MEMOIR 
 
 THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 
 
^/r / ^ Cy -O ^ c-/^ . o^v-^ 
 
 J//^^ 
 
 ^ 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS; 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM HIS DIARIES AND LETTERS. 
 
 mitfi an ^ppenUii:. 
 
 BY THOMAS G. GARY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 
 LITTLE, 
 
 BROWN AND 
 
 COMPANY, 
 
 
 112, "Washington Street. 
 
 
 1856. 
 
 
 
 No, [, 
 
 
Vq^ 
 .T4-G 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by 
 
 THOMAS G. CARY, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 printed by john wilson and son, 
 22, School Street. 
 
^ 
 
 . PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 In this volume, the Memoir prepared by request for "Hunt's 
 Merchants' Magazine " has been extended, chiefly by addi- 
 tions, made at the suggestion of several readers, to the 
 extracts from diaries and letters which appeared there, some 
 of them descriptive of the manners of Asiatics, and of 
 striking occurrences in the French Revolution. They will 
 be found to have the interest which usually accompanies the 
 statements of an eye-witness, while they casually indicate 
 the character and habits of thouj^ht of the writer. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 BiKTU AND Parentage 2 
 
 Education 8 
 
 Visit to South Carolina 9 
 
 Residence at St. Domingo 10 
 
 Marriage 11 
 
 Voyage to Canton in 1789 11 
 
 Description of Batavia 12-42 
 
 Trade on the North-west Coast of America and in China . 43, 207 
 
 Voyage to France in 1794 45 
 
 Autobiographical Sketch addressed to his Children, 53,197,207,210 
 Execution of Fouquier Tintille and fifteen others • . . . 56, 107 
 Journal of Events in Paris, in the Spring of 1795 .... 57-114 
 Marchioness La Fayette — Assistance for her Son .... 58, 75 
 
 Letter of Thanks from the Marquis 59 
 
 Journey through France and Holland 115-164 
 
 Atrocious Cruelty of Lebon at Arras 159,178 
 
 Return to Paris 165 
 
 Trial and Death of Bourbotte and his Associates .... 166-176 
 Visit to Ermenonville, the last Residence of Rousseau . . . 180 
 
 Journal in England 185 
 
 Visit to Newgate — Major Semple 190 
 
4 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Invitation from Gen. Washington — Visit to Mount Vernon . . 197 
 
 Public Services, Military and Legislative 201-206 
 
 Voyage to Europe and Detention at Morlaix in 1812 . . . . 210 
 
 Liberation of a Conscript at Morlaix 216, and Appendix. 
 
 Mission to the General Government from Massachusetts, in 
 
 THE War of 1812 219, and Appendix. 
 
 Aid in establishing the Massachusetts General Hospital . . . 220 
 
 Death and Character of James Perkins, Esa 221 
 
 Building of the First Railroad in the United States .... 222 
 Donation for the Blind, and Progress in their Education . 223-220 
 
 Voyage to Europe in 1835, and Diary there 229-238 
 
 Dissolution of his Commercial Firm 239 
 
 General Characteristics 240-254 
 
 Decease of Mrs. Perkins 255 
 
 Exertions in Aid of the Monument to Washington 257 
 
 Failure of Sight 259 
 
 Offer of Aid to the ATHENiiiUM, and Bequest of Samuel Apple- 
 ton, Esa 260 
 
 Decease 202 
 
 Letter of Daniel Webster 263 
 
 Proceedings of the Merchants of Boston 264 
 
 Interment 268 
 
 APPENDIX 271 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
 Thomas Handasyd Perkins was born in Boston, 
 Dec. 15, 1764, and named for his maternal grand- 
 father, Thomas Handasyd Peck, who dealt largely 
 in furs and the importation of hats. His father was 
 a merchant, who died in middle age, leaving eight 
 children, — three sons and live daughters, — most of 
 them very young, to the sole care of their mother. 
 She was a woman of excellent principles and re- 
 markable energy, and undertook the heavy charge 
 thus devolved upon her with deep solicitude (as 
 appeared from a subsequent reference of her own 
 to this passage of her life), but with firmness and 
 ability ; courageously assuming the business of her 
 husband, who had been connected with George 
 Erving, one of the principal merchants in the town. 
 Letters from Holland are remembered which were 
 addressed to her as Mr. Elizabeth Perkins ; and 
 when her eldest son, having attained the age of 
 manhood, went some years afterwards to the Island 
 
MEMOIR OF 
 
 of St. Domingo, where he established himself, he 
 sailed from Boston in a ship, the " Beaver," of which 
 his mother was part owner, and which had been 
 chartered to the French government to transport 
 part of their cavalry to Cape Fran9ois. 
 
 This estimable lady discharged her duties success- 
 fully, rearing her children with such advantages as 
 fitted them for stations of responsibility, which they 
 afterwards filled with credit to themselves and to her ; 
 and at the same time taking an active part herself 
 with the charitable associations of the town, which is 
 shown by acknowledgments found among her papers, 
 and in records of her services, as treasurer and other- 
 wise, from those with whom she acted. 
 
 On her decease, in 1807, it was voted " that the 
 ofiicers of the Boston Female Asylum wear a badge 
 of mourning for the term of seventy-one days " (corre- 
 sponding probably to the years of her life), " in token 
 of their high consideration and respect for the virtues 
 of the deceased, and of their grateful and affectionate 
 sense of her liberal and essential patronage as a 
 founder and friend of the institution." She is still 
 remembered by a few gentlemen, sons of her former 
 neighbors and associates, as an excellent friend, of 
 active benevolence, and as a lady of dignified, but 
 frank and cordial, manners. 
 
 Numerous descendants of hers, under various 
 names, now move in different walks of life in the 
 United States, in Europe, and Asia; and not a few 
 of them are distinguished for prosperity and the wise 
 use of wealth, and for intelligence and refinement, as 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 
 
 well as for the sound principles which she inculcated 
 on all. 
 
 The success of several of the branches of her 
 family was essentially promoted by the energy and 
 warm-hearted sympathy of the subject of this me- 
 moir, who was the second son, only six years of age 
 at the death of his father in 1771. The life of one 
 like him, who, with only such advantages as are 
 within the reach of many young men, acquired great 
 power to influence others, and, using it wisely, left 
 the world, within his sphere of action, better for his 
 existence, affords a useful example. 
 
 His father lived in King Street, now State Street, 
 where the conflict took place between the citizens 
 and the troops, called afterwards the " Boston Mas- 
 sacre ; " and, though he was little more than five 
 years old at that time, the sight of the dead bodies 
 and of the blood, frozen the next day on the street, 
 made an impression on his mind that was never 
 obliterated. The troops being quartered near there, 
 many of the officers were afterwards visitors in his 
 mother's family. 
 
 At about seven years of age, he was put under the 
 care of a clergyman of great respectability, at Middle- 
 borough, about thirty miles from Boston, and was 
 afterwards at school in Boston, until, intercourse with 
 the country being stopped, his mother retired with her 
 family to Barnstable, where she resided till the town 
 was evacuated by the enemy. His grandfather, Mr. 
 Peck, remained in Boston through the siege, but was 
 nigh being sent home to be tried as a rebel for free- 
 dom of speech. 
 
MEMOIR OF 
 
 While living with his mother at Barnstable, both 
 his legs were broken, by an unlucky accident, as he 
 was returning from an excursion in the woods ; and 
 though the limbs were well set, and he soon recovered 
 the use of them, he occasionally felt the effect of the 
 injury when the weather was bad, even in advanced 
 age. There, too, he formed an early and close friend- 
 ship, that remained unbroken for nearly eighty years, 
 until terminated by death, with one of his companions, 
 whom he had saved from drowning, — the late distin- 
 guished lawyer and statesman, Harrison Gray Otis, 
 nephew of the revolutionary patriot. 
 
 Some time after the return of the family to town, 
 his mother decided on giving him a collegiate educa- 
 tion ; and he was sent, with other boys from Boston, 
 — one of whom was the Hon. John Welles, now the 
 oldest living graduate of Harvard, — to an instructor 
 at Hingham, the E,ev. Mr. Shute, noted for his success 
 in preparing lads for college. After residing there 
 three years, and being prepared for Cambridge, he 
 was so reluctant to enter college, that it was decided 
 that he should go into a counting-house. He was 
 strongly inclined by temperament to active life. 
 Vigorous and bold, with a frame peculiarly fitted 
 for endurance, which was afterwards developed in 
 fine proportions for strength and beauty in manhood, 
 he saw less to attract him in the life of a student 
 than in one of enterprise, where he might indulge a 
 love of adventure, and exercise the courage, equal to 
 almost every emergency, which characterized him. 
 He was placed with Messrs. Shattuck, then among the 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. S* 
 
 most active merchants in Boston, with whom he 
 remained until he was twenty-one.* 
 
 On leaving the Messrs. Shattuck, in 1785, not being 
 well, he was advised to pass the winter in a warm 
 climate; and visited his elder brother, Mr. James 
 Perkins, in St. Domingo. He then went to Charles- 
 ton, S.C. ; and, in some memoranda made for his 
 children within a few years past, he refers to this 
 visit to South Carolina in the following terms : — 
 
 " As I had taken letters of introduction to some of 
 the most distinguished inhabitants of Charleston from 
 Gen. Lincoln and Gen. Knox, — the former of whom 
 was the defender of Charleston during the war of the 
 Revolution, and was a great favorite, — it gave me 
 pleasant introduction into the best society under most 
 favorable circumstances. As the inhabitants who have 
 large plantations spend as much of their time on them 
 as the climate will allow, I was an inmate in several 
 
 * Long afterwards, he recurred to this decision with regret for haying relinquished such a 
 privilege, and in advanced age repeatedly said, that, other things being equal (which condition 
 he repeated emphatically), he should prefer for commercial pursuits those who had received 
 the most complete education. In this opinion he seeems to have coincided with another expe- 
 rienced merchant, who once gave it as the result of his observation in a long life, that, as 
 a general rule, applied to the whole class of commercial men, of whom it is well known that a 
 considerable proportion fail, those had succeeded best who were the best educated. It derives 
 confirmation, too, from a fact generally noticed, both here and in Europe, by those who know 
 what goes on in the public schools where lads are prepared by different courses of study re- 
 spectively, either for college or for mercantile life, as their friends prefer: those who are 
 engaged in classical studies for most of the week, and give but a small portion of it to other 
 pursuits, are generally found to be well up, in arithmetic, geography, &c., with those who bestow 
 their whole time on such branches. 
 
 Without underrating the importance of a habit of attention to detail, or the knowledge of 
 minute affairs and the qualities of merchandise, which may be acquired by early apprentice- 
 ship, it is to be remembered that men of high culture, who mean to effect what they attempt, 
 show great aptitude for the minutiae, as well as for the general scope, of any new business 
 which they undertake, and that intellect well disciplined has considerable advantages in com- 
 parison with routine. 
 
 2 
 
10 MEMOIR OF 
 
 of their families, but passed the principal part of the 
 time at the plantation of Mr. Thomas Ferguson, who 
 had several rice plantations, upon which he numbered 
 upwards of eight hundred slaves. The plantations 
 were at a place called Pon Pon ; and in the vicinity 
 was Gen. William Washington, who was a nephew of 
 President Washington, and during the war command- 
 ed a regiment of cavalry. He gained a high reputa- 
 tion as a soldier, and was an accomplished gentleman. 
 There was fine sport with the gun ; geese, duck, teal, 
 &c., being in great abundance. Every Saturday the 
 gentlemen of the neighborhood met at a hunting- 
 stand in a favorite spot for deer, hunted in the morn- 
 ing, and made good cheer after the chase, — dining 
 in the woods, and, in case of not having success in 
 hunting, always securing a succedaneum, in the 
 form of ham, chickens, and other ' creature comforts.' 
 The Saturdays were real red-letter days ; and I could 
 name twenty who were in the habit of meeting on 
 such occasions, all of whom have long since retired 
 behind the scenes." 
 
 He soon afterwards accepted an invitation to join 
 his brother in St. Domingo, and they formed a house 
 there which was very successful ; but, finding that the 
 climate did not agree with his health, he returned to 
 Boston, and for some time attended to the business of 
 the house in the United States, where their correspond- 
 ence was extensive, — his younger brother, the late 
 Samuel G. Perkins, Esq., filling his place in the firm. 
 
 In 1788 he was married to Miss Elliot, only 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 11 
 
 daughter of Simon Elliot, Esq. It was a union en- 
 tirely of affection, and lasted for more than sixty 
 years. His married life was commenced with neces- 
 sity for strict economy ; but the connection probably 
 gave an important bias to his commercial career, as 
 it led to intimacy with Capt. James Magee, a relative 
 of Mrs. Perkins, who had made one voyage to Canton. 
 He soon turned his attention to trade with China ; and 
 sailed from Boston, in February, 1789, as supercargo of 
 the ship " Astraea," belonging to E. H. Derby, Esq., of 
 Salem, bound to Batavia and Canton, and commanded 
 by Capt. Magee. Difficulties were encountered, and 
 inconveniences were necessarily submitted to then 
 which are avoided now. The ship was not coppered ; 
 and, her bottom becoming foul, they made a long 
 passage to Batavia. Being in want of water before 
 arriving there, they stopped at Mew Island, at the 
 mouth of the Straits of Sunda, for a supply. Refer- 
 ring to the voyage and this incident in some memo- 
 randa made for his children many years afterwards, he 
 says, — 
 
 " The casks in which a part of our water was con- 
 tained had been used in bringing coifee from the Cape 
 of Good Hope ; and although burned out, and, as was 
 supposed, purified, yet the water put in them was 
 most disgusting. The waters from the cascade on the 
 Java shore were, of course, duly appreciated. We 
 remained in this beautiful bay several days. There 
 were, at the time I speak of (now fifty-seven years 
 since), no inhabitants on this part of Java. I went 
 
13 MEMOIR OF 
 
 on shore every day, and in one of my excursions 
 climbed the precipice over which the cascade flowed, 
 to examine its source ; and, from what we learned on 
 reaching Batavia, we were led to believe that we had 
 run great hazard, as more than one instance had 
 occurred of persons visiting the same spot having been 
 destroyed by tigers who were slaking their thirst in 
 this beautiful stream. Bats of great size were seen 
 crossing the narrow strait which divides Mew Island 
 from Java, and returning towards the close of day to 
 their roosts on the Java side. 
 
 " I remember as if it were yesterday the fright I 
 had in crossing a creek, the bottom of which was 
 hard, about knee-deep, and but a few yards wide. My 
 crossing alarmed half a dozen or more young croco- 
 diles or alligators, which were farther up the stream 
 than where I was crossing ; and they came down upon 
 us with a celerity which was inconceivable. Neither 
 of them touched either my servant or myself; and I 
 have no doubt they were quite as much alarmed as 
 we were. 
 
 " No boats or vessels of any kind came into the bay 
 while we lay there. Prince's Island was in sight ; 
 but the inhabitants, who had a bad name, were other- 
 wise engaged, and we met nothing to alarm us. The 
 pirates from Sumatra and the Eastern Islands made 
 frequent attacks upon vessels in those days, even so 
 far to the west as the Straits of Sunda ; though their 
 depredations were more confined to Banca Straits and 
 the more eastern archipelago." 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 13 
 
 That part of Java remains uninhabited now, as it 
 was at the time which he thus referred to, and both 
 tigers and anacondas abound there. Quite recently, a 
 botanist, engaged in making collections for a British 
 nobleman, having crossed from Mew Island to the 
 Java shore, his dog sprang from the boat as it touched 
 land, and, dashing into the woods, was immediately 
 seized by a tiger, as his master doubtless would have 
 been if he had entered the thicket first. The enor- 
 mous bats here mentioned are well known to natural- 
 ists. It is said that coal has now been discovered in 
 that vicinity, which may lead to some settlement there. 
 
 They were among the earliest visitors at Batavia 
 from this country, and he was treated with great civility 
 by the governor-general and others in authority, but 
 found some difficulty in obtaining permission to dis- 
 pose of the cargo intended for that place. He kept 
 a journal while there ; and the following extracts 
 from it exhibit some obstructions in business and 
 deference to authority from which foreigners are now 
 relieved : — 
 
 " July 13, 1789. — At five o'clock anchored in three 
 fathoms water in the harbor of Batavia, where we saw 
 Capt. Webb's brig. At seven the captain came on 
 board, and gave us the most melancholy account of the 
 state of aifairs at the place, — of the prohibition and 
 restrictions on trade, and every thing else which could 
 serve to give us the dumps. 
 
 " 14th. — At eight in the morning, took Capt. 
 Webb in our boat, and went on shore. The entrance 
 
14 MEMOIR OF 
 
 of the canal through which we pass is about half a 
 mile from the ship. The appearance in the harbor 
 beautiful. Canals, w^hich cross each other at right 
 angles through the city, are about forty or fifty feet 
 wide. The water, which is always very dirty, must 
 be unhealthy ; they are continually filled with boats, 
 which carry up and down cargoes. 
 
 " The variety of nations, which are easily to be 
 known by their different countenances, astonishing. 
 Great numbers of Chinese. Stopped at the custom- 
 house, where the names of the captain and myself 
 were taken, and other minutes respecting our passage, 
 &c. As the canal is difficult to pass after getting to 
 this place, which is about a mile and a half from 
 shore, and through the centre of the town, we took a 
 coach, which was provided us by the scribe who ques- 
 tioned us, and with whom I rode to the Shabendar's. 
 Received with civility by him, but discouraged from 
 expecting permission to sell. Represented our situa- 
 tion, the encouragement we had ever met with, &c. 
 He told us he would do every thing in his power to 
 serve us, but feared we should not succeed. 
 
 " Was conducted to the hotel, where all strangers 
 are obliged to put up. Found Blanchard, who speaks 
 of his prospects as distressing. Had been here a 
 week, and done nothing but petition. 
 
 "According to common custom, presented a petition 
 through the Shabendar for permission to sell. "Waited 
 upon the director-general, for whom we had a letter 
 
 from Mr. L , his nephew. His house a palace. 
 
 Pie received us, Dutchman-like, in his shirt-sleeves, 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 15 
 
 and his stockings half down his legs ; took our ad- 
 dress, and told us we should hear from him again ; 
 think he will be of service to us. Made other ac- 
 quaintances through my knowledge of French, and 
 endeavored to make some friends. To-morrow the 
 council sit, when our fate is to be known. 
 
 " This OA'Cning the British ship ' Vansittart ' arrived ; 
 and the captain, whose name is Wilson, with his 
 second-mate, purser, and doctor, came on shore. Was 
 very happy to find the doctor to be the gentleman 
 for whom I had a letter, and whom I supposed to 
 have been in the ' Pitt,' Indiaman : he seems to merit 
 all which has been said to me of him. Feel myself 
 drawn towards him more from his being a countryman 
 than perhaps from any other circumstance, on so short 
 an acquaintance. 
 
 " Thursday, 15th. — Anxious for the reception the 
 petition may meet. At ten o'clock, Capt. Wilson and 
 I went with the Shabendar, with our petitions, to the 
 council-chamber. After walking the hall a long time, 
 and being witness to a great deal of pompous parade, 
 was introduced to the council-chamber, where the 
 members, who are eight in number, were seated round 
 a large table covered with silk velvet, with the govern- 
 or-general as president. I made my respects and pre- 
 sented my petition, and then left them, to take another 
 stroll in the hall, till the Shabendar, upon the ringing 
 of a bell, once more introduced us to the great cham- 
 ber, when Capt. Wilson had liberty to land his articles ; 
 but we, poor, despised devils, were absolutely denied 
 the liberty of selling a farthing's worth. Whatever 
 
16 MEMOIR OF 
 
 I thought of the partiality, I very respectfully took 
 my leave, but determined to persevere ; and, after 
 much difficulty, got leave to renew our petitions. 
 
 "16th. — Keceived an invitation to sup with the 
 director, where we were superbly entertained, and met 
 much company. Many speak French; represented 
 our situation; music at supper. 
 
 "Friday, 17th. — Nothing to be done until Mon- 
 day, when the council meet again. It is supposed we 
 shall not have our future petition acceded to. Mak- 
 ing interest. 
 
 "Sunday, 19th. — Dined with the governor, and 
 received civility. An elegant place ; the area, where 
 we dined, superb, and the prospect round it not to 
 be exceeded. Passed the evening, by invitation, at 
 the director's, where were all the Council of Eight, 
 the governor, the old director-general, and other 
 grandees. More parade than before. Played cards. 
 Custom of washing before and after dinner ; the im- 
 provement in luxury ; washing in rose-water ; supper 
 elegant, — superbly so ; huzzaing, and the return 
 from the owner of the house after any compliment- 
 ary toast. 
 
 " I wrote a petition in behalf of Blanchard and 
 myself, and had it translated into Dutch. 
 
 " Monday, 2()th. — Dined with the Fiscal, who 
 treated us with good fare ; the British officers there, 
 and many persons of consequence. 
 
 " Tuesday, 21st. — Supped with one of the Edel- 
 heeren ; every thing in superb style ; same company 
 as before ; the governor there ; he does not honor 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. IT 
 
 them more than once a year with his visits. Twenty 
 ladies at table ; their dress, manner, style of putting 
 up the hair; sitting by themselves; toasts, huzzas, 
 bouquets, rose-water ; superfluity of every thing which 
 Europe and the Indies can give. 
 " Gained permission to sell." 
 
 This restriction on sales by foreigners has been 
 removed since that time, and it is not necessary to 
 wait for any such permission now. But at that time 
 the United States of America were little known or 
 regarded in that distant part of the world; and it is 
 easy to see that the final success which the young 
 merchant thus attained with the despotic authorities 
 of Batavia, who had pointedly and formally refused 
 his application in the outset, is fairly attributable to 
 personal qualities which distinguished him even at 
 that early period, and were characteristic through 
 life. Few men could exert a greater influence over 
 others with whom he had an important point to 
 carry. 
 
 His notes on various subjects, in the same diary, 
 show careful and general observation : — 
 
 " It is death to take spices ; and an acknowledg- 
 ment of having received notice of this is required, so 
 that one cannot plead ignorance. The Chinese racked 
 on the wheel for running spices ; yet any of them will 
 do it, bringing them to one's chamber in small quanti- 
 ties of twenty or thirty pounds. The Chinese are the 
 principal husbandmen. All the Eastern nations are 
 
 3 
 
18 MEMOIR OF 
 
 represented here in greater or less numbers, — Arme- 
 nians, Moormen, &c. Murders frequent ; Malays re- 
 vengeful and cowardly, taking every advantage of 
 situation, fearing to attack a man openly, and even 
 afraid to hold a pistol. Gates of the city ; strict 
 regulations respecting the going out and coming in at 
 them ; four gates ; walled all round ; kept in good 
 repair. Regularity of the trees. Chinese live in the 
 suburbs, and obliged to be out of the walls before 
 night. 
 
 " Every night, at a quarter-past ten o'clock, these 
 gates are shut, and opened again at about four in the 
 morning, when the Chinamen enter in great numbers 
 with their greens, &c., to procure a good place in the 
 market. An Edelheer — of whom I shall speak here- 
 after — has the exclusive privilege of passing and re- 
 passing these gates at what hour of the twenty-four he 
 pleases ; and the governor-general, who entertains com- 
 pany every Sunday night, sends orders to the officers 
 on guard to have the gates kept open until eleven, for 
 the accommodation of his company. 
 
 " There are particular gates at which you pass out 
 in a carriage, and others appointed for entering the 
 city, to avoid the frequent encounters which must 
 necessarily arise were there no regulation of this 
 kind. An Edelheer has, however, the privilege to 
 pass at whichever he pleases ; and his approach is 
 announced by the sentinels at the gates, in order to 
 stop other carriages from attempting the passage at 
 the time. 
 
 " The houses, in general, at Batavia are of brick, 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 19 
 
 with a degree of neatness about them, but nothing of 
 elegance. They all have very large glass windows, 
 copied from the mode in Holland ; though it is said 
 the use of large windows in that country was intended 
 to produce an effect that seems not to be necessary in 
 this place, — which is, to admit the rays of the sun. 
 Whatever the effect is, 'tis certain that their houses 
 in front, almost without exception, are nearly half 
 glass. The rooms are very high, and are spacious 
 and well furnished. They have, in general, good yard 
 room, and many good gardens behind their houses. 
 
 " The streets are wide ; and on each side of the 
 canal, which runs through each of them, are two rows 
 of sycamore-trees, which have a continual verdure, are 
 regularly planted, and are very much of a size. These 
 trees give a beautiful appearance to the city, and afford 
 an agreeable shade to those who are obliged to walk 
 in the middle of the day. These canals communicate 
 with the river Jacatra, which has nothing different 
 from them in appearance ; but has deeper water, runs 
 from a great distance in the country, and empties into 
 the sea. They are of great convenience for transport- 
 ing goods, which may be brought in prows to within 
 forty feet of any house in the city. The streets, which 
 are not paved, are throughout the city sprinkled, 
 morning and evening, with water from the canals. 
 This is done often by private slaves ; but, when they 
 neglect to do it, it is done by the company's slaves, 
 who traverse the city morning and evening, chained 
 two and two, for this purpose. Uj)on first observing 
 the plan of wetting the streets, I thought it a great 
 
20 MEMOIR OF 
 
 convenience, which in fact it is; but it took away 
 the pleasure of it when I saw at what an expense of 
 human feelings it is effected. 
 
 " Procured two birds of paradise ; the bird a native 
 of the Moluccas or Spice Islands ; valuable at Bengal, 
 and on the peninsula of India. 
 
 " Birds' nests at Batavia at two thousand five hun- 
 dred paper dollars the pecul. The birds that make 
 these nests are shaped like the swallow, and fly with 
 the same velocity, but are smaller. We saw numbers 
 of them while at Mew Island, but did not know them 
 to be the same at the time. The coast of Sumatra 
 gives the greatest supply of them, called the Salig- 
 nare, and found in great numbers in the Philippines. 
 They always lay in the same nest, unless it be de- 
 stroyed, and will keep continually rebuilding when 
 their nests are taken away. Late method of insuring 
 good nests, by destroying all the old ones. The nests 
 are formed of a glutinous substance found in the 
 water. They are about the size of the inside of a 
 swallow's nest, and some of them almost transparent. 
 The soup made of them is very palatable ; but, as it 
 is dear, it is not often met with. The old nests are 
 of a black cast, and not near so valuable as the white. 
 There are three layers or thicknesses in the nests, 
 which, when separated, appear like three distinct 
 nests : the first or outside layer brings the least price, 
 increasing to the inside, which bears the amazing 
 price above quoted. 
 
 " The shark-fins are also esteemed a great delicacy 
 for soups, and are to many very palatable ; but to me 
 they were not so. 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 21 
 
 " There are at Batavia nine persons who bear the 
 title of Edelheer, — that being a title of nobility 
 which they have assumed to themselves. Among 
 these nine persons are included the governor-general, 
 who is the president of the Grand Council of the 
 Indies, the other seven councillors, and the director- 
 general of the company, whose post is second in the 
 settlement. The old director also, who, being far 
 advanced in years, resigned, holds this dignity of 
 Edelheer, and has the same attention paid to him 
 that the inhabitants are obliged to pay to the rest of 
 them. Obeisance is exacted from all persons, with- 
 out distinction, in one form which has much dis- 
 turbed the feelings of some strangers who were not 
 used to acknowledge themselves the inferiors of any 
 one, and felt much galled at not being able to help 
 themselves. It is this : The carriage of an Edelheer 
 is, when in the city or on meeting any carriage of 
 distinction, preceded by two running footmen, who 
 carry each a baton or cane, with a brass head resem- 
 bling the weight used with a pair of steelyards, and 
 of an extraordinary size. This announces the car- 
 riage which follows to be that of an Edelheer ; when 
 the other carriage must drive up on one side the way, 
 and there wait until his greatness has passed. They 
 are very civil in returning one as low a bow as is 
 given them. When no carriage of distinction is on 
 the road, and the Edelheer's carriage is without the 
 suburbs, it is kno\^Ti by those canes before spoken of 
 being projected from the back part of the carriage in 
 such a manner that they cannot but be seen. There 
 
"ZZ MEMOIR OF 
 
 is a heavy fine exacted for passing the carriage of an 
 Edelheer without stopping. 
 
 " Some time since, there was an East India Com- 
 pany's ship at Batavia, the captain of which, think- 
 ing this a very great indignity offered him, upon his 
 coachman's attempting to stop his horses, ordered 
 him by signs to go on ; which order not being com- 
 plied with on the part of the former, the captain gave 
 him a very severe prick with his sword. This made 
 some noise at the time, but was overlooked. I think 
 it did no great honor to the good sense of the cap- 
 tain, who must have been aware that the poor devil 
 who drove him knew that passing the Edelheer would 
 be attended with disagreeable consequences to him- 
 self; which shoul-d have alone been sufficient to have 
 prevented the captain from wishing it. 
 
 " The captain of a French frigate who was here fell 
 upon a much more eligible plan, and one which suc- 
 ceeded to admiration. On being informed that his 
 coachman would stop on meeting one of the Edel- 
 heeren, he determined on endeavoring to overcome by 
 civility what he had no hopes of averting by any 
 other means. He had directions for distinguishing 
 the carriage of an Edelheer ; and, as soon as he saw 
 one, prepared himself for descending from his car- 
 riage. As soon as his coachman checked his horses, 
 he alighted from his coach, and made his respects to 
 the Edelheer, who could do no less than dismount 
 from his upon seeing a person of the appearance of 
 the captain thus paying him his respects ; and, after 
 many ceremonious bows and testimonies of civility, 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 23 
 
 they again resumed their seats in their several car- 
 riages. This piece of outstretched politeness was 
 found to be the cause of some trouble to the gentle- 
 men Edelheeren during the captain's stay here ; which 
 induced them to send an order to the hotel, giving 
 leave to the coachman of the French captain to drive 
 on without stopping for any one of the council, or 
 indeed of the Edelheeren. 
 
 " In private companies, the greatest attention and 
 studied politeness is shown them; and they always, 
 when at table, sit opposite the master of the house, 
 who divides the table lengthwise, and does not, like 
 the host with us, take his seat at the end. They 
 have a privilege of passing in and out of the several 
 gates of the city at any time in the day; which is 
 what no other person can do, as there are particular 
 hours for passing and repassing the different gates." 
 
 These dignitaries, and the troublesome ceremonies 
 attendant on their rank, are no longer known. 
 
 " There is at Batavia a great medley of inhabi- 
 tants. The principal persons in business, after the 
 Hollanders, are the Moormen. Many of them are 
 very rich. They are distinguished b/ a peculiarity 
 of dress, and a turban on the head. They wear 
 square-toed shoes, which turn up and terminate at 
 each corner in a kind of ear, which has a curious 
 appearance. They are rather slippers than shoes, 
 having no quarter or straps to them. In some re- 
 spects, these people exceed any set of men whom I 
 
24 MEMOIR OF 
 
 saw while at Batavia : they have an ease of address 
 and an air of good breeding which one would not ex- 
 pect to find in their countrymen. In their houses 
 they are courteous, and strive to make one's time 
 agreeable while under their roofs. They are the best 
 shaped of any of the Eastern nations whom I ob- 
 served while there ; their complexion nearly the same 
 as that of the aboriginals of America ; their features 
 regular and well-set, with the most piercing eye of 
 any people I ever saw. Their religion is Mahome- 
 tanism. They carry on a great trade to the difierent 
 islands in the Indian seas, and by their traffic make 
 great fortunes. Their mode of saluting is by passing 
 the right hand, with a slow motion, to the forehead, 
 and at the same time bowing the head with a most 
 graceful ease. They are, with the Chinese, the great 
 money-changers. They are as remarkably quick in 
 casting and making calculations, without any assist- 
 ance, as the Chinese are with their counters. Some 
 of these people support as decent carriages as any in 
 the place, and live with a great degree of taste. 
 
 " They all chew betel, areka-nut, and chunam. 
 This has the effect of rendering the teeth black and 
 shining like ebony. They esteem it healthful, as it 
 causes expectoration in a greater degree than tobacco. 
 This, they aver, is absolutely necessary in their coun- 
 try. It is, however, a filthy, vile practice in our eyes, 
 excusable in some degree in the men, but in the women 
 truly disgusting. I never saw any European gentle- 
 men use the betel ; but many of the European women 
 have adopted the habit of chewing it, and have their 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 25 
 
 mouths crowded with it. The private secretary of 
 the council, one of the most genteel men at Batavia, 
 told me of his great aversion to the use of it in 
 women ; and observed, that his wife had so great an 
 attachment to it, that all his powers of persuasion 
 were not sufficient to wean her from it. She was 
 quite young, — not more than nineteen or twenty at 
 the extent. There is a child, of seven or eight years 
 of age, always in attendance on those who chew the 
 betel, which is deposited in a box, in some instances 
 of very curious workmanship. This child is the 
 bearer of the box, and ever waiting the wishes of 
 the person so attended. 
 
 "All the people in this place seem very fond of 
 being surrounded by domestics. One seldom sees a 
 coach pass, particularly if there are women in it, 
 without five or six slaves, — some carrying the ba- 
 tons, others the umbrellas, &c., the slaves being gene- 
 rally Malays ; though there are some from all the 
 inhabited islands in the India and China seas. 
 
 " The love of gaming shows itself in no place 
 where I have ever been so strongly as here. It is, 
 however, confined to the natives and other colored 
 people ; for, among the Europeans, they, for the most 
 part, have a fixed bet, which is not large, and beyond 
 which they do not go. But with the lower people it 
 is the origin of almost all their quarrels, and fre- 
 quently terminates in death. You will see, in what- 
 ever part of the town you visit, circles of those 
 gamblers seated on the ground, and great numbers 
 of spectators, who all seem to be deeply interested 
 
26 MEMOIR OF 
 
 in the business, if we may judge from the smile of 
 success which brightens up their countenances, and 
 the look which, perhaps the moment after, bespeaks 
 ill-luck. There are great numbers of houses, for the 
 most part kept by Chinese, which are open as gam- 
 bling-houses, and when passing which you continu- 
 ally hear the jingling of money, and the confused 
 sound of many voices. They have a large table, like 
 a tailor's shopboard, on which they sit in a circle and 
 play their game. Even in private families, you will 
 always see parties of slaves seated in some part of 
 the house at this diversion ; and, in short, this vice is 
 the prevailing one, from the oldest to the youngest. 
 
 " The Malays are great cock-fighters, and have as 
 fine birds as perhaps any in the world. They bet 
 more deeply, and involve themselves more, in this 
 barbarous custom, than in any other species of gam- 
 bling; and there have been instances of their carry- 
 ing it to as unpardonable a length as the Chinese 
 do in playing away the liberty of their wives and 
 children, and even of enslaving themselves ; which 
 last, however, is more excusable than to take that 
 liberty with their connections. 
 
 "There are, in some of the Dutch settlements, 
 Malay governors and chiefs ; and many of their wo- 
 men are married to Europeans. The language of the 
 Malays is the most known of any language in the 
 several islands, and indeed may be called among 
 the islands of the East what the French language 
 is acknowledged to be throughout Europe. It is 
 agreeable to the ear, and said to be the most musical 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 27 
 
 and soft of any of the Eastern languages. It is very 
 easily learned and spoken by every European who has 
 been any time in the country. 
 
 " In most countries, the servant has to learn the 
 language of the person in whose service he is : but 
 here that custom is reversed ; for there is not one in 
 a hundred of the slaves who understands Dutch, nor 
 one-quarter of that proportion who speak it ; whereas 
 every Dutchman and every member of his family 
 speaks the Malayan language. Indeed, it is the first 
 language the children here learn; as they get the 
 dialect from their nurses, who are Malayan women, 
 before that of their parents. Every child, when 
 ushered into the world, has one of these nurses ap- 
 pointed to it, which is given to the child as its pro- 
 perty, and generally serves it till their general master 
 separates them. 
 
 " This language is used by the Chinese, who all 
 speak it, as well as by the other Indian inhabitants 
 of this place, who, for the most part, do not speak 
 Dutch ; so that it is absolutely necessary that they 
 should know it. 
 
 " There are these advantages arising from the Ma- 
 lays not knowing the language of the Dutch, — that 
 the latter are obliged to learn theirs, and that the con- 
 versation which is passmg while they are in waiting is 
 not liable to be carried out of the company by them. 
 The Malays, without an exception that I was ever ac- 
 quainted with, chew betel, and in greater quantities 
 than the other Asiatics. 
 
 " The slaves, for the most part, have only a piece 
 
28 MEMOIR OF 
 
 of linen cloth over those parts for which modesty 
 demands covering. There are some, however, who 
 have long pieces of this cloth thrown over the right 
 shoulder, and hanging down under the left arm almost 
 to the ground. I could never see the use of this ad- 
 ditional garment, as it only hid a part of the breast 
 and the middle part of the back, and was always laid 
 aside when they were engaged in work. There are 
 others, who are body-servants, who have a kind of 
 frock, or long skirt, buttoning round the neck with 
 brass buttons, and hanging loose to the ankles. The 
 Malayan women, in lieu of the petticoat, have a piece 
 of cloth long enough to go twice round them, and 
 made of a width sufficient to reach from above the 
 hips to the ground ; and, to cover the upper part of 
 the body, they have a short white gown, which comes 
 straight down to the hips, and has long sleeves, which 
 set close, and show the form very distinctly. They 
 seldom wear shoes, and, I believe, never stockings. 
 They dress their hair, which is long and coal-black, 
 with a most refined degree of taste and neatness. It 
 is combed all to the back of the head, and, after being 
 twisted, is fastened in a circular form on the back of 
 the head with long pins. The juice of the cocoanut- 
 tree, which is used in lieu of pomatum, gives it a 
 gloss like japanned ware, and makes it appear very 
 agreeably. 
 
 "Both whites and colored men and women pay 
 great attention to the cleanliness of their persons. 
 The white ladies ride a few miles out of town to their 
 country-seats, past each of which runs a canal, with 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 29 
 
 convenient steps made for descending to the water, 
 where they strip themselves, except of a piece of 
 cloth worn as the Malays do their common dresses, 
 and a long piece of muslin thrown over the shoulders, 
 and bathe, exposed to the eyes of every passer-by. 
 They seem to have got quite reconciled to being thus 
 exposed, as a stranger passing does not seem to dis- 
 turb them in the smallest degree. The men who 
 labor, being in general the colored people, and par- 
 ticularly the Chinese, towards dark strip themselves 
 of their clothes, except a small piece of cloth round 
 the waist, and go into the canals, which, in the town, 
 are the receptacles for every kind of filth. They 
 nevertheless dive under water, and sport as if in a 
 clear river. The women also keep their piece of 
 cloth, which encloses the lower part of the body, 
 over them, and leave the parts above the waist en- 
 tirely uncovered. They so early accustom their chil- 
 dren to bathing, that they become in a degree 
 amphibious, and appear to be as much in their ele- 
 ment when in the water as when on land. Although 
 the Chinese are the principal cultivators of the earth, 
 the Malays bear some part in the burden. The for- 
 mer are, however, esteemed the best gardeners, and as 
 the most industrious by far. 
 
 " I saw a Malay make use of an instrument for 
 shooting birds, which it appeared to me impossible 
 could carry with it the execution that in fact it does. 
 It is a hollow trunk, about the thickness of our 
 largest walking-sticks near the head. The hollow 
 appeared to be natural. It was about five feet ten 
 
30 MEMOIR OF 
 
 inches long ; which I know by comparing it with my 
 height. The hollow was about large enough to admit 
 the middle finger, and had a brass ring round the end, 
 — I suppose to keep it from splitting. This is di- 
 rected towards the object against which you mean to 
 do execution ; and through it is blown, from the 
 mouth of the sportsman, a piece of clay, formed 
 round by the finger. This is shot with such force, 
 and with so much exactitude, by many of the Malays 
 and natives, as seldom to fail of doing execution. 
 When I first saw this mode of shooting, I concluded 
 that this piece of clay would not do more than stun 
 the bird which it should chance to strike, and ac- 
 counted in this way for the taking the immense num- 
 bers of birds which are daily exposed alive for sale in 
 the market ; but was assured, upon inquiry, that in- 
 stant death was the consequence of the balls striking 
 the bird. They are killed in this way from the tops 
 of the highest cocoanut-trees ; and from this we see 
 that the rude state of the people produced some im- 
 plements which they have found reason to continue 
 since they are more cultivated. 
 
 " Many of the natives have their finger nails tinged 
 with a vermilion color. They keep them in very 
 good order ; and this color gives them a very pretty 
 appearance. They, in some instances, have adopted 
 the custom of the Chinese, in letting the nail of one 
 of their fingers grow to a great length, and, indeed, 
 never cutting it, to show they are not used to labor. 
 There are great numbers of the Malays and other 
 colored people here who are clerks to private gentle- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 31 
 
 men, and many others who are differently employed 
 by the company. They have the most unlimited con- 
 fidence reposed in them in many instances, and show 
 in not a few that they are not unworthy of it. 
 
 " The Malays, in a peculiar degree, are fond of 
 music, and have a great taste and good judgment in 
 performing. All the first people have bands of their 
 own, who perform, as I was capable of judging, very 
 well. Their instruments — or, at least, those which 
 they use in the concerts above mentioned — are Euro- 
 pean, and the same as are usually played upon in 
 the more western regions. Those bands which are 
 brought to some degree of perfection, when sold 
 bring a large price; but without any particular re- 
 commendation, and as they are taken from the vessels 
 which import them, they are sold for about one hun- 
 dred paper-dollars a head. I was astonished at the 
 low price they bore in comparison to the Guinea 
 slaves in America and the colonies; but it is to be 
 accounted for from their being in less demand, and in 
 greater numbers to be disposed of. 
 
 " The temper of the Malays is in a great degree 
 vindictive, — never forgetting an injury done them, 
 let what time will transpire between receiving the 
 injury and having an opportunity to revenge it. Of 
 the truth of this, there were, while I was at Batavia, 
 many melancholy proofs. This revengeful temper of 
 the Malays is more to be feared from its being so 
 carefully hid by the person who harbors it. They 
 do not appear to have treasured up the remembrances 
 of an aff'ront ; and, when least suspected, take some 
 
32 MEMOIR OF 
 
 means to deprive of life the person who has, or who 
 they imagine has, done them ill. They are great 
 cowards ; though, in my opinion, made so by their 
 state of servitude and entire submission to the wills 
 of their masters. They always time their murders 
 so well, that they are very seldom detected. They 
 take the night for carrying their designs into execu- 
 tion ; and the street is generally the place where it is 
 effected. They use their long knives to such purpose 
 when they set about it, that the unhappy victim of 
 their malice or revenge is in an instant put beyond 
 the power of calling aid, and thrown into the canals, 
 where he is found in the morning, but without the 
 most distant expectation of detecting the murderer. 
 There is scarcely ever an instance of two being con- 
 cerned in a single murder, so distrustful are they of 
 each other. 
 
 " A few weeks previous to my arrival, there was a 
 murder committed upon a person who was beloved 
 and respected by almost everybody. He was an ec- 
 clesiastic, but had retired to the country, having 
 exerted his good talent to the satisfaction of every 
 one; and there was little doubt but that he would 
 receive the rewards of a good and faithful servant, 
 and have another talent added to his store. This 
 universally acknowledged good man was shot dead 
 while sitting at the door of his own house, in the 
 evening, by whom, or for what reason, could never be 
 found out ; but it was supposed to be one of his own 
 servants ; though why or wherefore I never heard 
 conjectured. Jealousy is not a passion that has taken 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 33 
 
 great root with these people. However, when they 
 have reason to feel this most dangerous of the passions 
 which disturb the human breast, it affects them in a 
 very high degree ; and death with aggravations is the 
 consequence of infidelity. 
 
 " When well used, the Malays are grateful, and 
 would go great lengths to save their benefactor. 
 Though they are great thieves, and must be very 
 sharply watched, yet their thefts are never extended, 
 or but very seldom, to house-breaking. They will 
 pilfer every thing which comes in their way when 
 there is little fear of detection ; and, by their address, 
 will steal from you before your eyes. Instances of 
 this kind frequently occur in unlading prows ; and 
 when there is any thing that will sink, such as iron, 
 steel, &c., they, with great dexterity, let a part fall 
 into the water. 
 
