had 
 
 asked for assistance in setting up machinery for the 
 
 ])ressing and refining of sugar. The general is bent on 
 
 turning his property, which is very extensive, into sugar 
 
 estates, on the plan of those in Demerara and Barba- 
 
 does. A few other proprietors — two or three in his 
 
 neighbourhood — are going to follow his example. 
 
 His plans have been thwarted for the present by a 
 
44 SUGAR-PRESSING. 
 
 flooding of the river Mommense, which we had 
 ah'eady crossed. The machinery had been almost 
 all put up, and the sugar-pressing was in full 
 operation, when suddenly the river rose, and in 
 one night swept over the ground occupied by the 
 machinery, destroj'ing and burying everything three 
 or four feet deep in the ground. 
 
 The Englishman offered to show us the works, 
 and took us to the pressing-house, a circular, tiled 
 building, raised some height above the surrounding 
 gravel levels. Around were heaps of crushed sugar- 
 cane, which they use here for fuel. The great wheel, 
 put in motion by water, was driving the crushing 
 roller, w^hich revolved at the bottom of a large trough. 
 Men, women, and boys were sitting near, chattering 
 and laughing as we stopped to see what they were 
 doing, which was little enough. A boy now and 
 then supplied the crusher with a scanty bundle of 
 canes, which he thrust in, pressed down, and passed 
 beneath the roller, without tallrg the trouble to untie 
 the grass or reed fastenings. iMuch grass must have 
 passed into the juice in this manner. 
 
 We went also to the adjoining boiling-houses. 
 The sugar runs into large vats that were steaming 
 with the heat of lime-fed ovens beneath. They say 
 
NATIVE WORKMEN. 45 
 
 here that tlie General's works can only be expensive 
 toys, which can never pay. The engineer informed 
 us that the arrangement is that the workpeople 
 should have one-half the profits. The clearing of 
 ; the gravel, he said, would probably cost 4000/. or 
 5000/. at least. 
 
 " Do the people work well?" I asked. 
 
 "No, no, sir; I cannot get them to do as I tell 
 them, especially as I have to speak through an 
 iutei'preter, and he has been long on the estates, and 
 is one of themselves like. They wont attend to 
 what he has to say, and are alwaj^s a- laughing at 
 him." 
 
 The workmen are people of the place, bound to give 
 the General so many days' work when he wants it. 
 
 " Have you begun to dig for the machinery ?" 
 
 "Yes; but I can't noways get anything done 
 
 regular. I can't get on with the people at all ; they 
 
 ry to shirk work and lie down whenever your back 
 
 turned." 
 
 "But it's their own interest to get the gravel 
 away." 
 
 "Yes, if they get it cleared, and everything set 
 going, they know they would get half the produce ; 
 biit you see, sir, they wont. In the morning 
 
40 SUGAR-GROWING. 
 
 perhaps no one comes at the appointed time, and I 
 have to send round, and by the time they come it is 
 too hot for me to stay, and the work has to be laid 
 over till the evening, and so little is done.'* 
 
 "Can you get any skilled workmen to help in 
 building ?" 
 
 " No ; leastways, it's very scarce ; and a fellow I 
 got to put up a little bit of wall not more than ten 
 feet high, and not long, why, he took a week to put 
 up a thing a good workman w^ould have put up in 
 a day ; and then wheu I wanted to put them 'ere iron 
 plates up on that frame, why, there was two down, 
 and two up above, and some of the plates were on 
 end and some not, and the time it took to make those 
 fellows place a plate was something awful. The two 
 above kept jumping like so many Cures, saying that 
 it was too hot for their feet, and those below kept 
 laughing, till I did not know w^hat to make of them." 
 
 If this is the way they go on when it is so 
 manifestly their immediate interest to work, what 
 can be done? ' - 
 
 I should like to have seen the place by day. This 
 first experiment of sugar-growing and manufacturing 
 is quite new to this country since the French days, 
 when thousands of hogsheads used to be exported. 
 
THE RECENT WAR. 47 
 
 They expect to get seven hogslieads a day from this 
 place. Almost all the sugar used here, except by 
 quite the poorer people, is imported, and is usually 
 French beet-root su^rar ! Was there ever such a case 
 of carrying coals to Newcastle ? 
 
 Mr. Borjelat talked of the recent war at the. Cape. 
 He was there when the Bulldor/ came in and knocked 
 about the insurgent batteries. I do not think the 
 Haytians, not even those on the President's side, 
 liked that interference in their domestic quarrel. The 
 truth seems to be that Geffrard is not popular. The 
 people are tired of him, and already want a change. 
 They think he has had his good time, and that it is 
 I the turn for others. Salnave was very popular. Now, 
 however, that his cause is lost and he has retired to 
 [St. Domingo, he is forgotten ; but if he had succeeded, 
 [he would have been received with open arms. 
 
 The siege of the Cape lasted from May till Novem- 
 |ber. The interference of the Bulldog^ and afterwards 
 )f the Galatea, v/as the turning-point of the war. If 
 it had not been for Captain Wake's shot and shell, 
 Salnave would have been probably by this time at 
 Poi-t-au-Prince. The Voldrogue, the vessel that was 
 sunk by one of the Bulldog s hundred-pound shells, 
 was a wretched affair, bought in England, and made, 
 
48 DANGEROUS CURtOSITY. 
 
 althouj^h quite unfit for it, to carry a fev^ guns. Her 
 iron sides were as thin as possible ; so much so, indeed, 
 that they got bulged in whenever a heavy sea struck 
 them. One time, when the guns were first put into 
 her, and the Haytian crew wanted to fire a salute, 
 they forgot 'altogether that a gun when fired would 
 recoil ; so they fastened up the piece, loaded it, pushed 
 it through the porthole, and banged. Back went 
 the gun, and knocked a great hole in the other side 
 of the vessel. One of the Bulldoys large conical 
 shells sent her, of course, to the bottom. 
 
 By-the-bye, one of those shells — they are conical 
 percussion shells — flew over a fort it had been 
 aimed at, and buried itself, without bursting, some- 
 where in the country beyond. Some Haytians had 
 observed or found out where the shell lodged, and four 
 of them went to dig it out. They had never seen 
 anything of the sort before, and to satisfy their curi- 
 osity, one of them lifted a hammer, and struck a blow 
 on the conical end. Of course the shell exploded, and 
 with the most disastrous effects, for of the poor Hay- 
 tians nothing but a few fragments was ever seen 
 afterwards. 
 
 We slept three hours at Mommense, and then went 
 on, our poor horses going very slowly over the 
 
THE SEA-COAST. 
 
 49 
 
 muddy roads ; Indeed, it was all a nasty swamp for 
 some miles. Most of the way led us along near the 
 sea, which crept in lazily, bathing the roots of a broad 
 belt of logwood and mangrove that g»ew along its 
 margin. Day broke long before we got into the 
 town. 
 
 >.■ 
 
 ...■■%, 
 
50 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Port-aii-Prince — Scenery, near the Town — Xames of Street 
 Inhabitants of the Town — The Military — Street Scenes — The 
 "Wharfs — The ^larket-phice — Provisions — Pottery — Tirail- 
 leurs — Beautiful View — Ilaytian National Emblem — Motto 
 adopted by the Blacks — Policy of the Government towards 
 Strangers — Population and Trade — Town and Country Schools 
 — Standing Army and Despotism — Sail among the Ccral 
 Islands — Our Boatman — Destructive "Effect of an Armstrong 
 Shell — Visit to our Consul — Refuge in Foreign Consulates — 
 Troublesome Proteges — Taffia Fires in Port-au-Prince — Fenced 
 Clearings — Rapid Gro^v ih in Hayti — Country Houses — Party at 
 Dinner — Probable Fate of Hayti — English Niggers — Visit to 
 the Presidential Palace — Interview with Geffrard — Relations of 
 White and Black in the Negro Roj)ublic — Fishing Sharks — 
 Geffrard's Opinion — Commerce of Hayti. 
 
 11 /TR. S. offered as the use of his house, as we rode 
 into Port-au-Prince dusty and hot, and our 
 horses so tired that we cpuld only get a league an hour 
 out of them. As the hotel was very bad, the offer was 
 most acceptable, and we Avere comfortably lodged. 
 The house, which is in the principal street, is one of 
 the best in the town for coolness, which is here another 
 word for comfort. The first floor, which is the goods 
 store, is of brick, and the rooms are provided with 
 
rORT-AU-PRINCE. • 51 
 
 broad verandahs above. Nearly every house belongs 
 to one of the foreign merchants, many of whom are 
 Germans, a smaller number French, and only about 
 nine or ten English. The foreigners in the island do 
 not exceed two hundred and fifty, and that in a popu- 
 lation, black and coloured, supposed to exceed three 
 hundred thousand. The estimate is far from certain, 
 for all attempts to take a census have ended in failure. 
 The last portion of our journey we rode along the 
 foot of high hills, with the wide bay on our left. Across 
 it we could see the highlands of the northern coast ; 
 and at its head, extending some way along the bay, 
 [was Port-au-Prince. There were several low and 
 small islands in the bay, with thick-growing man- 
 groves overhanging the water. Between them were 
 
 * 
 
 anchored merchant vessels, on a few of which — one 
 )f them a steamer, the Galatea — was the Haytian red 
 md blue flag. 
 
 At the back of the town, which was laid out l^y 
 the French in right-angled streets, the land rises 
 gradually, and then sinks into a level plain, called the 
 Cul-de-sac. At the barriers, as they are called, though 
 there is little to justify the name, there is a mouldy 
 Fort. The walls are half fallen into decay, and on the 
 Kll-kept ramparts are two guns, which look as if they 
 
 E 2 
 
52 STREETS AND HOUSES. 
 
 must infallibly burst on tlie first attempt to fire 
 them. 
 
 We turned down an approach called a street. At 
 first there was nothing but mango and bread-fruit 
 trees to be seen on each side, then a few shanties, and 
 a large building that had been erected by the French 
 as a hospital, but was now falling into ruins from 
 neglect and age. The houses that followed were very 
 comfortable and w^ell adapted for the climate. The 
 state of the streets would disgrace any capital. They 
 do not smell so badly as those of Cologne, and they 
 are not narrow ; but they are not properly levelled, 
 and are crossed with wide mud-filled ditches, in to which, 
 if a passer-by fell, he would be unendurable even to 
 himself for weeks. These gutters run under the 
 houses on both sides of the street, and into them a 
 great deal of the house sewage is thrown. The odour 
 from them by day is insupportable, and at night 
 they are the resort of numbers of the croaking frogs 
 already described. They are crossed by little wooden 
 bridges, stretching across them from the verandah 
 platform of each house. 
 
 The names of the streets are very democratic — Rue 
 du Peuple, Eue Republicaine. Ours is called Eue 
 des Miracles, and certainly the people seen riding 
 
PEOPLE IN THE STREETS. 53 
 
 and walking in it are perfect miracles to a European. 
 If one of tliem were introduced on an English stage, 
 he would be called an absurd exaggeration. Now and 
 then some gorgeous general of the Etat-Major passes, 
 in a uniform bran new from Paris — a light blue coat 
 and faultless magenta trousers. Then comes an aide- 
 de-camp on a nag about half the size of an English 
 charger. His hat, perhaps a cocked one, or a hepi^ 
 or a shako, is ornamented with an enormous plume to 
 show it off. His trousers do not descend more than 
 
 i half-way below the knees, and his spurs are tied by a 
 
 i piece of cord to naked brown heels. 
 
 The soldiers are the most tag, rag, and bobtail 
 man ever saw. No two of them seem to be dressed 
 alike. Each uniform is, apparently, the worn-out 
 property of some sixth-rate theatre. But the men 
 themselves are often fine fellows, well made, very 
 muscular, and if clothed in some sensible way, would 
 make a very good show. 
 
 Carts are driven about by stick-beating, sturdy 
 blacks, with teams of donkeys, ofteii four or five 
 abreast. Women walk with stately gait, in long gowns 
 without crinoline, bearing enormous bundles on their 
 heads. Small boys drive donkeys almost hid beneath 
 the load of Guinea-grass and bananas. This is the 
 
54 THE MARKET-PLACE. 
 
 commonest fruit liere ; and, when fried, it is excellent — 
 a mixture of pancake and good omelette. The guava 
 is Common, but disappointing. In the jelly we get 
 the quintessence of the fruit, but there is a want of taste 
 in it when eaten raw. 
 
 On the IStli we had a walk all over the town ; 
 first to the wharfs, wdiere there was a busy scene. 
 Piles of mahogany, fustic, and logwood were Ij'ing 
 about, w^th here and there heaps of coffee-bags ready 
 for shipment. There is a great want of good jetties. 
 In some places the boats could not get close to the 
 shore, and the bags and packages had to be carried 
 some way into the water before they could be hoisted in. 
 Everything was done by manual labour. Xo cranes 
 were in use. 'No levers were used, even in roUinir 
 heavy logs, which were sho\ed along by numbers of 
 men. The place has quite a commercial look. I did 
 not expect to see so much life in it. There are about 
 twenty ships in harbour. Work might be found for 
 two hundred. 
 
 The market-place was full of people, with fruits and 
 wares, under wooden coverings. Bread, bananas, and 
 coarse pottery were the chief commodities. Bananas 
 are very cheap. A regime, or crop, from a single tree 
 is sold by the grower at two shillings. Bananas and 
 
POTTERY. 55 
 
 mangoes alone would furnisli sufficient provision for 
 this people, were a famine to come from disease in 
 beasts or vegetables. Bread, though much eaten, is 
 not a necessary. The last war has made it double as 
 dear as it was before. I bought a large piece of 
 bread, which one could hardly have eaten unassisted, 
 for one dollar ; that is, a Haytian dollar, which just now 
 is worth threepence, having, once upon a time, been 
 worth four shillings. The currency is frightfully 
 depreciated, and has become more so of late 3^ears. 
 
 The pottery is good of its sort. Capital bottles are 
 made from a red clav found near the coast at Jacmel. 
 The richer people only seem to use them, however, 
 the common class having calabashes, or old iron 
 vessels, for carrying water, often with holes in them, 
 which they seldom take the trouble to repair, and 
 through which half the water escapes before it is 
 cai-ried to its destination. 
 
 In an open place behind the town we fell in with 
 a fellow from Guadaloupe, who is military instructor 
 to the troops. Many of the soldiers came up to receive 
 orders— all fine men, and many of them very intelli- 
 gent looking. They belonged to the tirailleurs, of 
 whom there are five thousand, the cream of the army. 
 They are better dressed than the other soldiers, and 
 
56 CHARMING COUNTRY HOUSE. 
 
 • 
 
 are all clotlied alike, which is more than one can say 
 of any other Haytian regiment. They are armed 
 with rifles, and make a fair show at drill. Their pay 
 is fourteen gourds, or dollars (three shillings and six- 
 pence), a month. 
 
 We rode to Mr. S/s country-house, a charming place, 
 with a little garden and avenue of cahbage-palm and 
 cocoa. The first of these trees, with the addition of a 
 cap of Liberty on the spike, forms the Haytian national 
 emblem. The view of the bay and opposite hills is 
 beautiful, and would bear comparison with that of 
 Naples. S. is much disgusted with the country, find- 
 ing, he says, bad faith everywhere. " Voler le blanc 
 nest j)as voler" is a black motto constantly acted 
 upon. 
 
 This country place, and others like it, are held by 
 foreigners under the name of a third person, a 
 Haytian. There are strict laws -against foreigners 
 holding any land in the country, but, like a good 
 many other Haytian laws, they are frequently relaxed 
 or evaded. 
 
 The general policy of the Government is very 
 hostile to foreigners. They have to pay forty per 
 cent, on imports, instead of the thirty-six per cent, paid 
 by Haytians. Natives marrying foreigners cannot 
 
SCHOOLS. 
 
 57 
 
 I succeed to any property. Tlie coffee-sellers, who, 
 I liaving cleared a patch of ground, procure with 
 I little trouble a small crop, cannot sell it at once to 
 I the foreign merchants, but must dispose of it first to 
 I Haytians. Land is very cheap, and can be procured 
 I easily. 
 
 I As we rode home, we met long files of people going 
 I into the town with little bundles or bags of coffee, 
 I carried on the head, or on donkeys' backs. Foreigners 
 I can buy it by the sack, containing 240 lbs., which now 
 I costs 3/. The average coffee crop of the Eepublic 
 i may be set down at 00,000,000. Auguste Eley, the 
 ^linister of Foreign Affairs, says the amount of 
 goods exported is annually increasing, a circumstance 
 which, as he truly remarks, shows that either the 
 wealth or the population of the country is also on the 
 increase. The population is certainly not decreasing, 
 in spite of the general promiscuous intercourse in 
 which the people live. Government has established 
 [very fair schools in the towns and in the different 
 arrondissements. There is a large school in Port-au- 
 I Prince, with about 250 children; but these town schools 
 can hardly be said to be within reach of the country- 
 people in the mountainous interior — that is, the large 
 mass of the negro population, who are in a state 
 
58 PROGRESS OF IIATTI. 
 
 of happy savagery. According to the account of 
 an American, who has commenced sugar cultivation 
 and refining in the plains not far from Port-au- 
 Prince, the number of small freeholders does not 
 interfere with the plentiful supply of labour. One of 
 the worst proceedings of the Government, virtually a 
 coloured one, is the maintenance of a large standing 
 army. The rowdy portion of the people are thus 
 encouraged to put on their shabby uniforms, flourish 
 a sword or a musket, and kick up a disturbance when- 
 ever anything happens to put them out of humour. 
 This is a military despotism which is neither good 
 for the ruler, whose generals are likely to turn against 
 him, nor for civilians, who are not encouraged in any 
 little inclination they may have to work their land 
 steadily, or to acquire or invest in property, which the 
 next petty revolution may snatch from their hands. 
 One may be expecting too much, but it is disagreeable 
 to see a country progressing only at a jog-trot, when, 
 with its favourable position and the fertility of its 
 soil, it ought to drive at a. gallop to prosperity. It is 
 a community that lives comfortably itself when not 
 disturbed by wars, but it is one that might help 
 others to live a hundredfold more than it does at 
 present. ' . » \ $ , r 
 
STORY OF AX ARMSTRONG SHELL. 59 
 
 In the evening we took a bocit, and rowed about 
 the quiet waters of the harbour. We visited the little 
 coral islands that rise in groups from the shallow 
 bottom. Mounds of the coral, which is fished out in 
 blocks, He about the wharfs ready for burning ds lime. 
 It is generally coarse, but here and there one comes 
 upon a fine piece of ma^andrina. 
 
 Our boatman was a marine on board one of the 
 two Haytian corvettes that had been engaged in 
 the siege of the Cape. Although he was in 
 Geffrard's service, he talked quite openly of his ad- 
 miration for Salnave, and his belief that that general 
 would be president at the end of three months. 
 " Ugh ! au bout de trois mois — ugh ! Oh ! — ugh ! 
 vous verrez, vous Anglais. Geffrard ne restera pas — 
 
 ugh 
 
 \>» 
 
 Another story is told of the Armstrong shells. 
 One flew wide of the forts, and descended on a 
 house three long miles away in the interior of the 
 country, where a party of men were playing at 
 cards. One of them rose to go, and had scarcely left 
 the room where his companions were when he was 
 arrested by the shock of a feai-ful explosion, and, on 
 looking round, he beheld them all lying dead, he alone 
 having escaped. , ^ . . . 
 
CO REFUGE TO POLITICAL OFFENDERS. 
 
 Paid a visit to Mr. St. John, our Consul, and found 
 him with Mr. Byrone, his Vice-Consul, and Don Alva- 
 rez, the Spanish Charge d' Affaires. Mr. St. John had 
 hcen very busy lately collecting evidence in explanation 
 of recent events at the Cape for our Government. What 
 an extraordinary custom it is that political offenders 
 should be allowed to take refuge in foreign consu- 
 lates ! — but it is a system which is objected to by 
 none of the rival aspirants to power, as each of them 
 in his turn may have to seek safety for himself! But 
 was there ever a more convenient method of getting 
 embroiled in a country's domestic quarrels than thus 
 giving protection to any hunted black politician who 
 is compelled to fly for his life ? The Charges d' Affaires 
 alone have the right at present ; but a '^ one expect a 
 furious mob to stand venting their • ^.ge at a consul's 
 door when the object of their fury has just found 
 refuge under his roof? Of course not. The mob will 
 enter, consul or no consul, if their blood is up, and 
 the scent is hot ,• and then, forsooth, our flag is 
 violated, our honour is insulted, and we must run the 
 risk of losing men and ships in useless bombarding of 
 rotten fortifications. The consul at the Cape, from 
 whose house the refugees were taken, had strictly no 
 right to shelter them, as he was not a Charge d' Affaires; 
 
FIRES. ■ 61 
 
 but whether Charge, &c., or not, why should we protect 
 such troublesome proter^es ? The custom could only 
 exist in a weak country. Our ability to protect must 
 be limited by the power of the Government with 
 which we deal. Even here, where the weakness is so 
 conspicuous, we have seen how much we may lose 
 by meddling. Surely the sooner such troublesome 
 Quixotism is abandoned the better. 
 
 Taffia is the chief liquor drunk here. Of all the 
 shops, the spirit shops, here as elsew^here, thrive the 
 best. Vermouth and taffia are always at hand. 
 
 Our party having got horses, we rode through the 
 towm, and then up to a country-house at the foot of 
 the hills. A part of the upper portion of the town is 
 being rebuilt, after the great fire that took place last 
 year. Many of the houses are chiefly of wood, sent 
 out from the States in portions ready for building. A 
 fire is a great opportunity for pillage and savage frolic 
 to the roughs of Port-au-Prince, where there are no 
 firemen, and is joyfully hailed accordingly. Some of 
 the merchants have pumps for their own use. These 
 are placed at the disposal of Government in an emer- 
 gency, and although in such cases they are generally 
 utterly spoilt, no money is paid as compensation. At 
 the time of this last fire the mob ran up to the reser- 
 
G2 THE BUSH. 
 
 voirs and stopped the supply of water, hoping for 
 the extension of the fire, and the opportunity to 
 plunder. 
 
 Mr. B., who has \i\ed. in the country for many 
 years, takes a gloomy view of the state of things, 
 thinking that everything is going from bad to 
 worse, that bad government and bad habits are in- 
 creasing, and that there is at present ni prospect of 
 a change. 
 
 The path we followed led us through the bush, 
 wdiich was in many places cleared away for cultiva- 
 tion, and for the erection of the wooden villas of well- 
 to-do people in town. Clearings w^ere alv/ays fenced, 
 the palings being generally composed of tall sticks 
 cut froln trees, and stuck close together. These were 
 sprouting again, from the wonderfully fertile soil, as 
 wdllow sticks do in England. But here the growth 
 is much more rapid. A brow^n, leafless, iopped-branch 
 paling will, in a short time, be a row of flourishing 
 young trees. Inside these palings the bush has been 
 cleared, and the ground has been swept of plants ; but 
 the stumps of the larger bushes have been left stick- 
 ing out of the soil to a height of two or three feet as 
 supporters for beans, various kinds of which are eaten 
 by the negroes, and go a long way to give the curved 
 
DINNER PARTY AT THE CONSUl's. G3 
 
 line of beauty their bodies exhibit to the stranger. 
 Between these stumps the cane or Guinea- grass grows. 
 Lirae-kilns are frequent. The lime is good, and much 
 used for the purifying of sugar. 
 
 The country-houses are charming, though there is, 
 of course, no good lawn or turf. They are more in 
 the style of the campafjncs near Geneva, if one could 
 fancy one of them with palms and mangoes instead of 
 elms and walnuts. From Mr. St. John's verandah 
 we had a splendid but rather too bird's-eyeish view 
 of the town and bay. A great charm of these cam- 
 jjagues is the quantity of water brought round the 
 houses in aqueducts and tanks. There is generally 
 a plunging-bath, too, well shaded, where one can 
 take a short swim at early morning or in the 
 evening. 
 
 The party at dinner was the same as at the consul's. 
 There we were — representatives of France, Spain, and 
 Britain, in a land that each of our nations had 
 coveted, for which each had intrigued and fought, and 
 yet where nothing now belongs to them but the 
 ships that lie far out on the blue sea, waiting for 
 cargoes of coffee from the descendants of their slaves ; — 
 where now we cannot liold a foot of ground ex- 
 cept under a false name, and by the connivance of a 
 
04 THE FUTURE OF HAITI. 
 
 government of that race wliicli ours had enslaved, 
 and abused, and worked for selfish profit alone. The 
 only marks of powerful foreign dominion now to be 
 seen are the broken aqueducts, the ruined planta- 
 tion walls, and the dogs at the door, which have 
 evidently yet some trace of the bloodhound. The 
 present state of things is certainly strange, and I 
 cannot but think will prove transitory, unless, indeed, 
 the blacks are able to rise to a higher state of 
 civilization and energy. Their powder does not seem 
 destined to last ; and I much doubt whether, after all, 
 it would not be for the best that America should in 
 time possess and develop this garden of the western 
 tropics, from which she could get more abundant 
 crops than can its present possessors, and with whom 
 she could foster a larger trade. She has men who could 
 endure the climate well enough, such as those from 
 Louisiana and Florida, who are particularly healthy 
 here. The yellow fever hardly ever attacks Creoles ; 
 and even if a larger white population could not 
 permanently settle on the island, wiser laws, and 
 better men to administer them, might yet make Hayti 
 one of the richest spots in the world. One can only 
 wish for the absolute independence of her people if 
 they prove themselves worthy of it. None should be 
 
VISIT TO THE PRESIDENT. 65 
 
 allowed to possess such an island who do not use 
 every exertion to make the most of its wonderful 
 capabilities. 
 
 St. John called early on the 12 th to take us to 
 the palace. He had with him a very good black 
 servant, a Canadian, who hates Hayti, as is generally 
 the case with negro immigrants, especially if they 
 come from Jamaica, or any other English colony. 
 They are called English niggers, and are looked upon 
 suspiciously by the Haytians. 
 
 But to return to our presidential visit: We 
 passed through gates which are not imposing, with 
 red brick pillars, and rusty cannon-balls as orna- 
 ments at the top. The palace is a long building 
 of one story, originally built for an English general. 
 In front, stone steps lead to a raised verandah that 
 runs along the whole of the building. There is a 
 large open court before the house, and on each side 
 are offices and stables. An orderly showed us into a 
 ; handsomely-furnished room, the paper of which w^as 
 of the French imperial pattern and colours — golden 
 bees on a green ground. On this imperial background 
 hung a three-quarter length oil-painting of the Presi- 
 dent and his wife, and a print of " Old Abe/* Eley, the 
 minister, who has now three portfolios, but the salary 
 
G6 GErFRARD. 
 
 of only one office, received us. He is a coloured man, 
 and has a very good head. His talk was chiefly of the 
 trees, plants, and birds of the country. 
 
 After we had waited some time GeflTrard came in. 
 He was dressed in black, with white necktie, and 
 began t talk immediately. His manners are charm- 
 ing, quite those of a polished French gentleman, and 
 he is evidently more accustomed to speak than to be 
 spoken to. He is of about mfddle height, his figure 
 rather spare, but well knit. The white wool is brushed 
 back fr m a high but not broad forehead. His eyes 
 are ver^ jlack, and quick in their expression, and the 
 mouth and jaw seem to show decision and firmness. 
 He has white blood, but is so dark that no one unless 
 practised in the various shades by which the distinc- 
 tions of race are marked would say so. He and his 
 Government are quite looked upon as representing 
 the coloured, not the black class. He has been elected 
 President for life, but I doubt if he will be in his 
 present position many more years, unless aided by 
 foreign power. They say here that Seward ofiered to 
 send him a gunboat for protection. If so, it is in 
 contradiction to the policy of Captain Walker, the 
 commander of the Federal man-of-war the De Sola. 
 This officer, it is almost known, had entered into 
 
CONVERSATION. 67 
 
 correspondence witli Salnave, who had held out hopes 
 that, Id case of assistance being given him, he would 
 do his best to give the Americans a large island off 
 the north coast of Hayti. 
 
 We told the President we had come from Jacmel, 
 and were going to leave by this day's steamer. 
 " Messieurs," said he, " I am afraid you have had a 
 rough journey, and over bad roads." We could, of 
 course, not deny that the roads were bad, but praised 
 the scenery and the politeness of the people. He 
 said, " Yes, they are a polite and good people. Great 
 crimes are unknown ; one never hears of a murder. 
 A man may travel alone with large sums of money, 
 and be perfectly secure. Arms are carried, not for 
 defence or to hurt others, but because it is the custom 
 of the people. It originated in the number of wars 
 in which they were engaged. Larceny and small 
 offences are the only crimes." 
 
 We told him of the town school we had seen, and 
 asked if the education system was carried on under 
 Government alone. " Yes, messieurs ; nearly all the 
 schools are under Government. There are only a 
 few that are ^^artlculier.'" Eley talked of the 
 exertions of the President to further education. 
 " Oh yes !" the President said, " but we are quite 
 
 r 2 
 
68 SETTLEMENT OF STRANGERS. 
 
 ashamed of lihe poverty of our institu tions, when they 
 are seen by foreigners. Remember that we had 
 everything to do ; that this is a new state which we 
 had to build from the ground." After much in the same 
 strain, he said he wished we would come in another 
 twenty years to see the progress they would make 
 in that time. "VVe spoke of the imperfection of schools 
 even in England. " Yes ; you are not so far advanced 
 as they are in Switzerland. We have now 15,000 
 chih^ren in our schools, but most of them are in the 
 towns, where are chiefly the coloured men. We have 
 schools also in the country, but there the children 
 are so scattered, and there is such a distance to be 
 travelled, that it makes teaching very difficult. In 
 this arrondissement of Port-au-Prince we have one- 
 tenth of the whole population of the Eepublic " (this 
 is put down at 28,000, which gives 280,000 as the 
 total population). 
 
 Eeferring to the soldiers, he said there was no sick- 
 ness to speck of among them, and that, as there were no 
 large ban'acks, they always lived in the neighbourhood 
 or in the town. We asked him about the laws agrainst 
 the settling of Strang '^rs, which made him speak a 
 good deal on that subject. " Yes," he said, " we do 
 not allow strangers to hold landed properties. Our 
 
SLAVERY IN AMERICA. ' 69 
 
 laws are against it. They are not the class of people we 
 want as immigrants. But several of your country- 
 men do occupy land ; there is Mr. William Lloyd, 
 for instance, but others hold the title. Strangers are 
 allowed to be fermiers, not proprietors. This is the 
 diiference, and the unwillingness to have foreigners is 
 owing to political reasons. If they were allowed to 
 have land as they liked, their influence might soon be 
 dominant, and their presence might excite stern 
 feelings of enmity, leading to war, that I am so 
 anxious to avoid. You have the same laws in Eng- 
 land against foreigners possessing land. I got the 
 chambers to strike out the word white in their laws, 
 and substitute for it the word stranger. The ani- 
 mosity between the white and the black is much 
 decreased here, and our people will receive and satisfy 
 your demands with even greater alacrity than they 
 will ours. This is especially the case with Englisli- 
 .men, whose country was the first to acknowledge the 
 equality of the human race, and to recognise that the 
 .colour of the skin alone should not cause such a 
 separation. I wish, for fusion, not only of blood, but 
 of sentiment." 
 
 , We spoke of the abolition of slavery in America, 
 and asked him about Seward. He said the Secretary 
 
70 *' intelligent' officers ! 
 
 had come to the palace to visit him, and seemed to 
 suffer much still from his wound, in consequence of 
 which it was difficult to hear him speak. " It was the 
 case with me ; my tongue is too large for my jaw. 
 When I was young I used to stamp my feet with, 
 rage at the difficulty I exp3rlenced in expressing 
 myself.'* After staying for ahout half an hour, he 
 rose to take leave ; but when out of the door, we 
 v/e 3 recalled with the exclamation, "Ah, messieurs, 
 quelle impolitesse !" and, on re-entering, he gave us 
 some sherry, apologizing that the wine was not of the 
 best, and again saying he hoped we would return 
 twenty years hence — a long invitation, which we 
 accepted. I wonder if the old President or we shall 
 be alive at that time! He is as likely to be in 
 England as we in Hayti. 
 
 We left the island on board of one of the fine 
 Glasgow transatlantic boats, which was taking out 
 troops to Jamaica. We found the officers engaged 
 in attempting to catch three large sharks that were 
 swimming about under the stern; one was hooked, 
 but got off almost immediately. The officers wont 
 land, not expecting to find anything to their taste in 
 a negro republic. "Haw— where have yOu been? 
 Devilish long ride. What*s to be seen? Nothing, 
 
COMMERCE OF HAYTI. 71 
 
 I'm sure, in such a d — d hole. Fancy a Llack republic ! 
 Haw — haw ! I wouldn't land for anything. I always 
 feel inclined to knock a nigger down when he's impu- 
 dent ; and what they must be when they're free, like 
 that, I don't know," were some of the sensible re- 
 marks addressed to us.. We remembered the courtesy 
 and refinement of President Geffrard's conversation, 
 and we made our own reflections. 
 
 I f orot to sa\ that Greffrard remarked, as if con- 
 vinced of its truth, that the commerce of the Haytians 
 and the quantity of goods exported were enormous for 
 the size of the country and the number of people. 
 This was almost the only subject on which he spoke 
 with satisfaction of anything in the land he governs. 
 It is a magnificent country, and one cannot help 
 wishing it a happier and a more industrious future. 
 
72 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 Jamaica in Sight — MorantBay — The Court- House — The Palisades — 
 Port Royal — On Board the Duncan — Model Community — PubKc 
 Estimation of Gordon — The "Wire " Cats" — Negro Evidence 
 — The Coloured Class — American Buggies — Complaint as to the 
 Administration of Justice — Burned Houses — Bath — A Survivor 
 of the Massacre at Morant Bay — Rencounter with an Indignant 
 Negro — Maroons on Duty — Hire's House — Hire's Defence, and 
 Massacre of Inmates — State of Feeling among the Planters— 
 The Anti-Buckra Movement — Escape of Mr. Sinclair and his 
 'Vife — ^An Obedient Idol — Folly of Negroes and Fears of the 
 Planters — Scenery of Jamaica — Attack on Hai'j'y Grove- 
 Dispute about a ^Mule — Our Footing with the Maroons — Their 
 Manner of Fighting — Massacre and Burning by the Troops — 
 Account of Riots by a Coloured Schoolmaster — Merciless 
 Conduct of Black Troops. 
 
 A BOUT three in the afternoon, on the 14th of 
 February, I was roused from my cabin by the 
 news that Jamaica was in sight. Grand cloud-capped 
 mountains, wood-covered, and trending down to the 
 sea-coast in sharp spurs, formed a fine background to 
 the lower hills near the shore, where wero broad fields 
 of sugar-cane. Port Morant \>'as first passed, where 
 we could make out a gunboat lying, her awnings 
 stretched over the deck, and about half-a-dozen wind- 
 
JAMAICA. 73 
 
 sails up. Morant Bay then opened out — a wide- 
 stretcliing expanse of water. The houses scattered 
 about seemed pleasantly surrounded with wood. Close 
 by the sea was the town — a little cluster of houses ; 
 and near the town was a square, large-wdndowed 
 building that looked ruined. This was the Court- 
 house, where the first massacre took place. Another 
 gunboat was keeping watch below the town walls. 
 Gunboats, indeed, were everywhere. What a force to 
 bring against some riotous negroes ! There must be 
 more than a dozen vessels round the coast. Each bay 
 is guarded by a ship, and more troops were expected. 
 The 3rd West India regiment is to be here in a few 
 days. 
 
 We got in here before dark, after running along 
 the narrow strip of land and islands that forms 
 Kingston harbour, and are called the " Palisades." 
 At the end of this spit, and five miles from Kingston, 
 is Port Eoyal. The ground is so low that the 
 houses look as if they were built on the water. A 
 duller place to be quartered at I cannot conceive. 
 Thousands of sand-crabs swarm in the Palisades, and 
 feed on the buried corpses of the garrison. The 
 coffins have to be held down to prevent the w^ater 
 
 
74 MORNING CALLS. 
 
 that oozes through the sand from lifting them 
 before they are decently covered over. Thick man- 
 groves make it an impossible task to walk along 
 this spit. 
 
 Next day we paid a visit to H. on board the 
 Duncan, and were royally entertained by him in the 
 gun-room. He has got leave to make an expedition 
 to Morant Bay and the eastern end of the island with 
 us. He is, of course, a violent pro-naval and military 
 man, and swears that it will be a "horrid shame 
 if anything is done to the Governor." 
 
 Many people called on us the morning after my 
 arrival. It was amusing to hear each man who came 
 abuse the man who last went out. ** Have you seen 
 A. ? " says B. ; " because you really know you must 
 accept that man's word with caution." " I saw B. 
 here with your lordship, I think, just now. A most 
 untruthful man," says C. ; and C. deckres that D. 
 has been kicked out of some office for peculation. 
 All seem at loggerheads in this model community. 
 
 One thing only do they all concur in — that is, the 
 rascality of Gordon. However opinions may vary 
 respecting the justice of the trial and execution, a bad 
 impression of Gordon's character seemed to be general. 
 
EVIDENCE BEFORE THE COMMISSION. 79 
 
 On all but this subject public opinion seems divided. 
 The planters say that the outbreak was a generally- 
 organized conspiracy and rebellion, that it was most 
 dangerous, and that Gordon was the leader of it. The 
 coloured inhabitants, for the most part, do not believe 
 that the disaffection was so general as it is repre- 
 sented to have been ; and though, in the majority of 
 cases, they do not stand up for Gordon's political 
 morality, they yet think he had nothing to do with 
 the outbreak at Morant Bav. The blacks believe 
 that the Queen is angry, and that all the officials 
 who, in the suppression of the riots, treated them 
 with so much severity, will be hanged. Most 
 of the military and naval people only damn the 
 negroes. 
 
 Much excitement and some surprise was caused by 
 the evidence given before the Commission. As to the 
 wire "cats," the officials and military say they know 
 1 '^thing of them, and do not believe the evidence 
 respecting them. Many, indeed, deride the evidence 
 wholesale, and say that it is impossible to get any- 
 thing but a lie from a negro, and that no testimony 
 given by them can be believed. In saying this, they 
 seem to forget that many of those hanged during 
 
76 . AMERICAN BUGGY. 
 
 martial law were condemned on the evidence o^ black 
 men, and some of it very meagre in its nature. I do 
 not say much here regarding the evidence before the 
 Commission — first, because I was not often present ; 
 and secondly, because full reports of it may be found in 
 any English or Jamaica paper. The best idea I could 
 form of the state of feeling in the island at this time 
 was gathered from the accounts of the people them- 
 selves. They told me, no doubt, much that was con- 
 tradictory, but with a lit Lie care and patience it will 
 be found possible to pick the grain from the chaff. 
 The class I most desired to see was the coloured one. 
 They hold a middle position, and from these mezzo- 
 t'mtos one may expect to gather mezzo-tinto opinions, 
 which are probably the best. 
 
 We got a buggy with some difficulty, and proceeded 
 to Lyssons, near Morant Bay, where we did not arrive 
 till past dark. We passed through the town of 
 Morant, but saw nothing of it. The American buggy 
 is the universal carriage here, and the most abomin- 
 ably uncomfortable thing. It is a light gig with a 
 hood, and has two pair of large wheels, whose axle- 
 trees project a long way beyond the sides of the body 
 of the machine. These wheels are so large that unless 
 
p. RAMSAY. 77 
 
 one is supematurally thin it is difficult to get past 
 them to the seat. With ladies the business of getting 
 fairly housed is dreadful. The buggy has to be 
 brought forward and half turned, so that the hind and 
 front wheels shall not be in the same line, an operation 
 which renders the breach a little more accessible. 
 Shawls being then placed over each wheel, a gentle- 
 man mounts, holds out his hand, and hauls, while 
 another behind shoves and compresses crinolines, 
 &c., till the cargo is fairly aboard. Once inside, 
 there is a low iron bar to make one's back uncomfort- 
 able. 
 
 We engaged one of these buggies to go round the east 
 end of the island as fiir as Port Antonio. The road led 
 us across the streams, through which our chariot went 
 splashing up to the axle-trees. We were very lucky 
 in falling in with P. Eamsay, the inspector of poHce 
 for the parishes of Portland and St. Thomas-in-the- 
 East, and brother of Gordon Eamsay, of whose intem- 
 perateness so much has been said. He was most kind 
 to us, putting horses and men at our disposal. It is 
 curious to hear from these planters the same com- 
 plaints of the administration of justice of which the 
 blacks also speak. The lai'ceny of the negroes they 
 
78 BURNT HOUSES. 
 
 are very bitter against. The blacks go upon the idea 
 that stealing from massa's property is no theft, for do 
 they not work for the estate, and what harm can there 
 be in taking a little w^ood, &c. ? Planters, equally with 
 negroes, complain that justice cannot be had, the 
 verdict, as they say, always going against the oppressed 
 whites. " Why, only lately, a lot of niggers stole a 
 quantity of wood from my property. They cut it 
 down bit by bit when your back is turned, and you 
 cannot get justice in the courts. I have known the 
 negroes carry dov/n logwood bit by bit until they had 
 a ton or two collected to sell. I have known them 
 take nails one after another, and conceal them. I 
 knew a man take some every day, concealed in the 
 wool of his head, till the loss was considerable. The 
 nigger rules this country, sir." 
 
 On leaving Port Morant, the road turns aside from 
 the sea and enters the valleys, where the scenery is 
 most beautiful. We saw some burnt houses, but 
 not many — not more than five or six— along the 
 road. They had been wretched erections of lath and 
 plaster, and it w^ould not take their disconsolate 
 inhabitants more than a fr : * /ight's good work to put 
 them up again. One or two small w^ood-built chapels 
 
A SURVIVOE OP THE MASSACRE. 79 
 
 were pointed out as places in which Grordon had been 
 in the habit of holding forth. 
 
 At Bath, which must have been a pleasant place in 
 old times, but looks now terribly tumble-down and 
 neglected, we stopped for some time, and had a good 
 deal of talk with Dr. M., one of the survivors of the 
 massacre. He had concealed himself in an aloe hedge 
 at the back of the Court-house, and was found and 
 dragged out by the rioters. They were going to put 
 him to death, when he told them he was a medical 
 man, and asked to be ^ed to Bogle, who spared him. 
 He corroborated the general testimony I have heard 
 against Gordon's character. He had been under the 
 impression that Grordon was a friend of his, but was 
 amazed to learn that among Gordon's letters to 
 Laurence was one which said that M/s conduct was 
 such as to class him with those who must be swept 
 away. In his opinion the planters had not used the 
 negroes well, the treatment of the latter having been 
 more like that of dogs than of men. The blacks had 
 much to complain of, especially of the magistrates, in 
 whom there was no confidence. Hire had been one 
 of the greatest gentlemen among the planters. 
 
 At a spot on the road near Gordon's old estate 
 
80 A SULKY NEGRO. 
 
 (the Eliine), we passed a tall black man, who looked un- 
 commonly sulky. Eamsay's silver lace caught his 
 eye. 
 
 " Ah !" cried he, '' ah ! you d d brute ! where 
 
 you go ? AVhere the hell you go, you d d brute ?" 
 
 " Ha ! what's that you are saying ?" said Eamsay ; 
 and we stopped the carriage. 
 
 " Ah, you d d brute !" said the man again, as 
 
 Eamsay went up to him. 
 
 " What's your name ?" he asked ; but received no 
 answer, either from the man or from some people 
 who stood near. The negro kept his ground, looking 
 savage. Eamsay, who was apparently unarmed, as 
 the revolver was hidden under his coat, went still 
 closer to him. The negro carried a large yam and the 
 usual cutlass. As Eamsay got near, the negro stuck 
 the yam under his left arm, and lifted the cutlass. 
 
 " Ah !" said Eamsay, producing his revolver, and 
 tapping it ; " see that, my friend — see that !" 
 
 "Come away, come away," said the negro, and 
 moved off a few paces. 
 
 A herd-boy then came up and offered to give us 
 the fellow's name, which was taken down. 
 
 A little further on we met two Maroons. 
 
 " Maroons," said Eamsay, " I wish you had been 
 
MR. hire's house. 81 
 
 here just now. A fellow insulted us on the public 
 road. Just ride on and take him into custody, and 
 leave him at Bath." 
 
 The faces of the Maroons lighted up with satis- 
 faction, and they spurred on their mules with a hearty 
 good- will, exclaiming — 
 
 "Yes, massaj well take hiu.." 
 
 This was the only open insolence we met with on 
 our way. One or two other fellows looked sulky, 
 
 but said nothing, or only muttered, " D d 
 
 brute !" 
 
 We stayed a day or two with Mr. Harrison, who 
 made so narrow an escape from the rioters. Almost 
 all his people — all with the excepHon of one or two — 
 did what they could for him ; and it was owing to 
 them that the rebels were bamboozled into believing 
 that the ladies were hiding in another trash-house 
 from that in which they were. Much is said of the 
 increased laziness of the people since the Commission. 
 Harrison's people work well enough, and so do 
 Wallace's and Lysson's. 
 
 We rode out one day to poor Hire's house. It is 
 prettily situated on the top of one of the hills belong- 
 ing to the range that bounds the plain of Plantain 
 Garden river, and is not more than a musket shot 
 
82 ESTATES PILLAGED. 
 
 distant. "VVe rode through the level cane-fields, and 
 then ascended the hill, from which there is an excel- 
 lent view of all the estates which the bands that 
 left Morant Bay, after the burning of the Court-Iiouse, 
 visited and pillaged. In the distance was Golden 
 Grove, nearer Duckenfield, Winchester, Hordley, and 
 one or two other estates, all with neat-looking stead- 
 ings, surrounded by the green level sea of cane crops, 
 which are beautifully laid out and cultivated. To 
 the left, beyond other fields, is the sea, and winding 
 along through the plain towards it is the Plantain 
 Garden river, the course of which, though we could 
 not see its water, was marked by the long lines of 
 bamboo tufts. 
 
 Hire's house remained as the rioters left it, after they 
 had done their worst to its furniture and inmates ; 
 the latter consisting of the two Hires, father and son, 
 the last of whom still survives; a visitor, Mr. Crichton ; 
 Mr. Jackson, who was left for dead ; and Dr. Crowder, 
 who, as well as other medical men, was spared on that 
 fatal October evening. Most of the party were in bed. 
 Hire himself did not expect danger. He had been 
 friendly with Gordon, and both from him and from 
 his men thought he might expect forbearance, if 
 not protection. Though that day he had sworn in a 
 
ATTACK ON HIRE. 83 
 
 few constables, chiefly men of his own about the place, 
 he was not prepared for the dreadful scenes that were 
 enacted. 
 
 When the shouts of the advancing mob and the 
 smashing of the door were heard, his arms were not 
 within reach, and he went out to meet the rioters with 
 only a sword. A letter Harrison had sent him, after 
 hearing reports of the Morant Bay massacre, had 
 reached him. Gordon had been a friend ; and if the 
 affair had been a carefully-organized rebellion, Gordon's 
 friends would have been safe, but the outbreak was 
 premature. The rebels were not under the chiefs 
 who had incited them to action. Under the influence 
 of the liquors which they had got on the estates they 
 had already broken into, they were in no mood to 
 spare man, woman, or child. 
 
 Hire rushed out into the passage, and though, 
 being a good swordsman, he was able to keep his 
 ' assailants at bay for some time, he must have been 
 at length severely wounded, for near the door the 
 floor is dark with blood stains, which we could trace 
 also in the passage and in the bedrooms. One account 
 says that hs was not disabled till some blacks had 
 broken in at the windows of another room, and one of 
 them succeeded in wounding his sword arm with a 
 
 G 2 
 
84 A PERFECT CHAOS. 
 
 blow from a matchet. All were killed or left for 
 dead. Hire liv^ed for some time in agony, and, 
 when dead, was dragged feet foremost, his battered 
 head knocking against, and leaving bloody marks 
 on each step, down to the sward in front of the 
 house, and buried in a shallow grave close by. 
 
 Each room was a scene of perfect chaos. Letters, 
 papers, books, magazines from England, and news- 
 papers lay about torn and soiled. Marks of blood 
 were everywhere — on the flooring, and on the beds ; 
 on clubs left by the murderers, and on articles of 
 clothing. Mattresses were scorched by fire, or blackened 
 by smoke. Not a bit of furniture was left ; and every 
 piece of glass or crockery had been broken to atoms, 
 and even ground to powder. 
 
 We examined many of the letters, and found among 
 them one from Gordon, and also Harrison's letter of 
 warning. On a slip of paper, dated 12th October, the 
 morning of the murder, I read the names of some special 
 constables who had been sworn in by Hire on that day. 
 Gordon's other letters to him must have been already 
 taken. The houses on most of the other estates in 
 the valley had already been refitted ; and except 
 where a bedpost or door panel had been staved in or 
 cut, bore little trace of the riots. All the furniture, how- 
 
APOLOGY FOR THEFT. 85 
 
 ev^er, has not been replaced, and tlie poor ladies must, 
 in many cases, be living in a state of great discom- 
 fort. 
 
 There is a general feeling among the planters in 
 this district that, if the verdict of the Commissioners 
 should be favourable to the late Governor, a fresh 
 rising will take place. The consequence, of course, 
 is, that the planters are unwilling to refurnish their 
 houses in the same expensive style as before. 
 Knowing that the soldiers will probably be with- 
 drawn in a few months, they not unreasonably fear 
 the recurrence of spectacles which it is dreadful 
 enough to have witnessed once in a life. 
 
 A considerable quantity of furniture was carried 
 away, and as it has not been recovered, it is probably 
 concealed somewhere in the bush. Plate that has 
 once disappeared has rarely been seen again. The 
 reception by the common people of goods taken by 
 the rioters from the planters' houses was one of the 
 worst signs of the state of the country. The excuse 
 advanced for them — a very feeble one — was that they 
 considered they had a right to receive something from 
 the estates for which they had worked so long. 
 This circumstance shows that, on the part of the 
 people, acquiescence iu the rebellious proceedings of 
 
8d' WANT or ORGANIZATION. 
 
 the rioters was mucli more general than many are 
 disposed to admit. I do not imagine that the whole 
 peasantry was actually in favour of the Anti-Buckra 
 movement, but I fear there is sufficient evidence to 
 prove that there was lo such thing as an active pro- 
 white party in the island. The most that could 
 have been hoped for was, that the mass of the 
 people would have waited quietly to see which side 
 got the better, and would have attached themselves 
 to it. 
 
 At Duckenfield Mr. Sinclair told us that he and his 
 wife escaped to Manchioneal, driving the whole way 
 along the road in advance of the band of rioters. 
 None of the men they met on the road showed any 
 inclination to stop them. Only in one case was there 
 any indication of an attempt at violence, which the 
 miscreant relinquished as soon as he saw that the 
 party was prepared to resist. If there had been any- 
 thing like regular organization among the negroes in 
 that district, it would, in all probability, have been 
 manifested by much greater decision in their con- 
 duct. 
 
 We drove on through the waving cane-fields 
 of the rich plain to Golden Grove, the first 
 plantation to which the band we have been referring 
 
BEARING OF THE NEGROES. 87 
 
 to came. The overseers, flying into tlie cane, 
 escaped the fate with which they were threatened. 
 Mr. Chisholm, who was in Hire's house just before it 
 wa" entered, escaped by crawling away in the dark- 
 ness of night. 
 
 A Maroon sergeant of police brought us an Obeah 
 idol, which H. immediately seized upon, vowing 
 he would carry it off to the Duncan, We took 
 it with us, but whether it will escape the tender 
 mercies of the Duncans gunnery room, and ever arrive 
 in England, I do not know. It is a hideous idol of 
 wood, with eyes ingeniously made of brass nails, and 
 square- cut hair and whiskers. 
 
 The negroes are said to have shown a great differ- 
 ence in their bearing since the Commissioners came 
 out, and the most unfounded ideas are prevalent 
 amongst them. They will not work so readily, 
 because they believe the land is to be theirs. The 
 Queen, they are convinced, has sent them money, and 
 the old buckras are to be packed off. A proclamation 
 by the Governor has had a little effect in quieting 
 them, but none seem to believe that thp population 
 will continue loyal for many months. I do not 
 believe that after the thorough check they have 
 experienced they will be foolish enough to rise again ; 
 
88 THE OUTBREAK PREMATURE. 
 
 but the folly they have already shown almost justified 
 the planters' fears. What could be more ridiculous 
 than their imagining that the Queen would approve 
 of their sweeping away the white race, and that the 
 blacks would be allowed to work the estates, and to 
 send to England the produce got from the property of 
 the murdered men ? 
 
 The houses were all left standing, and the works 
 and machinery were in no instance injured, being 
 reserved, as they hoped, for their own use. All that 
 I heard in this part of the country, which bore the 
 whole fury of the outbreak, confirms my conviction 
 that there was nothing like a regular organization 
 among the people, though some may have known of 
 the plans of the leaders, and officers may have been 
 appointed in each parish. The country-people, in- 
 deed, were kept in a state of discontent and ferment, 
 that when the time for action came they might be 
 disposed to join the bands by whom the work was to 
 be begun. The evidence before the Commission 
 leaves us no room to doubt that the outbreak was 
 premature. The right time was to have been either 
 at Christmas, or when the magistrates were all 
 assembled in session at Bath, when in all probability 
 they would have been better prepared to act in concert 
 
DRIVE ALONG THE SHORE. 89 
 
 under any leader capable of conducting them. The 
 band by whom Hire was murdered was a half-drunken 
 rabble, utterly contemptible as a military force, and 
 only capable of damaging furniture and assaulting 
 unarmed whites. 
 