 " Batavia, which is the warehouse of the Dutch 
 East India Company, and the most important by far 
 of all their possessions round the Cape of Good Hope, 
 is raised on the ruins of the ancient city of Jacatra, 
 where the English had a settlement, and from which 
 they were ousted by the Dutch in 1617. It is about 
 fifty leagues from the entrance of the Straits of Sunda, 
 and about twelve leagues from Bantam. It has a fine 
 harbor, which is well defended from the winds by the 
 many small islands which surround it. It has good 
 anchorage, and could accommodate seven or eight 
 hundred sail of shipping. The latitude of Batavia is 
 6° south, and about 106° east longitude. The Dutch, 
 after wresting this place from its proper owners. 
 
34 MEMOIR OF 
 
 made many improvements in it. It is at this time well 
 guarded by a stone wall, which is well built, and about 
 twelve feet high. Without it is a canal, which quite 
 encompasses it, and has several drawbridges over it, 
 which are occasionally drawn up. On it are several 
 watch-towers, where are continually soldiers kept on 
 sentry. It has four gates, one to each bridge, which 
 are all well secured and guarded, each gate having a 
 guard-house adjoining it, which has a considerable 
 number of soldiers in it. These walls are well stored 
 with guns and the necessary appendages, which are 
 always kept in order in case of necessity. They are 
 very ornamental, — being well painted of a stone 
 color on the outside, and being well built in a manner 
 that does honor to the artificers who executed them. 
 The bastions are so laid out, that they would be ser- 
 viceable as well against an insurrection as an invasion. 
 The one or the other they would have great reason to 
 fear, had either the Chinese, who were inhumanly cut 
 oif here, or the original inhabitants, who have always 
 been imder the lash of the present possessors, courage 
 enough to retaliate; but, fortunately for the Dutch, 
 they have a people to deal with, in the Chinese, who 
 do not appear to have the passions which govern men 
 in general. They appear here to have no resentment in 
 their composition. They have a placid countenance, 
 which is very seldom seen to be acted upon by any of 
 the passions. If they are vexed at what you say, they 
 never will give you the advantage of them by flying into 
 a passion of anger. If they are pleased in the strik- 
 ing a bargain, you will never know it from their 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 35 
 
 looks, perhaps for fear the other party should suppose 
 he has the advantage ; so that, whatever thwarts them, 
 they are on their guard : whether pleased or disgusted, 
 merry or sad, you are not the wiser, such is the com- 
 mand they have of themselves. If any thing can 
 raise their muscles into a smile, it is the seeing an 
 Englishman throw himself into a passion on a trifling 
 occasion. They will compose themselves, and remain 
 seated until his anger has evaporated, and then inquire 
 the reason of it, however apparent it may have been. 
 You seldom see them laugh. 'Tis true, they smile ; 
 but it appears to be more out of complaisance to you 
 than from a natural impulse. It is certain the softer 
 passions are not so visible in them as with us. 
 They have no fellow-feeling at the sufferings of those 
 around them in distress ; they pass by without a look, 
 or even a thought, — if I may judge from appear- 
 ances, — on the situation of those who are exposed to 
 the arrows of misfortune ; and view without a change 
 of countenance objects of distress which would call 
 forth the tear of sympathy from every eye that had a 
 tear to shed. 
 
 " The Chinese, in general, will tell you, with all the 
 seeming indifference in nature, of the loss of a wife, 
 parent, or child ; and although they make a parade 
 of grief at their funerals, yet no sooner is the cere- 
 mony at an end than the brow which but a moment 
 before appeared to be overwhelmed with grief now 
 wears a placid appearance, and has not upon it the 
 most distant trace of sorrow. 
 
 " I saw, while at Batavia, two of these interments ; 
 
36 MEMOIR OF 
 
 or rather I saw the procession pass of one, and the 
 return of another. In the first, the corpse was borne 
 by a number of coolies, or porters, the coffin covered 
 with a white pall : then followed a number of women, 
 with hoods covering their heads, and in white from 
 the head to the very shoes, who by their walk one 
 would suppose had been taking too freely of their 
 favorite betel, and had felt the effects of it in their 
 heads. But this was only the show of grief; and I 
 afterwards found out they were hired mourners. They 
 were on each side supported by other females, who 
 appeared with difficulty to uphold them. Those were 
 followed by the near and dear relatives of the deceased ; 
 but in their countenances was no mark of grief; and 
 they looked on this and the other side of them with 
 all the indifference possible. Such is the effect of 
 education. Their wives they treat with very little 
 attention : nor, indeed, does any thing seem to be 
 their object or pursuit but wealth ; to obtain which 
 they stop at nothing, however low and despicable. 
 There are said to be forty thousand Chinese in Batavia 
 and its vicinity. They are governed by their own 
 officers, but are all restricted to the general outlines of 
 the Dutch policy. Many of them are immensely rich, 
 and enter very largely into trade; have stores in town, 
 and elegant country-seats without the gates. They 
 parade about in their carriages with a great degree of 
 state, and seem to feel their consequence. The num- 
 bers of Chinese are daily increasing at this place: 
 every junk which comes brings more or less^^ most of 
 whom they smuggle into the city, as they have a duty 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 37 
 
 to pay on all regularly imported, — the number of 
 them to be imported annually is prescribed, — and 
 have a rix-doUar to pay per month for having the 
 privilege of wearing the hair after the manner of their 
 own countrymen ; so that, what was first adopted 
 against their own wills, they have now to pay for the 
 privilege of enjoying. "Why more of the Chinese 
 leave their country one year than another is, that, 
 while they can find wherewith to exist in their na- 
 tive country, they choose to tarry there ; but, when 
 famine stares them in the face, -^ which is the case 
 in a greater or less degree almost every year, — they 
 fly to this place, in hopes of finding better fare than 
 their own country ofiers them. They wear the same 
 dress as at Canton, and live in the same retired way. 
 They are the principal mechanics, and the best hus- 
 bandmen. Their merchants deal for the largest and 
 the most trifling article ; for the same man who will 
 sell you to the amount of flfty thousand dollars will 
 bring you a pot of sweetmeats which cost a couple of 
 ducatoons ; and there are no risks they will not run 
 for this darlmg treasure. A Chinese, if detected in 
 vending one pound of spices, is racked on the wheel ; 
 and yet there is scarce one of them who will not bring 
 them to one's chamber after a short acquaintance. 
 Great care, however, is to be used in purchasing 
 from them ; for they are in some instances employed 
 as spies upon the conduct of strangers by the Dutch 
 Company; and in others they will deceive you in 
 whatever they sell, if they find you are a green hand ; 
 so that it is necessary to have one's eye well about one 
 
»S8 MEMOIR OF 
 
 to deal with these people, the character of whom is to 
 me unfathomable. 
 
 " The Chinese are industrious to a very great de- 
 gree. They farm the customs and the fishery which 
 supplies the town. The former they make serve very 
 valuable purposes to them, as they can wink at such 
 things as will befriend their countrymen and are pro- 
 hibited ; and the latter, though apparently of no great 
 importance, is of very great consequence. 
 
 " Although there is the greatest abundance of fish 
 at this place of any I was ever at, yet not one is lost ; 
 for they are all brought to market alive, — which is 
 the only state the inhabitants buy them in ; and what 
 are not sold while alive are pickled and saved against 
 the rainy season, when fish of all kinds are very 
 scarce, and the dried are in very great request. 
 
 "As the Dutch are ever seeking to turn to their 
 own advantage the whims of every one who is under 
 their government, they have not omitted taking the 
 advantage of the Chinese in their mode of burials. 
 As every man wdio dies among the Chinese must have 
 a separate burial-place, and must have his ashes left 
 undisturbed, he has to pay well for it. Their burial- 
 places take up miles in extent. Some of the tombs are 
 very richly decorated, and must have been expensive. 
 Where a great man is buried, the ground is thrown up, 
 in the form of a small hillock, to the height of ten or 
 twelve feet; and at one side of it is the tombstone, 
 with a large flat piece of marble-work placed at the 
 entrance, below the stone which marks who lies with- 
 in. For these spots are exacted very large sums ; and, 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PEUKINS. 39 
 
 as the numbers dying from seventy thousand cannot 
 be inconsiderable, the income this produces is great. 
 
 " It is with the Chinese to raise the exchange of the 
 paper currency or lower it as they please ; they being 
 great money-holders, and the greatest speculators in 
 the place. The principal place of their abode is one 
 called the Chinese Camp, without the walls of the 
 city. The Chinese who are here pretty generally use 
 betel, and, without an exception, have always tea 
 ready made on a stand in their houses and shops. In 
 whichever you go, you have a cup of it presented to 
 you ; which was very seldom refused by me, and which 
 I found to be afterwards the general custom of the 
 place. 
 
 " The Chinese are very cleanly in their persons. 
 They bathe in the rivers often, and are, in a great 
 degree, nice in their dress, which is the best adapted 
 to the heat of the climate of any worn in this place. 
 The trading men, in general, are dressed in straw- 
 colored Persian. Their outer garment is a kind of 
 frock, which hangs loosely over the shoulders, and 
 extends as far down as the knees : it has buttons at 
 the neck, and loopholes, by which they can, and for 
 the most part do, fasten it. The sleeves are so loose 
 as to go twice round the arm, if forced to, and reach 
 down below the fingers' ends. I could not help — 
 after being a little acquainted w ith them — assigning 
 a bad motive for the construction of these sleeves. 
 Besides this, they have a pair of loose trousers made 
 of the same silk, which reach the ankles, and must 
 be very cool and agreeable. They wear the Chinese 
 
40 MEMOIR OF 
 
 shoe, which is chimsy and ill contrived. They are 
 made of black satin, or rather covered with that silk, 
 except when they are in mourning, when they wear 
 white shoes, as well as every thing else of that color, 
 — black being rather a rejoicing than a mourning 
 dress. They wear on the head a little kind of skull- 
 cap, about the bigness of a quart bowl, though not 
 one-third its depth. This they take off, in the same 
 manner as we do our hats, when they meet a person 
 to whom they pay their respects ; and they also give 
 the hand in the same manner as practised with us. 
 The Vearing the hair as they do is what gives the most 
 singular appearance. They shave the heads of their 
 children as soon as any hair is visible, leaving only a 
 round patch on a part of the back side of the head. 
 The hair growing on this spot they take every pains 
 in forwarding, and delight in having this favorite lock 
 as long as possible. They plait it ; and, when it is 
 not naturally long, they blend in with it a kind of 
 black silk, which resembles very much the hair, to 
 give it what nature has denied. This lock is left 
 hanging down the back, and, in some of them, reaches 
 near the ground. When they are occupied with any 
 thing wherein the hair interferes, it is wound round 
 the head, and the end tucked under the thicker part, 
 which keeps it from falling. They shave, for the 
 most part, every day ; and there is no part of the face, 
 nor indeed any part above the middle of the neck, 
 over which the razor is not passed. For the inside of 
 the nose and indented parts of the ears, they have a 
 narrow razor made for the purpose. The operation 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 41 
 
 of champooing I never saw performed ; though I am 
 informed it is practised here as at Canton. 
 
 " The junks which come from China to this place 
 always leave it by the 15 th of July, and arrive in Ja- 
 nuary. They are, to appearance, miserable things, and 
 must stand a poor chance in a typhoon, — which is a 
 heavy gale of wind, like the hurricanes in the West 
 Indies, though said to be more violent. More or less 
 of the junks are missing every year ; and there is no 
 doubt they are foundered in those heavy storms. 
 
 " The Chinese have a free trade to Batavia, where 
 they bring tea, china, japanned wares, nankins, silks, 
 &c., and take, in return, Spanish dollars and ducatoons, 
 though the former are preferred. Spices, birds'-nests, 
 pepper, tin, sugars, coffee, candy, beeswax, oil, hides, 
 burning-canes, ratans, sandal-wood, and, when there 
 is a probability of scarcity in China, rice, which will 
 always pay a good freight, are exported. 
 
 " There is an old law which forbids the Javans from 
 being made slaves ; but they are in service, more or 
 less of them, in almost every house. There are many 
 sepoys in the service of the company as soldiers. 
 They are stout, well-set men, in general about five feet 
 eight inches high, and well proportioned, and their 
 skins are almost as black as those of the inhabitants of 
 the coast of Guinea. Their hair is black, and tied be- 
 hind, though, in general, inclined to be curly. They 
 have a sharp eye and fierce countenances, and are said 
 to be fine soldiers. Their dress is a short, blue coat, 
 made of thin cloth, with red lappels, and a waistcoat 
 of the same, with a coarse shirt. Their breeches are 
 
 6 
 
42 MEMOIR OF 
 
 made tight, buttoned over the hips, and do not come 
 more than one-third the way down the thigh, to which 
 they set as close as the skin itself. They have a sort 
 of half-gaiter and shoes, and are more particularly 
 employed as marines on board the spice-ships." 
 
 He proceeded to Canton for a cargo of teas. While 
 he was there, a vessel arrived whose name has since 
 become one of historical interest, — the " Columbia ; " 
 the ship which, in her next voyage, under the com- 
 mand of Capt. Gray, crossed the bar of the Columbia 
 River, as it was always called afterwards, — the inci- 
 dent being referred to in recent negotiations of intense 
 interest, as the foundation of a territorial claim on the 
 part of the United States. Remaining several months 
 in China, and attending assiduously to the business of 
 the ship, he became well acquainted with the habits 
 of the Chinese, and collected a fund of information 
 concerning trade there in all its branches, and the 
 value of sea-otter skins and other furs from the north- 
 west coast of our continent, which formed the basis 
 of action for him afterwards in planning numerous 
 voyages and directing mercantile operations of great 
 importance between America, Asia, and Europe. He 
 was long remembered there too, particularly by one 
 occupying a subordinate position at the time, who 
 had observed him, though not known to him personal- 
 ly, and who afterwards became eminently distinguished 
 in the commerce of the East, — the well-known Hong 
 merchant, Houqua. Commercial relations of an inti- 
 mate character and entii*e confidence were afterwards 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 43 
 
 established between them, and existed for many years 
 with mutual advantaofe. 
 
 Returning homeward, he found that the period of 
 his absence had been eventful in changes that were to 
 have important influence in the political and commer- 
 cial world. They received news of the revolutionary 
 movements in France from a vessel which they spoke 
 in crossing the trade-winds. On arriving at Boston, 
 they found our government organized under the new 
 constitution of 1789 ; and though this led to heavy 
 duties, particularly on teas, it was giving confidence 
 and stability to trade. With the information which 
 he had brought home, he sent a brig — the " Hope," 
 Capt. Ingraham — to the north-west coast, with the 
 intention of terminating the voyage at Canton. The 
 most important result of this voyage appears to have 
 been the discovery of the northern portion of the 
 Marquesas Islands, as now laid down on the map of 
 the Pacific. Its main object was defeated by un- 
 toward circumstances. 
 
 He soon afterwards joined his friend Capt. Magee, 
 however, in building a ship, — the " Margaret," — of 
 which the captain went master for the north-west 
 coast, and, after an absence of two years and a half, 
 brought the voyage to a successful close. Capt. 
 Magee carried out the frame of a vessel, with three or 
 four carpenters, and set up the little craft of about 
 thirty tons under Capt. Swift, then the chief carpen- 
 ter ; and the schooner collected some twelve or fifteen 
 hundred sea-otters during the season, which added 
 much to the profit of the voyage, as the skins were 
 
44 MEMOIR OF 
 
 worth thirty or forty dollars when Capt. Magee reached 
 China. 
 
 In 1792, the insurrection began in St. Domingo, 
 where his brothers had continued their establishment, 
 doing a prosperous business up to that period. Mr. 
 James Perkins, the eldest brother, and his wife, were 
 in a perilous situation at the beginning of it, being in 
 the interior on a visit to a friend who had a plantation, 
 next to the one first destroyed, on the plains of the cape. 
 They made their escape, however, from the frightful 
 treatment which awaited all who lingered, and reached 
 the cape. But things grew worse. The place was 
 taken by the insurgents, and burned ; and the inhabi- 
 tants were obliged to get away in the best manner 
 they could. This, of course, broke up his brothers' 
 establishment. Their store was burned by the blacks, 
 with its contents, which were valuable. This, how- 
 ever, was not the worst ; as the planters were largely 
 in debt to the house, and their means of paying 
 destroyed. The brothers (James and Samuel G.) 
 returned to Boston, having lost most of their property, 
 to begin the world anew. He then formed a copart- 
 nership, under the firm of J. and T. H. Perkins, with 
 his brother James, which continued until the death 
 of the latter in 1822, though the name of the firm 
 was altered on the admission of their sons in 1819. 
 They used the information which had been acquired 
 at St. Domingo with advantage, by keeping two or 
 three vessels trading to the West Indies, and shipping 
 coffee and sugar to Europe. 
 
 But their most important business was the trade of 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 45 
 
 their ships on the north-west coast and in China. 
 They were concerned in numerous voyages in that 
 direction ; and eventually established a house at Can- 
 ton, under the firm of Perkins and Co., which became 
 one of great importance, and eminently successful. 
 
 In December, 1794, he took passage for Bourdeaux 
 in a ship belonging to his own house and that of 
 Messrs. S. Higginson and Co., in which firm his brother, 
 Mr. S. G. Perkins, had become a partner, with a cargo 
 of provisions ; the demand for them in the disturbed 
 state of French affkirs offering the prospect of a fair 
 result to such a voyage. But the depreciation of the 
 assignats, and other causes, threatening to defeat their 
 hopes, he found it best to continue abroad for some 
 time. 
 
 His voyage to France was long, with boisterous 
 weather, and some narrow escapes, as appears by the 
 following extracts from the journal which he kept 
 at the time : — 
 
 " Dec. 14, 1794. Sunday. — This day, at nine 
 o'clock, got under way in the ship ' Charlotte,' with 
 the wind at north-west, blowing a fresh breeze; and 
 at half-past ten o'clock passed the light-house, and 
 put the pilot (Knox) on shore : schooner ' Rambler ' 
 in company. 
 
 " 15th. — A delightful breeze still continues. 
 
 " 16th. — Still pleasant weather. Fell in with a 
 shoal of porpoises, and took a couple. Capt. Hill, 
 in the ' Rambler,' left us this day, — we being too dull 
 company for his fast-sailing schooner. 
 
46 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " 21st. — We did not omit on Saturday p.m., pre- 
 cisely at ten minutes before five, — which corresponds 
 with four o'clock in Boston, — to remember the 
 Saturday's club. 
 
 "25th. — A brisk north-west wind; the sea more 
 smooth since we took our leave of the Bank of New- 
 foundland. It is supposed that the fogs, so frequent 
 on and near this bank, are caused by the waters of 
 the Gulf Stream, driven as they are from the warm 
 climates of the West Indies to the cold generally 
 prevalent here, which condenses the vapor as it rises ; 
 just, it is said, ' as the vapor from a cup of tea is 
 hardly discernible in a warm room, but becomes visi- 
 ble in the cold air.' In observing the fog rise from 
 the water this morning, I found that it continually 
 issued directly to the leeward of the track of the 
 ship, — which seems to prove the justice of the re- 
 mark. The water is probably cooled on the surface 
 in coming thus far eastward and northward ; yet the 
 stirring up the column below exposes it to the cold 
 air. And, to follow the simile of the tea, we may 
 observe even when that is somewhat cooled, and no 
 evaporation appears, yet, if it be stirred with the 
 spoon, vapor rises on exposure to the cold air, from 
 which it had been defended by the surface. 
 
 "28th. — This day fortnight we parted from Boston, 
 and this day at noon complete half our distance from 
 the place of our departure to that of our destination. 
 This is not doing bad. 
 
 " 29th. — The number of rainbows we have seen 
 alinost daily since we have passed the Banks of New- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD TERKINS. 47 
 
 foundland is surprising. It is not uncommon to see 
 five or six in a day, the beauty of which surpasses 
 any thing I have ever before seen. 
 
 "31st. — The wind continues to the northward; and 
 yet the weather is as warm as it generally is in Boston 
 Bay in autumn. How kindly ordered is this by Him 
 who orders and governs all things I Were the ocean, 
 off soundings, as subject to snow and equal degrees of 
 cold as the land, it would be impossible for vessels to 
 cross it in the whiter months, on account of the ice 
 which would make upon them, and cause them to 
 founder inevitably. Besides this, the sailors, who are 
 without fire altogether, and who are in blowing weather 
 continually wet, would not be able to stand the decks, 
 and must leave them, to find security against the 
 cold. 
 
 " This is the last day in the year, — a melancholy 
 anniversary to my family. Our first-born child, Sally, 
 died Dec. 31. 
 
 " On the deck of this ship it is now too warm for 
 pleasure at mid-day; and we have the windows, or 
 rather sky-lights, — for the cabin windows have been 
 closed by the dead-lights ever since we sailed, — open 
 at this moment. 
 
 " Jan. 9th. — 'Tis rather mortifying, to one who 
 feels so anxious to get on shore as I do, to be rather 
 worse off in point of situation than we were a week 
 since; having lost as much in steering southward 
 as we gained in steering northward. 
 
 " The wind this morning blowing very fresh, and 
 a prospect of a heavy gale. 
 
48 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " 10th. — Cloudy and unpleasant, with rain. P.M. 
 — Blowing very heavy, and a large sea running. At 
 ten, A.M., the wind, after a rainy night, shifted to the 
 southward, and promised us a quick passage to our 
 port, which we are now panting after ; but, to our 
 inexpressible mortification, it came out again at south- 
 east, and continues to blow fresh. 
 
 "15 th. — Well may inconstancy be compared to 
 the winds. Our flattering prospects of a continuance 
 of a favorable wind vanished when we had scarcely 
 begun to enjoy it; and it has continued dii'ectly con- 
 trary through this twenty-four hours. 
 
 " 16th. — An obscure, rainy day, with a head wind, 
 blowing fresh. At meridian, tacked ship to the 
 northward. When one becomes a voluntary exile 
 from society, and takes leave of those on whose 
 smiles his happiness depends, he is very apt to ask 
 himself questions, which can be answered with very 
 little satisfaction, when it is too late. This is strik- 
 ingly my case ; and, were it not unmanly to repine, 
 I should feel quite a disposition to do so. 
 
 " 18th. — At eight this morning, hove the ship to, 
 to sound, but found no bottom. The occasion for 
 sounding was the number of land-birds about us. A 
 very beautiful crow was taken by the sailors ; and 
 many more were about the ship. 
 
 " 25th. Three o'clock, p.m. — Just as we were 
 about to heave the ship to, — the gale continuing to 
 increase, — a fleet of shi]3s were seen directly ahead. 
 Nineteen sail were counted ; and they extended their 
 line as if it were a large fleet. A heavy squall pass- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 49 
 
 ing us just before dark, the ship was kept away be- 
 fore the wind, to avoid falling in with any of these 
 ships. This we flattered ourselves we had succeeded 
 in, until about eight o'clock in the evening, when a 
 light was discovered, which appeared like the false 
 fire made use of by vessels of war for signals. We 
 wore ship immediately, and continued to see the fires 
 repeated for some time; till, to our great joy, they 
 subsided, and we thought ourselves in security. Anx- 
 ious, however, lest we should still run afoul of some 
 straggler of the fleet, I did not venture to bed till 
 twelve o'clock ; and my mind had hardly got quieted 
 enough to sleep, when a number of voices from 
 deck cried, ' She is close aboard of us ! ' and, from 
 all which could be heard below, the most fatal event 
 was to be expected. A signal was thrown out by a 
 lantern ; when the ship saw us, and kept away. Those 
 who saw her when nearest, suppose she was but a 
 few rods from us. The rigging was very plainly seen 
 even when I reached the deck ; which I did with the 
 utmost haste, and but few clothes on, as there seemed 
 every reason to expect the ship would run us down ; 
 and those who could escape by getting on board of 
 her would alone save themselves. 
 
 " It pleased Him ' who caters for the sparrow ' that 
 we should escape this sad alternative. I never re- 
 member to have passed such a night before, and hope 
 I never shall such another. 
 
 " The gale was very heavy, and the night dark as 
 possible. Had the ship not sho^vn her light, — which 
 she did eyery half-hour, — we should not have seen 
 
 V 
 
50 MEMOIR OF 
 
 her, and of course not shown a signal ; and the event 
 would no doubt have proved fatal to us. We were 
 lying to when we saw her. We were happy at the 
 return of morning, when there was no sail in sight. 
 The gale did not abate till about meridian. 
 
 "25th. Sunday. — 'Tis now six weeks since we 
 left Boston ; and we are doubtless supposed by our 
 friends to have arrived ere this. 
 
 "26th. — This day makes but seventeen days of 
 fair wind since we sailed ; and of course we have had 
 twenty-eight days' head wind. 
 
 " 28th. — A strong breeze, but fortunately the 
 right way. At four, p.m., the wind increased to such 
 a height as obliged us to heave to, although a fair 
 wind, — which is rather mortifying ; but the immense 
 sea which is running makes it necessary, the decks 
 being continually loaded with water. 
 
 " At about eleven o'clock at night, it blew as heavy 
 a gale as we have had since we have been out, and 
 after that time began to moderate. 
 
 " At six o'clock, sounded, and got bottom in about 
 eighty fathoms, — white and brown coral, shells, and 
 small stones. The captain's reckoning hindered him 
 from running the latter part of the night, as he did 
 not like to be too near shore, should it continue to 
 blow. Sounded at eight o'clock : eighty fathoms. 
 Small, gray sand, with small pieces of dark-colored 
 shells. Kept on our course. 
 
 " 29th. — I passed a very anxious night ; and sleep 
 was a stranger to my eyes but for a short time. 
 
 " At daylight, saw the land, and considered our- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 51 
 
 selves about ten miles distant. At about eight 
 o'clock, it began to snow and blow ; the ship con- 
 tinuing south-east, and we under as much sail as the 
 ship will bear, running off shore. 
 
 " ' How happy a sailor's life passes ! ' says the song ; 
 but, if this is happiness, let me seek mine in another 
 way. 
 
 " 30th. — Hove to in a gale. 
 
 "Feb. 1st. Sunday. — At eight o'clock, stood in 
 for the land, with a good breeze after midnight, in 
 company with a Dutchman, whom we spoke, and who 
 told us he had been five weeks in the bay. This 
 served to reconcile us to the passage we have had, 
 tedious as it has now become. At noon, saw a 
 quantity of staves, the quarter-deck of a vessel, and 
 other timber, floating on the water. Very anxious, 
 for fear we should not get in with the land in time to 
 get a pilot. 
 
 " Monday morning, Feb. 2, 1794. — At one o'clock 
 yesterday afternoon, losing all hopes of getting in 
 before night, all the vessels in company stood upon a 
 wind to the northward. I little expected what were 
 the dangers to which I was to be exposed this night ; 
 which I am certain was the most perilous I ever 
 passed, or perhaps ever shall. The distance we were 
 from the shore, when we hove about, could not be 
 more than five or six miles at the extent. The wind 
 continued to blow from four o'clock, and, from a 
 fresh breeze, came to a most violent gale. The sea 
 ran so high that we expected every moment to have 
 the decks swept ; and the ocean appeared like one 
 
52 MEMOIR OF 
 
 continued wave breaking over rocks. All probability 
 of our saving ourselves now depended upon carrying 
 sail upon the ship ; which we did so as to bury her in 
 the waves. Our greatest apprehension was, lest we 
 should have some of our sail blown away ; in which 
 case, inevitable destruction must have been our lot. 
 The number of vessels in company, too, was another 
 cause of uneasiness. We saw only one in the hardest 
 part of the gale. After nine o'clock, presuming, from 
 the course we had been obliged to run, that we must 
 soon be on shore on that tack, we wore ship, and 
 stood on the other tack; the wind blowing still 
 directly on shore. After midnight, the wind abated, 
 to our great joy. We were all truly sensible of the 
 danger to which we had been exposed ; and every one 
 declared he had never seen such a night before. A 
 lee shore within a few miles, and a heavy gale blow- 
 ing directly on, to one who has so many blessings to 
 live for, and who is so well satisfied with his lot in 
 life, was to me distressing. For several hours I was 
 in this awful state of suspense ; and my reflections 
 were not the most agreeable. Had necessity urged 
 me from home, it would have been different. I should 
 have been satisfied with having been in the line of 
 my duty, and should have put a better face on it than 
 I was now able to do. 
 
 " Tuesday morning. — We stood in shore, anxious 
 lest we should again be too late. At ten o'clock, we 
 saw many vessels standing in ; and, at eleven, made the 
 light, but saw no pilots come off*. Finding ourselves 
 in shore, and the wind blowing directly on, our only 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 53 
 
 alternative was to go in at all events. Accordingly, 
 we put our confidence in a chart, and were so for- 
 tunate as to get up the river past the light-house ; 
 when, doubling the point, a pilot came oiF to us when 
 all danger was past. In this we are fortunate to a 
 degree beyond our expectations. We were visited by 
 a vessel stationed a few leagues up the river ; and the 
 officer took a note of our cargo, and left us. The 
 pilot tells us there is an American brig lost on the 
 rocks in the mouth of the river ; and we are anxious 
 for our friend Gray. He says we are very fortunate 
 not to have been in sooner, as those vessels which 
 arrived ten days since have been in imminent danger 
 of being driven on shore by the ice, and have been 
 obliged to cut their cables and run on shore to save 
 themselves ; so that we know not when we go too fast 
 or too slow." 
 
 His observations while he remained in France, and 
 the occurrences in which he became concerned, were 
 of an interesting character. He made full notes at 
 the time ; but the followino^ account is taken from 
 the memoranda already referred to,^in a week of 
 leisure long afterwards, and commencing thus: — 
 
 " TO MY CHILDREN. 
 
 " Saratoga Springs, July 18, 1846. 
 
 " It has often occurred to me, that it would have 
 given me infinite pleasure to have known more than 
 has come to my knowledge of the early life of my 
 father. He died when I was about six years of age ; 
 
54 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and all I know of him is from report. My recollec- 
 tions of him are very faint ; though I have an impres- 
 sion that I remember him in an emaciated state 
 shortly before his death." 
 
 After narrating, for the information of his family, 
 some incidents of his early life, — part of which have 
 been already mentioned, — he proceeds to relate the 
 occurrences that followed this voyage to France, as 
 follows : — 
 
 " I remained in Europe from December, 1794, to 
 October, 1795, — a very interesting period of the 
 French Revolution. What was called ' The Moun- 
 tain ' in the convention, had been prostrated in some 
 degree by the fall of Robespierre, the principal mover 
 in the most bloody scenes of the revolution. He en- 
 deavored to destroy himself; but failed, and left the 
 final act to the guillotine. This instrument had done 
 execution on thousands through his influence; and 
 retributive justice was satisfied in the fate which ex- 
 piated his crimes. 
 
 " France was by no means in a quiet, state when 
 I reached Bourdeaux; and, in travelling with the 
 courier day and night, we passed so near the theatre 
 of war in La Vendee as to hear the reports of the 
 cannon of the belligerent parties. If we had been 
 fallen in with by the Vendeens, we should doubtless 
 have had our throats cut, as public agents and bearers 
 of despatches from one province to another. We 
 espaped, however, unharmed; though the fate we 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 55 
 
 feared befell the courier a few nights after we passed. 
 During my stay in Europe, my time was passed princi- 
 pally in Paris, where I had rooms in the same hotel 
 with my friend Mr. Joseph Russell. We kept a car- 
 riage between us, — always visiting or travelling to- 
 gether. It was a new English chariot, which had 
 been left behind by some traveller on the breaking 
 out of the war, and was in perfect order. We found 
 it of great convenience while in the city ; as public 
 carriages were not easily had, and no private ones 
 were kept by any Frenchmen. Indeed, they were 
 kept by very few except by foreign ambassadors. 
 
 " There were in Paris several Americans of my 
 acquaintance besides Mr. Russell. We used to dine 
 at a restorateur, and breakfast at home ; the wife of 
 the porter of the hotel furnishing our coffee. There 
 was a great scarcity of breadstuffs during the winter 
 and spring. It was produced partly by the farmers 
 having their ploughshares turned into swords, partly 
 by the waste attendant on war, and in part by an 
 unwillingness to sell for assignats, which were con- 
 stantly declining in value. The whole population of 
 Paris was placed under restriction ; and each family 
 received a certain quantity per day from the public 
 bakers at a fixed price. The hotels gave in their 
 number of guests, for whom they drew the stipulated 
 quantity; and those who dined out had their bread 
 carried to the place where they dined. I dined almost 
 every Saturday with the minister of the United States, 
 where I was in the habit of meeting distinguished 
 men. 
 
56 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " I had little business to do in Paris ; and leisure, 
 therefore, to observe what was passing. Having sold 
 the cargo, or the principal part of it, to government, 
 I had little else to do for months than to dance at- 
 tendance upon the bureau which had the adjustment 
 of the account ; and was finally obliged to leave the 
 matter to the care of a friend. 
 
 " After the fall of Robespierre, the revolutionary 
 tribunal, of which Fouquier Tinville was the accu- 
 sateur-public, — like our attorney-general, — being 
 abolished, he, with five judges and ten jurymen, in all 
 sixteen, were executed in the Place de Greve by that 
 operation which they had infiicted on men, women, 
 and even children, for pretended crimes. I went with 
 Mr. E-ussell, Mr. Higginson, and several others, and 
 secured a room, the nearest we could get to the place 
 of execution, that we might witness it closely. The 
 prisoners arrived in two carts ; from which they were 
 taken out, and placed in the room directly under 
 the scaffold. From there they were taken, one 
 by one, and, by a ladder of eight or ten feet, 
 were brought to the instrument, and decapitated. 
 The attorney-general was the last to sufier, and must 
 have felt at the fall of the axe in every execution as 
 much as he felt when his turn came. They all met 
 their fate without a struggle, except a man — one 
 of the judges — who had been of the noblesse of 
 the country, and whose name was Le Roi, which he 
 had, by decree of the convention, changed to Dix Aout, 
 or Tenth of August, after the assault upon the Tui- 
 leries on that memorable day, when the Swiss and the 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 57 
 
 king's immediate attendants were so shamefully mur- 
 dered by the populace of Paris. This man died 
 game, but kept vociferating his execrations upon his 
 executioner until he was sHenced by the fall of the 
 axe. 
 
 " This mode of execution is certainly merciful, in- 
 asmuch as its work is soon done. From the time the 
 prisoners descended from the carts, until their heads 
 were all in long baskets, placed in the same carts 
 with the lifeless trunks, was fourteen minutes. Two 
 minutes were lost by changing the carts ; so that, if all 
 the remains could have been placed in one basket, 
 but twelve minutes would have been required for be- 
 heading the sixteen persons ! The square was filled 
 with people. Great numbers of the lowest classes — 
 and the low class of women were the most vociferous 
 — were there, clapping and huzzaing with every head 
 that fell. These were the same people who sang 
 hallelujahs on the deaths of those who had been con- 
 demned to the guillotine by the very tribunal who had 
 now paid the debt they owed to the city; for their 
 convictions were principally of the city. Other 
 wretches of the same stamp were acting their in- 
 fernal parts in dijfferent departments of France. 
 Notwithstanding the deserts of this most execrable 
 court, the exhibition was horrid to my feelings, how- 
 ever deserved the fate of the culprits. 
 
 "Mr. Monroe, the minister of the United States, 
 told me that he wished a service to be rendered by 
 some one, and felt great interest that I should give 
 my aid to it. The object was, that I should aid in 
 
58 MEMOIR OF 
 
 sending Mr. George Washington La Fayette to the 
 United States. His mother, the Marchioness La 
 Fayette, was then in Paris with her daughters, and 
 Mr. Frestal, their tutor. Mr. Monroe gave me a 
 letter to her; and I found her lodged in the third 
 story, in the Rue de I'Arbre Sec. She explained her 
 object to me ; which was, to get her son sent to the 
 United States, to prevent him from being drawn by 
 the conscription into the army. He was then four- 
 teen years of age. The proposal she made to me 
 was, that I should apply to the Convention for per- 
 mission to procure a passport for her son to go to 
 America, for the purpose of his being educated in a 
 counting-house. As the marquis was in bad odor in 
 France, it was deemed necessary to sink the real 
 name of the party, and to apply to the Committee of 
 Safety for a passport for G. W. Motier, this being a 
 name of his family which he had a right to assume. 
 Madame La Fayette was intimately acquainted with 
 Boissy d'Anglas,the president of the committee, and one 
 of the old aristocracy of France ; and from him she 
 had assurance, that, if the application were made by an 
 American, it would be favorably received. The mar- 
 quis was at the time prisoner in the Castle of Olmutz, 
 in Austria ; and the object of madame was to go to 
 him with her daughters, and solace him in his deplo- 
 rable confinement, where his health was suiFering. 
 
 " The application to the committee was complied 
 with ; and my friend Mr. Russell, who took an active 
 part in aiding in the plan, accompanied George La 
 Fayette to Havre, where was an American ship in 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 59 
 
 which I had an interest, commanded by Capt. Thomas 
 Sturgis, brother to Mr. R. Sturgis, who married my 
 eldest sister. To him I gave letters, requesting that 
 Mr. La Fayette might have a passage in the ship, 
 which was freely accorded. Mr. Russell and myself 
 paid the expense of the journey and the passage ; and 
 Mr. La Fayette arrived in Boston, where he was cor- 
 dially received by my family, and passed some time 
 there. He afterwards went to Mount Vernon, and 
 lived in the family of General Washington, until, in 
 the following year, he returned to Europe, when he 
 entered the revolutionary army. 
 
 " He served with reputation ; but, as the name was 
 not a favorite one with the existing leaders, he was 
 kept in the background by the influence of General 
 Bonaparte ; and retired, after a year or two of service, 
 to private life. He is yet living (1846), and has been 
 a member of the House of Deputies since the fall of 
 Bonaparte. 
 
 "Madame La Fayette went to Austria, and re- 
 mained with her husband up to the time of his libera- 
 tion. Immediately after his being set at liberty, he 
 wrote me a letter, dated at Olmutz, thanking me for 
 the share I had taken in enabling his wife to visit 
 him in his distress, and declaring that I had been the 
 means of saving his life by the means used in restor- 
 ing his family to him. This letter is now in the pos- 
 session of Mrs. Bates, of London, to whom I gave it 
 as an interesting article for her portfolio." 
 
 The following passages from the diary which he 
 
60 MEMOIU OF 
 
 kept in Paris at this time have considerable interest 
 when taken in connection with what it appears 
 was then done to promote the wishes of Madame de 
 La Fayette. It will be observed, that there is no 
 reference in this journal — written as it was with the 
 hazard of its falling by treachery into the hands of 
 some spy — to the subject which so deeply concerned 
 that unfortunate lady. When he calls on her, when 
 she breakfasts with him, or he goes with Mr. Russell 
 to see him off for Havre, there is no allusion to the 
 youth who accompanied the latter, and on whose escape 
 her happiness and the welfare of the marquis so far 
 depended. 
 
 "Old style. Paris, March 12, 1795. 22d Ven- 
 tose. — I left Bourdeaux with the courier, and in six 
 days and a half arrived at this seat of luxury and dis- 
 sipation, where every thing is on a large scale, and 
 the scenes of business and amusement are so nume- 
 rous that it is apt to bewilder the head of a young 
 traveller. 
 
 " My business has so much taken up my time since 
 I arrived in Paris, that I have neglected to keep a 
 note of the time as it passed, that at a future day 
 I may have it in my power to recall to my memory 
 some things which would escape it were this mode 
 neglected. 
 
 " I am not a great lover of bustle and the amuse- 
 ments of the city, but rather admire the country round 
 it, which is always cultivated and embellished in pro- 
 portion to the magnificence of the city in the vicinity 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 61 
 
 of which it is situated. The thousand ideas that have 
 revolved in my mind within a few years, respecting 
 this great theatre of the revolution, are all ushered 
 into my thoughts together, upon coming into the part 
 of the city which shows the places where the great 
 scenes have been acted; such as the Palace of the 
 Tuileries, the Elysian Fields, &c. The bridges in 
 front of the palace are beautiful, and add much to the 
 beauty of the prospect from the neighboring houses. 
 The first time I walked over the Pont Neuf, I felt the 
 force of Sterne's story of the notary, who, clapping 
 his cane to his head, tipped the sentinel's hat into the 
 river. My hand went instinctively to my head, and 
 my hat had nigh gone after the sentinel's. There 
 seems to be always a current of wind there; and every 
 one takes the precaution the notary did in walking 
 over it. 
 
 " 24th. — The day pleasant. This day I dined with 
 the American minister, whom I find to be a very gen- 
 tleman-like, and, to appearance, worthy man. The 
 celebrated Van Staphorst, who was exiled for his 
 republicanism from Amsterdam, was there, and seve- 
 ral other gentlemen of distinction. Mrs. Monroe is 
 one of the finest women I ever knew ; and she is 
 said to combine the greatest worth with her personal 
 accomplishments and beauty. 
 
 " 25 th. — The morning is again clear, for a wonder, 
 and promises well for a pleasant day. Yesterday gave 
 me news of the " Betsy's " arrival at Bourdeaux ; and 
 the same post informed me that the brig " Delight " 
 was taken and carried to England. 'Tis well not to 
 have extremes of good and ill fortune. 
 
62 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " I went yesterday through the Palace of the Tuile- 
 ries, which was the one occupied by the royal family 
 when at Paris, which I am told was but seldom, as their 
 time was chiefly spent at Versailles. The apartment 
 of the ci-devant queen was pointed out to me : it wears 
 the marks of the violence of the tenth of August. 
 The appearance of the palace is very majestic, and, 
 when kept in good order, must have been superior to 
 any other in Europe. The gardens in the rear, and 
 the Champs Elysees, make one think one's self on 
 enchanted ground. All the rooms in the palace are 
 taken up with committees and the assembly-house. 
 I had formed an idea of the room in which the Con- 
 vention sit as immensely large ; and indeed it must be 
 large to contain seven hundred members on the lower 
 floor ; but the galleries and the tribunes are small in 
 proportion to what one would suppose from the great 
 noise they have made, and the terror they have created. 
 The part called the Mountain does not appear to me 
 to be capable of holding above four or five hundred 
 persons. A large majority of the people in the gal- 
 leries at the Convention are women, of all ages and 
 conditions ; most of whom are said to be hired to go 
 there to approve or disapprove certain measures, as 
 they may be for or against the party by which they 
 are sent. It is certainly a very unfair influence ; and 
 I wonder at its being countenanced by the Conven- 
 tion. 
 
 " The members of the Convention wear their hats, 
 and stroll about as their whims may call them. They 
 begin business at about one o'clock, and finish at four 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 63 
 
 o'clock, unless something of importance prevents them 
 from adjourning. In the time of Robespierre, the ma- 
 jority of the people in the galleries were, as at present, 
 women ; but I am told they were very ill-dressed, and 
 their vociferations at times were such as to prevent busi- 
 ness. The leaders in the galleries at this time are the 
 Jeunes Gens, who talk loud, and approve or disapprove 
 with great warmth. The American and French colors 
 are suspended over the chair of the president. I had 
 an idea that every member who spoke was obliged to 
 go into the tribune, — which is an elevation in front 
 of the seats of the members ; but I find that this 
 is optional. Any one who intends to speak long, or 
 wishes to make himself well heard, mounts the tri- 
 bune ; but they speak also from their seats. 
 
 " Barrere, CoUot d'Herbois, Vadier and his col- 
 league, have not yet had their trials. Their fate is 
 pronounced, by every one I have conversed with, 
 inevitable. That Collot d'Herbois merits it, no one 
 will doubt who hears the facts related respecting his 
 conduct at Lyons. 
 
 " Louis were two hundred and four livres two days 
 since : they are to-day one hundred and fifty. 
 
 " 26th. — The morning charmingly pleasant. A 
 decree was this day issued to serve the inhabitants of 
 the city with but one pound of bread for each indi- 
 vidual in a family. This, to a Frenchman, is starva- 
 tion; although children are entitled to the same as 
 a grown person, and of course, in a large family 
 where there are children, the quantity will be greater 
 to adults than a pound per day, — which, to an 
 
64 MEMOIR OF 
 
 American, would be more than he wanted. Bread 
 is given out at Paris for three sous per pound; 
 whereas in all the other departments they are pay- 
 ing ten times that sum. This, however, has always 
 been the case in this metropolis, where the poor 
 govern, or where they would govern, and with a rod 
 of iron, were they in want of the staff of life. This 
 was done under the old government, when it was sup- 
 posed that the will of the government could not be 
 overawed by the people ; and therefore it is not sur- 
 prising that the Convention is obliged to do the same 
 under the dominion of Liberty and Equality. This 
 fact is not pleasing to the other great cities of the 
 republic, which are obliged to pay twenty shillmgs 
 per pound for the same article, and by the same 
 government ; but Paris, it seems, must be indulged in 
 those things. The plenty in the markets in the city, 
 of meats generally, and particularly of poultry of the 
 best kind I ever saw, is surprising ; and, in the public 
 houses, every thing which speaks plenty is displayed 
 in profusion. 
 
 " 27th. — The morning fair ; but the day, after nine 
 o'clock, rainy and unpleasant. There are eighteen 
 theatres open every night in this great, this immense 
 city ; and what is still more astonishing is, that they 
 are all crowded ; and, when a favorite piece is to be 
 given, it is necessary to apply for tickets early in the 
 day. The Opera House is the most beautiful I have 
 yet seen; and the dancing is so far beyond what I 
 had before seen, that it appeared to me like magic. 
 The opera of ' Telemachus ' was performed a few even- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 65 
 
 ings since, to the delight of every one. The charac- 
 ter of Calypso was supported by a woman of an 
 elegant appearance and fine action, and whose tout 
 ensemble is thought better than that of any other per- 
 son who appears on the stage. I am told she was 
 carried through the streets, in the reign of the tyrant 
 Robespierre, in the character and as the representa- 
 tion of the Almighty. Telemachus was supported by 
 the famous dancer Vestris. The nymphs, upwards of 
 forty in number, were dressed with all the wanton- 
 ness imaginable: their dancing, too, is, to us Ameri- 
 cans, indecent in the extreme. 
 
 " There appears to be no want of persons to fill up 
 the play, and to give it all its effect. For instance, 
 the other evening, in some piece which was given, 
 there was a well-disciplined company of forty-eight, 
 rank and file, accompanied by another company of 
 archers introduced on the stage, who went through a 
 number of evolutions to a charm. Upwards of one 
 hundred persons were on the stage at one time. 
 
 " Every piece is replete with patriotic sentiments ; 
 and since the fall of the Jacobins, who are styled the 
 drinkers of blood, scarcely a piece appears which 
 does not contain some severity against them. The 
 bonnet rouge, which was once so much in fashion in 
 France, is no longer worn : indeed, it would be dan- 
 gerous for a man to be seen with one in the streets. 
 The revolution which has taken place in respect to 
 the Jacobins is astonishing. They who ruled France, 
 and with a rod of ii-on, are now afraid to appear in 
 the streets; for they are scouted wherever they are 
 
 9 
 
66 MEMOIR OF 
 
 met, and it is as much as their lives are worth to be 
 seen abroad. Whenever one has been found in the 
 play-house, he has been made to run the gantlet, and 
 was glad to get off so. 
 
 " 28th Ventose. — The weather more unpleasant 
 than yesterday ; and, this morning, snow and rain fell 
 in a small quantity. It is said that the Committee 
 of Saluf Public is occupied with some negotiations of 
 peace with the kings of Prussia and Spain ; and it 
 seems to be the general opinion, that the ' conceited 
 John Bull' (as the Parisians say) and the emperor 
 will be obliged to hold the field, or rather to fly it 
 alone. We are told here that the ' infatuated Pitt ' is 
 making great exertions to carry on the ensuing cam- 
 paign with vigor. ' Madness cannot be greater than 
 this,' say the Parisians. 
 
 " About eight hundred persons went yesterday to 
 the Convention to complain of their allowance of 
 bread, and used some expressions which three months 
 since would have sent them all to the guillotine. The 
 speaker for the multitude said, among other things, 
 that they almost repented their exertions to effect the 
 revolution, which was attended with so many evils. 
 The reply of the president was spirited, and the Con- 
 vention showed a great degree of indignation on the 
 occasion. In lieu of having the honors of a sitting, 
 as has been usual, they were advised to retire to their 
 labors peacefully. The patrols have been increased 
 since the deficiency of bread, and also the guards of 
 the city. 
 
 " 29th. ^— This morning it rained for an hour, and 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 67 
 
 the weather through the day has been very unplea- 
 sant. This day confirmed my opinion of the perfidy 
 of some of the agents of the government. Although 
 the contract I made with them was signed, they now 
 make difficulties, and wish to alter the tenor of the 
 agreement. 
 
 " I was this morning at the Convention, and was 
 astonished at the intemperance which discovered itself 
 in a debate which took place there. I was in the up- 
 permost tribune, and could hear very little that was 
 said, so distinctly as to understand the subject of de- 
 bate. Lecointre, who was in the tribune, and had 
 the ' parole,' was interrupted every moment. The two 
 parties showed themselves pro and con.; and their 
 gestures and tones would have led one to suppose 
 that they would be at fisticuffs every moment. The 
 president rang his bell for a minute at a time, but all 
 to no effect ; and I expected to see his hat go on every 
 minute. Order was at length restored, and the orator 
 proceeded. This, I am told, happens every day ; but 
 I doubt if it does to such a degree. Every member 
 was up and speaking at the same time, in a tone of 
 thunder ; and the threats which their motions led me 
 to believe they made use of would with us not have 
 ended there. This kind of management in a legisla- 
 tive assembly is most certainly wrong and disgraceful ; 
 at least, it appears so to an American spectator. 
 
 " I am told most of the business of the Republic is 
 executed by the Committee of Public Safety, which 
 consists of but twelve persons. This committee paay 
 be called the Executive of the Government. It is 
 
68 MEMOIR or 
 
 appointed by the Convention, and is removable at the 
 pleasure of that body ; while its proceedings must be 
 approved by the representatives of the people. 
 
 " Other committees are appointed for finance, com- 
 merce, war, &c., by the head committee of Salut 
 Public, one of the members of which is president 
 of the principal committee ; so that all the doings of 
 the several distinct departments eventually concentrate 
 in the Committee of Salut Public, where they are ma- 
 tured and carried into effect when approved. I am 
 told that the Executive Committee is the most inde- 
 fatigable of any in the world ; and that they sit at 
 business until four and five o'clock in the morning, 
 and are at it again at ten or eleven. In this way a 
 great deal of business must be accomplished; and it is 
 certain that they have effected wonders. 
 
 " Peace is still talked of with Spain and Prussia ; 
 and it is said that there is an emissary now in Paris, 
 who comes to know if a commissioner would be re- 
 ceived. 
 
 " My landlady tells me that I must go to the sec- 
 tion to-day, and get a pound of bread, or I shall not 
 be able to get any in the house. As bread is not the 
 staff of life with me, I think I shall dispense with the 
 bread, rather than be plagued with getting a card to 
 entitle me to it. 
 
 " I am told that the daily guard, which mounts in 
 this city, is at least twenty thousand in number. 
 This is astonishing ; and, at the time of the arrest of 
 Robespierre, it is said to have been doubled. It con- 
 sists principally of the citizens, who arc all obliged to 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS, 69 
 
 serve in turn ; and no one is excused, or can find a 
 person to serve in his stead, unless for very good and 
 cogent reasons. They are generally armed with 
 spears, fixed in the end of long poles. 
 
 "I see with great pleasure the national troops, 
 which are sometimes paraded in the place before the 
 Palace of the Tuileries. They are fine-looking fel- 
 lows; and a band of music generally accompanies 
 them on parade. The cannoneers all appear to be very 
 young men, some of them not more than fifteen or 
 sixteen years of age ; and I am told that to them the 
 Republic is indebted for some of the best victories 
 she has to boast. May every man be a cannoneer 
 when opposed to tyrants, and every cannoneer an 
 army in himself ! 
 
 " Exchange in silver seven hundred for one hun- 
 dred. 
 
 " 30th Ventose or Decadi. March 20th. — The 
 morning more pleasant than for some days past. The 
 churches may now be opened freely ; and every one 
 has the privilege of worshipping God as he may see 
 fit. The suspension of this right has been one of the 
 most unfortunate measures ever taken, for it is sup- 
 posed to have been the cause in La Vendee of the 
 loss to the Republic of three hundred thousand lives ; 
 and, what is even worse than that, it produced an ani- 
 mosity between those who ought to think and act like 
 brothers and friends, which it will be very difl[icult to 
 eradicate. An eventual peace is at last established in 
 that quarter, which for two years past has been a 
 scene of blood and carnage. Freedom of thinking is 
 
70 MEMOIR OF 
 
 a privilege which, when once enjoyed, will not be 
 tamely given up, particularly in matters of religion ; 
 and it is, in my opinion, wise and prudent in the 
 Convention to take oiF the shackles which fettered 
 this darling right. 
 
 " As I was taking my usual walk in the morning, I 
 was induced, by the sound of music, to enter a build- 
 ing which was once used as a church, but which had 
 been shut up by Robespierre for upwards of ten 
 months. My friend Sabonadaire was there, with 
 whom I took a seat. 
 
 " This discourse was the first one delivered since 
 the opening; and the subject was principally the 
 sacred liberty of religious opinion. The society was 
 Presbyterian. The women seemed particularly af- 
 fected by the discourse, which was very pathetic. 
 Mr. Sabonadaire pointed out to me Miss Helen 
 Maria "Williams ; and, as I had an inclination to be 
 acquainted with her, he introduced me to her after 
 church. She seemed to be a sensible, sprightly wo- 
 man, but too much of a politician. 
 
 " 1st Germinal. 22d March. — The weather ap- 
 pears to change with the introduction of the month, 
 and speaks the approach of spring and its attendant 
 beauties. 
 
 " There is a general agitation in Paris this day. 
 Large assemblies of persons were seen in the streets ; 
 and the cause of this is supposed to be the approach- 
 ing trial of the four members of the Convention, — 
 Barrere, &c. It is said that the Jacobins wish to 
 raise a party to rescue them ; and the fear of seeing 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 71 
 
 them again in power sets every one alive and on the 
 watch. In the evening there were blows given in the 
 Palais d'Egalite ; and I am assured that several hun- 
 dred Jacobins appeared there, and put the Jeunesse 
 de Paris to flight. They returned to the charge with 
 increased numbers, and beat their opponents off the 
 ground. Large numbers of the young men paraded 
 the streets in the evening, chanting the new, patriotic, 
 anti-Jacobin song of ' Reveil du Peuple.' The guards 
 in Paris, who I am told amount every day to twenty 
 thousand men, are double that number to-day. 
 
 " The trial commences to-morrow. 
 
 " 2d. — Cloudy and unpleasant. This day will be 
 an interesting one, and will show whether Jacobinism 
 dare raise its hideous head. 
 
 " Midnight. — The commotions of the last evening, 
 and the fear of seeing Jacobinism once more trium- 
 phant, brought out every man this day. The number 
 of patrols that paraded the streets and the gardens 
 of the Tuileries was astonishing. The guard of the 
 day was forty thousand ; besides which, the reserve 
 guard, which may be called in half an hour, numbers 
 sixty thousand. In addition to this, almost every 
 man has girded on his sabre to-day, and paraded the 
 gardens and palaces. The number of people in the 
 Tuileries was very great; and every one was armed, 
 and showed a spirit of determination to overthrow 
 any thing Jacobinical that might show itself 
 
 "Barrere,Collot d'Herbois, and Billaud de Varennes, 
 were this day brought to the bar of the Convention. 
 The crowd was so great that there was no getting in. 
 
72 MEMOIR OF 
 
 They are to make their defence to-morrow, or rather 
 they will begin them ; for it is supposed that they will 
 procrastinate as much as possible, in order to give 
 their party time to show itself But it is too late : the 
 general opinion dooms them to death; and there is but 
 little doubt of their meeting it. If the condemna- 
 tions finish with those now at the bar, the public will 
 be very much disappointed. Incendiary pieces are 
 stuck up, setting forth the necessity of taking off 
 forty or fifty of the Convention, ere peace and secu- 
 rity can be restored. 
 
 " 3d. — This day has been more tranquil than was 
 generally expected. Nothing shows itself which is 
 opposed to the fate of those at the bar. In passing 
 through the court of the Palace of the Tuileries this 
 morning at ten o'clock, I saw the attention of the crowd 
 attracted to a coach which entered ; and, as it passed 
 me, I perceived that one of the prisoners was in it, 
 guarded by three gens d'armes, who rode in the coach 
 with him. It was Billaud de Varennes. He jumped 
 from the carriage as soon as the door was opened, 
 and from where it stood to the door of the Conven- 
 tion, with great agility, as if not to be seen by the 
 people, who were gathering in crowds round the car- 
 riage. Perhaps fear induced him to wish not to be 
 seen by the public ; and, had it been Collot d'Herbois, 
 I should not have been surprised at his fear of assas- 
 sination, if a thousandth part of the barbarities at- 
 tributed to him are true. He (Collot) was the deputy 
 at Lyons, where every kind of enormity which shocks 
 humanity was committed. All ages, sexes, and con- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PEKKINS. 73 
 
 ditions fell victims to his savage disposition, and 
 without an opportunity to defend themselves. One 
 instance of his unheard-of cruelty was printed in our 
 American papers ; but it was supposed to be a fable 
 of the aristocracy, and had not the public faith. 
 This was his ordering the military to fire on the 
 populace, whom he had summoned into a square ; 
 and all sexes and conditions were inhumanly slaugh- 
 tered. The charges against him are many and great ; 
 his chance but small of saving himself 
 
 " This evening, Mr. Monroe, the American minister, 
 invited half a dozen of us to attend the Convention 
 with him to-morrow ; which it is supposed will be an 
 interesting day. 
 
 " 4th. — Breakfasted with Mr. Monroe, and was in- 
 troduced, with him and several other Americans, by 
 Mr. Rosse, — one of the masters at arms, — ' to one of 
 the tribunes, which are on the floor of the Conven- 
 tion. The members were very generally there; and 
 the galleries and tribunes were very much crowded. 
 The prisoners were seated behind the president. Their 
 countenances all bespoke the anxiety which must hang 
 on their hearts. Collot spoke first, and Barrere fol- 
 lowed, in vindication of their conduct ; and they con- 
 cluded by demanding of the Convention, that the 
 articles of their impeachment, by the Committee of 
 Twenty-one, should be discussed before the Conven- 
 tion, article by article. This introduced very warm 
 debate and most outrageous passion, mixed with per- 
 sonal scurrility. The members who remained of the 
 old Committee of Saint Public — to which the four 
 
 10 
 
74 MEMOm OF 
 
 who are now under trial belonged — are very unplea- 
 santly situated, and will make all endeavors to save 
 them, in order that their own conduct may not be in- 
 vestigated ; which it is supposed will ensue, if Barrere 
 &c. are condemned. Four of this same committee 
 fell with Robespierre ; and, besides those under trial, 
 there are but four remaining. The business of dis- 
 cussion by article was not determined when the Con- 
 vention adjourned. The bell was rung often, but 
 with little eiFect ; for its sound was drowned by the 
 hundred voices which were raised at the same time. 
 Legendre was one of the principal speakers ; and he, 
 with Cambon, and a few others, were alternately in 
 the tribune. Sullidan was one of the Committee of 
 Twenty-one, and had much to say in vindication 
 of that committee, and the principles which guided 
 their inquiries in the business committed to their care. 
 " Although a decree was passed that no mark of 
 approbation or the reverse should be shown by the 
 Convention, and though it was a decree nem. con., yet 
 there was as much of the one and the other as before, 
 both by the members of the Convention and the au- 
 dience. The women in the tribunes have been, in 
 general, so unruly, that they were prohibited for a 
 day or two from entering. I see, however, that they 
 have got themselves again introduced. They go for 
 the session, let it be longer or shorter ; and all take 
 their dinners in their pockets. I saw a woman there 
 the other day who was very industriously employed in 
 knitting. They are generally women of the lowest 
 class. 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 75 
 
 " There were not so many patrols out to-day as a 
 few days past. Probably they feel confident of their 
 party. 
 
 "5th. — Employed in following up my business, 
 which is shamefully neglected by the members of the 
 Committee of Salut Piihlic. All is finished but their 
 signature ; which they pretend, at the offices, the mem- 
 bers have not time to get. 
 
 " The weather now begins to be pleasant ; and walk- 
 ing is agreeable. All is quiet in Paris ; and there are 
 but few patrols in the streets. It is generally sup- 
 posed that some time will be taken up in the Conven- 
 tion with the business of Barrere and the others, — - 
 more than was at first expected. 
 
 " 6th. — The weather lowering and unpleasant ; 
 which is, however, no proof in Paris that we shall 
 not have a clear day. This day I received letters 
 from Boston, which, though of ancient date, afibrded 
 me infinite pleasure, and make me more and more 
 regret the sacrifices I am making of domestic happi- 
 ness, in being absent from a family and connections 
 dear to me as life itself. 
 
 " Madame de La Fayette breakfasted with Mr. 
 E-ussell and myself this morning. She is much worn 
 do^^^l by her misfortunes, which, she says, she fears 
 will know no end but in the grave. Poor woman ! 
 she came very near trying the experiment under the 
 reign of Robespierre. She was kept in prison, under 
 every refinement of deprivation of liberty, for fifteen 
 months. By some unaccountable good fortune, she 
 was removed from one prison to another ; which she 
 
76 MEMOIR OF 
 
 thought at the time the greatest evil that was left for 
 her in life, as it separated her from her friends, who 
 were confined in the same prison, and placed her with 
 strangers. This removal saved her life ; for all who 
 were in the room where she was were taken out and 
 executed a few days before the fall of Robespierre. 
 Among them were her father, and some other rela- 
 tions and intimate friends. She has had no letter 
 from M. de La Fayette since he left France, and suf- 
 fers all the torments which the warmest affection can 
 be supposed to endure under similar circumstances. 
 Her son and two daughters are in France ; and I am 
 told that they are fine children. 
 
 " 7th. — I am this moment told that the people of 
 Paris are reduced to half a pound of bread a day; 
 and that there have been women waiting at the bakers' 
 shops all night, so as to have an opportunity to be 
 served first in the morning. They say that the tavern- 
 keepers do not draw any. I fear this will make 
 trouble. Bread, I am told, is the sole subsistence of 
 thousands of workmen and their families, relished 
 with an anchovy. May the God of plenty make them 
 a speedy visit, and put an end to their distresses, which 
 seem to be many ! It is peculiarly unfortunate that 
 the want of bread occurs at this time ; for every agi- 
 tation helps the malcontents of the city, who are said 
 not to be few. As I dine with the American minister 
 to-day, I shall probably hear the opinions of public 
 characters on the subject of the present scarcity. 
 
 " Merlin de Thionville, Freron, Laveaux, Thibau- 
 deau, the late president, and several other members 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PEKKINS. 77 
 
 of the Convention, dined with Mr. Monroe ; and, in the 
 evening, Tallien came in. I find by their conversation 
 that they are much interested in the question concern- 
 ing the fate of Barrere and his companions. They do 
 not hesitate to say that the present trial is a decision 
 between Jacobinism with its excesses and the reign of 
 reason and moderation. God send the latter may tri- 
 umph ! They are for cutting off the chiefs, who are 
 those now on trial, and letting their aiders and abettors 
 sink into oblivion. Were the moderes to pursue all con- 
 cerned in the system for which the accused are now on 
 trial, it would be destroying one system of terror by an- 
 other. Merlin is the representative of the people who 
 so bravely defended Mayence. He is a fine soldier 
 and a great politician. His appearance is manly, and 
 his countenance open. He wears whiskers, which con- 
 tinue from one temple to the other, — making a circle 
 by the corners of his mouth and over his upper lip ; 
 and he has sworn not to shave them until Mayence 
 shall be retaken. He speaks with great energy, and 
 has an eye made for command. Freron is esteemed a 
 man of first-rate abilities, and great powers of oratory. 
 Thibaudeau was the president for the last decade, and 
 fills the chair as well as any one in the assembly. 
 The spirited answer he gave to the workmen, who 
 were instigated by a certain party to come to the Con- 
 vention and demand bread, and who, in their address 
 to the Assembly, had the audacity to observe that they 
 almost repented the sacrifices they had made for the 
 revolution, — I say, the answer he gave them probably 
 saved an insurrection, for which they were ripe, and 
 
78 MEMOIR OF 
 
 which there is little doubt was their intention. The 
 choice of the president of the Convention is for fifteen 
 days, or two weeks ; and this is the only instance in 
 which they have reference to old divisions of time. 
 
 " I am told by Mr. E,osse, one of the masters at 
 arms in the assembly, that the prisoners appeared to 
 have great spirits, in consequence of the mobs which 
 are gathering round the Convention. At about four 
 o'clock this afternoon, nearly two thousand women 
 crowded round the door of the Assembly, and demand- 
 ed an entrance to the hall. They were very noisy, and 
 were with difficulty prevented from bursting the door 
 of the Convention; to which they sent a deputation 
 from their body, to represent their distress for want of 
 bread; pleading, that although the Convention had 
 promised them yesterday a pound per diem for each 
 person, yet they had received but half a pound this 
 day. They were assured by the president that it was 
 their own fault if they did not receive more, as it was 
 ready to be delivered half an hour after they left the 
 bakers'. They received some good advice ; and were 
 exhorted to behave like good citizens, and return to 
 their families. Some of the most clamorous were 
 taken to prison ; which, I presume, will have a good 
 eifect. The people of Paris dread a female mob ; for 
 that sex has been at the head of, and indeed the 
 principal actors in, some of the most important revo- 
 lutions of Paris. 
 
 " 8th. — The weather is overcast and unpleasant. 
 All is quiet to-day. The poor people are to have a 
 substitute of biscuit and rice for their deficiency of 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 79 
 
 bread. This will keep them still. The private houses 
 of people in easy circumstances, and of the restaura- 
 teurs, are only supplied with half a pound per person, 
 and that of a quality very inferior. I am anxious to 
 hear of arrivals from America, and other neutral 
 powers, with breadstuffs ; without which I fear there 
 will be a famine of bread. We are told that they are 
 in great want in the south of France ; and, if that is 
 the case now, what will be their wants three months 
 hence ? 
 
 " A motion was this day made in the Convention to 
 call the primary assemblies, for the choosing a new 
 Convention, that the constitution of 1793 may be put 
 in force. 
 
 " 10th. — This is Decadi. As I have not yet been 
 out, I cannot say whether there is more religion on 
 this than on other days. The shops, I observe, are 
 generally shut to-day; though there are some ex- 
 ceptions. In this country, no attention is paid to 
 the new division of time. They stick by old customs ; 
 and with them our Sunday is held sacred, and they lay 
 aside their work. 
 
 " I went to-day to visit the place where the Bastille 
 stood ; and see, from the space it occupied, that it must 
 have been a very large building. The cells are now 
 all filled up ; and there is a figure of Liberty placed on 
 the spot. When one contemplates the misery which 
 that place once contained, the blood runs cold in the 
 veins, and the soul is quickened with hatred against 
 tyrants, wherever they are found, — whether they rule 
 in a hody, or severally. There have been, unfortunately, 
 
80 MEMOIR OF 
 
 a great many Bastilles in France since that one ivas 
 destroyed. 
 
 " I am told that the Convention are determined to 
 continue the trial of the prisoners, and not make them 
 over to the new Convention which is to be called. 
 
 " Dined with a decadi club of Americans, who meet 
 on that day, to the number of fifteen or twenty, and 
 pass a few hours very merrily. 
 
 " 11th. — Upon calling for breakfast this morning, 
 the landlord informed us that Ave could not have any 
 bread. The women were in crowds all night at the 
 doors of the bakers ; and Russell tells me, that, at a 
 baker's opposite to where he passed the night, they 
 were assembled at eleven o'clock, and that at eight they 
 were still there. There has never been so great a 
 scarcity of bread, since the war, so early in the season ; 
 and this is more the case in the south of France than 
 in the middle. All seems to be perfectly quiet. Put- 
 ting some women, who made a great tumult, into 
 prison, has had a good effect. 
 
 " All nature begins to smile. The trees are putting 
 forth, and this day is enchantingly fine. The walks 
 in the Tuileries begin to be crowded; and it is not 
 to be wondered at, for they exceed the imagination of 
 ordinary minds. The difference in numbers between 
 men and women which is seen in the streets is very 
 striking, notwithstanding the great number of men 
 here who are strangers. Whether it is that men are 
 more occupied, and keep at their labor, while the 
 women are sent abroad in search of provisions, I will 
 not undertake to say. I observe that there are none 
 but women at the doors of the butchers and bakers. 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 81 
 
 " I was this evening at the theatre of the Pahiis 
 d'Egalite. This appertains to the immense building, 
 all of which was built by that execrable wretch, the 
 Duke of Orleans, whose memory is abhorred by every 
 honest man, and with whom, I presume, the common 
 damned will hold no converse. The building is the 
 handsomest I have yet seen in Paris, and the perform- 
 ance was very respectable: indeed, I have not been 
 so much diverted since I arrived as last evening. It 
 appears to me that the manners of the French must 
 have changed since Mr. Moore was among them. 
 They certainly appear to have less complaisance than 
 was common among those whom I have been ac- 
 quainted with. They endeavor to imitate republican 
 simplicity ; and the fact is, they come short, in many 
 cases, of common civility. 
 
 "12th, or, in old style, 1st April, 1795. — This 
 morning looks as fine as yesterday. My friend Rus- 
 sell this day closed the purchase of a house and 
 eighteen acres of land, which cost 200,000 livres in 
 specie, for 232,500 in assignats. A great spec ! 
 
 " At eleven o'clock, great numbers of people flocked 
 towards the Convention ; and, at about two o'clock, 
 the number of people was so great that the Conven- 
 tion were alarmed for their safety ; and the generale 
 was ordered to be beat, and the tocsin to be sounded. 
 A great number of deputations were sent from the 
 different sections ; and they crowded so closely upon 
 the sentinels stationed at the door of the Assembly, 
 that they fell back, and in a moment the Convention 
 was filled with men and women demanding bread, 
 
 11 
 
82 MEMOIR OF 
 
 which they said had been promised them, but which 
 they had been disappointed in. Some called for the 
 liberation of the persons who were detained in prison, 
 as they said, for their opinions. They were so tumult- 
 nous that the president was obliged to put on his hat ; 
 but this was disregarded, and the members were very 
 much afraid for the event. The persons who are 
 spoken of as being so unjustly detained in prison are 
 the partisans of Robespierre ; and it is feared, that, 
 were they again at liberty, they would drench the 
 country once more with innocent blood. Thousands 
 of men and women were gathered in the vicinity of 
 the palace ; and at least sixty thousand men are under 
 arms this day. In general, the guards are armed 
 mostly with pikes ; but to-day they are armed with 
 guns, which are in very good order. In the streets 
 there are nothing but patrols. Every shop is shut 
 up, and all business . suspended. The tradesmen 
 forsook their work early this morning, and were 
 determined upon piaking a business of it. I am 
 astonished to see the immense number of decent 
 women, who are led into that part of the town where 
 the agitation seems to be the most violent merely by 
 motives of curiosity. In the promenade behind the 
 Palace of the Tuileries, and in the whole area in front 
 of the palace, it was almost impossible to pass, on 
 account of the crowds of people. I am in hopes 
 that all will pass over quietly, and that the arrival of 
 flour will calm the public mind,- which is very much 
 agitated, and is kept so by the agents of the Jacobin 
 party, who add fuel to the fire. Should the means of 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 83 
 
 subsistence not come in, God only knows what will 
 be the consequence. The people in Paris have always 
 looked to the government of France for bread; and 
 they of course think it their due, and consider a depri- 
 vation of it an infringement of their rights. 
 
 " 13th. — Penieres, one of the deputies of the Con- 
 vention, was last evening stabbed by the malcontents 
 of the section of the cite. The ringleader of the 
 mob was taken up, and will probably suffer for his 
 indiscretion. 
 
 " From the general fermentation in Paris yesterday, 
 some measures of a decisive nature have been taken. 
 It seems that the opinion of the Convention was the 
 same with my own respecting the agitation ; which 
 was, that it was not the want of bread alone that 
 made the tumult so general, but that a certain party 
 had made hread the watchword, and the ostensible 
 reason for their enormities. Under this suspicion, 
 seven of the members have been arrested. They were 
 of the party called the ' Mountain.' Their names are 
 Chales, Choudieu, Leonard Bourdon, Amar, Fourdroy, 
 Duhem, and another, whose name I do not know. 
 The people who have been on trial some time are 
 now condemned by the Convention to transportation 
 to an island in the Mediterranean. When they are 
 once gone, I have some hopes that there will be 
 tranquillity in the city. 
 
 " The gmerale was again beat this day; and great 
 numbers of men are under arms. Two sections are 
 in revolt ; and Gen, Pichegru happening to be in 
 Paris, the Convention gave him the cqmmand of the 
 
84 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Parisian Guards, to go against them. About six 
 o'clock, I took a walk, under the sanction of my 
 Americanship, round the Tuileries, and find all Paris 
 in arms. Not a street but is crowded with men 
 bearing muskets. Every one seems occupied in the 
 business ; and you do not meet a boy in the street 
 that is not talking of the business of the day. Clarke 
 and I were obliged to take the rounds of a mile at 
 least, before we got liberty to pass. All the bridges 
 are guarded by artillery, as are the avenues into the 
 Tuileries and to the palace. This day, saw the superb 
 building of the Hospital of Invalids, and the Military 
 School : they are magnificent buildings. The Champ 
 de Mars also afibrds one of the most magnificent pro- 
 spects in the world. 
 
 " The women appear to be more interested, if pos- 
 sible, in the business of the day, than the men. You 
 cannot pass a house where you do not see a woman 
 with a newspaper in her hand, and half a dozen per- 
 sons round her swallowing her news ; and this even- 
 ing, as we passed the Pont Neuf, we had the curiosity 
 to approach a crowd, where we saw a very fine-look- 
 ing female reading the news to a large number who 
 stood by. It was in the open air, and by candle-light. 
 This is so very difierent from the character of our 
 women, that it strikes us with astonishment ; at the 
 same time that a Frenchman passes by, and takes no 
 notice of it. 
 
 " 14th. — The deputies who were denounced yes- 
 terday were sent off last night to the Castle of Ham, 
 in Picardy. They were eight in number, and it is 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 85 
 
 supposed will be followed by many more of the same 
 section. Barrere, Collot, and Billaud de Varennes, 
 were also sent off, under a guard, to the south of 
 France ; from whence they are to be embarked for the 
 island destined to receive them. The mob stopped 
 the coach, and were determined to put them to death 
 on the spot, but were prevented by the guards. 
 
 " The papers this morning tell us that there were 
 fifty thousand men under arms last evening in the 
 vicinity of the Convention ; and this is not difficult to 
 believe. The sections which were in insurrection are 
 now quiet. The complement of bread is this day only 
 a quarter of a pound. The Convention have assured 
 the people there will be large supplies in a few days ; 
 which I hope to God will be the case. 
 
 " Gold, two hundred and twenty to two hundred and 
 fifteen per guinea, falling.. The day before yesterday, 
 they were up to two hundred and fifty. 
 
 " This day, dined with Mr. Sabonadaire, the head 
 clerk of the Committee of Public Safety. There was 
 present Madame Vallet, who was patronized by Vol- 
 taire, and by him distinguished as the helle et bonne. 
 He married her to the Marquis de Vallet ; and, from 
 her rank, she was imprisoned under the reign of 
 Robespierre for eleven months. I had the pleasure 
 to meet her once before at Mr. Monroe's, and had 
 my heart almost broken with the recital of her suf- 
 ferings while in prison. She had a daughter with 
 her, of about six years old. Most of her friends 
 who were confined at the same time with her fell 
 victims to the bloody ferocity of the despotism which 
 
86 MEMOIR OF 
 
 reigned at that period. Her time was near at hand; 
 but justice came in to her aid, and saved to the world 
 as fine a woman as I ever knew. 
 
 " There were many of the members of the Conven- 
 tion present : they are all in high spirits, and show by 
 their conversation that they are confident they have 
 given the final stroke, the coup de grace^ to Jacobinism. 
 Isnard, one of the proscribed, was there. He was of 
 the seventy-three deputies who were outlawed; and 
 his crime was having spoken in favor of his friend, 
 whom Robespierre had destined to fall. He was 
 in Paris, confined to his chamber, from October, 
 1793, until a few weeks since. He is a sprightly 
 man, and has the most piercing eye I ever saw in 
 my life. 
 
 " The brother of Rabaud St. Etienne, who was 
 sacrificed, was there too. The President Pelet, and 
 the late President Thibaudeau, were also there ; and, 
 as they were all going to the Convention, I accepted 
 an invitation, and took a seat with Mr. Monroe in the 
 tribune lately appropriated to the foreign ministers. 
 
 " The sitting was noisy; but it was good-natured, 
 and rather the kind which proceeds from high spirits, 
 than such as we had been accustomed to for some 
 time past in the Assembly. 
 
 " Not a word from the Mountain. They are quiet ; 
 and I hope have been so completely overcome as to 
 put an end to them. 
 
 " All Paris is charmed. A smile of satisfaction is 
 marked in every face, and seems to say, ' We are once 
 more secure in our lives and property.' The first 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD TERKINS. 87 
 
 politicians are of opinion that the triumph of the 
 12th Germinal is only second to the 9th Thermidor ; 
 on which day the system of terror was thrown 
 down, and those who planted it sacrificed to the 
 manes of those who were martyrs to it. I think it a 
 very politic thing in the Assembly not to have shed 
 the blood of those who so richly deserved it as Bar- 
 rere and his colleagues in iniquity. It would have 
 been dangerous to have got the guillotine again in 
 operation. Their blood was loudly demanded by the 
 people, and it was supposed' they would not have been 
 able to have got three leagues from Paris without 
 attempts upon their lives ; and I yet am of opinion 
 they will be assassinated on the road. 
 ~ " I observed, in coming from the hall of the Conven- 
 tion last evening (at eleven o'clock), what had before 
 escaped my observation; which was, the standards 
 which have been taken during the present war, and 
 which are preserved there as trophies of the victories 
 gained. 
 
 "15th. — Went with Mr. J. Russell this morning 
 to Ablens, which is about three leagues from Paris, to 
 see his purchase of a house, or rather chateau. It is 
 built in an elegant style, has between thirty and forty 
 rooms, and nearly seventeen acres of ground, covered 
 with five thousand trees. The whole is walled in, 
 with stables for thirty horses, an ice-house, and indeed 
 all a man wants in buildings, with very handsome 
 furniture ; and, for the whole of this, he is to pay two 
 hundred and thirty-five thousand livres, — equal to 
 about one thousand guineas in gold. Its vicinity to 
 
88 MEMOiu or 
 
 the river, too, gives it great advantages. The ride 
 from Paris to Choisy, where is a palace of Louis, the 
 late king, is as rich as cultivation and a naturally fine 
 country can make it. The Seine, running through a 
 level country sowed with grain, without a hedge or 
 fence to intercept the sight, bounded by a ridge of 
 hills, which are under no less cultivation than the 
 plains, interspersed with chateaux at small distances 
 from each other, and rows of trees trimmed with 
 great taste, — all together form as fine a scene as the 
 fancy can paint. The gardener and his little family 
 seem delighted with the prospect of having their 
 new lord. This is not to be wondered at ; for he has 
 so much openness of countenance, that one need not 
 have studied Lavater to trace the goodness of his 
 heart in his features. Each vied with the other to 
 serve us ; and they seemed to be quite as happy as we 
 were. They were entirely ignorant of the late agita- 
 tions of Paris, and seemed to know of nothing but what 
 had taken place within their garden walls. Happy 
 people ! long may you taste the pleasures of content- 
 ment ! They were not discontented, I dare say, with 
 our visit ; and I have no doubt of the sincerity with 
 which they wished the pleasure of seeing us again. 
 The good woman told us, that, if we had no objection, 
 she would improve the opportunity of our carriage to 
 go and see one of her children, who was at a couple 
 of miles' distance. We willingly gave our consent; 
 and she mounted the coach-box beside the driver, 
 happier and more contented than we who were within, 
 if we might judge by her countenance, which I have 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 89 
 
 generally found to be a very good criterion, particu- 
 larly with persons in her rank of life. 
 
 " There are many country-seats to be sold in France, 
 at this moment, for very little more in paper than they 
 were worth in specie a few years since. The riddle is 
 solved when one is told that an assignat is a tender 
 for the payment of debts contracted in specie before 
 the war, or at any time since. The justice of this can 
 only be supported on the same principle with the 
 same fact in the American war, — necessity. 
 
 " In coming to town yesterday, we observed with plea- 
 sure that all the windmills in the neighborhood were 
 going ; which we take for certain evidence of a supply 
 of wheat. In driving through the streets yesterday, I 
 was much distressed to see the crowds of women who 
 surrounded the bakers' shops. They go there in the 
 night, and some of them tarry half the next day, to 
 get the scanty pittance of half, and sometimes a quar- 
 ter, of a pound of bread. This, to people who were 
 in the habit of eating from two to four pounds of 
 bread per diem, is a great and serious evil. The con- 
 ception they have of the word ' equality ' was evidenced 
 towards us ; for, when we were passing the crowds, 
 they several times observed, ' This is equality,' point- 
 ing to us. They had an idea that every one was to be 
 put upon a footing in point of fortune, as well as in 
 being governed by equal laws, which a certain class 
 in the community could not trample on with im- 
 punity. 
 
 " 16th. — The morning overcast. This is Sunday; 
 and, if the weather should prove pleasant, I intend 
 
 12 
 
90 MEMOIR OF 
 
 going to hear Mass. Great numbers of shops are 
 shut up this day, and many people are going to 
 Mass. Went to see Madame de La Fayette: found 
 her lodged in an obscure hotel, and up three flights 
 of stairs. She seems to be much disturbed in mind 
 by her misfortunes. May He who rewards the vir- 
 tuous ease her situation, and make her happy ! 
 
 "17th. — This day, went to see the Pantheon, 
 which is celebrated as one of the first buildings of 
 the kind in Europe. Of this I am no judge : I can 
 only say, that it as far surpasses every thing I have 
 ever seen before as it is possible to conceive. Its 
 height, to the upper part of the dome, is three hun- 
 dred and eighty French feet; and from its top all 
 Paris is to be seen, and affords one of the most en- 
 chanting scenes in nature. This building is entirely 
 of stone: not an inch of wood is there from top to 
 bottom of it. In the vault under it, which runs along 
 the whole extent of the building, are deposited the 
 remains of Rousseau and Voltaire. The monuments 
 wdiich contain them are in wood: they are to be 
 wrought in marble, and will be the finest monuments 
 in the world, we are told. The body of Marat was 
 deposited here by a decree of the National Conven- 
 tion ; but it is now taken out, as unworthy of such a 
 place. Le Pelletier was also, by a decree, placed 
 there ; but, after Marat was displaced, the friends of 
 Le Pelletier thought fit to remove his ashes also. A 
 late decree of the Convention forbids the placing or 
 raising a monument to the memory of any one there 
 until ten years after his demise. This was occasioned 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 91 
 
 by the error they were led into respecting the charac- 
 ter of Marat, which will be handed down in France 
 as disgraceful to humanity. The sculpture in the 
 Pantheon is very fine. There are a great number of 
 workmen now occupied in finishing it ; but it will not 
 be completed for several years, although it was begun 
 forty-two years ago. 
 
 " Guineas, this day, one hundred and eighty-two 
 to one hundred and eighty-five livres. 
 
 " 18th. — Bread is getting more plenty than it has 
 been, to the joy of every one. Went this evening 
 and saw the opera of Castor and Pollux. The scenery 
 is superb, and the singing enchanting. The dancing, 
 as usual there, surpassed any thing of the sort in the 
 world. Both Hell and the Elysian Fields are repre- 
 sented in this piece, and come up to one's ideas of 
 both the one and the other. The orchestra was com- 
 posed this evening of eighty-three performers ; and, 
 in the course of the evening, there were between two 
 and three hundred persons on the stage, — as dancers, 
 soldiers, &c. 
 
 " 20th Decadi. — This day, having no business in 
 town, I went with Russell and Higginson three or 
 four miles out of town to see a country-house which 
 was owned by the Count d'Artois. It is said to have 
 been completed in sixty days from its commencement, 
 upon a wager he laid. It is built in a fanciful and 
 pretty style. The gardens are as romantic as possi- 
 ble ; and the view from some parts of the house 
 beautiful, particularly of Mount Calvary, which, from 
 its appearance, seems better entitled to the name of 
 
92 MEMOIR OF 
 
 paradise than to the one it bears, — for it is under the 
 highest possible cultivation, — and from its summit 
 must afford a delightful view of Paris and its neigh- 
 borhood. This seat of the count's is said to have 
 been built by desire of the late queen, and is called 
 ' the queen's bagatelle.' It is, and ever will be, an 
 eternal monument of the depravity of his mind, from 
 the disgraceful figures which are meant to adorn one 
 of the chambers, with which every person not lost to 
 sense of common decency must be exceedingly dis- 
 gusted. 
 
 " The Bois de Boulogne is an immense forest, which 
 extends several miles in circumference, quite to the 
 borders of Paris, and, I am told, is much frequented 
 in summer. The want of fuel last winter, in conse- 
 quence of the rivers being frozen, and preventing the 
 boats from coming down river, obliged the Conven- 
 tion to cut down a large part of this delightful wood, 
 to keep the poor from suffering. 
 
 " 21st. — There is not yet an increase of bread ; 
 and the peasants are said to occasion the scarcity at 
 Paris by stopping the wagons to supply their own 
 wants. The weather is becoming pleasant in the ex- 
 treme. This day, received letters from Boston, of 
 date of 7th February. Visited the Hospital of the 
 Invalids, and found it very beautiful. There is an 
 immense dome to the building, in the centre of four 
 smaller ones, all lighted from on high, and decorated 
 with paintings from the first hands. The chapel is 
 magnificent ; but its chief ornament, the pulpit, is 
 demolished. The elegant figures and pillars which 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 93 
 
 adorned it are still there, — monuments of what it was. 
 The chapel, which is an immense hall, as well as the 
 floors of the domes, is in marble, elegantly inlaid 
 with beautiful figures. They are occupied in effacing 
 the fieiirs de lis and other emblems of former times. 
 The inner court of the Invalids is very spacious in- 
 deed ; the whole on an immense scale. We were 
 shown the tables where the invalids dine. They were 
 kept in very neat order ; and the pewter cans shone 
 like silver. When one contemplates the causes which 
 have produced the misfortunes of those people, or of 
 most of them, and traces them to the ambition of kings, 
 or tyrants under other names, he is led to wish that 
 all the world would have the resolution to throw off the 
 yoke, and enlist under a republican government, where 
 all does not depend upon the caprice of a single villain, 
 but upon the voice of the people. The invalids are 
 well clothed, and appear very civil. We were not 
 once attacked for money while we were there ; which 
 I thought something surprising. 
 
 " I took a walk upon Montmartre, an eminence 
 just outside the Barriere of Paris. It commands one 
 of the richest scenes I ever witnessed. The whole 
 extent of Paris, and the country for leagues round, is 
 open to view. The Seine, with its windings, heightens 
 the beauty of the scene very much. The beauty of 
 the style of cultivation, both in the fields and in the 
 gardens, is enchanting. One of the telegraphs is on 
 the summit of Montmartre ; and one more is in plain 
 sight towards the east. 
 
 " The preliminaries of peace with Prussia are this 
 
94 MEMOIR OF 
 
 day announced to the Convention, and give pleasure 
 to every one. Spain, too, is said to be doing the same. 
 In consequence of this news, guineas, which were 
 yesterday two hundred and twenty, are this afternoon 
 one hundred and eighty. 
 
 " 23d. — Continuance of the fine weather. No defi- 
 nite answer respecting our unsettled business ; but I 
 am led to hope something, from several claims having 
 been lately settled. 
 