 Our course to Boston, in the parish of Portland, 
 took us along the line of destruction. Crossing over 
 the last ridges of the Blue Mountains near the sea, 
 we kept northward along the shore — a beautiful 
 drive. The roads were bad in comparison with 
 those we travelled over near Kingston, and in cross- 
 ing some streams the wheels of the buggy were 
 severely tried. Most of the road is grass-grown, 
 and in some parts was merely a track across smooth 
 savannahs belonging to breeding-pens, where herds 
 of cattle browsed, and the turf was as green and close- 
 cropped as that on an English common. The day 
 was overcast, and great waves were rolling in on 
 sandy reaches, or broke in high columns of foam on 
 the rocks of lovely inlets and promontories, thick- 
 grown with tangled bush and palms, which grew so near 
 the water that the fronds and cocoas were wet with the 
 sea-spray. Inland were those long ridges of moun- 
 tains that form the backbone of the island, wooded 
 to the peaks, except when some precipice rose 
 
90 HAPPY GROVE. 
 
 abruptly, too steep for anything but the aloe to cling 
 to. Matted masses of convolvulus hung on each 
 rock. The country looked a perfect paradise, and 
 only the ruins of the old sugar plantations made one 
 remember what a tumble-down paradise it was. 
 
 As W3 rode along we were all eyes and ears for 
 traces of the rioters ; for though the planters are very 
 anxious hey should be called rebels, they were 
 nothing more, nor did the so-called rebellion exceed 
 the dimensions of a riot. " What, sir, what ! you 
 won't call this a riot now? It was a rebellion — a 
 rebellion that would have given Jamaica to the 
 niggers if it had not been for Governor Eyre. You 
 don't call a disturbance a riot that spread like this ?" 
 It is useless to remind them that the Chartist dis- 
 turbances extended over a much larger surface, and 
 involved far greater interests, and yet were never 
 called anything but riots. They will have it that 
 the outbreak of the negroes was a rebellion, and one 
 can only get peace by allowing that, if the designs 
 a^ributed to the blacks had been carried out, the 
 men belonging to these bands would have been 
 not only murderous rioters, but revolutionists. 
 
 "VVe stopped at a place called Happy Grove, and 
 went up to the house, the banisters, doors, and 
 
CONDUCT OF THE PEOPLE. 91 
 
 windows of which were all "mashed," as they call 
 it. Inside there was nothing but black emptiness. 
 Outside a negro was attending to some trays of 
 arrowroot that were lying in the sun. 7rhis man 
 had been in the house when the mob came, but 
 ran and hid in the bush close by, where he heard 
 the noise made by the rioters shouting for him as 
 they broke the furniture. I asked him about the 
 conduct of the people of the place. "Well, sar, 
 many of them went down and jined as soon as they 
 saw the large body of men; and they were not 
 compelled, but they formed themselves into a small 
 separate body, and marched along with the rest. 
 Many others ran away into the woods with me. 
 They had been in service with white, and fear they 
 have heads cut off." 
 
 A complaint was made to the inspector about a 
 rebel having come and removed a mule that the 
 soldiers had taken with them, and which this man 
 had bought. 
 
 " He rebel, sar, dat came. It was he horse. His 
 
 mother say, *Kill d d Dr. Jones.' He one of 
 
 rebels. Now he come two days ago with his cutlass, 
 and take mule away." 
 
 " Oho !" says the inspector, and makes a note of 
 
92 THE MAROONS. 
 
 this evidence. The man, who had vowed he was 
 no rebel, got off with a flogging. Now he will be 
 hunted down, and the forcible capture of the mule 
 will be another item of accusation against him. 
 
 We went on to Dr. Jones's. He was not at home, 
 but his son received us. The latter escaped in a boat 
 before the mob came, and had a tremendously long 
 row right round the east end of the island till picked 
 up by the Wolverine. We sat down on rickety 
 chairs — all that was left of the furniture — and listened 
 to some more of the people's complaints. This time 
 two men came, and said that their beasts had been 
 carried away. 
 
 " Who took them ?" 
 
 " De soldiers, sar." 
 
 " Who has them now ?" 
 
 " A Maroon, sar, who will not give them up.'* 
 
 " Ah, then I cannot do anything for you — I can't 
 touch those people." 
 
 Here was a pretty statement, which shows a little 
 the footing we are on with our mountain allies, 
 the Maroons, a brave and intelligent race, who live 
 perched up upon the hills, secure from attack in their 
 almost unapproachable fastnesses. They utterly 
 despise the niggers, as they themselves call the blacks 
 
THEIR INDEPENDENCE. 93 
 
 of thp plain, from whom they are hardly distinguish- 
 able in colour. They are devotedly loyal, and can 
 always be depended upon as faithful subjects of the 
 Queen. But what do they expect for this? To have 
 their own way in things which, however commend- 
 able they may apjDcar to them, can scarcely be con- 
 sidered justifiable by us, and to be permitted to take 
 and plunder the lowland blacks exactly as it mav suit 
 them. On this bst occasion they s^ecured lots of loot, 
 among which w^ere many Sambo girls, for the restitu- 
 tion of whom no one dares to ask them. If a low- 
 land black ventured to go up to their mountain on 
 such an eiTand, it would be scarcely short of a miracle 
 if he were permitted to return alive. We do not ask 
 them for anything, because we know it would be 
 difficult to get it; and what is more, we could not 
 enforce our demand, at least not without a serious 
 war, in which, even though we should prove vic- 
 torious, we should be the greatest losers. "VVe have 
 been at war once with them, and we know what it 
 cost us to reduce them. After they had bid us 
 defiance for three years, they were at last brought 
 to terms only by means of bloodhounds, a 'Species cP 
 " dogs of war" whose employment is not considered 
 desirable by us. The Maroons are our necessary 
 
94 BURNT COTTAGES. 
 
 allies. Without their assistance we could not long 
 hold Jamaica, and they are quite aware of it. They 
 know their position, and take advantage of it. It 
 would be Quixotism to refuse their alliance, even 
 though, in order to maintain it, it is difficult 
 to avoid sacrificing to some ex Lent principle to 
 policy. 
 
 The Maroons are commanded by some English 
 gentlemen, but I doubt if any of the officers 
 by whom they are led would care to appear in 
 Exeter Hall, and give an account of the doings 
 of their followers to negroes at a time like 
 that of the late outbreak. They fight capitally in 
 the bush, covering themselves all over with leaves, so 
 as to be almost invisible, and use spear and rifle well. 
 
 At Manchioneal, a little collection of scattered huts 
 buried under palm-trees, and close to the sea, R. had 
 to pay some police. S. and I rode up a wood path, 
 and came upon several burnt cottages, on which a 
 notice had been posted up that Mr. Lewis would come 
 down to collect evidence; and I suppose we were 
 taken for his party, as many people flocked to us with 
 their stories of wrong and suffering. If they are to 
 be believed, the burning and shooting inflicted by the 
 troops must have been most promiscuous. One man, 
 
CONVERSATION WITH NEGROES. 9$ 
 
 whose name was Lindsay, gave this dismal account 
 of his case : — 
 
 "This house" (pointing to a bhickened timber or 
 two and a mud wall) " is mine." 
 
 " Who burned it ?" 
 
 ** The soldiers burnt it — ^burnt it all." 
 
 " Why did they ?" 
 
 " Dunno, massa — dunno. Dey came up, and looked 
 round, and lay fire to my house." 
 
 " Vfcll, they must have found some stolen things." 
 
 "No, no, massa, house have no stolen ting; me no 
 rebel." 
 
 "Were you standing by at the time, or did you 
 run away ?" 
 
 " No, massa, me present the whole time." 
 
 The next man we met was a sharp-looking mulatto, 
 with whom the following conversation was held : — 
 
 " Is that your house ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " The soldiers did not lay fire to it ?" 
 
 "No; they did not burn my house, but they 
 burned my father's for nothing. There was nothing 
 stolen in it ; and the poor old man was put out, and 
 his house burned ; and he has since died from distress 
 of mind." 
 
96 EVIDENCE OF A SCHOOLMASTER. 
 
 " Wlio was the officer in cliarr^e of the troops ?"* 
 
 "There was no officer with them then : he had gone 
 on. I saw a man shot down because some one said he 
 was a rebel. He had no trial. He was pointed at, and 
 began to speak ; but the soldier fired, and he fe"." 
 
 "VVe must have seen at least six houses that were 
 burnt. The greater number, however, were spared 
 this calamity. A woman told us how she had 
 begged the soldiers to spare hers, and had succeeded. 
 The houses seemed to have been of a better sort than 
 usual. There was a good deal of rough stone-work 
 in them. Each had the thick bush on all sides, and 
 the palms were drooping over them. 
 
 "We entered a square-built old fortalice, used as a 
 police-station, in an upper room of which we found a 
 coloured man, Mr. Jardyne, teaching a school. He 
 spoke freely of the riots. Ho had fled into the bush. 
 The rebels had only burnt two houses ; the troops, 
 eight or nine. One woman, Amelia Scott, who had 
 been burnt out, he spoke of particularly as being 
 certainly innocent. We went down again to find her, 
 passing two or three more ruins. She lived near the 
 sea with her son, who was with her ?.t the time, and 
 
 * These troops belonged to a West India regiment, whose men 
 seem to have got beyond the control of their officers. 
 
RECKLESS CONDUCT OF BLACK SOLDIERS. 97 
 
 lier brother. She described how, at a time when she 
 was so ill with some foot disease, and her son from a 
 sore, that neither could walK, two or three soldiers 
 had come in — one a white doctor; and though she 
 declared she had no stolen goods, the latter hastily 
 bundled them out, his only reply to their pleading 
 being, " No use, no use," and himself set fire to a 
 corner of the thatch. Young Scott said that the 
 people could not leave their houses for fear of being 
 shot. One man, David Burke, was shot close by. 
 
 A black soldier said to him, " You d d rebel." 
 
 He said, " Me no rebel. Me work for Mr. ." 
 
 The soldier shot him down directly. Another man, a 
 special constable, said he saw eleven men shot down 
 without trial, one of whom he was certain w^as not a 
 rebel. This occurred, probably, when the rioters first 
 met the troops, who drove them back from Port 
 Antonio. 
 
 The troops that came down on this band from 
 Long Bay had been sent round by Colonel Nelson from 
 Morant Bay. Whatever the wisdom of after measures, 
 their first movements were well conceived and pro- 
 perly executed. 
 
 We were most hospitably received here by Mr. 
 Orgill, the Euglish Church clergyman. After the 
 
98 MR. orgill's. 
 
 gutted tenements we have seen, the house is a picture 
 of comfort. Only onf of Mr. Orgiirs congregation 
 was in the riots. "\Ve sat listening to stories of 
 escapes from the rebels, while the cool air was blowing 
 up from the sea some hundreds of feet below us, and 
 the fireflies were lighting up the woodlands by 
 thousands. 
 
09 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Port Antonio — Negro Method of firing Houses — Prosperous 
 Negroes near Port iVntonio-^Mr. Orgill's Opinion regarding the 
 Cultivation of Sugar — Lovely Bays — Mr. Anderson, an old Scotch 
 Gentleman — Complaints as to the "Want of Labour — Negro Ob- 
 jection to Contracts — Co-operative System for the Manufacture 
 of Sugar — Immorality and Education — Immigration — A Bas- 
 tard Law — A Maroon Officer — Their Mode of Fighting — 
 Captain M'Farlane — His Defence of the Maroons — Dinner 
 with the Maroons — A Sentiment received with Great Ap- 
 plause — Measures proposed for the Inaugura<-ion of a Better 
 Order of Things — Reform of Elective Bodies — Of Vestries — Of 
 the Present Magistracy — Appointment of Stipendiary Magis- 
 trates — Government System of Industrial Schools — ^An Edu- 
 cation Tax — Fine Scenery — The Rio Grande — Forest-Trees- - 
 The Cotton-Tree — Undergrowth and Creepers in the AYoods — 
 Birds seen in Jamaica — Immense Butterfly — Botanic Garden at 
 Bath — Court-House at Morant Bay — The Volunteers — The 
 Massacre — Gordon's Grave — The Charge against him — Mr. 
 Eyre — Martial Law — The late Governor's 'PolicyS-^SiTe of 
 Mr. Eyre's House, and View from it — Important 'DoctMnsnt-i^; 
 Evidence as to the Proceedings and Design? of the Peuole — . 
 Illegal Drilling — Curious Document. - - ' . , 
 
 ■pOKT ANTONIO, at which we arrived on February 
 
 21st, is only a few hours from Boston, so we 
 
 took our long journey easily, not starting till after 
 
 h2 
 
 ^ « . , , 
 
 ■ « J « 
 
100 3^EGR0 FREEHOLDERS. 
 
 breakfast — an excellent one — and till we had made an 
 inspection of Mr. Orgill's little garden, wbicli is 
 really cliarming. I expressed surprise that the 
 family was not there, and was told that only two 
 days ago an incendiary attempt had been made on 
 the house of a neighbour, and as the residence could 
 only be thought secure with ready revolvers and 
 barking dogs, they preferred to have the ladies in 
 the town at present. The plan of the negroes for 
 firing houses is excellent in its way. A bamboo is 
 split at the end into fine shreds, which burn furiously. 
 A hole is then made in the shnigles, into which the 
 bamboo is introduced, and it is not long before the 
 whole roof comes down. 
 
 Much was said in favour of some negroes living 
 near Port Antonio. Many of them have freeholds 
 on which they work hard, and for which they have 
 paid a good deal of money: 100/. was paid lately 
 b}' one fur ten acres of land. Another paid 270/. for 
 some land. These men were quite opposed to the 
 recent disalFoction, and were loud in their declarations 
 that they would fight for the Queen — a manifestation 
 of loyalty, however, which is hardly peculiar to them, 
 as the rioters seem not only to have had a great re- 
 spect for Her Majesty, but even to have imagined that 
 
BLUE HOLE. 101 
 
 she would quite approve of their doings in sweeping 
 away the Buckras wliom they dislike. They carry 
 provisions for the town from Kingston in boats, many 
 of which are built by themselves. 
 
 Mr. Orgill's place is a cattle-pen, arid he declares 
 that the land hereabouts ought to be used for little 
 else. In his opinion sugar takes too much out of the 
 land. People, he also informs me, were only induced 
 to plant cane in this quarter by French war prices. 
 On our wa}^ here, our spare horse — a wretched brute — 
 was perpetually breaking a rotten rope that lied lilm 
 to our buggy, on which occasions he always made off, 
 giving us hot chases in the sun to get him back again. 
 Guava fruits consoled us a little, but H. was so anxious 
 to bathe, that it was almost impossible to prevent him 
 from stopping and jumping into every tempting bay 
 we passed. I never saw a more lovely spot than one 
 of these bays, called the Blue Hole. It was a round 
 sheet of the bluest water, surrounded by high wooded 
 banks, and was hardly disturbed by the sea-swell out- 
 side, which could only come in through a small channel. 
 
 While in this part of the island I stayed with Mr. 
 Anderson, a fine old Scotch gentleman, who has lived 
 long in the island. Our talk was more of Jeffrey, 
 Scott, and the old Edinburgh set, all of whom he had 
 
102 WANT OF LABOUR. 
 
 • 
 
 often seen, than of Jamaica hubbubs. Two middles 
 from a gunboat lying in the bay, whom we had at 
 dinner*, spoke touchingly of their sufferings from 
 mosquitoes. Much was said against the reasonable- 
 ness of the complaints made by the planters as to the , 
 want of labour. " One disadvantage is that the people 
 are ofben widely scattered, and in many districts men 
 have to go fourteen or fifteen miles to the nearest 
 sugar estate. It would undoubtedly be very bene- 
 ficial if they were encouraged to form villages in the 
 immediate neighbourhood of the works, but this is 
 not done. In what part of England would you 
 always be sure, in a district where population is scant, 
 of getting one, two, or three hundred hands when- 
 ever you wanted them ? Sometimes, when it is not 
 crop time, so many are not wanted, and when there 
 is no work on the estate, provision grounds must be 
 set apart to supply them with food. These grounds 
 occasionally require looking after at a time when 
 every hand may be wanted on the estate. Such is 
 the only arrangement that can be made when there 
 is no settlement near the works, and no contracts are 
 made for labour. At present the negroes are such 
 fools that they look upon a contract as temporary 
 slavery, and will not enter into any engagement of the 
 
IMMORALITY 07 THE PEOPLE. 103 
 
 kind. Mills in the centre of the small cane grounds 
 would he an advantage. A mill might manufacture 
 sugar from the cane brought by the proprietors of the 
 small cane grounds around, and the miller get every 
 third hogshead. Shares should be apportioned by 
 weight — so many hogsheads for so many tons of cane 
 — and the whole business could be carried on by a 
 co-operative system by the negroes themselves. A 
 better price might thus be obtained for the products 
 of their fields than is now got from the imperrectly 
 manufactured stuff which they produce. Not mora 
 than- thirty thousand at present obtain work out of a 
 population of half a million. 
 
 " The immorality prevalent among the people is 
 dreadful ; and what between the state of the law and 
 the natural disposition of the negroes, there is little 
 inchnation to exert themselves. A man may have 
 fifty children, and be obliged to support neither 
 woman nor child, for there is no bastardy law. 
 Ignorance is the rule. An educational tax of three- 
 pence a week might easily be paid, but it would be 
 difficult to collect it. A little paring away of the 
 45,000/. given to the English Church would be very 
 serviceable in the establishment of schools. In this 
 
 parish, where the English Church has more members 
 
104 MILLBANK. 
 
 than in any other, there have been only two or three 
 marriages in the last six months, a fact which shows 
 how little even the best clerical supervision has been 
 able to effect in the improvement of morals. There 
 is a cry for immigration. The immigrant might live on 
 the higher grounds, and cultivate provisions or sugar. 
 If there had been as much practical ability, as much 
 active exertion, here, as there has been talk, things 
 would have looked different by this time." Our 
 heads soon became heavy with port and politics, and 
 we went to bed. 
 
 On the 22nd we stopped at Mill! ink, in the 
 mountains, because we were told we could not get 
 on further, owing to the badness of the bridle-path on 
 which we had been riding since morning. Our object 
 in coming up these hills was to see the Maroons. We 
 were not fairly off till ten, as Kamsay had to pay some 
 police-stations further up the coast, and was not back 
 till nine. On leaving the town (which is poor, but has 
 some chance of mending, as soldiers are to be kept there, 
 and others will stay in consequence), we struck up the 
 valley, at whose head we now are. It is one of the 
 cols of the Blue Mountains. The way was a mere 
 path across streams and mud, and rock and bush. A 
 handful of men could, in any part of it, have stopped 
 
MAROON MODE OF FIGHTING. 105 
 
 a large force. Notliing more would be necessary 
 than to fell across the path some of the gigantic 
 bamboos that grow in towering groups on each side. 
 "VVe were met about half-way up by the commanding 
 officer of the Maroons under Colonel Fyfe, a negro, 
 who appeared duly caparisoned in blue serge, a red 
 ribbon in his cap, a silver plaque with George III.'s 
 head on his breast, and a pair of enormous gold 
 epaulettes on his shoulders. He rode in front of us 
 up a narrow path, and soon some of his men appeared, 
 one or two with guns. These fellows, as they went 
 along, tore down some of the creepers and bushes, and 
 wound them round their bodies, so as to look like 
 moving shrubs. Their mode of fighting is to stand 
 motionless with this invisible costume among the 
 trees, and to shoot the enemy when he has passed. 
 The town which they inhabit is a scattered collection 
 of neatly- thatched huts, each with its inclosure and 
 provision ground, where cane, cocoa, and bananas 
 are roughly cultivated. We were received by a 
 Captain MTarlane, a fine, stalwart, long-eyebrowed 
 Maroon, and conducted to his hut, which was scrupu- 
 lously clean, with neatly-polished boards for floor, and 
 a large four-post bedstead in a little room hardly 
 bigger than itself. A crowd of men and women 
 
106 ORATION BY A MAROON. 
 
 pressed round the cottage, and watched us closely 
 through the windows, till M'Farlanewent and told them 
 confidentially that such " conduct was not manners." 
 He made many small orations to us, chiefly in praise of 
 his own people, some of which, as I have mentioned 
 the reports spread against them, I ought to repeat. 
 
 " Yes, I am a Maroon," he said, drawing himself 
 up to his fuU height, " and I am proud of it ; and you, 
 sirs, who have come from England, may now see what 
 kind of people the Maroons are. They tell you that 
 Maroon is savage, and cruel, and uncivilized. You 
 go home, and say you have seen Maroons, and all dat 
 untrue. Yes, sir, aU untrue. Tom write, BiU write, 
 Sam write \ but they aU tell untruth. Maroon not 
 cruel. In St. Thomas rebel fire eight, nine volley 
 before Maroon fire a shot. Dey not cruel ; but rebel 
 could not stand loyal Maroon," &c., &c. 
 
 He introduced to us one young man who had been 
 wounded in the encounter with the rebels. He wore 
 a large bandage over one eye, swore that his wound 
 was as bad as ever, and looked very well pleased with 
 himself. A tall man, a good specimen of his race, 
 and said to be a great warrior, was also presented to 
 us ; after him an old man, who said, *' He old man, 
 and no walk \ but against rebel he run, he twist, he 
 
MAROON GIRLS. 107 
 
 turn, and make them go ;" and finally a clerk, of whom 
 M'Farlane said, " He write beautiful, he can," an 
 accomplishment which for himself he modestly dis- 
 claimed, saying, *' I no write — not me ; I write with 
 my tongue." 
 
 Our dinner was ring-tail pigeon and smoked wild 
 pig, cauglit by the Maroons. Both were excellent, 
 as was the cocoa we drank. On our departure, 
 M'Farlane made another speech in a stentorian 
 voice to the crowd at the door, telling them what we 
 had come for, and what a good report we should give 
 to England about the Maroons, to which S. added, in 
 going, that he should also tell them what pretty girls 
 the Maroons had — a sentiment which was received 
 with immense satisfaction and applause, and by the 
 young ladies themselves with a great deal of smirk- 
 ing and giggling. One of them was, indeed, dragged 
 forward by her laughing companions to S., whose 
 horse's paces were quickened at the ^.iiiorous demon- 
 stration. In accordance with the Maroons' advice, we 
 had another good ring-tail dinner here, with an addi- 
 tion of fresh- water periwinkles from the river, the Eio 
 Grande, that flows by the house. 
 
 After having been now round the district which was 
 the focus of the so-called rebellion, my impression is 
 
108 THE INSURRECTIONARY MOVEMENT. 
 
 this: — In a limited district around Morant Bay and Port 
 Morant, disaffection had long existed, arising from well- 
 known and reasonable causes ; and this disaffection had 
 been fostered by designing men, by whom preparations 
 for a rising had been made. The people in the neigh- 
 bouring parishes do not appear to have known exactly 
 what was to happen, but had heard vague rumours. 
 The movement was begun by certain turbulent blacks, 
 the number of whom would no doubt have very 
 speedily increased, had not the outbreak been at 
 once vigorously suppressed. Having been prema- 
 turely hurried on by Bogle, the insurrectionary 
 movement w^as under no real control. The bands 
 of rioters seem to have been so conten^ptible as a 
 military force, that if the volunteer corps had been 
 kept up, small as it was, it would have held the mob 
 at bay, especially as there was nothing worthy of the 
 name of organization among the blacks. It was, on 
 the whole, fortunate that with so many reasons for 
 discontent, they were not better prepared to act in 
 concert. The state of affairs in these parishes, w^here 
 the riots broke out, was such as no Englishman could 
 have stood for a week; the inhabitants having no 
 faith in the justice of the magistrates by whom the 
 law was, or ought to have been, administered. 
 
MEASURES PROPOSED. 109 
 
 Among the measures wliicli liave been proposed 
 with the view of inaugurating a better order of things, 
 the following are the principal. First, as to the 
 elective bodies, and especially the vestries, these 
 have not only to do with Church matters, but are 
 boards of management for the parish divisions of 
 the country. By the boundaries of the parish, or 
 several parishes, the police have their department 
 framed. The larger divisions of counties one hardly 
 ever hears of A planter at Plantain Garden Eiver 
 would be spoken of as Mr. , of St. Thomas- 
 
 in-the-Yale, not as Mr. , in Surrey. The vestry 
 
 has the management of the parish. The right to 
 vote for a member is held by a 6/. property quali- 
 fication. Two churchwardens in each parish sit 
 ex officio, and thus get involved in political dis- 
 putes. There are, I think, three magistrates on the 
 vestry-board, and five others. All expenses of the dis- 
 trict pass through their hands. Every act is subject to 
 their supervision, and they can veto payments, and are 
 responsible to the Governor and to the House of 
 Legislature ( when there is one) " alone. These 
 vestries, as they exist, ought to be abolished. They 
 have been a constant source of dispute and trouble, 
 from the struggles and animosities engendered by 
 
110 ABOLITION OF PRESENT MAGISTRACY. 
 
 attempts to get on the board, and by the decisions of 
 the body. All appointments in a community like this 
 ought to come from above, not from below ; from the 
 Government, not from the people. 
 
 The next great requisite, if it does not stand first, 
 is the abolition of the present magistracy. It is im- 
 possible that the common people should have confi- 
 dence in these men. They are either shopkeepers 
 anxious to keep their custom, or planters who are 
 almost unavoidably influenced by their feelings as 
 masters, and cannot be expected to look with an im- 
 partial eye on the claims of servants. I^ was princi- 
 pally owing to the want of confidence among the 
 people in the magistracy that Gordon was able to 
 foster that disloyalty which ended so disastrously last 
 year. 
 
 Stipendiary magistrates are an absolute necessity. 
 Mr. Harrison thinks that they should be itinerant, 
 none staying in any place so long as to be influenced 
 by local feelings. To this oflficial all parish disputes 
 ought to be referred for decision. 
 
 A Government system of industrial schools, with 
 competent masters, and a Government inspector to look 
 after them, would be highly desirable. Every child 
 ought to be obliged, as they are in some parts of 
 
INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS. Ill 
 
 Germany, to attend one of these schools. Education, 
 to be useful among these people, must he compulsory, 
 otherwise the child will be sent to school for a short 
 time only, will learn to read and write a little, and 
 will then be taken away before he has acquired much 
 to benefit him, to become afterwards, probably, an 
 infinitely more disagreeable member of society than 
 he would otherwise have been. Nowhere is it more 
 true that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing than 
 it is here. Compulsory teaching would take a few 
 hands from the crops, but the communication of sound 
 knowledge to the rising generation would more than 
 compensate for the evil thus inflicted. 
 
 A clergyman of the Church of England to whom I 
 spoke the other day believes that the people might be 
 made to pay threepence a week as an education tax. 
 The difficulty is to levy it at present. The only 
 thing that reaches them is the tax on donkeys — three 
 shillings and sixpence each. If little can be got, the 
 bishop's salary ought to be appropriated for the pur- 
 pose, the Church-of-England revenues being so ample 
 as to admit of being shorn a little. A bastardy law 
 would be of immense benefit. At present there is no 
 stimulus to work for wife and child, or rather for 
 mistress and children. A law of this nature would 
 
112 THE RIO GRANDE. 
 
 drive many hands to the labour market, and would 
 probably prove more effective than preaching in pre- 
 venting that immorality which is confessedly too. 
 prevalent at present among the blacks. The House 
 of Assembly could never be persuaded to impose any 
 such tax either on itself or others ; and though 
 attempts have been made to legislate on this subject, 
 no law of the kind has ever been passed. 
 
 The finest bit of scenery we have met with in the 
 tropics was the range of country between Millbank 
 and Bath. No one thinks of walking here. If a man 
 wants to go to a place to which his legs would carry 
 him in five minutes he always mounts a horse, or 
 is carried in a buggy. Personal exertion is eschewed 
 here even by the most healthy. 
 
 After an excellent breakfast of fresh- water peri- 
 winkles, ring-tail pigeons, and some coarse brown sugar 
 and coffee, we mounted and rode on through the 
 glades to the head of the col. We crossed the Eio 
 Grande before descending — a very pretty stream, 
 winding along between the large boulders with which 
 it has strewn its course, and the high wooded hills on 
 each side. The charm of the forest is somehow rather 
 spoiled to me, since I have heard that the chief trees — 
 the cocoa, the mango, bread-fruit, and pimento, none 
 
PLANTS AND BIRDS. 113 
 
 of whicli attain a great girth or height — have only 
 recently been introduced. In tlie size of the trees the 
 woods of Jamaica are said to be very inferior to those 
 of South America. The cotton-tree is the only one that 
 attains any great height; and when seen on the liigh 
 hills it is not to be compared in beauty with a beech or 
 an elm. The stem is straight and round, the bark of 
 a glistening white, and the branches are thrown 
 out at a formal right angle. The foliage is very 
 scanty, and in no proportion to the immense size of 
 the trunk. The chief beauty in these woods is the 
 undergrowth and creepers, and on a lower zone the 
 palms, which are not seen high up on the mountains. 
 A remarkable plant, called the long thatch, sprouts 
 from the ground in great palm -like branches, thirty or 
 forty feet in length, without a stem. The tree ferns, ' 
 of whicli there are several varieties, srive, with their 
 lace-like fronds, the greatest beauty to the under- 
 growth. 
 
 On our ride the handsome Banana- bird Avas 
 common, and a species of Humming-bird, with a long 
 tail and white breast, green head and back, man}- of 
 which allov/ed us to get quite close to them. Flocks 
 of parrots of a large species, green, with a blush red 
 round the neck, fled screaming from the top branches 
 
 I 
 
114 MORANT BAT. 
 
 of the trees, apparently very wild. A peculiar kind of 
 butterfly appeared, with orange wings edged with black, 
 and of an immense size. There are no blue ones here, 
 the species being, I believe, confined to the Brazils. 
 
 Sometimes the creepers and parasites rather mar 
 than add to the beauty of the woods. In one place 
 we passed they looked like a green pall flung over the 
 trees, whose tops were only marked by a swell in their 
 covering. There is a botanic garden at Bath. The 
 plants are all foreign to the country, but every sort 
 of tropical tree flourishes without need of care. 
 
 We slept at night at Lysson*s, and met Mr. Gurney 
 going down to Bath to take evidence of the people 
 thereabouts. The following day we drove to Morant 
 Bay, and stayed for some time examining the ruins of 
 the Court-house. The square in front of the building 
 is a space quite capable of containing a considerable 
 mob. It is full of stones, none of them, however, 
 very large, w^hich the rioters brought with them on 
 October 11th, and some of them so rounded that they 
 look as if they had been taken from the neighbouring 
 river. I do not know whether any of the numerous 
 accounts of the scrimmage and massacre published 
 in England have particularly noticed the mistaken 
 clemency of poor Baron Kettlehold. He was standing 
 
THE COURT-HOUSE. 115 
 
 witli others on the steps to the right, the volunteers 
 drawn up below between the two stairs that led to the 
 upper floor, and extended some feet beyond the front 
 of the house. As the mob advanced, throwing large 
 stones at the volunteers, which they were allowed to 
 do till within six feet of the line, Hitchens shouted to 
 the Baron, ** Shall we fire ?" The latter took no notice, 
 but went on hurriedly reading the Eiot Act, which 
 ought to have been read as soon as the mob entered 
 the square. " Shall we fire ?" again asked Hitchens, 
 but still without receiving any answer. "* Three paces 
 step back," was then the order given by the volunteer 
 leader to his men, but still the mob advanced. Again 
 Hitchens ordered the volunteers to retire three paces, 
 after which they could retreat no further, their 
 heels being against the masonry in front of the house. 
 The mob had now come so near that they were 
 able to seize some of the muskets, on seeing which 
 Hitchens ordered the volunteers " to present," and 
 the little band fired, killing several of the rioters in 
 front, but leaving themselves defenceless. Those 
 behind immediately closed in, and all the volunteers 
 who could escape sought for safety in the Coui t-house. 
 In the meantime the school-house adjoining had 
 been fired, and the flames spreading to the Court- 
 
 i2 
 
116 DEATH OF GORDON. 
 
 house, those who had sought refnp^e within leaped 
 from the windows only to meet death in Price's house 
 close by, where they were massacred. If Kettlehold 
 had only had the presence of mind to tell the mob 
 that, if they came within a hundred yards of the 
 volunteers they would be fired at, this lamentable 
 sacrifice of life might have been spared. The fault 
 was not that the volunteers fired, but that they did 
 not fire sooner. It was from the central blackened 
 window of the Court-house that Gordon was after- 
 wards hanged, with the men who had been concerned 
 in these murders. His grave, as well as that of 
 many more who were buried with him, is in a 
 trench behind the Court-house, in front of a battery 
 built on a rise above the sea. How much bas been 
 spoken and written about that man, who, 'after all, 
 was nothing more than a paltry demagogue ! I do 
 not think that any evidence I have seen is sufficient 
 to prove that Gordon prepared plans for rebellion. 
 His great object seems rather to have been that others 
 should rebel than that he himself should be exposed 
 to the charge of being a rebel. His part was to 
 counsel rather than to act. He might have been 
 prosecuted, perhaps, for sedition ; but no jury would 
 have given a verdict against him if he had been 
 
MR. EYRR. 117 
 
 arraiirned for liierh treason in a court of common law. 
 Meanwhile, lawyers may be justly dissatisfied about 
 his death, for there were no legal grounds for convic- 
 tion. 
 
 On our way to Kingston, we met and , 
 
 who were going to visit the Rhine to hear what Gordon's 
 labourers say of their late employer. There is an 
 evident disposition, on the part of these gentlemen, 
 to take only negro evidence, which is eagerly swallowed, 
 while that of whites is jealously tested and sifted 
 before it is accepted. 
 
 On the 25th we dined with S. C. B , W , 
 
 H , P , and some ladies. They were anxious 
 
 to excuse S. W. Gordon ; and it was observed, as some 
 proof that he was not dishonest, at least in mercantile 
 transactions, that no actions had been brought against 
 him. He was considered, however, a " man of straw," 
 and an action to get money would not have been of 
 much use. 
 
 On the 26th we came up here to Mr. Eyre's country- 
 house. He had sent an invitation to us as soon as 
 we landed, but it arrived too late, as we had already 
 gone away on our trip to the eastern end. He seemed 
 as firm as ever as to the absolute necessity for the 
 long continuance of martial law. He judged, from 
 
118 
 
 PROCLAMATION OF MARTTAL LAW. 
 
 what lie knew of tlie state of the island, that common 
 law would not have been strong enough to punish 
 offenders so promptly as to strike necessary terror into 
 the minds of the people, who, he is persuaded, would 
 have joined the rebels on the slightest pretence. 
 This persuasion was the result of the almost unani- 
 mous expressions of fear of an outbreak and warnings 
 sent by numbers of the w^hite inhabitants of the 
 island. No one will, I apprehend, blame him for 
 havir % at the first, proclaimed martial law; and 
 although civil law was not restored after the riots liad 
 been put down by military force, yet full consideration 
 ought to be given to the difficulty the Governor 
 experienced in putting an end to a state of things 
 by which alone, owing t' the unreliability of the civil 
 law, he thought the di. ifected could be kept well in . 
 hand. We ought to remember that while martial 
 law was kept on for, perhaps, twenty days after 
 resistance had ceased in Jamaica, civil law has been 
 suspended in the Southern States of the Union for a 
 full twelvemonth after the last Confederate regiment 
 surrendered to Grant and Sherman. 
 
 I differ from Mr. Eyre in the policy of acting with- 
 out law in Gordon's arrest ; but no one can help being 
 very sorry for him. He did what he thought his 
 
THE LATE GOVERNOK*S COUNTRY HOUSE. 119 
 
 duty, and lias avoided no responsibility, but, on the 
 contrary, lias declared himself to be the only person 
 to whom blame, if blame there be,.ougl it to be attached. 
 It is a cruel thing for a man who has acted r.nd 
 worked as he has for what he thought the good v.f the 
 community to be branded as a murderer. He was, 
 and is, thoroughly convinced that the crisis required 
 the measures he adopted. There is reason for his 
 belief in the slowness and uncertainty of justice as 
 administered by Kingston courts of law. His policy 
 was severe, for he believed it to be the most mer- 
 ciful ; but I do not think the English public will be 
 inclined to agree with him that the crisis required 
 such steps as the illegal transfer of Gordon to Morant 
 Bay, or the continuation of martial law when resis- 
 tance had ceased. 
 
 The situation of the house is delightful. It is four 
 thousand feet above the sea, and the harbour of 
 Kingston and fifty miles of coast lie spread beneath 
 us. The climate is quite English. I have slept with 
 blankets on my bed for the first time since I have 
 been in the AVest Indies. One has to ride up the 
 hill, as the carriage road only goes to its foot. It is 
 curious to feel the change of temperature as one 
 mounts from the blaze of the plains to the cool and 
 
1:20 IMPORTANT DESPATCH. 
 
 mist of these hills. The house is guarded by sentries, 
 as much threatening talk has been heard about taking 
 the Governor's life. He walks about unarmed, which 
 is hardly wise. 
 
 Mr. Eyre was so good as to show us a long 
 despatch. It was his report and analysis of a num- 
 ber of documents furnished him by custodes, clergy- 
 men, attorneys, and others, to whom he had ap- 
 pealed for evidence regarding the events that had 
 happened, and their experience as to the state of feeling 
 in various parishes. In his opinion the report clearly 
 shows that, if there was not an organized combination 
 throughout the different parishes, there was at least 
 in most of them a disaffected and seditious spirit — a 
 disposition to rebel, which any trifling circumstance 
 might unexpectedly have stimulated into open revolt, 
 drawing the whole of the black population into the 
 ranks of the insurgents. 
 
 In looking over these papers, their contents left it 
 impossible for me to entertain any doubt as to the 
 sincerity of the conviction, on the part of the whites, 
 that Eyre was the saviour of the colony, of their lives 
 and property. A certain amount of preparation for 
 insurrection appears to have been made, and as to 
 the intentions of the people in Morant Bay district. 
 
PREPARATION FOR INSURRECTION. 121 
 
 no doubt has ever been entertained. The testimony 
 of some men, too, in Trelavvney and elsewhere seems 
 to nake it but too apparent that the people had been 
 anticipating some serious crisis in which it was their 
 determination to take an active part. 
 
 E. G. S. Mitchell, Trelawney, stated that, shortly 
 before the time of the riots, he knew illegal drilling 
 was going on among the people. W. Coley, a deserter 
 from the 1st West Indian regiment, was aware that 
 meetings had been held before and after the riots at 
 St. Elizabeth, and was asked to join the rebels as a 
 drill-sergeant. " I heard the meeting told," he said, 
 " that they must arm and burn the Louse of a Mr. Coke, 
 and that Christmas would be the time for a successful 
 rising." Mr. Hildebrand knew that illegal drilling 
 had been going on at Manchester, as well as at the 
 other places, all far distant from the Morant Bay 
 district. The people appear, too, to have become very 
 insolent in their manner, indulging in a great deal 
 of nigger brag, talking of killing the whites wherever 
 they could lay hands on them ; and uttering menaces 
 which must have been sufficiently alarming to the 
 scanty number of Europeans living isolated on their 
 properties, who knew that, in the event of an insur- 
 rection, their lives would not be worth a moment's 
 
122 CURIOUS DOCUMENT. 
 
 purchase. The reason for all this ill-feeling on the 
 part of the labourers is clearly expressed in the state- 
 ment of Charles Maclean, of St. David's, who testifies 
 that ill-feeling and dissatisfaction are daily increasing, 
 that the decisions of courts of law are held in no respect, 
 and that proclamations and messages from the Queen 
 are treated with contempt, and called lies, red lies. 
 Here the right nail is struck on the head. BeHeving 
 that justice was not meted out to them, the negroes 
 had come to the determination to sweep away the 
 Government that administered the affiiirs of the island, 
 because they did not believe it represented the Govern- 
 ment of England. 
 
 The following is the copy of a document showing 
 the want of faith the negroes had in the regular 
 courts : — 
 
 "Letter Ililb. Memory of a Meeting held on 
 July 11, 1S63. Move by Mr. James Steen, and was 
 un(?nimously carried — That Mr. W. C. Menknob be 
 appointed State General. Move by Mr. D. Baily,^ 
 seconded by Mr. W. Bowie — That the qualification 
 Baristers and Lawyers be a Sartificate from the Judge, 
 and he receiving a fee of 1/. Move by Mr. Lake, 
 seconded by Mr. Baily — That the fees of the peace- 
 oflBce for each process be \l. Move by Mr. Ford, 
 
"memory of a meeting. 123 
 
 seconded by Mr. W. C. McKnob — That two petty 
 sessions be held, one on the ISth, and one on the 
 25th inst. Each court do commence at six o'clock in 
 the afternoon, and that the Court of Arispagus be 
 held on the 4th August, 18G3. Eesolve — That the 
 Courts be held at the above-name place. Eesolve — 
 That all person or persons who shall wilfully mis- 
 behave themselves shall be committed for trial, and if 
 won't submit, be disbands as unsivilize. Resolve — 
 That Sd. be considered as 1/., and duo deference be 
 paid to the Chairman and his Sobadinates. Resolve 
 by Mr. William Bogle, seconded by Mr. W. Bowie — 
 That Mr. Paul Bogle be appointed Justice of 
 the Peace. Resolve — That the Prevance Marshal 
 General do stick up a list on the 25th. inst. of the 
 names of persons to serve on 4th August, inserving 
 in the Court House, ledg«ble written for every 
 omission 4/., and likewise every officer in the same for 
 omission or neglect of duty." 
 
 In the *' Memory of a Meeting " held, persons 
 were elected for the office of Judge, Clerk of the 
 Peace, " Prevance-Marshal," Inspector, and Sargent. 
 One unfortunate was raised to the post of Privett ; 
 another was appointed Founder, whatever that may 
 mean; and this assembly was broken up on a 
 
124 THE "arispagus." 
 
 *' move unonimously carried that this Meeting do 
 objurn.'* 
 
 These papers are curious, showing as they do that 
 the negroes were trying to get up courts of justice 
 for themselves. I think the Arisjpagus dehghtful. 
 
125 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 Flamstead — Cowardly Acts of Intimidation — Visit to Hill, the 
 Naturalist — Sharks — The Political Prospects of Jamaica — Pro- 
 bahle Dis.*vppointment of the Furious Supporters of the Ex- 
 Governor — Substitutioh of English for Spanish Names of Places 
 — The Road toMoreland — Mangrove Belts — Cultivation of Sugar 
 
 Estates — The Cotton-Tree — From Moreland to St. Jagc 
 Guinea Fowl — Ants — Want of Doctors — Humming-birds — 
 Mandeville — Black Freeholders — A Negro's Necessiiries and 
 Burdens in Jamaica — A Negro Dodge — Attorneys for Estates — 
 Laziness and Caprice of the Negroes — Stoppage of Wages — The 
 Question between Overseers and Negroes — Domestic Servants 
 — Price of Food — Position of the Black Freeholder — Precedence 
 of Races — Abolition of the House of Assembly — Extravagant 
 Application of Public Money — Neglect of Popular P^ducation — 
 Ignorance with respect to Contracts — Negro Interpretation of a 
 Public Proclamation — Visit to a Large School — Congo Boys — 
 Drunkenness among the Negroes — Jamaica as a Place for 
 Emigrants — A Negro's Opinion of the Rioters. 
 
 /^TJR time at Flamstead was very pleasant. Mist 
 and rain prevented our seeing much the first 
 day, but the weather cleared up afterwards. Mr. B., 
 a clergyman living in a house on the hill below the 
 military station of Newcastle, asked us to stay a night 
 with him, and we rode down from the Governor's 
 
126 ACTS OF INTIMIDATION. 
 
 witli him and his wife — a lady who remained in this 
 country-house all the time of the riots. At a village 
 post-office in the glen, between the Governor's house 
 and their own, they got a parcel of letters, one 
 of which was directed to " Mrs. Dora B." Mr. 
 B. knew that the island papers, in their report of 
 Mrs. B.'s evidence given before the Commissioners, 
 had printed her name as Dora instead of Laura. He 
 therefore luckily opened the letter himself, thinking 
 the address an odd one, and in it found a drawing of 
 a woman in a night-shirt being hanged by two 
 diabolical-looking negroes ; and, to leave no doubt as 
 to the person intended, the name " Dora " was written 
 beneath. 
 
 Such cowardly acts of intimidation render whites 
 extremely suspicious of the negroes generally, and 
 therefore it is that so many, even clergymen, like 
 to sleep with watch-dogs in their verandahs and 
 revolvers near their beds. 
 
 After staying some time at Spanish Town to hear 
 different persons examined before the Commission, we 
 went on to Mr. M'Kinnon's, at Vere, twenty miles from 
 Spanish Town. Sir James Hope and I went the other 
 day to call on Mr. Hill, the naturalist, who gave us 
 much information both on politics and natural history. 
 
MR. HILL, THE NATURALIST. 127 
 
 Hill is one of tlie few surviving stipendiary magis- 
 trates of tlie island, of which he is a native, and has 
 lived in it all his life. As his collections and draw- 
 ings were locked up in the upper rooms of the King's 
 House, we did not see them, and all he had to show us 
 was a skin of one of the long-tailed humming-birds. 
 
 He talked a good deal about sharks, and on Sir 
 James telling him how a diver of the Duncan^ ^yhile 
 fishing for a wreck, had seen through the sunken funnel 
 of a steamer a shark looking at him from the other 
 end, said these brutes never take a man in mid-water, 
 and that anybody who could dive would have them at 
 his mercy. They can only feed off the ground, or 
 from the surface, and a diver may let them snuff about 
 him at pleasure. Hill had given up birds, and taken 
 to insects. 
 
 He is hopeful about the future of Jamaica. The 
 overflowing of the prisons with people convicted of 
 larceny he attributes to a law passed by the Assembly, 
 making the picking up and eating of sugar-canes 
 (formerly a misdemeanour) a larceny. He is not in 
 favour of stipendiary magistrates moving about from 
 place to place, considering the prohibition of their 
 possessing property a sufficient guarantee for their 
 strict administration of justice. 
 
128 A planter's lament. 
 
 After the cool impartiality of King's House, we found 
 ourselves again among very furious supporters of Eyre. 
 They will be terribly chagrined, I fear, their feeling 
 in his favour being so decided, when the Commis- 
 sioners' report is made public. At present they seem 
 determined to expect that which they wish — viz., Mr. 
 Eyre's reinstatement in the Government. 
 
 " You'll see if he wont be made a K.C.B. and 
 reinstated. I believe the Commission to have done 
 much harm ; and about that d — d rascal, Gordon — 
 why, was not his property in the martial-law district, 
 and did not his sayings work so much mischief there ? 
 Why should he not be tried in the place where his 
 oiTence was committed ?" &c. 
 
 The following is some doggerel in which the woes 
 of the planter are bewailed : — 
 
 A PLANTER'S LAMENT. 
 
 Our estates are in ruins, and wearied, we try- 
 To coax the dear niggers to work ere we die ; 
 But the isle that was flowing with sugar and rum 
 Lies untilled and neglected, for scarce any come I 
 "We're heartily tired of this tropical land, 
 Where rebellion is nursed by the Government's hand I 
 Why, who can we look to, to set us straight now. 
 But to the great thinker — good Chamerovzow ? 
 
A planter's lament. 129 
 
 n. 
 
 The sounds of the cninching and pressing of cane 
 We ahnost despair of e'er hearing again; 
 The boilers are empty ; the still-house is dry ; 
 There's little to sull, and there's no one to buy. 
 We offer good wages, and heartily pray 
 For the poor chance of getting some nigger to pay ; 
 But they wont listen to us, for they've listened and bow 
 To the words and the wisdom of Chamerovzow ! 
 
 III. 
 
 Our house, once well furnished, has tumbled to rot, 
 
 And we speak of what was, but what now is not. 
 
 An estate that is paying 's a lusus naturce 
 
 So rare, that you af.k if it really can true be. 
 
 From King Log to King Stork we have fallen, and still 
 
 No progress is seen, but the progress downhill. 
 
 We are poor, and are not what we were, but e'en now 
 
 We're " haughty and cruel !" says Chamerovzow. 
 
 IV. 
 
 The negro is lord of himself and his toil, 
 
 The run of the land and the fat of the soil. 
 
 He makes his own bargains for labour, and works 
 
 AMienever he pleases, and, when he likes, shirks. 
 
 He's a very good fellow, if but let alone, 
 
 But you've meddled and muddled, and mischief you've sown, 
 
 And 'tis you who have kicked up this troublesome row — 
 
 Yes, you, my philanthropist, Chamerovzow ! 
 
 V. 
 
 It's aU very well, when in Exeter Hall, 
 
 To measure out mercy ; speak ill of the gall 
 
 We showed to those who, not content with their votes, 
 
 Had schemed to cut all our civilized throats ! 
 
130 ROAD TO MORKLAND. 
 
 It does seem most curious, iinaccoimtably queer, 
 That Knghind tlon't v.ilue tlie lives of us herel 
 If htd been expecting a blow on hin pow, 
 Would he still have been a cidm ClianKrovzow ? 
 
 VI. 
 
 And as for the gents that have sat and have talked 
 
 Of the plans of the planters that ouglit to be balked, 
 
 Who've believed every word of each lie that was told, 
 
 Who've clasped their white hands, or their pig's eyes uproUed, 
 
 Who've still a Society for Slave Abolition, 
 
 When the slavery system has gone to perdition — 
 
 Why, every one*s joined against slavery noAv, 
 
 And they fight against phantoms, great Chamerovzow ! 
 
 Most of tlie Spanish names in tliis country have 
 disappeared. Cromwell's Puritan soldiers did not 
 like the appellations given by the former masters to 
 streets and districts, especially as they were all 
 named after saints ; and consequently now, instead 
 of the musical Spanish, we have the familiar English, 
 the town itself being called " Spanish Town," instead, 
 as of old, St. Jago della Vega, »S:c. 
 
 The road to Moreland is uninteresting, as it passes 
 over the flat country covered witli the short wood of 
 the cashaw, a tree between a mimosii and an acacia, 
 with a flat top and light green foliage. The sun was 
 very hot, making the penguins growing by the road 
 glitter like a hedge of bayonets. Every now and 
 
SUGAR-MAKING. 131 
 
 then we passed near the sea, but there was no open 
 beach with yellow sand and wliite surf, hut instead, 
 an eternal belt of mangroves rising- from the water, and 
 extending into it their numberless forked roots, making 
 a tangle of wood impenetrable to any creature but the 
 alligators. 
 
 Old Zachary ^lacaulay, father of the historian, had 
 estates hereabouts, but they are mostly in bush. It 
 was a relief to come upon the magnificent cane-fields 
 of this (^lorehind) property. No crop is so handsome 
 as that of the sugar cane. Most persons know what 
 the cane itself is like ; but in the fields one sees but 
 little of it, as it is sheathed in the long, reed-like 
 leaveii, that cluster thickly at the top, and fall di'oop- 
 ing downwards. 
 
 I rode over the estate with Mr. M., looking at the 
 different operations, from the cutting of the cane 
 to the stowing of the fine brown sugar in the enor- 
 mous hogsheads. The teams of oxen employed are 
 very large. Yoked to one plough I observed no 
 fewer than fourteen oxen. The most picturesque 
 part of the process of sugar- making is to be seen 
 when the great vans, loaded with cane, come in 
 drawn by the cattle to the pressing rollers. The 
 negroes look like bronze statues when you have 
 
 k2 
 
132 ST. JAGO. 
 
 the advantage of seeing them half naked, each muscle 
 standing out glossy in the sun, as they hear great 
 loads to the roller, and stand around it while it sucks 
 in and crushes the bundles, sending a white stream 
 of sugar juice into the pipes that lead to the boilers. 
 
 These operations will now go on night and day for 
 nearly three months, at the end of which the overseer 
 hopes to have about three hundred and twenty 
 hogsheads from each of his three estates. The 
 houses for the manufactory are ugly, and the smell 
 that comes into the verandah and bedrooms from the 
 boiling house is very heavy. That from the still- 
 house is even more disao^reeable. It is a sreat relief 
 when the sea breeze springs up and drives these 
 odours away. 
 
 St. Jago, in the parish of Clarendon, is a most de- 
 lightful place, at the foot of low wooded hills. The 
 limestone mound on which it is built is grass- 
 grown, and overlooks a. wide park-like cattle-pen 
 that lies between the house and the sugar works, 
 about a mile off. In front of the house is a very 
 fine cotton-tree, which looks so well that I think I 
 must withdraw anything I have written in disparage- 
 ment of these trees ; for altnough I do not admire 
 their growth on the hiUs, they are undoubtedly very 
 
SAND AND LOAM PLAINS. 133 
 
 fine in the plains. The trunks, which are immense, 
 are made larger by the buttresses thrown out from the 
 stem. The leaf, about the same size as that of the 
 orange-tree, is of a lighter green and narrower. 
 
 Mr. M. and I rode the twenty-two miles betv.reen 
 Moreland and St. Jago. The roads in some places 
 were very bad, mere by-ways in fact, on which 
 Government money is not now spent. Formerly, 
 wlien money was given for all the roads in the 
 country, they were in a veiy unsatisfactory condition. 
 Now the high- ways alone are helped, and they are 
 very good, while all others are much worse than 
 before. Heavy rains had recently Mien and turned 
 the roads into nasty mud, spoiling the planters' trash, 
 or the crushed cane they use for fuel. S. has a fever 
 in consequence of traversing some swamps by night. 
 
 The sand and loam plains we crossed were over- 
 grown with green ebony and logwood, to which, 
 in many places, hung the wild liquorice, whose 
 scarlet seeds, with their bli^ck tops, are so common 
 in Brighton boxes of shells. A purple Orchis, which 
 was also in flower, appeared in great beauty in 
 some places. Where the soil was poorest the tall 
 dildo cactus threw its ugly green-ribbed shafts into 
 the air. A Woodpecker, invisible to us, was making 
 
184 BIRDS AND INSECTS. 
 
 a hoarse chatter in the underwoods. As we con- 
 tinued our journey, the Jamaica Nightingale, a 
 handsome grey bird the size of a thrush, with a 
 long tail and a white bar on his wing, and a 
 small bird they call the Greendow, were frequently 
 seen. Near a river that we crossed was a very fine 
 White Heron, and Pigeons were numerous ; one of 
 the latter — a ground bird — having a very melancholy 
 note — a sepulchral coo, more melancholy even than 
 the note of the solitaires that are to be heard in the 
 Port Eoyal mountains. My gun was still, unfortu- 
 nately, in the Kingston Custom-house, as I thought 
 I should not require it, or I might have had some 
 fair sport here. 
 
 Guinea-fowl are wild, and not uncommon in the 
 hills. Those birds that feed on small insects, as 
 several species here do, must, if they are not fas- 
 tidious, find abundance to supply their utmost wants, 
 especially if they care about ants, of which there 
 appear to be millions. These insects are very par- 
 ticular, some kinds eating meat, and refusing 
 to touch oil, while others like oil and will not touch 
 meat. Each kind, in short, has its own parti- 
 cular taste. The most conspicuous species is a 
 little yellow creature with a black head, that, on a 
 
}.ORD Dudley's estate. 135 
 
 paling or the upright branch of a tree, builds an 
 enormous nest of brown mud, so large that it looks 
 like some swelling or deformity in the tree itself. 
 One sort never travels except by covered ways ; and a 
 long thin strip of mud, that runs twining up the bark, 
 is found on examination to be an arched passage, 
 along which an army of ants may pass unobserved. 
 
 On March 12th I rode up with Mr. Logan, Mr. M.'s 
 overseer, to an estate belonging to Lord Dudley, who 
 has two or three more in the West Indies. The 
 estate, which is of small extent, not more than a 
 mile and a half long, is very curiously situated, 
 being evidently the bottom of an old lake in the 
 hills, and is completely walled in on all sides. As the 
 height is at least fourteen hundred feet above the level 
 of the sea, and the road very steep, the labour of 
 bringing up the heavy hogsheads of sugar must be 
 troublesome. They are dragged on sledges, a few 
 oxen going before, with a larger number yoked 
 behind to prevent the sledge slipping down too fast. 
 According to the local story, the place was discovered 
 by a runaway slave, who, to propitiate his master, told 
 him of its existence. The circular cattle-mill and 
 water-wheel are still standing, as steam machinery 
 has not yet been brought up. The conical roof of 
 
136 WANT OF DOCTORS. . 
 
 the old cattle-mill, which is still the chief power, 
 makes it the prettiest building connected with sugar- 
 making I have seen. The water is brought to the 
 wheel by a long aqueduct, but the supply is so 
 small that little can be done with it. These 
 solitary sugar-fields enjoy the advantage of monopo- 
 lizing all the labour in the vicinity, as there is no 
 other estate for some miles to compete with them. 
 
 Nearly all the planters in this neighbourhood 
 employ coolies. On Mr. Mitchell's estate in Vera 
 there are a number of them. Their slender forms 
 and long black mops of hair contrast strongly with 
 the burliness and woolliness of the negro, who, when 
 disposed to work, can do perhaps as much again. 
 Few coolies can do more than their fifty cane holes, 
 while a negro does his hundred if he works hard. 
 Although M. has such a number of coolies, he is 
 anxious for more, and talks of having Chinese. I 
 wonder if the last could be procured from Cuba, into 
 which a very great number have already been brought. 
 
 There is a great want of doctors here. "VVe have 
 had to send nine miles for one, and he charges a 
 doubloon each visit. Medical advice is almost unat- 
 tainable for the blacks, and the consequence is that 
 they trust entirely to the bush doctors and the Obeah 
 
MANDEVILLE. 137 
 
 men. There is some talk now of estaLlisliing a Go- 
 vernment school at Kmgston for medicine, and of 
 sending blacks out as doctors, allowing them to charge 
 a dollar only for each consultation. 
 
 We sat some time in the porch reading. Flowering 
 shrubs grew on each side, and Humming-birds were 
 whirring about the blossoms close to our heads ; 
 they might easily have been caught with a hand net. 
 One was lovely — emerald gi'een, with a tail of two long 
 feathers, each about six inches in length. 
 
 I should have much liked to have gone further to 
 the west, to the great cattle-breeding and grazing pens 
 at the end of the island, and to have seen the parishes 
 of St. Anne's, St. Elizabeth, and Trelawney, districts 
 I hear spoken of as more flourishing than any in the 
 country. Mandeville itself, a place that looks in 
 apple-pie order, appears prosperous. There are people 
 about it, too, which is more than can be said of 
 Spanish Town, where the streets look as deserted as — 
 well, as some of the streets of Edinburgh during 
 service time. The white inhabitants were looking 
 cheerful, a detachment of troops having come and 
 pitched their tents on a grass-plot in the middle of 
 the settlement ; and people like to be under the range of 
 Enfield rifles even now. Bags of coffee were piled in 
 
138 BLACK FREEHOLDERS. 
 
 front of many of the stores, ready to be sent down to 
 Kingston. 
 
 This coffee is all gro\\Ti by black freeholders, a class 
 of people who, in this neighbourhood, are doing very 
 well. Their condition, so far as regards corporeal 
 wants, is as satisfactory as that of any peasantry 
 I know. They have their own provision grounds, and 
 are able, when the crop is coffee, if only moderately 
 industrious, to make a good deal of money. Nor are 
 they, nor the rest of the blacks, as far as I can learn, 
 too heavily taxed. I think Dr. Underhill has made 
 too much of this. They form by far the larger part 
 of the community ; and if taxes are not to reach 
 them, little enough revenue can be gathered. 
 
 If a negro wishes to set up for himself, with a little 
 land and a house, the articles he requires are very few, 
 and the taxes he has to pay I do not think too heavy. 
 In the fo-dowing statement the things necessary to a 
 black on settling are put in one column, and the taxes 
 he has to pay on them in another. The allowance 
 is certainly liberal, for few men want two full suits 
 of clothes a year, or as m .ch salt fish as I have sup- 
 posed the negro to need : — 
 
*. 
 
 d. 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 3f 
 
 
 
 G 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 A negro's wants. 139 
 
 Neguo's Wants, and Taxes on the Articles. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Two Suits of Clothes, Osnabu^gh . G 
 
 A Bill for Cutting Cane 2 6 
 
 Alloe 2 
 
 A Cutlass 2 
 
 A Donkey 
 
 One Acre of Land 10 
 
 Two liundreclweiglit of salt fish cost about six shil- 
 lings. For a liorse, which many of these people have 
 for riding, they must pay ten shillings, as must planters 
 for their saddle-horses ; such an animal being a luxury 
 in both cases. For stock, a planter pays very little, 
 perhaps too little ; but a heavier tax on cattle w^ould 
 make the working of an estate very difficult ; and I 
 think it of the first importance that the sugar 
 estates should not fail. They give a great deal of 
 regular employment, and are an immense boon to all 
 (classes of the population. The planter pays heavily 
 for shingles for his roof, which the negro, who thatches 
 his hovel or cottage, does not require. There are a 
 few other things, perhaps, in addition to those I have 
 mentioned, which, for convenience, might be thrown 
 in : a hatchet, for instance, which would cost an 
 additional three or five shillings ; but hundreds of 
 articles, which are more or less necessary to a European 
 
140 
 
 STOPPAGE OF WAGES. 
 
 or Creole, are never wanted by the negroes. The 
 calabash answers all the purposes of water-carrying. 
 There is no house-tax. 
 
 The negroes often cheat the dues by calling their 
 riding beasts brood mares, by which dodge they 
 succeed in paying sixpence for them instead of eleven 
 shilling:,. Much has been said about the drought 
 from which they suffered in some districts ; but it is 
 useless to complain of such a misfortune, which occurs 
 very rarely, probably once or twice in a lifetime, and 
 which no man can help. Thei-e is more sense and reason 
 in their complaints regarding the stoppage of wages by 
 the overseers, a proceeding to which these gentlemen 
 are too prone, as a punishment, perhaps, for some act 
 of carelessness. At the same time, it ou^rht to be 
 remembered that it is the only mode of correcting the 
 negro which is now left to them. In some cases they 
 are too dishonest to pay at all systematically, even 
 when work is regularly performed for them ; but men 
 of this stamp, far from being the rule, are very rare 
 exceptions. Occasional instances of dishonesty are 
 to be found in all places, and in all professions. 
 
 Some irregular wages-paying estates there will 
 always be, and the battle must be fought out between 
 labourers and owners ; the latter, I have no doubt, being 
 
DRIVING. 141 
 
 destined, in the long run, to have by far the best of 
 the contest. The overseers are men who make a 
 regiihir profession of the business of looking after 
 estates. They begin as book-keepers, of whom there 
 are generally two on each estate, and rise to be 
 overseers, and sometimes also attorneys for the estates. 
 An attorney has nothing to do with law business, as 
 the name would imply with us, but is simply the 
 manager, occupying very much the same position as 
 a Scotch factor. Of course it is the overseer's interest 
 to make as many hogsheads as possible to please the 
 attorney and owner, and get the reputation of a good 
 manager. 
 
 Driving goes on actively all day. The house is 
 built near the works, so that the overseer, though 
 not actually in the latter, can, at all events, see all that 
 goes on from his verandah, from which he shouts out 
 his orders to the people. His tongue is ever at work, 
 calling, directing, and often abusing, or, as the over- 
 seer would prefer that it should be phrased, " loudly 
 reproaching ;" the language not being always such 
 as one likes to hear from one man to another, however 
 degraded and idle the inferior may be supposed to be. 
 The overseer, indeed, will tell us that harsh lancjuaire, 
 or, if that should fail, the stoppage of wages, is the 
 
142 IDLENESS OF THE NEGROES. 
 
 only way by which he can reach the understanding, 
 and insure the obedience of the labourer. 
 
 The grounds for the stoppage of wages, though not 
 always satisfactory, are sometimes reasonable enough. 
 At one plantation I remember seeing one of the 
 brick-built supporters of an aqueduct completely 
 knocked down and destroyed. " Now look at that," 
 said the overseer; "that's the way your property is 
 destroyed. That column was knocked down the other 
 day by a careless nigger, who drove his team of oxen 
 and heavy waggon right up against it. That man's 
 pay must be stojiped." At another place, where the 
 men bch)nging to a gang of teamsters would not come 
 out on Saturday to their work, the manager was dis- 
 consolate at the position in which he found himself. 
 " There they are," he said, " squatting in their houses, 
 and doing nothing — in houses we have given them 
 on the estate. They wont come out, simply because 
 they say they want to have Saturday, besides Sunday, 
 to themselves. All my other men come out, and are 
 at work, and these fellows wont; and they throw 
 everything out of joint. Don't you think now, sir, 
 their pay ought to be stopped ? I think I shall stop 
 those men's pay for a week." 
 
 Such a question as that involved in this dispute 
 
DOMESTIC SERVANTS. 143 
 
 must Le left to owners and labourers to fight out. 
 Tlie men have a perfect right to their Saturday if they 
 please, and the overseer has equally a right to stop 
 payment. The wages of the negro might be raised if 
 he had the sense to organize regular strikes ; but 
 luckily for the estate he has not the brains, and in 
 the meantime the overseer thinks he is terriblv ill used 
 
 ft/ 
 
 because the idle black wants his Saturday to himself. 
 It is the same story with domestic servants at 
 Kingston, where, also, complaints of irregular pay- 
 ment are rife. A man's wages are instantly stopped 
 if the master's or mistress's ears are horrified by the 
 sound of a falling teapot, and he never receives all 
 the dollars w^hich in his own opinion he has fairly 
 worked for. He stays, in general, because he has 
 probably changed before, and not found that improve- 
 ment in his situation which he had anticipated. His 
 position, however, is in many respects different from 
 that of an English servant in similar circumstances, 
 for all food is so marvellously cheap that the change, 
 which would probably reduce the latter to starvation, 
 makes no material difference in the condition of the 
 former. Just look at the prices of the fruits and 
 yams ; and a yam is a thing that would take me an 
 hour to eat and stow away properly. 
 
144 THE BLACK FREEHOLDER. 
 
 ». d. 
 Yam, about a foot and a half lon^^, and thicker 
 
 than a man's fiat, for G 
 
 Bananas, a hand (12 pints), and a good lunch 3 
 
 Oranges, 1.^ doz 1^ 
 
 Limes, 24 U 
 
 Loaf of bread, 9 oz 1,^ 
 
 Salt fish in boxes, prepared (good) 4^ 
 
 Mangoes, 3 doz 1^ 
 
 Sugar Pine 6 
 
 Canes, length of 5 feet 1 
 
 Sugar, ^ pint 1^ 
 
 Beer, 1 bottle 1 
 
 Rum, 1 quart 1 3 
 
 Young Pig 4 3 
 
 If a man choose, lie can always earn eigliteenpence 
 before one o'cL ck. So satisfactory is the position of 
 the black freehold coffee-grower in some districts, 
 that I should not consider the island a failure if it 
 could be peopled by such as the best of them in 
 Manchester. The position of the black freeholder 
 who cultivates cane is not nearly so satisfactory. He 
 uses no manure, and the cane in a short time gets 
 weedy, scarce, and poor. The land becomes rapidly 
 worked out, and if he doesnot wish to impoverish the 
 ground, he moves on. Coffee cannot be grown in the 
 low grounds nearly as well as on the mountain sides ; 
 and it would be lamentable if the blacks were to get 
 
PROSPECTS OF THE ISLAND. 145 
 
 gradual possession of the plains (from the failure and 
 abandonment of the large estates), and should cut them 
 up into small, badly-cultivated properties. 
 
 Many of the whites say that the estates must be 
 abandoned sooner or later, if things go on as badly as 
 they have heretofore. Risings, too, they are con- 
 vinced, will occur again, and discontent will take away 
 the scanty labour which is all that many of them can 
 command. This, however, I do not believe. Any 
 fresh rising is not probable for the next forty years at 
 least, and under anew form of government affairs may 
 brighten rapidly. I do not anticipate, certainly, any 
 rapid intellectual improvement in the people of 
 Jamaica. Their progress in that respect will depend 
 on the opportunities which are given them ; but as 
 long as the present race in Jamaica remains, loMte, 
 brown, black must be the order of precedence. It will 
 take, I fear, several generations to put the mass of the 
 people on a higher level than that on which they 
 stand at present. Now that tlie House of Assembly 
 is gone, it is possible that their advancement may be 
 more rapid. I look upon the abolition of that body, 
 which acted as a clog on every good measure that was 
 proposed, as a turning-point in the history of the 
 colony. The inhabitants generally are delighted with 
 
146 APPLICATION Of FUNDS. 
 
 the news that in future tliey are to be ruled after the 
 manner of Trinidad, by a Government and Council 
 only ; and the only fear I have heard expressed is that 
 the new Government may not bt able to exercise de- 
 spotic power enough. The abolition of the House will 
 leave some salaries and Government payments to be 
 dealt with in other ways, and I hope that a more 
 liberal sum will henceforth be devoted to education. 
 
 There is much room for the better application of 
 funds. I see among the officers of the old House a 
 *' Black Eod," who, I suppose, must be a useless 
 functionary now. In the list of payments, the 
 ecclesiastical expenditure is put down at 29,305/. 
 Then the vestry boards, institutions I look upon as 
 very mischievous, take 4398/. for their clerks. Turn- 
 ing, on the other hand, to education grants, one finds 
 the noble sum of 34S5/. set down as the total spent 
 on what ought, as I think, to be the chief item of 
 expenditure. 30,000/, rather than 3000/, should be 
 given to schools. 
 
 It is almost inconceivable that so little should have 
 been done in the way of teaching the people, who, it 
 is no exaggeration to say, are lost in ignorance, hardly 
 knowing their right hand from their left. Scarcely 
 any of the black population can read ov write. To 
 
IGNORANCE OF THE NEGROES. 147 
 
 make a contract for work is, in their eyes, to "bind 
 themselves to slavery. When we went round the 
 east end of the island with the inspector of police, 
 that functionary paid his men at several of the 
 stations. In that select body of officers, the guar- 
 dians of the law, chosen specially for their honesty 
 and respectability, there was scarcely one who, when 
 he signed the receipt acknowledging payment, was 
 not under the necessity of affixing his mark, being 
 unable to write his name. 
 
 It is a curious circumstance with regard to contracts, 
 that the same idea as to the indignity supposed to 
 be involved in the act of signing them prevails in 
 Hayti. In that independent republic, the man who 
 signed any obligation binding him to labour for 
 another was supposed to subject himself temporarily 
 to a state of slavery, and he was deprived of such 
 political rights as he enjoyed. 
 
 The ignorance in Jamaica extends so far that, ex- 
 cept when he is addressed in the nigger patois, the 
 plainest language is not understood by the negro. 
 "When Sir Henry, the other day, issued a proclama- 
 tion, with the intention of giving the people some 
 idea of the plan of the new Government, and the 
 object it had chiefly in view, a man was asked if he 
 
 h'2 
 
148 A SCHOOL AT KINGSTON. 
 
 knew what the proclamation meant. " yes," he said, 
 " me know quite well. It means that the Queen beg 
 we pardon." 
 
 The planters themselves, it must be acknowledged, 
 do not seem to regard education as a panacea for the 
 evils of Jamaica. When talking with them they will 
 invariably tell you that the negroes who have some 
 education are always the worst, and that extra know- 
 ledge breeds extra dishonesty. Such a result, how- 
 ever, we know can only be exceptional, the conse- 
 quence of an imperfect system of tuition on an igno- 
 rant and distorted mind. All experience teaches us 
 that a well-conducted system of education, however 
 limited, tends invariably to elevate mankind, white or 
 coloured. 
 
 I visited a large school at Kingston, the master of 
 which, Mr. Gordon, seemed a very intelligent black. 
 The boys were mostly blacks, but there were many 
 coloured, and in the class I saw most of, only one 
 white boy. Mr. Gordon declared that he always 
 found the blacks fully as intelligent and quick as 
 the others, and in a very large class which I heard 
 examined in history, they certainly shouted out the 
 answers as quickly as any of their schoolmates. 
 
 They always act. At Lyssons were some Congo 
 
THE GREAT WANT OF JAMAICA. 149 
 
 "boys. They belonged to a set of negroes taken in a 
 slave ship brought to land at Jamaica, and indentured 
 to various estates. We made them talk a little in 
 Congo, translating phrases we told them to repeat. 
 They invariably gesticulated violently, often turning 
 round and talking with laudable energy to an imagi- 
 nary person. 
 
 Drunkenness one sees little of among the negroes. 
 Eeligion, of an excited kind, is very popular 
 among them. That they are really under its influence 
 can hardly be said, seeing how little eifect it has on 
 their daily conduct. During all the psalm-singing of 
 the revival meetings, many professedly pious negroes 
 put no restraint on themselves in the pursuit of the 
 less legitimate pleasures in which they are in the habit 
 of indulging. Education, in my opinion, is the great 
 want of Jamaica, and if a proper system were once 
 established, I should not despair of the island. They 
 are not a bad. people, but they want a good Govern- 
 ment, and that the House of Assembly has hitherto 
 denied them. The more intelligent inhabitants of 
 Jamaica are very anxious that Scotch and other emi- 
 grants should be induced to come out and take small 
 mountain properties. They say, " Here in our 
 mountains a man may do well and make money, while 
 
150 MANDEVILLE. 
 
 lie and his cliiklren may be perfectly healthy. Our 
 mists are as thick and damp, and the air is almost as cold 
 as any in Scotland, and if they came out they would 
 be the saving of us." But even if it were possible to 
 persuade them, I do not think it would be advisable. 
 Canada is so much nearer, and its climate is so much 
 more like that at home, that I do not think there is 
 any comparison between the two countries. I have 
 no doubt that in Jamaica im.migrants woukl do 
 well, but in the western states the chances are that 
 they would do far better ; and they are there among 
 their own kith and kin, and not in a tropical climate 
 and in the midst of a degraded race. 
 
 I stayed only a short time at Mandeville, but was 
 much pleased with what I saw of it. Mr. L. tells me 
 that he calculates that a man possessing ten acres 
 and a cottas^e is not taxed more than to the amount 
 of two or four pounds a year, while he makes thirty, 
 forty, or sometimes even fifty pounds from coffee alone. 
 
 During the time of the riots everybody in the 
 district was quiet. Near St. Jago I asked one of the 
 negroes to whom I spoke if he thought any of the 
 people near the place he lived in would have joined 
 the rioters. 
 
 " No, massa, no; me no tink sc." 
 
A NEGRO ESTIMATE OF NEGROES. 151 
 
 " You never heard talk about the rioters as if the 
 people sympathized with them ?" 
 
 ** Gracious, no, massa ; no one sympatize. Dem's 
 wicked men, de rebels. Bery wicked indeed, dey is. 
 People here very orderly, very orderly indeed," 
 v/ith an approving wag of the head. 
 
 " What would they have done if the rioters had 
 come here?" 
 
 " Oh, dey all sartin run into bush, and wait to see." 
 
 "Do you think none would hav^e stayed to resist?*' 
 
 " 'No, dey would all hab run away. No fighting, 
 massa- — no, no." 
 
 *' Well, but do you think they would not have 
 defended their masters at all?" 
 
 " Oh, massa, what could they do ? They could do 
 nothing." 
 
 ** But they had matchets, just as the rioters had." 
 
 •* Oh, massa, me no tink they could do anything. 
 Ko, brackman here are too great cowards. We'se 
 great cowards, massa. We no lift up hand. De 
 brack not like white pusson — he no spirit." 
 
 The man seemed quite happy under this conviction, 
 and I should say his estimate of his own people, and 
 what they would have done, is very accurate. 
 
152 
 
 CHAPTEE YII. 
 
 Cuba — A Midshipman — Santiago de Cuba — Country in the Neigh- 
 bourhood — Spanish Volante Carriage — Reckless Negro Postilion 
 — Our Hotel — Strict Regulations — Adventure cf a German in 
 Hayti — The Theatre — The Church — The Service and the 
 Preacher — Music in the Public Square — A Paradise for Smokers 
 — A Volante Drive into the Country — Bound Blacks and Slaves 
 — Conversation with an American Engineer — The " Fah Kee " 
 — Feelings in the Torrid and Temperate Zones — Swell in the 
 Caribbean Sea — Our Captain — His Opinion regarding the 
 Trent Business — Slavery in the South — Story of a Negro volun- 
 tarily returning to Bondage — Approach to New York — A Fog 
 at Sea — Fort Lafayette — The Narrows — Brooklyn — View of 
 New York — Steam Ferry-boat — General Aspect of the City — 
 Broadway — Tramways — Barnum's Museum. 
 
 TT^E are now at last in Cuba, having started from 
 Kingston in the French intercolonial steamer, 
 the Cardihe, a vessel that brought us here in a day 
 and a night. H. C. came to Kingston, and spent 
 the last evening with us. He was in great spirits, 
 and very much amused by the account he had received 
 of G.'s playing on the bagpipes. He is quite 
 charming. I was very sorry to say good-bye to him 
 at Port Eoyal. He came with us so far, when we 
 stopped for a moment to let him get into a canoe that 
 
SANTIAGO DE CUBA. 153 
 
 came alongside, and paddle off to tlie Duncan. 
 The French officers looked surprised to see anybody 
 so tiny in uniform. One of them came up to me, 
 and pointing to the canoe, and at the small thing 
 sitting in the stern, said inquiringly — 
 
 " He midship ? " 
 
 " Yes, midshipman," I said. 
 
 " Oh, midshipwr/;^," he repeated with a grin. It 
 looked almost as if he had left out the " man '' on 
 purpose. 
 
 At daybreak we found ourselves steering up a long, 
 narrow, and very tortuous inlet, at the head of which 
 is the town of Santiago de Cuba, or Cuba, as it is 
 often called ; a large place, containing, I am told, 
 forty thousand people, half of whom are Spanish, or 
 Spanish Creoles, and the other half black. The pro- 
 portion in the town of whites to blacks is about equal. 
 In the country the blacks are the most numerous. 
 
 Three Spanish men-of-war, a paddle steamer and 
 two screw corvettes, lying before the town, were firing 
 their morning guns as we anchored, and the soldiers' 
 bugles from the town were sounding the reveille. 
 The houses, which are on the crest and slopes of a 
 low hill, rise immediately above the harbour. The 
 country in the immediate neighbourhood is flat, but 
 
154 SPANISH VOLANTE. 
 
 soon rises abruptly into high hills, whose forms on 
 one side of the water are very fine. The safety of 
 the houses seems to be looked after vv^ith watchful, 
 jealous care here. The large windows are protected 
 by strong ironwork, in marked contrast to Jamaica, 
 where everything is left open. The buildings are of 
 brick, covered with stucco, which is usually painted a 
 deep cobalt blue or red and yellow, keeping up a 
 constant glare. The roof is always tiled, and looks 
 picturesque, but heavy. Verandahs are not turned 
 in general to the streets, which are much narrower 
 than in the English West Indian towns ; but here 
 and there is an overhanging piazza. Almost every 
 establishment has a court, and the large doors are left 
 open as in Italy, giving one glimpses of high, cool- 
 looking rooms within. The streets are simply 
 villainous, very steep in maj v places, and anything 
 but pleasant to the foou passenger, from the large 
 shapeless blocks of stone with which they are paved. 
 They have the advantage, however, over those of 
 Kingston and Port-au-Prince, that they are gas-lit. 
 
 The Spanish volante carriage, which is always to 
 be had for driving about, is indispensable here, for no 
 other carriage could get over the rough streets, and 
 take the daring leaps over ditches, &c., that this 
 
RECKLESS POSTILION. 155 
 
 machine accomplishes. Much attention is evidently 
 paid to the equipment of the postilion, who, besides 
 long jack boots, wears a costume on which a great 
 deal of finery is exhibited ; and although the carriage 
 itself is stuck with silver wherever it is possible, the 
 ornamentation of its conductor evidently forms the 
 main distinction between vehicles of this description 
 belonging to different classes of society. The wheels, 
 which are quite behind the little body of the carriage, 
 are enormous, and so widely placed that an upset is 
 almost an impossibility. This vehicle is drawn by 
 two horses, one of which only is in the shafts, and 
 bears the whole weight. The other, the near horse, 
 which is attached to the carriage by traces, is on the 
 outside, and ridden by the postilion, who holds its 
 companion by a leading rein. 
 
 We hired one of these volantes to take a drive 
 through the town. The postilion was a yorng black, 
 without exception the most reckless rider I have ever 
 had the pleasure of being driven by. We started at 
 a tremendous pace when near the bottom of a hilly 
 street, and drove furiously along the levels, and up 
 the opposite hills. After nearly upsetting a dignified 
 old nigger lad^^, who was sailing along chin in air, 
 with her long skirts training behind her, and quite 
 
156 OUR HOTEL. 
 
 without a tliouglit of the fl3'ing volante tearing along 
 towards her, we came to a dead stop by the near horse 
 falling with a crash, sending, at the same time, the 
 rider some way over its head. The latter, who 
 was soon on his feet, mounted again, and for 
 some time W3 rode on at a more furious pace than 
 ever. If the reckless postilion had determined to 
 provoke a second disaster, he could not have taken 
 more certain means to assure it ; and. accordingly the 
 horse in the shafts came down in his turn, cutting his 
 knees so severely, that it was impossible for him to 
 go on. We therefore got out of the volante, leaving 
 the negro to raise the poor brute, which he attempted 
 to do by labouring it unmercifully with his whip, 
 and walked home, resolving not to have a nigger to 
 take us about next time. 
 
 Our hotel is a building of one story, with two 
 courts. In the middle of the largest is an iron well, 
 with a cross upon it. The dining-room fronts a steep 
 street, leading down to the harbour. The waiting is 
 done by a Spaniard, who seems to be much the most 
 hard-working man in the house. There are slaves, 
 who cook and grin, and do a little of the business of 
 the establishment, but it does not seem to be much. 
 The house is very noisy, and pervaded by smells 
 
STRICT REGULATIONS. 157 
 
 which are anything but inviting — garlic, of course, 
 being predominant. The cooking, in ray opinion, is 
 abominable, as I suppose Spanish cooking generally 
 is to a stranger. A little girl (I am sorry to say, in 
 a complete state of nature) has made great friends 
 with me. She belongs to a woman who is boarding at 
 the house, and plays all day long with her companion, 
 a little black slave girl, in whose person decency is so 
 far respected that she has a dirty shirt to cover her. 
 I observe many of the negroes well dressed ; they are 
 probably those who have bought their freedom. The 
 mass, who are not free, are not well dressed, but far 
 from looking unhappy. They are the same cheerful, 
 grinning race which one sees everywhere in these 
 islands. 
 
 I had a little difficulty with James, the coloured 
 servant I took from Jamaica. He was not mentioned 
 in the passpoi-ts, and the Sp>aniards at once said that 
 he must not land. The poor ma." was therefore 
 compelled to remain in the vessel in the harbour. 
 The regulations are very strict. The landing and 
 carrying of arms are strictly prohibited. !N'o boats 
 are allowed to run the harbour after eleven o'clock. 
 A pass is given on landing, which one must present 
 when demanded, or be subject to a fine of ten dollars. 
 
158 THE THEATRE. 
 
 or fifteen days* Imprisonment, and so on. In fact, 
 one jealous safeguard succeeds another. 
 
 Among the company in the hotel is a Loulslanian, 
 who talks more hitterly of the war than any other 
 American who, in my hearing, has alluded to the 
 subject. Another is a German, who tells me a story 
 of a recent adventure of his in Hayti, that makes one 
 moderate one's ideas about the safety of travelling alone 
 in that country. He was on his way to Mexico, but 
 falling ill with dysentery when near Jacmel, went 
 ashore at that place for quiet — certainly an odd place 
 to choose for such a purpose, and by no means the 
 best for the restoration of health. When a little 
 recovered, he set out for Port-au-Prince with only a 
 guide, and when not two hours from Jacmel, was 
 stopped by a party who were going to rob him, but 
 hesitated on perceiving his menacing air, and finally 
 went off on his producing a twelve-barrelled revolver, 
 and declaring he would certainly use it if they ofiered 
 to touch him. 
 
 We went yesterday to the theatre. It is a large 
 building — larger than any theatre in London — with 
 capacious galleries, painted white, and supported by 
 posts of solid mahogany, beautifully polished. In 
 the upper gallery were whites and blacks, soldiers 
 
STALLS AND BOXES. 159 
 
 and free negroes, mixed indiscriminately together. 
 
 The women were on the opposite side ; for these 
 
 people assume the semblance of great delicacy — a 
 
 quality, however, which, if rumour does not belie 
 
 them, they exhibit only in some of its outward and 
 
 superficial aspects. The stalls, which extend to the 
 
 lower gallery, were filled by men only, the women 
 
 being in a gallery corresponding to our dress circle, 
 
 and in boxes at the sides. Some of these boxes had 
 
 gauze veils drawn in front, and were occupied by 
 
 people in mourning, who did not consider it comme il 
 
 faut to be seen at the theatre so soon after the death 
 
 of their relatives. As they were there, however, they 
 
 must doubtless have been very much bored by an 
 
 arrangement which not only prevented them from 
 
 bending forwards to get a good view of the stage, but 
 
 also rendered it impossible for them to see or be seen, 
 
 even with the aid of an opera-glass. The ladies in 
 
 the lower galleries, and in the uncovered boxes, 
 
 appeared to me pretty, though they had no colour in 
 
 the cheek, a feature of beauty which seems to be 
 
 peculiarly English ; for, except in the very young, it 
 
 is rarely seen on this side of the Atlantic, and is by 
 
 no means common even in the other nations of 
 
 Europe. But the absence of one characteristic of 
 
160 THE CHURCH. 
 
 female beauty was amply compensated for by the 
 presence of anotlier — those dark Spanish eyes, so 
 piercing and expressive. The Spanish beauties, how- 
 ever, looked very grave, as if in their opinion atten- 
 dance at the theatre was more a matter of business 
 than of pleasure. 
 
 The play had rather too much talking in it for me, 
 as I could not make out what was said ; but every 
 now and then came a song, decently well sung, which 
 brightened one up a little. It was, however, neither 
 the beauty of the singing nor the excellence of the 
 acting that kept me awake, but those tormentors, the 
 mosquitoes, which were very troublesome. There was 
 one amusing scene in a convent, when a music-master 
 was introduced to give lessons ; but as to me, it was 
 all pantomime. I did not stay to the last. 
 
 The church is a large and very ugly building, on the 
 top of the hill, and on one side of a pretty square, with 
 trees, a shady walk, and a fountain or two. As the 
 bells were clanging awfully, I walked in, and stood 
 watching men and women, of all classes and of all 
 colours, streaming in. Negroes and whites were 
 standing about the doors, along the walls, and on 
 the church floor, without any attempt at separation 
 according to colour. The prayers were repeated with 
 
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 161 
 
 the usual muttered droning, the responses were 
 chanted by the choristers, and there was all the 
 bowing, crossing, and censer-swinging which accom- 
 panies the service in every Roman Catholic churcb. 
 The pavement between the tall white*washed columns 
 was soon covered with women. For the rich wbo 
 were present, of whom there were very fev/ there 
 were chairs, but by far the greater number knelt on 
 the bare slabs. Some of the former had slaves, who 
 stood behind them, helping their mistresses to keep 
 their dresses in order when a more than usually strong 
 breeze swept through the sacred edifice. 
 
 A priest then appeared, and mounting the pulpit- 
 stairs, stood before the congregation. When he be- 
 gan to preach he put on a square-shaped cap, which 
 he had previously carried in his hand. Sometimes, 
 in the middle of the sermon, he paused, and, 
 removing his cap, turned towards the altar, and 
 prayed for a time, the whole congregation kneeling 
 till the cap and preaching were resumed. He was a 
 young man, with a fine voice, and I thought the lan- 
 guage sounded very impressive as it came from his 
 lips, the beauty of the Italian being in his tones 
 apparently blended with the majesty of the Spanish, 
 
1C2 A PARADISE FOR SMOKERS. 
 
 wliicli is, indeed, too fine a language for those who 
 now use it. 
 
 In the evening there was music in the square, and 
 we walked for some time among the crowds that kept 
 lazily moving about. The women, of whom there 
 were many, w^ere generally in black, or with black 
 lace shawls. The gentlemen w^ere all smoking, and 
 the air was full of the fumes of Havana tobacco. 
 The musicians, belonging to the band of one of the 
 Sj^anish line regiments, were short men, dressed in 
 light-blue tunics with red facings, and coarse whity- 
 brown trousers. 
 
 There never was such a paradise for smokers as 
 Santiago. Cigars that one could not get under sixpence 
 in London can be got here for a penny. I have 
 bought five hundred, for which I paid only 2/. 10*. 
 Everybody smokes, except the ladies. The negro 
 women are hardly ever without a cigar between their 
 pouting lips. 
 
 We had another volante drive — this time, as we 
 had a Spanish driver, with no bad results to the horses. 
 We drove some way into the country, along broad 
 roads, unmacadamised, but very good as long as there 
 is no rain to make them heavy. The usual hedge of 
 penguin bordeivd the road-side, and there was a 
 
BOUND BLACKS AND FREE NEGROES. 163 
 
 sugar-cane field every now and tlien; but we had no 
 time to see the works. The cabbage-palm and fine 
 mangoes were the only trees. Slavery, they say, may 
 be considered practically extinct here. It is now two 
 years and more since any slaves have been landed in 
 the country, and, as they believe, no one would dare 
 to renew the base traffic again. The last that were 
 brought were indentured for a short term of years 
 only : I think they said for not more than eight. 
 This is the same term for which the Chinese coo^ e, 
 of whom many are being imported, is bound to 
 serve. The condition of the bound blacks is said to 
 be worse than that of the slaves. The masters work 
 them harder, knowdng that they wdll have them for a 
 shorter time. Chinese coolies are becoming unpopular. 
 They are disliked for their temper, and their value is 
 uncertain, seeing that, when sulky, they are too ready 
 to hang themselves. 
 
 I had some talk with an American engineer, who 
 has been for some time on a plantation twenty miles 
 from this. The free negroes, who sometimes w^ork 
 on the plantation, he informs me, can earn two dollars 
 a day. They do not work with the slaves, but in a 
 separate gang, and at another piece of cane, cane- 
 cutting being the work to which they generally take. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 VOYAGE TO NEW YORK. 
 
 My informant furtlier told me that he had seen very 
 little flogging on the estate on which he was engaged — 
 not more than half a dozen being so punished during 
 the eight months of his residence on it. When they 
 were flogged, however, it was laid on pretty tight ; the 
 lash, a long flaxen thong, being applied so vigorously 
 that blood was drawn freely. Six hundred and forty 
 hogsheads were made on the estate, and about forty 
 negroes were employed on it. 
 
 I noticed a bit of copper ore on the road to-day, 
 and find there are fine mines within sight of the 
 town. Black vultures are very common, and there 
 are many guinea-fowls, black, grey, and white; 
 the white being often tame, and the grey in general 
 wild. 
 
 We have determined to proceed at once to America, 
 having learned that the journey to Cape Fuegos is very 
 disagreeable. The latter place, we are informed, is a 
 very bad one, and the steamer takes six days to perform 
 the voyage, as she stops at no end of small ports to take 
 in sugar, &c., rendering the passage under a hot sun 
 very tedious. Finding a goo'^ American steamer, the 
 Tail Kee, proceeding to New York almost immediately, 
 we shall go by her. The voyage to New York is only 
 six days, and after w^e have been thera, we intend, 
 
ABOMINABLE WEATHER. 105 
 
 perhaps, to take our course down the Mississippi, and 
 up to Virginia through tlie Southern States. 
 
 I was sorry to miss Havana, and the chance of 
 seeing a littie of the slavery here. I regretted, above 
 all, that it was out of my power to see the grave of 
 Columbus, but it could not be helped. 
 
 In the evening we started for the cold seas of the 
 Xorthern States. What a blessing we felt it would 
 be to get another whiff of a good cold north-easter ! 
 One is sensible of one's energy slowly oozing out at the 
 finger-ends in this torrid region. — indeed, to be comfort- 
 able in it one must possess some of the qualities of the 
 salamander. During the last few da3's I sometimes 
 felt as if I should have liked to be packed up in ice, 
 as the salmon are when sent to Australia. It was 
 difficult to realize that we should be in wintry w^eather 
 again in five days. 
 
 We were longer, however, on the voyage than we ex- 
 pected, the weather was so abominable. We left San- 
 tiago on the evening of the 19th. The moon rose 
 as we got clear of the narrow entrance, when we were 
 challenged by sentries below the old fort on the hill, 
 and steamed out into the Caribbean Sea, in which 
 there was a heavy swell, causing us to pitch a good 
 deal. The sky, however, was clear, and we flattered 
 
166 DIFFERENCE OF TEMPERATURE. 
 
 ourselves that we should have good weather; but, 
 alas ! the promise held good only for a da}^ and a half, 
 after which we were constantly knocked about in a 
 very nasty sea. The vessel was luckily a good sea- 
 boat, having been built for the China trade. During 
 the war she was taken up by the government, and 
 turned into a gun-boat, in which capacity she lay off 
 Charleston and other Southern j^orts on the look- 
 out for blockade-runners, her big guns being ranged 
 all along the space where the cabins now are. How 
 the}'' ever expected to catch a blockade-runner I do 
 not know. I should not the least mind having her 
 in chase of me if I wanted to get into Ch^.rleston. 
 She never made more than eight knots on the voyage, 
 and often, when we were tossing about, only two or 
 three. Our worst day was when we passed out of 
 the blue waters of the gulf-stream into that part of 
 the sea whose green colour showed that we were in 
 soundings off Cape Hatteras. The current running 
 up against a wind at the rate of eight knots, kicks 
 up a heavy sea along the borders of the great 
 stream. 
 
 The difference of temperature was very great. In 
 winter the water hareabouts 's often at 40° 
 Fahr., while in the stream it is at 72°. Our 
 
CREOLE CAPTAIN. 1G7 
 
 vessel was guided from a steerinsr-l^ox near the bow, 
 instead of at the stern. We were laden with hogs- 
 heads of sugar, and a disagreeable sugar " reek " came 
 up from the hold when there was no wind to blow it 
 astern. One could almost fancy himself in a boiling- 
 house. We had, luckily, but few passengers, and 
 were comfortable enough, the cold being very refresh- 
 ing. A large right wliale came up to look at us yes- 
 terday, but stayed only a short time, and we were 
 alone most of the voyage. Only one or two ships 
 were seen : one, with the union Jack flying, a barque, 
 laden, as the captain supposed, with copper for Swan- 
 sea. We looked through the telescope for her name, 
 and, to my astonishment, it was the Duchess of 
 Sutherland. I was so pleased that I blessed the ship 
 loudly as she sailed away gracefully on her homeward 
 voyage. 
 
 Our captain is a fine old man, a Creole from New 
 Orleans, but has lived most of his life at sea, and a 
 good deal in the North. About the war and slavery 
 he was very impartial, taking the line of State rights, 
 but saying thai the South ought to have argued it 
 out in Congress, and not on the battle-field. He is 
 still sore about the Trent business, which one would 
 hav(3 supposed he would have been able to g^^t over by 
 
ICS SLAVES IN THE SOUTHERN STATES. 
 
 tliis time. He says that when once Seward Lad 
 allowed Welles' dispatch, approving of "VVilkes' con- 
 duct, to appear, the Southern commissioners ought to 
 have been kept. " It was a national disgrace, that 
 giving them up, sir. "VVe were in the position of the 
 man who wanted to sell his horse, and told another 
 that he had a horse to sell, eighteen hands high. 
 "When the intending purchaser came to the miirket, 
 he looked at the horse, and said, ' Why, you told me 
 that horse was eighteen hands high.' ' Xo, I didn't,' 
 says the other. ' Yes, you did, that's a fact.' ' Well, 
 if I did say so, he is eighteen hands. Yes, sir, he is 
 so.' That was our position. Having once said that 
 it was right, we ought to have sworn that it was 
 legal, and that kept they should be." 
 
 Talking of the slaves in the Southern States, he 
 said, "After all, the people that treated them best 
 were their masters ; and many a slave loved his master 
 too. There's one, I remember, ran away from an 
 estate in the Cr^rolinas. When he got safely to one 
 of the free States, he stayed and lived there for some 
 time. He made a little monev too ; but, after some 
 years, he thought he'd like to go home again, and he 
 sent and asked his master if he would flog him, sup- 
 posing he returned. ' No,' said his master ; and the 
 
RETURNING TO BONDAGE. 109 
 
 man returned. He had been perfectly free, and he 
 returned ol his own accord into servitude. He worked 
 well, and earned money by his labour in spare hours, 
 and his master proposed that he should buy his 
 freedom. 
 
 " * No, massa ; not money 'nuff.' 
 
 " * Well, you have been a good man ; suppose you 
 pay half your price, and be half-owner of your 
 labour ?' 
 
 " The man did so, putting down, after a little hesi- 
 tation, a good round sum. After some time passed 
 in this peculiar relation to his master, the negro came 
 back, saying lie did not want this half-freedom, but 
 would prefer to have his dollars with complete servi- 
 tude. The money accordingly was returned, and the 
 man became again, without reservation, his master's 
 property. I saw him when my ship was at a port 
 near the estate, and asked him why he who, I had 
 heard, was such a good man, had worked so well 
 since his return, and might no doubt have been 
 soon able to purchase his entire freedom, had acted 
 in a manner that seemed so unaccountable ? 
 
 " ' Well, massa,' he said, leaning confidentially 
 towards me, and speaking low, with the air of a man 
 expressing his opinion on some point important in a 
 
170 FORT LAFAYETTE. 
 
 commercial sense to him, 'well, massa, dis de reason: 
 nigger property d d bad property, massa.' " 
 
 We touched at the Bahamas in coming up the coast, 
 but did not land. The island we saw was so low, 
 that it looked as if a high sea must wash over it. 
 AVe expected to reach New York early the follo\ving 
 morning. 
 
 A thick fog came on as we neared the entrance to 
 New York Bay, and we were stopped at last in the 
 most provoking way within five hours of the city. 
 The fooj lifted a little after we had been waitinjj for 
 an hour or two, blowing hideous steam whistles, and 
 making as much noise as possible, which was useless 
 enough, as no other vessel was likely to run up the 
 narrow channel in such a yellow darkness. We went 
 on at last, however, steaming slowly up the muddy 
 waters, every now and then catching a glimpse of the 
 masts of some vessel that, more cautious than our- 
 selves, preferred waiting for clear weather. 
 
 " There's Fort Lafayette," some one said ; and we 
 saw the Bastille of America looming through, the haze, 
 a lumpy, casemated fort, where a very few wretched 
 Confederates remain imprisoned. We were now pass- 
 ing the Narrows, and if the fog had lifted, could have 
 seen the frowning rows of the batteries on each side. 
 
STEAM FERRY-BOATS. 171 
 
 The view of New York from the sea we did not get ; 
 but the air was clear near the town, and we watched 
 throu'^h a drizzling rain the villas, factories, and ship- 
 yards of Brooklyn, the part of New York separated 
 from the city by the east river, a piece of water as 
 broad as the Thames at Greenwich. 
 
 The city, immediately opposite to us, is low-lying, 
 and hidden behind a dense hedge of masts belonging 
 to ships moored alongside the innumerable wharfs. 
 Steam ferry-boats darted perpetually in and out of 
 this hedge, carrying horses, carriages, and men. Our 
 carriage was driven on board one of these boats, and 
 secured in a high-covered passage in the middle, 
 ajDpropriated to such vehicles, there being another for 
 carts and drays. The sides were occupied by ladies* 
 and gentlemen's cabins. The whole machine is guided 
 from a wheel-house on the top, and the passage is 
 made with wonderful speed. 
 
 Eeally one feels as if one had leaped a century 
 coming here from the tropics. Instead of the lazy, 
 half-alive movements we had been accustomed to for 
 a month or two, there was a frantic haste and hurry, 
 a general movement and bustle, that told of an eager 
 life and dollar-scramble refreshing to witness. The 
 town is an odd mixture of all sorts of European towns, 
 
172 BROADWAY. 
 
 but unlike any one of them. The chief character of 
 the houses is height, and a certain degree of stateliness, 
 combined with all th^ vulgarity inseparable from 
 large staring name-boards and advertisements. The 
 prevailing colours are red and green. The houses are 
 generally built of red brick, though a fine dark-red free- 
 stone is employed in the erection of the best dwellings, 
 and the windows have green jalousies thrown open on 
 each side, ready for the heats of summer. The general 
 effect is to me very imposing. There are trees at the 
 side of every street, and, as there have been no 
 revolutions to cut them down for barricades, they 
 have been allowed to grow higher than in Paris. 
 
 Broadway is certainly very handsome. The churches 
 are generally fine buildings, and many of the hotels 
 and houses belonging to large firms are splendid 
 blocks, with tier upon tier of windows, to the height 
 of five^ and sometimes six stories. The pav^ements 
 are very bad, generally made of round stones, like the 
 old French chaussee. There are no cabs, but tramway 
 omnibuses traverse the city in every direction, even in 
 the most out-of-the-way-looking streets, and the 
 wheels of all other carriages are being perpetually dis- 
 located by havi. to cross the tramways. I w^onder 
 that more do not sufier in the same way, considering 
 
barnum's museum. 173 
 
 the very delicately-built gigs one sees in the streets. 
 Like an eight-oar race-boat, they seem built entirely 
 for speed, the wheels being so light that they look 
 like the work of spiders. Each spoke, however, is of 
 tough hickory, and they are said to last very welh 
 
 The most prominent establishment of any descrip- 
 tion in Broadway is, perhaps, Barnum's museum, which 
 is rendered attractive by the immense flags floatingbefore 
 it, while the wonders which it contains are advertised in 
 most shop-windows. It was the first show-place we 
 went to in New York ; but, as might have been ex- 
 pected, except a seal, a menagerie, and an albino, there 
 was nothing of a very novel or surprising nature to 
 see. The museum was pretty full of people, to whom 
 some fierce prints of the battles fought during the recent 
 revolutionary struggle seemed the chief attraction. 
 In these works of art the stars and bars were alwaj's 
 to be seen flying ignominiously in the right-hand 
 corner of the picture, while in the left the stars and 
 stripes v/ere being borne in triumphantly over the 
 bodies of Confederates, bayoneted by the victorious 
 soldiers of the Union, a group of whose generals, in 
 the centre, were represented twisting their necks 
 into the most unnatural position, that the spectators 
 mijTjht have a full view of their countenances. The 
 
174 VIEW FROM THE TOP W7 l)OWS. 
 
 museum is rather a humbug; bui, it is only just "re- 
 constructed," as the first was 1: urnt down. I was not 
 sorry I went up, however, as we got a very good 
 view of the town from one of the top windows. A 
 gorgeous crimson sunset lit up the sky above Long 
 Island, and bathed aU the housetops in the city in a 
 dazzling blaze of gold. 
 
175 
 
 CHAPTEE YIII. 
 
 Activity of the People — Question of the Fishery — The Civil Rights 
 Bill — The Feni; ^s — Reports circulated by the , Kcio York 
 Herald — Fenianism among AVaiters — Devotion of the Lower 
 Irish to the Cause — The Roberts and O'Mahoney Sections — 
 Civil Rights and Freedmen's Bureau Bill — Pohcy of the Presi- 
 dent — Trial of Davis — Visit to the Dunderherfj — Construction 
 of the Vessel — ^American Workmanship — Iron-clads sent round 
 to the Pacific — Proposal of a Patriotic Member of Congress — 
 "Wounded Soldiers — Germans in New York — Excitement caused 
 by the Arrival of a Pest-ship — American Railway Travelling — 
 Appearance of the Passengers — Railway Literature — Raymond 
 and the Herald — Extent of New York — The Rocks near the 
 City — Small Towns .ind "Wooden Houses — Boston — Mfcde a 
 Member of the Union Club — The Somerset — ^Longfellow's 
 Bridge over the River Charles — Cambridge University — Our 
 Cordial Reception by American Students — Boat Races on the 
 River — The Powellian Club — Agassiz — Debate at the State 
 House — View from the Balcony- — The Massachusetts Regiment 
 — Longfellow — A Lecture by Emerson. 
 
 rpHE weather was very cold, but the warmth with 
 which we were received here by all whom we 
 knew compensated for its severity in that respect. 
 With the exception of senators, Congress, and their 
 satellites, the town was at home, its entire population, 
 with that active energy for which they are renowned, 
 
176 RUMOURS RESPECTING THE FENIANS. 
 
 dally busy in the pursuit of wealth, pleasure, and 
 excitement. 
 
 People here, whom T found a little anxious about the 
 fisheries, seem to think that we should yield, and I am 
 of opinion we ought to do so. I do not like that barring 
 of the sea. There is to be a great row about the 
 Civil Eights Bill. 
 
 The newspapers in New York were very busy dis- 
 cussing the proceedings, intentions, and prospects of 
 the Fenians. The Herald w^as every day giving circu- 
 lation to rumours more or less threatening, and encou- 
 raging them with predictions of certain success in 
 whatever they should undertake. The previous week 
 it had positively announced that an expedition of five 
 thousand five hundred men had started for the Ber- 
 mudas. The next day an island in the Bay of Fundy 
 was said to be their destination, and from all parts of 
 the land came accounts of mass meetings, in which 
 there was no end of speechifying and of big talk. 
 Tlie streets were placarded, " Eevolution in Ireland," 
 &c. ; and Stephens, to whom a great reception was to 
 be accorded, was anxiously looked for every day. The 
 more rational Americans laughed at the whole afiair, 
 many of them being of opinion that after O'Manoney 
 had collected aU the money he could get, nothing 
 
FENIAN WAITERS. 177 
 
 would be done, and the whole affair would be allowed 
 to end in smoke. I feared, however, they would 
 attempt something, if only to justify their words, and 
 be able to go on agitating. There was a report one 
 day that a band had gone to Eastport. The enterprise 
 they had in view was most likely a foolish incursion 
 into some unprotected corner of Canada. 
 
 The earnestness of a great number could not be 
 doubted. One heard of women and poor men giving 
 almost all they had towards the Fenian funds. They 
 had collected a great deal of money, and were said 
 to have enough to fit up privateers that might 
 be very troublesome to our shipping. All the 
 waiters who w^ere Irishmen (and most of them in New 
 York are Paddies), in this hotel were Fenians. An 
 English waiter discoursed eloquently to me of the way 
 in which, however poor they might be, they always 
 paid their subscription to the funds. These men be- 
 longed to the Eoberts side. I do not know that the 
 division of the Fenians into the Eoberts and O'Ma- 
 honey sections will be productive of any advantage 
 to us. It is rather likely to cause a spirit of rivaby 
 between the tw^o sections, a contest not only 
 as to w4io shall get most money, but who shall 
 strike the quickest blow. After all their vapouring 
 
 N 
 
178 CIVIL RIGHTS BILL. 
 
 they are " bound to do something ;" and if it be 
 only to break their heads against Canadian foiiifica- 
 tions, I think they will make the attempt. 
 