 " In passing by one of the telegraphs which is situ- 
 ated on the old Louvre, I found it in operation. It is 
 often used to communicate intelligence to and from the 
 army and the diiFerent parts of the Republic. Every 
 different position of the machinery remains stationary 
 until it is taken off by the one next to it, which is on 
 Montmartre, about a mile distant. It is certainly a 
 wonderful invention, and does great credit to the pro- 
 jector. It communicates any event with great rapidi- 
 ty, though not in detail. 
 
 " 24th. — The morning rainy. We had yesterday 
 the very unpleasant information of a declaration of 
 war by the Emperor of Morocco against the- United 
 States of America. This stroke, it appears, is not 
 aimed particularly at the American States, but at all 
 those powers which have not consuls at the court of 
 Morocco, among which we are comprised. 
 
 " Paris is quite tranquil. The energy shown by the 
 Convention on the late occasion has awed the lower 
 class of people into respect for them. Strong guards 
 have been sent into the country to escort the teams 
 charged with provisions for Paris, which have been 
 
THOMAS HANDASYU PERKINS. 95 
 
 frequently interrupted in the neighborhood, to supply 
 the wants of the inhabitants. The. Convention has 
 lately done itself the highest honor in passing a decree 
 for restoring to the heirs of the former owners all the 
 estates of those persons who suffered unjustly during 
 the reign of Robespierre. By this righteous decree, 
 thousands of widows, and children who mourn a mur- 
 dered father, and many a parent whose heart is rent 
 by the loss of a darling child, are in a degree relieved, 
 not only by the opprobrium being no longer fixed to 
 their memories of having been enemies to liberty, but 
 by their being, on the contrary, now regarded as mar- 
 tyrs for its glorious name. In some instances, families 
 who had the distress of poverty in addition to their 
 other sufferings are now restored to easy circumstances, 
 and in many cases to affluence. 
 
 " Exchange for louis two hundred and fourteen. 
 
 " 25th. — The morning overcast. I dined this day 
 with Mr. Murray, at the Maison de Grange Batelliere. 
 This, I think, is more pleasantly situated than any 
 house in Paris which is occupied as a hotel. In 
 walking through the streets of Paris, one would be 
 led to suppose that every foot of ground in the city 
 was covered with buildings. This is, however, far from 
 being the fact; and I was much astonished to find 
 that some houses, which appeared from a front view to 
 have appertaining to each only the land it stood upon, 
 have large and elegant gardens in the rear, laid out 
 with all imaginable taste, and as spacious as one could 
 wish. It is the same with the external appearance of 
 most of the houses. They have very unpromising 
 
96 MEMOIR OF 
 
 exteriors ; but many which bear this appearance are 
 decorated inside like palaces. 
 
 " Several of the National Convention dined with us 
 to-day. Pelet was very inquisitive about our com- 
 merce, and seemed anxious to know if it was our 
 opinion that we should be largely connected with the 
 French after the war. This, I have no doubt, will be 
 the fact, and that it will be advantageous to us in a 
 great degree. He tells me that the quantity of wheat 
 raised in France was never equal to its wants ; and 
 that, although considerable flour was shipped to their 
 colonies before the war, this was more than counter- 
 balanced by the importations from the States of Bar- 
 bary and the islands in the Mediterranean ; and that 
 wheat, in the best of times, was always worth twelve 
 livres tournois in specie per quintal. This would 
 give a good peace freight from America. 
 
 " 26th — I have been this day gratified, much be- 
 yond the expectation I had formed, in a visit to Ver- 
 sailles. We passed through the beautiful town of St. 
 Cloud, where is one of the most neat palaces in 
 Europe. This was the favorite residence of the 
 queen; and here she expended a great deal of the 
 treasure of the nation. We did not stop to examine 
 this building, or its beautiful cascades and sheets of 
 water, with which, and parks, avenues, statues and 
 other sculpture, it abounds. 
 
 " The road to Versailles is paved, and kept in excellent 
 order ; and the whole distance to it from Paris, which 
 is about ten miles, was always lighted, under the old 
 government, over night. This expense and unneces- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 97 
 
 sary piece of luxury and extravagance is now dispensed 
 with. 
 
 " On every side is seen the labor which has been 
 expended upon this country by its former lords, to 
 accommodate every thing to their convenience. It is 
 very common to see a crossway which must have been 
 raised at the expense of hundreds of thousands, mere- 
 ly to save the descent into a valley, and make the road 
 quite on a level. 
 
 " There are several small villages in the route ; but 
 none afford any thing very striking in appearance, 
 except the one before mentioned. 
 
 " The city of Versailles contained, before the revo- 
 lution, a hundred thousand inhabitants ; by which one 
 may judge of its extent. It takes up, however, much 
 more space than cities of that number of inhabitants 
 in general in France, on account of the great width 
 of the streets, which are all beautifully adorned with 
 rows of trees. There are three streets which termi- 
 nate in front of the palace. They run in a triangular 
 direction, and have a very pretty effect from the palace. 
 When I say the front, I write as it struck me on first 
 seeing it. Its appearance is majestic, and excites 
 astonishment. After passing half an hour in what 
 I thought the front of the palace, I was undeceived, 
 and told that this was the rear ; which, upon going 
 towards the gardens, I soon found to be the case. 
 The stables belonging to the palace are situated be- 
 tween the three roads before mentioned; the centre 
 one of which leads to Paris, and is for a long way 
 
 13 
 
98 MEMOIR OF 
 
 broad, and adorned with trees. The extent of the 
 stables is wonderful. They are built (as is the case 
 everywhere in France) of stone. The railing of iron 
 in front of them is a very masterpiece of workman- 
 ship ; and it has all the appurtenances of a stable, 
 such as curry-combs, shears, whips, halters, &c., in- 
 terwoven in it in the same metal, and must contain 
 a great quantity of iron. I am astonished to see so 
 much of this metal left untouched. It is certainly a 
 proof of their being not much in want of it for the 
 operations of the war ; as they would not have hesi- 
 tated to appropriate it, as they did that in the Gardens 
 of the Tuileries. 
 
 " In the Petites Ecuries there is preparation for six 
 hundred horses ; and in the Grandes Ecuries, for four- 
 teen hundred. The distinction of great and small sta- 
 bles has arisen from the addition made by Louis XVI., 
 wherein eight hundred horses more may now be ac- 
 commodated than there was room for in the old stables. 
 In the Grandes Ecuries there is a riding-school, where 
 the Hussars and other gens d'armes practise, riding 
 every day from nine to twelve o'clock. There remain 
 one hundred and twenty horses of the late king, 
 amongst which are some very beautiful ones. There 
 is one of his favorite riding-horses — a dapple-white — 
 yet there. I was a little surprised that Jacobinism had 
 not carried its frenzy even to the destruction of this 
 beast, as it did to many others. The horses are in 
 excellent order. Although they have very little grain, 
 they are in as good case as one could wish. In Octo- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 99 
 
 ber, 1792, there were twelve hundred horses in these 
 stables, many of which have died of honorable wounds 
 in the cause of freedom and France. 
 
 " In the yards in front of the stables there is room 
 to draw up as many horses in line of battle as the 
 stables will hold. It is finely paved, and kept very 
 neat. Between the stables and the Place d' Armes is an 
 extensive common ; and several roads, leading to dif- 
 ferent cities, cut it at all angles. The Place d' Armes, 
 or large court in rear of the palace, has ap. iron rail- 
 ing round it, and is large enough to contain several 
 regiments of men drawn up. 
 
 " The stairs leading to the queen's apartments are 
 entirely of marble, richly inlaid in various colors, and 
 must astonish every one who contemplates the amaz- 
 ing expense incurred. However, eighty millions ster- 
 ling will, to be sure, go a great way ; and this is the sum 
 said to have been laid out by Louis XIV. only, upon the 
 city of Versailles. The apartments are now in a very 
 wretched state, being deprived of their tapestry and 
 furniture of every kind. The ceilings of the rooms, 
 which still are quite unimpaired, convey to the mind 
 what the whole must have once been, to be on a par 
 with this part of them. Elegant sculpture and paint- 
 ings from the first hands adorn every one of them. 
 
 " You are shown a very beautiful apartment in every 
 fine house in France, which is called the dressing- 
 chamber. This is always lined with looking-glasses, 
 and is the most highly furnished chamber in the house. 
 In one of the palaces of Versailles there is a recess 
 formed to receive a sofa. The sides and back of this 
 
100 MEMOIR OF 
 
 recess are entirely in looking-glass; and it is so ar- 
 ranged, that two persons looking into the side-glasses 
 see themselves multiplied one hundred and twenty 
 times. This has given rise to many stories, much to 
 the prejudice of the late queen. The suite of rooms 
 in the king's apartments, known by the names, Hall 
 of War, the Hall of Peace, of Hercules, of Bac- 
 chus, &c., are adorned with some of the first paintings 
 the world can now boast of The grand gallery is 
 the tout ensemble of all that is delightful. There are 
 nine large paintings, and eighteen small ones, repre- 
 senting the conquests of Louis XIV. They are done 
 by the first masters of the times ; and the likenesses of 
 Louis, Turenne, and the principal actors of the times, 
 are preserved with great nicety. From all these 
 rooms, the views of the gardens surpass what the most 
 lively imagination could paint. 
 
 "From this suite we were taken to a beautiful 
 chapel appertaining to the palace. The emblems of 
 royalty are not yet effaced in this place, — the only 
 one where I remember to have seen them remaining 
 in France. The private chapel of the royal family is 
 in the gallery of this chapel. Here they said Mass 
 when ill. 
 
 " The Opera House is said to be the first in the 
 world. It has the remains of former magnificence, 
 but is very much injured since the revolution. 
 
 " The pile of buildings of the palace with its appur- 
 tenances is astonishing. Where the Gardes du Roi 
 were once lodged, are established national workshops 
 in cannon and small-arms. 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 101 
 
 " To give one an idea of the Gardens of the 
 Palace, and the scale upon which they are laid out, 
 it is enough to say that there are upwards of one 
 thousand of large orange-trees in the greenhouse, some 
 of which, we were assured, are nearly five hundred 
 years old. 
 
 " 30th. — This day, arrived James Carter from 
 Havre, and handed me a number of letters, which 
 gave comfort to my soul. 
 
 " The Convention is said to have discovered a plot, 
 at the head of which were Cambon and the other 
 Jacobins who were of the Convention, and who have 
 done every thmg to produce an insurrection and stir 
 up a disturbance in Paris. To effect this, they are 
 said to have taken measures to stop the arrival of 
 grain ; and have distributed money amongst the mal- 
 contents, to aid them in their deeds of darkness. 
 They intended to have cut off the present ruling 
 members of the Convention ; and, that they might 
 bring the royalists into their party, they intended to 
 establish young Capet on the throne. All this has 
 been discovered ; and the authors or the heads of the 
 party are called upon to come to the Convention and 
 vindicate themselves, or they are deemed convicted 
 and sentenced to transportation. 
 
 "Floreal 1st. — This day I accompanied my friend, 
 J. Russell, to the Croix de Berney, on his way to Havre. 
 The day pleasant. Guineas, two hundred and twenty. 
 
 2d. — The day overcast. Exchange, two hundred 
 and thirty. Bread a little more plenty; and it is hoped 
 that it will continue so. 
 
102 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " 3d and 4th. — Pleasant weather. All quiet at 
 Paris. 
 
 " 5th. — The alternate rain and sunshine, which 
 have been in constant succession for some time past, 
 promise an abundant harvest; which will be very 
 necessary for the happiness of the inhabitants of 
 France. It is said that Spain has made a treaty of 
 peace with this Republic ; in which case, there remain 
 only England and the Emperor to sustain the coming 
 campaign. James Carter left Paris for Havre this 
 day. Guineas, two hundred and forty to two hundred 
 and thirty-seven. 
 
 " 6th. — Yesterday was announced to the Conven- 
 tion a peace with a large body of people who have 
 been a long time in insurrection in Normandy and 
 the neighborhood. They were known under the 
 name of Chouans, from their leader's name. This is 
 a very important event. The civil war has cost the 
 Republic oceans of blood and millions of money. 
 The indiscreet decrees respecting religion were the 
 cause of all this mischief; and fanaticism could not 
 bear the shock. Revolt was the consequence ; and the 
 malcontents were joined by all the others in the Re- 
 public, whether from religious or other motives, and 
 the combined force became very potent. The lower 
 class of Chouans have committed great enormities, — 
 murdering and robbing in every part of the country 
 where they have been. The mails which were obliged 
 to pass in the neighborhood went under a strong 
 escort, and were often attacked. A cockade of the 
 nation was enough to insure death. Those, therefore. 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. * 103 
 
 who passed the road, took the precaution to leave any 
 thing of the kind behind, and to adopt a cross in 
 the place of this badge. Guineas, two hundred and 
 thirty-seven. 
 
 " 7th. — The Convention have this day decreed that 
 specie shall be considered as merchandise, and that 
 every one may exchange assignats against it. A few 
 months since, it would have cost a Frenchman his 
 head to have been detected in making a diiference 
 between assignats and specie. As this will bring 
 people out who were before afraid of doing any thing 
 in this way, it is supposed that there will be a great 
 call in the market for specie, and that it will rise very 
 much. Another circumstance, which will tend very 
 much to occasion a fall of the paper, is that the As- 
 sembly has decreed to pay all specie contracts in paper 
 at the exchange. This will throw a vast quantity of 
 paper into the market; and I should not be astonished 
 if it were refused altogether. Some of our country- 
 men have half a million of dollars in specie due. 
 This will make a great sum at the present exchange. 
 
 "This day, Messrs. Codman, Deblois, and myself 
 went to see the famous manufacture of porcelain at 
 Sevres, about seven miles from Paris. The building 
 is very large, and surrounded by gardens under the 
 highest cultivation, and magnificent country-seats. 
 The porcelain made at Sevres has the reputation of 
 being the finest in the world. Some pieces there have 
 no price, particularly two pictures painted on china, 
 which are celebrated as masterpieces of the art. The 
 excellence of this is that their colors can never pass 
 
104 MEMOIR OF 
 
 away ; and, although these pieces have been painted a 
 number of years, they are as fresh as if the production 
 of yesterday. They are to have a place in the Museum. 
 The great vase is the largest piece of china ever made 
 there, and is immensely valuable. We were shown 
 cups which cost several guineas each in the best of 
 times. For one service of porcelain which was dis- 
 played, they asked one hundred and fifty thousand 
 livres; and, as they do not add on these valuable 
 articles more than fifty per cent upon the old prices, 
 this must have been valued at nearly twenty thousand 
 dollars before the revolution. 
 
 " We were shown the process ; and, indeed, saw the 
 clay moulded, and a plate made in a very short time. 
 We were carried through the rooms where the dif- 
 ferent parts of the work are completed, and were 
 much amused. There were a great number employed 
 in painting; and in one room there were none but 
 women, who were also painting and burnishing. The 
 manufactory is extensive, and formerly employed a 
 great many people. It was a royal manufactory, 
 and is now national property. The rooms where 
 the china is displayed are extensive, and the care 
 taken of them is great. Codman and I bought a 
 number of trifles. In the route from Paris to Sevres, 
 there is a bottle manufactory, which made upwards 
 of four thousand bottles per diem. The want of 
 charcoal now stops the business entirely. This even- 
 ing, guineas are two hundred and fifty to two hun- 
 dred and sixty, and rising. 
 
 " 8th. — The morning promises a finer day than we 
 
THOMAS HANDA3YD PERKINS. 105 
 
 have had for some time past. This day I visited the 
 celebrated Gobelin manufactory of tapestry, about a 
 mile and a half from the Palais d'Egalite, and within 
 the walls of the city. The buildings that contain 
 these masterpieces of excellence are large and nu- 
 merous. They have the appearance of great age ; 
 and the people we conversed with know nothing 
 about the time when the factory was established, or 
 whether the buildings were originally occupied in the 
 present way. Before the revolution, this was a royal 
 manufactory, and is now national property. The 
 number of people employed there before the present 
 war were one hundred ; but that number is now de- 
 creased to sixty; and forty, having been of the first 
 requisition, are now on the frontiers, or have gone 
 where they learn war no more. The looms, and 
 indeed the apartments, of this manufactory do not 
 accord with the exquisite delicacy of the employment, 
 but, on the contrary, mark the greatest contrast pos- 
 sible. Overhung with cobwebs, and in other particu- 
 lars very much neglected, they speak the poverty of 
 the factory. The people employed here have from 
 five to eight livres a day in paper, and nourish them- 
 selves. The copies from which the weavers work are 
 among the first paintings in the world, in point of 
 elegance, and the productions of the most celebrated 
 masters. The copy is placed behind the weaver ; and, 
 as he manages his colors, he takes the tints of what- 
 ever he wishes to imitate with his eye, and makes 
 choice of his silk or worsted in conformity. The 
 most elegant painting does not exceed some of the 
 
 14 
 
106 MEMOIR OF 
 
 work now there ; and at a little distance cannot be dis- 
 tinguished from it, unless by a very critical eye. Some 
 of the pictures exhibited in the chambers above ex- 
 ceed what the liveliest fancy can imagine. Mr. Trum- 
 bull is of opinion that the weaver must have much 
 more merit than the first copy-painter can have. 
 There is one kind of this tapestry which is placed 
 horizontally; and, the back of the picture being up- 
 permost, the face is not seen until it is taken out of 
 the loom, which is sometimes four years from its com- 
 mencement. The colors are all in worsted or silk ; 
 the brightest are of the latter ; and they are worked 
 in so as not to be distinguishable in the picture. 
 There are several pieces, which are yet unfinished, 
 which were begun before the revolution. They are 
 historical pieces ; and, as they contain the figures of 
 Louis XIV. and other monarchs, whose deeds they 
 are meant to record, they have not been worked upon 
 for some time ; and I am surprised that they were not 
 destroyed at the time when every thing of the kind, 
 however valuable from its workmanship, and however 
 much it ought to have been respected on account of 
 the arts, was sacrificed by the Vandals who bore the 
 sway under Robespierre. There were no pieces of 
 the tapestry which were within the reach of my purse. 
 In returning from Gobelin, we stopped at the ci-devant 
 Jardin du Roi. It is laid out with admirable taste, and 
 is open to every one who pleases to walk there. In 
 the centre is a pond and an enclosure, in which there 
 are a great number of rare birds. We saw here a 
 lion, a tiger, several kinds of monkeys, and two white 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 
 
 107 
 
 bears : these last are from Greenland. They are large, 
 and appear ferocious. The lion is perfectly good- 
 humored; but the tiger is all that can be expected 
 from that animal ; and my blood chilled as I observed 
 him. One of the monkeys is remarkably large, and is 
 as dangerous as the tiger himself. At this garden 
 (now called the Garden of Plants) there are a great 
 number of natural curiosities, preserved in a long, 
 elegant building, which we had not time to visit, and 
 with which I flatter myself with the prospect of 
 another hour of pleasure before I leave France. 
 
 " 9th. — Rainy and unpleasant. Assignats depre- 
 ciating very fast, and reminding us of our old conti- 
 nental paper. 
 
 " 10th. — Went to the manufacture of porcelain in 
 the E-ue du Temple. Saw a great deal of china of 
 most delightful fabric, which led me into some ex- 
 travagances. 
 
 " 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th. — Cloudy and unplea- 
 sant weather, which confined me pretty much to the 
 house. Guineas rise to three hundred and forty to 
 three hundred and fifty." 
 
 Although a short account has already been given * 
 of the execution of Fouquier Tinville and others, 
 written from memory in the autobiographical sketch 
 dated at Saratoga, in July, 1846, — more than half a 
 century after the occurrence, — the entire description 
 of the scene, given in a diary kept at the time, is 
 here inserted, as the details convey some further in- 
 
 * Page 56. 
 
108 MEMOIR OF 
 
 formation in regard to the state of public feeling 
 in Paris. 
 
 " 17th. — This day the accusateiir-general under 
 Robespierre, after a trial of nearly three months, was 
 convicted of having caused the death of the innocent 
 and helpless, and was condemned to suffer death, with 
 sixteen of the jury who were partners in his guilt. 
 The public indignation against this man is very great ; 
 and I believe, that, had he not been offered up as a 
 sacrifice to appease the multitude, they would have 
 vented their ire somewhere else. Old persons who 
 had passed the hour of conspiracy, and young ones 
 who had not arrived at it, shared the same fate under 
 the judgment of this monster. Women who were far 
 advanced in pregnancy met a smilar fate ; and no sex, 
 age, or condition, was respected by this greatest of 
 wretches. The fairness shown in his trial does honor 
 to the tribunal, and is a great contrast to the proceed- 
 ings at the tribunal where he brought forward his 
 accusations. Fifty to sixty in a day were sacrificed to 
 the malice of this monster, who seemed to delight in 
 the slaughter he was administering. It was expected 
 he would be guillotined at four o'clock this day ; and 
 great numbers were out to see him pay the debt due 
 to justice. They were disappointed. To-morrow he 
 dies, so Gen. Menard tells me. I shall be unfeeling 
 enough to visit the place of execution. Louis, three 
 hundred and twenty-five. 
 
 " 18th. — At ten o'clock this day, Mr. Russell and 
 myself went to the Place de Greve, where there were 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 109 
 
 already some thousands of persons collected to see 
 the execution of the condemned Fouquier Tinville 
 and his co-accuses. The fatal instrument was erected ; 
 and the windows of every house were thronged with 
 females, who had come to the exhibition ; while places 
 in the neighboring houses were in such request, that 
 fifty livres were paid for the privilege of going into a 
 chamber near which was placed the guillotine. The 
 number of women present on such an occasion struck 
 me with disgust, and at the same time commanded 
 my pity, when I reflected upon the cause of the indif- 
 ference with which exhibitions of the kind are seen at 
 Paris, which undoubtedly has arisen from their fre- 
 quency. The patrols were many ; and the populace 
 were kept at a distance from the guillotine by the 
 chasseurs., who were on guard this day. There was 
 scarcely a face that did not wear a smile ; and anxiety 
 was marked on the countenance of every one, but of 
 a different kind from what is visible at executions 
 with us ; for it seemed to be expressive of a wish that 
 the criminals would arrive, that they might feast upon 
 the sight of blood. Such have been the crimes of 
 those men, and particularly of Fouquier Tinville, 
 who was attorney-general during the horrid executions 
 under the monster Robespierre, that it is not to be 
 wondered at that all France called for their lives to 
 appease the manes of those poor wretches who had 
 been precipitated into eternity with all their sins upon 
 their heads, many without even an accusation, or, if 
 accused, never having an opportunity to defend them- 
 selves. 
 
110 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " This same Fouquier was not contented with the 
 sacrifice of a few, but has frequently had condemned 
 and executed from thirty to forty within three hours. 
 Whenever there were any trials to come on in the 
 morning, the guillotine was placed, and the wagons 
 brought, upon the presumption that there would be 
 use for both. Under these circumstances, I say, it is 
 not to be wondered at that the people wished they 
 might expiate their crimes with their lives; but to 
 insult misery is brutal and unfeeling. 
 
 "At a quarter before eleven o'clock, the cavalry 
 made its appearance ; and soon followed three carts, in 
 which were the prisoners, — all of them seated in the 
 carts. They had their hair cut short, and their hands 
 tied behind them, and were covered with loose great- 
 coats. They were seated with their backs to the 
 horses ; and I observed, that, as soon as the carts 
 turned the corner to come into the square, they looked 
 towards the instrument which was to deprive them of 
 life. 
 
 " As soon as they appeared, there was a general clap 
 of triumph. For my own part, I expected to have 
 sunk under the oppression which I felt : the reflection 
 upon the fate of thousands, many of whom were as 
 innocent of the crimes with which they were charged 
 as I was, the idea of the misery into which the dis- 
 tressed families of those who had suffered had been 
 precipitated, — all served to depress my spirits, and 
 make me repent my curiosity, and wish myself at my 
 lodgings. 
 
 "The present accusafeur-puhlic of the Revolution- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. Ill 
 
 ary Tribunal preceded the cavalcade in a coach, which 
 was followed by a very strong guard of horse, and 
 then the wagons which bore the condemned. 
 
 " When arrived at the fatal spot, they descended 
 from the carts, some of them with a spring, showing 
 as little concern as if they had come there on a party 
 of pleasure ; and some, as they descended, eying the 
 machine for some time, but with great coolness. I was 
 about twenty paces from the stage, and had an opera- 
 glass, which gave me an opportunity to see every fea- 
 ture with great distinctness. The cart which was first 
 unloaded drove up to the side of the stage upon which 
 the guillotine is placed, and a basket about seven feet 
 long was fastened into it. When these arrangements 
 were made, and all the prisoners on the ground, the 
 first victim was Pierre Louis Le Roy, one of the 
 revolutionary jury. He was a ci-devant marquis, and 
 had taken the name of Tenth of August. As soon 
 as he had mounted, which was done with a resolute 
 step and a determined look, he began to speak ; but 
 the murmurs prevented his being heard; and, the 
 executioners paying no attention to his wishes to 
 speak, he was thrust under the fatal knife, which 
 severed his head in the twinkling of an eye. The 
 inhuman and unfeeling conduct of the execution- 
 ers is beyond description. One takes the bloody 
 head, and the other handles the mangled corpse, 
 with as little ceremony as one would a beast at a 
 slaughter-house. They are both thrown (not laid) 
 into the large basket ; the axe is again hoisted up, 
 and another victim brought forward. The principal 
 
112 MEMOIR OF 
 
 part of the number executed were of a middle age. 
 Amongst them were three of the former judges, one 
 president, and eight of the jurors of the Revolution- 
 ary Tribunal. The remainder were also subalterns in 
 that fatal tribunal; and, if this prompt machine of 
 death ever did pure justice, it is the general opinion 
 that it did it this day. 
 
 " Several of the criminals looked with indignation 
 on the spectators, and uttered something which we 
 could not hear ; three, particularly, would not let the 
 executioners hold their heads down, that the axe might 
 have the fairer opportunity of doing its duty without 
 mangling. They looked on each side, as their heads 
 were precipitated through the fatal hole, and seemed 
 to bid defiance to death. They all walked up to the 
 board against which they are tied with great firmness, 
 and looked round with perfect composure. 
 
 " Fouquier, as being the most culpable, was kept 
 until the last, and must have suffered ' a thousand 
 deaths in seeing those suffer who went before him. 
 When he mounted, he had an air of disdain upon his 
 countenance, and seemed to bid defiance to the king 
 of terrors. He also spoke ; but I was unable to hear 
 what |he said. This sight, which (however vile the 
 criminals) one would suppose could have been seen 
 by no one without emotion, was looked upon by those 
 who were about me with all the indifference imagina- 
 ble ; and the women who were in the chamber where 
 I was, witnessed it with as little feeling as a block of 
 marble would have had. The clap of applause at a 
 moment like this is to my mind disgraceful, and 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 113 
 
 shows the depravity of the minds of those who exhibit 
 such signs of triumph. In fourteen minutes from the 
 time when the first criminal was brought upon the 
 stage, the last head was in the basket ; and in this 
 time there were at least two minutes lost in changing 
 the basket, as one was full of bodies, and was drawn 
 ofi", and another was brought alongside the stage to 
 receive the remainder; so that, if the first basket 
 would have held the whole, this operation upon the 
 sixteen would have been performed in twelve minutes. 
 The expedition with which it is completed is the only 
 thing in which there is the smallest show of humani^ 
 ty. The .body does not move ; not a spasm can be 
 seen to contract it. The last person is always the 
 one esteemed most culpable; and his head is taken 
 up with the most brutal indifference, and shown to 
 the spectators all round the scaffold. The sight of 
 the mangled corpses, the heads drenched in blood, 
 and the hard-heartedness of the people, make this the 
 most awful spectacle one can imagine. The execution- 
 ers were as bloody as butchers, and quite as indifferent 
 as our beef-dealers are when cutting up the ox they 
 have slaughtered. Notwithstanding the horror of this 
 sight, I do not repent having been witness to it. I 
 had never thought it possible for people to meet death 
 with so much indifference. It has become so familiar 
 to them that they think nothing of it, even when they 
 are the victims. I tarried until the mob had gone off, 
 and saw the machine washed down, while gallons of 
 blood were streaming from it. It is dangerous to 
 familiarize the public to exhibitions of this kind. 
 
 15 
 
114 MEMOIR OF 
 
 I know this by my own feelings ; for certain I am 
 that my emotion decreased with every head that 
 fell. 
 
 " 19th. — Pleasant weather. 
 
 " 20th. — This day, went to Ablens sur Seine, to 
 the place bought by Russell and Higginson. The 
 country is becoming charming ; the crops promise 
 well ; and all nature seems to rejoice. 
 
 " Guineas, three hundred and seventy. 
 
 " 21st. — Very pleasant, and the weather becoming 
 warm. We are told that the infamous Lebon, whose 
 cruelties have exceeded those of Nero himself, is soon 
 to be tried ; and his life will end on the Place de 
 Greve, sans doute. 
 
 " To-morrow I set off for Holland with Messrs. 
 E-ussell and Jeffrey." 
 
 The following extracts from the journal kept by so 
 careful and intelligent an observer, while travelling 
 through a portion of France and Holland, will pro- 
 bably be found interesting. They contain his remarks 
 on the manners of the people there in the last cen- 
 tury; on the devastation of war, then recent, with 
 descriptions of fortified places of great strength, 
 though far inferior to that which is now the object 
 of the grand struggle in the Crimea; and on the 
 agriculture and general appearance of the country. 
 They relate further incidents, too, in the suppression 
 of the last struggles for the system which had pre- 
 vailed in the reign of terror, and which finally expired 
 in one trial and execution of a deeply tragic character, 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 115 
 
 the report of which, by an eye-witness, will be found 
 to confirm the statement of historians : — 
 
 "1795. —.This 11th of May, left Paris at one 
 o'clock, in company with Mr. J. Russell, of Boston, 
 and Mr. Jeffrey, also of that place, for a journey to 
 Holland. Notwithstanding the many charms which 
 Paris has for people in general, I confess I never took 
 my leave of a place in my life with less regret. . . . The 
 accounts which a stranger has to settle with all about 
 him, when he leaves any place in France where he 
 has resided any considerable time, are not of the most 
 pleasant kind. These are with the domestiques of 
 every department, which are not few. They all make 
 up their minds that they ought to receive a certain 
 sum ; but, trusting to your generosity that they shall 
 be overpaid if it be left to yourself, they make no 
 direct demand. Now, if one can agree in calculation 
 with the amount they make up to themselves, it will 
 always be best to pay a little over than a sou under 
 it, as by this single action you are to be judged ; and 
 should you give them less than the sum they think 
 strictly their due, or even that sum only, all the good 
 actions of your life will not save you from the epithet 
 which you will have applied to you in their minds, of 
 Oest mi miserable. An acquaintance with this fact 
 has perhaps saved us from coming under this de- 
 scription ; and a few livres entitled us to Ce sont de 
 braves gens^ and a thousand Dieu vous benisse, from 
 all around us. 
 
 " From the accounts we have received of the bad- 
 
116 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ness of the attendance at the post-houses, we antici- 
 pated much trouble in procuring post-horses. And, 
 indeed, we made a bad beginning ; for, upon sending 
 to the Post House at Paris, we found we could not 
 have horses there for two days ; and we were therefore 
 obliged to take our horses, which we had driven in 
 Paris, out to Bourget, which is three leagues from 
 Paris. I had never passed the Barriere, which takes 
 us out to this place ; and, had we not now come this 
 way, I should have lost the view of one of the most 
 beautiful parts of the environs of Paris I have yet 
 seen. The roads are fine; and a short time set us 
 down at the first post, where we were not long de- 
 tained for post-horses, with which we cantered on to 
 Louvres, which is three leagues from Bourget. At 
 all the places where are the post-houses, there is a 
 small village, — this is every two or three leagues, — 
 in which place are collected the farmers who cultivate 
 the ground in the intermediate space ; and for this 
 reason we see no such thing as a farmer's house stand- 
 ing by itself, surrounded by its noble barns and grana- 
 ries, ■■ — a sight which is so frequent and so pleasing in 
 America. These towns, or bourgs, bear a great resem- 
 blance to each other, and are poorly built, with very 
 crooked streets, and the evident marks of poverty 
 upon every house. The contrast is to be drawn be- 
 tween this wretched picture and the magnificence of 
 the chateau which you always see in the neighborhood 
 of those villages, and which was formerly occupied 
 by some lord or other nobleman, whose vassals were 
 happy in procuring by the sweat of their brows a 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 117 
 
 scanty subsistence in a life devoted to him. These 
 post-towns resemble each other very much, and give 
 one no very favorable idea of the cleanliness of the in- 
 habitants. No sooner does one alight at those towns 
 than he is surrounded by a certain class of miserahles, 
 who have claims, and just ones too, upon every one 
 who can afford to ride ; and happy the man who has 
 a heart to open his purse-strings to the adjustment 
 of accounts on which so much enjoyment depends. 
 No sooner had we alighted than a group of these 
 miserables made a sortie from a wretched bed in the 
 stable, and implored our charity. Their very appear- 
 ance had anticipated their request ; and we got their 
 blessings. And I suspect, from the event, we had the 
 appearance of earning it with a good will; for the 
 good people brought every one they could find who 
 they thought had a claim ; and, thank God ! we had 
 both will and power to make them all happy for the 
 moment. We find much less difficulty in getting 
 post-horses than one would have expected ; and, there- 
 fore, were not detained long at this place. 
 
 "The postilion is entitled to five livres the post. 
 We pay him eight ; which I think accounts for the 
 expedition with which we are served. And this is 
 the most economical practice a man can adopt in 
 France ; for, without the aid of the postilion, you are 
 detained in a wretched hovel, where you can take no 
 pleasure, nor find even tolerable accommodation. I 
 therefore recommend to all my friends to keep well 
 with this class of people, in whose power every travel- 
 ler is obliged to put himself very much. When we 
 
118 MEMOIR OF 
 
 stopped a la Chapelle three leagues from Louvres, we 
 had scarcely seen the postilion dismount, before the 
 sight of our carriage, which is really very beautiful, 
 attracted the attention of those about ; and we saw 
 ourselves surrounded by a dozen or two of good peo- 
 ple, who were admiring it. One, whom we afterwards 
 found to be a blacksmith, seemed more particular in 
 his examinations than the rest, and soon found that 
 we had occasion for him in the line of his profession. 
 There were two nuts wanting to the screws, which he 
 said he would furnish. Upon asking him if he had 
 them made, so that we might have them at once, he 
 answered, that, if twenty thousand were wanted, he 
 could furnish them in five minutes. Sterne's bucket 
 of water and the ocean struck me. It was in point ; 
 and I placed it to the same account he did, — that the 
 French language is copious, and expresses more than 
 it means or intends. The little claims once settled, 
 we took our leave of the blacksmith and his com- 
 patriots, and in an hour reached Senlis, which is a 
 town of some considerable extent, and is surrounded 
 with a wall. It contains about three thousand five 
 hundred inhabitants, is tolerably well built, and has 
 the appearance of having been a place of considerable 
 consequence. There are many very handsome houses 
 here, and two churches. In passing this town, we 
 observed a great number of regular soldiers, who have 
 strong marks of having seen service, and were as 
 good-looking fellows as I ever saw. Our passports 
 were looked at here ; and, after a few minutes' deten- 
 tion, we took our leave of this place, and were de- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 119 
 
 lighted with its environs, which are charmingly laid 
 out, and surrounded with the most delightful avenues 
 of trees I have yet seen in France. The ruins of a 
 church, perhaps once famous, stand in the neighbor- 
 hood, and mark the age of the city. . . . We arrived 
 at Gournay at midnight. 
 
 " The centre of the road is paved wide enough to 
 admit of two carriages abreast, and the sides kept in 
 pretty good order. 
 
 " The beauty of the country we have this day 
 passed through may be equalled, but cannot be ex- 
 celled, by any in the world. Almost every inch of 
 ground is under cultivation, and promises a good 
 crop. The rows of trees which adorn the roads on 
 each side add very much to the beauty of the country, 
 and, at the same time, would, upon an emergency, 
 supply a vast quantity of timber. They are princi- 
 pally elms, and have a majestic appearance. At the 
 post-houses the masters seem much dissatisfied, and 
 barely give one a civil answer when horses are asked 
 for. They have reason for being out of humor, as the 
 rate which the law gives them is not more than a 
 fourth of what they used to get at the present ex- 
 change. 
 
 " In riding through some of the villages, we were 
 followed by numbers of children, who threw bouquets 
 into the carriage-window, and trusted to those within 
 for something in return. Nineteen and a half leagues. 
 
 " 12th. — At six o'clock this morning we set off, 
 and in an hour arrived at Cuvilly, and from there to 
 Couchy les Pots in another. The part of the road we 
 
120 MEMOIR OF 
 
 have been travelling this morning is, in appearance, 
 more like America than any other I have seen in 
 France. There are a great many apple-trees, and 
 more pasture-ground than I have observed anywhere 
 else. The only thing wanting to complete the simi- 
 larity is fences ; of which there are none in this coun- 
 try. Indeed, they are not here necessary as with us. 
 We turn our cattle and sheep into a field to feed ; and 
 here, a shepherd follows the flock and directs the spot 
 for it. Nothing is more entertaining than to see the 
 surprising manner in which the shepherds' dogs are 
 trained in France. They are making constant circles 
 round the flock; and, if one trespasses the bounds 
 ordered, the dog will walk up and take him by the 
 foot; and in this way they are all kept in a small 
 compass. The life of the shepherd, so much sung of, 
 must be a very idle and vacant one, with nothing to 
 do but see that the dogs, which are the attendants, do 
 their duty, — nothing to exert themselves about. But 
 this must be irksome and disagreeable. 
 
 " From Couchy les Pots we were in Roye, a small 
 walled city three leagues from thence, in an hour and 
 a half The walls of this place are out of repair, 
 and general decay seems to hang upon it. It con- 
 tains, however, an excellent tavern, called the ' Soleil 
 d'Or,' which aflbrded a fine breakfast; and we took 
 leave of it, well satisfied with our fare. It contains 
 about three thousand people. There are no manufac- 
 tories here. From this place we were well driven 
 to Fouches, which is a village where there is an 
 immense post-house and stables, — its proprietor a 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 121 
 
 ci-devant lord, who has been fortunate enough to save 
 his head and his property. When we arrived at 
 Marche le Pot, the postmaster made such bitter com- 
 plaints, that we were induced to give him double fare ; 
 and came off, I dare say, in his opinion, dupes and 
 green ones. The fortified city of Peronne is three 
 leagues from Marche le Pot. This place is very well 
 fortified, but in an ancient style. Its entry is through 
 three gates, one within the other some distance, with 
 a ditch, wall, &c., between each, until you come to 
 the wall which surrounds the city. . . . After many 
 manoeuvres with the postmaster and aubergiste, who 
 had joined their plans to oblige us to tarry all night 
 here, seeing us persist, they gave us horses ; and we 
 left Peronne for Fins, which is four leagues, and is 
 only a post establishment. We here got horses with- 
 out much delay, and had every reason to suppose we 
 should get to Cambrai before the gates were shut. 
 Had we found the people disposed to forward our 
 wishes at Bonaves, three leagues from Fins, we should 
 have got there with all possible ease; but the fact 
 was otherwise. We soon saw they were determined 
 to keep us all night ; and as no reasoning will ever 
 change the menee of a French postmaster, backed by 
 inclination to get you to tarry any time to spend 
 money in his house, which is generally the case where 
 the postmaster and publican unite in the same per- 
 son, we put the best grace we could on the thing, and 
 are making the necessary arrangements for passing 
 the night here. The accommodation is bad ; and, had 
 we not been fortunate enough to have taken some- 
 
 16 
 
122 MEMOIR OF 
 
 thing with us from Roye, we should have been supper- 
 less. The pavement on a part of the road between 
 this and the last post is taken up. We suppose this 
 was done to prevent the passing of the cannon of the 
 Austrian army on to Peronne, in case Cambrai were 
 taken. This makes the travelling very unpleasant, 
 and in some places even dangerous. 
 
 " All the houses of the farmers, for thirty or forty 
 leagues back, are covered with straw, very neatly laid 
 on, and of a thickness to oppose either water or cold, 
 — it being seldom less than eighteen inches thick ; 
 and in some places the sides as well as the top of the 
 house are covered in a way which has, when it is 
 new, a very neat and handsome appearance. The 
 farther we proceed from Paris, the less esteem assig- 
 nats are held in, and more is demanded for every thing 
 which is had. 
 
 " 13th. — At eight o'clock, we arrived at Cambrai, 
 which is a fortified town, and I believe has always 
 had a small garrison. Its walls are very high, and 
 the ditches which surround it deep and wide. The 
 porte at which we enter has a formidable appearance ; 
 and the thickness of the wall I should suppose at 
 least seventy feet. We took a stroll round the town, 
 which has a walk quite round, and shows remarkable 
 strength. The appearance of Cambrai is less dis- 
 gusting than the towns in general through which we 
 have passed, and the streets are commodiously wide ; 
 and, in general, the town is better laid out than those 
 through which I have passed. The town and its 
 environs bear strong marks of its having been the 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 123 
 
 seat of warfare. The houses are in some streets 
 entirely shut up ; and in no part of the town is there 
 any appearance of business. This place, which was the 
 famous manufactory of cambrics (from the name of the 
 town), has not now any thing of this kind going on. 
 The people appear entirely unoccupied, and seem not 
 very well content with the continuation of a war 
 which is so injurious as this must be to manufac- 
 turing cities. The cathedrals and some other public 
 buildings are very large, and built in a Gothic style. 
 This place was the residence of the Archbishop of 
 Cambrai, and was overrun with monks and other 
 dependants upon the church. We are told this single 
 place contained eight hundred priests before the revo- 
 lution. What a tax upon the industrious citizens! 
 We were shown a great many buildings which were 
 occupied by this class of people; and which authorized 
 the belief, that there were as many of this sort of 
 gentry as we had been told. This place, as well as 
 almost every other one of consequence in the Re- 
 public, has been the scene of the butcheries of the 
 Jacobins and their emissaries. The infamous Lebon 
 had about two hundred persons sent to the Revolu- 
 tionary Tribunal ; which was only a stage towards the 
 guillotine, as they never failed to go from thence to 
 this fatal machine. Riches were cause enough for 
 accusing one of being an aristocrat: as such he fell, 
 and his property was pillaged by those who had caused 
 his downfall. There is one street, the best built in 
 this place, which has not now one of its former 
 owners in it : they have fallen a sacrifice to this vile 
 
124 MEMOIR OF 
 
 assassin of the human race. At Arras, about four 
 leagues from hence, he caused six hundred to fall, and, 
 in some instances, in a manner too horrible to relate. 
 . . . The guillotine which was erected on the place, in 
 front of the Maison de Ville, was publicly burned some 
 time since. In walking round the ramparts of the 
 city, we find the walls going to decay, and the works 
 generally rather out of order. 
 
 " We wished to have got an opportunity to go into 
 the Citadel ; but find that no strangers, nor indeed even 
 the inhabitants, are permitted to enter there. It is 
 said to be very strong, and capable of a good defence. 
 It is situated upon the highest ground in the city ; and 
 commands the neighboring grounds, which are level 
 for some way round. The only commanding ground 
 within a mile is upon the road we came. The posses- 
 sion of this would be fatal to Cambrai, were it besieged. 
 It must have fallen, had a heavy artillery been placed 
 there. At the time of the siege of Valenciennes by 
 the Duke of York and the Austrian armies, the avanf- 
 gardes were frequently within a short distance of the 
 gates of the city, and burned the houses in the fau- 
 bourg which is towards that place. They never, how- 
 ever, sat down before Cambrai to besiege it. I should 
 suppose that this place contained, before the revolution, 
 from twelve to fifteen thousand souls. At present, I 
 am told, there are not half that number. 
 
 " Upon returning to the tavern, to make the neces- 
 sary arrangements for getting our horses to go on, we 
 found, to our mortification, that the support of one of 
 the springs of our handsome carriage was broken ; and, 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 
 
 125 
 
 lest we should be detained where we should find less 
 facility for getting it mended, we concluded, after 
 holding a council on the business, to have it repaired 
 here. We shall therefore be detained a couple of 
 hours longer than we intended ; and, as the weather 
 is not very pleasant, we do not much relish the 
 necessity. 
 
 " At two o'clock, we left Cambrai for Bouchain. 
 We find many houses on the route razed to the ground, 
 and the country, generally speaking, wearing strong 
 marks of the devastation attendant on war. The 
 roads are cut up, and are unpleasant to travel. From 
 Cambrai to Bouchain is four leagues. We arrived 
 here at about four o'clock. This is a very small 
 place, but strongly fortified, and is capable of holding 
 a long siege. A branch of the Scheld washes the 
 walls of Bouchain, and makes it still stronger than it 
 is from its walls ; which are strong in themselves, and 
 well mounted with cannon. We here found a diffi- 
 culty to get horses ; and we had every reason to fear 
 we should be obliged to remain in this place, which is 
 one of the dirtiest I have yet seen in France. The 
 fear of being detained in a most infamous tavern de- 
 termined us to get horses, if we gave a guinea apiece 
 for them, to carry us to Valenciennes. Our necessities 
 were taken advantage of, and we were obliged to pay 
 eight times the common postage ; and, in addition to 
 this, ran the most imminent danger of being upset, 
 and our carriage broken, by the maladroitness of the 
 man who acted as postilion. There is a considerable 
 force kept in all the frontier fortified towns. We are 
 
126 MEMOIR OF 
 
 now in the Low Countries, or what are called Les 
 Pays Bas Fran9ois, which we entered two posts before 
 our arrival at Cambrai. The allied armies sent their 
 scouting parties over all this part of the country, and 
 to the walls of Bouchain ; but they never sat down to 
 besiege it. The houses on the road are in heaps of 
 ruins from Bouchain to Valenciennes, and particularly 
 as you approach this last place, at which we arrived 
 at seven o'clock in the evening, very much satisfied 
 with having a whole carriage ; as, from the manner in 
 which the fellow behaved, we had but little hopes of 
 reaching here. 
 
 " The houses, in general, are built of brick in this 
 part of the country, and covered, as we have found 
 them for a long time back, with straw. The country 
 we are now in is more level than that which we have 
 passed through. We find, by the language of the 
 postmistress, that only specie will get us farther on ; 
 and we therefore expect to be pretty well fleeced, as 
 they have been in the habit of receiving large nominal 
 prices, and are not apt to calculate with nicety the 
 difference between paper and silver. After a very 
 indifferent supper at a table d'hote^ we went to bed ; 
 and were in very good humor, or we should have 
 scolded at the woman for giving us such infamous 
 accommodations. 
 
 " 14th. — As soon as we had breakfasted, which we 
 did very heartily and upon excellent fare, we requested 
 one of the postilions to procure some one to conduct 
 us round the town of Valenciennes, — an object I 
 have been long desirous of seeing. He soon returned, 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 127 
 
 bringing his daughter, — a girl of about fifteen years 
 of age. She was very intelligent, and gave ready and 
 satisfactory answers to all we asked her. She had 
 been in the city during the siege. The strength of 
 this place, to one who has seen so little of fortifica- 
 tions as myself, is inconceivable. The ditch, which is 
 in one part filled with water, is at least one hundred 
 and twenty feet wide ; and the walls all round as much 
 as eighty feet, built of brick, and of a thickness which 
 one would suppose could withstand any thing in 
 nature. We were not permitted to go into the Cita- 
 del, which is on the side of the Gate de Cambrai, and 
 opposite to that on which it was attacked by the allied 
 armies. As the ground is higher without the Gate of 
 Cambrai and opposite to the Citadel than anywhere else 
 round the city, the armies which attacked it made an 
 attempt on that quarter; but the heavy metal from 
 the Citadel dismounted their cannon, and obliged them 
 to attack towards the Gate of Mons ; to which point 
 they brought the most vigorous exertions. After a 
 continual cannonade for forty-five days, and a bom- 
 bardment which exceeded any thing that had taken 
 place before, the city capitulated. There were three 
 mines sprung under the works ; after the last of 
 which, the general who commanded the city, whose 
 name is Ferrand, capitulated. A breach was efi*ected 
 in the walls ; and, indeed, a great range of the wall 
 was entirely battered down. The melancholy destruc- 
 tion which is exhibited in this city is beyond de- 
 scription. Whole streets are laid level with the dust ; 
 and all the quarter of the town towards Mons is but 
 one great heap of ashes and ruins. 
 
128 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " There were ten thousand men capable of bearing 
 arms in the garrison when the siege began ; and, at 
 the end of the forty-five days, more than one-half had 
 fallen a sacrifice. The army of the allies was one 
 hundred and six thousand men, commanded by the 
 most able generals in the service to which they be- 
 longed. This sacrifice of men and property was 
 made to get possession of a place they held about 
 nine months ; and then, in their turn, they laid their 
 arms down to Gen. Dampierre, who bravely fell near 
 this city, and who is buried on the heights of Fremas, 
 where there is a monument erected to his memory. 
 Great numbers of people were buried under the ruins 
 of the houses of Valenciennes. The house of the 
 general who defended the city was pointed out to us ; 
 and we counted upwards of sixty cannon-shot through 
 its walls. The roof was destroyed by bombs ; and it 
 has but the walls now standing. Hard by it is an 
 immense heap of ruins,-— the remains of a very large 
 church, which has not one stone left upon another. 
 We entered the court of a large house where there 
 had been great destruction, and were told by a man, 
 who, with his family, was in the cellar during the 
 whole siege, that upwards of one hundred bombs 
 had fallen within the court-yard ; and its appearance 
 warranted the belief of the assertion. The rubbish 
 is very much cleared up now ; and a great number of 
 the houses which were unroofed are now slated and 
 fitted up. Every part of the town is strongly marked, 
 particularly the steeples of the public buildings. A 
 great proportion of the inhabitants of the city lodged 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 129 
 
 in their cellars, which are always arched and strongly 
 built in fortified towns. The walls of the city quite 
 round are astonishingly battered ; and in many places 
 breaches were begun, which are now repaired. The 
 life which the people in this city must have led during 
 the siege is inconceivable. There is but little appear- 
 ance of business at this place. It was once famous 
 for its cambrics and laces ; and, indeed, there are some 
 small manufactories yet at work, but they are incon- 
 siderable. The cambrics were not manufactured in 
 the cities which have the reputation of them ; but were 
 woven in the houses of the peasants, and brought to 
 Valenciennes to be bleached and dressed. The lace 
 of this place was more esteemed than that of Brussels. 
 There were, before the revolution, between thirty and 
 forty thousand inhabitants at this place ; but they are 
 now reduced to an inconsiderable number, and have 
 little or nothing to do. The number of beggars in 
 every town through which you pass is great ; but here 
 they exceed any thing we have before seen ; and it was 
 with difficulty we could get through them to our car- 
 riage. It is shameful to see the manner in which the 
 churches have been demolished here, and the uses to 
 which they are put. The Cathedral, which is a most 
 superb and magnificent building, serves now as a barn, 
 and is filled with hay. It was appropriated to the 
 reception of horses some time since ; and the marble 
 with which it is paved is broken to pieces and de- 
 stroyed. The sculpture, which is in white marble, 
 and executed in a superior style, is broken to pieces, 
 and the arms and heads of the figures are severed. 
 
 17 
 
130 MEMOIR OF 
 
 In another case, we saw caps, tents, and other articles 
 for the army; and teams had driven into the body of 
 the church, and were loading. There is but a small 
 garrison kept here. We were upon the ramparts of 
 the fortifications ; but, as we got there by stealth, we 
 did not remain long. The immense ditch which sur- 
 rounds the town was in one place filled up by the 
 allied armies, so that it was passable ; and an assault 
 was to have been made, if the city had not surren- 
 dered. At twelve o'clock, we left Valenciennes, which 
 is the last fortified town in French Flanders, and within 
 two leagues of Austrian Flanders. Before we got to 
 the post, we were stopped, to be searched by the last 
 custom-house of the French, and, a little farther on, 
 at the first of the conquered country. 
 
 " The officer proposed searching our baggage ; but 
 a few livres quieted his conscience, and he let us pass. 
 You hardly pass the line which divides French and 
 Austrian Flanders before you see a difference in the 
 appearance of the people. The contrast between the 
 post-house where we next changed our horses and 
 those in France is as different as can be conceived. 
 Every thing had Dutch neatness about it, and had the 
 appearance of cleanliness, — which, thus far, we have 
 been little accustomed to. The countenances and 
 dress, too, are entirely changed ; and, instead of 
 houses level with the ground, we now see them en- 
 tered by an ascent of a couple of steps, and less 
 lumbered about the doors with every thing which is 
 uncleanly. The old proverb, that ' money makes the 
 mare go,' was never more verified than with us. In 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERJCINS. 131 
 
 coming through the Republic, we have paid with 
 nothing but paper at the post-houses, and have been 
 received by the masters of them with great indif- 
 ference. We now pay with specie ; and the moment 
 this is known where we descend, you are scarcely out 
 of your carriage before you have your horses put to ; 
 and they set oiF a grand galop ^ as if the De'il himself 
 was at their heels. Our second post was Quaregnon, 
 two leagues from Mens ; at which place we arrived at 
 about four o'clock in the afternoon. The country, in 
 approaching Mons, is very beautiful ; and the arrange- 
 ment of trees on each side of the way makes the roads 
 delightful. We now see what we have not before 
 since we left Paris ; that is, delightful meadows, 
 in which are cattle grazing, mterspersed with trees, 
 that give an appearance of luxury not to be ex- 
 celled. 
 
 "There is much more wood in this part of the 
 country than is found in France ; and as the trees are 
 all taken the greatest care of, and all the under-brush 
 is taken out, they have a very beautiful appearance. 
 There are, in some places in French Flanders, ditches, 
 to partition oif the meadows from the tilled grounds 
 where the cattle range ; but this is very seldom the 
 case ; and you generally see a boy strolling about, 
 wherever you see a cow feeding, who keeps her from 
 trespassing upon sown ground. The sheep, too, are 
 always attended by a shepherd, and a couple of dogs 
 who keep them feeding where the shepherd wishes. 
 The sagacity of these animals is astonishing, and 
 deserves admiration. This country is so perfectly 
 
132 MEMOIR OF 
 
 level that you can see to a great extent; and, all 
 around, majestic steeples enliven the already rich 
 scene. I have counted eight steeples at a time, 
 when riding upon a perfect level, and taking but 
 half the circle of the horizon. Were one to travel 
 through this country, or, indeed, through any part 
 of France that I have yet been in, and judge of the 
 population by the number of houses which are seen 
 interspersed amongst the fields, he would be very 
 much deceived, and suppose it nearly desolated, and 
 with but very few inhabitants. The fact is, the cul- 
 tivators of the soil are not owners of it, but are 
 collected together, every few miles, in a miserable 
 village, in the neighborhood of which lives the lord 
 of the village, who has them all at his command, and 
 holds them as his vassals. I should rather say this 
 was the fact, than that it is. It all holds good, how- 
 ever, except as it respects the lord of the manor, who 
 is in the background. But the cultivators are not the 
 more masters of the soil : they have but made an 
 exchange of masters. On our arrival at Mons, we 
 found the streets full of people, who had just come 
 from Mass ; and numbers of priests in the streets, in 
 their usual habiliments. If we had reason to com- 
 plain of beggars at the other places which we have 
 passed through, what shall we say of Mons, where 
 we were beset in a most disgraceful manner? We 
 effected our escape into the house, where we intended 
 dining ; but our faithful attendants waited for us at 
 the door, to give us a fresh assault as we made a new 
 attempt to get to our carriage. The dinner more 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 133 
 
 than indiiferent ; and the price demanded, extravagant. 
 We saw here a number of poor devils of Prussians 
 and Germans, who had been liberated by treaty with 
 the King of Prussia, and an exchange of prisoners 
 with the Emperor. They were mostly miserable-look- 
 ing objects, — meagre, ill-clad, and sickly. Mons is 
 in the situation of all the once fortified towns in 
 Austrian Flanders ; that is to say, defenceless. Their 
 fortifications were destroyed by Joseph II., who feared 
 his impositions would be looked upon as they merited, 
 and therefore destroyed all the works ; which has 
 proved of infinite service to the French, who, without 
 this facility, would have found much more difficulty 
 in conquering Austrian Flanders. Its situation is 
 more elevated than the towns we have passed in the 
 Low Countries; and it might be made strong from 
 the advantage of a river, which I presume is a part of 
 the Scheld, and circulates round the city. The gates 
 of the city are preserved, and the ramparts are con- 
 verted into public walks. It is a considerable place ; 
 and must contain twelve or fifteen thousand inhabi- 
 tants, from its size. The country between Mons and 
 Bruxelles is the highest wrought scene we have yet 
 observed. Where the country from nature is unfa- 
 vorable to roads, art has made up the deficiency ; and 
 causeways are carried ten or fifteen feet above the 
 ground, for accommodation. The post from Mons is 
 to Casteau, and from there to Braine le Compte. We 
 were served at both those villages with despatch, and 
 went on to Halle with great speed. A new kind of 
 begging is introduced on this road. The moment 
 
134 MEMOIR OF 
 
 carriages appear at a distance, the road is lined with 
 children, who chant their demands upon you for 
 charity, and keep upon a trot alongside the carriage 
 until you give them something. Halle is a very large 
 village, and has a considerable garrison in it. The 
 first question upon our arrival at the post was, ' Do 
 they pay in square or round I ' The moment the 
 latter was announced, the horses appeared ; and two 
 hours put us safe at the Hotel d'Angleterre, in the 
 celebrated city of Bruxelles. 
 
 "15th. — After we had taken breakfast, we took a 
 guide to show us the city. And, that we might have 
 the better idea of it, our first route was for the Cathe- 
 dral, where we mounted to the top of the steeple, and 
 were able to see every part of the city with great 
 exactness. It is nearly circular, and I should suppose 
 about four or five miles in circumference. The 
 grounds about it are as charming as can be con- 
 ceived of; to which the delightful ranges of trees, 
 which appear in every quarter, are no small addi- 
 tion. In many places, on the road ftom Mons, the 
 tops of the trees meet, and you ride for miles in a 
 perfect arbor. 
 
 " In going to the Pare, we saw a small body of 
 troops parade, who looked more shabby than they 
 ought. Gen. Ferrand was on the parade. He is a 
 good-looking man, and one I respect for his brave 
 defence of Valenciennes. . . . 'Tis melancholy to see 
 so fine a city as this so trist as it in fact is. A vast 
 number of the houses are shut up, and the streets 
 appear dead to business. At this place was manufac- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 135 
 
 tured the famous lace bearing the name of the city. 
 They still keep this going on in a small degree. I saw 
 a number of women, in the different shops I passed, 
 at work with their bobbins upon lace. . . . That neat- 
 ness for which the Dutch are so famous is striking in 
 this city, and appears to us in higher and more esti- 
 mable colors from the contrast with what we have 
 lately been so accustomed to. The prejudices of the 
 people are much against the French quite through 
 the Austrian Flanders ; and they have been greatly 
 augmented by the violations of what they call sacred 
 things, — the pictures and ornaments in the churches. 
 
 " 16th. — The Emperor used frequently to visit 
 Bruxelles, which is the capital of Austrian Flanders ; 
 and he had, therefore, a beautiful palace just without 
 the town, near which is a tall pagoda, that has a 
 magnificent appearance. 
 
 "Nothing can equal the ride from Bruxelles to 
 Malines, which is half way to Antwerp. A consider- 
 able part of the way, you ride on the margin of the 
 canal, which is ornamented with stately trees on both 
 sides ; and the country, which is as level as the sur- 
 face of an untroubled ocean, is under the most luxu- 
 rious cultivation, principally in meadow, and filled 
 with cattle. 
 
 " We were off for Antwerp at ten o'clock ; and at 
 one we were set down at the grand Hotel, which is 
 said to be the best tavern in the place. The popula- 
 tion is certainly much greater in Austrian Flanders 
 than in any part of France I have passed through. In 
 France, the inhabitants are collected in villages, which 
 
136 MEMOIR OF 
 
 are three or four miles distant from each other. In 
 Austrian Flanders, in addition to those villages, which 
 are quite as frequent and populous as those in France, 
 you see the scene highly improved, by houses being 
 interspersed amongst the fields, at small distances, 
 quite through the country. The villages are all nicely 
 paved ; and the pavement looks as if it had been washed 
 every morning. The mode of cultivation is as neat, 
 and as much to be admired, as their domestic arrange- 
 ments. The women, both in France and Flanders, do 
 their share towards the cultivation of the soil. In 
 some places, we observed the women cutting the fields 
 of grass with a crooked knife. They kneel on the 
 ground, and seize a bunch of grass with one hand, 
 which, with the knife that they hold in the other, 
 they cut off" close to the roots. There is some saving 
 by it, but I should not suppose enough to pay for the 
 labor. 
 
 ^i " The population of America must be very much 
 increased before we can have our grounds in such 
 order as here. Not a stone is to be seen : they have 
 all been picked up, centuries since, and buried some 
 feet below the surface of the earth. After the plough 
 has been used, they go over the field with forks 
 with five prongs; with which they dig the already 
 ploughed ground, break every lump of earth, and lay 
 it in beds the whole length of the field, and about ten 
 or twelve feet wide. The bed is rounded off", which 
 throws the water into a trench which is left between 
 the beds, of three or four inches in width. This gives 
 the fields a more beautiful appearance than if they 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 137 
 
 were perfectly level. I also observed that there were 
 constantly women and children at work in the fields, 
 picking the weeds from among the wheat, which was 
 about ten or twelve inches out of the ground. This 
 is a great improvement; but it can only be done 
 where the population has become very great, and can- 
 not, of course, be expected for a century among us. 
 They put a great quantity of manure on their land ; 
 and, in some instances, they do it in a way I was before 
 a stranger to. In some fields, I saw them with a cart, 
 in which was a large cask filled with water, that 
 appeared to be a decoction of the produce of the barn- 
 yard. This was placed with one end hanging over 
 the tail of the cart. A spigot was drawn, which had 
 some obstruction to prevent the water from flowing 
 out in a stream ; and it was scattered quite the width 
 of the cart as it proceeded. There are a vast number 
 of trees over the whole face of this country, which are 
 all arranged with perfect symmetry, and, I suppose, 
 mark the boundaries of the estates. 
 
 "As soon as we had made our arrangements for 
 dinner, we took a guide, and went upon our usual 
 business of visiting the different parts of the town. 
 The first object was to see its extent and situation, 
 it being entirely under our eyes when we arrived 
 at the top of the steeple of the Cathedral, which is 
 considerably higher than any other building that I 
 was ever upon. Its height is six hundred and twenty- 
 one steps from the ground ; and we were not a little 
 fatigued when we arrived at the top ; but were fully 
 compensated for the pains we had taken, by the mag- 
 
 18 
 
138 MEMOIR OF 
 
 nificent prospect which lay before us. The town is 
 considerably smaller than Brussels. It has a number 
 of churches, which, with the Town House and India 
 stores, are all the public buildings. From this steeple, 
 you see the windings of the Scheld for several leagues 
 on each side. This river, which has cost Europe so 
 many lives, is about a quarter of a mile wide at 
 Antwerp, and its water in the channel is sixty feet 
 deep. The quays are very convenient ; and, at some 
 of them, there are forty feet of water. However, — to 
 mount again to the steeple, — as I before observed, it 
 commands a view the most superlative that can be 
 imagined. There are no less than sixteen cities in 
 sight; among which are Breda, Bergen op Zoom, 
 Malines, and St. Nicholas ; besides which, there are an 
 infinity of villages, which, having no large marks to 
 distinguish them, are scarcely any of them distinctly 
 seen. The country is perfectly level, and has not a 
 hill or rising even to enliven the prospect. We were 
 delighted with the view ; and descended to the lower 
 part of this immense building, to admire the works of 
 art. They are here in perfection of their kind. The 
 town of Antwerp boasts of having given birth to 
 Rubens, Vandyck, the famous blacksmith of Antwerp, 
 and several others of the finest painters who ever 
 held a pencil. Many of their Avorks remain in this 
 church ; but the most valuable of them have met the 
 fate of those at Brussels and Malines. This was a 
 cruel thing to this town ; for the circumstance of the 
 pictures having been painted by their fellow-citizens, 
 enhanced their value in the minds of those who 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 139 
 
 possessed them, and makes the loss of them the more 
 regretted. In one of the pieces painted by the black- 
 smith, he has thrown a very great likeness of himself 
 into the background, which will make his face known 
 for centuries to come. The piece is the taking of the 
 body of Jesus from the cross. It is done in a master- 
 ly manner, in my opinion ; though my fellow-travellers 
 are not much pleased with it. There is the death of 
 St. Sebastian, which is finer than any I have seen 
 before. The painting on glass is superior to that 
 of Brussels or Malines ; and a part of it was pre- 
 sented by one of the Henrys of England. The 
 quantity of marble pillars and carved work in this 
 cathedral is surprising. This church is superior to 
 the one at Brussels in point of decoration, and is, 
 I think, considerably larger. We were fortunate 
 enough to be at this cathedral when the organist was 
 touching the instrument, with which we were all 
 charmed. 
 
 " I am not surprised at the enthusiasm with which 
 people, from long habit, view every thing in their 
 churches ; and I confess I cannot walk through one 
 of them without respecting every thing about me. 
 There is a constant succession, to and from all the 
 churches we have visited, of people, who are doing 
 away the sins of the day. 
 
 " Antwerp, from its situation, ought to be one of 
 the most flourishing towns in Europe. This was once 
 the case ; but now it wears the strongest marks of 
 total idleness. It is splendid in its buildings ; and its 
 streets are some of them very wide, and all well paved 
 
140 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and convenient. It contained, formerly, sixty thou- 
 sand inhabitants ; but it has not now more than forty- 
 five thousand, and they have very little appearance of 
 business. Antwerp is at the head of navigation on 
 the Scheld, — that is to say, for large vessels; and, 
 situated as it is in the heart of a country which is in 
 fact but one great village, with navigation by boats 
 on the river and canals for a considerable way into 
 the country, would be the storehouse of all the Low 
 Countries, had it the use of the advantages which 
 nature has given it, and art has improved. 
 
 " It is said the French intend that the naviga- 
 tion of the Scheld shall be free to all the world. 
 How true this is, time alone will determine. It will 
 be saying that Antwerp shall be one of the first com- 
 mercial cities in Europe." 
 
 Thirty years afterwards, as appears in a subsequent 
 journal, Antwerp presented the appearance of more 
 extensive commerce, and great improvement in accom- 
 modations for the shipping ; but the ascendency which 
 the city once enjoyed has never been regained. 
 
 " May 17th. — r At five o'clock this morning, we left 
 Antwerp, round which is a charming country for a 
 few miles. Our anticipation has been fine roads from 
 Antwerp to Rotterdam ; but we are much disap- 
 pointed, as we had ridden but four or five miles before 
 we left the pavement, which continues from Paris to 
 this place. The country, for eight leagues, is the 
 worst I ever travelled through: the roads are sand, 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 141 
 
 and the whole face of the country the most barren I 
 ever saw. Although we had four horses, they went 
 upon little more than a walk the whole way. Within 
 two leagues of the Mordyke, the scene was changed, 
 and Nature looked smiling on every side. We here 
 arrived at the diked country, and see the finest pas- 
 ture grounds in all Europe, and the fields stocked 
 with cattle without number. We pass the Waal at 
 Mordyke, which is a ferry about three miles wide, 
 well attended, and the boats excellent. The roads 
 are pleasant through Holland, lying upon the top 
 of the dike, but unfortunately too narrow, leaving 
 barely room for two carriages to pass ; and of course 
 making it very dangerous for them to meet, as both 
 must approach so near the edge of the dike as to 
 stand a very tolerable chance, in case of any accident, 
 of being canted into the canal, which is at the foot of 
 the dike. 
 
 " We passed through a number of villages ; to de- 
 scribe the neatness of which, would be impossible. 
 The number of trees spread all over this country 
 makes its appearance very beautiful. This is height- 
 ened extremely by the vast herds of cattle which are 
 feeding in the fields. The horses are famed in this 
 part of Holland, and deservedly so. At ten o'clock 
 in the evening, we crossed the Mouse, and landed 
 safely at Rotterdam. We take our lodgings at the 
 Marechal de Turenne. 
 
 " 18th. — Busily employed in viewing a town which 
 is beautiful to a great degree, and is in a very fine 
 situation for business. 
 
142 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " 19th. — From the top of the highest steeple in 
 Rotterdam, we saw thirty odd villages, and were much 
 pleased with the prospect. The windmills, of which 
 there are great numbers round Rotterdam, are built 
 of stone; and some of them I judge to be between 
 seventy and eighty feet high. Capt. George Lane 
 tells me that some of them are sawmills, and that he 
 was in one which carried forty saws at a time. They 
 are also used to throw out the water from the canals 
 into the rivers when the former get too full. The 
 canals in this place admit vessels to your store door, 
 and make the doing business very convenient. The 
 buildings are all plain and good, some of them hand- 
 some ; the India House and Exchange the only public 
 buildings which are remarkable. 
 
 " We find them very busy here ; a treaty having 
 just been signed between France and Holland, offen- 
 sive and defensive, and, the Hollanders say, upon 
 mutual advantages. This remains to be proved. I 
 most sincerely hope the event may prove this to be 
 the fact. We this day dined with Mr. Buldemaker ; 
 whom we find a very pleasing man, and who has a 
 charming family. On the morrow, we leave for 
 Amsterdam. 
 
 " 20th. — The day fine, and promising us a plea- 
 sant journey. At half-past ten o'clock, we left Rot- 
 terdam ; and, at seven in the evening, we were at the 
 Arms of Amsterdam. The road from Rotterdam is 
 generally good ; though, like all the roads I have yet 
 seen in Holland, very much cramped for width, two 
 carriages being scarce able to pass without danger of 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 143 
 
 being thrown oiF the dike. The dikes, in general, 
 are adorned with trees ; and on each side are ditches, 
 filled with water, in all directions. Almost every house 
 has a boat, which is used to transport any thing they 
 may wish from one place to another. This makes 
 carts quite unnecessary amongst the farmers ; and I do 
 not recollect to have seen one on the road. This part 
 of Holland is entirely appropriated to the feeding of 
 cattle ; the whole country being in meadow, and filled 
 with cows. We have not seen one field of grain since 
 we left Rotterdam. The back provinces are entirely 
 cultivated in grain, which is brought down ; and the 
 cheese of the Low Countries, and other productions, 
 such as butter and stock, are taken for pay. 
 
 " There is nothing in Holland which looks like 
 wretchedness ; and you meet but seldom with people 
 who ask for charity, in comparison with the demands 
 of this kind made in France. Their huts all appear 
 clean and comfortable; and those about them look 
 contented. The contrast between this and what we 
 have left in the great Republic is striking. 
 
 " The communication between the great mercantile 
 towns in Holland is by the canals, upon which there 
 are convenient boats for passengers; and there are 
 also the finest boats I ever saw, for the transportation 
 of merchandise. The one and the other are drawn by 
 horses, which travel on the margin of the river ; or 
 sailed, when the wind will admit. 
 
 " The neighborhood of Rotterdam and of this city 
 (Amsterdam) has many country-seats, the style of 
 which does not altogether correspond with our ideas 
 
144 MEMOIK OF 
 
 of beauty. The gardens are perfection in neatness, 
 but too stiff and labored to please an American. The 
 canals are filled with fish ; and fishing and smoking 
 seem to be the chief amusements sought in this 
 country. 
 
 " The height of the water above the land, within 
 the dikes, is very considerable, and in some instances 
 astonishing. At a country-seat of Mr. Vanstaphort's, 
 about three miles from town, the canal, which is 
 parallel with the house, is forty feet above the gar- 
 den; and, if the sea should once make a breach in 
 the dike, the neighboring country must suffer exceed- 
 ingly. The canals which lead up into the town are 
 only deep enough to admit of boats coming up ; 
 whereas, in Rotterdam, vessels of two hundred tons 
 come to the very doors of the houses in the centre of 
 the town. 
 
 " There is a particular quarter appropriated for the 
 residence of Jews, whose number is said to be between 
 forty and fifty thousand. This sect are deprived of 
 many of the privileges that other citizens have ; which 
 makes it astonishing to me that they are opposed to 
 the present revolution, which will unquestionably 
 place them upon the same footing with the other 
 inhabitants. Their funds in the British coffers, which 
 are great, I suspect may be looked to as the cause of 
 this disaffection ; as they fear, and with reason, con- 
 siderable injury from the present arrangement. We 
 visited two synagogues ; but as there was no singing, 
 which was the only entertainment we promised our- 
 selves, we made but a short stay. There was a 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 145 
 
 general confused noise, — some talking of business, 
 and others saying their Hebrew prayers. The syna- 
 gogues are good buildings, and always, I am told, 
 frequented by great numbers of Jews. 
 
 " Sunday, May 24th. — This day we appropriated 
 to visiting North Holland. We crossed over to a 
 small village, where we took a carriage for Brock, a 
 village very much distinguished for its excess of neat- 
 ness. Our expectations had been very much raised, 
 and we had formed to ourselves an improvement upon 
 the general cleanliness. which pervades all Holland; 
 but our ideas had fallen far short of the reality. The 
 houses in this town are perfect patterns of every 
 thing that is nice. They do not permit the entrance 
 of a horse into the town. The streets are as nice as 
 a parlor ; and are sanded every morning, in serpentine 
 lines. 
 
 " The houses are painted green and white ; and 
 have small gardens in front of them, with box cut 
 into the shape of different animals. The gardens are 
 decorated witl\ stones of various colors. We were 
 conducted to the house of an old gentleman by the 
 name of Claas Ploeger, who has been very curious to 
 collect what curiosities he could from the captains 
 he has employed ; and he is very proud of showing 
 to strangers his little museum, which is decorated 
 with a great number of birds and beasts, many stones, 
 and other things, which are rare of their kind. His 
 house, however, we found to be the greatest curiosity 
 he had to show us. At the door where we entered 
 was spread a white napkin to wipe our feet upon, and 
 
 19 
 
146 MEMOIR OF 
 
 one of the same kind at each door we entered. We 
 were carried through the different departments, and 
 found every thing to correspond to this excess of neat- 
 ness. We happened to be at this place just at dinner- 
 time, the cook-niaid having taken the pot in which 
 the dinner was cooked from the fire, and the iron 
 back of the chimney-place was as bright as silver. 
 Mr. Russell and myself had the curiosity to wipe it 
 with our cambric handkerchiefs, without their being 
 in the smallest degree soiled. This is a fact which I 
 should not dare to commit but to the eye of friend- 
 ship, it has the appearance so much of a travelling 
 story ; and, had there not been witnesses to it besides 
 myself, I should not have dared even to note it. I 
 promised the old man some curiosities ; at which he 
 seemed highly gratified. 
 
 " This place is mostly inhabited by underwriters 
 on vessels, who have their agents in town, or go there 
 occasionally. The women in North Holland dress 
 their heads in a very peculiar manner ; and I am 
 sure, that, if all the women would make patriotic 
 gifts of the gold they wear upon their heads to their 
 country, the debt of one hundi-ed millions to the 
 French would be easily paid. 
 
 " In the houses of North Holland, there is a door 
 which is never opened but to receive the bride on 
 the day of marriage, and at funerals. This town 
 appeared perfectly dull and unpleasant. The inhabi- 
 tants seem to have no occupation but that of keeping 
 the town clean. The small bridges which are thrown 
 over the canals are neat, and kept in good order. 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 147 
 
 " From Brock we went to Saardam, — a town made 
 famous from its being the place where Peter the Great 
 served his time at the ship-carpenter's trade. We 
 were shown the house where he lived ; which is an 
 obscure hovel, bearing the marks of antiquity about 
 it. This place was once very much distinguished for 
 its ship-yards ; but there is now little doing in that 
 way. The number of mills, all of which are carried 
 by wind, is upwards of eight hundred. The town is 
 like all the towns of Holland, — perfect symmetry, 
 and perfection on the score of cleanliness. There is 
 one custom throughout Holland that is very surpris- 
 ing to strangers who visit the country; which is, 
 that of giving to the servant at the house where you 
 dine a guilder. Upon this principle, the servant, 
 when he enters into the service of any one, inquires 
 if he has much company ; and his wages are in pro- 
 portion. They generally keep possession of your hat, 
 so that you cannot escape them ; and, when they find 
 you are about going, do not forget to attend you to 
 the door. .... 
 
 " 31st. —"We crossed the Rhine a mile from Ley- 
 den; and, at eight o'clock, arrived at the Hague. 
 The country from Amsterdam to this place is princi- 
 pally pasturing, though there are some fields of wheat 
 now and then interspersed. 
 
 " June 1st. — As soon as we had made our toilets, 
 we called upon Mr. Adams, the American minister at 
 the Hague ; who was very friendly in his attentions, 
 and asked us to dine on that day. We traversed the 
 town, and find it very beautiful : indeed, it has the 
 
148 MEMOIR OF 
 
 reputation of being the handsomest city in Holland. 
 The garden of the Prince of Orange is very well 
 suited to the Dutch taste, which consists in perfect 
 symmetry of arrangement. They are so fond of this, 
 that they will not suffer a tree to grow as Nature 
 would have it, let its shape be ever so fine ; but it 
 must be tortured to meet their wishes. The canals 
 are broad, and the avenues of trees are many and 
 beautiful. This place is still the residence of the 
 states-general and the foreign ambassadors ; and 
 the inhabitants are of that class which were always 
 dependent on the court for a living. There are no 
 manufactories here, as in most of the towns of Hol- 
 land, except such as produce objects of luxury. The 
 public squares and walks are quite beautiful. We 
 saw a parade of Dutch and French troops on the 
 same square : the former looked as if they were just 
 out of a bandbox, as stiff as the musket they bore 
 on their shoulders ; the latter were dirty and ragged 
 as you please, but with an air of vivacity and content 
 in their faces that bespoke cheerful hearts. It is an 
 pbject of no small wonder to see men, who were a 
 few months since cutting the throats of each other, 
 now friends, and uniting their efforts against the 
 other powers which were leagued with the Dutch in 
 the first of the revolution. 
 
 " Rotterdam, 2d. — The weather more pleasant 
 than it has been before. Upon the whole, I like 
 this place more than any other I have seen in Hol- 
 land. The houses on the river are particularly beau- 
 t;iful, and pleasantly situated. 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 149 
 
 " 4th. — This morning, at five o'clock, we left 
 Rotterdam, and, at ten o'clock, arrived at the Mor- 
 dyke, where we now are, and where we find we shall 
 be detained five or six hours on account of the tide 
 and little wind. This is unpleasant ; but, as we are 
 determined not to fret about things we cannot help, 
 we are quietly waiting the moving of the waters. 
 
 " At twelve o'clock, our boat made an attempt ; 
 and, at half-past one, we were on the other side of 
 the Meuse. 
 
 " We were obliged to wait some time, after cross- 
 ing the Mordyke, for horses, — all of which had 
 been taken into requisition for the transportation 
 of artillery. 
 
 " It was two o'clock before we set off ; and, to our 
 great mortification, we find, upon our arrival at the 
 place where I am now writing, that there are no horses ; 
 and we are obliged to wait until return horses come 
 from Antwerp or the Mordyke. The reflection which 
 cheers my spirits under every cross accident, and 
 which I call constantly to my aid when things go 
 wrong, is that I am on my way to meet those in the 
 society of whom alone I am or can be happy. May 
 the God of heaven be propitious to my wishes, and 
 land me safe in a country which has, in my opinion, 
 the means of happiness much more within the reach 
 of all classes of people than any I have yet seen ! 
 
 " This country is visited every year by large num- 
 bers of storks. They are of the size of a very large 
 crane ; perfectly white, except the ends of the wings, 
 which are black. The Hollanders have a tradition. 
 
150 MEMOIR OF 
 
 that this bird will only live in republics. Whether 
 it is for this or some other reason, I know not ; but 
 they are looked upon as something above the feathered 
 race in general, and the utmost care is taken to pre- 
 vent any injury coming to them ; for the sin of hurt- 
 ing one of these birds is very great. There is no fear 
 of any thing of this kind happening from the inhabi- 
 tants, who have a religious respect for the bird ; but 
 from those who consider the fowls of the air as 
 common stock, and the property of those who can 
 possess themselves of them. These birds build upon 
 the corners of the houses ; and, in some instances, I 
 have seen their nests upon places erected expressly 
 for them. Their nests are made of sticks, and are 
 larger in circumference than the head of a barrel. 
 They live upon insects, which the low grounds about 
 here furnish in great plenty. They are birds of pas- 
 sage, and, in autumn, assemble in large flocks, and 
 rove about for several days together in societies of 
 this kind previous to their departure; when they take 
 an amazing height, and disappear until the coming 
 spring calls them to take possession of their old 
 habitations. It is unknown to what country they 
 emigrate. Thomson, in his ' Seasons,' thus speaks 
 of this domestic, aflectionate bird: — 
 
 ' Where the Rhine loses his majestic force 
 In Belgian plains, won from the raging deep 
 By diligence amazing, and the strong, 
 Unconquerahle hand of Liberty, 
 The stork- assembly meets ; for many a day 
 Consulting deep, and various, ere they take 
 Their arduous voyage through the liquid sky. 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 151 
 
 And now, their route designed, their leaders chose, 
 Their tribes adjusted, cleaned their vigorous wings, 
 And many a circle, many a short essay. 
 Wheeled round and round, in congregation full 
 The figured ilight ascends, and, riding high 
 The aerial billows, mixes with the clouds.' * 
 
 " The country, in general, looks more smiling than 
 when we went on. The flax, which was then not out 
 of the ground, forms a pretty contrast to the number- 
 less shades of green with which the meadows are 
 clothed. I confess it is with pleasure I am about 
 to leave this country. It has been observed, by an 
 English traveller, ' that (speaking of Holland) it is 
 a country where the earth is better than the air, and 
 profit more in request than honor; where there is 
 more sense than wit, more good-nature than good- 
 humor, and more wealth than pleasure ; where a man 
 would choose rather to travel than to live, — would 
 find more things to observe than to desire, and more 
 persons to esteem than to love.' 
 
 " 5th, Antwerp. — At eight o'clock, we arrived 
 at this place, having ridden all the night. When 
 we were going to Rotterdam, over the same road we 
 passed last evening, it was in the daytime ; and we 
 observed, that it would be impossible to go over it at 
 night without being upset. We little thought that 
 we should make the trial on our return ; but this 
 was the fact ; and we were so fortunate as not to 
 realize what we had great reason to fear. Although 
 I was extremely disposed to sleep, yet the beauty 
 of the evening, and the melody of the nightingales, 
 
 * It is ascertained that the stork migrates to North Africa. 
 
152 MEMOIR OF 
 
 which serenaded us the night long, kept me awake ; 
 and I scarce ever remember to have passed a more 
 pleasant night. We find that we cannot cross the 
 ferry which passes the Scheld until slack tide, which 
 is twelve o'clock ; so that we shall not be able to 
 get any farther than Ghent (or Gand, as the French 
 call it) this night. 
 
 " The few houses which are left (after the devasta- 
 tion of war) between Courtray and Menin speak our 
 approach to the territory of France. That neatness 
 so conspicuous in the houses in Holland and Austrian 
 Flanders is taking its leave of us ; and more urbanity 
 and good-humor, with less attention to cleanliness, is 
 visible. 
 
 " The line between Austrian and French Flanders 
 is about a mile from Menin ; and here is established 
 a custom-house, where we were stopped to report our 
 luggage and destination, as well as place of departure ; 
 which being done to the satisfaction of the officer 
 who made the inquiries, he suffered us to go on with- 
 out examining our baggage. All the houses round 
 Menin have been destroyed ; and every thing speaks 
 the distress that must have existed here the last year. 
 The road is almost impassable, from the pavement 
 having been torn up by the heavy cannon and wagons 
 which have passed over it. There are outworks all 
 round this city, which tell the regular approaches of 
 the French when they besieged it. 
 
 " The first village we passed, after leaving French 
 Flanders, was one of the most wretched places I re- 
 member to have ever seen. Mud-houses, covered 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 153 
 
 with straw, hold a set of beings whose general ap- 
 pearance corresponds to their habitations. 
 
 "Lisle, June 6th, 1795. — We arrived at this place 
 at seven o'clock this evening ; and, as soon as we had 
 made ourselves up a little, we went to the Comedy ; 
 where we were much amused, and found better acting 
 than we had anticipated. The house is very handsome 
 within ; and the style without is that of the Italian 
 Opera at Paris, which is thought as well of as any 
 theatre in the city. 
 
 " We took up our quarters at the Hotel de Bourbon. 
 I was surprised to hear this hotel called by its ci-devant 
 name by the postilion who conducted us there. The 
 fact is, that it is now thought less enormous to call 
 places by the names which they have borne for cen- 
 turies than it was a short time since. At the table 
 d'hote^ we saw two gentlemen who had just arrived 
 from Paris. They tell us of the difficulty of procur- 
 ing horses; and would make us suppose that they 
 have worked wonders, in surmounting all the impedi- 
 ments they have had to encounter. We have been 
 used to this kind of story; and therefore they give 
 us no uneasiness. We find our fellow-travellers, too, 
 have had their ' hair-breadth 'scapes ' in the late insur- 
 rection of the faubourgs of Paris. We are told that 
 there are several deputies of the Convention decreed 
 of accusation ; that is, in other words, destined to lose 
 their lives on the scaffold. Great God ! when will 
 the vengeance of party-spirit subside, and the calm 
 effects of reason take its place % My eyes are tired of 
 seeing, and my ears of hearing, of the sacrifice of the 
 
 20 
 
154 MEMOIR OF 
 
 advocates of opposing principles to the unforgiving 
 spirit of that party which may be at the head, and 
 take the lead, for the time being. 
 
 " In the great square in front of our hotel, they are 
 erecting an altar, where will be celebrated the triumph 
 of Liberty over Jacobinism in the late business in 
 Paris. A funebrial fete is ordered for to-morrow 
 throughout the Republic, on account of the death 
 of the member Feraud, who was assassinated in the 
 Convention. 
 
 " The gentlemen from Paris tell us that the man 
 who shot the deputy, and the one who afterwards 
 carried the bleeding head on a pike, in exultation, to 
 the Convention, have both been taken up and guil- 
 lotined, with about twenty gens d'armes, who were 
 convicted of aiding and abetting the late affair. There 
 have been strong suspicions for some time respecting 
 the good disposition of the gens d'armes towards the 
 Convention ; but there is now no doubt of their 
 being inimical ; and they are ordered out of Paris. 
 Troops of the line are now the guards of the Con- 
 vention and of Paris. It is melancholy that this 
 same guillotine should have got into such quick 
 motion again. It is to be feared that ill use will be 
 made of it. 
 
 " 7th. — Lisle is esteemed one of the most con- 
 siderable cities in France. Its numbers are not so 
 large as I expected : they are not more than seventy- 
 five thousand. The streets are well paved ; wider and 
 straighter, generally speaking, than those of any other 
 place I have visited in France ; and, were they kept 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 155 
 
 clean, they would certainly appear to still greater ad- 
 vantage. The fact is, they are like all the towns in 
 France that I have seen, — overflowed with filth of 
 one kind and another. I am a little surprised that 
 their proximity to Austrian Flanders has not improved 
 them on this score. Old habits are not easily dis- 
 pensed with : they will, therefore, live as they always 
 have lived, — a gay, laughing, unthinking, dirty peo- 
 ple. I mean dirty as it respects their houses and 
 streets. As to their clothes and persons, they have 
 infinitely the advantage of their neighbors. 
 
 " We are told that there never was more business 
 done in Lisle than at this moment. The truth is, that 
 the Parisians, who are losing all confidence in paper- 
 money, are throwing all they have into those towns 
 which have goods to dispose of: and the event must 
 be ruinous to the manufacturers, whose goods are 
 estimated according to the rate at which the materials 
 cost them; which it will be impossible for them to 
 replace at treble the price they paid for the present 
 stock. Were a person to travel through this place un- 
 acquainted with the situation of France, and the great 
 distress that a very destructive war has occasioned to 
 the country at large, the last thing which would pre- 
 sent itself to his imagination would be, that the coun- 
 try was in any other situation than that of peace and 
 happiness. All is gayety and pleasure; and not a 
 frown seems to sit upon the brow of any person I 
 have met. 
 