 "We heard, while in New York, that in spite of the 
 President's veto, the Civil Rights Bill, which gives 
 all privileges, except the suffrage, to the freedmen, had 
 passed. I do not see anything in the bill to justify 
 the violent talk against its provisions that one reads 
 in the ultra anti-Radical newspapers. Johnson's dis- 
 like of assuming unconstitutional power, and of the 
 over-centralization of the Government, does him all 
 honour. The protection the North wishes to give the 
 freedmen is, in my opinion, only the fulfilment of a 
 sacred duty, to which it was doubly bound by its 
 conduct in giving immediate emancipation to the 
 blacks, and by the help the blacks afforded it in pre- 
 serving the Union. The President had expressed his 
 opinion that the Freedmen's Bureau Bill, as it then 
 stood, was sufficient for the protection of the blacks, 
 and in the veto of the Civil Eights Bill showed his 
 hostility to the spirit, only too evidently evinced by 
 many in the North, to favour the freedmen at the ex- 
 pense, or even abasement, of the Southerners. " Give 
 Quashie his rights" is, no doubt, an amiable cry ; but 
 when one finds that this new-born zeal for the negro 
 
POLICY OF THE PRESIDENT. 179 
 
 is merely a pretext by which they seek to cover their 
 determination to humble their prostrate enemies, our 
 admiration of the patriotism displayed by the North 
 must be very much qualified. 
 
 The policy of the President I considered one cal- 
 culated to reconcile the South, and induce its population 
 to join him hand and heart in the reconstruction of 
 the country. There was a strong feeling in his 
 favour, and public opinion was sure, ere long, to back 
 him up in his wish to see the States of the South again 
 represented at Washington. All accounts from the 
 Secession States agreed in their statements that the 
 people were willing to do what they could in. their 
 desire to promote the common good. Their fortunes 
 were gone, and they were manfully trying to recover 
 the position which they had lost. Semmes was to go 
 his ways — a fresh proof of the clemency that does 
 such honour to the President's policy. They still 
 talked of the trial of Davis ; but no one seemed to 
 know when it was to be, and they said that he was to 
 be allowed more liberty. The longer action is delayed, 
 the more unlikely is it that anything will be done 
 against him. 
 
 Communication was much broken up while we were 
 in New York, owing to the state of the railways. 
 
 n2 
 
tt ^TT»TT>T,T,«T,T,0 " 
 
 180 THE "dUNDERBERG. 
 
 Althongli tlie post from New Orleans ought to reach 
 New York in four or five days, it took eight or nine. 
 The Mississippi steam-boats were said to be abominable, 
 all worn out, and not replaced since Ihe war, when 
 most of the good ones were burnt or used up. 
 
 Sir Edward Cunard called, and we went with hira 
 to see the Dunderherg, one of the newiron-clads build- 
 ing for the Government in a private ship-yard. All 
 was quiet when we arrived. The place was deserted, 
 and not a hammer was lifted on any of the ships in 
 preparation. We found on inquiry that the men were 
 on strike for eight instead of ten hours of work, to 
 which they had lately been accustomed. I was not 
 sorry that we were enabled to see all that was being 
 done without having our ears stunned by that per- 
 petual clang of hammers to which one must generally 
 submit when one desires to witness the process of ship- 
 building. 
 
 The Bunderherg was afloat in a dock, her stem pro- 
 jecting into the river. She was nearly completed, 
 only a few plates yet requiring to be fixed. She is a 
 hideous monster to look at. Imagine a long, low, 
 raft-looking hull, only a few feet above the water, but 
 rising gently near the bow, and then sloping steeply 
 down again into a long, plough-shaped stern. This 
 
HER CONSTRUCTION. ISl 
 
 Ugly nose is composed of fifty feet of solid metal. On 
 the middle of the hull rises tiie armour protecting the 
 battery — a long, low pent-house, about seven or eight 
 feet high, that looks as if made of solid iron, pierced 
 with narrow port -holes, eight or nine on each broad- 
 side, the walls sloping back at a sharp angle to throw 
 off shot, and in the middle of the vessel forming a 
 sharp angle with the sloping sides of the hull. At 
 bow and stern the battery walls leave the side, and are 
 rounded oif, so that two or three port-holes look out 
 upon the long, raft-like stern, and on the platform at 
 the bow and the great ram. An immense smoke- 
 stack and two masts on the pent-house show that the 
 monster is meant for a ship. The plates on the hull 
 are three and a half inches thick, and there are six or 
 seven feet of timber behind. 
 
 The batteries consist of armour-plates five inches 
 thick, set perpendicularly against the slanting oak and 
 pine wall, which is th^ee and seven feet thick. The 
 plates, which extend from top to bottom of the wall, 
 are thickly pierced with holes for rivets, and the join- 
 ing is anything but neat. The plates seem to have 
 been taken out of the mould, and clapped on the 
 battery's walls without any attempt to smooth the 
 sides so that they might fit closely. In some parts 
 
182 AMERICAN IRON-CLADS. 
 
 tlie chinks between the armour-plates are so wide 
 that a man could almost stick his finger into them. 
 There is an utter want of the polish that is so 
 conspicuous about English work. All seems to be 
 done on the rough-and-ready plan. Where we should 
 finish up a bit of timber with a carefully- selected piece 
 of oak, they put a piece of deal. It is the same with 
 the engines. The extreme finish of fine work is 
 wanting. The armament of the Bunderherg, which is 
 to be very heavy, was not yet on board. She is 
 steered from the battery, and the screw, completely 
 concealed, is placed within some feet of the stern. 
 The officers* cabins, which are in the low part of the 
 hull aft, must be beneath the water line, but looked 
 comfortable, and tolerably well lighted. The vessel 
 would be an ugly customer, and although much larger 
 than the monitors, she would be a small mark com- 
 pared with the gigantic broadsides of England and 
 France. 
 
 The Americans speak very well of the sea-going 
 qualities of some of their iron-clads, one of which has 
 gone to Eio Janeiro, and behaved very well on the 
 passage ; and they talk of sending a monitor, or one 
 of the vessels of the Bunderherg or Ironsides class, 
 round the Pacific. Much amusement has been caused 
 
WOUNDED SOLDIERS. 183 
 
 by the proposal of some patriotic member of Congress 
 that an American iron-chid should be sent over to 
 Paris, on the conditions that the Magenta or Solferino 
 should be allowed to fire four or five shots at the 
 stranger, and that the latter should be permitted to 
 return one. 
 
 I was surprised to see so few wounded men in the 
 streets — indeed, I am not sure that I saw any. The 
 only thing that reminded me of the many wounded 
 who, after the late war, must be scattered over the 
 country, was the large number of advertisements of 
 good wooden legs and arms. Very few soldiers, how- 
 ever, were to be seen in the streets, and one met only 
 every now and then spare men, with shaven and 
 strongly-marked jaw, and short moustache, whose 
 French kepi and long grey-blue coat, exactly the 
 colour of our hospital uniform, and often very old and 
 shabby, told that they were soldiers. Compared with 
 European troops they looked very untidy. The offi- 
 cers, however, had a better appearance. 
 
 The Germans are in great force in New York. 
 Their names are widely sprinkled over the shop doors ; 
 and squat German figures, with their usual lank hair, 
 sw- 01 in the streets, Wiq Lager-Bier saloons, and the 
 Bestaurants, At a German barber's one day I heard 
 
184 AMERICAN RAILWAY TRAVELLING. 
 
 the most violent abuse of Engkiid, the reason for 
 this outburst of temper being the arrival of a shipload 
 of immigrants at Halifax with cholera on board. 
 Though the ship had sailed from Liverpool, most of 
 the immigrants came from Germany, of which fact I 
 ventured to remind the angry barbers, who never- 
 theless cried out against the dirtiness of Englishmen, 
 to which they chose to attribute the outbreak of the 
 disease. The arrival of this pest-ship threw the 
 Americans into a perfect state of consternation, espe- 
 cially as the possible advent of cholera had been 
 previously regarded with considerable alarm ; and 
 quarantine was strictly enforced all along the Gulf 
 ports on vessels from the West Indies. 
 
 We set off on the 10th April for Boston. Our first 
 experience of American railway travelling w^as very 
 pleasant and entertaining after all the accounts we 
 had read of its discomforts and bothers. We started 
 early in the morning, not under the most propitious 
 auspices, for at first the journey seemed likely to be 
 comfortle«5s enough. The first car we tried to get a 
 seat in was perfectly crammed with people, and we 
 walked up and down between the thickly-packed rows 
 of passengers without finding so much as a square inch 
 on which to sit. The conductor, however, at last took 
 
THE " cars'* and passengers. 185 
 
 pity on us, and we were allowed to go into another of 
 the long travelling corridors, which was only beginning 
 to be filled. The passengers looked most respectable 
 people, and I saw as little spitting, or anj^thing unusual 
 and disagreeable in their behaviour, as one would in 
 similar society in England. One has heard so much 
 of American peculiarities from writers who like to 
 harp upon every little angularity they may either 
 have seen or imagined they have seen, that one is sur- 
 prised to observe how much the Americans resemble 
 other folks. 
 
 .The seats, on each of which there is room for two 
 persons, are arranged like pews in a chm-ch, one close 
 behind another, with a passage down the middle. 
 There is less noise than on English railways, owing, I 
 suppose, to there being fewer wheels ; each of these 
 big cars, holding fifty or sixty people, having only 
 four wheels, two quite in front, and the others at the 
 other end. In the interior are a stove and good 
 lamps ; and boys go about with newspapers, apples, 
 oranges, and books, the latter generally novels by 
 English authors, reprinted, magazine shape, in America, 
 with paper cover and double columns. Mrs. H. 
 Wood's novels seem very popular, but all the latest 
 English works of fiction are to be had. The news- 
 
186 NEWSPAPERS. 
 
 papers have a great trade, particularly the Neic York 
 Herald, which unfortunately appears to be the most 
 read. Other journals, however, are gaining ground, 
 such as Raymond's paper, the Neto York Times. 
 Raymond was a helper of Greeley in the Tribune^ 
 but has since set up for himself. An article in the 
 North American Revieic refers the popularity of the 
 Herald entirely to the pains that paper takes in 
 getting new^s, and to the sensational manner in which 
 it parades them. Every circumstance of interest 
 regarding the Fenian movement is daily chronicled in 
 long columns, headed in capitals very black and thick. 
 If a British vessel is fitting out to be sent to the 
 fishery banks, the Herald has an article headed, pro- 
 bably, " The American fishermen to be kept out by 
 force ;" " British men-of-war preparing." Men talk 
 of their contempt for the paper, but at the next station 
 they buy it. 
 
 The cars are taken by horses along the streets till 
 outside of the town, where an engine, with wide- 
 shaped funnel, and grating to clear the line in front, 
 is hitched on, and goes tearing aw^ay at from thirty to 
 forty miles an hour. The city stretches over an 
 immense space of ground. All around the suburbs 
 rise the wooden shanties and hovels of the poor Irish, 
 
APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. 187 
 
 the " mean whites " of the North. Detached huild- 
 ings, generally of wood, dot the country, which looked 
 bare and naked. There were no leaves or even buds 
 on the trees, and but for the stunted growth of birch 
 and hemlock spruce in many places, the land looked as 
 bare as when the glaciers left it. Their marks are 
 everywhere. In and about New York each rock is 
 scraped by ice- Huge boulders and little boulders lie 
 scattered confusedly over every brown ridge. The 
 blocks near the wayside about the towns have been 
 appropriated by quack doctors, and there is hardly a 
 rounded rock near the railway that has not " planta- 
 tion bitters," or the name of some other pleasant 
 drink, inscribed upon it in great white letters. I 
 observed few enclosures ; but such as I saw consisted 
 generally of a stout timber fence or stone dyke that 
 ran by the side of a ploughed ridge or hollow. The 
 soil generally appeared far from rich. "We saw no 
 high hills, but we crossed several great rivers. 
 
 We did not stop often. At Hartford, famous for 
 its revolvers, and Springfield for its rifles, we were 
 allowed time to get refreshments and look about a 
 little. Bricks vanish in these s lall towns, and timber 
 is used in all the houses. Such elaborate wooden 
 buildings we know nothing of. They are warm and 
 
188 
 
 BOSTON. 
 
 comfortable, it is said, even in tlie coldest weather. 
 They look very neat, the closely-lapping boards being 
 painted white. The windows have all green jalousie 
 shutters, as on the continent of Europe. The 
 edifices themselves are often much spoiled by a pre- 
 tentious Greek portico, all of wood, with little wooden 
 Doric pillars, that are anything but what Doric pillars 
 should be. The streets are adorned with rows of 
 trees. There is no railing or obstruction of any kind 
 to prevent children being run over by passing trains. 
 Perhaps the noise the engine bell and the whistle 
 make is enough to scare them ; but one cannot help 
 feeling that accidents would be daily occurrences if 
 trains rushed suddenly through English villages, and 
 that infant schools would be cut to pieces. 
 
 I was thed enough of the uninteresting country by 
 the time we arrived at Boston. Massachusetts is not 
 a garden, and it is perhaps owing to the poverty of 
 the soil that its men have been so hard-working, and 
 have obtained so much influence throughout the 
 States, 
 
 I was surprised to find Boston so large a town. It 
 has grown greatly during the last thirty years. The 
 Fremont Hotel, at which we established ourselves, is 
 a rambling, huge estabhshment, where one must, as 
 
THE UNION OLUB 189 
 
 usual in American hotels, ru-^ ' alf a mile to get whiit 
 one wants. 
 
 Early on the morning after my arrival, Mr. 
 Palfrey came to see me. I am afraid he had to wait 
 ten minutes before I came down, as T was very 
 sleepy after the journey. I found him down-stairs 
 with Everett. He asked me to breakfast with 
 him at the club, and was most cordial in his greeting 
 and welcome to America, inquiring much about all 
 whom he knew in England. He was busy getting ready 
 and publishing a short digest of his great " History of 
 New England." He did not stay long, and we 
 went with E. to the Union Club to have our names 
 written down in the books. This makes one a member 
 for a short space of time. It is a delightful " institoo- 
 shun," this, of letting strangers be members of clubs 
 for a short time. 
 
 The Union Club has five hundred members, and 
 very pleasant rooms for reading and dining. There is 
 another, the Somerset, to which we were also admitted — 
 an old Conservative club, too democratic for some of 
 the hot Republicans of Boston, who, rather in antago- 
 nism to the Somerset, formed the Union Club 
 when the war broke out. The English papers and 
 magazines are to be had at both clubs, and they 
 
190 BRIDGE OVER THE CHARLES RIVER. 
 
 seemed to be quite as eagerly read as the American 
 papers. 
 
 We took the street cars to Cambridge, passing 
 over the Charles river by the Longfellow bridge, 
 which is not the picturesque old timber structure that 
 illustrators of Longfellow suppose it to be. Indeed, 
 the only thing that reminds one of the poem by the 
 great American bard in which it is alluded to is the 
 odour of brine from the ocean, which is very percep- 
 tible while crossing it. It is a broad roadway, 
 about a quarter of a mile in length, supported on 
 piles, lighted with gas, and with the tramway cars 
 constantly hurrying over it. It is a great, unpictu- 
 resque bridge, and none but Longfellow could have 
 struck poetry out of anything so prosaic to ordinary 
 mortals. At high tide the water is deep beneath it, but 
 at ebb a muddy flat is exposed to the eye of the 
 gazer. 
 
 The red-brick blocks of Boston rise on each side of 
 the broad river, as if resting on it. There is no 
 crowd of shipping as at New York, and the view of 
 the houses and streets is unobstructed. A tall grey 
 shaft marks Bunker's Hill. s 
 
 On the other side we passed through long streets 
 of wooden houses. The road was invariably lined 
 
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY. 191 
 
 witli trees, mostly plane or American elm. Each tree 
 had lately been painted round with a belt of tar a few 
 feet from the ground, in the hope of preventing the 
 canker-worm, as they call a small green caterpillar, 
 from climbing up it, and committing great ravages 
 among jt its foliage. These insects have been quite a 
 plague during the last few years ; and the tar belts, 
 it is certain, can only prove a partial remedy, for as 
 the males can fly, it will be impossible to keep them 
 from the trees, though the wingless females, it is to 
 be hoped, may be detained below. 
 
 In a short time the car stopped, and we found our- 
 selves in a more open part of the town, near several 
 brick barrack-like houses, three or four of which were 
 detached, and all half hidden by the trees. Opposite 
 to us was a chapel built of stone, and on our left was 
 another stone building of greater pretension, which 
 we found to be the museum. " We'll see the dons 
 afterwards, but I'll show you some of the men's rooms 
 first," Everett said ; and he ran up several flights of 
 rickety wooden stairs, only to find them spotted with 
 the name of the occupant on a card outside. A 
 student we met, after some time, told us that the 
 Yale University musical people had come down to 
 meet the Harvard Musical Club, and that they were 
 
192 BOAT RACES. 
 
 singing in a house close by. Everett went in, but 
 soon re-f ppeared, and invited us to follow him. The 
 room 'vas rowded \v4th students, who were scarcely 
 visible through the clouds of tobacco smoke which, 
 as they puffed away, were every moment becoming 
 denser. On a table was a great dehris, that showed 
 dinner was over. Everett made a short speech, 
 telling them we were Englishmen of Old Cambridge, 
 an announcement which was received with much 
 clapping of hands by way of welcome. It was, indeed, 
 a far more cordial reception than would have been given 
 by an old Cambridge club to any foreirf r, and we 
 acknowledged it by bowing, smiling, and endeavouring 
 to look pleasant. Then came songs from Yale 
 and from Cambridge, and S. was made to sing 
 half a dozen at least, after which there were rap- 
 turous plaudits. 
 
 An adjournment was then proposed to the river, 
 about five minutes' walk from the college, to look at 
 the boats. There are annual races between Yale and 
 Cambridge, and the recurrence of this anniversary 
 forms quite as great an event on this side of the water 
 as the Oxford and Cambridge is on ours. " We were 
 beat this year, just as you were, you know," some one 
 said ; but I did not know, though I did not dare to 
 
AGASSIZ. 193 
 
 confess sue a ignorance. TKey row in a sis, instead 
 of an eight-oared boat, and there is no coxswain. All the 
 steering is done by the bow oar, who guides the boat 
 by pulling with his feet wires connected with the rudder. 
 
 We went back with some of the senior students, 
 and staved for a Ion": time w4th the.n, listening: to 
 Yankee songs, while Strutt gave them the newest 
 English productions of the same sort. A very nice set 
 of fellows these American students were. Several of 
 them took us off to another club, the Powellian, of 
 which they w^re members, the whole number enjoying 
 this privilege being fourteen. They have very good 
 rooms close to college, and an excellent library. 
 There w^as much talk of the war, to which I was told 
 one-fifth of the graduates w^ent ofl' w^ien it broke out, 
 and, during its continuance, twenty to thirty out of a 
 hundred who had finished their classes. 
 
 Agassiz, we heard, had just come back from his 
 Amazon expedition. The number of new fishes he 
 had discovered was something enormous. One of his 
 stafi*, Mr. Burkhardt, came home some time ngo, 
 having suffered much from fever and insects. Their 
 worst enemies were the mosquitoes and chiguas, 
 or "jiggers." 
 
 During my stay in Boston T went to the State 
 
 
 
194 THE STATE HOUSE. 
 
 House, to hear a debate in the House of Representa- 
 tives on the equalization of bounties to soldiers ; the 
 men who had enlisted first having received no bounty, 
 while as much as three hundred and sixty dollars had 
 been paid to volunteers during the latter years of the 
 war. The hall was a high room, with benches ar- 
 ranged in the form of a horse-shoe, facing the chair or 
 tribune of the President, much like the arrangement 
 at Turin. All the speaking I heard was on the popular 
 side ; that is, in favour of equal payment to all. The 
 speakers were rough-looking men, who got up with 
 great self-possession, and delivered their speeches in a 
 slow but fluent manner, emphasizing their words, and 
 pronouncing each syllable with a clearness one does 
 not hear in England. 
 
 From the balcony of the House there is a good view 
 of a great part of the town. Boston is more like an 
 English city than any town I have seen in America. 
 There is not the bustle and hurry of New York, and 
 there are more dwelling-houses than shops. The style 
 of building is that of our sea-side towns. The houses, 
 the material of which is brick, are often built with 
 curving points, and have bow windows. 
 
 In the hall of the State House are the regimental 
 colours of the Massachusetts troops, covered with the 
 
EMKRSON. 195 
 
 names of the great battles of the civil war, and some 
 of them torn to shreds. A hundred and fifty regi- 
 ments, each completed up to its full complement of a 
 thousand men, were embodied out of the population 
 of this small State alone. Massachusetts has certainly 
 shown herself to be as ready to give the example in 
 war as she has been capable of taking the lead in 
 literature. 
 
 Mr. Longfellow had taken two tickets for us to 
 hear a lecture by Emerson. "VVe walked down with 
 Mr. L. Many people in the streets recognised him, and 
 bowed respectfully to him. The lecture-room was 
 crowded, chiefly with ladies. Emerson appeared alone 
 from a side door,and walked with head bent, and looking 
 nervous, to the reading-desk. The audience received 
 him without a sign of cordiality ; the only feeling, if 
 it could be so called, manifested by them being a sort 
 of frigid expectation. The eminent lecturer's voice 
 was very low at first, his manner was cool and passion- 
 less, and in the expression of his sentiments there was 
 a total want of enthusiasm. The tone in which he 
 spoke was conversational, and the matter of his dis- 
 course was unconnected. A pretty good idea of the 
 lecture may be obtained from the fact that after it was 
 over, S. and I had a dispute as to what it was about. 
 
 o2 
 
lOG HIS LECTURE. 
 
 I maintained that the general subject was Thought ; 
 he said tliat he supposed it to be on the Advantages 
 of Labour. He was wrong, I am sure ; but that I 
 ain right I cannot with confidence assert. Some- 
 thing disconnected might have been expected from the 
 beginning, for in one of the opening remarks Emerson 
 declared that a good sentence was nowhere out of 
 phice. It seemed to me that a number of thoughts 
 distantly and indistinctly connected with ideas on the 
 working of the intellect had been committed to sepa- 
 rate scraps of note paper, whicli had been accumulating 
 for some time, and were now being talked off, with a 
 little joke appended here and there. The lecturer 
 appeared to be in favour of letting men judge from 
 little facts, thinking that the English were too hard 
 on people who criticised without having gone to the 
 bottom of the matt -r, wdiile they forgot that their 
 own Newi:on saw at once the movement of systems 
 from the fall of an apple. He spoke of silkworms 
 becoming, w4tli intellect, Lowell operatives ! Emer- 
 son's lecture, as far as I understood it, might very 
 aptly be compared to a badly-strung set of very 
 obscure brilliants. 
 
197 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A Ride to "Winchester — Moveable Family Mansion — American 
 Kobin — Snapjnng Turtle — Amusement at the Fremont — A 
 Fenian Waiter — The States and their Soldiers — State of the 
 South — Visit to Lowell — Absorption of the Military — Peaceful 
 Tendency of the Nation — Americanisms — A Yankee Steamer — 
 Agreeable Recollections of Boston — Political Spirit and Senti- 
 ment — Return to New York — The Theatre- — Negro Minstrels — 
 Country beyond New York and Washington — Crossing Wide 
 Rivers with the Train — Earthworks — View of the Capitol — 
 The Streets of Washington — Public Buildings — Conversation 
 with a Virginian Gentleman — Effect of the passing of the Civil 
 Rights Bill — Hopes for the Future of America — Mr. Sumner — 
 Military Commissions and the Trial of Davis — Mr. St. Leger 
 Grenfell — Reconstruction of the Union — Policy of the Radicals 
 — An American Gentleman's Opinion of Affairs in Mexico. 
 
 Q IIORTLY after our arrival in Boston, Everett drove 
 us out to liic place at Winchester, about seven 
 miles from the city. The road was made very dis- 
 agreeable for driving by the tramways, of which there 
 is a double set for going and coming cars. The iron 
 rails, which are placed in the middle of the road, may 
 be an immense convenience to the general public, but 
 they are certainly a great nuisance to the buggy-loving 
 section of the population. We observed, in the course 
 
198 3I0VEABLE FAMILY MANSION. 
 
 of our drive, a wooden house three stories high, and of 
 very considerable breadth, almost entirely blocking up 
 the roadway. As we came nearer, we perceived that it 
 w^as laised from the ground, its bottom timbers resting 
 on rollers, while at the back, in the middle of the 
 thoroughfare, we found a horse, a windlass, and a rope, 
 by means of which the whole building was slowly 
 drawn along. It was, in fact, " an elegant family man- 
 sion" on its way to some more fashionable quartet. 
 No wonder that wooden houses are popular, when they 
 are not only so cheap to build, but also so easy to move. 
 The family, I was informed, in many cases, sleep in the 
 upper part of the building while the removal is going 
 quietly on. I have heard of brick houses being occa- 
 sionally lifted ; but such migrations as this, which I 
 presume are not uncommon here, are quite novel to me. 
 
 Everett's house is pleasantly situated, with a pond or 
 lake on three sides, and a picturesque bank with rocks 
 and trees some distance behind it. There is a little 
 property belonging to it. Land is sold in the neigh- 
 bourhood for a thousand dollars an acre. Close to 
 Boston three times as much can be got for it. 
 
 The American Eobin is very common hereabouts. 
 It is a splendid thrush, with black head, grey back, 
 and chestnut-red breast. It is about the size of our 
 
AMUSEMENT AT THE "FREMONT." 199 
 
 Missel Thrush. E. has a Snapping Turtle, a vicious- 
 looking brute, with toad-like skin, sharp claws, and 
 pointed head. I think of taking it to England. 
 
 My chief amusement at the Fremont was to probe 
 the Fenianism of the waiters. As they were all in 
 the brotherhood, any discussion, however quietly con- 
 ducted, with, one of their number was sure to bring a 
 silent group of earnest listeners behind one's chair. 
 One of them yesterday, who had observed that I was 
 reading a Fenian column in the newspaper, bent over 
 me, and said in a mvsterious low voice — 
 
 " What think ye of the Fenians ?" 
 
 I told him they seemed numerous enough, at all 
 events, and pumped bim about tbeir objects, and the 
 number of members here. 
 
 " Oh," he said, " they are very strong. There isn't 
 a son of the old country in the city that does not 
 belong to them. They are against Sweeney; but 
 they will follow the first that means to fight." 
 
 I told him they had done nothing but talk, and 
 probably wouldn't fight even if they had a chance. This 
 brought him out ; and when asked if he, too, was a 
 Fenian, he drew himself up with immense satisfaction, 
 and said that he was proud to avow that he was — a 
 confession which he followed up with a good deal of 
 
200 A FENIAN WAITER. 
 
 bravado, and the accompaniment of a threat with 
 every dish he brought me. 
 
 "Yes, we are strong; stronger than you think. 
 What'll ye have now ?'* 
 
 " Roast potatoes and beefsteak." 
 
 "Ye shall have them then, sir. The old country will 
 be a different place soon. "We'll see who's the strongest. 
 Potatoes, sir ? Yes, sir ;" and he laid them down with 
 an emphatic crash, that told of awful resolution. 
 
 " Well, what rights do you wish to have ?" 
 
 *' Rights ! why, the right to live in a free country. 
 Look at this country. There's no arrests here." 
 
 When the beefsteak came, I told him of the harm 
 his friends were doing in the old country, and how 
 money was being kept away. 
 
 "Ye'U see Oirland a different place before long. 
 It's not for the priests, and they are against it ; but 
 it's not them w^e'll mind. Look what they're doing 
 at Eastport ; they will be in Canada before long." 
 
 When I asked him to specify some particular 
 grievance, he spoke in general terms of tyranny to be 
 broken down, of the approaching termination of Ire- 
 land's oppression, and of a future of unlimited freedom ; 
 but of anything definite for which they were to fight he 
 had not a word of explanation. The negroes of Jamaica, 
 
STATE OF THE SOUTH. 201 
 
 I am compelled to say, showed a more intelligent ap- 
 preciation of their position, and expressed more definite 
 ideas as to the objects at which they aimed, than at least 
 the lower class of Irish in America, judging from the 
 remarks with which they occasionally favoured me. 
 
 The States do not appear to have been very generous 
 to the men who have done them good service in the 
 war. They have granted only a few pensions ; and 
 as no decorations have been distributed, a man has 
 nothing to show that he has been in the war, except, 
 perhaps, an empty sleeve, or the valueless title of 
 captain or colonel, enjoyed by many an old militia- 
 man who never saw an army in the field. 
 
 We dined with Mr. P., who had a party of officers 
 and others to meet us. One, who had just come from 
 Charleston, gave, I thought, a most melancholy account 
 of the state of the South, where even now the process 
 of rebuilding the houses goes slowly on. The owners 
 of estates have no capital t. work them, and are com- 
 pelled to lease them to Northerners., who give the 
 proprietors a share of the produce, and of the negroes 
 who work for them. There has been as yet no great 
 influx of Northerners, a circumstance which may, in 
 some measure, be attributed to the feeling of the people 
 of the South, who show little desire to mingle 
 
202 LOWELL. 
 
 sociaUy with the Northern troops or settlers. Tliey 
 are quiet, and willing to obey the laws, but friendly in- 
 tercourse there is little or none. Men and women who, 
 five years ago, were on the most intimate terms with 
 friends from the Northern States, will now cut them 
 in the street, and absolutely refuse to have anything 
 to do with them. 
 
 We went to Lowell to see one of the largest of the 
 factories there, over which we were conducted by the 
 superintendent, a son of Mr. Palfrey, who has seen 
 a good deal of military life ; and having taken to this 
 occupation only a few months ago, has hard work to 
 get well posted up in all the details of machinery and 
 management. It must be i^ull work after the exciting 
 military life he has led. V7e went with him to all 
 the factories : to places where the cotton was piled 
 in great rooms, in its raw state, as it came from the 
 pod ; to others where it was thrashed till the air was 
 laden with fine shreds of it, which I felt very un- 
 pleasant ; and so on from room to room, witnessing 
 the changes which it underwent in its passage 
 through elaborate machines, first into a carpet of snow, 
 then into yarn, and afterwards into calico, w^hich was 
 printed in other houses, and dried in an apartment 
 where the thermometer stood at 230°. 
 
AMERICAN SOLDIERS. 203 
 
 The machinery used in these factories is all made in 
 the town ; and we wandered through huge workshops, 
 where iron implements were being taken from their 
 moulds, like fossils from a rock, to get the finishing 
 touch from the steam plane. 
 
 General Butler, whose house is next door, is quietly 
 doing law work at Lowell. The way in which the 
 officers and soldiers have vanished in their military 
 capacity, and resumed the civil employments that 
 occupied them before the war, is, I think, the most 
 surprising event that has happened in America. 
 Nowhere does one hear of former soldiers rioting, 
 or ibrming guerilla bands, or even allying them- 
 selves with Fenians or Mexicans, for the sake of a 
 little more camp life and excitement. The love of 
 plunder, so often generated in other armies, seems to 
 have given way to the love of honest work always to 
 be found in America, and which is the sure stepping- 
 stone to wealth and a higher position. This is to me 
 marvellous ; but it is only a further proof of the ver- 
 satility and adaptability of the American character. 
 "While the rapidity with which the immense hosts that 
 deluged the South returned to their usual labours after 
 the work for which they had been incorporated into 
 armies was accomplished, is a proof of what can be done 
 
204 COMMERCE IN THE ASCENDANT. 
 
 by such men when called to act under circumstances for 
 which none of them were prepared, it shows also that the 
 Americans are really a peace-loving people, who, in 
 spiteof the foolish bragof the more ignorant, so offensive 
 to the delicate ear of European nations, are not inclined 
 to war, or favourable to ag:^ressive movements. 
 
 There is still naturally much conversation respect- 
 ing the war, but the reminiscences of battle are mixed 
 with speculations on commerce, manufactures, or 
 law. Dollar-getting is again in the ascendant. The 
 nation is sick of fighting, and only too glad to resume 
 the more prosaic occupations of peace. The leaders 
 have set the example in returning quietly to their 
 ordinary industrial pursuits. With the solitary ex- 
 ception of the Fenian Sweeney, none have encouraged 
 the war spirit, or even tried so to direct the policy of 
 the country that they themselves might be placed in 
 prominentpositions. Yet, notwitli standing the decided 
 manifestation of the peaceful tendency of the nation, 
 there is no doubt that if the interests or policy of 
 America were in any way menaced, they would be 
 ready at a moment's notice to defend their country 
 against any enemy who should venture to molest 
 it. 
 
 The Americanisms of conversation have afforded 
 
AMERICANISMS. 205 
 
 me some amusement. Many Americans main- 
 tain that these are really genuine English ex- 
 pressions, which have somehow fallen into disuse 
 in the mother country. ** Eight away" is con- 
 stantly used here for " immediately :" and P. said he 
 thought Swift used these words in the same sense ; 
 but, on reference to the passage, we found that the 
 expression was "to rights" — employed, as it also is 
 here, in the same meaning : " Then they let the hull 
 
 drop into the sea, which sank 'to rights.*" 
 
 (Swift's "Voyage to Brobdingnag," chap, viii.) 
 Others I have noticed are, " tiresome" for " tiring." 
 
 Mr. Emerson the other day, in his lecture, used 
 *' metre" several times in place of " measure." People 
 say " mighty" when we should say " very.'' A picture 
 is " mighty pretty." A " pleasant time" is a *' good 
 time." Instead of talking of meat being " under done" 
 or " raw," as we do, they talk of meat being " rare" or 
 " well done." " Will you have a ' rare' piece ?" is a 
 constant question from the carver of roast beef. At 
 Lowell I observed they talked of "machinists," when 
 we should talk of "mechanics." But a machinist is 
 more than a mere mechanic. What made us talk of 
 Americanisms was somebody's reading Dean Alford's 
 book on " The Queen's English" in the railway car:J. 
 
200 BOSTON. 
 
 In one passage the Dean, not content with speaking 
 strongly enough ahout the American use of the English 
 language, speaks also of the Americans' " reckless con- 
 tempt of all moral obligations." This was being 
 handed about in the cars, causing many smiles and a 
 few frowns. 
 
 I never enjoyed a pleasanter time than the eight 
 days I spent at Boston. The kindness we met with 
 made me quite love the place, and I am sorry we were 
 not able to accept inWtations to country-places which 
 Dana and Loring gave us. One feels the town to be 
 the abode of all that are first in literature, culture, 
 and civilization in America. My happiness was 
 damped only by my inability to sympathize with 
 them in their present hopes for the policy of their 
 country. The South had been conquered in the field, 
 but they felt that she must also be kept down ; and 
 here I differed from them so much that we could 
 hardly speak on the subject. The bitterness against 
 the President seems to me too unjustifiable. I am 
 sorry that he vetoed the Civil Eights Bill; for I 
 believe its main provisions granted no more than 
 justice. "He is not the man we wanted as Presi- 
 dent, and we never wished him to get there ; but all 
 will come right yet," they say, with that wonderfully 
 
RADICALS AND THE SOUTH. 207 
 
 sanguine spirit that has been so conspicuous through- 
 out tlie worst times of the last years. But what does 
 this " coming all right " mean ? As they use it, it 
 expresses their determination that the North ahme 
 shall have absolute power in the government of the 
 country for at least many years to come ; that the 
 South shall not be heard even in these debates that 
 concern the whole nation ; that the North shall im- 
 pose law on the South. 
 
 Many, too, are still insisting that Davis shall be 
 tried for the supposed guilt of five millions. The alie- 
 nation of two peoples lately in arms against each other 
 has surely been enough prolonged. The South 
 is down, helpless, crushed, unable to offer the least 
 resistance : why should the North insist on rendering 
 its triumph so galling to the conquered party, now 
 that they are again to live as citizens of the Union ? 
 The Eadicals insist that they shall have no voice in 
 the government of the country until " they give un- 
 mistakable proofs of loyalty " — a form of expression 
 which may be made to cover any exaction. It would 
 seem that the Radicals think a man's convictions can 
 be surrendered with his sword. " Obedience to the 
 laws is not enough. You must embrace the policy of 
 the men against whom you fought." If such unrea- 
 
208 NEGRO MINSTRKLS. 
 
 sonable demands be not abandoned, re-union between 
 North and South can only be a shadow. Ten, 
 twenty years — the lifetime of this generation will see 
 no change in the convictions of the South. Is it to 
 be supposed that the Radicals can keep them out of 
 Congress for so long a time ? 
 
 On April 18th I set out, on my return to New 
 York, in an immense steamer, built in true Yankee 
 style. A saloon ran the whole length of the ship, 
 about two hundred and fifty feet, with galleries at the 
 side, and other saloons below. We started from 
 Stonington, to which place we came by the railway 
 cars from Boston vid Providence. 
 
 On the evening of the day on which, we re- 
 turned to New York, we went to the theatre. 
 Negro minstrels — ^bands of whites got up as ne- 
 groes, like Christy's — are very popular. The large 
 towns have often two or three sets of these 
 minstrels. I heard of a negro who went some 
 time ago to a place where negro songs were 
 being sung by one of these bands. He looked on for 
 some time, his face expressing astonishment and con- 
 tempt ; and then, with the exclamation, " What 
 cussed fools dese white men do make of themselves!" 
 went out. 
 
NEW YORK TO WASHINGTON. 209 
 
 From New York we went to Wusliington, a long 
 (lay's journey. We have now rushed into spring, and 
 com is making its appearance, giving to the fields 
 along the road a bright green colour. Buds are 
 bursting forth, and many trees are almost in full leaf. 
 The change of temperature from that of New England 
 is about forty degrees, and the heat feels quite 
 oppressive after the cool breezes of the North. 
 
 The country we passed over was remarkable only 
 for its great rivers. These vast streams are truly 
 magnificent. Over some the train runs on a low 
 bridge of trestle-work, raised only a few feet above 
 the yellow waters. We crossed one river in a 
 steamboat into which the train was driven like a 
 carriage into a ferry-boat, driving out again when 
 the other side w^as reached. On the Chesapeake I 
 saw flocks of birds, too far off to tell what they were, 
 but I supposed them to be ducks. 
 
 We hardly stopped at Philadelphia or Baltimore. 
 In this last town negroes began to appear in 
 great numbers. In New York and Boston there 
 are few. Forts were all round the town, reminding 
 one how it was necessary, only a year or tw^o ago, to 
 overawe the populace. The coun ry throughout the 
 
210 STREETS OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 (lay was undulating, and tlie woods we saw were thickly 
 grown. Trees, tall and thin, covered many slopes. 
 Enclosures and farms were frequently seen, the fields 
 having timber fences. The farmstead was always 
 the wooden, white-painted house of which all 
 the small country towns are composed. 
 
 Towards evening we passed some shanties, then a 
 few dwellings, and noticed the tops of some of the low 
 liills levelled smooth into green slopes and terraces, 
 over which the stars and stripes waved. These were 
 earthworks. Looking out of the window, I saw, 
 close by, a towering wdiite dome, round the base of 
 which was a ring of pillars with long rows of colon- 
 nades and windows beneath. This was the Capitol. 
 We come upon it without any warning that we are 
 approaching a great city, and it rises so finely over 
 the poor-looking houses around it that its effect is 
 verv ffrand. 
 
 "We walked down to Willard's Hotel, one of the 
 largest along Pennsylvania Avenue. Some notion of 
 the streets of Washington maybe obtained by imagining 
 the street from Kensington to Chiswick planted w^th 
 rows of trees on each side, the houses thrown back 
 a little, street cars running along tramways in the 
 
PUBLIC BUILDINGS. £11 
 
 mkldle, and the froffoir crowded with people ; addinj^ 
 some shops and a general bustle, but not changing 
 the houses, which, except perhaps that they have not 
 so many name-boards, are exactly alike. New York, 
 packed in within its rivers, lias been crowded till the 
 houses form one tall line along the streets ; but, as 
 there is an unlimited amount of room here, the 
 town has been allowed to straddle over all the space 
 allotted to it. 
 
 The public buildings, how^ever, are splendid. 
 Looking down one of these broad avenues half 
 planted wath houses and trees, your eye is arrested 
 by some fine Greek temple closing the view. We 
 entered one of them to-day, which proved to be the 
 Patent Office, where a model of every machine for 
 which a patent has been taken out is kept. From the 
 window of the gallery upstairs there was an exten- 
 sive view over the huge collection of paltry brick 
 and the few noble marble buildings that make up the 
 city of " magnificent distances." In front we saw a 
 stretch of the broad Potomac ; and the gently-rising 
 land in the distance, divided into field and w^ood, and 
 crowned w^ith flags that told of invisible cannon 
 beneath, w^as the shore of Virginia. I wanted to ride 
 
 p2 
 
212 VIEWS or A SOrXHERNER. 
 
 over the long bridge to see a little of tte "old 
 dominion ;" but rain came on heavily, and we gave 
 it up. 
 
 I had a talk with Mr. , a gentleman who 
 
 has been for some time connected with the American 
 newspaper press. He had always belonged to the 
 party that supported the cause of the Southern 
 States ; and when Virginia, his native State, seceded, 
 he went with her. He spoke nearly to this effect 
 when we asked him about the condition of the 
 South : — 
 
 " You must not expect the hospitality for which 
 the whole South, and Virginia especially, were so 
 well kncwn. Gentlemen I know, who lived in wealth 
 and comfort before the war, are now not worth five 
 hundrt dollars. The country has been laid waste, 
 and its inhabitants are ruined. It is owing to the 
 war, and the ruthless way in which it was carried on. 
 The system on which the Northern armies proceeded 
 was to burn everything that conduced to the life 
 of man, and the rules of civilized warfare were often 
 neglected. Houses, fences, crops, agricultural imple- 
 ments, whether belonging to combatants or not, 
 were utterly destroyed. The estates have been let 
 
CIVIL RIGHTS BILL. 213 
 
 out on leases to great extent, owing to the difficulty 
 of getting labour. Xortberners are often the men who 
 lease the farms. 
 
 " The negroes are not in the contented state in w^hich 
 they were ; and, in consequence of the passing of the 
 Civil Eights Bill, there has alread}/ been r. fight at 
 Norfolk. The negroes were proceeding along the 
 streets, many with guns in their hands, when a young 
 man came across their way. Shots were fired at him ; 
 he fell, and his body was dragged along by the mob. 
 His brother, seeing the body, went to claim it, when 
 he too was butchered. I do not object to that part of 
 the bill that provides that a negro's testimony should 
 be received in court ; I liave always wished that they 
 should be heard, and it is the feeling in many States 
 in the South. The eflect of the bill may be different 
 with different judges. Take the judge* across the 
 river. That man would always be raising up an- 
 tagonism between the blacks and whites ; his judg- 
 ment would always lean to the side of the blacks. 
 We have a repugnance to the negro socially that we 
 
 * Underwood : the same who afterwards delivered charges 
 full of violent language to the jury in his court at Richmond. 
 
214 HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 cannot get over. I should not object to one sitting 
 by me in the cars ; but if I had ladies with me, I 
 should object strongly, ]N^ow this bill allows them to 
 mix freely with us. Negroes may come and sit down 
 at the same table with my own ladies, and we cannot 
 prevent it. Many judges would support them in their 
 actions, and would encourage them. There is an 
 appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States 
 which may reverse the decision of the local judges. The 
 composition of this court does not make it subservient 
 to the Government now, as it was during the war, 
 when everything was decided according to the views 
 of the Government. Their decisions in the cases of 
 the military tribunals have lately been a triumph for 
 liberty in America. 
 
 " We have hope now for the future. We have inter- 
 preted the constitution to allow of secession ; we have 
 tried the experiment, and we have failed. It was 
 much owing to doubts raised by the wording of the 
 constitution that the war began. You hear a man 
 saying he is proud of being a Virginian, and a man 
 from South Carolina boasting: of beinj^ a Carolinian. 
 You do not hear them say that they are proud of 
 belonging to America. That is our feeling. I am 
 
ABOLITION OF SLAVERY. 215 
 
 glad to be under the Government, for I know it 
 to be a strong one ; but I do not care to be called an 
 American. No ; I had rather live under the Govern- 
 ment of France or England, or even of Spain. Now 
 that our attempt to erect a separate nationality has 
 failed, we recognise that we must give up the idea, 
 because we cannot do otherwise, and are helpless. 
 There is also the conviction that the time at which we 
 made our effort was the best for such a struggle, and 
 we can never again have a similar chance. We recog- 
 nise our position, and we wish henceforth to live as 
 citizens of this land, rendering implicit obedience to 
 lis Government, obej'ing all its laws, and seeking 
 redress for the affronts and gri.^vances to which we 
 are daily subjected through the medium of its 
 courts. 
 
 " I agree with the opinions of most thoughtful men 
 in Europe. I was in favour of the abolition of slavery ; 
 but that it should be done at one stroke, that mil- 
 lions should possess freedom without preparation, was 
 not in our thoughts. I wished that the boon should 
 be granted by instalments, and that the negroes 
 should be prepared for their new condition. The 
 President's policy is encouraging the men of the 
 
216 THE NORFOLK RIOT. 
 
 South in their wish to aid the Government. It has 
 been a surprise to us that his line of policy has been 
 what it has. He was always a violent man ; and 
 when Lincoln was killed, we looked with horror, not 
 only on the crime, but on the probable conse- 
 quences to our people from the accession of the new 
 President. 
 
 "I have hopes, too, on other grounds. I have 
 watched the elections that have taken place lately 
 in the North ; and in almost all of them — in Ohio, 
 Michigan, Missouri, and others — a spirit of concilia- 
 tion to the South, and opposition to the views of the 
 Radicals, has been shown. I believe that it will not 
 be long before the States lately fighting against the 
 Government shall be again represented in Congress. 
 Indeed, I look to their being represented in the next 
 Congress." 
 
 These are the views of an able Southerner. About 
 the Norfolk riot he spoke a little at random. Accounts 
 agree that the negro procession was taunted by the 
 crowd. The bkcks had arms in their hands, and, 
 backed as they were by the Federals, they were quite 
 inclined to assert their position. All is quiet at Nor- 
 folk at the present moment ; but it may be because 
 troops occupy the town. 
 
MR. SUMNER. 217 
 
 I heard to-day sentiments of a very opposite character 
 from those to which I listened yesterday; to-day's came 
 from a member of the extreme " Republican" party — 
 thatparty which is nowdistinguishedbymost men under 
 the name of ** Radical." Johnson is their b^fe noire ; 
 and it was when his name was mentioned that Yankee 
 politics began to be discussed. His veto was blamed, 
 and the reason given by him (that there was danger 
 in consolidating or centralizing the powers of Govern- 
 ment) was set down as of no account. ** They say 
 that Mr. Sumner wants to centralize the power here. 
 Now, you know the system of France, by which one 
 man can set the whole machinery of state in motion 
 from Paris. Mr. Sumner would be the last man to in- 
 troduce such a system into this country ; but when the 
 power is only for good — when a great moral cause is 
 at stake — when the question is if black men shall have 
 the right of suing, of holding land, of appearing in 
 the law courts — then no machinery put in motion for 
 such a purpose can be too strong; nor could any 
 organization created for this purpose be turned to 
 other ends. The South would not allow negroes, if 
 they could help it, to give testimony in the courts. 
 They are all against it. Things are, as yet, unsettled 
 
218 NEGRO SUFFRAGE. 
 
 in the South. It was only lately I heard from a 
 man who had recently arrived from Florida, that it 
 was dangerous for any one, even now, to proclaim his 
 Northern sympathies in that State. lie could see no 
 protection unless the negroes got the right of voting. 
 It has come to this : negro suffrage is a necessity to 
 counterbalance the rebel votes. There is nothing 
 that can prevent the South from having their ow^n 
 way but that measure, and it must in time be carried. 
 It was thought at first that a reading-and-writing 
 qualification might be required from the blacks before 
 they should be enfranchised; but the testimony of 
 this gentleman from Florida, who had lived in the 
 South, and knew well the state of feeling existing 
 there, makes one wish to see the blacks allowed to 
 vote at once. Southern doctrines will still reign 
 supreme if manhood suffrage, without distinction of 
 colour, be the law. It would be a great matter if a 
 beginning could be made in the district of Columbia. 
 The President would probably veto an attempt to get 
 even this done. He is utterly wrong-headed." 
 
 It was said that Davis might have been tried at 
 first by a military commission, but that it is too 
 late for that now, more especially as the Supreme 
 
RE-ADMISSION OF SOUTHERN STATES. 219 
 
 Court has decided that military commissions are 
 illegal. Great objections are urged against these mili- 
 tary commissions, which are not courts-martial, but 
 military courts, on which generals and officers are 
 placed by the Government, and who often convict on 
 evidence that would be rejected by any civil court. 
 Just sentences are scarcely to be expected from them. 
 The men to be judged have been, at a very recent period, 
 in arms against their judges. It is hoped that Sir F. 
 Bruce, now our minister here, may be able to do some- 
 thing for an Englishman, Mr. St. Leger Grenfell, 
 who fought for the Confederates, and being after- 
 wards taken, was tried and convicted, on very insuf- 
 ficient evidence, for complicity in the design to burn 
 Chicago. He was sentenced by one of the commis- 
 sions to be shot, a sentence which has been com- 
 muted to one of penal servitude for life, and he is now 
 at the Dry Tortugas. 
 
 "We do not think that the Southern States can be 
 kept out of Congress much longer. The West will 
 take their part, and all except New England will insist 
 upon their re-admission. There might be war, in 
 course of time, if they were too long kept out. The 
 whole work of the reconstruction of the Union has 
 
220 MEXICO. 
 
 been undertaken by the President without help. He 
 might have called Congress together, but he did not; 
 and though there were eleven States to be dealt with, he 
 undertook the task single-handed. It is a most curious 
 peculiarity in this country that a man should be able, 
 on such a question — a question that in England could 
 not be dealt with except in Parliament — to work 
 alone. 
 
 The line taken by the Eadicals, also, is so peculiar as 
 to require some remark. When they thought that the 
 President's policy would suit their tastes, they were in 
 no hurry to call Congress together ; but now that 
 Johnson's policy has turned out adverse to their views, 
 they loudly blame him for not having called Congress 
 to deliberate upon the question. 
 
 I met a gentleman who had just ret imed from 
 Mexico. He gave a rather rose-coloured view of the 
 prospects of the Emperor Maximilian's Government 
 after the wdthditi7ral of the French. He believed it 
 was quite strong enough to maintain its position, 
 more especially if Maximilian won to his side the 
 monarchical party. Political relations were, to be 
 sure, not so pleasant as they are here. The rise and 
 fall of parties were settled, not by "the speech," 
 
THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS. 221 
 
 but by the bullet. The Empress was charming, and 
 the Emperor, who had much bonhomie ^ was doing his 
 best to conciUate his reluctant subjects. Unless the 
 Americans interfered, it was quite possible that things 
 might be so settled that it would be in their power to 
 remain. 
 
222 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 Wliite Labour in the Soutli — Dying out of the Negroes — Would 
 the South have armed the Slaves ? — Conli'derate Forces at the 
 End of the War — Davis's Fliglit from Richmond — The Capitol 
 — Admission of Colorado into the Union — Committee of Re- 
 construction — Conduct of Business in the Senate — House of 
 Representatives — Energy of the Speakers — Feeling in Congress 
 against the President — Federal and State Authority — Southern 
 Representatives — The Treasury — Ride into Virginia — National 
 Monimient — The Long Bridge — ^Vestiges of the War — (]leneral 
 Lee's House — Interview with the President — The White House 
 — Mortality among the Blacks in the South — Navy Yard — 
 Monitors — French Occupation of Mexico — Visit to Mr. Seward 
 — The Attack made on him last Year — Attack on Frederick 
 Seward. 
 
 ll t K. W., wlio breakfasted with us to-day, thinks that 
 white labour is quite possible in the South, and 
 that it is not necessary, even in the cotton districts 
 of South Carolina, to hav^e negroes to work the planta- 
 tions. At New Orleans the work done by the white 
 porters, who are Irish, and stand the climate well, is 
 as hard as any done by the negroes in the South. 
 White labour and Korthem capital are what it would 
 be desirable to see introduced into the South just now. 
 If you go to men who have plantations, and are 
 
DYING OUT or THE NEGROES. 223 
 
 working them with the negroes they can hire, 
 they will tell you that So-and-so is getting on very 
 well. If you ask them if as much work is heing 
 done as before, they will reply, "Well, 1 reckon 
 that I get two-thirds of the labour I got before ; but 
 as, in hoeing and picking time, T want more than that 
 — as much as I had before, in fact — I put on a hundred 
 instead of fifty hands." 
 
 " Then," said Mr. W., " if you pay the same 
 price for labour as before, that is losing fifty per 
 cent. ; and with such a loss the plan cannot answer." 
 
 We asked him about the chances of the negroes 
 dying out, as some say they will. 
 
 " Well," said he, " that opinion you will find men 
 holdiner accordinfj to the side they're on. Now what 
 we say is this : After the emancipation was declared, 
 the negi'oes showed, and have since shown, a great 
 disposition to flock into the towns. They leave the 
 estates where they were, in general, well fed and cared 
 for, to stream b}" hundreds into Eichmond, Charleston, 
 and other Southern towns. In Richmond ladies can 
 always find servants, while in the country it is now a 
 common complaint that servants are not to be got. 
 These crow^ds in the towns have no occupation, and 
 loaf about in a state of poverty, living in an unhealthy 
 
224 . ARMING THE SLAVES. 
 
 way, crowded and diiiy. Many die, owing to this 
 cause ; and if an epidemic should come, the loss of life 
 among them must be enormous. The Freedmen's 
 Bureau is giving them farms of fiv^e acres; but a man 
 cannot live on that. Ten acres is the minimum on 
 which he can support himself, and the cultivation of 
 that amount requires a good deal of work." 
 
 I asked him whether, if war had continued, the 
 Confederates would have freed and armed their slaves. 
 