 "The cannonade of this place lasted nine days 
 and nights without ceasing ; when, finding that, from 
 
156 MEMOIR OF 
 
 its natural and acquired advantages, it could be taken 
 only with infinite difficulty, and, when taken, could 
 not be held, on account of the Citadel, the enemy 
 abandoned their enterprise, after having committed 
 this cruel devastation. The Archduchess of Austria 
 touched several mortars which were fired into Lisle ; 
 by which her name will be handed down to infamy. 
 
 " This place was fortified by the famous Vauban 
 in the time of Louis IV., and is esteemed his chef- 
 d'ceuvre. 
 
 " The Citadel is esteemed the finest in Europe ; and, 
 although we were assured that no person could gain 
 admittance, our curiosity urged us to the attempt ; 
 which was attended with success, and the highest 
 degree of gratification. When we asked admittance 
 of the sentinel who was at the outer gate of the 
 Citadel, our cards of admittance were demanded ; and 
 the soldier was surprised to find we were not fur- 
 nished with any, and told us we could not repass 
 without them. We were conducted to the command- 
 ant, who received us with a great deal of politeness. 
 We told him that we were Americans, and showed him 
 our passports, saying that we were desirous of seeing 
 this fortress, celebrated throughout the world as the 
 chef-d'oeuvre of Vauban. He said he would gratify 
 us ; and immediately sent the secretary with us, and 
 told him to show us every thing that was curious. 
 We were flattered very much by this civility, which 
 was what we had no right to expect. The young 
 man who conducted us explained every part of the 
 works to us, and showed us all that was to be seen. 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 157 
 
 The Citadel, when completely garrisoned, is capable of 
 holding eight thousand men ; for which number there 
 are complete accommodations. All the barracks and 
 magazines are built in brick and stone ; and are very 
 neat, and well constructed. There are also subterra- 
 neous barracks and hospitals, equal to the accommo- 
 dation of the complete garrison, in case the barracks 
 should be destroyed. All parts of the works are 
 mined ; and the fortifications are so constructed, that, 
 in case the city is taken, there cannot be a single 
 piece of artillery brought to bear upon the Citadel ; 
 whereas the strongest works of this fortress are op- 
 posed to the city ; and it would not be possible for the 
 enemy to keep possession of it three hours, if the 
 batteries from the Citadel were opened upon them. 
 
 " After we had taken a very particular survey of the 
 Citadel, the gentleman told us that we had seen every 
 thing there which was worthy of notice ; and he ob- 
 served, that we could now say we had seen the finest 
 piece of workmanship, of the kind, that genius and art 
 had to boast of We returned on the same route by 
 which we had entered, and went immediately to our 
 lodgings, not a little fatigued with our ramble, and dis- 
 posed to breakfast. It was ten o'clock when we got 
 home, and we had set off at six ; so that we had been 
 about four hours without any respite from walking. 
 
 "At eleven o'clock, we left Lisle, after being obliged 
 to hire private horses to take us to the first post. 
 Through the first post, the road was entirely torn up 
 by the cannon and heavy wagons which had passed 
 over the pavement during the siege, and made it diffi- 
 
158 MEMOIR OF 
 
 cult to pass. We, however, got on to Carvin without 
 any accident. This is a small village ; the houses 
 miserable huts, filled in with mud, and covered with 
 straw. The postilion, in expectation of being well 
 paid for his services, drove off, with a crack of his 
 whip, at full gallop ; and an hour saw us at the Post 
 House at Lens. I was surprised to see the people on 
 the road and in the village so well dressed ; and, upon 
 inquiry, found it was for Sunday. This is a great 
 proof of their disapprobation of the new division of 
 time adopted in France, and is a sign of its falling off 
 altogether. I asked some of the good folks if they 
 went to Mass ; and they answered, that any one who 
 wished to say Mass did it how or where he pleased. 
 The churches are not yet opened ; but it is expected 
 that they shortly will be so universally. I asked a 
 young woman, who was standing at the door of the 
 Post House, if she had been to church. She answered, 
 that she was too good a republican to go to places of 
 that kind. She appeared to be about sixteen years 
 of age ! I do not think, however, that the system of 
 Robespierre has had this effect generally. Like per- 
 secutions of every kind, it rather attached those who 
 thought it an oppression to the object of it than 
 weaned them from it ; and the women, in particular, 
 were made enemies of the revolution by this most im- 
 politic measure of restraining people in their mode of 
 worship. With those who have any religion, all the 
 laws that man can enact will not succeed in changing 
 their minds. The unhappy effect was on those who 
 had hearts to commit bad actions, but who were kept 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 159 
 
 within bounds by the fear of a day of reckoning ; so 
 that, when all fear of this kind was removed, they 
 gave way to the commission of crimes which blacken 
 the history of this country. 
 
 " We set off for Arras. Our last postilion having 
 made a good report of our liberality, we had nothing 
 to complain of We had but poor horses; but the 
 driver had all the disposition to get them on in the 
 world. 
 
 " There is a kind of grass very common here, which 
 is called sain foin^ or, in English, wholesome hay, 
 which looks very beautifully in the fields. It has 
 more likeness, when at a distance, to clover than to 
 any other herb I know; but, when near, it is quite 
 different. Its color is a bright murrey ; and its quality 
 is much more esteemed than even clover. It is sold 
 at nearly twice the price of any other hay which is 
 grown in the country. 
 
 " At about half the distance from Lens to Arras, 
 there is a hill, over which the highway runs, which 
 affords one of the most superb prospects I ever saw. 
 From this eminence, we came in sight of Arras ; and 
 we were petrified at the thought of all the horrors of 
 which this place has been the theatre. Robespierre 
 was born in this place ; and most unnaturally doomed 
 it to destruction, by sending Lebon to reside here as 
 representative of the people. The unlimited power 
 which has been annexed to this appointment has 
 caused thousands of sacrifices in this devoted country. 
 Had the judges and juries which composed the revo- 
 lutionary tribunals been chosen indiscriminately from 
 
160 MEMOIR OF 
 
 among the people, it is to be presumed that thousands 
 would have been spared who had no crimes to be 
 charged with but that of being virtuous, and having 
 spoken against some of the sanguinary measures of 
 the bloodthirsty men who held the bloody axe over 
 the heads of their unhappy countrymen. The fact was 
 otherwise : they were, in all instances, the creatures of 
 the representative who was in commission where the 
 tribunal was held ; and they generally proved them- 
 selves faithful servants of their hellish masters. 
 
 " Perhaps there never was a situation in which 
 people were more at a loss how to act than those 
 who had nothing to do with government affairs, at a 
 certain period, throughout the Republic. A smile 
 has been construed as an indication of the probable 
 success of a premeditated plot ; and he who wore it 
 paid the forfeit with his life. A pensive countenance 
 was construed into a design in contemplation against 
 the state ; and, if a person staid at home to avoid so 
 critical a situation as hazard might have thrown him 
 into while mixing with the crowd, it was observed 
 by one of the thousand emissaries employed by those 
 who sought for blood ; and an accusation was brought 
 against him, as brooding over mischief at home, and 
 threatening the unity and indivisibility of the Re- 
 public. These are among the many crimes charged 
 against Lebon, and from which he cannot clear him- 
 self before his judges. As the appointment of the 
 tribunal was by the representative, he had also the 
 power of changing its members as often as he pleased, 
 or as frequently as they did not carry into effect his 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 161 
 
 sanguinary measures. An old man was devoted by 
 Lebon to death on the scaffold, and was sent to trial 
 by those judges, from whom few escaped but by the 
 gate of death. His virtues were many, his character 
 unimpeachable ; no charge against him had the smallest 
 degree of support; and he was dismissed, and, to the joy 
 of his friends and family, returned as from the grave. 
 He was very rich, and was an object of the avarice of 
 this monster ; who no sooner heard that the man whom 
 he had doomed to death had been spared, than he sent 
 for the judges, and demanded how it came to pass 
 that he was not condemned. They answered, that 
 there was not the smallest shadow of support to the 
 charges ; and that, without some show of reason, they 
 could not condemn one who was of so fair a character ; 
 and they had therefore cleared him. He dismissed 
 them from his presence in a rage, broke them all, and 
 named new judges ; and had the innocent citizen, 
 who supposed himself now secure (having passed the 
 fiery ordeal), once more torn from his friends, and 
 sent to the tribunal. The same afternoon, he was 
 beheaded on the scaffold; his property was confis- 
 cated, and his wretched family thrown into prison. 
 
 " It is not surprising that every one is exasperated 
 against Lebon, to a great degree, in this city and the 
 neighborhood. I had always supposed that the rich 
 alone had been the sufferers in the excesses that have 
 been committed in France ; but I now find that this 
 is not the fact. The principle was to spread terror 
 throughout all classes of citizens ; and therefore the 
 farmer and artisan, as well as the merchant and noble- 
 
 21 
 
162 MEMOIR OF 
 
 man, were involved in the general calamity. It would 
 be dangerous to commit such power to the most virtu- 
 ous of the community as was put into the hands of 
 the representatives on mission. 
 
 " I am informed, on good authority, that the wife 
 of Lebon was, if possible, more inhuman than he 
 himself; and that once, when only three or four 
 persons were to be guillotined, upon being told of it, 
 that she might attend, as was her usual custom, she 
 observed that it was no object to see so sorry a spec- 
 tacle as only three or four would make. I think the 
 horrid passion of this woman may be traced to avarice, 
 which was fed by the death of so many unfortunate 
 persons, who all contributed to fill the coffers of her 
 husband ; while her person was adorned with jewels 
 rifled from their widows and orphans. There re- 
 mained a vast number of persons in prison, at the 
 time of the overthrow of Robespierre, in almost every 
 part of the Republic. His death gave them their 
 liberty ; and their places are now occupied by their 
 persecutors. When this system of retaliation will 
 cease, God only knows. 
 
 " 8th. — We were off at six o'clock ; and intended to 
 breakfast at Doulens, which is a post and a half from 
 where we lodged: but the Post House did not afford 
 any thing eatable ; and we were, therefore, obliged to 
 have recourse to our wine and bread, in place of a 
 more agreeable repast. We found the post-horses at 
 Doulens the worst we had met on the road ; and, al- 
 though it is but six leagues to Amiens, we fear we 
 shall get there at a late dining-hour. 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 163 
 
 " The province of Picardy, of which Amiens is the 
 capital, is very highly cultivated in grain and pas- 
 turage, and abounds with fruit ; but has not the fine 
 hills and vales, interspersed with extensive woods, 
 which delight the eye in the province of Artois, of 
 which Arras is the seat of government. To supply 
 the place of wood, turf is the general fuel of the 
 province. 
 
 " We got on to Amiens by two o'clock, where we 
 found a table d'hote prepared. This place has the 
 appearance of great antiquity. The buildings are 
 mostly in a decaying state. The streets seem to be 
 abandoned, except by beggars ; by whom our carriage 
 was surrounded, as soon as we halted at the door of 
 the auberge. We felt too much inclined to get some- 
 thing to satisfy our hunger to make the accustomed 
 settlement with this class of miserables ; and could 
 not have passed them without harsh usage, had we 
 not promised them something when we should be 
 about to depart. This had the efiect which was to 
 be expected ; and, when we were ready to return to 
 our carriage, we found the court-yard full of the halt 
 and the blind. They had sounded the alarm, and 
 were re-enforced from all quarters. Having made a 
 provision of small bills, we sallied forth, and were 
 astonished to see the number of poor creatures who 
 were collected to ask for something in the name of 
 God. There were always a great number of beggars 
 in France; but the number must have necessarily 
 very much increased with the distresses of the coun- 
 try in general. Many, who were once supported by a 
 
164 MEMOIR OF 
 
 son who has been sent into the army, or by a husband 
 who has been dragged to slaughter, are now reduced 
 to this melancholy alternative for the support of a 
 miserable existence. 
 
 " We met with an inhabitant of Arras at the tahle 
 d'hote who was once destined as a victim by the bloody 
 mandate of Lebon ; and would have shortly had his , 
 trial, had not the Jacobin party fallen. Among a 
 variety of facts which mark Lebon as the Nero of his 
 age, at least in cruelty, this gentleman told us of one, 
 which shows that he took pleasure in refining on the 
 principle he had laid down. On a day in which seve- 
 ral persons were to be executed, and when one was 
 already tied, and the axe was on the point of falling, 
 he cried to the executioner to stop. The unhappy 
 man was raised, and stood in a state of awful suspense. 
 As he was conscious of his innocence, he had a mo- 
 mentary gleam of hope that his rectitude had been 
 made to appear, and that the paper which Lebon held 
 in his hand was his pardon. When all was silence, 
 Lebon read an account of a victory of small impor- 
 tance, which he had just received tidings of from 
 Paris ; having finished which, he told the executioner 
 to proceed in the business of death. The person who 
 gave us the account of this incident, said he was 
 present when it occurred. It is astonishing that the 
 great majority of the people of this country should 
 have remained so long torpid under such a state of 
 tyranny. The fact is, that all classes of people were 
 petrified ; and no one dared to communicate with his 
 friends, much less with people in general, respect- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 165 
 
 ing the evil that every one felt. Terror hung over 
 the nation ; and no one dared to show the way to 
 opposition, lest what was the effect of a principle of 
 self-defence should be construed as the result of a 
 counter-revolutionary principle. This has been the 
 watchword for all the horrors that have blackened 
 the history of the country. A word, and sometimes 
 a look, was taken for incivism ; and immolation was 
 the consequence. There was an unparalleled activity 
 in those bloodthirsty men, which did not give time to 
 those, who had courage to contemplate a plan of op- 
 posing the bloodsuckers of the country, to put their 
 wishes in practice. The excesses of Carrier in Nantes 
 and its vicinity ended in an open war in that part of 
 the country, which has caused the Republic the loss 
 of more than three hundred thousand men, — or rather 
 inhabitants ; for there was no distinction of age or 
 sex : all fell before the victors, whether rebels or 
 republicans. The sanguinary disposition of Carrier 
 was not contented with the tardy mode of execution 
 which the guillotine offered: so he had boats con- 
 structed, into which he plunged indiscriminately men, 
 women, and children; and, merely opening a valve 
 which was in the bottom, the boat sunk with the 
 unhappy passengers. . . . 
 
 " Paris, 16th. — The weather is becoming extremely 
 pleasant, and entices one from the walls of Paris ; 
 which, as the season advances, is becoming very dis- 
 agreeable from the heat and filth. 
 
 " We are informed this day that the trial of the 
 eight deputies of the National Convention, who were 
 
166 MEMOIR OF 
 
 decreed of accusation by their colleagues, as promoters 
 of the disturbances of the 1st of Prairial, is to come 
 on before the Military Commission. This court has 
 been established since the Revolutionary Tribunal was 
 abolished. It is neither more nor less than a court- 
 martial, and is composed of eight officers of rank. 
 They have had the trial of all those persons who have 
 been arrested as concerned in the attempt against the 
 Convention, many of whom they have sent to expiate 
 their crime at the guillotine. 
 
 " The name of the Revolutionary Tribunal has been 
 detested throughout this country ; for it has con- 
 demned all the martyrs who have suffered in the 
 cause of liberty through the influence of Robes- 
 pierre ; and, indeed, all who suffered by the guillotine 
 had their mock-trial at this bar. The last trials be- 
 fore this tribunal were those of its former judges, 
 jurors, and attorney-general ; who were tried for the 
 crimes they had committed while in office, and con- 
 demned to die for their unheard-of cruelties by the 
 same machine to which they had condemned thou- 
 sands. This was esteemed the most just thing that 
 was ever done by this tribunal ; and with it ended its 
 existence, a short time previous to the insurrection of 
 the faubourgs. As there was no criminal court esta- 
 blished, the Military Commission was created, for the 
 purpose of trying those concerned in that affair. It 
 is held in the house of an emigrant, which can hold 
 but few persons. We found a large body of people 
 waiting, and very much feared we should not gain 
 admittance ; but Mr. Russell, having an ambassador's 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. • 167 
 
 ticket of entrance to the National Assembly, obtained 
 permission for us to enter. We were introduced into 
 the room where the court sat, which was capable of 
 holding about sixty or seventy spectators. The names 
 of the members who were accused were Bourbotte, 
 Rhull, Romme, Goujon, Du Roy, Forestier, Dusques- 
 noy, Soubrany, and Peyssard. Rhull, unable to un- 
 dergo a trial which he supposed would be but a 
 prelude to his death on the scaffold, put an end to his 
 existence the day before yesterday. When we entered, 
 we found Bourbotte before the court. He was seated 
 in the centre of that part of the room occupied by the 
 court, and was guarded on each side by a soldier, who 
 held a drawn sword in his hand. The judges were 
 dressed in their regimentals. Three or four of them 
 showed by their uniform that they were general offi- 
 cers ; and seemed, from their conduct, to have some 
 fellow-feeling for the unfortunate men who were ar- 
 raigned before them. There were eight sentinels in 
 the room; and every thing looked martial. There was 
 also a body of troops in the court-yard below. Bour- 
 botte is a very handsome, well-made man, of about 
 thirty-five years of age. He was accused of being one 
 of the members of the Convention, who, on the night 
 of the 1st of Prairial (or 22d of May last), made 
 some of the motions upon which certain decrees were 
 passed by the few members who remained in the hall 
 of the Convention. One of his motions is said to 
 have been for the immediate arrest of the members of 
 the Committee of Public Safety and General Surety. 
 He denies this ; but there is a person who has proved 
 
168 MEMOIR OF 
 
 that he was in one of the tribunes, and that he him- 
 self heard him make the motion, and second others 
 equally anti-moderL He was asked by the president 
 of the court-martial if he had any observations to 
 make upon the evidence of the person who had been 
 giving his deposition ; and answered, that he had 
 nothing more to say than he had before said in an- 
 swer to the interrogations which had been put to him. 
 Every thing that is deposed by a witness, or answered 
 in defence by the prisoner, is taken down by a secre- 
 tary, as the one or the other speaks ; so that the 
 prisoner speaks as many words as he supposes the 
 secretary can remember, who writes them down, and 
 then goes on with all he has to say. When the pri- 
 soner has finished, it is read to him, that he may 
 agree to its being what he uttered ; after which, he 
 signs it, as confirmation of its validity. I should have 
 supposed, that, uttering in this way perhaps half a 
 sentence at a time, one would lose the thread of the 
 defence, and would labor under a great disadvantage. 
 This, however, was not the case in any instance this 
 day, that I remember, as respected those on trial. The 
 witnesses appeared much less cool and collected than 
 those whom they accused, and made several mistakes 
 in keeping the thread of their testimony. The pri- 
 soner had his snuff-box, which he carelessly twirled 
 betwixt his thumb and finger, occasionally taking 
 from it a pinch of snuff. He showed not the smallest 
 signs of fear ; although he must be sensible, and 
 undoubtedly is so, that, in three or four days, the 
 thread of his existence will be cut. The evidence is 
 very full against him, and nothing can save him. 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 169 
 
 " The witness deposed, among other thmgs, that he 
 heard the prisoner say that he had just come from a 
 coffee-house in the neighborhood, and that he had 
 taken there several glasses of wine ; and, from the 
 warmth of his expressions, he (the witness) supposed 
 him to be intoxicated. The prisoner smiled, but an- 
 swered nothing. 
 
 " Forestier is an old man, and the charges against 
 him are light ; and I am of opinion that he will not 
 be found guilty. 
 
 "The witness who was examined respecting Du 
 Roy, Homme, and Goujon, testified that he saw three 
 of the members (describing them according to their 
 dress and appearance) very warmly taking a part in 
 the Convention in forming the decrees which were 
 made on that memorable night. The prisoners were 
 severally called in ; and the witness said they were the 
 persons he alluded to. They observed, that, in such a 
 situation as the witness was in, and in the tumults of 
 that night, it could not be possible for him to be 
 certain of the identity of their persons. This idea 
 seemed to me to be rational enough ; but the rest of 
 the audience smiled at the idea. They all answered, 
 upon being asked if they had any further defence to 
 make, that their answers to the interrogatories put by 
 the court were their defence ; and they said not much 
 to the witnesses who were examined. 
 
 " These members are all of what is called the Moun- 
 tain party in the Convention. This is another name 
 for Jacobin ; and therefore all Paris is against them, 
 since the Convention (that is to say, the Moderes) 
 
 22 
 
170 MEMOIR OF 
 
 have got the day. How it would have been, had 
 the faubourgs got the upper hand, there is no know- 
 ing. Goujon is quite a young man. One of the 
 witnesses deposed that he heard him speak with 
 a great deal of warmth on the night of the 1st ; on 
 hearing which, Goujon asked, with a smile of indigna- 
 tion, what member of sensibility there was who would 
 not show warmth on such a night as that. He seems 
 a very intelligent young man, of about twenty-six 
 or twenty-eight. If his fate is to be a guillotine, Mr. 
 Russell and I are of opinion he will meet it like a 
 man. Indeed, they all show an astonishing degree 
 of coolness and reconciliation to the fate that awaits 
 them, particularly Bourbotte, who, as he left the room, 
 bowed and smiled upon several persons, who were, I 
 suppose, some of his acquaintance. There is one 
 thing respecting this trial which I cannot think quite 
 right. When these men were decreed of accusation, 
 and ordered to be tried by the Military Commission, 
 they called upon several members of the Convention 
 as witnesses in their favor. The court referred the 
 propriety of calling the members of that body, who 
 had been their accusers, as witnesses ; and the Conven- 
 tion, after discussing the point, agreed that the court 
 were competent to determine every thing of that kind, 
 and passed to the order of the day. The fact is, the 
 members were not called! Had there been a ques- 
 tion of calling any of the members of that body, who 
 accused the prisoners, in behalf of the government, 
 it would not have been right ; but that they should 
 deny this privilege to the accused, seems to me extraor- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 171 
 
 dinary. The judge informed us, at about half-past 
 three, that the court would be opened again the next 
 day at twelve o'clock. As I was going out, the officer 
 who conducted us to the chamber told me, that, if I 
 wished to see them receive sentence, I must come 
 by eleven o'clock to-morrow. There seems to be no 
 doubt in the minds of the people how this business 
 will terminate ; and I dare say they would not be 
 insured from the axe of the law for ninety-nine per 
 cent. Romme appeared to me to be the only one who 
 had fear marked upon his countenance. He is very 
 obnoxious to the reigning party; and they will rejoice 
 at his fate, should it be execution on the Place de la 
 Revolution. If possible, I shall go to the commission 
 to-morrow. 
 
 "Exchange this day rather better than for some 
 days past. I am told that guineas have been sold for 
 five hundred and fifty to-day. They were eight hun- 
 dred yesterday. There is a report about finance once 
 more coming forward, which occasions this. 
 
 "17th. — Mr. Russell and myself having business 
 to attend to until one o'clock, we did not go out as we 
 intended. We then went into the Rue St. Honore to 
 call on Mr. Pearsall, where we heard that judgment 
 had been pronounced upon six of the eight deputies, 
 and that they were to be executed immediately. We 
 felt anxious to see the conduct of men, who had smiled 
 at death at a distance, upon a nearer and more cer- 
 tain approach of the king of terrors. We took a 
 stand in the street which leads into the Place de la 
 Revolution, where the guillotine was already erected, 
 
172 MEMOIR OF 
 
 although the prisoners had not been condemned above 
 an hour. We had not waited long before we saw the 
 horse-guards approach ; and, soon after, the prisoners, 
 upon a cart. We found there were but three of them 
 in the cart, whom we recognized as Bourbotte, Du 
 Roy, and Soubrany. The first was sitting erect in 
 the cart, and the others were lying upon their backs. 
 We did not know how to account for this, until we 
 saw they were all weltering in their blood ; and we 
 soon heard that they had all attempted to take their 
 own lives as soon as they were remanded to prison. 
 Bourbotte looked very pale from the loss of blood ; 
 but his appearance was as placid and as little agitated 
 as if he were taking an airing in a coach ; and he 
 looked round with a smile upon us barbarians who 
 were assembled to see him die. The guards were very 
 strong, and were all troops of the line. When the 
 cart arrived at the guillotine, Soubrany was lifted out, 
 and laid upon the plank without being tied. There 
 was very little life remaining in him ; and a few hours 
 must have relieved him, had the execution of the 
 sentence been procrastinated. It is common for all 
 the prisoners to descend from the cart upon their 
 arrival at their place of execution; and they are 
 placed in such a manner that they do not see the 
 sentence performed upon their fellow-sufferers. On 
 this occasion, it was otherwise. The situation of Sou- 
 brany was such that he could not support himself; 
 and Du Roy was little better: and they therefore 
 backed the cart to the scaffold, which was then about 
 upon a level with it, that those who were unable to help 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 173 
 
 themselves might be the more easily conducted to the 
 machine. In this situation, Bourbotte saw the opera- 
 tion performed upon his fellow-sufferers without an 
 emotion. The two first had lost their senses, and 
 were laid on the plank without a motion which 
 showed sensibility. It now remained for us to see 
 such fortitude as has not been witnessed since the 
 revolution. It has been the wonder of every one, 
 who has witnessed the executions in France, to see 
 the fortitude displayed almost without exception. 
 The high pitch of enthusiasm to which the minds 
 of the people in France is wound up will carry them 
 through any suffering, I imagine, provided their natu- 
 ral strength is left to them ; but I had supposed, that, 
 when that was destroyed, this noble constancy would 
 forsake them. Bourbotte was a strong proof to the 
 contrary. His wound was in the side ; and his face 
 bespoke, by its paleness, the great loss of blood he had 
 suffered : yet, notwithstanding this, he raised himself 
 from the cart, and, I imagine, requested to have his 
 hands untied; which was done. He looked round 
 upon the crowd with a smile upon his countenance, 
 and bowed his head with a grace which spoke the 
 softness of his manners. His voice had so much 
 failed him that I could not hear what he said. He 
 was not tied upon the plank, but simply laid down ; 
 and the executioner was precipitating his head under 
 the fatal axe, when, to the astonishment of every one, 
 and the execration of the butcher who was thus em- 
 ployed, it was perceived that the head of Bourbotte 
 struck the top of the axe, which had not been raised, 
 
174 MEMOIR OF 
 
 as is common, after the last head was oiF. The prison- 
 er was therefore raised up again on the scaffold while 
 the axe was placed. He still smiled ; and it was not 
 a smile of annoyance, but of complaisance ; and my 
 friend Mr. Russell, who was rather nearer to the stage 
 than I was, heard him say, ' Farewell, my friends ! 
 Long live the Republic ! ' After which, he pushed 
 down the collar of his coat, laid himself down a 
 second time, and, in a second, was ushered into eter- 
 nity. Never was there more fortitude shown than on 
 this occasion ; and the manner in which this man 
 died convinces me— although it is the general opinion 
 that his intention was to make a revolution in the 
 present state of affairs, and of course he deserved the 
 death he met — that he thought himself in the right, 
 and felt a conscious rectitude, which supported him to 
 this great degree under his sufferings. 
 
 " 18th. — Yesterday afternoon, I left Paris to pass 
 Decadi at the cMteau of my friend Russell. 
 
 "We have to-day the journal of yesterday after- 
 noon, which tells us that Romme, Goujon, and Dus- 
 quesnoy, as soon as they were remanded to the prison, 
 after receiving the fatal sentence, stabbed themselves 
 to the heart, and died instantaneously. Bourbotte, 
 Du Roy, and Soubrany, were less successful in their 
 attempt upon their lives. Their wounds were undoubt- 
 edly mortal; but their object was not completed, which 
 was to avoid dying on the scaffold. It distresses me 
 to learn that several of these unfortunate men leave 
 families. As soon as the judge had pronounced the 
 sentence of death, Goujon handed his miniature pic^ 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS, 175 
 
 tiire to him, and requested that it might be given to 
 his wife. Dusquesnoy also gave a letter to the judge, 
 which he said contained his last adieu to his wife and 
 other friends, and observed that he hoped that his was 
 the last innocent blood which would be shed in the 
 Republic. ' May it,' said he, ' serve to consolidate 
 the Republic ! ' and added, ' Long live the Repub- 
 lic ! ' Bourbotte said to the commission, that it was 
 the enemies of liberty alone who had wished that his 
 blood should be shed. ' My last wish, my last sigh,' 
 said he, ' shall be for my country.' All those who 
 were condemned then gave their pocket-books, letters, 
 and a number of other articles, to the judge, for their 
 friends ; after which, they were reconducted to prison, 
 where they immediately attempted their own lives. 
 Forestier and Peyssard were condemned, — the first to 
 imprisonment, and the second to transportation. When 
 the prisoners were put into the cart, Du Roy burst 
 forth into exclamations against those around them ; 
 and, among other things, he said, ' Great God ! were 
 these hands made to be tied by executioners 1 How 
 unhappy am I, to have failed in my attempt on my 
 life!' Soubrany breathed a wish that they would 
 leave him to die. Bourbotte did not utter a sentence, 
 but looked about him with the same coolness that he 
 had preserved during his trial. It is a pity such men 
 could not have died in a better cause. There seems 
 to be no doubt, that, had they succeeded in their object 
 on the 1st Prairial, hundreds must have gone for every 
 one at this time. 
 
 "The sisters of young Goujon demanded admit- 
 
176 MEMOIR OF 
 
 tance to the bar of the Assembly, but were refused. 
 Their object undoubtedly was to ask the life of their 
 unfortunate brother. They were referred to the Com- 
 mittee of Surete Generale ; and I did not hear what 
 answer they got to their intercessions. The fact is 
 that their brother was dead by the time they could 
 have got to the committee.* 
 
 * To those who do not remember the decisive effect of this execution, which extinguished 
 Sans-culottism, it may be convenient to be reminded of the course of events in the French 
 revolution. When the king was beheaded, in January, 1793, the party in the ascendant was 
 that of the Girondistsj aiming at the total subversion of monarchy and the construction of 
 government in a new form, but showing no inclination for rapine or wanton cruelty. They 
 were, however, unable to direct the storm which had been raised. A few mouths afterwards, 
 they were overpowered and guillotined, or dispersed, by the Sans-culottes, or the party called 
 " the Mountain," of whom Robespierre was the leader. From the terrible destruction which 
 followed, the time while he was in power was denominated " the reign of terror." It ended 
 in July, 1794, when he in turn was guillotined, chiefly through the influence of those who had 
 been his adherents. They found that he was planning their own destruction, as his jealousy 
 had led him to effect that of his former associate, Danton. They were not, however, averse 
 to his sanguinary measures : they meant to continue them. But the terror was over as 
 soon as his death was announced. The executions were stopped, and most of those in 
 prison released. The agitations in Paris during the year that followed were, for the most 
 part, caused by the struggles of " the Mountain " to regain the ascendency. The foregoing 
 diary, written on the spot, and giving the daily events for a portion of that year as they trans- 
 pired, may be useful to those who wish to inquire further. The last effort of the party was 
 that of Bourbotte and his associates. Their execution was followed by the establishment of 
 the Directory, under whose auspices Napoleon soon commenced his career. It is to be regret- 
 ted that the diary was not continued for a few weeks longer in Paris, as it would then proba- 
 bly have contained a graphic description of his first essay there with the mob, on the 13th 
 Vendemiaire. 
 
 The following statement of the number of those who lost their lives in the French revolu- 
 tion will serve to meet some very natural inquiries on that subject. Precise accuracy is hardly 
 to be expected in such a case ; but this has been cited as an approximation to the truth, with 
 the remark, however, that there are stUl some omissions in it : — 
 
 Guillotined by sentence of the Revolutionary Tribunal : — 
 
 Nobles 1,278 
 
 Noble women 750 
 
 Wives of laborers and artisans 1,467 
 
 Religieuses 360 
 
 Priests 1,135 
 
 Common persons, not noble 13,623 
 
 18,603 
 
 Women died of premature childbirth 3,400 
 
 Women died in childbirth from grief 348 
 
 Women killed in La Vendee 15,000 
 
 Children killed in La Vendee 22,000 
 
 Men slain in La Vendee 900,000 
 
 Victims under Carrier, at Nantes 32,000 
 
 Victims at Lyons .....; 31,000 
 
 1,022,351 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 177 
 
 "We have this day the melancholy news of the 
 death of that brave man and great general, Pichegru. 
 The paper of this morning announces his fall on the 
 field of honor before Mayence. France could not 
 have lost a braver man, or a better friend to the liber- 
 ty of his country. His memory will never die in the 
 breast of any one who admires great talents and tried 
 virtue. Every one speaks with affection of this brave 
 officer, and seems ready to pay to his memory all 
 possible honors, 
 
 " Ten o'clock in the evening. — The report of the 
 death of Pichegru is officially contradicted by the 
 Committee of Public Safety. This rejoices every heart; 
 
 It appears from this, that about nine-tenths of those who perished were killed in the civil 
 war of La Vendee. The number of nobles beheaded appears small, — most of that order 
 having fled from France. It has been supposed that the atrocities which followed are in 
 some measure to be attributed to this general emigration of the noblesse, — there being no 
 class left who were capable of withstanding the influence and outrages of demagogues ; whereas 
 if more of them had remained at home, as had been the case with the nobility of England 
 in the revolution of the preceding century, although there might have been as great loss of 
 life, it would probably have been in warfare rather than by murder. The proportion of com- 
 mon people, artisans, and mechanics, was surprisingly large for a revolution against the higher 
 orders. 
 
 Some statements that have been made of the whole number executed in Paris appear in- 
 credibly small, after the terrible exhibitions there, unless it be remembered that the duration 
 of the reign of terror was little more than a year ; that there was but one place of execution 
 there at a time, with but one guillotine for the city ; and that one exhibition daily was sufil- 
 cient in most cases, probably, to satisfy the desire for the sight of blood; though, being 
 described by hundreds of witnesses, it might be so reported as to be mistaken for several occur- 
 rences of the same kind, and to represent tenfold the actual nvmibers. 
 
 Estimates have been made, for comparison, in regard to number, to cruelty in execution, 
 and extensive consequences to relatives, between the victims in the revolution and the Hugue- 
 nots destroyed in the massacre of St. Bartholomew's under Charles IX., the latter being vari- 
 ously rated at thirty thousand up to one hundred thousand or more. With great uncertainty 
 in results, enough is ascertained to show that the spirit of bigotry, whether stirred in support 
 of dogmas under the gospel of charity and peace, of despotic power, or of unlicensed freedom, 
 can easUy justify itself, in its own view, for the use of torture and murder as its weapons, 
 without regard to age or sex, and without limit in number. 
 
 The remarks on the former mode of agriculture in France that have been given in the 
 foregoing pages suggest some interesting comparisons with the present state of things. For a 
 hundred thousand land-holders there before the revolution, there are now several millions. 
 An English writer has spoken of the whole product of the country as greatly diminished by 
 
 23 
 
178 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and joy takes the place of grief, with which every one 
 was affected after hearing this morning's report. 
 
 " The Commission of Twenty-one, who were ap- 
 pointed to examine the charges of accusation against 
 Joseph Lebon, have reported to the Convention, that, 
 after examining two thousand nine hundred charges 
 and vindications concerning the said Joseph, they are of 
 unanimous opinion that there is reason of accusation 
 against him. For the credit of human nature, I am 
 happy to hear that there is no support to the charge 
 which has been reported against this man, — of his 
 having made the prostitution of a wife the price of a 
 pardon for the husband, and caused him to be exe- 
 cuted, after all, in her presence * It is wished that 
 
 the subdivision of property in land that has followed the radical change in the laws of inheri- 
 tance, which he thinks is shown by the falling off in exports. The late Mr. Colman, who 
 went from Boston to write agricultural reports from Europe, gave it as the result of his obser- 
 Tation, after witnessing the wretchedness of the agricultural population in England, that this 
 general division had produced the happiest effect in France. It seems probable that the fall- 
 ing off indicated by commercial returns may be fully accounted for by the fact, that the laborer, 
 having now a larger share in the product of the soil, instead of being fed on those parts of it 
 which are not fit for export, retains the better portion for his own use. In reference to errors 
 arising from false deductions in statistics, it was recently urged with great force by a distin- 
 guished savant, before the French Academy, that France affords a striking instance of this 
 nature, not being herself a commercial country, and her exports having rather declined from 
 causes that have vastly increased and diffused her internal wealth. The result of the appli- 
 cation for a pubUc loan there is a striking fact in this connection. It was all readily furnished, 
 and chiefly in small sums ; thousands joining in it, and becoming creditors of the government, 
 who, but for that division, would doubtless be inhabitants of those miserable villages described 
 in the text as appendant to the chhteaux, and barely subsisting on the rebut, or, as we should 
 call it, the refuse, of the harvest. 
 
 It was sagaciously remarked by a distinguished clergyman, in reference to the late 
 renewal and failure of the attempt at a republic, that a century at least must elapse, with 
 frequent political convulsions, before it can be expected that the great changes caused by the 
 revolution shall have had their full effect, and France shall settle tranquilly down under the 
 system of government that will be found best suited to the change of habits in her people. 
 
 * In a former part of the diary, this conduct, in all its atrocity. Is imputed to Lebon ; 
 and the admission here made, when his trial was approaching and he was abandoned to his 
 fate, that the imputation could not be sustained, carries with it some historical interest, be- 
 cause the same charge against this man has recently been renewed in Alison's " History of 
 Europe." 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 179 
 
 his execution may be at Arras. I find I speak of 
 execution before the man is tried: it is as certain 
 in my mind as his trial. Arras was the seat of 
 the greatest of this man's villanies. Upwards of a 
 hundred persons fell here during his reign; and a 
 visit to Cambrai, which is at about eight leagues' dis- 
 tance, cost that ill-fated city two hundred and sixteen 
 of its best citizens. Whole streets cry for the blood 
 of Lebon, and cry aloud.* 
 
 " 25th. — Dull weather. The committee chosen to 
 frame a constitution for this Republic made their report 
 yesterday. Boissy d'Anglas read the report; which 
 was much approved of, and promises to put the 
 country, which has been so torn up by the roots by 
 dissensions of every kind, under a lasting and good 
 government. The principles are much the same as 
 those upon which our government is founded. The 
 executive, however, is vested in five, in lieu of one as 
 with us ; and, as it appears, has nothing to do with 
 the deliberations of the Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives, or, as they are called here, the Council of 
 the Ancients and the Council of Five Hundred. 
 They have no negative upon their decrees; nor is 
 it necessary to have any other confirmation of the 
 laws proposed by the Council of Five Hundred than 
 that of the Council of the Ancients. 
 
 * Lebon was condemned, but not executed. He seems to have maintained, with some 
 effect, that he could show authority for what he had done from those who were allowed to act 
 in the name of the ConTention. He is said even to have been severely reproached at first for 
 moderation, and to have advanced rather slowly to the frightful excess of his cruelty. When 
 the red shirt was brought him, as the signal for execution, he desired that it might be taken 
 to the National Conveution, who deserved it even more than he ; and the writer who prepared 
 a notice of his life appears to think that, so far, he was nearly right. He escaped under the 
 decree of amnesty which followed soon after. 
 
180 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " The Executive Council has the same powers as the 
 present Committee of Salut Public. They are to have 
 respectable guards, and to live in a. style equal to 
 what is expected from the executive of a great nation. 
 I should have liked it still better if the Council of 
 Five had been vested with the negative which the 
 President of the United States has. That it may an- 
 swer the most sanguine expectations of the warmest 
 friends of the Republic, is my heartfelt wish. 
 
 " 7th. — This morning, about eight o'clock, left 
 Paris in a coach, in company with Mr. Pearsall and 
 Mr. Sands, on a visit to Chantilly. 
 
 " 8th. — At eleven o'clock, left Chantilly by a 
 cross-road, to go to Ermenonville, which was the last 
 residence of J. J. E-ousseau, and the place where, at 
 Jiis request, he was laid after his decease. 
 
 " The road from Chantilly to Ermenonville is princi- 
 pally through the woods which composed the park of 
 the Prince de Conde, and is as pleasant a ride as can 
 be wished. The road is in some places bad, the soil 
 being poor ; and, for a considerable distance, the sand 
 is as deep as on Cape Cod in America. We had six 
 horses ; and therefore had not much difficulty in 
 getting along, though we were longer in going than 
 we expected. The distance is five leagues from Chan- 
 tilly, and the same from Paris as from this castle. 
 "We arrived at Ermenonville at two o'clock. What 
 makes this place particularly interesting is its having 
 seen the last days of this celebrated man. The village 
 is very small, and miserably poor. The chateau is now 
 the property of the Marquis de Girardin, who was the 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 181 
 
 particular patron of Rousseau, and whose bounties he 
 shared until his death. The chateau is a Gothic build- 
 ing, and has nothing- in itself to attract attention but 
 its situation, which is charming. It was one of the 
 hunting-places of Henry IV. and, from its contiguity 
 to a very extensive wood, was well situated for the 
 purpose. 
 
 " We no sooner arrived than a book was offered for 
 sale, with representations of the place in twenty-five 
 cuts. They are well done, and are very serviceable 
 to one going over the grounds, as they point out the 
 most remarkable things, some of which might pass 
 unnoticed without it. A part of the waters which 
 make one of the beauties of this place are cut off; 
 and the Island of Poplars, as it is described, has now 
 no water about it, and therefore loses a part of its 
 beauty. 
 
 " The day has been remarkably fine ; and we saw 
 this delightful place under every possible advantage. 
 Komance cannot picture any thing more attractive 
 than Nature and Art combined have produced here. 
 The grounds are well situated for the kind of im- 
 provements which have been made ; and the united 
 taste of Rousseau and Girardin has taken advantage 
 of them. If there is a grot or a winding stream, 
 you would say the hand of Nature, not Art, had 
 placed them there ; and the disposition of every thing 
 is as near the works of that goddess as possible. 
 The useful and the agreeable are wonderfully united. 
 The extent of the grounds is about eight hundred 
 acres ; and you can walk over no part of it which is 
 not extremely pleasant and interesting. 
 
182 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " A melancholy event took place here a few years 
 smce, which is not mentioned in the book I pur- 
 chased, and therefore I shall note it. In keeping 
 this memorandum-book, my object is not to describe 
 the places I see, but merely to mention my having 
 seen them, that I may have my recollection refreshed 
 at a future day, and have it in my power to point out 
 to those of my immediate connection such places as 
 in my opinion may be worth their attention. I there- 
 fore do not pretend to particularize what those who 
 go over the same places would have an opportunity of 
 seeing, but merely what may have fallen in my way 
 by accident, and what, without a note, might escape 
 them. It was the custom of M. Girardin to request 
 the names of those persons who visited his grounds, 
 that, in case any person of distinction was at Erme- 
 nonville, he might have an opportunity of showing 
 him civilities which he would not otherwise receive ; 
 therefore the conductor was always ordered to ask 
 the name and quality of those whom he was about to 
 take over the place, and report them to the marquis. 
 A gentleman, whose appearance was very much that of 
 a person of distinction, wishing to see the place, the 
 man whose business it was to show the grounds asked 
 him his name, condition, &c. He answered, that he 
 was without fortune, title, or name; and therefore 
 requested that he might be excused from waiting on 
 Monsieur Girardin, who, from his appearance, had 
 been led to suppose he was a person of some note, 
 and had therefore desired to offer him some atten- 
 tion. He walked over every part of the gardens and 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 183 
 
 woods, and passed several hours in contemplating the 
 beauties of the place. He then returned to the house, 
 and took his leave. Four days afterwards, he returned 
 to Ermenonville, and retired to a very romantic spot 
 in the woods, where he ended his days with a pistol. 
 He left in his pocket a note to M. Girardin, begging 
 his forgiveness for the outrage he had committed upon 
 his territory, but not mentioning the cause of it. The 
 man who told me the story was the person who was 
 with him the first time in the wood, and who has 
 indeed, for twenty years, filled the same oifice he 
 now does. He represents him as being about thirty 
 years of age, and of a beautiful and engaging appear- 
 ance. He spoke French well, though he was not a 
 native of this country, but had more the appearance 
 of being an Englishman than of any other nation ; 
 and, from his end, I think it quite probable he was so. 
 It is rather singular that they could never trace the 
 place he came from, and to this day are uninformed 
 as to every other circumstance respecting him save his 
 exit. M. Girardin has raised a very decent stone 
 to mark the place where he lies, with this inscription, 
 which I copied on the spot : — ■ 
 
 '4 Juin, 1791. 
 Helas, pauvre inconnu ! si tu tiens de I'amour 
 Une obscure naissance et ta noble figure, 
 Devois-tu, dans ces lieux, outrager la nature 
 Comme un autre Werther, en t'y privant du jour ? ' 
 
 "As it was the particular wish of M. Rousseau 
 that his remains should rest where he had passed so 
 many pleasant hours, it seems an outrage upon his 
 
184 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ashes to take them from the place where they reposed, 
 even to do them the honors of the Pantheon, where 
 they now are, particularly as he is laid beside Voltaire, 
 with whom he was on very bad terms, and between 
 whom and himself there was no love lost. The monu- 
 ment which held this remarkable man still remains 
 in the Island of Poplars. The only inscription which 
 was marked on the stone before the remains of llous- 
 seau were removed was — 
 
 ' Ici repose I'homme dc la nature et de la verit6.' 
 
 It is now changed to — 
 
 * Ici reposa riiomme de la nature ct dc la vcritc.' 
 
 " I never remember to have been more highly grati- 
 fied than on this day. From what I had heard of the 
 place from some countrymen of mine who had visited 
 it a few days before, I was not in the expectation of 
 being much pleased, and, perhaps from the disap- 
 pointment, enjoyed it the more. 
 
 " The water, woods, the vast number of beautiful 
 poplars, and indeed every thing, serve to make it as 
 romantic as one can imagine. We passed four hours 
 at this place, and then set off for Paris. The ride 
 through the park is fine, and indeed very interest- 
 ing quite to Louvres, where we arrived about eight 
 o'clock; and, finding we could not get post-horses 
 that night, we made the best of it, and quietly went 
 to rest. 
 
 " We felt much gratified by our tour, and recom- 
 mend every one who has a little spare time to make 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 185 
 
 the same. M. Girardin still resides at Ermenonville, 
 though he did not happen to be there when we visited 
 his place. He was under arrest in the reign of terror; 
 and would probably have shared the same fate with 
 thousands of innocent persons, had Robespierre lived 
 longer. Upon his exit, M. Girardin was liberated. 
 He has the character of a very benevolent man, 
 and is said to be much beloved by the village. He 
 had built a house on purpose for Rousseau, which he 
 never inhabited. He lived and died in a building 
 contiguous to the chateau. 
 
 "Rousseau died in 1778. His wife is still living 
 in the neighborhood ; but, as she and her husband 
 were not on good terms for years before his death, she 
 is not taken any notice of by M. Girardin. As every 
 one loved her husband, it is not unnatural that her 
 ill conduct towards him should have caused her 
 enemies." 
 
 The diary is continued in England; and in these 
 times, when travellers approach London and leave it 
 by railroads, it may be a curiosity to see the remarks 
 of a traveller made at the time when it was necessary 
 to prepare for an attack of highwaymen, if crossing 
 Blackheath in a post-chaise after dark ; and when it 
 took the better part of a day, on leaving London, to 
 go fifty-five miles to Oxford. Mr. Perkins was never 
 robbed in England ; but he avoided it one night by 
 threatening to shoot the driver, who seemed to linger, 
 and, as was afterwards ascertained, was in league with 
 some " gentlemen of the road." 
 
 2i 
 
186 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " 26th July, J1794. — This morning, I left Paris for 
 Havre de Grace, with a light heart at the idea of once 
 more bending my course towards my native country. 
 
 " 27th. — This day is the anniversary of the over- 
 throw of Robespierre and his party, and is ordered to 
 be celebrated throughout the llepublic as ?Lfcte. The 
 Convention is to be dressed in its robes, and an oration 
 to be delivered. We have seen no parade on the road 
 on account of the day. 
 
 " 28th. — We find the packet, which is to take 
 us across the Channel, will not sail until two days 
 hence. 
 
 " I have taken a very general survey of Havre de 
 Grace and its harbor and basins this day, and find 
 the latter very well worthy of attention. The city of 
 Havre is built pnnci pally of stone and brick ; and 
 the houses covered more with slate than tile, as in 
 other tOAvns in France. The streets are tolerably 
 regular, but narrow and dirty in the extreme. The 
 situation of this place for business is excellent : with- 
 in twelve hours' sail of England, and so near the sea, 
 with the advantage of being the port through which 
 Rouen and Paris, with all the manufacturing towns 
 in their neighborhood, must be supplied, — advan- 
 tages which are but rarely combined. The town is 
 much smaller than I had imagined, — containing but 
 about eighteen thousand inhabitants. The basins, 
 which have been dug out for the admission of ship- 
 ping, are competent to contain several hundred 
 vessels ; and they are now at work upon another, 
 larger than the two at present in use, and which I 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 187 
 
 am told will, when complete, contain five hundred 
 sail of vessels. They are all lined with brown stone ; 
 and vessels of a thousand tons lie afloat constantly. 
 They are extremely severe as to the execution of the 
 laws to be observed in this harbor, or dock, respecting 
 fires and candles ; which is undoubtedly very neces- 
 sary, as the consequence would be fatal to most of 
 the fleet, should one vessel take fire. There are two 
 frigates now lying in the basins, fitting for a cruise. 
 
 " Before the war, there was a large number of ves- 
 sels engaged in the Guinea trade from this place. 
 This, and indeed all other navigation belonging to 
 the inhabitants, is at an end, excepting that with neu- 
 trals, which is considerable. 
 
 " 29th. — The captain who is to take us over is not 
 yet ready to sail ; and I must murder this, and I fear 
 another, day here. 
 
 " I forgot to mention a peculiarity in the dress of 
 the women's heads, which strikes a stranger as very 
 odd. The head-dress consists of a cap, of which the 
 fore part is drawn closely over the fore part of the 
 head, and only shows the lower part of the hair on 
 the forehead, which is smoothed down with pomatum 
 as close as possible. The cap is made of muslin, and 
 runs up to a peak ; which in some instances is, I am 
 sure, half a yard high. From this peak are pendent 
 two lappets, extending to the shoulder; which alto- 
 gether form a very curious, and to my mind a very 
 ridiculous, dress. 
 
 "August 1st, Margate. — We made the land last 
 evening about six o'clock, and saw an immense fleet 
 
188 MEMOIR OF 
 
 of vessels passing and repassing. We were shown to 
 a very elegant hotel, where we breakfasted ; and, at 
 eleven o'clock, jumped into a post-chaise for London. 
 
 " 2d. — The difference between travelling in France 
 and England is very striking. Bad horses, and still 
 more badly harnessed ; a ragged postilion, with a pair 
 of jack-boots of about his own weight ; wretched 
 inns, if they deserve that name at all ; and unac- 
 commodating post-masters and inn-keepers, we have 
 changed for horses that would grace the carriage of 
 any one ; a postilion neatly dressed and complaisant ; 
 inns where one can be as well accommodated as possi- 
 ble, and half a dozen powdered beaux to receive you 
 when you alight from your carriage. These items, to 
 say nothing of a difference in point of price of about 
 one hundred per cent, make up this difference. The 
 roads, though not paved as in France, are remarkably 
 good, and only want width to make them excellent. 
 The number of carriages we met upon the road this 
 day is surprising, and speaks the luxury of the inhabi- 
 tants of the country. The country through which 
 we have passed is admirably fine, and under high 
 cultivation. The hedge fences which separate the 
 grounds are highly ornamental, and serve very much 
 to beautify the country. 
 
 On our arrival at Dartford, we did not feel alto- 
 gether satisfied with taking with us what articles of 
 value we were possessed of; and therefore made up a 
 package, and sent them by the mail-coach. There 
 are but few post-chaises that take the risk of crossing 
 Blackheath after dark, particularly if not armed ; 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 189 
 
 but we were anxious to get to town, and therefore 
 undertook it, and happily passed Shooter's Hill and 
 Blackheath without any interruption ; and, at twelve 
 o'clock, were set down at the London Coffee House, 
 Ludgate Hill 
 
 "12th. — To-day, fell in with a number of gentle- 
 men who were going to visit Newgate ; and, as I had 
 a curiosity to gratify as well as they, I was admitted 
 as one of the party. Our introduction was through 
 the sheriff ; and without this, or an acquaintance 
 with the superintendent, it is difficult to get a view of 
 this celebrated prison. To look at the walls of New- 
 gate, one would suppose it was capable of standing 
 a regular siege ; but experience proves to us that a 
 London mob is capable of overcoming the enormous 
 strength even of this place, which was attacked at the 
 time of the Gordon riots, and every part of the inte- 
 rior which was combustible was set on fire, and con- 
 sumed. 
 
 " The overseer of Newgate at this time is a man of 
 much respectability, and appears to be as humane a 
 being as is generally to be met with ; and there was 
 not a prisoner whose rooms we visited whose eyes did 
 not bless him as he passed. There are as many as 
 eight different yards within the walls of the prison, 
 where the prisoners can walk ; but, as it would not 
 do to let them mix together, they are there separated 
 in the day by walls of an immense height, and at 
 night locked in their several rooms. This amelioration 
 of the lot of misery of those whose misfortunes have 
 placed them there has taken place within a few years ; 
 
190 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and the police of the prison is now in conformity 
 with the recommendations of the philanthropic Dr. 
 Howard. The cleanliness of every apartment is very 
 striking. 
 
 "After we had visited the several parts of the felons' 
 departments, and also those of debtors of a certain 
 class, we were introduced to the chamber of a Mr. 
 Lloyd, who, in the year 1793, was charged and con- 
 victed of a seditious libel against the king and consti- 
 tution of England, and condemned to an hour's exposi- 
 tion in the pillory, three years' imprisonment, and to 
 find sureties for his good behavior for five years for one 
 thousand pounds. He has about six months still to 
 suffer ; which, in comparison with what he has under- 
 gone, seems but a short time. He calls himself an 
 American ; and though he is not so by birth, yet he is 
 truly so by residence, having taken the oaths necessary 
 to qualify him as such. He complams loudly of our 
 government not having interfered for him ; but cannot, 
 in my opinion, reasonably expect it. When a man 
 will live under a government which he does not call 
 his own, of which he pays not for the support, and 
 has nothing to do with except to receive its protec- 
 tion from violence, he ought, most certainly, not to 
 make himself busy with what he thinks the weak 
 parts of it. It is enough for those who live under 
 the government as citizens to find fault in public; 
 and Mr. Lloyd's fate, though a hard one, he very 
 richly deserved, in my opinion. 
 
 " The celebrated Major Semple we also saw. He is 
 now under sentence of transportation to Botany Bay 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 191 
 
 for seven years. This extraordinary man was in 
 America three years of the last war, and was wound- 
 ed in the engagement of Bunker's Hill. Being en- 
 tirely disabled by a ball in his groin, he returned to 
 this country in 1778, and since that period has 
 lived by his talents, by which, had they been turned 
 to virtue instead of vice, he might have become one 
 of the brightest gems of society. His understand- 
 ing is very much refined and cultivated in various 
 branches of literature ; and his appearance and man- 
 ners are those of a perfect gentleman, and give him 
 great advantages in deceiving those he may have a 
 design upon. His principal crime has been swin- 
 dling, of which he was master to as great a degree as 
 was ever known. One pleasant story is told of him ; 
 and I am afraid it is a fact. Being at two hundred 
 miles' distance from London, and very anxious to get 
 there, where his talents were at the best market, he 
 pitched upon a mode which succeeded to a charm. 
 Having accidentally heard that a gentleman, who 
 was at a neighboring tavern, was about to set off for 
 London alone, he threw himself in his way, and was 
 cursing his ill stars that he was under the necessity 
 of taking a journey of two hundred miles alone in a 
 solitary post-chaise. The gentleman immediately in- 
 quired which way his route lay ; when he informed 
 him that he was going to London. The other said he 
 esteemed himself very fortunate in having met him ; 
 for he was about to take the same journey, and should 
 have been under the necessity of going alone, if his 
 good fortune had not thrown a companion in his 
 
192 MEMOIR OF 
 
 way. When they arrived at the first post-house, 
 Semple was going to pay his half the post-hire ; but, 
 returning his money to his pocket, observed that it 
 was best that one should pay the whole of the ex- 
 pense, and that he would discharge his half upon 
 their arrival at London. This was readily assented 
 to. Semple called for the best the houses on the 
 road afforded; and, upon their arrival in London, 
 they drove to a tavern, and were to settle their ac- 
 counts in the morning ; but, to the surprise and con- 
 fusion of the dupe, Mr. Semple had taken himself off, 
 and left him to put up with the loss of his money, 
 and the reflection of having travelled as the friend of 
 a man of this description. A few weeks after this 
 elopement, Semple called upon the gentleman whom 
 he had thus injured, and apologized to him by saying 
 that he was without a farthing ; that his good stars 
 had not smiled upon him since, for that he was now 
 penniless: and he finished by requesting the loan 
 of five guineas ; which was given him for his inge- 
 nuity. The appearance of Semple warrants this 
 story; and I am convinced I should have fallen a 
 sacrifice to him in the same way, under similar cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 " The crime for which he is now to be transported 
 is for borrowing a shirt under some feigned name, 
 and not returning it. This would not have sent him 
 out of the country, had he not been before transported. 
 I am told he is very eloquent in his defence, and 
 astonishes all who see and hear him. His age I 
 should suppose forty, and his general appearance as 
 much that of a gentleman as can be imagined. 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 193 
 
 " Among others, we had pointed out to us a man 
 who has had the epithet of savage affixed to him for 
 his peculiar malice of disposition. He, for some time 
 before his detection, stabbed women in the street 
 with a knife he had made for the purpose. His 
 habit was to get into a crowd, and then cut them 
 across the hands or bosom; and his object seemed 
 no other than to injure their persons, as no attempt 
 was made to take their property. What his fate is I 
 know not ; what he merits I can conceive. 
 
 " I was the other day informed of a fact I had little 
 idea of; which is, that the horses in England consume 
 nearly half the whole produce of the soil. This, at 
 first blush, will appear incredible ; but, when it is 
 known that there is a horse to every six persons in 
 the kingdom, this astonishment will decrease. It is 
 said that the three kingdoms of England, Ireland, and 
 Scotland, contain twelve millions of souls ; of which 
 England numbers seven, Ireland three, and Scotland 
 two ; so that England must, according to the calcula- 
 tion above, contain 1,166,666 horses. And, as the 
 estimation is that a horse will consume as much as 
 six persons (of all ages), the assertion above, that the 
 horses eat one-half of the produce of the earth, will 
 appear undoubted. There have been several attempts 
 to reduce the number, and horses are taxed very high ; 
 but the wealth of those who possess them is sufficient 
 to surmount this difficulty. The tax upon a single 
 horse is light ; that upon two, higher ; and it ad- 
 vances to a considerable sum upon the eighth or 
 tenth horse. The number of horses which are daily 
 
 25 
 
194 MEMOIR OF 
 
 seen in London is almost incredible. I have observed 
 some of the town-carts numbered as high as fifty-seven 
 thousand ; and I am told they amount to sixty thou- 
 sand. There are also twelve hundred hackney-coaches 
 always on the stands in and about London. These 
 make but an inconsiderable part of the number of 
 horses belonging to private persons, public post-chaises, 
 mail and stage coaches, riding-horses, &c. Besides 
 the numbered carts, there are thousands not num- 
 bered ; and the immense number of brewers' carts is 
 not included. In some of the great avenues, the 
 number of carriages is sometimes so great that one 
 cannot cross the street for a long time together. 
 
 " There is, perhaps, no place where a man may 
 travel more at his ease than in England, or where 
 he will pay more heavily for it. There is no part of 
 the country a man can be in where he cannot have a 
 post-chaise, for any distance, in five minutes from the 
 time he calls for it ; and the despatch in going over 
 the ground is as great as in preparing for it. Eight 
 miles is the rate at which they commonly drive ; but 
 they will, for a sixpence, add two more to it 
 
 " 13th. — I yesterday dined with Mr. Deas, the 
 American charge d'affaires, where I met with a young 
 gentleman of the name of Huger, from South Caro- 
 lina, who has just returned from Germany. While 
 on the continent, he met with a particular friend of 
 the Marquis de La Fayette, who was at that time 
 digesting a plan for effecting the escape of the mar- 
 quis, and in which he engaged our countryman to 
 embark with him. 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 195 
 
 " As the marquis had feigned illness, and had per- 
 mission to ride out under a guard of two men, the plan 
 was that our adventurers should attack the guards, 
 having first furnished horses at an appointed place, 
 and that they should all take different routes. The 
 plan was executed with success, so far as to rescue 
 the marquis. They then separated. The alarm went 
 forth ; but La Fayette,' when within twenty miles of 
 the frontier of Germany, was asked for his passport. 
 Having none to show, he was carried before the 
 magistrate of the town, who was upon the point of 
 discharging him, when one of the clerks of the house, 
 who passed by accident through the room, no sooner 
 saw the face of the marquis than he recognized him, 
 and declared the fact immediately. He was recon- 
 ducted to his prison, where he has been kept ever 
 since with more rigor, but not enough to endanger 
 his health. Huger and his friend were both taken 
 and kept in close confinement eight months, where 
 they suffered very severely, not having the use of 
 books, pen, ink, or paper. Mr. Huger mentions a 
 singular anecdote with regard to the marquis while in 
 his first confinement. In the same prison where he 
 was, there was one of his officers also confined. The 
 officers who visited them being particularly charged 
 to be careful that there was no correspondence be- 
 tween them, they fell upon the following expedient : 
 The rooms of the two friends were adjoining, — that 
 is, they were only separated by an entry ; so that the 
 dinner came to the marquis, and was immediately 
 carried to his friend, or sometimes from his friend to 
 
196 MEMOIR OF 
 
 him. Their general mess was carrot-soup. The mar- 
 quis formed a piece of wood into the shape of a carrot, 
 and colored it, making it hollow. Thus he wrote 
 what he pleased; and, slipping the carrot into the 
 large tub, his friend pitched upon that, and, when 
 the jailer had returned, opened his artificial carrot, 
 and feasted upon its contents. Thus they correspond- 
 ed for some time ; until an accident happened, which 
 entirely defeated any future attempt, or rather the 
 success of any. As the attendant was carrying the 
 soup from one room to the other, some one, who felt 
 a great inducement to taste a carrot, unfortunately 
 fixed upon this one, which he found to be hard, and, 
 upon further examination, observed it was of wood. 
 Thus the business was discovered, and an end put to 
 their mode of correspondence. What expedients will 
 not the human mind resort to, to obtain that most 
 precious blessing, liberty"? What sacrifices will it 
 not make, and what risks not run ? This depriva- 
 tion to the marquis must be peculiarly aggravating. 
 His anxiety, too, for his wife and children must be 
 great indeed, particularly if he has by any means 
 heard of the dreadful slaughter there has been in 
 France, regardless of sex, age, or degree. His own 
 family has been among those who have lost some of 
 their nearest friends and connections. I have the 
 pleasure to learn that the wife of the marquis has left 
 France, and that she has gone to Hamburg. 
 
 " Saw the Drury-Lane performers, and Mrs. Sid- 
 dons, and her brother, Mr. Kemble, in ' Isabella.' 
 Their performances were almost beyond praise. Had 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PEKKINS. 197 
 
 Mr. Kemble a better voice, he would appear to much 
 greater advantage. 
 
 " 23d. — This day, left London in a post-chaise 
 for Bristol, where my intention is to take passage for 
 America, either in the ' Richmond ' or the ' Severn.' 
 Mr. Pollard takes the chaise with me ; and our inten- 
 tion is to go out of the general route, and take Oxford 
 in our way. 
 
 "29th. — Arrived at Oxford in the evening of the 
 day on which we left London, which is fifty-five miles." 
 
 One result of this visit to Europe is thus mentioned 
 in the autobiographical sketch already referred to : — 
 
 " The circumstance of my interference in sending 
 young La Fayette to this country was the cause of 
 one of the most interesting events of my life. It 
 was known to Gen. Washington, through the father 
 or son, or both, that I had been active in efi'ecting 
 the removal of the young man to this country ; and, 
 from the great partiality he had for the marquis, 
 he was pleased to regard the actors in a favorable 
 light. 
 
 "In the summer of 1796, I visited the city of 
 Washington, which was decided upon as the future 
 seat of government, though Congress still sat at 
 Philadelphia. While I was there, Gen. Washington 
 passed some days at the new seat of government. He 
 lodged at the house of Mr. Peters, who married a 
 Miss Custis, grand-daughter of Mrs. AVashington. At 
 a ball given by Mrs. Peters, to which I was invited, 
 
198 MEMOIR OF 
 
 I was introduced to the General by Col. Lear, his 
 private secretary, and was. graciously received, and 
 invited to visit Mount Vernon, and pass some time 
 there. This was not to be declined ; and, a few days 
 after, I went, as invited, to pay my respects to the 
 man I cherished in my mind beyond any earthly 
 being. There was no company there except Mr. 
 Thomas Porter, formerly of Boston, who then lived at 
 Alexandria, with whom I was intimately acquainted, 
 and who was a great favorite at Mount Vernon. He 
 took me to the residence of Gen. Washington, and 
 returned after dinner to his own residence. 
 
 " It is well known that the General was not in 
 the habit of talking on political subjects with any but 
 those connected with him in the government. Indeed, 
 he was what may be called a silent man, except when 
 necessity called upon him to be otherwise. He con- 
 versed with me on internal improvements ; and ob- 
 served to me, that I should probably live to see an 
 internal communication, by canals and rivers, from 
 Georgia to Massachusetts. The State of Maine had 
 not then been separated from the old Bay State. He 
 little thought, at that time or ever, of the railroads 
 which now span the country. Gen. Washington, it 
 is understood, was the first projector of the Dismal 
 Swamp Canal, between Chesapeake Bay and Albemarle 
 Sound, in North Carolina, at that time a great under- 
 taking, as well as the lockage of the Little Falls of 
 Potomac. As was before remarked, I was the only 
 guest at Mount Vernon at the time spoken of Mrs. 
 Washington, and her grand-daughter. Miss Nelly 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 199 
 
 Custis, with the General, were the only inmates of 
 the parlor. 
 
 "The situation of Mount Vernon is known to 
 every one to be of surpassing beauty. It stands on 
 the banks of the Potomac, but much elevated above 
 the river, and affords an extensive view of this beau- 
 tiful piece of water and of the opposite shore. At 
 the back of the house, overlooking the river, is a wide 
 piazza, which was the general resort in the afternoon. 
 On one occasion, when sitting there with the family, 
 a toad passed near to where I sat conversing with 
 Gen. "Washington ; which led him to ask me if I 
 had ever observed this reptile swallow a fire-fly. 
 Upon my answering in the negative, he told me that 
 he had ; and that, from the thinness of the skin of 
 the toad, he had seen the light of the fire-fly after it 
 had been swallowed. This was a new, and to me a 
 surprising, fact in natural history. 
 
 " I need not remark how deeply I was interested in 
 every word which fell from the lips of this great man. 
 I found Mrs. Washington to be an extremely pleasant 
 and unaflected lady, rather silent ; but this was made 
 up for by the facetious and pleasant young lady, Miss 
 Custis, who afterwards married Major Lewis, a nephew 
 of the General, and who is yet living. During the 
 day, the General was either in his study, or in the sad- 
 dle overlooking the cultivation of his farm. 
 
 " I shall never forget a circumstance which took 
 place on the first evening I lodged at Mount Vernon. 
 As I have said before, it was in July, when the day 
 trenched far upon the evening, and at seven or eight 
 
200 MEMOIR OF 
 
 o'clock we were taking our tea ; not long after which, 
 the ladies retired. Knowing the habit of the General, 
 when not prevented by business, to retire early, at 
 about nine o'clock I made a movement in my chair ; 
 which led the General to ask me if I wished to retire 
 to my chamber. Upon my answering in the affirma- 
 tive, observing there was no servant in the room, 
 he took one of the candles from the table, leading the 
 way to the great staircase ; then gave me the candle, 
 and pointed out to me the door at the head of the 
 stairs as my sleeping-room. Think of this ! 
 
 " In the room in which I laid myself down — for I 
 do not think I slept at all, so much was I occupied 
 with the occurrences of the day — was a portrait of 
 La Fayette the elder, and, hanging over the fireplace, 
 the key of the Bastille ; which, I believe, retain the 
 same places to this day. On the afternoon of the 
 second day after I arrived, I took my leave of Mount 
 Vernon, more gratified than I can express. 
 
 " In the autumn of the year of my visit, Mr. 
 Stuart (Gilbert) painted the full-length portrait of 
 the General ; which is much the best likeness I have 
 ever seen of him. The bust I have, also by Stuart, 
 is a fac-si7)iile of the original. The portrait of Mrs. 
 Washington too, by Stuart, now in the Atheneeum, 
 is an excellent likeness of that excellent lady. I re- 
 member her amiable expression of countenance, and 
 courteous, unafiected manner, as well at this time as 
 half a century since. 
 
 " The President, having inquired of me if I had 
 visited the Great Falls of the Potomac, and being 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 201 
 
 answered in the negative, observed to me, that I ought 
 not to leave that part of the country without visiting 
 them. I made the excursion, though pressed for 
 time, and to my great satisfaction. 
 
 " I consider the visit to Mount Vernon as one of 
 the most interesting of my life. It was the only op- 
 portunity which I should have ever had of conversing 
 familiarly with this great and good man. Two years 
 after my visit, he died, at his residence, of croup. It 
 is stated that he was not well treated for the disorder, 
 and that with more skill his life might have been pre- 
 served ; though I doubt if his happiness would have 
 been preserved to him, had his life been spared. De- 
 traction and calumny had assailed him. 
 
 " The new city of Washington, when I was there, 
 had but few houses. The Capitol was not built for 
 many years afterwards ; and, when Congress first sat 
 there, it occupied, I think, a building erected by means 
 of a tontine speculation, got up by a Mr. Blodget, 
 who went from Massachusetts, and was well known 
 as a great projector of speculations of one sort and 
 another." 
 
 About this time he was made commander of a mili- 
 tary corps, — the battalion which constitutes the guard 
 and escort for public occasions of the Governor of the 
 Commonwealth of Massachusetts, — with the rank of 
 lieutenant-colonel, having for some time previously 
 held that of major in the same corps. 
 
 With some persons, it may excite only a smile of 
 derision to mention this as worth remembering, and 
 
 26 
 
202 MEMOIR OF 
 
 particularly to add, as the cause of any allusion to it, 
 that he was so generally known afterwards as Col. 
 Perkins, that his numerous acquaintances throughout 
 the country might be in doubt whether he is the in- 
 dividual spoken of in this memoir, if that appellation 
 were omitted. But there are some considerations con- 
 nected with this that deserve notice. The foreigner 
 smiles or frowns, as he feels disposed, when he hears 
 any reference among us to military rank beyond the 
 field or day parade, unless it be of the regular army ; 
 but in this he overlooks the fact, that the customs of 
 a nation are usually connected with its history and 
 political character. Military rank among quiet citi- 
 zens is not so empty a distinction here as it may seem, 
 but constitutes a pledge which it may become neces- 
 sary to redeem in earnest. A large portion of the 
 bloodiest and most important battles that have ever 
 occurred among us have been fought chiefly by the 
 militia. The deference paid to it here is not greater 
 now than that with which the same force was regarded 
 in England, when the regiment of Coldstream Guards 
 formed a large part of the standing army, then no 
 greater than ours is at present; when, indeed, the 
 only army which the law had recognized in that 
 country but a short time before was the militia. 
 
 *'The king was the sole captain-general of this large 
 force. The lords, heutenants, and their deputies, held the 
 command under him, and appointed meetings for drillings 
 and inspection. . . . There were those who looked on the 
 militia with no friendly eye. . . . The enemies of the liberties 
 and rehgion of England looked with aversion on a force 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 203 
 
 which could not, without extreme risk, be employed against 
 those liberties and that religion, and missed no opportunity 
 of throwing ridicule on the rustic soldiery, ... In Parlia- 
 ment, however, it was necessary to express such opinions 
 with some reserve. . . . The array of the counties was com- 
 manded almost exclusively by Tory noblemen and gentlemen. 
 They were proud of their military rank, and considered an 
 insult to the service to which they belonged as offered to 
 themselves. They were also perfectly aware, that whatever 
 was said against a militia was said in favor of a standing 
 army ; and the name of a standing army was hateful to 
 them." * 
 
 As that standing army was gradually enlarged, 
 however, and the profession of arms became an oc- 
 cupation for life, a change naturally followed; the 
 exclusive feeling in favor of professional rank gained 
 strength ; and the recognition of any similar claim 
 for the militia was discouraged as a matter of taste, 
 because it aifected privilege. 
 
 But no such change has taken place here. We 
 have no intention of having a standing army, beyond 
 a mere nucleus, from which we can extend, when 
 necessary, with an academy for the thorough educa- 
 tion of officers, — having no need of more. 
 
 It is not a mere channel or a narrow sea, but the 
 broad ocean, that separates us from those nations 
 whose power could ever endanger our safety; and if 
 such power should be directed against us, our coast 
 and frontier being equal in extent to those of several 
 of the kingdoms of Europe taken together, no army 
 that we are likely ever to have could guard the line of 
 
 * Macaulay. 
 
204 MEMOIR OF 
 
 exposure. We rely, therefore, mainly on the local 
 force of the country for security in war, and for the 
 maintenance of order in peace. Some attempts have 
 been made among us to break down the militia by 
 ridicule ; but it seems probable, that, until vast changes 
 take place in other respects, we shall not dispense 
 with this system, which by its efficient action gains 
 deference for itself, in comparison with what is done 
 elsewhere. Many proofs that it does so might be 
 given. One will answer. 
 
 In 1849, the year succeeding that of revolutions in 
 Europe, a serious disturbance occurred in the city of 
 New York, in the dramatic performances there, arising 
 from displeasure towards an eminent foreign tragedian. 
 The theatre was surrounded by a vast multitude, many 
 of them in a state of great excitement ; acts of violence 
 were committed ; property and life were endangered ; 
 and that state of things existed which is thought to 
 warrant the use of military force. It came promptly 
 when summoned : numbers of people were killed and 
 wounded ; the mob was dispersed, and order was 
 restored. When the account of this reached Eng- 
 land, it was remarked in one of the leading journals 
 there, with reference to a similar event which had 
 just then occurred under British rule, that we had, at 
 any rate, given an example to governments of greater 
 energy in form than our own how to deal with rioters. 
 In the same steamer that carried this account, or the 
 one that preceded it, there went the particulars of a 
 riot, just over our frontier, in Canada. There, the 
 nobleman who represented the majesty of England 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 205 
 
 was driven by the mob from the seat of government, 
 and pursued towards his country-seat ; the Parliament 
 House was burned, with the archives, a library of 
 great value, and other public property ; and, if any 
 punishment has ever been inflicted for this, it must 
 have been so slight that it has scarcely been heard of 
 out of the province. 
 
 There is likewise something of exaggeration in 
 reference to the use of military titles in this country. 
 Where a dozen instances can be given of it, often 
 arising accidentally from assiduous attention, personal 
 appearance, or otherwise, probably a score of others 
 might be adduced where there is no further allusion 
 to rank in the militia after the service is performed, 
 even including some officers who have met a foreign 
 enemy successfully in battle. 
 
 But Col. Perkins was a man distinguished for 
 energy, for a lively interest in all that concerned the 
 welfare of the community in which he lived, and for 
 a desire to maintain and promote its respectability. 
 He acted with vigor in times of great excitement. A 
 prominent part was frequently assigned him, either to 
 assist in the direction of public meetings, or as leader 
 on important committees ; and, his name being neces- 
 sarily often in print, he was designated, naturally 
 enough, in the way that indicated its connection with 
 public order, and thus added something to its weight. 
 The military rank, therefore, which might otherwise 
 have soon been forgotten, as it generally has been in 
 regard to those who have held it in the same corps, 
 but with less distinction in other respects, became 
 
206 MEMOIR OF 
 
 widely associated with his name, and so continued 
 until his decease. This was the more natural, because 
 the tone of his character and his ordinary bearing 
 were obviously in keeping with the sentiment which 
 he once proposed for a toast at some military festival : 
 " That high and honorable feeling which makes gen- 
 tlemen soldiers, and soldiers gentlemen." 
 
 Soon afterwards he was chosen President of the 
 Boston branch of the United States Bank; quite a 
 distinction at that time, when there were few banks in 
 the country, and a remarkable one for a man so young 
 as he was then. The choice was owing to a warm 
 rivalry for the honor between two distinguished mer- 
 chants, much older than himself; whose friends at 
 length mutually agreed to end the contest by select- 
 ing a third candidate, on whom all could unite. He 
 was too much engaged in his own enterprises to retain 
 the place long ; and in a year or two he was succeeded 
 by the Hon. George Cabot, eminent not only as a 
 commercial man, but as a Senator of the United 
 States. 
 
 In 1805, he was elected to the Senate of the State, 
 as he frequently was afterwards ; and, for eighteen or 
 twenty years following, he was, most of the time, 
 member of one branch or the other of the Legisla- 
 ture, but generally of the Senate, unless absent from 
 the country. Being a man of few words, he rarely 
 took part in debate ; but his opinions were marked 
 by decision. What he said was to the point ; his lan- 
 guage was good ; and, when he was strongly moved, 
 he spoke with power. One of his colleagues in the 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 207 
 
 Senate, who afterwards had long experience in Con- 
 gress, and was favorably distinguished there as well 
 as at the bar, has remarked since, that he had rarely 
 heard public men make a short, ofF-hand speech with 
 more effect than Col. Perkins occasionally did, when 
 his feelings were deeply engaged in the subject of 
 debate. 
 
 He was never in Congress himself, although his 
 election would have been certain if he would have 
 accepted a nomination as candidate ; and there were 
 several occasions when it was desirable to his political 
 friends, who predominated by a large majority in his 
 district, to have had a commercial representative there 
 like him. It is understood that he might at one time 
 have been made Secretary of the Navy, if he had been 
 disposed to take charge of that department of the 
 national government. But he does not appear to 
 have been desirous of political distinction ; and the 
 engagements in commerce which required his atten- 
 tion were too important to be made subordinate to 
 any other demands on his time. 
 
 In the narrative addressed to his children, after 
 relating the foregoing circumstances of his visit to 
 Mount Vernon, he proceeds as follows : — ■- 
 
 " But to return to the object of these dottings- 
 down, ' — my own concerns. The north-west trade led 
 to a continued communication with China ; and, in 
 1798, we bought, and sent to Canton direct, the ship 
 ' Thomas Hussell ; ' and Mr. Ephraim Bumstead, then 
 the eldest apprentice in our counting-house, went out 
 
208 MEMOIR OF 
 
 as supercargo; and, in 1803, we entered into an en- 
 gagement with him to go to China, and there estabUsh 
 a house for the transaction of our own and other 
 business when offered. Mr. Bumstead took passage 
 in a ship from Providence, belonging partly to mer- 
 chants there, and to J. and T. H. Perkins. 
 
 " Mr. J. P. Gushing, then in our counting-house, 
 went with Mr. Bumstead as his clerk. He was then 
 sixteen years old, wrote a fine hand, was a very steady 
 lad, and had a great taste for going abroad. Soon 
 after their arrival in China, Mr. Bumstead was obliged, 
 from illness, to leave Canton, with the intention of 
 recruiting, and then returning to China. But he 
 never returned, having died on the passage to the 
 port for which he was bound. 
 
 " Mr. Cushing was, therefore, left at this early age 
 to manage the concerns of the house, which were 
 increased by consignments, and which required a 
 good head to direct them. This, fortunately, Mr. 
 Cushing possessed; and the business which fell into 
 his hands was as well conducted as if Mr. Bumstead 
 had been on the spot. We afterwards sent a nephew 
 of my brother's wife, Mr. Paine, to join him. He 
 remained but a short time in China. Mr. Cushing 
 was taken into copartnership with us ; and so con- 
 tinued until his return to America, or rather to the 
 dissolution of the house in 1827. He had visited 
 the United States in 1807; but soon returned to 
 China, and did not leave it until twenty years after 
 that time. He was well repaid for his undertaking 
 by the result." 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 209 
 
 When the tidings of Mr. Bumstead's death reached 
 Boston, Col. Perkins immediately decided to go to 
 China himself, as there seemed to him to be no alter- 
 native in such an emergency ; and he made prepara- 
 tions for his departure accordingly. But, just before 
 he was ready to sail, a vessel arrived in a short pas- 
 sage from Canton, with letters from Mr. Cushing, 
 who was his nephew, giving so clear a report of the 
 business of the house, and showing so much ability 
 in the management of it, that he felt safe in postpon- 
 ing his voyage at first, and afterwards in relinquishing 
 it altogether, as it became obvious that Mr. Cushing, 
 young as he was, needed no aid in performing the 
 duties thus devolved upon him. 
 
 Under his guidance, the house there was at length 
 so favorably known, that consignments increased until 
 they interfered with the business of the house itself, 
 and it became desirable to give them some other 
 direction. A distinct commission-house was, there- 
 fore, established at Canton for this purpose, under the 
 auspices and with the favor of Perkins and Co., 
 which continues to this day, although the first part- 
 ners withdrew from it, rich, many years ago. A long 
 line of successors, following them, have managed the 
 same establishment by turns, and retired from it suc- 
 cessively with fortunes, with which they have returned 
 to the United States. If all those were enumerated 
 whose success in life might thus be traced to that first 
 voyage of Col. Perkins to China in 1789, the number 
 would cause surprise. 
 
 27 
 
210 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " Embargoes and non-intercourse," he continues in 
 the narrative, " with political and other causes of em- 
 barrassment, crossed our path ; but we kept our trade 
 with China, and, during the war of the Peninsula, 
 embarked largely in the shipment of provisions to 
 Spain and Portugal. Our general plan was to freight 
 vessels, load them with flour at the south for Europe, 
 and have the funds remitted to London. To make 
 some necessary arrangements respecting them, I took 
 passage in the brig ' Reaper,' belonging to my friend 
 Henry Lee, for London, in August, 1811. The in- 
 tention of Mr. Lee was to proceed to India in the 
 brig, taking funds from England, and returning to 
 Boston with Calcutta cloths, which then paid a great 
 advance. I sent funds in her; and she returned in 
 the year 1812, during the war with Great Britain, and 
 with great profit. Long-cloths of India then brought 
 twenty-five cents per yard, though an inferior article 
 to what is now made in this country and sold at six 
 cents, being less than one-fourth of the price the India 
 cloths then sold at. I remained in London during 
 the year, or until the summer, and returned after war 
 had been declared. While in London, I bought, with 
 the elder Mr. Higginson, goods brought into England 
 for France ; which resulted in great gain. 
 
 " In the spring, I bought a carriage, with Mr. 
 Alexander Everett, and was made bearer of de- 
 spatches for France. At that time, the only com- 
 munication was by Morlaix from Plymouth. There 
 I took a vessel of about forty or fifty tons in which 
 to cross the Channel. As we had no use but for the 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 211 
 
 cabin, we gave passage to a dozen or more Frenchmen, 
 who had been exchanged, and had no means of get- 
 ting to France but by the privileged vessels which left 
 Plymouth from time to time. Among the persons to 
 whom a free passage was given, was one who had 
 resided some years in our good city of Boston, and . 
 who doubtless had known me as active in resisting 
 the principles of the Jacobins. This individual was 
 the cause of my detention at Morlaix nearly three 
 weeks, — having reported me to the commissary at 
 Morlaix as opposed to the French, and a great friend 
 of the English. In consequence, I was ordered to 
 remain at Morlaix until orders were received from 
 Paris. After writing to Mr. Barlow, the then minis- 
 ter of the United States, and using other means, we 
 were permitted to proceed to Paris. During my stay 
 at Morlaix, my limit was the town, unless accom- 
 panied by one of the gens d'armes. I visited the lead 
 mines in that vicinity, and made other excursions 
 within thirty or forty miles ; and was, upon the whole, 
 very civilly treated by Moreau, the commissioner, after 
 he was satisfied that my object in visiting France was 
 commercial, and not political. Moreau, the general, 
 although from the same town, was not a relative of 
 the commissioner, who was a great Bonapartist. 
 
 " An incident which caused me much anxiety, and 
 which might have been attended by serious conse- 
 quences, occurred in, or was connected with, this 
 journey. On my leaving London, Mr. Russell, who 
 was then charge d'affaires of the United States at the 
 court of St. James, on my going to his house for 
 
212 MEMOIR OF 
 
 despatches, put into my hands a package of some 
 sheets in a volume, directed to Col. TchernichefF, 
 chancellor to the Russian minister, Prince Kourakine, 
 at Paris. Had I considered a moment, I should have 
 doubted the " 
 
 Here the narrative is broken off. It was suspended, 
 probably, at his departure from Saratoga, where it is 
 dated, and was never continued. But, in conversation, 
 he gave a graphic account of the solicitude which he 
 felt, while he was detained in Morlaix, at having with 
 him despatches so directed, which might be discovered 
 in his possession ; of the momentous state of affairs 
 which he found on his arrival in Paris, shortly before 
 the open breach of Napoleon with Russia, that led 
 to the fatal campaign in the North ; of the difficulty 
 that he had in safely delivering the despatches ; the 
 acknowledgments that he received from the Russian 
 embassy for doing it successfully; the angry look 
 which he saw the emperor cast, from his seat in the 
 theatre, towards the box of the Russian ambassador, 
 as if he had meant that it should be observed ; and 
 the departure of the latter from Paris the following 
 day. 
 
 While he was at Morlaix, an incident there called 
 into action some of those qualities of heart and head 
 which were repeatedly exercised afterwards on a greater 
 scale, — the spirit that freely contributes to the alle- 
 viation of distress, and the intelligent skill which can 
 make one liberal contribution the means of elicit- 
 ing the action of a community in a good cause. The 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERJvINS. 213 
 
 story is told in a letter to Mrs. Perkins, too long to 
 be inserted entii-e, but interesting throughout; and 
 some passages will show his habits of observation as 
 a traveller, with something of the state of France at 
 that time : — 
 
 " Cherbourg, June 2, 1812. 
 
 " My dear Sarah, — I can easily conceive, from 
 my own feelings, how much pleasure the receipt of 
 this letter will give you, — being the only one I have 
 written you for two months, excepting a short one 
 from Morlaix, which was not calculated to afford you 
 much satisfaction, as I was then under a degree of 
 restraint, which has not left me from that time to 
 this. I am now here waiting the arrival of the 
 ' Wasp ' (sloop-of-war) from England, where she re- 
 turns again to land me with the despatches from the 
 minister at Paris to the charge, d- affaires at London. 
 You may well suppose what my anxiety is to hear 
 from home, having received no letters of later date 
 than February. My anxiety is much increased from 
 the uncertainty as to our situation in regard to the war. 
 If we are engaged in the contest, I shall find it diffi- 
 cult to return. My passport to leave the country was 
 kept back; and, but for exertions which I made 
 through some persons whom I had interested in my 
 behalf, I might have been some months longer de- 
 tained. 
 