 " Well, sir, the President, Mr. Davis, was in favour 
 of doing so. He considered it to be necessary ; and 
 if it had been left to him, it would have been done. I 
 was in favour of it, but many of our best statesmen 
 were against it ; and the reasons they had for opposing 
 it were good. Suppose freedom given to the men, and 
 that they were placed in line of battle against the 
 Yankees, what reason would most of them have for 
 staying with us ? We could give them no gay uni- 
 forms like those with which the Yankees equipped 
 their soldiers. With us they might go shoeless, and 
 with little food, while the Yankees could give them 
 all they wanted. With the inducements the Yankees 
 could offer, splendid music, fine clothes, and good food, 
 there were too many reasons to fear that the negroes 
 would desert their colours. It was better, therefore, 
 
END OF THE WAR. 225 
 
 that they should be employed as they had hitherto 
 been, as teamsters, and in throwing up fortifications — 
 work in which they could be made exceedingly useful. 
 I should set down our forces during the last few dayM 
 at only forty-three thousand, opposed to one hundred 
 and ten thousand of the enemy. We could keep the 
 line we had fortified, which was thirty miles in length, 
 but had no force to oppose to Sheridan. When we had 
 to hold the lines, in case of an attack in front, he 
 swept round our right. I knew some time Loff^rchand 
 that the end of our war must come shortly, but did 
 not dare to express my. sentiments to anybody. I 
 was sent, when oar lines were driven in, to tell the 
 President, and found him coming from church. The 
 Government left the town at once, and it w^as a ques- 
 tion, at one part of the railway line along which we 
 went, wdiether the enemy would not get before us. 
 The rails had been spoilt by constant use, and we 
 went along at the rate of eight or ten miles only, and 
 this was considered good work. 
 
 " Most of the escort left Mr. Davis at Greensboro'. 
 His journey was no flight. No man thought for a 
 moment that there was any doubt about his personal 
 safety till that point was reached. Even there nobody 
 ventiu'ed to tell him there was danger ; and I remember 
 
226 ■ THE CiSPITOL. 
 
 trying to persuade some of tlie staff to speak to liim of 
 liis personal peril, but was not able to prevail upon 
 them to do so. At Greensboro* many of the officials 
 who had gone with them left, considering themselves 
 fmictus officio. There is no truth whatever in the 
 spiteful story got up in the North, that before he was 
 taken he had disguised himself as a woman. An 
 officer whom I know well, who was with him to the 
 end, denies that Mr. Davis ever disguised himself in 
 such a way. As he issued from his tent he cast 
 around him a plaid which he used to wear at Rich- 
 mond, and it was the only concealment he made use of." 
 
 The Capitol is a splendid building. Most of the 
 front is of fine marble, and the staircase in the in- 
 terior is of a very beautiful dappled browTi. At the 
 time of my visit the Senate was occupied with the 
 question of the admission of Colorado into the Union ; 
 the representatives of that territory having petitioned 
 that they might be received into it. Mr. Sumner 
 spoke against it in a speech which was thus criticised 
 by one who took a different view of the question : — 
 
 "You see in this oration he declares that the 
 population is, so to speak, a fluid one, always running 
 in at one side of the State, but moving through it and 
 out of it westwards. Mr. Sumner has now been 
 
THE ADMISSION OF COLORADO. 227 
 
 minifying every prospect the territory has of becoming 
 respectable and important enough for admission to 
 equality with the States. Her people, he says, are 
 few in number. Her mineral wealth is insigni- 
 ficant, and the gold reputed to have been found in 
 such quantities does, in reality, only exist to a small 
 extent. This is throwing gold dust into the eyes of 
 his audience ; for the sole reason that Mr. S. wants to 
 exclude Colorado from the Union is because, in the 
 constitution of that territory, the black has no vote. 
 Impartial suffrage is what the Radicals now want, and 
 they are unwilling that any fresh territory, hostile to 
 this policy, should be admitted as a State." 
 
 One of Mr. Sumner's opponents, in a clever speech, 
 called him *' the giant of the Senate," a name to 
 which he is well entitled. One hears on all sides, 
 even from the President's friends, regrets that the 
 Civil Rights Bill should have been vetoed. 
 
 One senator expressed curious view^s about the con- 
 duct of the Southern States. He thinks that the men 
 sent to Congress (supposing that men should be sent 
 soon from the South) would very likely be extreme 
 Union men. either owing to a reaction, or to the fact 
 that those who would get office would be the Unionists 
 of the South, who could at once take the test oath. 
 
 <i2 
 
228 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 The elections to take place in the fall are looked 
 forward to as likely to settle the question of Southern 
 re-admission one way or the other ^ 
 
 The Committee of Keconstruction is now sitting, 
 and has been examining prominent Southerners. There 
 are several Kadicals on the committee, and their report, 
 which is anxiously looked for, is not likely to be too 
 favourable to the Southerners. 
 
 Business in the Senate is conducted in a qniet and 
 dignified manner. Each senator has a comfortable 
 desk and arm-chair, and all sit in a semi-circle facing 
 the Vice-President's tribune. The silence dv^ring a 
 speech is almost as awful as that which prevails in the 
 House of Lords. 
 
 The House of Eepresentatives is very different in 
 respect of noise. If I may use such an expression, 
 the state of that assembly is one of clu'onic row. The 
 poor Speaker has his work well cut out for him, and 
 his voice and hammer are heard perpetually. While 
 some debates are in progress, one might fancy one's self 
 at a noisy auction rather than at a deliberation of a 
 legislative body. One always knows exactly, however, 
 what progress the business of the day is making. The 
 Speaker's rapid announcement that a bill is before 
 
HABITS OF THE MEMBERS. 229 
 
 the House, his request that contents should say 
 " Ay," non-contents " No," and his final declara- 
 tion as to how the vote has gone, and whether or 
 not the bill has passed, are all uttered and over in 
 a moment, unless discussion should occasion any 
 delay. The amount of business thus got through 
 seems enormous. 
 
 The habit of spitting, which has often been alluded 
 to, is still as prevalent as ever. Each arm-chair and 
 desk is flanked by a spittoon, which makes itself the 
 more conspicuous because there is no smoking to 
 account for its presence. The energy of the speakers 
 is, to an Englishman, remarkable. Gentlemen rise 
 leisurely and begin quietly, but in ten minutes the 
 arms are sawing the air like windmill sails, while the 
 hard voice is ringing in loud and louder tones above the 
 buzz of conversation and the crinkling of newspapers. 
 The orator's body is raised on tiptoe, and let down 
 violently again on its heels ; and every now and then, 
 when legs as well as arms must find freer play, a short 
 walk is taken. Sometimes, in the abandon of his 
 enthusiasm, the excited orator advances almost to the 
 tribune, and the Speaker must submit to being "jawed 
 at" by the fiery representative. 
 
230 FEELING AGAINST THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 Sometimes the speaker advances to tlie gentleman 
 whose arguments he is more immediately refuting, and 
 bringing his hand down on his desk, thumps con- 
 tinuously on it, staring all the time into his enemy's 
 lace. I heard a motion brought forward about the 
 trial of Davis, involving a resolution that if found 
 guilty he should be executed. The affair, however, 
 was " laid over j" that is, indefinitely postponed. 
 
 There is much feeling against the President among 
 the ruling party in Congress, who speak of him with 
 no small asperity. " He is leaning to the Democrats," 
 they say, " to catch their vote. He, Grant, and 
 Seward will all be candidates for the next presidency, 
 and the first two are bent upon having the Southerners 
 on their side. They know the Democratic vote must 
 be looked to. It will be cast in a lump." 
 
 One thing seems clear — namely, that the war has 
 not decided, as it was supposed to have done, how far 
 Federal extends over State authority. Everywhere 
 one hears of doubts on this point. It is doubted if 
 Congress has power to declare a black franchise for the 
 Southern States. I have heard one senator affirm 
 that Congress has the power, and another, five minutes 
 afterwards, declare that it has not, and that all 
 
THE TREASURY. 231 
 
 internal affairs must be left to the Sovereign State 
 Governments. 
 
 Southern representative men still talk much as they 
 talked before the war about the indestructible rights 
 given the States by the constitution. It is the old 
 story, and parties wiU still be divided on that question, 
 as they were before the breaking out of the war. 
 " The contest will be continued with the ballot-box, 
 instead of with the bayonet," openly say many. " The 
 constitution was not explicit enough on the subject of 
 Federal power. Since the belief in State sovereignty 
 arose, it has taken too firm a hold upon the people for 
 the war to have shaken it to any great degree. The 
 only right that the war took from the States w^as the 
 right of separation." 
 
 The Treasury is a fine building, and contains the 
 offices of most of the cabinet ministers. They can 
 always be found there ; and a visitor fortunate enough 
 to have introductions has only to walk down a corridor, 
 and throwing open successive doors on either hand, 
 he finds each member of the Government in his own 
 peculiar pigeon-hole. Of the men who are now in 
 office Mr. M'CuUoch ought to esteem himself one of the 
 happiest. His management of the Treasury has been 
 
232 EIDE INTO THE OLD DOMINION. 
 
 most fortunate, and he has now successfully imposed 
 taxes by which a revenue is raised, with which it will 
 be possible to liquidate, in the lifetime of this genera- 
 tion, the entire debt contracted during the war. 
 
 I procured a horse one day to go over into Virginia. 
 The long bridge being open for the passage of 
 vessels, we crossed at Ferrytovvn, considerably higher 
 up the stream. On our way we met trains of waggons, 
 with their teams of six mules driven by negro team- 
 sters, bringing in shot and shell from the forts on the 
 other side of the river. The fortifications guarding 
 the city are being dismantled. 
 
 "VVe could not hav^ had a finer day for our first ride 
 into the old dominion. The air was beautifully clear, 
 and as we cantered up the slopes on the other side of 
 the river, the view back on the city was beautiful. 
 The great dome of the Capitol, looking in shade like 
 a black tiara, in sunlight shining with a dazzling white- 
 ness, was the object that first caught the eye. Along 
 the banks of the Potomac the houses spread, termi- 
 nating on the left at Georgetown, where the river is 
 narrow and the banks steep, and on the right dotting 
 the lower and : lore distant shore, where the stream 
 rapidly widened. Just opposite to us was the uncom- 
 
EARTHWORKS IN VIRGINIA. 233 
 
 pleted national monument, begun long ago, but only 
 half finished. For my part I am not sorry that it 
 remains imperfect, as the gigantic proportions of the 
 obelisk, which is not of a graceful shape, would, from 
 this point of view, dwarf even the Capitol. 
 
 Spanning the mile- wide water to our right was the 
 long bridge, with its low trestle structure. Imme- 
 diately round us, on the Virginia side, was a wilder- 
 ness of charred tree-stumps, that stuck out of the 
 ground to the height of a foot or two. Look where 
 you would, the same desolation met the eye. The 
 woods have been cut down everywhere, to give the 
 guns of the earthworks that crown every little hill a 
 full sweep. As we rode on we visited one fort after 
 another, there being one every few hundred yards ; and 
 from the rising grounds one could see that the whole 
 country was warted with them. Taken singly, they 
 are not very formidable-looking ; the ditch not being 
 very deep, nor the ramparts very high. An abatis is 
 formed by the branches of young fir-trees, stripped of 
 their needles, and with their ends sharpened, laid down, 
 stem inwards, just outside the ditch. Each of these 
 works is in such a position that it can cross its fire 
 with that of others ; and, as the forest is down, there 
 
234 ARLINGTON HEIGHTS. 
 
 is nothing to impede tlie view of an advancing 
 enemy. 
 
 At one stockaded fort we found a negro, wliom we 
 asked where we were. 
 
 " Dis is Arlington Heights," he repUed, " and dat 
 house dere — dat ole Lee's house." 
 
 " What ! General Lee's ?" 
 
 ** Yes, massa, Gen'ral Lee's. I was with his army- 
 one time. I was servant to young Massa Winston. 
 Den I came ^orth, and was teamster in Northern 
 army." 
 
 The trees about Arlington House are still allowed to 
 stand. A party of men were moving about inside a 
 strong paling that enclosed the place. Long rows 
 of little white boards dotted the ground around them. 
 The negro was asked what these were. 
 
 " Oh, dem's the dead." 
 
 The party were employed in making gravel walks, 
 and in sodding the cemetery. Five thousand dead lie 
 there, each with his Httle slip of white-painted board 
 at his head — men who have died in hospital from 
 wounds or sickness. 
 
 The confiscation of Arlington for the dead is cer- 
 tainly an effectual method of preventing the General 
 from ever wishing for his own again. 
 
THE WHITE HOUSE. 235 
 
 To Mr. Seward, who was most kind to us, we were 
 indebted for an interview with the President, wlio 
 received us cordially, though evidently tired with a 
 hard morning's work of seeing people. The lobbies 
 of the White House were crowded with men and 
 women who wished to speak to him. A few days 
 ago the President addressed a number of coloured 
 men, w^ho came in procession to serenade him. The 
 speech has been much abused, as attributing unworthy 
 motives to the Eadicals. The President is not a man 
 to listen quietly to abuse of himself, and he has been 
 too deeply stung by recent attacks to let them pass 
 by without a reply. He did not mean, however, to 
 make any answer to what was said on this occasion ; 
 but when he got down to the portico, and found it 
 and the space beyond filled with expectant black faces, 
 he was almost obliged to say something, and he spoke 
 bitterly of those who had represented him as an 
 enemy of the coloured race. 
 
 We afterwards went over the house. In the great 
 reception-room most of the chairs were covered with 
 satin, very much worn. The Secretary pointed them 
 out, and, in explanation of the condition in which we 
 saw them, said that they had been left unrepaired 
 since President Lincoln's death. Congress each year 
 
236 NAVY YARD. 
 
 votes a certain amount for the repair of the furniture 
 of the White House. Congress had voted no money 
 for repairs this year, nnd the cliairs had been left as 
 they were. 
 
 "We dined witli our minister, who had a reception 
 after dinner of governors of lunatic asylums. The 
 accounts of the mortality among the blacks of the 
 South are deplorable. More infants, it is said, died 
 under the age of five years in 1866 than the total 
 number of deaths registered in 1865 — a mortality 
 owing chiefly to the ilocking into the towns. 
 
 On a visit to Navy Yard we saw several monitors 
 in the river, moored in a row. One of them, the 
 Montaiik, had been under a heavy fire at Charleston. 
 The shape of these vessels is now very well known. 
 So little of the hull is seen, that it looks like a mere 
 line just above the water. The turret is round, and 
 the sides perpendicular, so that the vessel is like 
 a pill-box on a raft. The walls of the turret are 
 eleven inches thick ; eleven plates, each an inch thick, 
 being riveted together. At the base of the turret this 
 thickness is increased, to prevent a shot jamming the 
 tum-table machinery on which the turret revolves. 
 Two immense guns, placed side by side in the turret, 
 peer out of the little twin oblong port-holes, which 
 
MONITORS. 237 
 
 are closed by a folding block of iron the instant that 
 the guns are discharged and run back for re-loading. 
 They take up all the space, being sixteen-inch Kod- 
 nian guns, throwing a ball of 450 lbs. The Rodman 
 is a smooth bore, the same in principle as the Dalil- 
 gren gun. An eleven-inch Dahlgren, throwing a 
 1G6-Ib. ball, is also in great favour; and the next size 
 much used is the nine-inch, capable of discharging a 
 9S-lb. ball. Parrot guns have gone out of fashion, and 
 not many rifled guns are used. The hulls of these 
 iron-clads are covered with five inches of iron again, in 
 plates of one inch, with a backir^g of four feet of 
 timber. The deck is also plated with inch or inch- 
 and-a-ha]f plates. 
 
 The armour had been much pounded, but no ball 
 had made a dent of more than three or four inches in 
 depth. The plates, laminated as they are, were in no 
 instance the least cracked, nor had the rivets started. 
 There were marks which the officers said had been 
 made by Whitworth bolts fired at a short range of 
 three hundred yards. One shot had struck fair on 
 the top of the vessel's side, bending back the five-inch 
 plate, but no harm had been done. In other places, 
 long grooves of no depth gave the only trace of the 
 
238 VISIT TO SECRETARY SEWARD. 
 
 concussion of tlie projectiles. This monitor drew only 
 nine feet of water. 
 
 Mr. R., with whom T dined, spoke with much 
 feeling against the French occupation of Mexico. 
 Nothing can exceed the jealousy w4th which the 
 Americans have seen the French put foot upon that 
 soil. Madame Juarez has been here lately, and is 
 much praised for amiability and intelligence. They 
 could not say much in praise of her husband, who is 
 quite an Indian. The American Government talk of 
 sending a minister to Juarez, and the recognition of 
 the Mexican empire is looked on as an impossibility. 
 
 On a visit which I paid to Secretary Seward I asked 
 him about the attack made on him last year. He was 
 so good as to show us the room in which he w^as 
 assailed, and gave us an account of all he remem- 
 bered of the attack made upon him. The house 
 is not a large one. The dining-room fronts the 
 road below, the drawing-room is just above, and over 
 it is Mr. Seward's bed-room. On reaching the land- 
 ing at the top of the stairs on the second floor, there 
 are two doors immediately facing you — one that of 
 the bed-room the assassin entered, the other that of 
 Mr. Frederic Seward's room. On the right and left are 
 tw^o other doors, leading into the rooms of Mr. 
 
THE ATTACK ON IIIM. 239 
 
 Seward's daughter and eldest son. The assault was 
 made at half-past ten at night, an hour when all was 
 quiet. A gas jet was hurning on the stair-landing ; 
 but the room where Mr. Seward lay, weak from a fall 
 from his carriage, was almost completely darkened. 
 His eye had been hurt, and a very little light was 
 painful to him. His daughter sat in a comer of the 
 room, not far from the foot of the bed, which was 
 placed sideways to the door, and between it and the 
 window. Mr. Seward had a sort of frame placed over 
 his jaw ; and fancying, in his weak state, that if he 
 slept the upper muscles of the jaw by contracting, and 
 the broken bone by falling, might cause lock-jaw, he de- 
 termined not to sleep. That he might the better carry 
 out this resolution, he lay close to the edge of the bed, 
 that if he should fall asleep he might also fall out of the 
 bed and be awakened. The side of the bed on which he 
 lay was the one furthest from the door, which was 
 open, letting in some light from the gas jet on the 
 landing. 
 
 While he was lying in a lethargic stats a man came 
 to the house door below, rang the bell, and "when a 
 coloured servant opened it, told him that he came from 
 the doctor with medicines. The name of the doctor 
 he mentioned, however, was not that of the one 
 
240 FREDERIC SEWARD. 
 
 attending Mr. Seward at the time. Tlie boy wanted 
 to take the medicines, but the man said he must 
 deliver them himself, and pressed on up the stairs. 
 The boy went before him, remonstrating ; but when 
 on the fligixt of stairs near the sick-room, he thought 
 he might be blamed for not letting the man pass up, 
 and went down-stairs again. Frederic Seward, sleep- 
 ing in the room next his father's, had heard the dis- 
 cussion between the man and boy ; and, on coming 
 out to learn the cause, found the man just at the top 
 of the stairs, and asked him what he wanted, on 
 which he repeated the same story about the doctor 
 and the medicines. Frederic Seward said he would 
 take these in himself, and told the man that he 
 could not enter Mr. Seward's room. The messen- 
 ger insisted he must ; and Frederic, attributing 
 his obstinacy merely to insolence, told him shortly 
 he could not, on which he said, if that were so, he 
 would take back the medicines, and being told he 
 might do so, he turned to go. After proceeding down 
 a few steps, however, as he afterwards said, remember- 
 ing his oath not to fail, he faced about, sprang up to 
 the landing, and drawing a revolver, presented it at 
 the son's head. The first cap snapped, and the 
 trigger being again pulled, the same happened with 
 
MR. oEWARD S IMPRESSIONS. 241 
 
 another. Then using the pistol as a clul>, the des-' 
 perado struck Frederick Seward such a blow on the 
 head with the butt end that his skull was broken. 
 Drawing a knife, he then rushed past into the bed- 
 room, making a cut on the door-post as he entered, 
 and was at the bed in a moment. 
 
 Meanwhile the daughter, hearing her brother's fall 
 just outside, and seeing the assassin enter, stood up 
 and cried out, " Oh, he is going to kill my father. 
 Do not let him kill my father." Mr. Seward, partly 
 roused, heard the words, and saw his daughter stand- 
 ing, her eyes fixed upon something apparently at his 
 side, and just above him. He had long thought that 
 something of the sort might happen, and knowing 
 himself to be utterly helpless, he thought that his 
 hour w.as come. Turning his eyes upwards he remem- 
 bered <?eeing above him a hand and coat-sleeve, the 
 appearance of which, strangely enough at such a time, 
 made such an impression on him that lie distinctly 
 remembered it, and was able to give a description of 
 it afterwards. 
 
 " The sleeve," he said, '' was of fine grey cloth mix- 
 ture, and my first thought was of that cloth. I looked 
 further up and saw the chest and chin of a handsome, 
 strongly made man. I next felt a quick gush of warm 
 
 B 
 
242 ESCAPE OF PAYNE. 
 
 rain on my cheek — then another — and, in a moment, 
 another, this time on the other side. The thought 
 passed tlirough my brain that this warm rain came 
 from myself, and that it was blood. I had hauled 
 myself gradually away, and now fell over the bed- 
 side. The man who, in these three strokes, had 
 cut down to my throat on two sides with two stabs, 
 and witli the third had left one of my cheeks hanging 
 down in a flap, now moved round the foot of the bed 
 to get at me on this side. He was met by the soldier 
 nurse, and they had a tussle on the floor. Payne, the 
 assassin, was breathless and tired with the excitement, 
 and with the violence of his attack upon me, and the 
 soldier, though wounded, was enabled to drive him to 
 the door. All this had happened in so short a time, 
 and had made so little noise, that my other son knew 
 nothing of what was going on, but entering, when 
 Payne had been driven to the door, he helped to drag 
 him to the stairs, down which he dashed, and mount- 
 ing a horse, got away." 
 
 From the lively and graphic way in which Mr. 
 Seward told the story, it was hardly possible to 
 believe that it related to himself, and that this dia- 
 bolical attempt upon his life had been made only a 
 year before. 
 
MR. Seward's revival. 243 
 
 The first thing the Secretary remembered after 
 tumbling on to the floor, was tbat as in a dream he 
 felt two hands under his arms, w^hile a voice said, 
 *' He is not dead ;" to wdiicli remark he was able to 
 reply, faintly, "I am not dead — not dead." Then 
 he was put into bed again. The doctor ordered him 
 a little tea, which revived him so much that he was 
 able to ask for the slate on which he had been 
 in the habit of writing since his jaw had been broken, 
 and was able to trace a few words. 
 
 The would-be assassin, though he w^ounded all in 
 the room except the girl, had inflicted a fatal injury 
 on no one. 
 
 r2 
 
244 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 Conversation with a Supporter of the President — A Freedmen's 
 Village — WHiite Labour in the South — Education of the People 
 — Xegro Enfranchisement — Feehng against the President — 
 Politicians in Social Life — The proposed Paris Exhibition — 
 — Indian Troubles — Grant's Respect for Lee — State Rights and 
 the Union — General Grant on some of the Operations of the 
 War — Sherman and Hood — Education of the Negroes — Culti- 
 vation of Land by the Blacks — Negro Village at Arlington — 
 Good done by the Freedmen's Bureau — Intelligence of the 
 Negroes — Gradual Disajjpearance of the Antipathy between 
 White and Black — Military Courts — Report of the Reconstruc- 
 tion Committee — Journey to Richmond — Banks of the Potomac 
 — Acquia Creek — Fredericksburg — Richmond — State of Feeling 
 among the Inhabitants — State Sovereignty — White and 
 Coloured — Communicativeness of the Negroes — Devotion to 
 Kind Masters manifested by them. 
 
 I 
 
 HAD a conversation one afternoon with Mr. 
 
 who is a supporter of the President. I asked 
 about a Freedmen's village of which I had heard 
 on the other side of the river. " That," he said, 
 " was a place established by us during the war. 
 Freedmen cultivate the land you saw acV/ortised as 
 Government farms just below Lee's house. I went 
 
A freedmen's village. 245 
 
 there some time ago, and walked througli the httle 
 town of negroes' cottages. The people came out in 
 great crowds, not knowing me; but hearing that I 
 was an official, they quite looked upon me as the 
 Government, and crowded round me with great 
 curiosity. And what I'll relate to you will show 
 you how ignorant and superstitious the negroes 
 are. 
 
 " When I left the gates the crowed that had closely 
 followed us hitherto 'would go no further, being afraid 
 that if they left the neighbourhood of their houses 
 some harm might come to them, and that, by some 
 trick or other, they might be carried back into slavery. 
 They trusted no one,. I do not think that these 
 people, or those in the South generally, will ever 
 become owners of land to any great extent. They 
 usually become barbers in tlie towns. A man who is 
 well off sometimes takes a livery stable. They do 
 not buy land. 
 
 " The excessive flocking to the towns is now over. 
 They ran to them at first to get safety, and to be 
 with others in their own position. They are now^ 
 returning to the country, to the estates of th^ir former 
 masters. I believe that wdiite labour can in time be 
 got in the South, and that white men will be able to 
 
246 EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 work in that climate without experiencing any bad 
 effects. The negro will have to stand white labour 
 competition, and I am sure I do not know how he 
 will be able to do so. His future is a very doubtful 
 one, and I never like to look forward to it. As for 
 their education, there must be time. It may take a 
 generation or longer — no one knows how long. The 
 schools have been planted by the Freedmen's Bureau ; 
 but that Bureau cannot last. The States must look 
 to the education of their people. The Government 
 at Washington has never interfered with the States 
 in anything regarding education. That must be 
 left to the people, and they cannot be helped 
 or guided. It is not the business of the Federal 
 Government. 
 
 "It is probable that the State Governments will 
 support the schools, for it is their interest to do so, 
 and to raise the standard of intelligence among the 
 people. The whites must have the land; they will 
 buy it ; the nigger wont. In Jamaica the state of 
 things was different. There were not enough w^lntes 
 to buy the lands, and the nigger could get his plot 
 and squat on it. Here the white men have the 
 capital, and will use it for the purchase of land. 
 Even now there is a constant influx of them, and it 
 
NEGRO SUFFRAGE. 247 
 
 will in time become greater. The stream of emigra- 
 tion flows generally to the West, but native Americans 
 are going South. 
 
 " We must avoid creating any fresh antagonism 
 between the whites and the blacks. If thi suflrage 
 were given to the coloured men, they would send 
 representatives to Con^';ress who would demand things 
 it would be impossible to grant them. The anger of 
 the whites against them would thus be raised, and 
 there would be a war of races most disastrous to the 
 black. If the negroes got the franchise here, in this 
 district of Columbia around AVashington, it would 
 have no further efi'ect, because the event would have 
 no influence beyond the district in which it occurred, 
 and it would do no harm. 
 
 " Mr. Sumner has found himself to-day in a mino- 
 rity upon this Colorado question. He wanted to keep 
 out a new State on account of its not letting a 
 coloured man vote. The West is showdng its feeling, 
 and the extremists can go no further. These Eadicals 
 will not be able to carry their views further with 
 regard to the Southern States. The men elected 
 there for governorships and other appointments will 
 be men of compromise ; and that is what is best. It 
 is what is seen after all the revolutions that history 
 
248 POLITICIANS IN SOCIAL LIFE. 
 
 tells US of. Extremes tone down on either side, 
 and moderate men are elected. It is of the first 
 importance that Southern States should come in 
 and be represented in Congress — the sooner the 
 better." 
 
 I spoke of the feeling in New England against the 
 President. " Yes/' he said, " you observed that tone? 
 Well, the President is a firm man, who has taken his 
 line and will go on upon it. The minds of vulgar 
 men are always full of notions that this or that is 
 done by men in public positions only with a view to 
 the next elections, and not for the benefit of the 
 country. I do not suppose the President gives a 
 thought to such things. I do not believe that he 
 will even be a candidate for the next Presidencv. 
 No, he wants North and South again to join and be 
 one. This is as necessary to the nation as the proper 
 joining of the bones • T a broken leg is for a man to 
 walk. Painful though the process may be, both parts 
 must be made to join." 
 
 The warm party zeal that is displayed in America 
 does not prevent politicians of opposite principles 
 from meeting in social life. When I dined at Senator 
 Sprague's, it was striking to meet at the same table 
 men of such opposite politics as Reverdy Johnson and 
 
THE PARIS EXPOSITION. 249 
 
 Thacldeus Stevens. The senator had been so good as 
 to ask us on an evening when many distinguished 
 men were his guests. Among those present were 
 General Grant, the Speaker, Generals Schenk and 
 Howard, Mr. Colfax, Mr. Chase, the Chief Justice, 
 and Senators Wilson, Sumner, and Sherman. General 
 Howard, is chief of the Freedmen's Bureau. He com- 
 manded one of the wings of Sherman's army. 
 
 Conversation turned once upon the proposed exhi- 
 bition in the Champ de Mars at Paris, and General 
 Grant seized the occasion to express those sentiments 
 respecting the French occupation of Mexico which he 
 takes no pains to conceal. His face flushed as he 
 said — 
 
 " Well, there's one thing I want done about that 
 Paris Exposition : I want none of our people to send 
 a single article there unless every French soldier has 
 first been withdrawn by that time from Mexico." 
 
 " Well, general, they are to go by instalments, you 
 know," some one said. 
 
 "Not a bit of it," replied Grant, angrily; "they 
 wont go till they are obliged to go. Infantry 
 and artillery are the only things that will make them 
 quit hold." 
 
 Should the general ever be President, no European 
 
250 grant's opinion of lee. 
 
 emperor in Mexico will be long without a war on his 
 hai'ds. 
 
 Tlie Indian troubles that the United States have 
 had at intervals, the general thought, were entirely 
 owing to the bad faith kept towards the Indians by 
 the white settlers and hunters in the West. " I have 
 seen an Englishman," he said, " who belonged to the 
 Iludsor/s Bay Company, just able to mount his horse, 
 ride right away among the tribes most hostile to us, 
 just because the Indians know that the English have 
 always kept faith with them." 
 
 Of Lee, Grant spoke with great respect, saying that 
 he liked him, and that he was a gentleman. Lee had 
 told him that he was not for secession, and had never 
 considered it necessary, but he had thought it his duty 
 to go when his State went. 
 
 " I never took that view," Grant said, " as to State 
 rights ; and I remember, years ago, when there was 
 some talk of such a thing in Missouri, that I resolved, 
 come what would, that I should stick to the Union. 
 I looked upon it as showing the demoralization of the 
 time that such talk should be possible; that men 
 should think in that way." 
 
 Of Joe Johnstone he said that he was " as good a 
 general as Lee, if not better. Lee's army, just before the 
 
CONVERSATION WITH GENERAL GRANT. 251 
 
 taking of Eichmund, I sliould set down at eighty thou- 
 sand men. I had one hundred and thirty thousand, all 
 told. We had the outside and he the inside, which 
 gave him an advantage. He was able to concentrate 
 on any given point fully as many men as I could bring 
 to the attack. We had the advantage in resources." 
 He set down the loss of the Confederates at the great 
 battle of Pittsburg Landing at forty thousand men. 
 His own army lost twelve thousand. 
 
 *' Well, general," some one said, " we were pretty 
 well whipped that first day, though we whipped them 
 on the second." 
 
 ** No, sir," said Grnnt, "we were not. We were 
 always confident of beating them ; they brought all 
 their troops on the ground the first day ; I had a 
 whole fresh division coming up, and I knew we should 
 drive them on the next day. 
 
 " The losses of troops were always very heavy when 
 an attack failed. If we broke through their line, there 
 was not much loss ii. general on our side." 
 
 " It was during a retreat — after an attack had failed 
 — that the men got so badly cut up ?" 
 
 " No, sir, we never retreated. The loss was after 
 the failure of an attack. We never retreated/' re- 
 peated the general. 
 
252 THE freedmen's bureau. 
 
 The general said that he should be quite at ease 
 were either Sherman or Sheridan placed in command 
 of an American army for any purpose, or even if 
 their command embraced that of several detached 
 armies requiring united action. Sherman had been 
 uneasy when Hood replaced Joe Johnstone in the 
 command of the Confederate forces before Atlanta. 
 Grant said, " I knew of Johnstone's being super- 
 seded as soon as Sherman did, for we were in constant 
 telegrapliic communication ; and the view 1 took of 
 the matter was opposite to that of Sherman, and I 
 was very glad to hear of it." 
 
 A good deal was said about the Freedmen's Bureau by 
 General Howard and others. Several thought that the 
 Southerners would not much mind acceding to the repre- 
 sentation of the blacks. Five negroes formerly counted 
 as two whites in the Southern representation in Con- 
 gress, but it is now hoped that the Southerners will 
 see that black representation, without black suffrage, 
 is no longer possible. The Freedmen's Bureau it is . 
 not thought advisable to continue very long. 
 
 " We have established a number of schools. How 
 far the States would be inclined to support them, if we 
 left them to their care, we do not know. Florida does 
 
TIIK NEGROES OF THE SOLTH. 253 
 
 support schools ; she taxes the negroes for the educa- 
 tion of their children. The planters, too, in many 
 places have done very much in the way of helping to 
 get the negroes taught, and many of these gentlemen 
 seem anxious that the blacks should get educated by 
 the State. The Church has been quite in favour 
 of the schools, knowing that if she did not take this 
 line she should lose in influence ; for the people 
 would find out that all the good that had come to 
 them had come through the Yankees, and not through 
 her. No proof has, however, yet been given that the 
 educational establishments that v/ere founded by 
 the Bureau would be continued were the Bureau 
 withdrawn." 
 
 The probability is that in future the negroes of the 
 South will be, as heretofore, the labouring part of the 
 population. I do not think they need fear white 
 competition; but there will be many who will rent 
 land, or own it themselves, arid cultivate it as farmers. 
 Lately, in one of the Gulf States, I heard of several 
 negroes who had combined together to rent and work 
 an estate. One who w^as sent as their representative 
 to the Bureau Office made the necessary arrangements, 
 and showed great intelligence. These men, all part- 
 
254 NEGRO VILLAGE AT ARLINGTON. 
 
 ners in the concern, each in general with a lot of forty 
 acres, are now working the estate. It is not often 
 that a negro has the capital to buy land, but he may 
 rent it, and in many cases those who have done so are 
 getting on very well. In the Sea Islands they have 
 rather come to grief, but they are helped sometimes 
 to get along. 
 
 The negro village at Lee's old place, Arlington, is 
 inhabited chiefly by decrepit people. The farms 
 about the village are divided into five and ten 
 acre pieces, and the negroes cultivate them. They 
 do not, however, show the passion for acquiring land 
 that the Jamaica negro showed after emancipation. 
 The mortality was necessarily great among them at first, 
 when large numbers followed the armies, particularly 
 during Sherman's march through fi'om Atlanta to 
 Savannah. Thev had to be herded toj^^ether like 
 cattle — in many cases getting no good food, or 
 only the rations that could be spared by the 
 soldiers. 
 
 The Bureau has done much good in bridging over 
 the feeling of dislike between the white and the black, 
 and in bringing the two races together. Even men 
 f:om the South admit this. I have seen encouraging 
 
REPRFSENTATION FOR NEGROES. 255 
 
 letters lately from the Southern States, describing the 
 feeling between the two classes as good, and en- 
 couraging the hope that the same may soon be the 
 case generally throughout the South. 
 
 It was the opinion of several gentlemen whom I 
 met, that the South would ask to be allowed to come 
 into Congress in less than five months, even though 
 they should be compelled to accede to the condition 
 that the Confederate debt should not be assumed by 
 the Government, and that they should have no repre- 
 sentation for negroes as long as they did not admit 
 them to the suffrage. 
 
 One distinguished member of the Republican party 
 I found to be quite in favour of giving the blacks all 
 rights, including the right to vote. *' It is not pos- 
 sible for us to give the blacks of the South the right 
 of voting immediately, but it should be done as soon 
 as it is possible to do it. The coloured men of 
 Louisiana are, I think, in general the most intelligent. 
 In the towns too they are sharp enough. It is not 
 with them here as it was with their brethren in the 
 West Indies. Here they have many white men from 
 whom to learn, and hear so much talk that they know 
 fully as well as most people what is going on. You 
 
256 EFFECTS OF NEGRO SUFFRAGE. 
 
 will always find that they know their friends. The 
 other day, in Washington, when there was that im- 
 mense mass meeting of coloured men, I and others 
 addressed them, and the applause did not come when 
 w^e appeared, but at points in the speeches, the bearing 
 of which they well knew. If the President goes 
 against them, they know w^ell enough what to think 
 of him. You must remember this, that w^e consider 
 their right to vote is of itself a good educator. 
 
 '•' We believe that the best education a man can 
 receive is to have the privilege of a free man ; he be- 
 comes a person of importance, and is held in higher 
 estimation than if he has no vote. It is only in 
 some plantations that the ignorance of the black is so 
 gross as is represented. In a few States the black 
 votes w^ould certainly swamp the white ; but I do 
 not believe that the antagonism of whites and blacks 
 w^ould be increased by the measure, but, on the 
 contrary, lessened. 
 
 "In one of the Southern States there is now a 
 newspaper edited by a negro, who says, in the columns 
 of his journal, that the antagonism is much increased 
 at present by the suffrage being withheld. ' You keep 
 us out,' he says, ' and deny us fuU rights ; and till 
 we get them, we shall make war upon 3 ou. It is true 
 
CONDITION OF THE SOUTH. 257 
 
 tliaf> power would be given to many ignorant men ; 
 but tbe giving of that power is the best means of 
 dispelling their ignorance. I do not believe that they 
 would act in a body against the whites. On the 
 contrary, it is probable that they w^ould split into 
 sections, and follow the lead of the white men.' 
 
 " The military courts are still in force in the South, 
 and you will find some sitting at Eichmond. The 
 recent decision of the Supreme Court does not aflect 
 the legality of the military tribunals where martial 
 law exists ; i.e., over the wdiole Soath. North of the 
 Ohio they w^ere illegal, for civil law has at all times 
 been in full force." 
 
 " Is the South, then, still entirely under martial 
 law?" 
 
 " Yes ; the Habeas Corpus Act is still suspended, 
 and the military tribunals can be held with perfect 
 legality. It is true that it is twelve months since the 
 war has ceased, and there has since been no active re- 
 sistance- As one of your English lawyers said after 
 the Indian rebellion, w^e consider the war to be not 
 raging, but existing — non Jlagrante, sed consfante. 
 These military tribunals are not for trial, but for con- 
 demnation. A man, if tried before them, knows he 
 has but little chance." 
 
 8 
 
258 WASHINGTON POLITICS. 
 
 " Do you say they are simply instruments of exe- 
 cution ?'* 
 
 " Yes, so they are. It is not possible, to get ver- 
 dicts that are just from civil tribunals, and this is our 
 expedient." 
 
 A senator who was present spoke of the difficulties 
 between North and South. He did not think them 
 of such vital importance. " If we surrender our at- 
 tempt to give the Southern negro the suffrage, and if 
 they surrender their attempt to get representation for 
 negroes, whom they don't allow to vote, the difficu^^v 
 may be bridged over. It is not fair that the South 
 should be able to get a number of members into the 
 House as representatives of men who are not allowed 
 to have any share in the Government. It is one of 
 our first principles thai men who have a share in the 
 Government shall alone be represented." 
 
 Such talk will give you some idea of "Waphington 
 politics. Society in this town is so limited, that poli- 
 ticians of opposite views meet constantly; and men 
 who abuse each other cordially in tlie House, shake 
 hands with equal cordiality the same evening. 
 
 The Eeport of the Eecoiistruction Committee is just 
 out, and the programme they propose is, as you will 
 see, not one calculated to heal the feelings of the 
 
DOWN THE POTOMAC. 259 
 
 people. Those who were in favour of the " rebellion" 
 — i.e., all, with very few exceptions — are, according 
 to the committee's proposal, disfranchised till 1870. 
 
 We left Washington on the 2Sth, at seven in the 
 morning, and arrived at Richmond at two the same 
 day. Our way lay dow^n the Potomac to Acquia 
 Creek, and then along the railroad, through Frede- 
 ricksburg, straight to Richmond. Confederate senti- 
 ments manifested themselves as soon as we left the 
 Washington wharf, in the exhibition and purchasing of 
 very ugly life-size portraits of " Stonewall" Jackson. 
 
 The morning was light and warm, the broad river 
 flowing onward without a ripple on its surface. 
 Flocks of canvas-backs could be seen from the deck, 
 but they were too wild to let the steamer get near them. 
 After passing Alexandria — the place where young 
 Ellsworth, one of the first Union officers who perished, 
 was shot in the beginning of the war — the banks be- 
 came very pretty. Nowhere of great height, they sank 
 often abruptly into t/ie water. The yellow earth on the 
 miniature bluffs contrasted wdth the fresh spring 
 green of the trees that grew thickly above. When 
 we passed Mount Vernon the ship's bell was tolled 
 in honour of Washington. 
 
 After about three hours' steaming the vessel 
 
 s2 
 
2G0 AMERICAN SCENERY. 
 
 rounded in to the shore, where a bay cut deeply into 
 the land. A stage of great extent, that had once run 
 far out into the water, was now mostly charred and 
 burnt. A few sheds, and an earthwork thrown up on 
 a low hill a quarter of a mile distant, w\ re all that re- 
 mained at Acquia Creek — a place that was long the 
 base of the Union armies in their four years' struggle 
 to get at Richmond. It has been occupied and re- 
 occupied by Federals, and wiped out by Confederates. 
 
 The railway cars were close down to the shore, and 
 no time was lost in getting into them. The train 
 goes rather slowly, and we pass through a tract of 
 country that is characteristically American. The 
 land is often very low and swampy, and the lean forest 
 grows at wdll, uncared for and unmolested. Wherever 
 the ground is dry there is a thick undergrowth. 
 Older trees rise above, thin and scraggy, and the dead 
 lie rotting on the ground, or in failing have caught in 
 the branches of others, and remain drooping against 
 them. The forest has in many places been cut, and 
 the blackened stumps are left by hundreds sticking 
 out of the ground. AYherever the land rises there are 
 these cuttings ; but sometimes the wood gives way 
 altogether to ploughed fields. 
 
 Many marks wl left of the time when camps 
 
RICHMOND. 2G1 
 
 dotted the country between Acquiii Creek and Frede- 
 ricksburg. 
 
 At the stations there are small earthworks, and in 
 places in the woods one can trace the spoi^ where the 
 tents of the troops were pitched. 
 
 The train soon passed the Rappahannock, and we 
 were in Fredericksburg — a pretty little town close to 
 the river's bank. Shot and shell have done their 
 work here, and great ragged holes appear in the walls 
 of many of the houses. In passing out, the passengers 
 in the car point out the field of battle of Deceaiber 13th, 
 1863. It is a plain behind the town, about a mile 
 and a half in length, and commanded by hills at its 
 edge, at the foot of which was the stone wall from be- 
 hind which the Confederates poured such a tremendous 
 fi^re upon the Irish brigade, of whose gallantry their 
 enemy still speak with admiration. It is no wonder 
 that an attack on such a position failed. 
 
 Hichmond is a sad place to stay in. The buildings 
 are ruined in many parts of the town, which has suf- 
 fered so much that from almost every man and woman 
 in it you liear the same note of misery. The people 
 are frequently vei y haughty, and exhibit much hatred 
 of the Yankees. The women are the most violent, 
 the men being generally sullen when spoken to of 
 
202 MOURNING IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 their position and cliances. " "VVe are helpless, and 
 must hear all they put upon us," is the hurden of their 
 conversation. 
 
 Black clothing — the sign of mourning for some one 
 fallen during the recent campaigns — is the rule in 
 Iiichmond. They speak with a fierce exultation of 
 the fights in v/hich they have been engaged, and which 
 they have so often won. There is sometimes a painful 
 effort at jollity ; and a lady, who had lost her two 
 brothers and several other relatives in the last year of 
 the war, told me of " the fun" they had had at Peters- 
 burg during the shelling of the town, before its evacu- 
 ation. It was only when she incidentally said, " Our 
 best and bravest — all were engaged in our effort," 
 that the tears rose to her eyes, and she could not con- 
 ceal her wretchedness. Surely no nation, or section 
 of a nation, has ever been so terribly punished as have 
 these Southerners for clinging to a system that was 
 a curse to the slave, and a double curse to the master. 
 Their present condition is most piteous ; but the old 
 ideas of State sovereignty, for which they fo-ght, are 
 still expressed with as mxuch firmness, and with as 
 undoubted a belief in their truth, as ever. 
 
 It is the feeling of loyalty to their State that Whit- 
 tier describes in " Randolf of Eoanoke :" — 
 
CONDITIONS OF THE RE-ADMISSION. 2G3 
 
 " Too lionest and too proud to feign 
 
 A love he never cherished, 
 Beyond Virginia's border-liue 
 
 His patriotism perished. 
 While others hailed in distant skies 
 
 Our oajifle's dusky pinion, 
 He only saw the mountain -bird 
 
 Stoop o'er his ' old dominion. 
 
 1 » 
 
 The papers frequently contain sp(^culations as to 
 whether the South will accept this or that condition 
 imposed upon them as the price of re-entering the 
 Union. Many men look upon the conditions that the 
 Eeconstruction Committee propose as a downright 
 insult; but they are so anxious again to enter the 
 Union, or rather to have a voice in the management 
 of their own affairs, that I should not wonder at their 
 accepting, in form at least, very stringent conditions. 
 They might even yield their assent to black suffrage ; 
 but it is very evident that it would not be wise for 
 the Northern Congress now at Washington to push 
 their demands too far. The feelings of the Southerners 
 are already bitter enough, and the bitterness would 
 be increased tenfold if the present Eadical policy — such 
 policy as is shown by Thaddeus Stevens's plan of con- 
 fiscating rebels' lands for the blacks — were adopted. 
 It would tell terribly against the negroes, by setting 
 every white man's hand against them throughout the 
 
264 HOPE OF THE SOUTHERNERS. 
 
 length and breadth of "Dixie." It would create in 
 Congress — for into Congress the Southern representa- 
 tives must soon enter — a party eternally at enmity 
 with the North, and by .10 means anxious to help the 
 negro. As the case now stands, the Southerners think 
 of the blacks very much as some English people think 
 of the low Irish — they are nuisances, and no one trou- 
 bles himself much as to what is to become of them. The 
 fond hope indulged in by the South with regard to the 
 negroes is, that they will all die out. There is a very 
 unanimous opinion on this point. Every Southerner 
 will tell you that vice, and dirt, and laziness must 
 carry them off. This conclusion, however, is hardly 
 warranted by the vitality the blacks show, under cer- 
 tain unfavourable circumstances, in the W^st Indies. 
 But the Southerners declare that the dark^ s here, in 
 addition to being subject to causes w^hich have pro- 
 duced so little effect upon their numbers in Hayti and 
 Jamaica, will also be placed under the disadvantage 
 that they cannot, as in Jamaica, fatten upon a small 
 piece of land. I am a great believer in the vitality of 
 the negro ; but there is no doubt that for some time, 
 at all events, there will be much mortality among them 
 in the towns, where as many as fifteen or twenty per- 
 sons pig together in one room — a state of things 
 
NEGRO COMMUNICATIVENESS. 205 
 
 which cannot be conducive to long life, if continued. 
 If they can be got to go back to work on the estates, 
 there is no reason why they should not continue to 
 thrive till their distant descendants become absorbed 
 in the white population, for that will probably be 
 their ultimate fate. This absorbing process is being 
 already rapidly carried on, and one sees in the towns 
 nine coloured men before one meets with one that is 
 a pure black. 
 
 To one coming from Jamaica, the want of a distinc- 
 tion between the blacks and browns is striking. Here 
 all coloured men are niggers, even though almost 
 white in complexion. From all the right of voting 
 would be withheld. It would be impossible to define 
 how much of the tar-brush touch should keep a man 
 out of the poll. None must be admitted who have 
 any of it, although some of those that have a little of 
 it are superior in intelligence to many a white man in 
 the South. 
 
 The negroes here seem to be getting on well enough, 
 and are vory communicative about their feelings. 
 Their stories must generally be taken with a " grain of 
 salt ;" for, as soon as one speaks to them of their condi- 
 tion, they conclude that one comes from the North, 
 and say all that they think will be most pleasing to 
 
266 NEGROES AND THEIR MASTERS. 
 
 a Noi-thern ear. I have heard them abuse their 
 former masters, although, when asked of what they 
 complained, they have confessed that the masters, 
 whom they now call "rebels" with great unction, 
 were kind, and treated them well. 
 
 I have heard of instances of great devotion to kind 
 masters, and one gentleman told me that he knew of 
 several men who had accompanied their masters to 
 the very end of the last campaign, although suffering 
 great privations, and never left them till the army 
 of Northern Virginia surrendered. The natural 
 enmity caused by the ill-treatment some have re- 
 ceived is plainly enough expressed when out of hear- 
 ing of any white man they think a Southerner. 
 
 " Would you have fought if your freedom had been 
 given you by the Confederates, and if they had placed 
 you in their army?" I asked of several. 
 
 The answer — always given under the impression I 
 was a Yankee — was, '* No, no ; we would never have 
 fought against the Northerners. I looked for them to 
 come in long before they did. When M'Cleilan came 
 so near, I thought he would get in, but he didn't 
 that time. No, we wouldn't f . it. What for we 
 fight?" "Dey had used us too badly," one man 
 said. " Several of my children were sold away f»om 
 
FIGHTING FOR THE SOUTH, 267 
 
 roe," said another. " No ; we weren't going to be 
 taken out tliere just to be killed. Dey only wanted 
 us to go into fire to belp them. De freedom dey 
 promised we did not believe in. Dey would have 
 taken it from us if they had succeeded. If dey had 
 given freedom first, then we fight. Very few went 
 into army — not more than a hundred or so — and dat 
 
 was sham to get over to Norferners. 
 
 >» 
 
2(38 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 Situation of RicLmond — The Caproi — Governor Pierpont — The 
 Burnt District — Tlie Tredegar Ironworks — The Two Prisons — 
 Treatment of Prisoners of War — unfferings of the Southern 
 States — Loafing Negroes — Blacks in Mixed Uniform — Defences 
 of Richmond — M'Clellan's Advance against Richmond — The 
 Chickahominy — Agricultural Operations — Soldiers' Graves — 
 Federal Cemetery — Antipathy of the South to the North — 
 Galling Treatment of Federal Officers by Southern Ladies — 
 View of Richmond from the James River — Butler's Lines — His 
 Attempt to cut through the Dutch Gap — Farms on the James — 
 City Point — Idle Negroes — Rail to Petersburg — Position of that 
 Town — Murderous Contests in its Neighbourhood — Nothing to 
 do with Yankees — Virginian Bitterness — The Natural Position 
 of the 
 Parties. 
 
 of the African — Parallel between English and American 
 
 Tl ICHMOND is rising faster from its ruins tlian 
 any other town in the South. It is well situated 
 on hills overlooking the James river, which, above 
 the town, is a brawling, yellow torrent, but becomes, 
 just below, a navigable river. On the top of the 
 principal hill is the Capitol — a Greek temple with big 
 portico, and surrounded with trees. The liouses 
 along the ridge are pretty closely packed, and there 
 are several church-spires that can be seen from 
 
TREDEGAR IRONWORKS. 269 
 
 M'Clellan's battle-grounds. Pierpont, the newly- 
 appointed governor of the State, lives in a house that 
 formerlv belonsred to Jefferson Davis, not far from 
 the Capitol. This man, as a Yankee governor, is 
 very odious to the people, who had, of course, no 
 voice in his election, and now refuse to have any- 
 thing to say to him. The itichmond ladies will 
 not see or ^dsit his wife — a complete avoidance that 
 has not made him less Radical in his views. 
 
 The hotel at which we stayed — the Spotswood — 
 was in a block between the governor's house and the 
 river, and on the border of the "burnt district," 
 which extends from it to the James. These houses 
 were set fire to when tlie city was 'vacuated, and it is 
 a wonder that the fire did not do more damage. As 
 it was, much harm was done, as the charred brick 
 ruins show. Yankee speculators are fast rebuilding, 
 and before long the place will be, outwardly, as gay 
 as ever. 
 
 ^ Just below us, on the river's bank, are the Tredegar 
 Ironworks, that were so useful to the Confederate 
 Government for the founding of cannon, the renewal 
 of railway iron, &c. They look very dirty and 
 ** played out " now, though they were in full swing, 
 turning out guns and making rails up to the 
 
270 THE *' LIBBY ' AND *' CASTLE THUNDER." 
 
 last day of the war. A heap of rails taken from 
 the road lay near the factory. It would certainly 
 have been difficult to drive a train fast over them. 
 They were quite splintered and flattened by the con- 
 stant use they had been put to for so long. A heap 
 of cannon balls, fired by the Federals, and picked 
 up as old iron, to be melted and used for other pur- 
 poses, w^as also there. They were of all shapes and 
 sizes, from the monster sharp conical shot to grape 
 and canister. There were some curious bolts, with 
 flanges like the feathers on an arrow behind the 
 body of the projectile, and shells that had buiied 
 themselves in the ground, and had forgotten to 
 explode. 
 
 Lower down the James, more in the suburbs of the 
 town, are the two prisons, " Castle Thunder " and 
 " The Libby/' that we have all heard so much about. 
 Tliey are close together, and are now marked by a 
 boarding on which their names are written. Castle 
 Thunder is a plain block of brick, looking like a row 
 of ugly lodging-houses. The windows are all securely 
 barred. The Libby is a little further on, and across 
 the way, close to the water. It is also a brick 
 building, of a larger size than Castle Thunder, and 
 apparently built for a warehouse. 
 
TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. 271 
 
 • 
 
 In speaking of the prisons, statements made to me 
 by gentlemen who were officers in the Confederate 
 army concerning the treatment of the prisoners may 
 here be communicated. I have asked several who 
 were in the army of Northern Virginia about it, and 
 they one and all declare that they do not believe that 
 the prisoners had any hardships to bear that could 
 have been easily prevented. Much misery undoubtedly 
 existed. 
 
 " What could we do ?" they said. " We tried over 
 and over again to get them exchanged, but we 
 couldn't ; and there they had to remain. Our armies 
 were suffering fearfully. Rations were often not 
 issued to the regiments at all on cei'tain days. The 
 troops had sometimes to wait over twenty-four hours 
 before they could get anything to eat. What was to 
 be had in Eichmond was given to the prisoners as 
 well as to our troops. The men in the Libby had the 
 same food as the men in the lines. That was often 
 scant and poor enough. 
 
 " At Spotsylvania, for instance, just to give you an 
 idea of our state, our wounded had to be fed for seven 
 or eight weeks on salt junk alone. Nothing else was 
 at hand. Of course the prisoners, crowded as they 
 were (for we had no other place to put them in, and 
 
282 THE STREETS OF RICHMOND. 
 
 * 
 
 could spare no more men to guard them), suffered 
 terribly. Perhaps in a place or two in the South 
 there may have been some officer over the prison 
 who did not do his duty ; but it was the wish of the 
 Government that all in the prisons should be well 
 treated. At Andersonville there was, undoubtedly, 
 much misery arising from the same causes. We had 
 absolutely no men to spare, and the consequence was 
 that at that place the guard was quite insufficient for 
 the number of the prisoners. Very severe rules had, 
 in consequence, to be adopted. 
 
 ** When Sherman moved near Andersonville, a 
 number of the prisoners were taken away to be placed 
 in a position of greater security further in the interior. 
 There were so few soldiers to guard this large batch, 
 that the captive Yankees were straggling all over the 
 country : the men could not keep them together. In 
 collecting food for these prisoners, a number of cattle 
 were taken, and much complaint was made. Such an 
 act is a good proof that all the food that could be got 
 by hook or by crook was obtained for them." 
 
 The streets of Richmond are full of negroes, who 
 are generally busily engaged in loafing. The white 
 men, most of vv^hom still wear the blue grey of the 
 Confederate uniform, with the brass buttons covered 
 
DEFENSIVE WORKS. 273 
 
 with black cloth, and the usual slouch wide-awake hat, 
 seem fewer in number. 
 
 Tlie uniforms of the contending armies are some- 
 times oddly mixed up on the persons of the blacks, 
 particularly the boys, who may be seen with the 
 United States blue trousers and a Confederate army 
 jacket — a happy combination which one would gladly 
 see realized not only in the dress, but also in those 
 who wear it. What time must elapse before such a 
 happy consummation shall be witnessed in these 
 States ? 
 
 On the first day of May I drove out along the 
 Mechanics ville highw^ay — a road leading due north of 
 this. It is a broad sandy track, with no metal, and, 
 till the Chickahominy is reached, almost straight. 
 As soon as w^e were well clear of the outlying suburbs 
 of the city, we passed the works belonging to the first 
 or inner line of defence erected around Eichmond. 
 
 These works are fast crumbling into ruins, little 
 of the breastwork connecting the forts being now 
 left. The forts themselves, which are simple enough, 
 have no turf on their yellow-clay sides, that are 
 thickly channelled by the rains. The country is 
 very flat to the north, though more broken to the 
 east and south. Woods surrounding broad spaces 
 
 t 
 
274 EARTHWORKS. 
 
 that are sometimes under the plough, and sometimes 
 covered with rotten stumps, are the common features 
 of the hindscape. 
 
 After passing another earthwork further on, at 
 the edge of a copsewood, a place was pointed out 
 as the spot across which M'Clellan's picket line 
 passed at the time of his advance against Eichmond 
 after the peninsula had been traversed. His extreme 
 right rested on Mechanicsville, his blue lines of battle 
 stretching away for eighteen miles in a half circle, 
 till his left rested on the James. A battle was 
 fought here. Then, after seven days more of hard 
 fighting, he drew back to his gu_\^oats, and went 
 down to the river. 
 
 None of the earthworks now to be seen in the 
 neighbourhood were raised at that time. They were 
 thrown up after his defeat. The plateau, on which 
 we had hitherto been, here dips suddenly. A battery 
 has been constructed on the brow, and three em- 
 brasures scowl down upon the road as it dives into 
 the wood-covered valley of the Chickahominy. 
 Along the crest, to the left and right, breastworks 
 and forts are coi^structed. 
 
 The Chickahominy is a little stream that creeps 
 quietly along, often flooding the low land around it. 
 
SOLDIERS* GRAVES. . 275 
 
 The rough log-bridges that have been put up by the 
 army are now much tumbled down. The tmibers 
 have rotted or fallen away, and ugly holes are left, 
 that look as if they must break the legs of any 
 horses that are taken over them. Both horses and 
 drivers, however, seem quite accustomed to these 
 rickety, unsafe structures. The former take a little 
 jump on to the first firm log, and walk over it in the 
 cleverest way, the carriage heaving, jolting, and banging 
 behind them. Beyond the little river the woods become 
 more dense, their undergrowth often spangled . with 
 the white blossoms of the dogwood. The pitch pine, 
 a tall tree, not unlike the Scotch fir, is very common. 
 
 Around the whole of this ground there was 
 heavy fighting, though few traces of it are now seen. 
 Farming seems to be reviving. They are now 
 ploughing great clearings with a machine, drawn by 
 one horse only, that hardly does more than scratch 
 the light soil. The negro ploughmen earn their 
 seven or eight dollars a month, and are now pre- 
 paring the land for maize. 
 
 Near another villainous log-bridge, at the bottom 
 of a little ravine, were a few soldiers' graves and 
 a broken mill, that marked the place of one of 
 M'Clellan's severest fights. The graves held often 
 
 t2 
 
276 TURNS OP THE FIGHT. 
 
 ifiore than one soldier. On one head-board the 
 names of those lying below it were not recorded at 
 all, but simply the number of the company, and the 
 State from which it came. A quarter of an hour's 
 ride brought us to the battle-field of Cold Harbour. 
 The pines grew thickly over most of the field, and 
 rifle-pits had been thrown up by hundreds beneath 
 them. A little shanty, riddled with balls, stands 
 where the fire was hottest. In front of it the woods 
 are thinner, the lines of the Confederates crossing 
 spaces that were quite open. Dwarf cedars grow in 
 great numbers, most of them torn by shot. Cannon 
 balls have taken off the tops of many, and smashed 
 the trunks. Eifle bullets, too, have cut sharp grooves 
 in their sides, and speckled them with small holes. 
 
 Owing to the practice of the American troops on 
 both sides of intrenching themselves by throwing up a 
 breastwork as soon as any ground was gained, the 
 turns of the fight can often be traced. At one spot 
 the hostile lines approach to within seventy yards 
 of each other. The Federals had begun a mine 
 which never exploded. It was on the 3rd of June, 
 two years ago, that a furious charge by the Federals 
 drove in, for a short distance, the troops under Breck- 
 enridge. In the end, hoy; ever. Grant had again 
 
NATIONAL CEMETERIES. 277 
 
 to sidle off to the left, leaving more dead on the 
 ground than he had ever lost before in any of his 
 assaults in the Wilderness. 
 
 A cemetery has been made by the Federals within 
 their old lines, in which two thousand dead, or more, 
 are buried. While the dead bodies of the Federal troops 
 found in the woods were carried in by fatigue parties, 
 the Confederate dead were allowed to lie where they fell 
 under the trees — at least a more poetic resting-place 
 than those graves ticketed off in long rows, with the 
 monotonous lines of little white boards above, and the 
 ugly white paling around. These cemeteries are called 
 ** national i" and yet it is only the dead from the 
 Northern section of the nation that are laid in 
 them. The names have often been cut on slabs 
 above the graves in the woods, so that the bodies 
 can be identified without much trouble. Often, too, 
 even when there is no inscription, the clothing tells 
 who the soldier was. Where the soil is light, these 
 bodies are now only skeletons in uniform ; but where 
 they have been buried in clay, the flesh is still on 
 the bones. 
 
 It was dusk as we drove back to Eichmond, passing 
 the battle-field of Fan- Oaks. The country reminded 
 me of the sand and pines of Surrey. 
 
278 DOWN THE JAMES RIVER. 
 
 I went in the evening to a tea-party, at which 
 there were several Confederate officers and some 
 ladies — all dressed in black. One can scarcely 
 wonder at the depth of hate with which they 
 regard their conquerors, when one hears of their 
 terrible losses — the ladies talking of their brothers 
 lying mangled in the hospitals, and the men of their 
 comrades struck down with a dull bullet thud by 
 their sides. The treatment the federal officers receive 
 from the ladies must sometimes be rather galling. 
 One of these objectionable gallants was prancing, to 
 liis own great satisfaction, up and down one of the 
 streets on a remarkably fine horse. A group of 
 ladies, before whom he had taken care frequently to 
 pass, at last stopped in their walk to observe him ; 
 and one of them exclaimed, when sure their victim 
 was well within hearing, " I wonder, now, where 
 that horse was stolen from ?" 
 
 Mr. Wyse and Mr. Fox, of the Federal navy, 
 kindly offered to take us down the James river, on 
 their return from Richmond to Washington — an offer 
 which we were only too glad to accept. We started 
 at half-past four in the morning. Fancy the Thames 
 below Cliveden, without the islands, and with the 
 high banks a little lowered. Put a maison-carrec- 
 
butler's lines. 279 
 
 like Greek temple where Cliveden House stands, 
 with a few church-spires above the trees, and you 
 will have an idea of the view of Richmond from the 
 James a little below the city. The hills on which 
 the town is built soon subside into more level ground. 
 The river, which is excessively tortuous, takes its 
 course through a rolling country, partly under wood, 
 partly under cultivation, on each side. Along 
 the banks the ground sometimes rises in low bluffs, 
 the principal of which is Drury's Bluff, some miles 
 down the stream. It is covered with strong bat- 
 teries, that completely command the passage. 
 
 A little further down we came in sight of Butler's 
 lines, and his " crow's nest " of observation. The 
 attempt he made to cut through the narrow gap 
 known as the Dutch Gap looks far less foolish than 
 one would suppose it to be, from the amount of 
 ridicule that has been cast on him on account of 
 it. The river at this point makes a great loop, 
 two miles in length, and comes flowing down again 
 only about fifty feet from its channel above. The 
 sand and clay bank between the two channels is 
 about twenty feet high ; and if that could have been 
 cut through, Butler would have avoided the two 
 miles of round-about, and all the obstructions that 
 
280 FARMS. 
 
 had been placed in the course of those two miles to 
 prevent his gunboats getting up the river. If the 
 narrow neck were cut through, he no doubt thought 
 the water might easily be persuaded to flow through 
 in sufficient volume to float his vessels. But the 
 angle at which the cutting had been made was too 
 much of a right angle to the course of the stream, 
 and a dirty, long puddle was all that was made. 
 The men had to work under fire, as the batteries 
 above could throw shell easily into the ditch. They 
 lived as much as possible in covers scooped for 
 themselves in the bank, which looked as if a number 
 of gigantic sand-martins had been burrowing in its 
 face. 
 
 There are some fine farms along the river's banks, 
 a few of which are getting on well. The proprietors 
 of others say they cannot get labour enough, and 
 hope that the whites from the North wdll soon sup- 
 ply it. Those that have enough labour are confident 
 that the free system will pay them much better than 
 the old one. " Yes, of course," they say, " if we can 
 only get the men to work as much as we want, it 
 will pay much better. "We have not now to nurse 
 and take care of the hand% as we had before, and we 
 get ten hours of work from the men. Here, however. 
 
NIGGERS LOAFING. 281 
 
 where corr and tobacco only are grown, we sliall not 
 get on so well this year as the cotton people will. 
 Some one is going to try cotton near Petersburg; 
 but the climate is too cold for much probability of 
 success in cotton-raising." 
 
 City Point, a promontory jutting into the river, was 
 Grant's head-quarters during much of the time he 
 directed the operations against the ai*my of Lee. The 
 house he used is prettily situated near the James, 
 which, like most American rivers, is of a dirty yellow- 
 ochre colour. A number of young niggers were on 
 the pier. 
 
 " What are those fellows doing ?" I asked. 
 
 " Oh, just loafing about, doing nothing. Most of 
 them are vagrants. Whenever they want any- 
 thing they go to the Freedmen's Bureau, and get 
 some help. The sooner that B'reau is done away 
 with the better." 
 
 These fellows were all dressed in cast-off soldiers' 
 uniforms. 
 
 The rail to Petersburg is laid over level country, 
 and leads often through woods, and over cleared ground, 
 where little is to be seen but the eternal breastworks 
 as one hurries by. The town, which bears many 
 marks of shot and shell, is like a little English town, 
 
282 THE SHARE SYSTEM. 
 
 and there seemed to be a good deal of business doing 
 in it. I called on Captain P., nephew to Colonel P., 
 killed at Fair Oaks, and who himself commanded in 
 turn several of the Confederate war- vessels. Another 
 Confederate officer to whom we were introduced was 
 so good as to promise to ride with us, to point out the 
 places of interest in the lines around the town. 
 
 There are several gentlemen staying in the hotel. 
 One of them has come to town to buy some sheep. 
 He says that he is getting on pretty well with his 
 farming. He had a number of negroes working for 
 him, but did not like to pay thrm fixed wages, as 
 they were certain, when receiving such only, to 
 leave the estate, should they hear of anything they 
 supposed likely to give them a better chance. His 
 plan was to give them one-half of the produce, but to 
 make them work at other things besides agriculture : 
 they were house servants as well. This " share 
 system" had answered with him, and the negroes had 
 shown an interest in the ftirm, and stuck by him. 
 Having got three horses and a buggy, we rode out 
 to the lines with our guide, who had exchanged his 
 sword for the birch-rod, and given his school a short 
 holiday in order to be able to accompany us. My 
 horse was an immense Eoman-nosed charger. S. 
 
PETERSBURG. 283 
 
 drove, as lie cannot be persuaded to cross his legs over 
 a horse's back unless there is a fox in prospect. 
 
 Petersburg lies rather in a hollow, the ground rising 
 on all sides of it. A little way out there are some 
 other hollows, that served well for the massing of 
 troops preparatory to moving out on the bare, shot- 
 swept plain beyond. It was a lovely day, with bright 
 sun and pleasant wind. We could see on the horizon 
 line, between us and Eichmond, the tall crow's 
 nest near Butler's canal, and the woods bordering the 
 James. In our front the country was covered with 
 pine and hard wood, but not in the vicinity of the 
 trenches. A few minutes' gallop over sandy ploughed 
 land, and past mouldering earthworks, brought us to 
 the spot where Grant made his great assault in 1SG4, 
 after the springing of a mine in which the Federals 
 had managed, in spite of the counter-mining of the 
 Confederates, to place eight tons of gunpowder. The 
 spot was guarded by a Carolina regiment, which was 
 blown into the air. The Federals poured in, and 
 swept the works for a distance of two hundred yards, 
 filling with their assaulting columns the pit made by 
 the explosion. Confederate troops and artillery were 
 mustered as quickly as possible on a rising ground 
 behind, and a murderous fire of shell, grape, and 
 
284 MURDEROUS FIRE. 
 
 canister was opened, that swept tlie assailants down 
 in hundreds. 
 
 Our cicerone (who had commanded one of the 
 Latteries that played upon the spot) spoke with awful 
 glee of the effects of his fire. " You should have seen 
 the arms and legs fly, sir," &c. Very few of them 
 who formed a part of these storming columns got 
 back, and the description of the appearance the 
 " crater" presented after the struggle was all over 
 was truly appalling. The dead, to the number of 
 twelve or fifteen hundred, are buried below the place, 
 which shows only confused heaps of gravel. The 
 rains have washed the soil away in some places, and 
 skulls of whites and blacks grin at the skies. Can- 
 teens and single bones protrude from the ground. It 
 is not worth while to rebur^- them, for they help to 
 add interest to the place, and give a better trade to 
 the little Za^er-Bier shanty that has been built close by. 
 
 I was amused with some Southern gentlemen who 
 called this morning. I mentioned our proposed ride, 
 in which one of our visitors was to accompany us. 
 They looked embarrassed, and at last asked if both 
 the others who were travelling with us, and whom they 
 had not yet seen, were Englishmen. 
 
 " Yes, they are," we answered. 
 
VIRGINIANS AND YANKEES. 285 
 
 " We asked," they said, " for we have nothing 
 to do with the Yankees, and were afraid that you 
 might perhaps have been with some Federal officers, 
 in which case we could not have gora with you. 
 We would not shake their hands for worlds. We 
 owe it to our State to recognise none of those who 
 have fought to deprive her of her rights." 
 
 One of them added, " I have a relation in the 
 Xorth — a Virginian born. The first thing I did after 
 our surrender was to send him word that we could 
 never see each other again. He would be the last man 
 on this earth that I should like to see. A Virjrinian, 
 and not to go with his State ! Why, sir, I should 
 spit in such a man's face," he said gravely. " Never 
 again will I take the hand of a Yankee, far less that 
 of a traitor to his State." 
 
 " Do you think such feelings as those you express 
 will with most Southerners last long ?" 
 
 "Yes, sir, they will with a certain class of our 
 people. I do not expect such bitterness as we feel 
 to exist with the next generation, nor, indeed, with 
 many of this. With very many, however — with all 
 who truly had the honour of their State at heart 
 — that feeling will go with them to the grave. It 
 was that feeling that made Virginians fight as they 
 
2S6 OPINIONS OF A VIRGINIAN. 
 
 (lid. There is do stronger pro-slavery man than 
 myself. I was broug'it up and educated among 
 slaves, and now lioiJ to the belief that it is the 
 natural position for the African race to occupy, 
 when brought into contact with one so superior 
 as the Anglo-Saxon. But I and many others were 
 in favour of abolishing slavery, though it was, in 
 truth, giving up all our property, because it damaged 
 us in the eyes of Europe, whose recognition we 
 
 • 
 
 desired. I should always have held that slavery 
 was right ; but our property, and every social arrange- 
 ment, dwindled into insignificance in our eyes, 
 if the choice was between thera and independence. 
 We are helpless now, and I know for certain that 
 there is no plot, or even wish, to do anything more 
 against the Government of the United States! No, 
 we shall live now as contentedly as we can. The 
 President is doing all he can to help us, but the 
 Eadicals are equally zealous to undo all his work. 
 I think the President will be supported, though I 
 don't care a d — n what is going on there now. I 
 have no interest in events." 
 
 He then made a comparison between the late 
 contest and that in England between the Cavaliers 
 and Roundheads. 
 
THE REPETITIONS OF HISTORY. 287 
 
 '* There are many points of n semblance," he said. 
 " We had, indeed, no king like Charles to fight for ; 
 but our tone was very much that of the Cavaliers. 
 We, like them, clung to the old order of things that 
 existed, as we believed, by right. We had, like 
 them, at first, success in the field. We had our 
 Eupert and Montrose in Stewart and Jackson. We, 
 like them, knew more of war than our opponents, 
 but were at last borne down by superior numbers. 
 The Eoundhead cavalry, like that of the Federals, 
 learned to fight during the continuance of war ; 
 and at last Sheridan's men, like Cromwell's Ironsides, 
 rode down all opposed to them. The Yankee Eadicals, 
 again, were represented in your history by the fanatics 
 who cried out for ' the higher law ' against consti- 
 tution and usage. But remember the reaction that 
 they brought on, which culminated in the Restoration. 
 History is likely to repeat herself here again. In that 
 hope we live." 
 
288 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 Virginian Country Life — Birds of Virginia — Our Host — Conduct 
 of his Sons in the War — Sufferings from the Presence of invad- 
 ing Armies — A Negro Traitor — One Generous Action of But- 
 ler's — Union as understood in the South — Objectionable Provi- 
 sion of the Civil Rights Bill — Farming Quarters, Clothing, and 
 Nourishment of the Slaves — Admiration of England — Federal 
 and Confederate Government — Names and Manners of tlie 
 Darkies — Reverence for Age in the South — New York Gamins 
 — A Go-ahead Youngster at the Theatre — A Freedman at Ber- 
 muda Hundred — Germans in Richmond -German Troops in tlie 
 Federal Army — A Scotch Farmer — Charlotteville — Anniver- 
 sary of " Stonewall " Jackson's Death — University of Virginia — 
 A Virginian Secessionist and " Rebel " — Caution to the Radicals 
 — A Better Time coming for South and West — Commemoration 
 of General Jackson and the Conservative Dead — University 
 Professors and Students in the Southern Army — Mr. Black's 
 Schemes — Yankee Troops in the University — A Freedman's 
 School — Passengers in the Cars to Lynchburg — Campbell Court- 
 House — Host and Hostess at the Inn — Talk with Niggers — 
 Lynchburg to Staunton by Canal — Recruits for England in the 
 South — Desertions from the Confederate Army — -Administra- 
 tion of Justice by the Agent of the Bureau. 
 
 TT7E were anxious to see something of Virginian 
 
 country life ; and as we received several kind 
 
 invitations, we divided our forces, two going to an 
 
 estate near the scene of the " Wilderness " battles, 
 
BERMUDA HUNDRED. 2S9 
 
 and the rest to one on the James river. "We came 
 down from Richmond hy one of the fast river hoats, 
 whicli hrought us the sixty miles to Bermuda Hun- 
 dred — General Butler's old head- quarters — in a very 
 short time. This estate is not far off, and after some 
 trouhle we found a negro and boat to take us over 
 the river. 
 
 On landing we found the house was near the water, 
 and pleasantly surrounded with trees. Tt must have 
 been one of the first good houses built in the country, 
 as it has stood there for perhaps eighty years. There 
 is a still older building close by, that is now an 
 ivy- covered ruin, a rare sight in America. A little 
 further back was a pleasant garden, now out of order, 
 as the care that had evidently once been given to it was 
 now turned to other and more necessary things. It waf=5 
 still, however, full of roses, most of them in full 
 bloom, and loud with the song of birds, the red- 
 bird, the mocking-bird, and the inevitable great 
 thrush robin — so handsome that it is a pleasure to 
 see him. I also saw a lovely little hawk about 
 the size of a Merlin, but much more handsomely 
 marked. 
 
 The old gentleman and one of his sons received us 
 very kindly, and showed us into a room full of stiff 
 
 u 
 
200 \ TKRUIBLE TIME. 
 
 family pictures of the time of George II. and III. In 
 passing through, we observed that the arms of tlie 
 house were emhhizoned in old English style in the 
 hall. We had a long chat before the ladies came in 
 and dinner could be got ready. Nothing could be 
 done without the lady, and she had gone to see a 
 brother who lived some miles off. 
 
 This gentleman had four sons, and all had been in 
 the war. One fell at Chancellorsville, and two were 
 wounded. At the time of our visit all their thoughts 
 were devoted to farming, and I was glad to see that 
 they did not think their prospects by any means 
 hopeless. The house, more fortunate than some of 
 its neighbo^ifs, had escaped. The farmstead, be- 
 longing to one of the sons, and only a short distance 
 away, was levelled to the ground. This was the case 
 with several of the private residences in the neigh- 
 bourhood ; armies having been encamped three times 
 on the estate. First came the troops under General 
 M'Clellan j and, when he was driven back, Lee with 
 all his forces ; and finally, Butler. The crops were 
 all destroyed, and every fence was used for firewood. 
 The ladies must have had a terrible time of it ! The 
 sons were all in the Southern lines, and the old father 
 alone remained in the house when Butler's forces 
 
ONE GOOD ACTION OF BUTLER's. 291 
 
 came up the James. The Federal picket line was 
 stretched across the country only two miles away. 
 All communication with the Confederates and their 
 own relatives was cut off. One of the negroes living 
 on the estate, either from spite or a wish to curry favour 
 with the Federals, gave Butler false information that 
 signals were being daily made from the roof. At 
 that time two ladies, one of whom was believed to be 
 dying, were lying very ill in the house, in which there 
 were also several children. Butler sent a party of a 
 hundred men to drive out the family and destroy the 
 house, an order which, the officer in command hesi- 
 tated to execute until he had represented the true 
 state of the case to his general, who behaved very 
 well, and sent a guard to protect the place and family ; 
 warning them, however, that if any of them were 
 detected communicating with their friends they should 
 be executed. The general after this became their 
 
 friend, and excused Mr. from taking the oath 
 
 of allegiance to the Union. One is glad to be able to 
 mention anything in Butler's favour after the abuse 
 that has, rightly or wrongly, been heaped upon him. 
 He certainly acted well towards these people, showing 
 every consideration for them in the hard circum- 
 stances in which they were placed. If they refused 
 
 u2 
 
292 RIGHT OF SECESSION. 
 
 to take the oatli, they generally got scant mercy from 
 the Northerners ; and if the Southern Government 
 knew that any of their people had taken the oath, 
 all property belonging to them within the Confe- 
 derate lines was confiscated. 
 
 The feelings of this family about the war were, I 
 believe, very generally shared by many of the leading 
 families in Virginia. They were for the most part 
 strongly against separation from the North — being, 
 as they said, all " Union men" — that is, not in favour 
 of Union in the Northern sense, not putting alle- 
 giance to the Union as a whole above allegiance to their 
 State, but in the sense of thinking continued union 
 with the North the best policy. 
 
 About the rigid of secession they never hesitated, and 
 when the State did determine to go, all four sons at 
 once joined her armies, pointing, as many others did, 
 to the proviso that Virginia held to in 1789 when 
 she joined the Union, to the effect that she should 
 leave it when she chose. This, however, was not 
 admitted in 1861, and they look upon the war as 
 having decided, by the right of conquest, against the 
 right of secession the State had hitherto enjoyed. 
 That riglit was the only one touched by the war ; and 
 it is because they think that the Civil Eights Bill is 
 
THE CIVIC RIGHTS BILL. 293 
 
 liostile to other State rights, that they dislike some of 
 its provisions. No spite is manifested against the 
 negro — they exliibit no wish to keep him down. On 
 the c<jntrary, their desire is tliat he should be edu- 
 cated and made useful. They do not object even 
 to his having the franchise, provided that there 
 should be some education or property qualification, as 
 a safeguard against the negroes being used as tools 
 against the South by the Yankees. The Civil Eights 
 Bill, lately passed in opposition to the wish of tlie 
 President, gives, they say, undue privileges to the 
 negro. The chief among the objectionable provi- 
 sions is that which gives to the black a power 
 still denied to the whites, to appeal from the 
 State Tribunals to the Federal Courts. This must 
 tend to throw the State Courts into discredit, and 
 even to influence their decisions — for the decrees or 
 verdicts of such a court may not only be set aside, but 
 the judge may be punished for giving them. They 
 have no objection to the law^ which empowers the 
 blacks — now that they are freedmen — to give testi- 
 mony ; but they assert that there never was in Virginia 
 any law prohibiting the admission of freedmen's 
 testimony even against whites, although by usage it 
 w^as never taken. The Freedmen's Bureau is said to 
 
294 FARMING. 
 
 be of no more use, though they admit that when first 
 instituted it tended to smooth difficulties between 
 owners and former slaves. Now it only encourages 
 idleness, for wherever the Bureau exists it is found that 
 the blacks exhibit less disposition to labour than they 
 ever did before. 
 
 It was pleasant to see that farming was again 
 carried on as actively as can be expected in present 
 
 circumstances. Mr. had formerly a hundred and 
 
 fifty slaves, only one-third of whom were ever at work 
 at one time. Their quarters, which I went to see, 
 were very good — consisting of a row of nine or ten 
 substantial wooden cottages, divided into numerous 
 rooms. The clothing and nourishment as well as a 
 good deal of the nursing were formerly attended to by 
 the ladies, but now that the people are left to clothe 
 themselves they appear for the most part in the old 
 pants and jackets of the United Slates army, cast off 
 clothes presented to them by the soldiers. One quar- 
 ter of the land formerly under cultivation is now being 
 worked. The sons take their share of labour in the 
 fields, and two Yankees have taken one of the fanns, 
 working it themselves, and giving the owners one- 
 third of the profit. The crops, which were chiefly of 
 wheat, looked well, but it is not expected that their 
 
HOSPITABLE FAMILY, 29 5 
 
 sale will do more than just cover the expenses of the 
 farm f^Ms year. They do not think they get out of a 
 man more than two-thirds of the work which was 
 usually obtained from him under the old system. 
 Very good wages are earned ; ten dollars a month 
 being given for good field hands. 
 
 In spite of the great kindness of our entertainer, one 
 could not but feel alittle in the way, knowing, as they 
 took no pains to conceal it, that they were living from 
 hand to mouth. In such circumstances one felt as if 
 each bottle of wine they produced might be the last 
 in the cellar. Our dinner, which for the most part was 
 prepared by the ladies, consisted one day of corned- 
 beef, hominy, and a bottle of champagne. They were 
 very hospitable and kindly, and had an admiration for 
 England that was quite un-American. They bewailed 
 universal suffrage, and declared that all their mis- 
 government was owing to it. The Federal Government 
 they thought bad enough, but one of the sor? said to 
 me, " He guessed their own, if they had succeeded, 
 would have been worse." Their only wonder was, how 
 they managed to liold out so long against the superior 
 numbers of the enemy, reckoning their own army at 
 two hundred thousand, and the sum total of the Yankee 
 army at one million. None knew how weak they were, 
 
296 NEW YORK " gamins/' 
 
 except the Confederate Government ; tliey themselves, 
 who were in the army, did not. Numbers were always 
 exaggerated to deceive the enemy. The army of 
 Northern Virginia, as they suppose, never numbered 
 more than forty thousand combatants during the last 
 year of the war. 
 
 The "darkies" are more respectful in manner in 
 this State than in the North, though the customary 
 touch of the hat is, as I sometimes fancy, done with 
 a bad grace. They have the grandest names, and it 
 is rather startling to hear a lady of the house tell 
 Napoleon to put the kettle on, George Washington 
 to make tea, or Julius Caesar to rub a horse down. 
 The manners of the whites are far more gentle than 
 in the North, and they exhibit more reverence for age, 
 which is not saying much, for in the North it is 
 sometimes difficult to discover any. In that go-ahead 
 region the youngsters reign paramount. 
 
 New York (jamrns are the most horrible in the 
 world. An elderly man told me that, as he was 
 walking along Broadway, New York, one day, 
 with a fine Havana in his mouth, a small lad, of 
 shabby-genteel appearance, came up to him and asked 
 him for a light for his pipe. The elderly gentleman 
 good-naturedly sto^^ped and gave the boy his cigar for 
 
AN INSOLENT IMP. 297 
 
 the purpose, but it was no sooner out of his hand 
 than it was in the lad's mouth, who, with a loud "He- 
 he-hee !" scampered off at a rate that rendered pursuit 
 hopeless as well as ridiculous. 
 
 Children, if too " loud," are hardly ever checked, and 
 I was delighted to see S. suub one in New York one 
 day. We were sitting in the stalls at the theatre, 
 in places that are called reserved, but in which a very 
 dirty, sharp-eyed little monster had accommodated 
 himself next to S. on a seat he had not paid for. 
 The imp, who was chewing tobacco, and spitting plen- 
 tifully, sat quiet for some time, and then, with 
 something like a yaw^n, poked S. in the ribs. S. 
 took no notice till the act was repeated a second 
 time, when looking down he beheld a dirty but 
 sharp little face turned up towards his own, while 
 an infantile voice, with a Yankee squeak, said shortly, 
 *' Bill !" — meaning the playbill — and when, after the 
 repetition of the request, no notice was taken of him, 
 he resumed his chewing and spitting, looking insigni- 
 Hcantly fierce and magnificent. 
 
 On the 10th we crossed the James at Bermuda 
 Hundred, and came up the river to Eichmond, where 
 we stayed a day or two, and then came on to Char- 
 lotteville. At Bermuda Hundred we waited for some 
 
298 A FREKDMAN. 
 
 time for the steamer in the liut of one of tlie freedmen 
 — an elderly coloured man, a sliarp fellow who had 
 worked for a baker at Norfolk. He had kept his 
 master's shop while the army was on the banks of 
 the river ; but when the business was given up for want 
 of custom on the departure the troops, to console him- 
 self, he married a pretty girl, almost white, who had 
 been a maid in a gentleman's family in the neighbour- 
 hood, built himself a hut, and settled down for the 
 time — getting whatever work he could. His children 
 were at the Freedmen's school, where, however, he 
 thought that they were not learning enough, that 
 seminary being, in his opinion, an insufficient " insti- 
 tooshun I" The wife chimed in, though the children 
 were not hers, saying, " Oh dear, yes, they learn 
 precious little there !" and she wished she could get 
 them better taught. They were getting, it appeiired, 
 three hours a day, and were learning reading and 
 writing ; but " pains enough were not taken to Iar?i 
 them." " There were plenty of people about," he 
 said, "who could not get work, though they 
 wanted to." The farmers had not been able to set 
 their work agoing, because they were so poor. The 
 Freedmen's Bureau was some way off, at St. Peters- 
 burg, and gave no relief to them. He did not think 
 
GERMANS IN RICHMOND. 299 
 
 it encouraged the people to be idle, for too little was 
 given for them to rely upon it alone. 
 
 He was very positive in the expression of his 
 opinion that " the colours" would never fight for the 
 Confederates. They might have done so, if freedom had 
 been given during the first year of the war, but not 
 later. If, however, freedom had been given to the 
 blacks at that time, it is probable that when 
 their services were no longer required it would 
 have been again taken from tliem. " For," said he, 
 availing himself of an historical allusion, " when de 
 British, in de war of 1 SI 2, under Pakenham, attacked 
 Xew Orleans, the Southerners promised the blacks 
 freedom if they would fight for them. The blacks did 
 fight with this promise to encourage them. The 
 British were beaten, and afterwards the blacks were 
 put back into slavery.'* 
 
 At Eichmond I went to a German concert, where, 
 however, there were very few of that nation, and only 
 one or two Southerners, who yawned and went out 
 before the songs were half through. There are already 
 six thousand Germans in the town, most of whom hav^e 
 come back to it since the war. Hardly any Germans 
 served with the Confederates, who, I hear, made great 
 fun of Siegel's and Blenker's German troops in the 
 
300 A SCOTCH FARMER. 
 
 Federal army. The Southerners declare that many of 
 these troopers were strapped on to their horses, to pre- 
 vent their failing off. The Germans here, who are 
 mostly small shopkeepers, complain much of the 
 laziness of those around them, and the difficulty of 
 getting anything in the South. 
 
 Mr. Black, a Scotchman, who had found farming in 
 the Lothians too expensive for him, came out to settle 
 here. After having travelled about a good deal to find 
 the best place to pitch his tent, he rented or bought in 
 this State more than eight thousand five hundred acres 
 of arable land, and is now busy working them. He is 
 anxious to get emigrants out, who may be either renters 
 of Southern farms, or get land for themselves. He 
 himself expects to be able to employ many as labourers, 
 and has a crago of three hundred and sixty coming 
 out to help him now. These people do not object to 
 work with the negro, so that Mr. Black is able to 
 employ mixed labour, which no Southern or Northern 
 s25eculator has been able to procure to any very large 
 extent. He gives his labourers from eight to ten 
 dollars a month, and leases the farms he takes for ten 
 years. He thinks that much more of the Scotch 
 emigrant stream may now flow into Virginia, and that 
 they, together with the Americans and the French 
 
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA. 301 
 
 (who will employ tlieir own labourers to some extent 
 on a eunal about to be made between the James and 
 the Central rivers of the continent), will drive the 
 negro gradually Southward. AVhite labour, in his 
 opinion, is impossible in the Mississippi Valley and 
 on the south-eastern seaboard ; but along the central 
 strips of country between the sea edge of the 
 Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, and the river edge 
 of the Mississippi, it may be advantageously em- 
 ployed. But all this must be proved by experiment, 
 for none know how it will turn out. 
 
 At Charlotteville we are among the hills once 
 more. The country between this and Richmond is 
 of the usual rolling: character and covered with forest. 
 The hills that flank the blue ridge of the Shenandoah 
 besrin here. On one of them, a mile from the town, is 
 the University of Virginia. All the shops both here 
 and at Richmond were closed on the anniversary 
 of " Stonewall " Jackson's death. The Richmond 
 papers came out with a black border, and with long 
 accounts of scenes in his short but wonderful war 
 career. 
 
 The University of Virginia was founded by Jeffer- 
 son, who took much pains with it. The arrangement 
 of the building is peculiar. Two long, parallel clois- 
 
302 TnE UNIVERSITY AND THE WAR. 
 
 tered ranges are separated from each other hy fifty 
 yards of lawn. These ranges have several uniform 
 porticoed edifices along their line. At one end the 
 cloisters are united by a small imitation of the 
 Parthenon. The other end is open, leaving a view of 
 woods and hills. 
 
 Mr. , an authority in the place, and a shrewd 
 
 little man, told us much about the part members of 
 the University had taken in the recent struggle. 
 Like many in Virginia, he called himself not only a 
 Secessionist but a rebel, rapping out his sentences 
 with sharj) taps of a key on the book-laden table in 
 front of him. He said he had been most earnest for 
 the Union, hoping against hope that Virginia might 
 find it possible to stay in it. But or the appearance 
 of the President's proclamation of the 1 5th of April, 
 ISGl, he had changed his mind, and had ever since 
 been a rebel. All thinking men in the State, how- 
 ever anxious they might have been to remain in the 
 Union, said after that proclamation had appeared, 
 that resistance was necessary. It could no longer be 
 avcid'^d. Constitutional principles had been infringed, 
 and they were resolved that they should be main- 
 tained. One day was sufficient to unite the people in 
 their determination. They had resisted most nobly. 
 
CAUTION TO THE RADICALS. 303 
 
 and now they knew that further resistance was hope- 
 less. They honestly admitted to themselves that they 
 were beaten, and wished to give all support to the 
 Federal Government, which was nowtheir Government. 
 They think this to be as much a duty now as they 
 thought resistance to be before. And it is the men 
 who formerly considered resistance their duty that are 
 now most anxious to prove themselves good citizens. 
 It is the army of the Confederate States, perhaps, 
 more than the rest of the community, who have 
 brought about so desirable a state of things. No 
 better feeling can be expected to exist at such a time. 
 The Eadicals had better beware lest they push these 
 men, who are so anxious for peace and quiet, too far. 
 There may yet come a day, even should it be twenty 
 or thirty years hence, when the South, united with 
 the West, indignant at the overbearing conduct of 
 New England, will drive it forcibly from all share in 
 the government of the country. These Eadicals are 
 here now defeating their own views. They profess 
 anxiety for the black, and are even now doing their 
 best to excite a war of races in the South. None 
 could doubt the issue of such a conflict. The days of 
 the existence of the negro could be easily numbered. 
 Mr. lived in a little room opening on to one 
 
304 COMMEMORATION OF "jTOXFWALl/ JACKSON. 
 
 of the cloistered passages — a lodging that would 
 scarcely satisfy our university professors. He invited 
 us to go with him to see the procession to the 
 cemetery, which was not far distant. We had noticed, 
 in coming along the road to the unive»sity, that 
 there were groups of people in front of the houses, 
 and that a service was going on in one of the churches 
 at Charlotteville, as a commemoration of " Stonewall" 
 Jackson and the Confederate dead, whose graves 
 were to be decorated. "We went out, and found the 
 procession coming slowly up the hill, without flags or 
 show of any kind. Men, many of whom were now 
 students, though they had formerly served in the 
 army, and now wore their Confederate uniform, went 
 first in twos and threes, followed by women and 
 children, generally in mourning. All had wi'eaths 
 and flowers in their hands as they advanced to the 
 burial-place, on a rising ground overgrown with tall 
 wood. It had formerly belonged to the university, 
 and was used exclusively for the students and others 
 connected with the place ; but during the war more 
 than a thousand soldiers who had died in field 
 and hospital were laid there. The graves were 
 marked only by a little piece of wood, generally un- 
 painted, and with no name upon it, unless it happened 
 
STUDENTS IN THE ARMY. 305 
 
 to be tliat of some distinguished officer. The red 
 mould looked still fresh upon many of them. 
 
 The people very silently, and with their heads bare, 
 spread themselves over the place, covering with roses, 
 lilacs, and peonies every grave beneath the trees. 
 Then, standing in a deep ring around, they sang 
 hymns as a requiem for their de^d, and again 
 went quietly home. The scene was more im- 
 pressive than if, as is sometimes the custom in 
 America, eulogies and long-winded speeches had 
 been delivered in remembrance. 
 
 On the way back we met Professor G., who had 
 entered the army, and had gone through two campaigns, 
 from which he returned badly wounded. Another 
 professor was a member of a crack Southern regiment 
 — the Washington artillery — and was killed. 
 
 Out of six hundred and sixty students, fully six 
 hundred went off at once to the armies when the 
 State seceded. 
 
 Before the war this university was attended by 
 more students than any other college in America, 
 except Harvard and Yale. The number at present 
 is about two hundred and fifty ; but many more are 
 expected next year, as Northerners who used to send 
 their sons have not done so of late, not knowing 
 
 X 
 
30G FIDELITY OF THE BLACKS. 
 
 how they Avould be treated. There are, however, 
 some ah'eady. Very few Southern hoys went to 
 Northern colleges, according to these gentlemen, 
 during the few years immediately preceding the war. 
 " The feeling against Northerners never shows itself 
 actively now. Throughout the country, although 
 Yankees are not received socially, they are let alone ; 
 and every one is civil to them." The stories of out- 
 rages committed on Union men were entirely mis- 
 believed, and even laughed at. 
 
 From the top of the little Pantheon there was a 
 fine view of forest and hill scenery. There was much 
 ploughed land about, and conversation turned, as it 
 always does turn hereabouts, upon the land and labour. 
 The friendly feeling the whites to their late slaves 
 was very strongly insisted on, and they remarked 
 with justice that there was at present no reason for 
 any grudge against them. It was only when they 
 were incited to be bumptious by the Yankees that the 
 negroes made themselves at all obnoxious. The way 
 in which they behaved during the four years* contest, 
 when they never lifted a hand against their masters, 
 but helped them to build fortifications, and allowed 
 themselves to be made generally useful without 
 an attempt to rebel, had produced a strong 
 
MR. black's farming PROSPECTS. 307 
 
 fooling in their favour. Thej were now workirig 
 surprisingly woll, tliougli fear was expressed tliat their 
 energy would not last, and that the late Vice-President 
 Stephens's idea, that their zeal for labour would fall 
 off, might be realized. There was little hope of a 
 good rice or wheat crop this year. 
 
 Mr. Black's emigrant and farming prospects were 
 spoken of favourably, although one gentleman blamed 
 his schemes, as involving an unnecessarily early 
 attempt at inducing what must, indeed, come sooner or 
 later — namely, the breaking up of the large planta- 
 tions into small farms. It was very sad that the old 
 country life should be broken up. It was a pleasant 
 thing in old times to spend Christmas at a plantation, 
 when money was plenty and acres broad. There was 
 one good thing, at all events, about Mr. Black's doings. 
 The increase of white labour might be promoted by 
 it, and the negro would be slowly driven off. " Down 
 South the blacks could live on a very small scratch- 
 ing ;" and that was what they would do if they were 
 not prevented. The Bureau was a nuisance, and the 
 sooner it was gone, the happier every one would be. 
 
 To the question, if the schools were likely to be 
 kept up, supposing the Bureau were withdrawn, very 
 doubtful answers were given. Negroes might be 
 
 X 2 
 
308 A freedmen's sciioul. 
 
 taxed for tlieir education, but they thought that the 
 State would not keep up schools gratis for blacks. 
 There were plenty of whites that were almost as 
 ignorant, and yet the State never helped them. On 
 the contrary, it was quite against all existing ideas 
 that there should be State Government education. 
 All that the State gave even to this university — 
 Jefferson's pet institution — was 3000/. a year. Sala- 
 ries came from the lodging of students and lecture 
 fees. The 3000/. helped to make it possible to have 
 a few " State scholars," who paid little, and were, in 
 fact, what in England would be called " founda- 
 tioners," and answer to the collegers of Eton. 
 
 We had a pleasant evening party of all the pro- 
 fessors and several ladies. The library and all the 
 buildings were spared by the Federals. The few 
 remaining dons were in great trepidation when the 
 Yankee officers clanked up the library stairs, and one 
 pleasantly remarked, when he saw the books, that 
 " such a collection would look well up in the North." 
 
 Before leaving Charlotteville we visited a large 
 freedmen's school. There were many children 
 in one room, boys and girls, from an ink-black 
 colour to one that was nearly white, all sitting 
 together. Spelling and reading were going on, and it 
 
LYNCHBURG. 309 
 
 seemed hard work for the teacher. He said he gave 
 them six hours a day, and certainly showed great 
 patience. One is generally punished for one's curi- 
 osity in visiting these schools hy being requested, in 
 the coolest manner, to " address the scholars " before 
 leaving, which in most cases is more amusing for the 
 children than the visitor. In another room was a 
 class of older girls, of women, and a few men. The 
 teacher was a clear-headed, loud-voiced, energetic 
 New England woman, who taught capitally. One 
 or two of the men were nearly white, and looked very 
 sheepish when told to stand up and read. One 
 requires to see very little of the schools to understand 
 how much good they must be doing. I cannot feel 
 anxiou.^ for the withdrawal of the Bureau that founded 
 them, especially when it seems so uncertain whether 
 the State Governments will support them. 
 
 It took a long time to get to Lynchburg, although 
 not a very long distance. The cars are very empty 
 on these Southern lines. Very few women travel, and 
 the passengers are chiefly old farmers or their sons — 
 hale and hearty fellows — or ex-Confederate soldiers, 
 with loose grey jackets, much beard and moustache, 
 and the shabby wide-awake hats. 
 
 LyncT irg is one of the pleasantest towns in the 
 
310 CAMPBELL COURT-HOUSE. 
 
 States. Situated in the midst of a high rolling 
 country, the town climbs the sides and crowns the 
 top of several hills. The soil is as red as that of 
 Devonshire. We took a long ride of between thirty 
 and forty miles to Westwood, and back by a small 
 village called Campbell Court-House, in the middle 
 of Campbell County, pronounced here " Ca-a-a-mill 
 Ceounty." 
 
 This village was much like many in England. 
 There were two rustic inns, at one of which we 
 got a capital dinner, in spite of the fact that we 
 were looked upon with no friendly eyes by a group of 
 } oung Southerners, who took us for Yankees. The 
 innkeeper was no very ardent Secessionist. He had 
 paid for three substitutes in succession, giving on 
 one occasion five thousand dollars, and had managed 
 to keep his own body in ease and comfoi't during all 
 the troublous times. The landlady was a fine old 
 woman of sixty- five, with a still older husband, who 
 was kept in quiet order by his wife. He came up to 
 shake hands with us ; but the good dame told him he 
 was too familiar, and shut him up by himself in a 
 little side room, where she went to scold him every 
 now and then. ** He had been a good man to her, none 
 better, and had behaved to her like a gentleman : not 
 
OIL-WELLS. 311 
 
 that she would take any other treatment from an}'- 
 body — not she ; but old men had to be kept in order. 
 Come, now, and sit down,*' she shouted to her lord, 
 who hobbled in with a thick stick. " Now 3'ou must 
 eat that, and that, and that. Want some iced 
 w^ater, eh ? Well, there — there. Now be quick. 
 Where have ye come from [_fo us] ? Guess you are 
 single men ? Now [/o /ler hmband\ get up ; do you 
 hear ? get up ! Leave this now ;" and the old man 
 w^as pushed back into his little den. I asked her if 
 lie would have a cigar, but the old lady's eye 
 sparkled at the sight of the weed, and she said, 
 " No, no, not he — he don't smoke. I'll take it for ye — 
 111 take it ;" and she puffed away with great satisfac- 
 tion. She had never been out of Virginia. 
 
 There was much talk in the place about some oil- 
 wells that had been set going in the neighbourhood, 
 but there was little to be seen. A great borer, look- 
 ing like a huge gimlet, had been fixed to some 
 scaffolding ; but there was nobody working, although 
 they said that oil had been struck the day before. 
 It was, however, believed that some person had 
 broken a bottle of oil over a puddle hard by, and had 
 put some also on the borer. The w^hole affair had 
 only been undertaken, one man said contemptuously, 
 
312 A LAZY day's travelling. 
 
 because a " golgist'* had said there ought to be oil 
 underneath. 
 
 It was nearly dark before we left the red roads 
 and green oak forest behind us, and reached the town. 
 I talked on the way home to some niggers who were 
 working on a neighbouring farm. Some had little 
 huts of their own, and an acre or two of ground. 
 Others rented the same from proprietors. 
 
 "It's mighty hard to get land. We want a good piece 
 for ourselves, but de whites wont sell. You don't 
 come from this part of the country ?" with sudden 
 alarm. 
 
 " No, from England." 
 
 ** Yah ! dat's good. Well, sir, they are screwing 
 us down very hard. No land sold, and no hire. 
 Farmer gives us a third of what land gives. 'Praps 
 de Lord rise up and provide us very soon, massa,^' 
 was the burden of what most of them said. 
 
 It is just as well that land should not be sold to 
 them at present. They will do much better as 
 labourers for a time. They get here ten to fifteen 
 dollars a month. 
 
 We had a very lazy dny's travelling in a canal 
 boat from Lynchburg. We were far from all rail- 
 ways, and had to go as far as Stanton — thirty-six 
 
A MEAGRE BREAKFAST. 313 
 
 miles further down the valley — before we could again 
 " strike the cears," as railway carriages are called 
 in this part of the world. The boat was to be 
 started, or rather towed, at half-past six from Lynch- 
 burg ; but the horses that were to draw us were not 
 ready for some time longer, and we did not arrive at 
 our journey's end till ten at night. On board 
 our little vessel was the captain, who came and 
 sat down by S. to a meagre breakfast that was 
 sent up almost as soon as we started, and was 
 surprised at hearing S. say in an injured voice 
 (not knowing it was the captain who sat by him), 
 " What idiots these people are not to have something 
 better to eat !" The poor captain smirked, bowed, 
 and said we should get some eggs at the first lock. 
 Besides this amiable officer, there were at breakfast 
 several students of Virginia University, most of 
 them sons of Confederate generals ; an old gen- 
 tleman, who was proprietor of some farms near 
 Lynchburg ; and a few other less notable " rebs." 
 The scenery w^as very pretty, and the weather such 
 that one could enjoy it perfectly. 
 
 The canal lay along the bank of the James, and 
 only left it when, by a tedious succession of locks, it 
 had mounted to the water-shed of the Blue Eidge. 
 
314 DESERTION FROM THE SOUTHERN ARMIES. 
 
 We went at a rate of about two miles an hour, but 
 the scenery made the pace a pleasant one. As we 
 passed between the wooded hills the young fellows 
 with us had many stories to tell of their campaigning 
 in that country. They had all been in the armies, and 
 several had served w^th Lee tc the last, and when he 
 surrendered had made their way south to join Johnson's 
 army, only to be in time to be paroled by Sherman. 
 One and all vowed that, " come what would, they 
 would not lift a rifle again under the * stars and 
 stripes.' Let England only have a war with the 
 States, and she would find plenty of recruits in the 
 South." They confessed to the dreadful amount of de- 
 sertion that took place from the Southern armies during 
 18C4. The w^oods and mountains through which 
 we were travelling had been full of the runaways. 
 " There were pathways that had been made entirely 
 by the deserters right across these hills. They did 
 not blame them. They had known some of the 
 bravest men in the army desert. Men who had been 
 foremost in every action would get worn down by the 
 scarcity of food and continued hardships, so that they 
 were hardly themselves. The letters, too, they kept 
 receiving from wife or family at home did much 
 harm, and turned many a poor man from his duty. 
 
STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 315 
 
 Nothing else could have been expected from the 
 misery they endured." 
 
 Vv^e had a good many songs, " Maryland, my 
 Maryland," and the " Bonny Blue Flag " being the 
 favourites. When tired of songs, revolver^ were 
 resorted to for amusement, and whole broadsides of 
 pistol shots were discharged at every unfortunate big, 
 green-headed bull-frog or water-snake that showed 
 himself on the banks. The snakes were sometimes 
 very large, and several shots took effect in their ugly 
 bodies. At one of the locks there was a dam, over 
 which the river fell in a long waterfall. A fine 
 canal boat had been destroyed here by the Federals, 
 who had sent it down the fall. The canal was also cut 
 by one of the railway parties, doing much harm for 
 the time to the Virginian army, as all the s applies 
 came by this route from the Shenandoah Valley. 
 
 A good deal was said about the state of the 
 country. 
 
 " Well, sir, how air you getting on ?" 
 
 "Onlj^ tolerable — the crops very bad. How air 
 yer niggers doin' ?" 
 
 " Well, they're doin' remarkable well. I never 
 thought they'd ha' done half as well as they are." 
 
 " They're workin', are they ?" 
 
316 WHITE LABOUR. 
 
 t( V, 
 
 Yes, that they are, and well too, though I don't 
 know whether they're settled to it right yet." 
 
 " I heard there was some impudence in some parts." 
 
 " No, sir, I don't believe it ; I see no difference 
 in their manner. They are just as respectful as ever." 
 
 ** Well, I think they are behaving darn well." 
 
 " Yes, that they are. They have behaved, and are 
 behaving, just as well as possible, and we owe them a 
 great deal for it." 
 
 " Yes, sirree ; the people of the South will not 
 forget their conduct. They owe them a deep debt of 
 gratitude." 
 
 The remark w^as heartily acquiesced in by several 
 present with the w^ords : " Yes, that's so." " 'Tis 
 so." " You're right there ; we owe them gratitude." 
 
 The old gentleman, whose property was near 
 Eichraond, gave good accounts of his workpeople ; 
 but all agreed that white labour was the thing that 
 was desirable, and that the necrro could not stand 
 that competition if it should come. He said that 
 the Civil Rights Bill had hardly been felt yet. The 
 negroes in most parts of the country had no clear 
 notion of what it meant, and very few cases had come 
 up under it. The Bureau he disliked, and thought it 
 unnecessary, as he was perfectly sure that the judges 
 
OBJECTIONS TO THE BUREAU. 317 
 
 would at all times see justice done. As it was, these 
 Southprners were always able to outvote the 
 Federal agent of the Bureau, if they chose to do so. 
 The agent sat to hear cases ; but with him were 
 associated a white belonging to the district, chosen 
 by the ])lacks, and another white gentleman chosen 
 by the citizens of the district. If these two local 
 representatives disagreed with the agent, "he was 
 nowhere." 
 
 " In my court we often outvote the Yankee." 
 
 "Does he always go for the nigger?** 
 
 " Yes, most always ; but the man the blacks choose, 
 and I, always see that justice is done to whites as 
 well as blacks. I have as much authority, or more, in 
 the court as the agent, though he ain't a bad man 
 either.*' 
 
 The Bureau unsettled the labourers, and made 
 them think they would get remedy and redress for 
 fancied grievances they would never have given a 
 moment's thought to before. The schools were all 
 very well, as long as the school- mistresses did not teach 
 the children anti-Southern and Yankee songs, as 
 they often did. 
 
 The narrow passes through which we had been 
 drawn became, on the western slope of the moun- 
 
31 S TOBACCO CROPS. 
 
 tains, broad valleys, often with rich land along the 
 levels. There were bad accounts of the tobacco crops 
 on these lands. All the tobacco raised here is used, 
 not for smokin<^, but for chewing, which does not 
 tend greatly, as one may imagine, to the cleanliness 
 of the floors of rooms or decks of steamers. On one 
 of the fields a man recognised by the passengers as 
 Colonel Sambody, the chief of artillery, was busy 
 digging potatoes and sowing corn. A good deal of 
 a coarse sort of sugar-cane has been raised during the 
 last few years. Good molasses was unattainable, and 
 they used to make a coarse treacle, called sorghum, 
 as a substitute. 
 
319 
 
 CHAPTER XTV. 
 
 Lexington — C.'ulets of the Military College — Virginian Scenery — 
 Natural Briflge — Wliite and Coloured Men on Farms — Negroes 
 eager to visit England — Education — Confederate Officers — 
 Part 3r in the South and North — Injurious Effect of the Course 
 pursued by the Kadicals — Language of Thaddeus Stephens in 
 the House of Representatives — Weakness of State Governments 
 — Discomfort suffered by Ladies travelling in America — Mode 
 of serving up Dinner — A German Innkeeper — Remarkable Cave 
 — Curious Bill — The Affairs of Virginia — Working of the 
 Freedmen's Bureau — False Prognostications of the Southerners 
 — Mixed Labour — Derision of Northern Fears — Baltimore — 
 Enthusiasm excited by Conft'derate War Songs — Coloured Men 
 in the Railway Cars — Action of the Civil Rights Bill — Decisions 
 of the Judges respecting the State Courts — Niagara in a Mist 
 
 Night View of the Falls — Toronto — Sensible Irishmen — King- 
 ston — Ottawa — Canadian Houses of Parliament — The Ottawa 
 — Inconvenient Position of the new Canadian Capital — The 
 Sawmills — The Fenian Invasion — Reports at Kingston — 
 Skirmish at Fort Erie — Conduct of the American Government 
 — ^American Sympathy with Fenianism. 
 
 TT was quite dark by tlie time we got to Lexington. 
 Our friends were met by a crowd of cadets 
 belonging to tbe Military College — neat-looking, 
 strapping lads, dressed in grey uniform. There are only 
 about fifty of them at tbe college. Formerly there 
 
320 VIRGINIAN SCENERY. 
 
 were over two hundred and fifty, but the fine buildings 
 and lecture-rooms were burnt by the Federals. It was 
 the Southern West Point. When the State seceded, the 
 cadets were called up to Eichmond, and were engaged 
 in drilling the troops. At the battle of Newmarket, 
 when Breckenridge was hard pressed, he sent for the 
 young fellows composing this school ; and well they 
 justified the trust put in them, standing as firm as 
 the oldest troops, and losing several of their number. 
 
 A fine horse was offered to me to ride over here 
 from Lexington ; S. got another ; and we left the 
 little town, whose inhabitants were pouring out of 
 their houses to the church, where there was to be a 
 funeral service preparatory to the reburial in the 
 cemetery of the cadets whose graves had hitherto 
 been where they had fiillen at Newmarket. One felt 
 sick of all this burying, and of the sight of cemeteries, 
 and I did not care to see another. The open country 
 was pleasanter. 
 
 There is a good deal of sameness about Virginian 
 scenery, but it is a very pretty sameness. You meet 
 with the same rolling land, of which forest and farm 
 hold about equal possession. In this part of the 
 valley of Virginia the swells of the land are higher, 
 and the hollows give little level space. The red- 
 
BIRDS or VIRGINIA. 321 
 
 soiled fields are well fenced off from each other by tall 
 " snake " or " worm " fences, that zigzag along the 
 sides of the roads, having a very make-shift look about 
 them, and requiring a large amount of timber in this 
 country, and room, botli of which are not much 
 thought of. Here and there a good wooden house with 
 brick chimney is seen, the residence of a planter who 
 may, perhaps, be cultivating, after his manner, his 
 six or seven hundred acres, with the help of only ten 
 or twelve " hands." The shanty of the poorer white 
 is more often seen. Logs roughly fashioned with the 
 axe, and weU dovetailed, with the chinks or gaps 
 filled in with stucco, make a comfortable cabin. One 
 meets few travellers. A man or a woman may pass at 
 rare intervals, generally on horseback, and always 
 nodding their " good morning " or " evening." 
 
 The birds of Virginia are beautiful. There is a 
 AVoodpecker whose bright scarlet head is in fine 
 contrast with the well-massed black and v^hite of his 
 bod3^ It is as common as the Thrush in an Eng- 
 lish wood. There are numberless smaU birds, many 
 of them with a great deal of yellow in their plumage. 
 A very pretty species of Turtle-dove is common. These 
 birds are so tame that they allow one's horse to approach 
 quite close to their perch upon the fences. There is a 
 
 t 
 
322 NATURAL BRIDGE. 
 
 large species of starling with a saffron breast, and a 
 partridge that they call a quail, with the same black 
 necklace that the French partridge wears. There is 
 another starling, whose black uniform is set off by 
 scarlet epaulets, that is to be seen in every meadow, 
 and several species of the heron. The people have a 
 pretty habit of setting up near their houses a small 
 cot on a pole for the swallow^s, which take to it 
 very well, and are to be seen every evening twittering 
 axid crowding round the little pigeon-holes prepared 
 for them. 
 
 The natural bridge is close to this house, and we 
 have spent a long time admiring it to-day. We 
 scrambled for some distance down a steep path lead- 
 ing through thickets of juniper cedar, and found 
 ourselves by the side of a burn that tumbled along 
 the bottom of a deep gorge. The stream occupied 
 nearly the whole of the space below, preventing the 
 trees that grew thickly on both banks from shutting 
 out from our view the limestone that rose, streaked 
 wdth rusty red, on each side of the w^ater, to a height 
 of two hundred and fifty feet without a ledge to 
 break its steepness. At a great height, an immense 
 mass, one with the rock, stretched across the gorge, 
 uniting its crags. The arch thus formed is surpris- 
 
WHITE AND BLACK LABOURERS. 323 
 
 ingly regular in shape, and very impressive in its 
 grandeur. The beauty of the heights above and 
 below this rock-marvel makes them well worth a 
 journey. 
 
 The man who keeps this hotel farms also a good 
 deal of the land around. His views are very diflerent 
 from those of his neighbours. He himself has 
 several white labourers, who get on very well with 
 the blacks employed at the same work. We had our 
 tea w4tli the whites ; the blacks, or rather coloured 
 men (for none of them were pure-blooded Africans), 
 having their meals separately. This is universally 
 the case in America. However humble the position 
 of a w^hite, he w^ill never sit down at the same table w4tli 
 a coloured man. The Farmer said that in his case all 
 were working well together. Many complain, he added, 
 that the whites, if set to work with negroes, fall into 
 their bad habits of laziness. They both get very 
 much the same pay. The white man works as well 
 as he can at first ; but seeing that the black gets on 
 as well without exerting himself so much, he becomes 
 " demoralized," and falls off in zeal. This is the prin- 
 cipal objection ; but, by good management, continued 
 the Farmer, he thought the evil could be mitigated. He 
 pooh-poohed the notion as to the probability of the 
 
 t2 
 
324 ANOTHEK LOOK AT THE BRIDGE. 
 
 negroes dying out. The servants he now had were hired. 
 The half of the money due to them was always kept 
 to the end of the year. If given when due, the men 
 made away with it at once hy buying anything that 
 took their fancy, though it might be perfectly useless 
 to them. He directed them what to get, and found 
 they were anxious for the advice. Some of his men 
 had left him, and had come back again, after finding 
 that they could not better their position by working 
 in the town. The Bureau, he thought, tended to 
 unsettle them. One of hie " hands" was a clever 
 mulatto, who had been raised in Georgia, and had 
 had 25,00 dollars (according to his own account) paid 
 for his services in old times. 
 
 We took another look at the bridge before we left 
 Lexington. The gorge was bathed in sunlight, and 
 the rock mass suspended above it threw its great 
 shadow across the precipices below. I should have 
 liked to stay another day to explore the glen, but our 
 time was short, and we were obliged to be pressing 
 northward. The hotels were here, as usual, full of 
 black and coloured waiters. One or two of them 
 showed great anxiety to come with us to England, 
 our Jamaica servant having told them of his luck. 
 One of them presented a character which, I observed 
 
CONFEDERATE OFFICERS. 325 
 
 had the same name for signature that he himself 
 bore. He had come to town from the plantation 
 where he had been raised, and worked to better his 
 position. He would not go back, he said ; for he was 
 in a good place here, and got schooling. He had had 
 none before, but went now regularly to the evening 
 freedmen's school. The boys and girls were taught 
 in the morning. His brother, who was also a waiter 
 in the hotel, gave lessons to all who wanted to read 
 and write, and had daily classes in one of the rooms 
 below. This brother had had more time than most to 
 give to his own education. He spoke against the 
 Southerners, although he admitted that they did not 
 liarm the blacks. All the damage he had seen done 
 to them during the last year was the breaking of a 
 schoolroom window by a stone some one had thrown. 
 The Yankee influence was very perceptible in this 
 man, as it is in most who live in the towns, where 
 are the schools ; but such seed must have fallen into 
 very ready soil. 
 
 One of our principal objects in riding to Lexington 
 was to see some distinguished Confederate officers w^ho 
 were then staying there. The chief of these, a gal- 
 lant old gentleman, received us with great courtesy. 
 They were all dressed in their grey uniforms. Few 
 
326 CONVERSATION WITH A SOUTHERN OFFICER. 
 
 men wear anything else, and a black coat is seldom 
 seen. One hardly liked to talk to these men of the 
 war, much less of its latter days, which were so full 
 of sadness for them ; but the chief himself mentioned 
 the poverty of the country, and the helplessness of 
 its people. He spoke quietly, and with no ill-feeling, 
 of the leaders who had desolated the Shenandoah 
 Valley. " The crops this year are bad," he said, 
 " and I am afraid it will be long before there is any 
 improvement in the condition of the people." 
 
 He asked where we had been, and our answer led 
 to conversation about the feeling shown by the diife- 
 rent parties in the North towards the Southerners. 
 I asked if he had read the last debate in Congress 
 upon the Beconstruction Committee's report. 
 
 *' No," he said sorrowfully ; " debates in Congress 
 are not for us to read now. I never look at what 
 they have been saying there. President Johnson has 
 been doing much to strengthen the feeling for the 
 Union in the South ; but this Eadical party is, I fear, 
 doing much harm. I v ish they would let a little of 
 that feeling remain that used to exist in former times 
 between the whites and the blacks ; but while they 
 wish to give help to the blacks, they are doing them 
 harm. They are raising up feelings of race ; and if l 
 
• NORTH AND SOUTH. 327 
 
 feeling of ill-will is excited, in consequence of the 
 Radical legislation, against tlie weaker party, it must 
 yield. The whites are so much stronger, that there 
 is no chance for the blacks if the extreme party has 
 its vray. They are perpetuating, by their proposals in 
 Congress, the feeling of the South against the North. 
 Some feeling there must be after such a war, but it 
 will rapidly subside, unless increased by further pro- 
 vocation. The South took up arms honestly, and it 
 has laid them down honestly," he said, with much em- 
 phasis. " Surely it is best that the good- will of the 
 people should be fostered, and not that they should be 
 set against the North. To us the idea of ' Union' 
 was absurd, when the parties that made the Union 
 did not wish it to continue ; but the North fought 
 for the Union, and now a powerful party among them, 
 that seems to have its oicn way, is doing its best to 
 destroy all feelings of union. With such a policy, 
 * Union' can only exist in name." 
 
 I said that there was much inclination to support 
 the President among many at present in the North. 
 
 " Yes, there is much inclination," he said, " but 
 none seem to be bold enough to stand up and oppose 
 the Radicals. They are doing what they choose, and 
 no one stands fairly in their way. If the Union is 
 
32 S DISPARITY OF FORCES. 
 
 worth preserving at all, let them conciliate the whole 
 nation, and not do their worst against a large portion 
 of it." 
 
 He was evidently thinking of the violent words of 
 Thaddeus Stephens, who lately yelled to the House of 
 Eepresentatives this sentiment : " The best place for 
 the rebels is hell, fenced in by bayonets." There is 
 another proposal for the confiscation of all " rebel" 
 lands, with the further idea of giving them to the 
 blacks, and the disfranchising clause for the people of 
 the South, in the Eeconstruction Committee's 
 proposal.* 
 
 General spoke also of the weakening of the 
 
 State Governments, and of his wish to see them sup- 
 ported. Little is known on our side of the water of 
 the vast disparity of the forces engaged in the 
 American conflict. " At Sharpsburg," he said, " we 
 had only thirty-five thousand troops opposed to the 
 enemy's one hundred and twenty thousand." " Sharps- 
 burg" is the battle that is known in the North as 
 that of "Antietam;" the Northerners taking the 
 name of the river near the battle-field, and the 
 Southerners that of the town in whose defence the 
 action was fought. "At Chancellorsville we had 
 
 * Not carried through Congress. 
 
TRAVELLING IN AMERICA. 3;^-9 
 
 forty-five thousand, all told, against a number equal 
 to that the enomy brought against us at Sharps- 
 burg." 
 
 He never spoke with bitterness, and even when he 
 mentioned the Eadicals his voice expressed only 
 sorrow. 
 
 I am afraid one cannot advise ladies to travel for 
 pleasure in America. There is such a want of privacy 
 at the hotels and in the cars, and so little real com- 
 fort, except in private houses, that the annoyance and 
 fatigue encountered would be triple that of a journey 
 in England, Posting may be a pleasure for some 
 time along good roads ; but to a lady not " raised " in 
 the country, and unaccustomed to be jolted over logs 
 and rocks, or entangled in deep ruts, it can only bring 
 headache and partial insanity. Even S. was loud in 
 his complaints. The tiry oval dishes, on which 
 dinner was often brought up in a condition that made 
 one believe it must have been an hour since it had 
 seen the fire, particularly exasperated him. These 
 little dishes were always set in a half-moon around 
 our plate, one holding, perhaps, a Brussels sprout, 
 another an asparagus head, and a third a speck of blood 
 and gristle supposed to represent a beefsteak. Eggs 
 were always plentiful. There was nothing to be 
 
330 A GERMAN INNKEEPER. 
 
 said against the drinks, and tliere was abundance of 
 milk. 
 
 At our noon-day halt we found a German innkeeper 
 and farmer, who came many yoars ago from the 
 Ehine Phalte, and who croaked in ugly German for 
 half an hour of his experiences. He had been quite 
 cleaned out by the war, but was in great hopes of 
 getting on well again, and was entertaining himself 
 with golden visions of a future vineyard, in which 
 there should be only Ehine grapes, that must thrive 
 amazingly on the low hills around his house. He 
 had lived so long in the State that, although a Eu- 
 ropean, as he said proudly, and therefore ha\'ing a 
 European's dislike of slavery, he had kept a few 
 slaves. This luxury was indulged in, not so much 
 for himself, he assured me, as for the sake of his 
 wife. He had served in the Confederate hospitals. 
 General Lee had been very fond of him, and had 
 given him his comforter as a present. He loved the 
 general, and went for " Staats-Eecht," though not in 
 favour of disunion at first. His slaves had dis- 
 appeared, but some had come back and died there. A 
 girl had gone down on her knees, and begged to bo 
 allowed to work again with him. He now had a 
 few blacks and a few whites working together, and 
 
REMARKABLE CAVERN. 331 
 
 * 
 
 well, upon his farm. He hoped Germans would now 
 come southward. Their great hatred of slavery was 
 what sent them so quickly, upon landing, to the west. 
 Very few of his compatriots had gone with the South, 
 but they would now take to farming. 
 
 We drove down the valley eastwards towards 
 Harrisonburg to see a very remarkable cavern, or 
 series of caverns, in the limestone rock of a spur of 
 the Blue Ridge. The air was very clear, and from the 
 rising grounds one could see far over the rolling * 
 woodlands and broad fields that once made the She- 
 nandoah Valley famous for its beauty and fertility. 
 The mountain range stretched away on our righk 
 till lost to view in the direction of Winchester. All 
 the miUs have been burnt by Sheridan's forces. 
 This was a purely military measure, as the corn from 
 the valley supplied Lee's army. The houses of the 
 people were burned when the owners fled, but were 
 unmolested when they remained. The man on whose 
 farm the cave is showed us through it. The en- 
 trance is very narrow, and in the side of a hill. A 
 series of haUs are passed through, till one has gone 
 for half a mile underground. The stalactites are most 
 wonderful and beautiful, though their effect is rather 
 spoilt by a coating of yeUow that has formed where 
 
332 A BILL. 
 
 the drip has not been enougli to prevent it. Tlie 
 forms are those taken by icicles, but are often far 
 more grotesque and extraordinary. 
 
 The following is a bill that was presented to us 
 after our visit to the cave, from which it will be 
 seen that the people still talk of shillings and pence, 
 though the sums understood by those terms are not 
 what they used to be i a shilling with them being the 
 sixth part of a dollar. The way in which they put 
 down the sums in both coinages is curious. 
 
 2 Visits to Cave, each 95 $3 00 
 
 2 Dinners, each 4^. Gd 1 50 
 
 $4 50 
 
 Coloured Man Visit Cave, 9^ 1 50 
 
 fy „ 2 horses, 2s. Sd 75 
 
 ff „ Dinner, 4:S. 6d 75 
 
 $3 00 
 
 The tone of the men of Virginia at this time was as 
 good as any one could possibly expect. There was no 
 violence, and law seemed to be as much respected as 
 before the war. There was no thought of any further 
 resistance ; they knew it would be useless if attempted, , 
 and no man was mad enough to think of it or wish 
 for it. 
 
SOUTHERN FEELING. 333 
 
 I have heard the extremists of the North spoken 
 of with scorn, but never with the fury that, if one 
 believed Northern pa})ers, ore would suppose the 
 Southerners habitually give vent to. Dislike was ex- 
 pressed towards the North, but no scorn ; that the 
 war has effaced. I have heard their military efforts 
 laughed at, and their generals derided for incapacity, 
 in not having mastered the South, **as they ought 
 to have done," in one year instead of in four ; but 
 most of the Southern soldiers look with respect upon 
 the Northern troops. Considering the hatred that 
 they believe to be shown towards them by the Radicals, 
 the "obnoxious" measures these have already suc- 
 ceeded in carrying into law, and the yet more " in- 
 tolerable" ones proposed to the legislature by the 
 same men, the wish of the Southerners to live ho- 
 nestly as citizens, and to obey the laws, is far more 
 than one could have hoped for. 
 
 It is the greatest misfortune that the party in the 
 North who are aware of this, and would, if they were 
 allowed, do their best to proinote friendly feeling, is 
 so weak. There is much gratitude in the South to 
 those who, like the President, have stood firm against 
 the extremists ; but' it is observed with alarm that, 
 though to all appearance numerically strong, they 
 
334 A FREEDMEN*S BUREAU. 
 
 make little headway. If they could only gain 
 ground, their success would do more for a real union 
 between the divided States than one hundred years of 
 such rule as would be exercised by the Eadicals. The 
 policy of Stephens and his party is most unfortunate 
 in the feeling it is creating ; and it is likely to be un- 
 fortunate also in defeating its own object, the welfare 
 of the blacks. 
 
 The Virginians, I am confident, might now, after 
 the passage of the Civil Eights Bill, be left with 
 safety to take care of the negroes. I believe that they 
 would get justice in the courts of the State, and that 
 no measures such as the immediate giving of the 
 franchise, far less the grant of confiscated lands to 
 the blacks, are necessary for their comfort. The last 
 would breed a jealousy that has as yet been happily 
 not aroused against them, or any of the whites. The 
 Freedmen's Bureau has not been looked upon with 
 favour by the whites of late, but they know it is not 
 to last very much longer ; and it has neither created 
 any feeling against the negroes, nor has it incited 
 them to presumption. Some of its agents have be- 
 haved badly, as is proved by the report of two officers, 
 Generals Steadman and Fullerton, who were recently 
 
SCHOOLS FOR THE NEGROES. 335 
 
 sent on a tour of inspection ; but as a whole the 
 system has worked remarkably well, and the agents 
 have been, in the main, honest. The power of having 
 one of their own citizens to represent themselves, and 
 another to represent the negroes at the Bureau 
 Courts, has given the whites confidence that the 
 interests of the blacks will not alone be looked to. 
 The schools that have been established are excellent, 
 and it is only the roughs of a few towns that have 
 shown much dislike to them. The more intelligent 
 object to the schools only on the ground that when 
 the State does so little for white education, it ought 
 not to do so much for the blacks. They are anxious 
 the black should learn ; but they think that he will 
 be able to do so easily from those around him, now 
 that there is no power to prevent him. Some will 
 set up schools, say the Southerners ; and all will, in 
 course of time, get as much training as necessary. 
 
 As is natural after such a social revolution, the 
 South believes nothing will suit masters and servants 
 so well as the old system, now gone for ever. All 
 sorts of misfortunes are prophesied to the blacks, 
 but one sees little to justify the expectation. Mixed 
 labour is said to be impossible ; but there was a good 
 
336 IMMIGRATION. 
 
 deal of it on the smaller farms before emancipation, 
 and there is more of it now. The mortality that must 
 carry off the black population in a few years is said to 
 be prevailing ; but one finds there is no more than 
 might have been expected from the crowding into the 
 towns for safety. It is only twelve months since the 
 end of the war, and yet labour, although unsettled, is 
 already returning to the farms, and wages of from eight 
 to fifteen dollars are being paid for it. This does not 
 look like speedy extermination. It is to be hoped that 
 the expectation of the Virginians, with regard to future 
 immigration, will be realized, though it hardly follows 
 that until that immigration becomes great, the negro 
 will be driven entirely southwards. The west holds 
 out such attractions, that the emigrant stream can, 
 for some time, only eddy southwards, though, now 
 that slavery is gone, there will be no great cause, as 
 there has been hitherto, to keep it away. When 
 it does come, there is reason to believe that mixed 
 labour will be possible ; and, according to all appear- 
 ance, it will be very long before the negro is forced, by 
 competition, to abandon the soil on which he now 
 promises to be a tolerably steady labourer. 
 
 If the majority of the people do not feel gratitude 
 to the blacks, there is at least an absence of that spite 
 
SOCIAL INTERCOURSE. 337 
 
 whicli showed itself among the whites on the abolition 
 of slavery in Jamaica. The wish .to get the old ser- 
 vants back to their work again, and the willingness 
 to give them fair wages, is universal. They do not 
 wish them to possess land, and they will not sell it to 
 them, unless they cannot help it, for they think that 
 the blacks would be bad neighbours and bad culti- 
 vators, and that it is best that they should, for the 
 present at least, become a steady labouring population. 
 There is also a great wish not to sell land to 
 Northerners, though this, of course, yields to large 
 sums offered to empty pockets. When it is possible, 
 they would rather lease the land, and many are doing 
 so. There is no social intercourse with Northerners, 
 but they are not disturbed, so long as they behave 
 themselves decently. The idea that they are ill-treattd 
 is heartily laughed at. A Northerner lately sent to 
 ask a professor of Virginia University if it would be 
 safe for his son to go there and enter as a student. 
 The professor sent back word that they would not do 
 more to him than take off one leg. This is the tone 
 of derision in which the Southerners speak of Northern 
 fears. They do not care for their society, but they are 
 happy to get their capital. The wish for intercourse 
 extends only to the transactions of business. 
 
 X 
 
338 HOSTILITY TO THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 We went north by Washington. The most ex~ 
 travagant stories were told to credulous Ea,dicals of the 
 treatment of Unionists in Virginia. Several Virginian 
 Unionists had called on one gentleman in the space of a 
 few hours, saying that they could not remain in their 
 State unless stringent measures were adopted for their 
 protection. I can well believe, from what I have heard 
 from Southerners, that men belonging to the State who 
 had gone against it in the war, have no pleasant 
 berth, though I never heard of any being personally 
 maltreated. The chief complaints are that obstacles 
 are thrown in the way of their settling or trafficking, 
 to such an extent that it is not worth their while to 
 undergo the nuisance. 
 
 The President's course in showing leniency to the 
 South was even in the early part of the present year 
 exciting the violent dislike of the Eadical party, now, 
 through the fall elections, in supreme power. Pro- 
 posals for his impeachment were even then canvassed, 
 and if it had been possible at that time to get the 
 necessary two-thirds majority in both houses, there 
 were men who would at once have brought them 
 forward. The hesitation they showed was only owin^ 
 to the doubt that such a measure would be rejected 
 by the Senate, and to the knowledge that the step 
 
BALXniORE. 839 
 
 would again wrap the country in the flames of civil war. 
 It was because the chief magistrate was in favour 
 of a policy of reconciliation, and not of revenge, 
 that they so hated him; and for his proteges, the 
 Southerners, nothing could be too severe. " Why 
 should we show them favour ?" they said. " If we 
 persecute them to the death, they cannot hate us more 
 than they do at present. Davis must be hanged, and 
 the rebels punished." Surely, in thus speaking, these 
 men took no account of time, and the influence it must 
 have in obliterating hatred, unless it be used for its 
 perpetuation. 
 
 On the way to Canada, whither we next proceeded, 
 we spent some pleasant days in the Secesh society of 
 Baltimore. Only one of the gentlemen, whose ac- 
 quaintance we made in that city, was a Unionist, 
 and he had a Southern wife, whilst of five sons 
 three were officers in Lee's army. One was pre- 
 vented from going through a lady's influence, and 
 the youngest boy had succeeded in exacting a pro- 
 mise from his parents that he too should join the 
 Confederate army if it were still in exio^once in 
 the fall of 1866. The parties in Baltimore, we found, 
 usually began at half-past nine, and lasted till mid- 
 night, at which time each girl was convoyed to her home 
 
 z 2 
 
340 SINGING. 
 
 by one of the gentlemen. "VVe had no want of singing 
 in the evenings. EngHsh, ItaUan, and German songs 
 were sung at parties with the usual cold and courteous 
 growl of *' beautiful" from the company, when each 
 was finished. But there w^ould sometimes come a 
 change ; for a tall Southern officer would step up to 
 the piano, and sing to a lady's fierce banging a Con- 
 federate cavalry war song. Every eye brightened and 
 every cheek flushed at this, and shouts of delight were 
 heard from all when the performance was over. 
 
 " By Jove, sir," one gentleman s^id ; " we only want 
 another chance to be up again." 
 
 "Ah, if you had but helped us," said another. 
 
 " How long is it since you have been able to sing 
 these songs?" 
 
 " Not long, I can tell you. We were kept down 
 pretty tightly. Not long ago a man who had sung a 
 song like that would have been arrested instantly." 
 
 " Maryland, my Maryland" — sounded almost like 
 a mockery. 
 
 " Hurrah, she spurns the Northern scum, 
 She breathes, she burns, she'll come, she'll come, 
 Maryland, my Maryland." 
 
 " Ah, and yet she did not come," said one poor 
 fellow. 
 
CIVIL RIGHTS BILL. 34l 
 
 "Because she couldn't, "fiercely replied his neighbour. 
 
 Cases were coming before the courts in consequence 
 of the Civil Eights Bill. Coloured men are to be met 
 with in every car between Baltimore and Philadelphia. 
 Gentlemen who have not ladies with them are not 
 usually allowed to enter the ladies* car. A coloured 
 man lately insisted that he should be allowe \ to enter 
 one of these. The guard refused permission, and the 
 man brought his case before the United States courts, 
 avemng that he had, when he wanted to go "on 
 board" the car, a lady with him. The guard 
 said " no, he hadn't ;" and the Court gave decision 
 against the coloured man, saying that the railway 
 companies could make what arrangements they chose 
 for the convenience of their passengers. 
 
 The lawyers in ^laryland maintain that the State 
 courts are not affected by the Civil Bights Bill, and 
 that the State laws of Maryland, prohibiting coloured 
 people from giving evidence against whites of the 
 same State, are still in force, although negro evidence 
 is admitted by the new bill in the United States courts. 
 
 The same question was, in Virginia, decided against 
 a coloured man, by a judge who tried a recent case. 
 In the court sitting at Alexandria, Virginia, May 
 25th, when the case of a white man charged with 
 
342 NEGRO TESTIMONY. 
 
 felony was being tried, the Coramonwealtli's attorney 
 asked permission to introduce negro witnesses to 
 t^itlf}, clairairg tlie right under the Civil Rights 
 Bill. Judge Thomas declined permission, on the 
 ground that his was a State coui*t, and he was act- 
 ing under the laws of the State of Virginia, which 
 forbade that black evidence should be received against 
 a white, *' except where the case arises out of an 
 injury done, attempted, or threatened to the person, 
 property, or rights of a coloured person, or Indian, or 
 when the oiTence is committed by a white person in 
 conjunction with a coloured person or Indian." The 
 judge stated that it was his determination to execute 
 the laws of the State until ordered to do otherwise. 
 It is difficult to see whv the State lec^islators should 
 still be anxious to keep up a law always most unjust, 
 and now without excuse, since iJtr slaves, with regard 
 to whom the provision was framed, exist as slaves no 
 longer. It is, however, I believe, not owing to a 
 dislike for the privileges of the freedmen that such 
 questions are still argued by the Southern lawyers, 
 but from a desire to resist any attempt at consolidating 
 the power of the Executive ; and from a determination 
 to support the State Governments, by which alone, it 
 is thought, such questions can be constitutionally 
 
NIAGARA. 343 
 
 decided. Should tliey decide in favour of admitting 
 the testimony of the blacks in State courts, few would 
 be against it. The decision, however, must come from 
 the State legislatures ; not from Washington. The Sove- 
 reign States must legislate for those within their borders. 
 
 In thus acting, they do all they can, as it seems to 
 me, to keep their vast country as one nation. They 
 are working for a unity they themselves have at- 
 tempted to destroy ; for it is impossible to conceive 
 that so large a territory as that possessed by the 
 United States, with such difference of geographical 
 interests and of feeling between the inhabitants of 
 many of its parts, can alwa^' s hold together^ unless 
 wide range be given to local power. 
 
 Passing through Philadelphia, we made our way 
 rapidly to Niagara by Harrisonburg, skirting for some 
 distance the noble Susquehanna river, on ^wo bridges 
 of which, that had not yet been repaired, General 
 Early had left his mark. 
 
 At Niagara we had very bad luck as far as weather 
 was concerned. The Falls were perpetually enveloped 
 in mist, and I suppose it was owing to this that 
 S. and I agreed that they were exactly what we 
 expected. One feels that one is not deprived of the 
 power of appreciating smaller waterfalls, any more 
 
344 TORONTO. 
 
 tlian one is rendered incapable of admiring a pictu- 
 resque irregularly built cottage, after looking at the 
 formal lines of an Italian palace. The regularity of 
 the American Fall rather destroys its effect, for the 
 water comes over the even ledge with a yellow- white 
 colour, very different from the green rush that plunges 
 from the centre of the horse- shoe terrace forming 
 the Canadian fall. The point from which the grandest 
 view is to be got, was, we thought, from a walk half 
 way down the cliff on the Canada side, where one 
 faces the whole semicircle of the great Fall. The 
 spray hung heavily in the damp air, and concealed 
 much we should have liked to see. 
 
 We enjoyed much more a view the preceding night, 
 when the rain had not yet begun, and there was a 
 fine full moon that crested with silver the river- 
 waves as they flashed over in long line into the dark- 
 ness, only to appear again from beneath the spray- 
 cloud that curled upward, as smoke from the mouths 
 of cannon, pale with the foam of their struggle. 
 
 The weather at Toronto was cold, rav/, and wet, 
 and the town looked too dull for words. There is 
 some good land about, one hears; but beyond the 
 town, we saw only the wretched looking white pines, 
 leaning here and there and everywhere, as if too much 
 
KINGSTON. 345 
 
 blown about ever to tbink of bokling themselves 
 straight again. 
 
 The Torontoites were all talking of the proposed 
 North American fedeiation ; and most of them were 
 seemingly in its favour. They flattered themselves 
 Fenianism had exploded, in spite of Stephens's attempt 
 to revive it. All the way up to Niagara there was no 
 sign of Fenian movements. On the American shore 
 I met two Irishmen, who said they would give five 
 dollars to see the Fenian leaders hanged — a rare piece 
 of good sense, worth mentioning. Two days after- 
 wards the " invasion of Canada '* had actually begun. 
 
 We stayed a day at Kingston — a pretty town with 
 warm-looking stone houses, a good bay for ships, and 
 some fortifications on the rising ground of a peninsula 
 that runs out into Ontario and bends round so as to 
 lie parallel with the shore of the mainland. There 
 was little, however, to be seen in the sleepy little 
 city, except a few companies of the Canadian rifles, 
 and some artillery guarding the forts. 
 
 We went on by steamer down the St. Lawrence, 
 whose course is here studded with numbers of copse- 
 covered and rocky islets. We landed at Prescott ; and 
 after a few hours' travelling through a dreary country, 
 with few clearings, and tangled larch and white pine 
 
346 OTTAWA. 
 
 forests, we arrived at Ottawa. Even at this time of 
 the year many of the trees have only just begun to 
 show that leaves may be expected perhaps in autumn. 
 
 The newly-built Houses of Parliament, of which the 
 Ottawa Canadians are justly proud, for they were de- 
 signed by a Montreal architect, and do him great credit, 
 could be seen a long w^ay over the woods. There is 
 a high tow^r in the central building, \vith steep 
 French roof, crowned with elaborate iron work, and 
 man}^ towerlets besides. 
 
 The rooms for the Upper and Lower Houses are the 
 same in size and arrangements. The galleries are large, 
 and encircle the chambers. As at Washington, they do 
 not hang over the representatives' heads, but at a 
 height of fifteen or twenty feet recede backwards, so 
 that the chamber is larger above than below. The 
 roof, which is of wood and glass, is supported by 
 handsome arches, resting on pillars of grey marble. 
 There is to be a large circular library, but it is not 
 yet finished. The edifice is built on the verge of the 
 clifi* that overhangs the river. Immense quantities 
 of timber that have been piloted down the shoots of 
 the Chaudiere falls, a mile higher up the stream, are 
 collected here to be formed into large rafts and 
 floated to the St. Lawrence. By a staircase of 
 
CHELSEA. 347 
 
 beautifully constructed locks a canal is led down to the 
 level of the river, which tumbles in wild sheets of 
 spray down the Chaudiere rocks ; and the broad 
 current swirls afterwards strongly past the high cliiT 
 on which the Parliament houses and the little city 
 behind them stand. It is a fine situation for a town ; 
 but most people belonging to the government fear 
 that, if the new confederation of all the North American 
 provinces is ever formed, it will be difficult to keep 
 Ottawa as the capital of the country. The position of 
 the town is most inconvenient, and it is never likely 
 to gain from commerce much importance. The lumber 
 trade is nearly all that it has, and as the country gets 
 cleared that will become more and more insignificant. 
 I took a drive to a small village named Chelsea, on 
 the other side of the river. Around the collection of 
 wooden houses the woods had been a little cleared ; 
 but far off was a river (a tributary of the Ottawa), 
 where some large saw-mills were at work. The 
 logs floating in hundreds down the rapid current 
 were guided, if near the banks, into a quiet side 
 canal, and there drawn upon trucks that ran on a 
 partially submerged tramway into the sheds, where 
 several frames, each with eight or nine saws, cut the 
 largest trunks quickly into planks. These are sent 
 
348 EXCITEMENT AT OTTAWA. 
 
 down an aqueduct to the stacking-yards, a few miles 
 below. Some strong French Canadians were pushing, 
 with long pikes, the logs that had come into an eddy 
 of the river back into the main stream. They had 
 hard work of it, as every moment brought fresh trees 
 swinging in upon them, as if anxious to escape in the 
 eddy from the rapids below. But there they stood, 
 often knee-deep in the cold water, for hours, pushing, 
 butting, lifting, and shoving, in the most picturesque 
 attitudes. 
 
 At Ottawa all was excitement that evening. Tele- 
 gram after telegram had arrived in rapid succession, 
 an uncing the descent of the Fenians upon Fort 
 Erie, a little village, innocent of fortifications, at the 
 outlet of Lake Erie. Two thousand men were asserted 
 to have crossed, well armed with bowie-knives, revol- 
 vers, and rifles, and meaning to fight. The com- 
 mander of the Federal war-steamer Micliigan, the only 
 vessel on the St. Lawrence, at that point, w^as said to 
 be a Fenian partisan, and was reported to have sub- 
 scribed a number of dollars quite lately to some 
 Fenian foUv at Buffalo. It was certain that he 
 
 a/ 
 
 w^ould allow as many more boatloads of Fenians to 
 cross as chose to do so, and we should not drive out 
 the invaders without bloodshed. Troops were being 
 
DESCENT OF FENIANS. 349 
 
 rapidly sent to the front, volunteer corps poured in 
 from all the country round, and eager offers of service 
 were made in every quarter. The place that was taken 
 possession of was one of those most hotly contested 
 during the last American war, and it was supposed 
 tlie object of these madmen was to destroy the Welland 
 Canal. 
 
 At night news came that the Irish force was en- 
 camped two miles below Fort Erie. It was con- 
 fidently hoped that on the morrow the troops that 
 had been sent against them would entirely demolish 
 them. No artillery had been known to cross. 
 
 Next day, at Prescott, all were on the alert. A large 
 force of Fenians was on the opposite shore of the river at 
 Ogdensburg, declaring their intention to cross with the 
 first opportunity. The United States revenue cutter 
 had been moored, in compliance with the command of 
 the Governor, immediately between the two towns, 
 with her steam up and guns shotted. The steamer 
 bound to Hamilton was full of officers going to rejoin 
 their corps, and not knowing exactly where to find 
 them, as so man^^ had been ordered hastily to the 
 front. At Broomsville, the first place we touched at, 
 there was furlher news. Tiny scraps of paper, the 
 sixth or seventh edition of the morning's journal, were 
 
850 THE TORONTO VOLUNTEERS. 
 
 brought on board, and eagerly read. In flaring type 
 was printed : " The Very Latest — Battle now raging 
 — The Queen's Own of Toronco fired the First Shot — 
 They are driving the Fenians back — Gen. Peacock, 
 with Eegulars, coming to their Eelief (?) — All be- 
 haved splendidly, and were rushing on the Eetreat- 
 ing Fenians with Great Gallantry — Several of the 
 Queen's Own are killed — A Great Number of Fenians 
 are killed." Sentries guarded the quays, and groups 
 of people talked excitedly in the streets. It was diflS- 
 cult to believe that a skirmish was going on, even 
 while the absurd bulletins we received gave account 
 of its progress on that quiet morning. In the steamer 
 were several Toronto people whose anxiety was natu- 
 rally great, since it was among the Toronto volun- 
 teers that most casualties were said to have occurred. 
 "We knew now that another fine regiment, the Eoyals, 
 had been added to the force at Niagara, and every 
 moment was bringing in fresh companies from the 
 country. 
 
 It w^as some time before we got to Kingston, where, 
 although they had no list of killed or wounded, bad 
 reports had come in that the volunteers, being unsup- 
 ported, had been obliged to fall back. They had started 
 from the shores <S Lake Erie, having gone round 
 
CURIOUS PICTURE. 351 
 
 there ly railway, and were to have marched back upon 
 the Fenians, co-operating with the regular troops who 
 were to march from Niagara, thus enclosing the in- 
 vaders between the two forces. The volunteers had 
 started too soon — had met the Fenians, and, without 
 waiting to ascertain their strength, or giving time for 
 the regulars to take the Fenians in rear, had com- 
 menced *' driving*' them back. The Fenians, who were 
 mostly old soldiers, commanded by an able officer, 
 allowed this to proceed for some time, till the Cana- 
 dians suddenly found that the Irish were getting round 
 their flanks. An alarm was created by some one 
 raising the cry of " cavaby," at which there was a 
 somewhat disorderly movement to form squares, which 
 was not promptly done ; and the ammunition of some 
 of the companies having at the same time failed, it 
 was found necessary to retreat. The Fenians, who 
 were superior to the volunteers in number, knowing 
 that the regulars were coming quickly down upon 
 them, did not pursue, but "made tracks" in the 
 direction of Fort Erie, dispersing at that place a small 
 body of volunteers that a Dr. King had very rashly 
 landed from a small steamer. To any one who could 
 have had a bird's eye view of the country at this 
 moment, a curious picture would have presented 
 
352 AMEmCAN NEWSPAPER REPORT. 
 
 itself — the red-coats moving slowly along the roads 
 from Niagara, while their enemies the Irish, and their 
 friends the volunteers, were both retreating in dif- 
 ferent directions. 
 
 The accounts that had reached Kingston came 
 partly from the Americans who had crossed to see the 
 progress of affairs and report for their newspapers. 
 One of these was dated from the " Fenian camp," and 
 described the approach of the British. " The road 
 from Frenchman's creek to Waterloo (a village),'* 
 said the reporter, " was thronged with Fenians 
 mounted on horses, two deep, moving to the front. 
 The Fenians were said to be carrying boxes of ammu- 
 nition in lumber waggons, and frantically leaping mud 
 puddles, and shouting * Come on.' " 
 
 Toronto and Hamilton were in a state of fever. 
 At the latter place the wounded were being hourly 
 expected. Crowds waited at the railway station to 
 receive them, and notices were posted requiring the 
 ser\dces of nurses. 
 
 A detachment of troops was quartered at the Clifton 
 House, which was not mor*^ comfortatle in conse- 
 quence. A regiment, made up of ten difierent country 
 volunteer companies, was drilling daily at the suspen- 
 sion bridge. From all parts of the frontier, from 
 
CONDUCT OF THE WASHINGTON CABINET. 353 
 
 Quebec to London, came reports th?t raiding expedi- 
 tions were expected. There was hardly a border town 
 in Canada that, according to these messages, was not 
 in immediate peril. But danger had disappeared. 
 At Erie all was again quiet, for the Irish had recrossed, 
 taking with them every boat they could lay hold of. 
 United States trc ops had been hurried up all along the 
 line to the St. Lawrence, and the officers were strictly 
 enjoined to see that the neutrality laws should not be 
 violated. This was more than was expected on our 
 si.-e, and did the Government at Washington the 
 greatest credit. Although the Cabinet at Washington 
 believed that we had frequently violated neutrality by 
 the manner in which English ships had become Con- 
 federate cruisers, and was aware that the Southern 
 refugees had received sympathy in Canada, where 
 plots had been organized against American towns, 
 it never hesitated. Many an Irish vote in the 
 approaching important elections was lost to the 
 party then in power by its honon'able conduct 
 on this occasion. It was entirely owing to their 
 promptitude that the Canadians had not to wage a 
 most troublesome war against men who, however 
 despicable in intelligence, are formidable in number. 
 It is noticeable how much the Canadians sympa- 
 
 A A 
 
354 CAPTURED FENIANS. 
 
 titized with the South durmg the American war, and 
 how much dislike exists between the inhabitants of 
 the opposite banks of the St. Lawrence, although many 
 American and Canadian families have intermarried. 
 While Dr. King's little detachment of Volunteers 
 was being broken up and fired into by the Fenians 
 returning from Ridgeway, the inhabitants of Buffalo 
 crowded down to the opposite shore, and cheered the 
 Fenians to the echo. The newspapers took their side, 
 and it seemed as if any slaughter would be acceptable, 
 so long as "Kanucks," as the Canadians are called, 
 were the victims. The hated Britishers had the laugh 
 eventually on their side. A number of the invaders 
 had been caught by the United States gunboat Mkld- 
 gan, aid were confined for some days in mid-stream 
 on a scow or open barge. There crowded together 
 and exposed to sun and rain, their condition was de- 
 plorable enough, and it was amusing to see the river 
 bank lined with people who, through telescopes and 
 opera glasses, could minutely observe all that went on 
 amongst them. 
 
 Small parties of Fenians who were not fortunate 
 enough to get across were captured or shot down 
 in the w^oods around Fort Erie by the volun- 
 teers, who were here in great force. Every man be- 
 
AN EXI'ENSIVE JOKE. 
 
 Sob 
 
 longing to the volunteers had joined his company, 
 leaving business, and willing to serve for any time 
 that might be necessary. Their loyalty was proved, 
 if nothing else was effected by that expensive joke — 
 Fenianism. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 « t 
 
 
 • • • 
 
 
 • J 
 ■ 1 I 
 
 
 <• • « 
 • • • 
 
 
 
 • • • • - 
 
LONDON : 
 SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS, CHAND03 STREET, 
 OOVENT GARDEN. 
 
 '•".•••• • 
 
13, Great Maklborouoh Strekt 
 
 MESSRS. HURST AND BLACKETrS 
 
 LIST OF NEW WORKS. 
 
 NEW AIMERICA. By William IIepworth Dixox. 
 
 SIXTH EDITION. 2' vols, demy 8vo, with Illustrations. 30s. 
 
 " The author o.' this very interesting ho( ' ' . :: Penetrated t*^ rough the plains 
 and mountains of the Far West into the Sui , • Valley, here gives us an ex- 
 cellent account of the Mormons, and some sti % descriptions of the scenes 
 which he saw, and the conversations which he hela . 'th many of the Saints during 
 his sojouiTi there. For a full account of the singuh.. sect Jailed the Shakers, of 
 their patient, 'oving industry, their admirable schools, and their perpetual inter- 
 course with the invisible world, we must refer the reader to this work. Mr. Dixon 
 has written thoughtfully and well, and we can recall no previous book on American 
 travel which dwells so fully on these much vexed subjects. ' — Times. 
 
 "There are few books of this season likely to excite so much general curiosity as 
 Mr. Dixim's very entertaining and Instructive work on New America. None are 
 more nearly interested in the growth and development of new ideas on the other 
 side of the Atlantic than ourselves. The Mormons, the Shakers, the Bible Perfec- 
 tionists, the Spiritualists, the Tunkers, the Free Lovers, &c., are most of them of 
 English blood, though they are bom on Uuited States soil The book is really 
 interesting from the tlrst page to the last, and it contains a large amount of valu- 
 able and curious information." — PcUl Mall Gazette. 
 
 " In these very entertaining volumes Mr. Dixon touches upon many other fea- 
 tures of American society, but it is in his sketches of Mormons, Shakers. Bible- 
 Communists, and other kindred associations, that the reader will probably find most 
 to interest him. We recommend every one who feels any interest in human na- 
 ture to read Mr. Dixons volumes for themselves.' — Saturday Review. 
 
 " We have had nothing about Utah and the Mormons so genuine and satisfactory 
 as the account now given us by Mr. Dixon, but he takes also a wider glance at the 
 Far West, and blends with his narrative such notes of life as he thinks useful aids 
 to a study of the newest social conditions — germs of a society of the future. There 
 is not a chapter from which pleasant extract might not be made, not a page that does 
 not by bright studies of humanity in unaccustomed forms keep the attention alive 
 from the beginning to the end of the narrative." — Examiner. 
 
 "Intensely exciting volumes. The central interest of the book lies in Mr.Dixon's 
 picture of Mormon society, and it is for its singular revelations respecting Brigham 
 Young's people, and the Shakers and Bible Communists, that nine readers out 
 of every ten will send for an early copy of this strange story. Whilst Mr. Dixon 
 speaks frankly all that he knows and thinks, he speaks it in a fashion that will 
 carry his volumes into the hands of every woman in England and America."' — Post. 
 
 "A book which it is a rare pleasure to read — and which will most indubitably be 
 read by all who care to study the lewest phenomena of American life." — Spectator. 
 
 " We are much mistaken if botl' in America and England Mr. Dixon's volumes 
 do not win for themselves the widi>st circulation." — Standard. 
 
 " Mr. Dixon's ' New America ' is iecidedly the cleverest and most interesting, as 
 it has already proved the most succ ;ssfal, book published this season." — Star. 
 
 "Mr. Dixon has written a book abont America having the unusual merit of being 
 at once amusing and instructive, trae as well as new. Of the books published this 
 season there wUl be none more cordially read." — Macmillan's Magazine. 
 
 "Mr. Dixon's book is a careful, wise, and graphic picture of the most prominent I 
 
 social phenomena which the newest phases of the New World present The narrti- j 
 
 tive is full of interest from end to end, as well as of most important subjects for ] 
 consideration. No student of society, no historian of humanity, should be without 
 it as a reliable and valuable text-book on New America." — All the Year Round. 
 
 "In these graphic volumes Mr. Dixon sketches American men and women, j 
 
 sharply, vigorously and truthfully, under every aspect The smart Yankee, the | 
 
 gra^■e politician, the senate and the stage, the pulpit and the prairie, loafers and j 
 
 philanthropists, crowded streets, and the howluig wilderness, t'lo saloon and boudoir, ! 
 
 with woman everywhere at full length — all pass on before us in some of the most | 
 vivid and brilliant pages ever written." — Dublin University Magazine. 
 
 " Mr. Dixon's ' New America ' is a book of books. He writes with vast knowledge 
 and vigour, and no work hns ever appeared which furnishes so accurate and just 
 an appreciation of the colossal social, and religious eccentricities which flourish in 
 the United States, and of their present and future significance. As a contribution 
 to this end, Mr. Dixon's bock is invaluable.'" — Lanret. 
 
13, Great Mahlborouoh Street. 
 
 MESSRS. HURST AND BLACKETT'S 
 NEW WOllKS—Contirmed. 
 
 THE LIFE OF JOSIAH WEDGWOOD ; From 
 
 his Private Correspondence and Family Papers, in the possession 
 of Joseph Mayer, Esq., F.S.A., Francis Weuxiwood, Esq., C. Dar- 
 win, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., Miss Wedgwood, and other Original 
 Sources. With an Introductury Sketch of the Art of Pottery in 
 Enghmd. By Eliza Meteyaud. Dedicated to the Right Hon. W. 
 E. UiADSTO.NE. Complete in 2 vols. 8vo, with Portraits and 3U0 
 other Beautiful Illustrations, elegantly bound, price 42s. 
 
 " This is the Life of Wedgwood to the expected appearance of which I referred 
 at Burslem." — Extract from a Letter to the Author liy the lii<jht lion. ir. j'i. Gladstone. 
 
 " We haye to congratulate the authoress on the publication of her Life of Wedg- 
 wood. We can award her the praise due to the most pains-tukin^ and conscien- 
 tious application. She has devoted her whole mind and energy to her subject, and 
 has achieveti a work not less creditable to herself than it is indispensable to all 
 who wish to know anything about (English ceramic art and its great inventor. The 
 two volumes before us are in themselves marvels of decorative and tj'pographical 
 skill. More beautifully printed pages, more creamy paper, and more dainty wooti- 
 cuts have seldom met our eyes. It is rarely that an author is so well seconded 
 by his coadjutors as Miss Moteyard has been by her publishers, printers, and the 
 staff of draughtsmen and engravers who have contributed the numerous illustra- 
 tions which adorn this sumptuous book." — Saturday Review. 
 
 " This very beautiful book contains that Life of Wedgwood which for the last 
 fifteen years Miss Meteyard has had in view, and to which the Wedgwood family, 
 and all who have papers valuable in relation to its subject, have been cordially 
 contributing. In his admirable sketch of Wedgwood, given at Bursleui, it was 
 to the publication of this biography that Mr. Gladstone looked forward with 
 pleasure. It is a very accurate and valuable book. To give their fullest value to 
 the engravings of works of art which largely enrich the volumes, the biography 
 has been made by its publishers a choice specimen of their own art as book- 
 makers. Neither care nor cost have been grudged. The two volimies form aa 
 handsome a book as has ever been published." — Examiner. 
 
 "The appearance of such a work as Miss Meteyard's 'Life of Josiah Wedgwood' 
 is an event of importance in the sister spheres of literatuie and art. The biographer 
 of our great potter has more than ordinary fitness for the fultllmeiit of her labour 
 of love. She is an enthusiastic admirer and a practised connoisseur of Ceramic 
 Art, and she brings the pleasant energy of individual taste and feeling to the aid of 
 complete, authentic, and well-arranged information, and the well-balanced 
 style of an experienced litterateur. The interest of the book grows with every page. 
 The reader will peruse the numerous interesting particulars of Wedgwood's 
 family life and affairs with unusual satisfaction, and will lay down the work 
 with undoubting confidence that it will rank as a classic among biographies — an 
 exhaustive work of the first rank in its school." — Morning Post. 
 
 "An admirable, well-written, honourably elaborate, and most interesting book." 
 Atlienxwn. 
 
 " No book has come before us for some time so stored with interesting informa- 
 tion. Miss Meteyard is a biographer distinguished by a clever and energetic style, 
 by delicate judgment, extensive information, and a Jeep interest in her subject 
 The history of the Ceramic Art in England, and the biography of tlie eminent man 
 who brought it to perfection, have evidently been to her a labour of love; and of 
 the spirit and manner in which she has executed it we can hardly speak too highly. 
 The splendid getting up of the work reflects much credit on the house from which 
 it is issued." — Dublin Unirersity Magazine. 
 
 " In this magnificent volume we welcome one of the very noblest contributions to 
 the history of the Ceramic art ever published. We place it at once and perma- 
 nently side by side with Bernard Palissy's Memoirs and with Benvenuto Cellini's 
 Autobiography. An abundance of rare and very prrcious materials is here admir- 
 ably put together by the dexterous hand and exquisite taste of Miss Meteyard. A 
 more conscientious discharge of the responsible duties devolving upon the biogra- 
 pher of a really great man has not been witnessed, we believe, since the days of 
 Boswell, the greatest of all biographers," — Sun. 
 
 '2 
 
13, Great Marlborovoh Street. 
 
 MESSRS. HURST AND BLACKETT'S 
 
 NEW \i OUKS— Continued, 
 
 A TRIP TO THE TROPICS. By the Marquis 
 
 OF LoRNE. 1 vol. 8vo, with Illustrations. 158. 
 
 Wn.D LIFE AMONG THE PACIFIC ISLAND- 
 
 EKS. By E. H. Lamont, Esq. 1 vol. Syo, with numerous Illustrations. 
 
 A BOOK ABOUT LAWYERS. By J. C. Jeaf- 
 
 FRESON, Barrister-at-Law, author of ' A Book about Doctors,' &c. 
 
 New, Revised, and Cheaper Edition. 2 vols, post 8vo. 243. 
 
 PKDfriPAL CfiNTENTs : — The Great Seal, Royal Portraits, The Practice of Sealing, 
 liord^ Commipsioners, On Damasking. The Rival Seals, Purses of State, A Lady 
 Keeper, Lawyers in Arms, The Devil's Own, Lawyers on Horseback, <'hau- 
 ccllors' Cavalcades. Ladies in Law Colleges, York House, Powis House, 
 Lincoln's Inn Fields, The Old Law Quarter, Loves of the Lawyers, The Three 
 Graces, Rejected Addresses, Brothers in Trouble, Fees to Counsel, Retainers 
 Special and General, Judicial T'orruption, (Jifts and Hales, .Judicial Salaries, 
 Costume and Toilet, Millinery, Wigs, Bands and Collars, Bags and (Jowna, Tha 
 Singing Barrister, Actors at the Bar, Political Lawyers, The Peei-s, Lawyers in 
 the House, Legal f^ducation. Inns of < 'ourt and Inns of Chancery. Lawyers and 
 Gentlemen, Law French and Law Latin, Readers and Mootmen, Pupils in 
 Chambers, Wit of Lawyers, Humorous Stories, Wits in Silk and Punsters in 
 Ermine, Circuiters, Witnesses, Lawyers and Saints, Lawyers in Court and 
 Society, Attorneys at Law, Westminster Hall, Law aj^d Literature, 4c. 
 
 From "The Times," Dec. C. — '"A Book about Lawyers' deserves to be very 
 popular. Mr. .leaffreson has accomplished his work in a very creditable manner. 
 He has taken pains to collect information from persons an well as from books, and 
 he writes with a sense of keen enjoyment which greatly enhances the reader'o 
 pleasure. He introduces us to Lawyerdom under a variety f)f phases — we have 
 lawyers in arms, lawyers on horseback, lawyers in love, and lawyers in Parliament 
 We are told of their salaries and fees, their wigs and gowns, their jokes and 
 gaieties. We meet them at home and abroad, in court, in chambers, and in com- 
 pany. In the chapters headed 'Mirth,' the author has gathered together a choice 
 sheaf of anecdotes from the days of ilore down to Erskine and Eldon." 
 
 '• These volumes will afford pleasure and instruction to all who read them, and 
 they will increase the reputation which Mr. Jeaffreson has already earned by his 
 large industry and great ability. We are indebted to him for about eight hundred 
 pages, and that rare and valuable addition, a capital index, all devoted to the history 
 and i'.ustration of legal men and things. It is much that we can say for a boolc 
 that there is not a superfluous page in it" — Atlunxuiiu 
 
 " The success of his ' Book about Doctors ' has induced Mr. Jeaffreson to write 
 another book — about Lawyers. The subject is attractive. It is a bright string of 
 anecdotes, skilfully put together, on legal topics of ai' sorts, but especially in illus- 
 tration of the lives of fsimous lawyers. Mr. Jeaffreson has not only collected a large 
 nimiber of good stories, but he has grouped them pleasantly, and tells them well 
 We need say litUe to recommend a book that can speak for itself so pleasantly. 
 No livelier reading is to be found among the new books of the season." — 
 Examiner. 
 
 "This book is full of amusement It is a mine of curious anecdote, gathered 
 apparently from a wide extent of reading. The volumes detail the strangest of 
 actual romances, the wildest of adventures, the drollest of humours, the brightest 
 of witty sayings and repartees." — London Review. 
 
 " These two very delightful gossiping volumes contain a vast amount of pleasant 
 anecdote and interesting information. Mr. Jeafireson has exercised considerable 
 industi"j' in the collection, and has displayed both taste and judgment in the ar- 
 rangement of hi& materials. Lawyers of every grade and every possible shade uf 
 character, from the student below the bar to the Lord Chancellor upon the woolsack, 
 lawyers of ancient times, and lawyers of our own day, here pass under review, and 
 are subject to the closest inspection. The anecdotes of celebrated individuals, who 
 are scattered throughout the chapters, are most amusing. We have said enough 
 to demonstrate the very attractive character of this Book about Lawyers, in which 
 our readers wiii find ample materials for occupying many a pleasant and not mi- 
 profitablc hour." — Sun. 
 
 t 
 
13, Gbeat Marlborocoh Strekt. 
 
 MESSRS. HURST AND BLACKETT'S 
 
 NEW WORKS—Contiiiiied. 
 
 LIFE IN A FRENCH CHATEAU. By Hubert 
 
 E. H. Jerningham, Esq. Second Edition. 1 vol. past 8vo, with 
 Illustrations. lOs. 6d. boiind. 
 
 " Mr. Jemingham's attractive and amusing voiume will ba perused with mucli 
 interest" — Mmming Post. 
 
 " A thoroughly fresh and delightful narrative— valuable, instructive, and enter- 
 taining.'" — United Service Magazine. 
 
 " A readable, pleasant, and amusing book, in which Mr. Jerningham records his 
 life among the denizens of the French Chareaa which extended its courtly hospi- 
 taUty to him, in a very agreeable and entertaining manner." — Court Journal. 
 
 A LADY'S GLIMPSE OF THE LATE WAR 
 
 IN BOHEMIA. By Lizzie Selina Eden. 1 vol. post 8vo, with 
 Illustrations. 10s. 6d. 
 
 "Miss Eden is a pleasant companion, and recounts her experiences with an 
 earnest and woma;ily sincerity, which is engaging. We have read and can recom- 
 mend her book with pleasure." — Athenueum. 
 
 " A most interesting work, full of well-told incidents. The writer has succeeded 
 in presenting a most lively and instructive description of her experiences as an ob- 
 server of the occarronces which marked the recent conflict between the Prussian 
 and Austrian armies." — Observer. 
 
 NOOKS AND CORNERS OF OLD FRANCE. 
 
 By the Rev. G. M. MusGKAfB, M.A. Oxon. 2 vols, with Illustra- 
 tions. (Just Ready). 
 
 MY PILGRIMAGE TO EASTERN SHRINES. 
 
 By Eliza C. Bush. 8vo, with Illustrations, los. 
 
 "This work contains a great deal of interesting matter, and it will be read with 
 pleasure by all who are interested in the country to which so many devout Chris- 
 tians have made their pilgrimage." — Observer. 
 
 THE SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST IN 
 
 CANADA. With Notes on the Natural History of the Game, 
 Game Birds, and Fish of that country. By Major W. Ross King, 
 F.R.G.S., F.S.A.S. 1 vol. super royal Svo, Illustrated with beauti- 
 ful Colou.-ed Plates and Woodcuts. 203. Elegantly bound. 
 
 " Truthful, simple, and extremely observant. Major King has been able to throw 
 much light upon the habits as well as the zoological relations of the animals with 
 which he came in collision ; and his descriptions of the coontry, as well as of the 
 creatures inhabiting it, are as bright and graphic as they are evidently correot"— 
 Athenaeum. 
 
 " In ' The Sportsman and Naturalist in Canada ' we have a full, true, and com- 
 prehensive record of all the facts concerning American animals which the author 
 was able in a three years" residence to collect. We have these facts in a goodly 
 volume, splendidly illustrated, and with its contents so well arranged that a refer- 
 ence to any description of bird, beast, or tlsh may be made almost instantly. It is 
 an important contribution to Natural History, and a work the intending traveller 
 will consult once and again, since it gives him the information he most needs, and 
 finds least generally accessible. The book will take its position in the foremost 
 rank of works of its class. The descriptions throughout are written by one who is 
 a master of his su' ject, and who writes English such as few are able to equal. Of 
 recent British travellers few car with its author in close observation of nature, 
 and in those graces of style t ' - holarship which make the iiiformation con- 
 tained in his volume as pieasai. • ibtain as it is valuable to preserve. In fact, 
 Bince the works of Eliot Warb,:rton and Kinglake, no book of travels with which 
 we are acquainted has been written in a style more clear, forcible, picturesque." — 
 Sunday Timet. _., 
 
13, Grpat Marlborough Street. 
 
 MESSRS. HURST AND BLACKETT'S 
 NEW WORKS— CWmwe?d 
 
 MEMOIRS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 FIELD-MARSHAL VISCOUNT COMBERMERE, G.C.B., &c. 
 From his Family Papers. By the Right Hon. Mart Viscountess 
 CoMBERMERE and Capt. W. W. Knoixts. 2 v. 8vo, with Portraits. 30g. 
 
 " The gallant Stapleton Cotton, Viscount Combermere, was one of those men 
 who belong to two epochs. He was a soldier, actively engaged, nearly ten years 
 before the last century came to its troubled close ; and he was among us but aa 
 yesterday, a noble veteran, gloriously laden with years, laurels, and pleasant re- 
 miniscencea To the last this noble soldier and most perfect gentleman took 
 cheerful part in the duties and pleasures of life, leaving to an only son an inherit- 
 ance of a great name, and to a sorrowing widow the task of recording how the 
 bearer of the name won for it all his greatnesa This has been done, evidently as 
 a labour of love, by Lady Combermere, and she has been efliciently assisted in the 
 military details by Captain Knollys. Apart from the biographical and professional 
 details, the volumes, moreover, are full of sketches of persons of importance or 
 interest who came into connection with Lord Combermere."— ^<Ae»asit//j. 
 
 " A welcome and gracefully written memorial of one of the greatest of England's 
 soldiers, and worthiest of her sona It is a most interesting work." — Morning Post 
 
 " This biography, abounding in letters and other unpublished materials, is all 
 fresh and trustworthy information, as to the life of a man whose career deserved a 
 record." — Examiner. 
 
 " All through the lengthened career of this grand old soldier we are enabled to 
 follow him step by step, incident by incident, through the pages of these thoroughly 
 readable and most entertaining volumea" — Sun. 
 
 THE HON. GRANTLEY BERKELEY'S LIFE 
 
 AND RECOLLECTIONS. Vols. UI. and IV. completing the 
 Work. 303., bound. 
 
 Among the other distinguished persons mentioned in these voliunes are the 
 Emperors Alexander, Nicholas, and Napoleon IIL ; Kings George IV., Wil- 
 liam IV., and Leopold I. ; Princes Talleyrand, Eaterhazy, Napoleon, Puckler 
 MiSkau; the Dukes of Sussex, York, Cambridge, Wellington, d'Orleans, 
 d'Aomale, Brunswick, Manchester, Beaufort, Cleveland, Richmond, Bucking- 
 ham ; Lorda Byron, Melbourne, Lansdowne, Holland, Brougham, Alvanley, 
 Yarmouth, Petersham, Craven, Salisbury, Devonshire, Ducie, Glasgow, Malmes- 
 bury, Castlereagh, Breadalbane, &c Sirs Eobert Peel, T. Lawrence, W. 
 Knighton, G«orge Dajhwood, George Warrender, Lumley SkeiBngton, Bulwer 
 Lytton, Count d'Orsay, Count de Momy, the Rev. Sydney Smith, Tom Moore, 
 Shelley, Thorci^ Cimpbell, Beaa Brummell, Theodore Hook, Leigh Hunt, 
 W. S. Landor, J 'mes and Horace Smith, Jack Musters, Assheton Smith, &c 
 Ladies Holland, Jersey, Londonderry, Blessington, Shelley, Lamb, Breadalbane, 
 Morgan, Mrs. Fitzherbert, Mra Jordan, Miss Landon, the Countess Gniccioli, &c 
 
 "A book unrivalled in its position in the range of modom literature." — Tima. 
 
 " It is pleasant to be i<^'ld about men of note, or the various phases of high social 
 life, in the light and sparkling manner peculiar to these memoira The most fasti- 
 dious critic will scarcely deny that Mr. Berkeley possesses the gift of writing in an 
 amusing strain on sociai, sporting, or general subjects." — Morning Post. 
 
 " A clever, freespoken man of the world, son of an earl with £70,000 a-year, who 
 has lived from boyhood the life of a club-man, sportsman, and man of fashion, has 
 thrown hie best stories about himself and his friends, into an anecdotic autobiogra- 
 phy. Of course it is eminently readable. Mr. Grantloy Berkeley writes easily and 
 well The book is full of pleasant stories, all told as easily and clearly as if they 
 were related at a club-window, and all with point of greater cr less piquancy."— 
 Sfitctator. 
 
 FROM CADET TO COLONEL: The Record of 
 
 a Life of Active Service. By Major-General Sir Thomas Seaton, 
 
 K.C.B. 2 vols, with Illustrationa, 21s. 
 
 "It is difficult to imagine anything more interesting both to soldiers and 
 civilians than Sir Thomas Seatoa'& record of his active career."— .itA^tueNm. 
 
13, Great Marlborough Str^^et. 
 
 MESSRS. HUKST AND BLACKETT'S 
 NEW VI OnKS—Conti7iued. 
 
 TRAVELS IN FRANCE AND GERMANY IN 
 
 1865 AND 18G6 : Including a Steam Voyage down the Danube, 
 and a Ride across the Mountains of European Turkey from Bel- 
 grade to Montenegro. By Captain Spencer, author of ' Travels in 
 Circassia,' &c. 2 vols. 2 Is. 
 
 " This work would at any time be read with pleasure, but at this moment it is 
 Invested with peculiar inter <>8t It presents a clear and comprehensive view of 
 fiermany on the eve of war, and throws much light on many quostions which have 
 recently occupied, and are sti'J destined to occupy, a considerable share of attention. 
 It ia more than a narrative if travel, although it possesses all the attractions of a 
 well written work of that nature. There is sufficient of adventure for those who 
 love that which is exciting ; sketches of wild and beautiful scenes ; glimpses of life, 
 not only in cities, but in secluded villages, and notes and obcervations on the social, 
 moral, and political condition of the countries passed through. The unity of Ger- 
 many is regarded as a gain to the whole civilized world ; the exclusion of Austria 
 from Germany a gain to herself and to the magnificent countries she rules over in 
 fastpm Europe. With these countries the reader extends his acquaintance. A 
 '•hara'.teristic sketch of the present state of Hungary is given in connection with 
 the riory of a voyage down the Lower Danube. The narrative of a ride across tho 
 mountains of European Turkey is filled up with a description of the manners and 
 customs of a people still living in a state of primitive simplicity. The author's 
 style is lucid and anecdotal, and the range of his book gives scope for much pleus- 
 ing variety as well as for much useful information." — Post. 
 
 ENGLISH TRAVELLERS AND ITALIAN 
 
 BRIGANDS : a Narrative of Capture and Captivity. By W. J. 0. 
 MoKNS. Second Edition. Revised with Additions. 2 vols., with 
 Portrait and other Illustrations. 21s. 
 
 " Mr. Moens had a bad time of it among the Italian Brigands. But his misfor- 
 tunes are now to himself and to his friends a source of no little entertainment, and 
 we can say for those who listen to his story that we have followed him in his 
 adventures with pleasure. He tells his tale in a clear and simple style, and with 
 that confident manliness which is not afraid to be natural." — The Times. 
 
 " Mr. Moens hat' had an experience and an adventure of startling magnitude in 
 these prosaic times of ours. He has seen what no other Englishman has seen, and 
 has done what no one else has done, and has written a bright and charming book 
 as the result." — All the I'ear Round. 
 
 " In these volumes, the literary merits of which are numerous, we have the true 
 story of the capture of Mr. Moens by the brigands. We have no doubt that the 
 book will be extensively read ; we are quite sure that it will do an immense amount 
 of good. It lets in a flood of light upon the dens of these robbers." — Daily News. 
 
 A WINTER WITH THE SWALLOWS IN 
 
 ALGERIA. By Matilda Betham Edwards. Bvo, with Illustra- 
 tions. 15s. 
 
 " A pleasant volume ; a genuine, graphic record of a time of thorotigh enjoy- 
 ment ' ' — A therueuTn. 
 
 " A fresh and fascinating book, full of matter and be ity. It is one of the most 
 instmctive books of travel of the season, and one of the brightest It would be diffi- 
 cult to overpraise it" — Spectator. 
 
 "A bright blithe, picturesque, artistic book, full of colour and sunshine, and 
 replete with good sense and soimd observation. To the enthusiasm of the book a 
 great portion of its beauty find its attraction are owing, but solid information and 
 the reality of things in Algeria are never disguised in favour of the bright land to 
 which the author folio wbd tho Swallows." — Post. 
 
 TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES OF AN OFFI- 
 CER'S WIFE IN INDIA, CHINA, AND NEW ZEALAND. 
 By Mrs. Muter, Wife of Lieut.-Colonel D. D. Muter, 13th (Prince 
 Albert's) Light Infantry. 2 vols. 21s, 
 
13, Great Marlbobouoh Stkeet. 
 
 MESSRS. HURST AND BLACKETT'S 
 NEW ^Y ORKS— Continued. 
 
 LADY ARABELLA STUART'S LIFE AND 
 
 LETTERS : including numerous Original and Unpublished Docu- 
 ments. By ELiZA3ETH CooPER. 2 vols., with Portrait. 2 Is. 
 
 "The ' Life and Letters of Lady Arabella Stuart ' is an nnnsually good specimen 
 of its class. Miss Cooper has really worked at her subject She has read a good 
 deal of MSS, and, what ia better still, she has priuted a good deal of what she has 
 read. The book has a real and substantial historical value." — Saturday Review. 
 
 "One of the most interesting biographical works recently published. The 
 memoirs have been arranged by Miss Cooper with muc^ care, diligence, and 
 judgment "—Post. 
 
 " Miss Cooper has laid before us a w k of equal value and interest, respecting 
 one of the most romantic and interesting passages in English history, in which the 
 actors are living men and women, not merely historical agurea." — Globe. 
 
 IMPRESSIONS OF LIFE AT HOME AND 
 
 ABROAD. By Lord Eustace Cecil, M.P. 1 vol. 8vo. 
 
 "Lord Eustace Cecil has selected from various journeys the points which most 
 Interested him, and has reported them in an unaffected style. The idea is a good 
 one, and is carried out with success. We are grateful for a good deal of informa- 
 tion given with unpretending good sense." — Saturday Review. 
 
 HISTORIC PICTURES. By A. Baillie Cochrane, 
 
 M.P. 2 vols. 21s. 
 
 " Mr. Baillie Cochrane has published two entertaining volumes of studies from 
 history. They are lively reading. ' My aim,' he says, ' has been to depict events 
 generally known in a light and, if possible, a picturesque manner.' Mr. Cochrane 
 has been quite successful in carrying out this intention. "The work is a study of the 
 more interesting moments of history — what, indeed, the author himself calls it, 
 'Historic Pictures.' " — Times. 
 
 COURT AND SOCIETY FROM ELIZABETH 
 
 TO ANNE, Edited from the Papers at Kimbolton, by the Duke 
 OF Manchester. Second Edition. 2 vols. 8vo, with Fine Portraits. 
 "These volumes are sure to excite curiosity. A great deal of interesting matter is 
 here collected, from sources which are not within everybody's reach."" — Timet. 
 
 HAUNTED LONDON. By Walter Thornbury. 
 
 1 vol. 8vo, with numerous Illustrations by F. W. Fairholt, F.S.A. 
 
 " Mr. Thornbury points out to us the legendary houses, the great men's birth- 
 places and tombs, the haunts of poets, the scenes of martyrdom, the battle-fields of 
 old factions. The book overflows with anecdotical gossip. Mr. Fairholt's drawings 
 add alike to its value and interest" — yotes and Queries. 
 
 PRISON CHARACTERS DRAWN FROM LIFE. 
 
 Bt a Prison Matron, Author of ' Female Life in Prison.' 2 v. 2 la. 
 
 "These volumes are interesting and suggestive"— 4fAena;«n». 
 
 " A woman lodged among imprisoned womer, with a kindly sympathy, a quick 
 eye, and a niind apt to record clearly its well-directed observations, has something 
 to tell that thousandf: will be glad to learn. Her quick-witted transcripts of living 
 character are studies that nothing can make obsoleie or deprive of interest for 
 living men." — Examiner. 
 
 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFE OF ADVEN- 
 TURE. By William Stamer. 2 vols, with Portrait. 2 Is. 
 
 " Mr. Stanier has been by turns a sailor, a soldier, a dasher in Paris, a recruit in 
 a foreign legion, a sportsman in America. His book is a story of a wild life, not 
 without a certain vivacity and amusement" — Athemeam. 
 
13, Geeat ^Iablborouoh Street. 
 
 MESSRS. HURST AND BLACKETT'S 
 
 NEW WORKS— Conti7iued, 
 
 A JOURNEY FROM LONDON TO PERSE- 
 
 POLIS; including WANDERINGS IN DAGHESTAN, GEORGIA, 
 ARMENIA, KURDISTAN, MESOPOTAMIA, AND PERSIA. 
 By J. UssHER, Esq., F.R.G.S. Royal 8vo, with numerous beautiful 
 Coloured Illustrations. Elegantly bound. 
 
 "This is a very Interesting narrative. Mr. TJaaher is one of the pleasantest com- 
 panions we have met with for a long time. We have rarely read a book of travels in 
 which so much was seen so rapidly and bo easily, and in which the scenery, the 
 antiquities, and the people impressed the author's mind with such gentlemanly 
 Batisfaction. Mr. Ussher merited his success and this splendid monument of his 
 travels and pleasar c explorationa"-'7'ime<. 
 
 TRAVELS ON HORSEBACK IN MANTCHU 
 
 TAIITARY: being a Summer's Ride beyond the Great Wall of 
 Chma. By George Flebono, Military Train. 1 vol. royal 8vo, 
 •with Map and 50 Illustrations. 
 
 " Mr. Fleming's narrative is a most charming one. He has an untrodden region to 
 tell of, and he photographs it and its people and their ways. Life-like descriptions are 
 interspersed with personal anecdotes, local legends, and stories of adventure, some of 
 them revealing no common artistic power." — Spectator. 
 
 YACHTING ROUND THE WEST OF ENG- 
 LAND. By the Rev. A. G. L'Estra-VGE, B.A., of Exeter College, 
 Oxford, R.T.Y.C. 1 vol. 8vo, Illustrated. 
 
 "A very interesting work. We can scarcely imagine a more pleasant and ro- 
 mantic yachting voyage than that of the author of this volume round the rough 
 and rugged west coast of England, which forms the coasts of Cornwall and Devon- 
 shire." — Observer. 
 
 SPORT AND SPORTSMEN : A Book of Recol- 
 
 lectiv. . . By Charles Stbetton, Esq. 8vo, with Illustrations. 
 
 " This is an amusing book ; as interesting as genuine books of sporting adven- 
 tures seldom fail to be. The Highlands, Wales, the English counties, Australia, 
 Lave all been visited by the writer, and we have Ids adventures in each." — Qlobe. 
 
 ADVENTURES AMONGST THE DYAKS OF 
 
 BORNEO. By Frederick Boyle, Esq., F.R.G.S. 1 vol. 8vo, with 
 Illustrations. 
 
 •' Mr. Boyle's Adventures are very pleasant reading — smart, lively, and indicative 
 of no slight amount of bonhomie in the writer." — Atheiueunu 
 
 A PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF THIRTEEN 
 
 YEARS' SERVICE AMONGST THE WILD TRIBES OF 
 KHONDISTAN, FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF HUMAN 
 SACRIFICE. By Major-General John Campbell, C.B. 1 vol. 8vo, 
 vi-ith Illustrations. 
 
 "Major-Oeneral Campbell's book is one of thrilling interest, and must be pro- 
 notmoed the most remarkable narrative of the present seasou." — Athenxum. 
 
 BRIGAND LIFE IN ITALY. By Count Maffei. 
 
 2 vols. 8vo. . . 
 
 " Two volumes of interesting research."— THitw*. 
 
 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. By Cardinal 
 
 WissKAif. 1 voL Syo, OS. 
 
 ■9 
 
13, Grkat Marlborouor Street. 
 
 MESSRS. HURST AND BLACKETT'S 
 NEW V^ORKS^Continued. 
 
 THE BEAUTIFUL IN NATURE AND ART. 
 
 By Mrs, Ellis. Author of ' The Women of England,' «tc, 1 vol. 
 crown 8vo, with fine Portrait. 10s. 6d. 
 
 " With pleasure her numerouB admirers will welcome a new book by the popular 
 authoress of ' The Women of England.' A very charming volume is this new work 
 by airs. Ellis. Its aim is to assist the young students of art iii those studies and 
 subjects of thought which shall enable them rightly to appreciate and realise that 
 oft-quoted truth, 'A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.' 'TheTruthiulness of Art,' 
 * The Love of Beauty,' '"The Love of Ornament,' 'Early dawn of Art,' and various 
 chapters of a kindred nature, are followed by others descriptive of ' Learning to 
 Draw,' ' Imitation,' ' Light and Shadow,' 'Form,' 'Colour,' 'Lady's Work," &c. The 
 work will interest many fair readers. It deserves a welcome and very cordial com- 
 mendatioa" — ISun. 
 
 GARIBALDI AT HOME: Notes of a Visit to 
 
 Caprera. By Sir Charles R. McGrigor, Bart. 8vo, with IHvlp.- 
 trations. 153. 
 
 LIFE IN JAVA; WITH SKETCHES of the 
 
 JAVANESE. By Wiluam Barrlngtcw D'Almeida. 2 vols, post 
 8vo, with Illustrations. 
 
 ADVENTURES AND RESEARCHES among the 
 
 ANDAMAN ISLANDERS. By Dr. Mouat, F.R.G.S., &c 1 vol. 
 demy 8vo, with Illustrations. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF QUEEN HORTENSE, MOTHER 
 
 OF NAPOLEON III. Cheaper Edition, in 1 vol. 63. 
 
 " A biography of the beautiful and unhappy Queen, more satiafactoiy than any we 
 have yet met with." — Daily News. 
 
 THE OKAVANGO RIVER: A NARRATIVE 
 
 OF TRAVEL, EXPLORATION, AND ADVENTURE. By 
 C. J. Andersson, Author of " Lake Ngami." 1 vol. Illustrations. 
 
 TRAVELS IN THE REGIONS OF THE 
 
 AMOOR, AND THE Russian Acsquisitions on the Confines of Indlv. 
 AND China. By T. W. Atkinson, F.G.S., F.R.G.S., Author of 
 " Oriental and Western Siberia." Dedicated, by permission, to 
 Her IIajestt. Royal 8vo, with Map and 83 Illustrations. 
 
 THE LIFE OF J. M. W. TURNER, R.A., from 
 
 Original Letters and Papers. By Walter Thornbcry. 2 vols. 
 Svo, with Portraits and other Illustrations. 
 
 LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF LONDON LIFE. 
 
 By the author of ' Mirk Abbey, ' Lost Sir Massingberd.' 2 vols. 2 Is. 
 
 " ' Lights and Shades of London Life,' is a collection of sketches from the pen of 
 an author whose facility for placing the realities of existence in various forms — the 
 pathetic, the solemn, the picturesque, and the humorous — before his readers, is as 
 remarkable as his talent for Action. Gocd-sense, good-feeling, and good-humour, 
 chnracterise these ' Lights and Shadows ' as strongly as F.hrewdness, observation, 
 drollery, and originality mark them. Most people have seen the sights which 
 these sketches describe, or remember the occasions which they record ; but each is 
 put in a new point of view, invested with a fresh interest, and impressed upon the 
 mind of the reader by some happy illustration." — Star. 
 
THE NEW AND POPULAR NOVELS, 
 
 PUBLISHED BY HURST & BLACKETT. 
 
 TWO MARRIAGES. By the Author of 'John 
 
 Halifax, Gentleman,' 'A Noble Life,' 'Christian's Mistake,' &c. 
 2 vols. 2 Is. 
 
 •' This work 1b marked by all that fertility of description, and high moral tone for 
 which the authoress has so much distinguished herself. It will in noile»?ree detract 
 from her repatation as a writer whose productions may be read with interest by 
 everybody." — Star. 
 
 " A new novel by the author of ' John Halifax ' is always welcome to many 
 readers, and the work now brjught forward by that popular author will in 
 no wise disappoint the expectations of her many admirers. The ' Two Marriages ' 
 ia a very interesting and effective work." — Sun. 
 
 SYBIL'S SECOND LOVE. By Julia Kavanagh, 
 
 Author of ' Nathalie,' ' Adele,' &c. 3 vols. 
 
 " A clever, interesting, and eminently readable novel. The plot is intricate and 
 well worked out The characters are excellently drawn." — Globe. 
 
 " A clever novel. The story is keenly interesting, thoroughly pure in tone, fall of 
 good, pointed dialogue and admirable descriptive writing, and has a well-conceived 
 plot, most skilfully worked oaV— Star. 
 
 OFF THE LINE. By Lady Charles Thynne. 2 v. 
 MY SON'S WIFE. By the Author of ' Caste,' *Mr. 
 
 Arle,' &c. 3 vols. 
 
 MADONNA MARY. By Mrs. Oliphant, Author 
 
 of ' Agnes,' &c. 3 vols. 
 
 " From first to last ' Madonna Mary ' is written with evenness and vigour, and 
 overflows with the best qualities of its writer's fancy and huraocr. The story is 
 thoroughly original, as far as its plot and leading incidents are concerned ; and the 
 strength of the narrative is such that we question if any reader will lay it aside, 
 notwithstanding the fulness in his throat, and the constriction of his heart, until he 
 has shared in the happiness %vhich is liberally assigned to the actors of the drama 
 before the falling of the green curtain. But the principal charms of the work are 
 subtle humour, flneness or touch, and seeming ease with which Mrs. Oliphant de- 
 lineates and contrasts her numerous characters.'' — Athenxum. 
 
 " A book of great power and beauty — a perfect work of its kind." — Morning Post. 
 
 CHRISTIE'S FAITH. By the Author of 'No Church,' 
 
 ' Owen,' ' Mattie,' &c. 3 vols. 
 
 " This book deserves to be singled out from the ordinary run of novels on more 
 than one account The design and execution are both good. The characters are 
 original, clearly conceived, and finely as well as strongly delineated. Christie her- 
 self is a delightful sketch." — Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 LEYTON HALL, AND OTHER TALES. By 
 
 Mark Lemon, Author of ' Falkner Lyle,' &c. 3 vols. 
 
 " We can heartily recommend these spirited tales to all who ore in search of 
 pleasing reading." — Athenxum. 
 
 " These volumes are full of interest, humour, and pathos. They aro stire to be ' 
 popular." — Star. 
 
 ST. ALICE. By Edward Campbell Tainsh. 3 vols. 
 
 " An entertaining, readable Look. That Mr. Tainsh can think like a gentleman, 
 and write like a man of cultivated taste, ' Saint Alice ' affords ample proof." - 
 Athenxum. 
 
 A WOMAN'S CONFESSION. By Lady Camp- 
 
 BFLL. 3 vols. 
 " ' A Woman's Coufession ' deserves to be a succesafol novel"— Pott ' « 
 
 10 
 
THE NEW AND POPULAR NOVELS, 
 
 PUBLISHED BY HURST & BLACKETT. 
 
 ANNALS OF A QUIET NEIGHBOURHOOD. 
 
 By Gkorge ^Iao Donald, M.A., Author of ' Alec Forbes,' ' David 
 Elginbrod,' &c. 3 vols. 
 
 " Mr. Mac Donald is a true poet The ' Annals of a Quiet NeiRhbonrhood ' are as 
 full of music as was Prospero's island : rich in strains that take the ear captive 
 when they are first heard, and afterwards linger long upon it" — Saturday Reciea. 
 
 "The charms and value of Mr. Mac Donald's work need not be sought — they pre- 
 sent themselves unasked for, in the tender beauty of his deserlptionF, whether of 
 nature, or of life and character; in his almost supernatural insight into the workings 
 of the human heart, and in his unceasing fertility of thought and happy exactitude 
 of illustration. Whoever reads the book once will read it many times." — Pall 
 Mall Gazette. 
 
 A NOBLE LIFE Bj tlie Author of 'John Halifax, 
 
 Gontleman,' &c. 2 vols. 21s. 
 
 " This is another of those pleasant tales in which the author of ' John Halifax ' 
 Bpeaks, out of a generous heart the purest truths of life."— A'.rawjn^. 
 
 '* * A Noble Life ' is remarkable for the high types of character it presents, and 
 the skill with which they are made to work out a story of powerful and pathetic 
 interest" — Daxly News. 
 
 CHEAP EDITION of CHRISTIAN'S MISTAKE. 
 
 By the Author of 'John Halifax,' &-c. Illustrated by Sandys. 
 
 Price Ss. bound. Forming the New Volume of ' Hurst and 
 
 Blackett's Standard Library of Cheap Editions of Popular Modern 
 
 Works.' 
 " A more charming story, to our taste, has rarely been written. Within the 
 compass of a single volume the writer has hit off a circle of varied characters all 
 true to nature — some true to the highest nature — and she has entangled them in a 
 8t<jry which keeps us in suspense till its knot is happily and gracefully resolved ; 
 while, at the same time, a pathetic interest is sustained by an art of which it would 
 be difficult to analyse the secret It is a choice gift to be able thus to render 
 human nature so truly, to penetrate its depths with such a searching sagacity, and 
 to illuminate them with a radiance so eminently the writer's own. Even if tried 
 by the standard of the Archbishop i -f York, we should expect that even he would 
 pronounce 'Christian's ilistake ' a novel without a fault" — Times. 
 
 MAIDENHOOD. By Mrs. Sara Anna Marsh. 
 
 Author of " Chronicles of Dartmoor." 3 vols. 
 
 KINGSFORD. By the author of ' Son and Heir.' 2 v. 
 
 " ' Kingsford ' is one of the most interesting stories we have read this season, 
 and we are sure our readers will thank u.s for recommending to them a work so 
 attractive and enthralling. The plot is of a very interesting character, and there 
 is powerful ability displayed in the creation of the characters." — Sun. 
 
 RACHEL'S SECRET. By the Author of *The 
 
 Master of Marton.' 3 vols. 
 
 "'Rachel's Secret' is a deeply interesting and affecting story, artistically and 
 powerfully wrought" — Post. 
 
 LORDS AND LADIES. By the Author of <Mar- 
 
 garet and her Bridesmaids,' &c. 3 vols. 
 
 " ' Lords and Ladies' is one of the most charming books with which the literature 
 of Action has been enriched this season. The truth and value of the moral of the 
 story will recommend it as highly as the vivacity and huLiour of its style and the 
 ingenuity of its coustmction.'' — Post. 
 
 THE WILD FLOWER OF RAVENSWORTH. 
 
 By the Author of ' John and I,' ' Doctor Jacob,' &c. 3 vols. 
 " A beautiful tale, written with deep feeling.." — Illustrated News. 
 
 11 
 
ittnbcr the Especial |!utronuge of |icr ^ajcst^). 
 
 Published annually, in One Vol., royal 8ro, icith the Amis beautifully 
 engraved, handsomely bound, with gilt edges, price 31 s. Gd. 
 
 LODGERS PEERAGE 
 
 AND BARONETAGE, 
 
 CORRECTED BY THE NOBILITY. 
 
 THE THIBTY-8I XTH EDITION FOB 18 67 IS NOW EEADT. 
 
 Lodge's Peerage and Baronetage is acknowledged to be tho most 
 complete, as well as the most elegant, work of the kind. As an esta- 
 blished and authentic authority on all questions respecting the family 
 histories, honours, and connections of the titled aristocracy, no work has 
 ever stood so high. It is published under the especial patronage of Her 
 Majesty, and is annually corrected throughout, from the personal com- 
 munications of :he Nobility. It is the only w^ork of its class in which, the 
 type being kept constantly standing, every correction is made in its proper 
 place to the date of publication, un advantage which gives it supremacy 
 over all its competitors. Independently of its full and authentic informa- 
 tion respecting the existing Peers and Baronets of the realm, the most 
 sedulous attention is given in its pages to the collateral branches of the 
 various noble families, and the names of many thousand individuals are 
 introduced, which do not appear in other records of the titled classes. For 
 its authority, correctness, and facility of arrangement, and the beauty of 
 its typography and binding, the work is justly entitled to the place it 
 occupies on the tables of Her Majesty ant' '..ie Nobility. 
 
 LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL CONTENTS. 
 
 Historical View of the Peerage. 
 
 Parliamentary Boll of the House of Lords. 
 
 English, Scotch, and Irish Peers, in their 
 orders of Precedence. 
 
 Alphabetical List of Peers of Great Britain 
 and the United Kingdom, holding supe- 
 rior rank in the Scotch or Irish Peerage. 
 
 Alphabetical list of Scotch and Irish Peers, 
 holding superior titles in the Peerage of 
 Great Britain and the United Kingdom. 
 
 A Collective list of Peers, in their order of 
 Precedence. 
 
 Table of Precedency among Mer» 
 
 Table of Precedency among Women. 
 
 The Queen and the Royal Family. 
 
 Peers of the Blood EoyaL 
 
 The Peerage, alphabetically arranged. 
 
 Families of such Extinct Peers as have left 
 Widows or Issue. 
 
 Alphabetical List of the Surnames of all the 
 Peers. 
 
 The Archbishops and Bishops of England, 
 Ireland, and the Colonies. 
 
 The Baronetage alphabetically arranged. 
 
 Alphabetical List of Surnames assumed by 
 members of Noble Families. 
 
 Alphabetical List of the Second Titles of 
 Peers, usually borne by their Eldest 
 Sons. 
 
 Alphabetical Index to the Daughters of 
 Dukes, Marquises, and Earls, who, hav- 
 ing married Commoners, retain the title 
 of Lady before thei" own Christian and 
 their Husband's Surnames. 
 
 Alphabetical Index to the Daughters of 
 Viscounts and Barons, who, having 
 married Commoners, are styled Honour- 
 able Mrs. ; and, in case of the husband 
 being a Barunet or ELuight, Honourable 
 Lady. 
 
 Mottoes alphabetically arranged and trans- 
 lated. 
 
 "Lodge's Peerage must supersede all other works of the kind, for two reasons: first, it 
 is on a better plan ; and secondly, it is better executed. We can safely pronounce it to be 
 the readiest, the most useful, and exactest of modem works on the subject" — Spectator. 
 
 "A work which corrects all errors of former works. It is a most useful publication." — Times. 
 
 " A work of great value. It is the most faithful record we possess of the aristo- 
 cracy of the day." — Post. 
 
 " The best existing, and, we believe, the best possible peeraga It is the standard 
 authority on the subject"— J/eroJd 
 
Kow n eovwn ot rxTBitCAnoir, 
 
 HURST AND BLACKETT'S STANDARD LIBRARY 
 
 OP CHEAP EDITIONS OP 
 
 POPULAR MODERN WORKS, 
 
 ILLUSTBATED BY MILLAI8, HOLMAN HUNT, LEECH, BIBKET FOSTER. 
 
 JOHN GILBERT, TENNIEL, Ac. 
 
 Each in » single volume, elegantly printed, bound, and illustrated, price 5s. 
 
 VOL. L— SAM SLICK'S NATURE AND HUMAN NATURE. 
 
 "The first volume of Messrs Hurst and Blackett's Standard Library of Cheap Editions 
 forms a very good beginning to what will doubtless be a very successful undertaking. 
 • Nature and Human Nature ' is one of thn.lx»st of Sam Slick's witty and humorous 
 productions, and well entitled to the large circulation which it cannot fail to obtain in 
 Its present convenient and cheap shape. The volume combines with the great recom- 
 mendations of a clear, bold type, an<i good paper, the leaser, but attractive merits, of 
 being well illustrated and elegantly hound. —Post. 
 
 VOL. II.— JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN. 
 
 *• This is a very good and a very int«>resting work. It is designed to tract the career 
 trom boyhood to age of a perfect man— a Christian gentleman, and it abounds in incident 
 both well and highly wrought. Throughout it is conceived in a high«pirit, and written 
 with great ability. This cheap and handsome new edition is worthy to pass freely from 
 hand to hand as a gift book in many householis." — Examiner. 
 
 " The new and cheaper edition of this interesting work will doubtless meet with great 
 success. John Halifax, the herj of this most beautiful story, is no ordinary hero, and 
 this his history is no ordinary book. It is a full-length portrait of a true gentleman, 
 one of nature's own nobility. It is also the history of a home, and a thoroughly English 
 one. The work abounds in incident, and is full of graphic power and true pathos. 
 It is a book that few will read without becoming wiser and better."— ^Scoteman. 
 
 VOL. III.— THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS. 
 
 BY ELIOT WARBUETON. 
 
 " Independent of its value as an original narrative, and its useful and interesting 
 information, this work is remarkable for the colouring power and play of fancy with 
 which its descriptions are enlivened. Among its greatest and most lusting chiurms is 
 its reverent and serious spirit."— Qwar^^rZj/ Review. 
 
 "A book calculated to prove more practically useful was never penned than ' The 
 Crescent and the Cross '—a work which surpasses all others in its homage for the sub- 
 lime and its love for the beautiful in thos<3 famous regions consecratt^d to everlasting 
 immortality in the annals of the prophets, and which no other writer has ever de- 
 picted with a pencil at once so reverent and so picturesque." — Sun. 
 
 VOL. rv^.— NATHALIE. BY JULIA KAVANAGH. 
 
 !fathalie ' is Miss Kavanagh's best imaginative effort. I 
 (tractive. Its matter is good. A sentiment, a tendeme 
 her which are as individual as they are elegant." — AthencBum. 
 
 "' Nathalie ' is Miss Kavanagh's best imaginative effort. Its manner is gracious 
 and attractive. Its matter is good. A sentiment, a tenderness, are commanded by 
 
 VOL. v.— A WOMAN'S THOUGHTS ABOUT WOMEN. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF " JOHN HALIFAX, OLI^TLEMAN." 
 
 " A book of sound counsel. It is one of the most sensible works of its kind, well- 
 written, true-hearted, and altogether practical. Whoever wishes to give advice to a 
 young lady may thank the author for means of doing sa."~Exami'ner. 
 
 [COirTINirED OK THE FOLLOWINO PaOBS.] 
 
HURST AND BLACKETT'S STANDARD LIBRARY 
 
 (CONTINUED). 
 
 VOL. VI.— ADAM GRAEME. BY MRS OLIPHANT. 
 
 " ' Adam Gra»'me' is a story awakening jr^nuine emotions of interest and delight by 
 Its admirable pictun'S of Scottish life and scenery. The eloquent author sets before us 
 the essential attributes of Christian virtue, their deep and silent worttinjcs in the heart, 
 and their b<>nutiful manifestations in life, with a delicacy, a power, and » truth which 
 can hardly be surp issed."— /*o»^ 
 
 VOL. VII.— SAM SLICK'S WISE SAWS 
 AND MODERN INSTANCES. 
 
 "We have not the slightest intention to criticise this book. Its reputation is mado, 
 and will stand as long as that of Scott's or Bulwer's Novels. The remarkable ori- 
 ginality of its purpose, and the happy description it atfords of American life nnd man- 
 ners, still continue the subject of universal admiration. To say thus mucth i.x to 
 Bay enough, though wo must just mention that the new edition forms a part of Messrs 
 Hurst and Blackett's Cheap Standard Library, which has included some of the very 
 best specimens cf light literature that ever have been written "—Messenger. 
 
 VOL. VIII.— CARDINAL WISEMAN'S RECOLLECTIONS 
 OF THE LAST FOUR POPES. 
 
 " A picturesque book on Rome and its ecclesiastical sovereigns, by an eloquent Ro- 
 man Catholic. Cardinal Wiseman has treated a special subject with so much geniality, 
 that his recollectionj will excite noill-feeing in those who are most conscientiously op- 
 posed toeveryideaof human hifallibility represented in Papal domination." — Athenmm. 
 
 VOL. IX.— A LIFE FOR A LIFE. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF " JOHN HALIF.\X, GENTLEMAN." 
 
 " We are always glad to welcome Miss Mulock. She writes from her own convic- 
 tions, and she has the power not only to conceive clearly what it is that she wishes to 
 say, but to express it in language effective and vigorous. In ' A Life for a Life ' slie is for- 
 tunate in a good subject, aud lias produced a work of strong effect."— ^iAcMawm. 
 
 VOL. X.— THE OLD COURT SUBURB. BY LEIGH HUNT. 
 
 " A delightful book, that will be welcome to all readers, end most welcome to those 
 who h^i^ ea love for the best kinds of reading." — Examiner. 
 
 " A more agreeable and entertaining book has not been published since Boswell pro- 
 duced his remiuiscences of Johnson." — Observer. 
 
 VOL. XL— MARGARET AND HER BRIDESMAIDS. 
 
 " We recommend all who are in search of a fascinating novel to read this work for 
 themselves. They will fmd it well worth their while. There are a freshue s and origin- 
 ality about it quite charming." — Atheneeum. 
 
 VOL. XII— THE OLD JUDGE. BY SAM SLICK. 
 
 "The publications included in this Library have all been of good quality; manjrgive 
 information while they entertain, and of that class the book oefore us is a specimen. 
 The manner in which the Cheap Editions forming the series is produced deserves 
 especial mention. The paper anct print are unexceptionable ; there is a steel engraving 
 in each volume, and the outsides of them will satisfy the purchaser who likes to see 
 books in handsome uniform." — Examhter. 
 
 VOL. XIII.— DARIEN. BY ELIOT WARBURTON. 
 
 "This last production of the author of ' The Crescent and the Cross ' has the some 
 elements of a very wide populanty. It will please its thousands."— G/o6e. 
 
HURST AND BLACKETT»S STANDARD LIBRARY 
 
 (CONTINUED). 
 
 VOL. XIV.— FAMILY ROMANCE; OR, DOMESTIC 
 ANNALS OF THE ARISTOCRACT. 
 
 BY SIR BERNARD BURKE, Ulsteb Kino of Arms. 
 •* It were itipossible to piaise too highly this most iiitercstinc? book. It oufrht to be 
 found on every drawing-room table. Here you have nearly fifty captivating r >mantes 
 with the pitli of all their interest prescrvecl in undiminished poignancy, and uiiy one 
 majr be read iu hall an hoxxr."— Standard. 
 
 VOL. XV.— THE LAIRD OF NORLAW. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF ''MRS MARGARET MAITLAND." 
 " The Laird of Norlaw fully sustains the author's high reputation."— .Suntia y Times. 
 
 VOL. XVL— THE ENGLISHWOMAN IN ITALY. 
 
 " We can praise Mrs Gretton's book as interesting, unexaggerated, and full of oppor- 
 tiuie instructiou."— TAo Times. 
 
 VOL. XVII.— NOTHING NEW. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF "JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN." 
 
 " ' Nothing New ' displays all those superior merits which have made' John Halifax' 
 one of the most popular works of the d&y."— Post. 
 
 VOL. XVIII.— FREER'S LIFE OF JEANNE D'ALBRET. 
 
 " Nothiue can be more interesting than Miss Freer's story of the Ufa of Jeanne 
 D'Albret, and the narrative is as trustworthy as it is attractive."— Po»<. 
 
 VOL. XIX.— THE VALLEY OF A HUNDRED FIRES. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF "MARGARET AND HER BRIDESMAIDS." 
 
 " We know no novel of the last three or four years to equal this latest production of 
 the Dopular authoress of ' Margaret and her Bridesmaids.' If asked to cla.ssify it, we 
 should give it a place between ' John Halifax ' and ' The Caxtons.' "—Herald. 
 
 VOL. XX.— THE ROMANCE OF THE FORUM. 
 
 BY PETER BURKE, Sebjevnt at Law. 
 
 " A work of singular interest, which can never fail to cl.arm. The present cheap and 
 elegant edition includes the true story of the Colleen Bawn." — Illustrated News. 
 
 VOL. XXL— ADELE. BY JTTLIA KAVANAGH. 
 
 " • Adfele ' is the best work we have read by Miss Kavanagh ; it is a charming story 
 full of delicate character painting." — Athenaum. 
 
 VOL. XXII.— STITDIES FROM LIFE. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF " JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN." 
 " These ' Studies from Life ' are I'emarkable for graphic power and observation. The 
 book will not diminish the reputation of the accomplished author."— Saiwrday Review. 
 
 VOL. XXIIL— GRANDMOTHER'S MONEY. 
 
 "We commend 'Grandmother's Money * to readers in search of a good novel. The 
 characters are true to human nature, the story is interesting, and there is throughout 
 u healthy tone of morality." — Athenaum. 
 
 VOL. XXIV.— A BOOK ABOITT DOCTORS. 
 
 BY J. C. JEAFFRESON, ESQ. 
 " A delightful hoo\:'—Athena:um. " A. book to be read andre read ; fit for the study 
 •is well as the drawing-rooLi table and the circulating Ubrtucy." '-Lancet. 
 
HURST AND BLACKETTS STANDARD LIBRARY 
 
 (CONTINUED). 
 
 VOL. XXV.— NO CHTTRCH. 
 
 " We advise all who have the opportunity to read this book. It is well worth the 
 eiVidy."—AthetK!eum. « 
 
 VOL. XXVL— MISTRESS AND MAID. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF » JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN." 
 
 " A good wholesome book, gracefully written, and as pleasant co read as it is instruct- 
 ive." — AthencEum. " A. charming tale charmingly told. All the characters are drawn 
 with life-like naturalness." — Herald. " The spirit of the whole book is excellent. It 
 ia written with the same true-hearted earnestness as ' John UaUfax.' " — Examiner. 
 
 VOL. XXVII.— LOST AND SAVED. 
 
 BY THE HON. MRS NORTON. 
 
 " ' Lost and Saved ' will be read with eager interest. It is a vigorous novel."— !R»m». 
 " A novel of rare excellence ; fresh in its thought, and with a brave soul speaking 
 through it. It is Mrs Norton's best prose work.'— Jfframtner. 
 
 VOL. XXVIII.— LES MISERABLES. BY VICTOR HUGO. 
 
 AUTHORISED COPYRIGHT ENGLISH TRANSLATION. 
 
 " The merits of ' Les Miserables ' do not merely consist in the conception of it as a 
 whole ; it abounds, page after page, with details or unequalled beauty. In dealing with 
 all the emotions, doubts, fears, which go to make up our common humanity, M. Victor 
 Siugo has stamped upon every page the hall-mark of i&ams."— Quarterly Uevieto. 
 
 VOL. XXIX.— BARBARA'S HISTORY. 
 
 BY AMELIA B. EDWARDS. 
 
 " It is not often that we light upon a novel of so much merit and. interest as 
 ' Barbara's History.' It is a work conspicuous for taste and literary culture. Jt is a 
 very graceful and charming book, with a well-managed story, clearfy-cut characters, 
 and sentiments expressed with an exquisite elocution. The dialogues especially sparkle 
 with repartee. It is a book which the world will like. This is high praise of a work 
 of art, fuid so we iutend it." — Times. 
 
 VOL. XXX.- LITE OF THE REV. EDWARD IRVING. 
 
 BY MRS OLirHANT. 
 
 "A good book on a most interesting theme."— Times. 
 
 " A truly interesthig and most affecting memoir. Irviag-s Life ought to have a nicho 
 in every gallery of religious biography. There are few lives that will be fliller of in- 
 struction, interest, and consolation." — Saturday Review. 
 
 " Mrs Oliphant's Life of Irving supplies a long-felt desideratum. It is copious, 
 earnest, ana eloquent. Irving, as a man and as a pastor, is exhibited with many broad, 
 powerful, and lire-like touches, which leave a strong impression."— £din&ur0rA Jieview. 
 
 VOL. XXXL— ST OLAVE'S. 
 
 " This charming novel is the work of one who possesses a great talent for writing, 
 as well as experience and knowledge of the world. ' St Olave's ' is the work of an art- 
 ist The whole book is worth r&mng."—Ath,eneBum. 
 
 VOL. XXXIL— SAM SLICK'S TRAITS OF AMERICAN 
 
 HXTMOVR. 
 
 "Dip where you will into this lottery of fun, you are sure to draw out a prize. 
 These racy ' Traits ' exhibit most successfully the broad national feuturea of Americaa 
 humour."— Po*<. 
 
 .e 
 
i'i \ 
 
 
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