 " You will want to know what has been the dispo- 
 sition of my time since I arrived in France. I was 
 detained at Morlaix fifteen days ; and, but for the 
 
214 MEMOIR OF 
 
 exertions of my friends, might have been there this 
 hour, as a gentleman who arrived there a month 
 before me has been detained there till this time, and 
 can get no permission either to return to America or 
 to go to Paris. Another bearer of despatches was 
 there a month. I was not so much ennuye as those 
 gentlemen who were looking to Paris as the place 
 where they were to realize golden dreams of pleasure. 
 As I am fond of spying out wonders, I got permission 
 to visit a lead mine, which is at no great distance from 
 Morlaix, and which afforded me the highest gratifica- 
 tion. There are upwards of twelve hundred persons 
 employed at the works. The descent from the sur- 
 face to the deepest part is eight hundred feet. I was 
 astonished to find the price of this severe labor so 
 low. Twelve hours' labor is exacted in the twenty- 
 four. The time employed in going down and return- 
 ing is not included. And for this the men receive 
 about eighteen to twenty cents per day, and find them- 
 selves ! Men only, with a few boys, are employed in 
 the mines. AVomen, both old and young, and chil- 
 dren down to five years old, are employed in selecting 
 the good from the bad ore, breaking it in pieces, and 
 working it. They receive from four to seven sous 
 (equal to as many cents) per day. They find them- 
 selves, and work, from the getting up to the going 
 down of the sun, the year through. You will ask 
 how they subsist. I can hardly imagine how they get 
 along : but so it is ; and I do not see but they appear 
 as healthy as people, in general, who are employed in 
 hard labor of a different kind. Black bread, moist- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 215 
 
 ened with a kind of lard or bad butter, furnishes 
 them their food, and the spring quenches their thirst. 
 Once in a while, they have a few pounds of beef boiled 
 to pieces in a pot containing half a barrel of water 
 and a few vegetables. This soup, as it is called, is a 
 sort of luxurious living, which is too good to be served 
 often. I found, that, were twice the number of women 
 wanted, they might be had ; and even of men of a 
 certain age, which does not include the term when 
 they are wanted for the army. 
 
 " When I returned to Morlaix, I found my pass- 
 port had arrived ; so that I could not go again to 
 visit this very interesting work. Upon the whole, 
 my fifteen days went away much more pleasantly 
 than I had expected; and I should not have hung 
 myself, had I been obliged to remain there a week 
 longer. 
 
 " There is a tobacco manufactory at Morlaix, on a 
 very large scale. Twelve hundred and sixty persons 
 are daily at work at it. All the manufactures of 
 snuff, and tobacco in every shape, in the empire be- 
 long to the government, who purchase the raw mate- 
 rial, and work it into the form in which it is used. I 
 contrived to get admission, and was astonished at the 
 extent of the establishment. 
 
 " It is astonishing to observe the difference in num- 
 bers between the men and women you see in the 
 streets in every town through which you pass. At 
 Morlaix, they say there are fourteen females to one 
 male in the town. You would hardly suppose there 
 was any part of France — I mean of France as it 
 
216 MEMOIR OF 
 
 was under the old government — in which the inhabi- 
 tants of whole districts do not speak French. This, 
 however, is the case in Brittany. The people who 
 live a mile from the town speak no more French than 
 they do Greek. Their language is the Welsh, and is 
 the only one spoken by them until they leave their 
 villages and come to the towns to reside, or go to the 
 army, when they are obliged to learn the French. 
 The people who live in the towns are obliged to learn 
 the language of Brittany, or they could not go to the 
 market, or have any communication with the country 
 people. Before taking my leave of Morlaix, I must 
 relate to you a fact that came under my knowledge, 
 by which you can appreciate the tenure by which 
 liberty is held here. 
 
 " The family in which I lived was one of the most 
 respectable in Morlaix, in point of property, previous 
 to the revolution. Like many others, it was reduced 
 to very narrow means by the then existing state of 
 things, as their wealth consisted principally in vessels, 
 which either perished at the wharves, or were taken 
 by the powers which then ruled, and were totally lost 
 to Monsieur Beau, who was their proprietor. Having 
 been the agent for the lead mines for a long time, this 
 was a resource to him ; and although the stipend 
 arising from this was a moderate one, yet it served to 
 feed his wife and children, who were some six or seven 
 in number. M. Beau died a few years since, and left 
 his widow without any resource for the support of her 
 family. Being a woman of a good deal of character, 
 the company to whom the mines belong concluded to 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 217 
 
 continue the agency in the hands of Mrs. Beau, who, 
 with the aid of her youngest son, has carried on the 
 purchases and sales to this time. The two eldest sons 
 got clerkships in the tobacco manufactory, and a 
 daughter was married ; so that but one daughter and 
 one son were upon the shoulders of the old lady. 
 Their means were, to be sure, small ; but their wants 
 were few ; and, although their whole income was not 
 more than six hundred dollars per annum, the son 
 who aided his mother in the lead-mine agency had 
 made a matrimonial engagement; and, not believing 
 that ' Love would fly out of the window, though 
 Poverty looked in at the door,' a day was designated 
 for the marriage ; and I was invited as a guest at 
 the meeting of the family, which was to take place 
 in the evening. The marriage ceremony took place in 
 the morning, at the parish church ; and at about ten 
 o'clock I was introduced to the bride, whom I found 
 to be, as I had heard her represented, a beautiful 
 woman of about twenty, with a very prepossessing 
 countenance, which, it was universally acknowledged, 
 was a perfect index of her amiable mind. She 
 seemed perfectly happy ; and nothing but joy was 
 visible in every countenance in the family. All 
 was happiness and gayety and laugh and frolic. 
 Mark the sad change. At twelve o'clock, the bride- 
 groom received notice that he had been drawn in the 
 conscription ; and that on Sunday he must be at 
 Campege, a distance of thirty leagues. This was on 
 Thursday. In such cases, entreaty is vain, and never 
 resorted to, because always ineflectual. To go to the 
 
 28 
 
218 MEMOIR OF 
 
 army was to go, to return when the exigencies of the 
 State no longer required his services. The whole 
 family was in a state little short of distraction when 
 I left the town, which was early on the next morning. 
 The lowest price at which a substitute could be pro- 
 cured was three thousand francs ; and the family could 
 not command half the money in all its branches. The 
 peculiar situation of this family seemed to paralyze 
 the whole town, and led to an exertion which is seldom 
 made, and which proved effectual in preventing this 
 young man from being torn from the embraces of his 
 charming wife and amiable mother. I have the satis- 
 faction of having put the thing in train, and shall 
 always consider the opportunity as one of the most 
 gratifying which ever presented itself to me. After 
 my arrival in Paris, I received a letter, saying that my 
 example had been followed, and that it had produced 
 the effect desired. This is an anecdote, or rather this 
 part of it, for your own private ear ; and you will not, 
 of course, show this letter." 
 
 Some years afterwards, he was again at Morlaix; 
 and, as a proof of the affection and respect with which 
 the remembrance of him was cherished, he found that 
 the room which he had occupied at the time of this 
 occurrence had been kept in the precise order in which 
 he left it, no article, having been removed from its 
 place. 
 
 War between the United States and Great Britain 
 was declared, as it appears from the foregoing letter 
 he apprehended that it might be, even before he 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 219 
 
 reached home in 1812. After his return, being him- 
 self among the leaders in political affairs, as he was 
 prominent in commerce, he took an active and very 
 decided part in the discussions and movements of the 
 time, which are now matters of history. His sensa- 
 tions on the return of peace are forcibly expressed in 
 the following letter* to Mr. Gushing, his nephew and 
 partner in China : — 
 
 " Washington, 16th February, 1815. 
 
 "Mr. John P. Gushing, Canton. 
 
 " My dear John, — I am here on public business in behalf 
 of the State of Massachusetts. The joyful event of peace 
 has suspended the mission on which I came. You will hear 
 with delight of this event. No sacrifice is made of territory 
 or commercial rights. It is a treaty formed on the basis of 
 that of 1783. All the claims upon which the war was found- 
 ed have been relinquished. The right to go to the British 
 possessions was a municipal privilege extended to us, and 
 which a commercial treaty may restore. The Senate has rati- 
 fied the treaty, and the president's proclamation will issue 
 to-morrow. Then, thanks to the Giver of all good things ! 
 we are once more restored to peace ; and I trust I shall never 
 see another war. 
 
 " Heaven bless you ! Your sister is well, and all your 
 particular connections are so. 
 
 "I shall be here a week longer, and then I shall look 
 homewards. Yours, afiectionately, T. H. Perkins." 
 
 About this time, he became actively engaged in mea- 
 sures for establishing the Massachusetts General Hos- 
 pital with an Asylum for the Insane, the necessity for 
 which had begun to be deeply felt. He was one of 
 
 * See Appendix. 
 
220 MEMOIR OF 
 
 those to whom an act of incorporation had been grant- 
 ed for the purpose, with a vahiable donation from the 
 Commonwealth, on the condition that the sum of one 
 hundred thousand dollars should be raised by sub- 
 scription within a limited time. His name was at 
 the head of the first list of trustees ; and he under- 
 took the work which his position involved with charac- 
 teristic energy. His influence and his services were 
 highly appreciated by those with whom he was en- 
 gaged in that undertaking. The subscriptions were 
 made on the condition that the full sum of one hun- 
 dred thousand dollars should be obtained ; so that the 
 whole depended on entire success. Besides his exer- 
 tions in rousing other subscribers, he and his elder 
 brother contributed five thousand dollars each towards 
 the fund ; and it was completed agreeably to the terms 
 of condition. It is well known that the efforts of 
 those who were engaged in this movement have been 
 productive of all the good which they hoped to effect. 
 The institution bears a favorable comparison with 
 those of the same kind in other places, and has be- 
 come celebrated throughout the world for the first 
 successful application of the great discovery in the 
 use of ether for surgical operations. 
 
 His elder brother and partner, James Perkins, Esq., 
 died in the year 1822. The following passages from 
 a notice of his death, published at the time, show the 
 estimation in which he was held : — 
 
 " While' his real and most eloquent eulogy is to be 
 sought in the course of an industrious, honorable, and 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PEKKINS. 221 
 
 most useful life, it is due to the virtues he practised, 
 to the example he set, to the noble standard of cha- 
 racter on which he acted, not to be entirely silent, 
 now that nothing remains of them but their honored 
 memory. He had received in boyhood, under the 
 care of an excellent mother, the preparatory instruc- 
 tion which might have fitted him for an academical 
 education; but the approach of the Revolutionary 
 "War, and the discouraging aspect of the times, dictated 
 the commercial career as more prudent. 
 
 " In enterprises extending over the habitable globe, 
 employing thousands of agents, constantly involving 
 fortunes in their result, and requiring, on many occa- 
 sions necessarily incident to business of this extent, 
 no secondary degree of firmness and courage, not a 
 shadow of suspicion of any thing derogatory to the 
 highest and purest sense of honor and conscience ever 
 attached to his conduct. The character of such a 
 man ought to be held up for imitation." 
 
 Mr. James Perkins left a large fortune, acquired in 
 this honorable course, and is still remembered for 
 distinguished liberality in all appeals that were made 
 when he lived, for charity or public good, to the afflu- 
 ent and generous in the community; for his liberal 
 donations to several institutions ; and especially for a. 
 munificent gift of real estate, of the value of about 
 twenty thousand dollars, to the Boston Athenaeum, 
 and the bequest of twenty thousand more to the 
 University at Cambridge. The decease of such an 
 associate in the commercial vicissitudes of nearly 
 
MEMOIR OF 
 
 forty years was deeply felt by his surviving partner 
 and brother.* 
 
 In 1826, it was proposed to raise a considerable 
 sum for additions to the Athenaeum. Something over 
 thirty thousand dollars was required. Col. Perkins, 
 and his nephew, Mr. James Perkins, son and sole heir 
 of his deceased brother, contributed one-half of it, 
 paying eight thousand dollars each, on the condition 
 that the same amount should be subscribed by the 
 public; which was done. He made other valuable 
 donations to the Athenaeum, and was for several years 
 president of that institution. 
 
 Soon after this, having witnessed the successful com- 
 mencement of railroads in England, he resolved to 
 introduce them here ; and, having obtained a charter 
 for the Granite Railway Company, he caused one of 
 two miles in length to be made, for the purpose of 
 transporting granite from the quarries in Quincy to 
 the water. This was the first railroad built in this 
 country; though there was a rough contrivance in 
 Pennsylvania, for the removal of coal, which is said to 
 have preceded it. It has been the means of adding 
 
 * The experience of Franklin, as our representative in Europe, led iiim to remark, that 
 diplomatists and statesmen would find great advantage in attending more closely than they do 
 to the information that may be had from commercial men, who have strong inducements to 
 get the earliest possible intelligence of all political movements that affect the intercourse of 
 nations, and are sometimes better informed as to what may be impending than the govern- 
 ments under which they live. 
 
 To show what extended and comprehensive views are taken in conducting the correspond- 
 ence of a great commercial house, and what variety is sometimes combined in the anticipations 
 necessary for planning voyages of great length or complicated design, some of the letters of 
 the house of J. and T. H. Perkins are given in the Appendix. The first was written by Mr. 
 James Perkins, to his brother when in France, in 1794, to give him what information could be 
 gathered here, for his aid in deciding whether any commercial enterprise could be undertaken 
 ■with advantage in Europe. Some of these letters indicate, in both partners, the discernment 
 and power to direct which go far to qualify men for acting either as diplomatists or statesmen. 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. ^23 
 
 large quantities of granite to the building materials of 
 our cities, and its eifect is seen extending as far as 
 New Orleans. 
 
 In 1833, a movement was made to obtain funds for 
 the establishment of a school for blind children in Bos- 
 ton. Having been deeply interested by an exhibition 
 given to show their capacity for improvement, he made 
 a donation of his mansion-house in Pearl Street as a 
 place for their residence. He gave it on the condition 
 that the sum of fifty thousand dollars should be con- 
 tributed by the public as a fund to aid in their support. 
 Efforts were made accordingly to effect that object, and 
 proved to be entirely successful. The school was thus 
 placed on a stable foundation, and by means that insured 
 it continued care. The incitement which had thus been 
 offered to the community, to secure so valuable an 
 estate as a gift to the public, roused general attention 
 to the subject that could induce such a donation. 
 Mutual sympathy in endeavoring to effect the purpose 
 was a natural result. This became widely diffused. 
 An institution which thus offered intelligence, enjoy- 
 ment, and usefulness, in place of ignorance, sorrow, 
 and idleness, was recognized by the government of 
 the State as deserving aid from the Commonwealth ; 
 and liberal public provision was made for the edu- 
 cation there of blind children whose parents need 
 assistance for unusual expenses. 
 
 Under the direction of Dr. Howe, it has been emi- 
 nently successful, and is known through the country 
 as an important example of what may be done. In- 
 deed, it may be said further, that the country itself is 
 
224 MEMOIR OF 
 
 more widely and favorably known in the Old World 
 from the annual reports of what has been effected 
 there, not only by improvements in the art of printing 
 for the blind, but by new discoveries in the possibility 
 of instruction, which he has demonstrated. 
 
 The publications from the press of the institution, 
 under his care, probably comprise more matter than 
 all other works in the English language that have 
 ever been published for the use of the blind ; and, 
 at the recent " Exhibition of Works of Industry of 
 all Nations " in the Crystal Palace of London, the 
 prize medal was awarded to his specimens for the best 
 system of letters, and the best mode of printing such 
 books. But, beyond this. Dr. Howe has enlarged the 
 science of mind by reaching and developing the intel- 
 lect of the blind and deaf mute, shut up from human 
 intercourse by obstruction in all avenues of the senses 
 but one, and proved that the single sense of touch 
 can be made the medium for effectual instruction in 
 reading and writing, and for the free interchange even 
 of the most refined and delicate sentiments that are 
 known to the heart of woman. In this he was the 
 first to reduce to certainty what had before been only 
 a problem; and has shown that there is no solid 
 ground for the principle of law on the subject, as laid 
 down by Blackstone, that " a man who is born deaf, 
 dumb, and blind, is looked upon by the law as in the 
 same state with an idiot ; he being supposed incapable 
 of any understanding, as wanting all those senses 
 which furnish the human mind with ideas." 
 
 The estate given by Col. Perkins, although spacious 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 225 
 
 in extent, was becoming, from its position, better 
 suited for purposes of trade than of residence. From 
 the same cause, however, it was rising in pecuniary 
 value ; and not long afterwards it was exchanged, 
 with his consent, — he releasing all conditional rights 
 of reversion, — for a large edifice in the suburbs, built 
 for another purpose, but admirably adapted, by loca- 
 tion and structure, for the residence of young people. 
 It overlooks the harbor, is secure by its elevation from 
 any interruption of light or air, and affords ample 
 room for all who may desire to come. 
 
 The institution bears his name. That somethinsf 
 important would have eventually been done in Massa- 
 chusetts for the education of the blind, even if he had 
 rendered no assistance, cannot be doubted. Dr. John 
 D. Fisher, a physician of great worth, to whose memo- 
 ry a monument has been erected at Mount Auburn 
 for his early exertions in the cause, moving almost 
 unaided, had previously obtained an act of incorpo- 
 ration from the Legislature for the purpose ; and 
 Edward Brooks, Esq., and Mr. Prescott, the historian, 
 with some other gentlemen, had united with him to 
 promote it. What followed is, in a great measure, 
 to be attributed to their preparatory movements. But 
 Col. Perkins, by the impulse of a powerful hand, sud- 
 denly roused the community to aid in the project, and 
 placed it at once in an advanced position, which other- 
 wise it probably would have required the lapse of 
 many years, with arduous exertions, to attain. At 
 that time, the institutions for the blind in England 
 were little more than workshops, affording hardly any 
 
 29 
 
226 MEMOIR OF 
 
 instruction except for manual labor, and no printing, 
 though two small books had been printed in Scotland. 
 But, through his aid and advice, the means were 
 obtained and effectually applied for an establishment 
 on a more liberal plan, giving the precedence to intel- 
 lectual and moral education. There is little doubt, 
 therefore, that a large portion of the good which has 
 been effected thus far within the institution, and by 
 its example elsewhere, is the result of his munificent 
 donation, and the wise condition which he attached 
 to it. 
 
 It should be remarked here, however, to guard 
 against any mistake detrimental to the interest of 
 the blind, that, while the pupils are placed, through 
 his means, in a building which might give the impres- 
 sion that its inhabitants are likely to be in want of 
 nothing, the institution is by no means richly en- 
 dowed. The money that has been liberally given has 
 been liberally spent in the cause of education ; and 
 those who are inclined to give or leave any portion of 
 their wealth for the relief of misfortune, should be in- 
 formed that the blind still need, and humbly hope, 
 to be remembered. There can hardly be any class of 
 persons to whom books, and a large library of books, 
 can afford so great delight as those whose sources of 
 enjoyment do not include that of sight; and after 
 reading, in the report of the juries on the awards at 
 the exhibition of the Crystal Palace in London, ten 
 close pages that are devoted to the subject of printing 
 for the blind, with an historical sketch, in which 
 marked prominence is given to what has been done 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 227 
 
 at "The Perkins Institution in Boston," it can 
 hardly be heard without sorrow that the printing 
 there is suspended for the want of pecuniary means ; 
 and that the publication of the " Cyclopsedia," in 
 twenty volumes, probably the most valuable work, 
 with the exception of the Bible, that has ever been 
 attempted for the blind, was necessarily stopped with 
 the eighth volume. 
 
 A few extracts from that report, on a subject so 
 deserving of interest, will hardly be out of place 
 here : — 
 
 " A few years ago, printing for the blind was considered 
 only a curious or doubtful experiment ; but it is now esta- 
 blished, beyond all question, that books are true sources of 
 profit and pleasure to them. "Whilst embossed books have 
 recently very rapidly increased, it is delightful to notice that 
 the blind readers have multiplied far more rapidly. 
 
 '' The invention of printing for the blind marks a new 
 era in the history of Hterature. The whole credit of this 
 invention, so simple, yet so marvellous in its results, be- 
 longs to France. It was Mr. Valentine Haiiy who, in 1784, 
 at Paris, produced the first book printed with letters in 
 relief, and soon after proved to the world that children 
 might easily be taught to read with their fingers. The blind 
 really received but little advantage from an invention that 
 promised so much. The fault, however, seems to have been 
 not so much in the plan as in the execution of it. This 
 noble invention, except perhaps within the walls of the 
 institution, soon sank into oblivion, and very little more was 
 heard of it until 1814. The institute of Paris, since its 
 foundation in 1784, has at times been in a deplorable condi- 
 tion ; but about the year 1840 it underwent a thorough 
 re-organization, and is now justly entitled to the front rank 
 of institutions of this class in Europe. 
 
228 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " It was in Great Britain and in the United States that 
 the first improvements were made in embossed typography. 
 Before 1826, when Mr. James Gall, of Edinburgh, first began 
 to turn his attention to the intellectual and moral education 
 of the blind, it is believed that not a single blind person, in 
 any public institution of this country or America, could read 
 by means of embossed characters. To Mr. Gall is due the 
 credit of reviving this art." 
 
 In 1827, he published a small volume for teaching 
 the art of reading to the blind; and, in 1834, he pub- 
 lished the Gospel of St. John, and afterwards several 
 other books: but they do not appear to have been 
 generally used. It is added in the report, that, with 
 one exception, " it is believed they are adopted by no 
 public institution in Great Britain." 
 
 " While the puzzling question of an alphabet best adapted 
 to the fingers of the blind and the eyes of their friends was 
 under warm discussion on this side of the Atlantic, Dr. 
 Howe was developing his system at Boston, in the United 
 States. In 1833, the Perkins Institution for the Blind was 
 established at Boston; and Dr. S. G. Howe, a gentleman 
 distinguished through a long series of years for his philan- 
 thropic labors, was placed at its head, and soon made those 
 improvements and modifications which have rendered the 
 Boston press so famous. His first aim was to compress 
 the letter into a comparatively compact and cheap form. 
 This he accomplished by cutting off all the flourishes and 
 points about the letters. He so managed that they occupied 
 but a little more than one space and a half instead of three. 
 So great was this reduction, that the entire New Testament, 
 which, according to Haiiy's type, would have filled nine 
 volumes, and cost twenty pounds, could be printed in two 
 volumes for sixteen shillings. Early in the summer of 1834, 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 229 
 
 he published the Acts of the Apostles. Indeed, such rapid 
 progress did he make in his enterprise, that by the end of 
 1835 he printed in relief the whole of the New Testament, 
 for the first time in any language, in four handsome quarto 
 volumes, comprising 624 pages, for four dollars. These 
 were published together in 1836. The alphabet thus con- 
 trived by Dr. Howe in 1833, it appears, has never since been 
 changed. 
 
 "As the Boston books can now be obtained in London at 
 a price cheaper than any of the five difierent systems of 
 books printed in Great Britain, it is to be hoped that they 
 will come into general use here." 
 
 It is then shown, by a table of comparison, that 
 Dr. Howe's books are much less in bulk, and cheaper 
 by more than one-half, than those printed in any other 
 of the six systems used in the English language. And 
 it is added, — 
 
 " His system has been fully described, and to it the jury 
 give the preference above all others. The jury beg to 
 suggest that a uniform system should be adopted, and that, 
 in future, all books printed for the blind should be printed in 
 the same character. Dr. Howe's appears simple, and fit for 
 general adoption." 
 
 In 1835, Col. Perkins went to Europe for his 
 health, and travelled for some months on the conti- 
 nent; extending his tour afterwards in England and 
 Scotland, where he was accompanied by his friend, 
 Joshua Bates, Esq., of London, the munificent donor 
 of a large fund for a public library in Boston. 
 
 At that time, he went into Italy, where he had 
 not been before, and, as might be supposed, looked 
 
230 MEMOIR OF 
 
 with lively interest on the wonders of history and art 
 to be seen there. An American statesman of the 
 highest distinction, who recently passed a winter in 
 Rome, mentioned to an acquaintance who called on 
 him, that, when he arrived there, he heard accidental- 
 ly, while inquiring for places of residence, that a house 
 once occupied by Col. Perkins could be had, and that 
 he lost no time in securing that house, being confident 
 that it had been well chosen; which, to his great 
 comfort, he found to be as he had anticipated. 
 
 As usual, he kept a journal while travelling. The 
 objects most likely to attract attention in such a tour 
 have been often described by others ; but a few ex- 
 tracts, referring to objects or incidents not usually 
 noticed by travellers, may be found interesting : — 
 
 "Saturday, July 25th, 1835, Meaux. — I arrived 
 here the last evening." (He was then returning from 
 Italy and Germany towards Paris.) " The day was 
 hot, and the ground dry. I breakfasted at Chalons, 
 which is a large town, and celebrated in the olden 
 times as having been the place where Attila was 
 defeated by the Romans, and, more recently, from its 
 having been the town where the Emperors of Russia 
 and Austria, with Great Britain and the others, as- 
 sembled and made the proposition to Bonaparte, in 
 his last retreat from the North, to give to France the 
 Rhine as its boundary, and which he had the folly to 
 refuse. 
 
 " From Chalons-sur-Marne to this place, this useful, 
 though not very beautiful, river runs through a highly 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 231 
 
 cultivated valley the whole distance, and makes the 
 ride a very interesting one. The hills are cropped to 
 their summits ; and, from the difference in size of the 
 portions in which are sown the different kinds of 
 grain and other vegetables, they are as brilliant and 
 as various as the figures shown through a kaleido- 
 scope. Chateau Thierry, which was the birthplace 
 of La Fontaine, is the only large town we have passed 
 through ; though many have been in sight on either 
 side, which show the places where cultivators congre- 
 gate. The district where the most famous of the 
 Champagne wines are grown is quite small ; and many 
 tuns of wine have passed the world over for Cham- 
 pagne, under a misnomer. I have observed the villages 
 on this side the French territory more attentively than 
 those passed in going to Lyons. This was the great 
 highway of armies going to and returning from the 
 Rhine. The street is wide which leads through them ; 
 and, from so many of , them being new, I think the 
 present towns are the sites on which stood, some years 
 since, the old villages, with their narrow streets and 
 wretched houses. I was pondering on this when the 
 post-boys pulled up before a very stately edifice, which, 
 from its appearance, commanded respect and attention. 
 It is an old Gothic church, built in the fourteenth 
 century, and has been honored with the visits of 
 kings and princes through all time since, and is the 
 very odor of sanctity. There was nothing particular- 
 ly worthy of note except a dead Christ, in marble, 
 with full-length figures of Joseph of Arimathea and 
 Nicodemus at the head and foot of the body ; with the 
 
232 MEMOIR OF 
 
 three Marys and Sarah, also large as life, weeping over 
 Him whom they mourned. 
 
 " I was about to depart, when an old woman oifered 
 me a book, which she said was sold for the benefit of 
 the church, and that it was a history of this Church 
 of Notre Dame de la Pine, and that all that was stated 
 in the book was true, and the evidence of the fact, 
 long since deposited with the papers of the church, 
 might be seen by any one who would take the trouble 
 to apply to the authorities. I found, upon examining 
 the book, that the church had not been so much 
 visited for itself as for the miracles which had been 
 wrought here. A long description is given of the 
 time when the church was built, in 1472 ; but the in- 
 teresting point is the cause which induced the erection, 
 and designated the spot where it was to be placed. It 
 seems, by this historical account, that there was near 
 this place a small church, which would not accommo- 
 date the population ; and the holy Virgin, mother of 
 God, came to their relief One night, when some shep- 
 herds were watching their flocks, they saw, at a small 
 distance from where they sat, a sight ; upon approach- 
 ing which they became sore afraid, and fled, — not, 
 however, before they discovered, in a large bush of 
 thorns, the figure of the blessed mother, with the infant 
 Jesus in her arms, in the centre of the bush, which 
 was on fire. The light shone to a great distance. 
 The sheep took fright, and ran away ; but the lambs, 
 changing their natural timidity into courage, ap- 
 proached the bush ; which encouraged the shepherds, 
 and many others, to return and see the miracle ; and 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 233 
 
 they attest to the correctness of the report of the 
 transaction. The wonderful interposition of Heaven 
 pointed out to the faithful the object of this superna- 
 tural appearance, as one that should be commemorated 
 by erecting a splendid church on the spot where the 
 burning bush was seen. 
 
 " Charles VII. aided largely in the erection of the 
 church, in accordance with the wishes of the pious 
 Louis XI., who, when Charles of Burgundy entrapped 
 him at Peronne, made a vow, that, in case he escaped 
 from his very dangerous situation, he would build 
 churches, and do other things that should gratify the 
 Virgin, to whom he so often kneeled; and at the 
 same time taking care to add, that he would also do 
 something to gratify himself, by making those suffer 
 who had betrayed him into the scrape. The history 
 of the Cardinal Bellere can tell how well he per- 
 formed his promise. The example of Charles was 
 followed by many other adorers of the Virgin ; and 
 the pious determined to erect a church worthy of the 
 blessed mother. The building was costly; and al- 
 though the subscriptions and contributions were great, 
 yet the want of funds was supplied by other miracles 
 which were wrought, and which brought adorers and 
 contributors from all the Christian cities. The dead 
 were raised; the particulars of which are given in 
 this most veracious account. Those who came to 
 church on crutches went away upon their ten toes. 
 A child, which had been buried three days, was taken 
 from the grave, and changed from decay to bloom ; 
 but, either from a want of faith or from some other 
 
 30 
 
234 MEMOIK OF 
 
 cause, it finally went back into the state in which it 
 was when taken from the grave. These things are so 
 well attested, that he who does not believe them is 
 'little better than one of the wicked.' The after- 
 miracles did the job ; and the church was finished in 
 a very elaborate manner. The sculpture on the out- 
 side is varied, and emblematic of the adoration of the 
 shepherds, and the history of the Virgin. There are 
 some figures, however, which are better suited to a 
 brothel than a church ; but I dare say they have a 
 pious story to vindicate them from the charges which 
 unbelievers would bring against them. 
 
 " Sunday, July 26th. • — I arrived yesterday in Paris, 
 and had the pleasure to receive my letters, and to 
 learn that all was well. I write this from Mrs. 
 Welles's country-place, to which I came to pass the 
 Sunday. 
 
 " The celebration of the three days — 27th, 28th, 
 and 29tli of July, 1830 — is to be got up with more 
 than usual parade. The first day is appropriated to 
 funeral services in the churches, in commemoration 
 of those who fell on that day. Sixteen girls, who 
 received a wedding-present from the city, are married 
 on that day in the City Hall. How they are selected, 
 or what gives them the preference, I am not aware. 
 On Tuesday there is to be a review of the troops 
 of the line and the National Guard, probably some 
 fifty or sixty thousand, by the king; and, as they 
 march through the square I am lodged in, it will give 
 me a good opportunity of seeing them and the king, 
 with his family, who are to be near the Hotel de 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 235 
 
 Bristol. The third day is appropriated to a great 
 display of fireworks and illuminations, for which 
 there are great preparations in the Tuileries, Champs 
 Elysees, and other parts of Paris. As the French 
 give fine exhibitions of this sort, I am glad to be 
 present. 
 
 " Monday, 27th. — The day is pleasant ; and, in 
 the afternoon, showers, which are favorable to the 
 military duties of to-morrow. 
 
 " Tuesday evening, 28th. — This has been an in- 
 teresting day, and had nearly caused an event which 
 might have thrown France into a state of great per- 
 plexity. The custom is for the troops to be drawn 
 up on the Boulevards, making a line of one or two 
 miles, when the king rides with his staif down the 
 line, in front of the troops, whilst thus drawn up. 
 Having got to the extreme left of the line, he leaves 
 the Boulevards, and comes to the Place Vendome, 
 where all the troops defile before him, and receive the 
 marching salute. Having thus marched before his 
 majesty, they each go to their cantonment, and the 
 king and his suite to the Tuileries. I had secured 
 windows, one of which looked into the E,ue Castig- 
 lione, and the other upon the Square. All the avenues 
 to the Square are guarded, to prevent any assemblage 
 of people there which would interfere with the troops. 
 At twelve o'clock, the king passed through the Rue 
 Castiglione and Place Vendome to the Boulevards with 
 his sons, and the officers attached to him, amongst 
 whom were the Marechal Mortier, Duke of Treviso, 
 with the ministers De Broglie and Thiers. At about 
 
2S6 MEMOIR OF 
 
 twelve, the queen, and her daughters and the ladies in 
 waiting, came in their carriages to the house of the 
 chancellor, and seated themselves in balconies, which 
 were covered with awnings. Later, the king with 
 his suite came to the Place Vendome, and, alight- 
 ing from his horse, as did those who were with him, 
 went to the apartments where the ladies were. A few 
 minutes afterwards, the column came in view by the 
 Rue de la Paix, and, having paid the marching salute, 
 defiled by the Rue Castiglione. I observed a great 
 degree of enthusiasm as the National Guards — which 
 are the militia of the country — came near to the 
 king. This was unusual, and was observed by some 
 of the Frenchmen who were in the room where I 
 was, and who could not account for it. In many 
 cases, the common soldiers left their ranks, and ran 
 up to the king, whose stand was near to the right of 
 where the platoons passed, and took him by the hand. 
 They all cheered, and gave tokens of great excite- 
 ment. In one case, a whole company surrounded the 
 king ; when, from the movement of his sons, it 
 seemed that they were alarmed for their father, and 
 rode towards him. We could discover by their action 
 that they wished him to withdraw a little farther from 
 his loving subjects ; but, so far from doing this, he 
 rather advanced into the midst of them. 
 
 "About this time, my courier came to me to say 
 that the king had narrowly escaped assassination by 
 an infernal machine, whilst reviewing the troops ; 
 and that the Marechal Mortier, with some nine or 
 ten others who were near the king, was killed, and 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS, 237 
 
 several wounded. This accounted for the enthu- 
 siasm of the troops, and the return made by the 
 king. His majesty narrowly escaped one of the balls 
 which were simultaneously fired by twenty-five barrels 
 placed on a level, and a train so laid as to discharge 
 all at the same time, wounding his horse slightly. 
 It was within a few seconds of laying the king low, 
 and probably deluging the country in blood. We 
 had seen one of the officers ride across the Place 
 Vendome, before the king returned from the review, 
 with a precipitancy which seemed uncalled for, and 
 for which I could not account. He stopped at the 
 place where the ladies of the royal family were. The 
 evening papers state that it was an express sent from 
 the king to her majesty, to inform her of the attempt, 
 and his escape. The paper this evening gives the 
 particulars. All further doings for the three days 
 are given up, I suppose indefinitely. The assassin's 
 name is Gerard,* — thirty-six years old. He was 
 badly woimded himself, and was unable to speak, 
 so that we cannot yet get the particulars ; nor is it 
 known whether he has associates or not. It is proba- 
 ble there are others behind the curtain, and that the 
 poor instrument will be left to sufier alone. 
 
 " 29th. — In place of fireworks and other demon- 
 strations of joy, every thing, it is said, is to wear the 
 trappings of sorrow. A funeral ceremony is said to 
 be in preparation. 
 
 " Harrowgate, Sept. 6th. — We are on our way to 
 York, which we pass on our route to Scotland. 
 
 * The name was Fieschi. 
 
238 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " On Tuesday, and the two following days, there is 
 to be a musical festival in the Cathedral, which will be 
 numerously attended by the nobility and gentry. One 
 of the great attractions will be the Princess Victoria, 
 who, if she survives "William IV., is to be Queen 
 of England. The princess, with her mother the 
 Duchess of Kent, visited the Museum Gardens to- 
 day, where I saw them. The future queen is about 
 seventeen years of age, good-looking, and in manners 
 very courteous, but not remarkable for her beauty. 
 
 " The road from Leeds here is pleasant. We passed 
 Lord Harewood's grounds, which are very extensive. 
 The ride through the park was, for the moment, 
 interdicted on account of the expected visit of the 
 princess. I walked to one churchyard to see if there 
 was any stone to mark the place where lie the ashes 
 of my friend, the late Dr. Gardiner; but there was 
 none. I shall inquire further.* 
 
 " 7th. — Rose early, with the intention of learning 
 more respecting the resting-place of Dr. Gardiner, and 
 concluded that to visit the clergyman was the most 
 certain way of effecting this. I went to his house, 
 about a mile from my lodgings, and, upon inquiry, 
 found the gentleman was ill. I told his wife the 
 object of my visit, and she made the inquiry I wished. 
 She told me she was not married at the time of Dr. 
 
 * Dr. John S. J. Gardiner, Rector of Trinity Church in Boston, who died in England, 
 July, 1830, deeply lamented in America as a distinguished clergyman and an accomplished 
 scholar. He was President of the Literary Club, by whom the Boston Athenceum was founded ; 
 and the incipient measures which have produced a library of sixty thousand volumes, a build- 
 ing probably more spacious and costly than any other in the United States devoted solely to 
 books and the arts, with the large funds for future increase mentioned in this memoir, were 
 all framed and adopted at his house. 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 239 
 
 Gardiner's death, but that her husband remembered 
 well the melancholy event. He said the body was 
 interred about two miles from the spring, and that 
 the service was read by an Irish clergyman residing 
 near the ground of interment. He informed me that 
 the stone had been erected which was the particular 
 object of my inquiry. He spoke in high terms of 
 respect of the memory of the doctor, and of the 
 general sorrow felt at the event. The clergyman who 
 read the service lies now at the point of death." 
 
 Col. Perkins returned from this visit to Europe 
 with renewed health, and, although past seventy 
 years of age, engaged with characteristic energy in 
 whatever attracted his attention favorably; making 
 soon afterwards an arduous journey into the interior 
 of Pennsylvania, to visit the mining region. 
 
 In 1838, his commercial firm was dissolved; and 
 he withdrew from business with a large fortune, after 
 having been actively engaged in commerce for more 
 than fifty years, though within the last ten his per- 
 sonal attention to its afiairs had been considerably 
 relaxed. His success had been great, but by no 
 means uninterrupted. Severe disappointments and 
 disasters, from causes beyond his control, made part 
 of his experience ; and, while he had great confidence 
 in his own ability to direct, he well knew the impor- 
 tance of leaving as little as possible to accident in any 
 enterprise that he undertook. 
 
 An instance of the readiness with which he could 
 sometimes decide on the advantages to be justly ex- 
 
240 MEMOIR OF 
 
 pected from commercial operations, when proposed, 
 will serve to show the extent of his information, and 
 the value of such information in enabling those who 
 engage in commerce at all to act with clear discern- 
 ment, instead of trusting to blind chance in specula- 
 tion. He had used such information and discernment 
 himself with striking effect, even so far as to pause 
 in his career, and stand somewhat aside for years, 
 when others, moved partly by an ambitious desire to 
 rival him in commerce, had sought to rise from the 
 grade of successful dealers in purchases from his 
 cargoes, and become the owners of ships, import- 
 ing cargoes of their own. Insolvency and melan- 
 choly oblivion or insignificance have, since then, been 
 the lot of most of them. But when enterprises re- 
 quiring capital, and, still more, judgment, beyond 
 their resources and capacity, had led them into em- 
 barrassment, there necessarily came a pause on their 
 side, of which he and those who were associated with 
 him took skilful advantage in a rapid succession of 
 voyages that have rarely had a parallel for success. 
 
 The particular instance referred to was this : About 
 thirty years ago, the price of coffee, which for a long 
 time previously had been as high as twenty-five cents, 
 had declined to fifteen cents per pound ; and Col. Per- 
 kins being in New York for a day or two, on a visit 
 to a daughter who resided there, a wish was expressed 
 that it might be suggested to him, that, the temporary 
 depression having made it a fit subject for specula- 
 tion, if he should be disposed to engage in it on the 
 extended scale to which he was accustomed, there 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 241 
 
 was an opportunity to secure a large quantity on even 
 more advantageous terms. As coffee was an article 
 out of the line of his usual operations, and not likely 
 to attract his particular attention, the subject was 
 mentioned to him rather for entertainment, in con- 
 versing upon the occurrences of the time and the 
 news of the day, than in the belief that he would 
 give it serious thought. Without hesitation, and with 
 the ease and decision of an able lawyer or surgeon in 
 giving an opinion on any case presented to either 
 of them professionally, he answered to this effect : — 
 
 " The depression in coffee is not ' temporary.' 
 Whoever makes purchases now at fourteen cents, or 
 even at thirteen cents, will find that he has made a 
 mistake, unless he means to take advantage of any 
 transient demand to dispose of it speedily. There 
 are more coffee-trees now in bearing than are suffi- 
 cient to supply the whole world, by a proportion that 
 I could state with some precision if necessary. The 
 decline in price is owing to accumulation, which will 
 be found to increase, particularly as there are new 
 plantations yet to come forward. Coffee will eventu- 
 ally fall to ten cents, and probably below that, and 
 will remain depressed for some years. The culture 
 of it will be diminished. Old plantations will be 
 suffered to die out; and others will, in some cases, 
 be grubbed up, that the land may be converted to 
 new uses. At length, the plantations will be found 
 inadequate to the supply of the world. But it re- 
 quires five or six years for the coffee-tree to reach its 
 
 31 
 
242 MEMOIR OF 
 
 full bearing. Time, of course, will be required for 
 the necessary increase ; and the stocks on hand will 
 be diminishing in the mean time. A rise must follow. 
 Whoever buys coffee twelve or fifteen years hence 
 at the market price, whatever it may be, will probably 
 find it rising on his hands ; and fortunes may be made, 
 unless speculative movements shall have disturbed 
 the regular course of events." 
 
 With so clear an outline for the future, it was in- 
 teresting to observe what followed. Coffee gradually 
 fell to less than ten cents, and remained low. One 
 consequence, usual in such cases, ensued, — the con- 
 sumption increased. Misled, perhaps, by this, and an 
 impatient desire to be foremost in securing advantages 
 which by that time were generally foreseen, parties 
 began to move in a speculative spirit about five years 
 before the time thus indicated. They made great 
 purchases, and large quantities were held in expecta- 
 tion of profit. It was curious to notice the action, 
 and hear the remarks, of various persons concerned, 
 in what ensued, according to their different degrees 
 of intelligence on a subject that was not, even then, 
 fully understood by all. Coffee rose considerably. 
 Some of them secured a moderate profit while they 
 could ; others, arguing on a crude belief, that, as 
 coffee had been at twenty-five cents, there was no 
 reason why it should not attain that price again, 
 determined to wait for far greater profits. The stimu- 
 lant given to the demand, by withholding large quan- 
 tities from sale, developed greater stocks than were 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 243 
 
 supposed to exist. The movement was found to be 
 premature, and coffee fell again in price. Immense 
 sums were lost. Bankruptcy followed, with many a 
 heartache that might have been prevented by counsel 
 from one like him, who had the comprehensive views 
 and thorough knowledge that belong to a complete 
 merchant. 
 
 This unwise anticipation somewhat retarded and 
 diminished the well-founded rise that had been fore- 
 told. But it came at length, and some moderate 
 fortunes were made by it ; though the dreams of the 
 speculator, of a return to the high prices that pre- 
 vailed in the early part of the century, have never 
 been realized. 
 
 After his retirement from commerce, Col. Perkins 
 found sufficient occupation in the management of his 
 property ; in various matters of a public nature which 
 interested him; and in the cultivation of trees, and 
 particularly of fruits and flowers, on his estate at 
 Brookline. He was remarkable for his love of natm^e ; 
 and, in travelling, sometimes went far out of his way 
 to examine a beautiful tree or to enjoy an interesting 
 view. Occasionally he made a voyage to Europe, 
 renewing his observations on the changes and im- 
 provements that were to be seen there. He had 
 crossed the Atlantic many times besides the instances 
 that have been referred to, always keeping a diary, 
 which he filled with the incidents that occurred, 
 with the results of his inquiries, and with remarks 
 worthy of an intelligent traveller, and sending home 
 works of art, some of which were bestowed as gifts. 
 
244 MEMOIR OF 
 
 He took a lively interest in the progress and welfare 
 of American artists; kindly aiding some who desired 
 to improve by studying the great models in Europe, 
 and liberally purchasing the works of those who 
 deserved encouragement. He was generally very 
 agreeable to those whom he incidentally met as fel- 
 low-travellers ; and, where he became known abroad 
 as an American, he left a very favorable impression 
 of the character of his countrymen. 
 
 Active industry had been, and continued to be, the 
 habit of his life. The day with him was well oc- 
 cupied, and equally well ordered. He had long been 
 accustomed to rise early, to consider what required his 
 attention, and to prepare so much of what he had to 
 do personally as he could perform by himself, that 
 he might meet the world ready to decide and direct 
 promptly and clearly. This enabled him to transact 
 business with ease and accuracy, and made him so far 
 master of his time that he found leisure for various 
 objects, both of usefulness and enjoyment, as well as 
 for courteous and kind attention to the affairs and 
 wishes of others, which it might have been supposed 
 would hardly be remembered by one so occupied. 
 Each day with him was the illustration of a thought 
 which young men, and particularly young men enter- 
 ing on commercial life, will find to be a safeguard 
 against precipitation or perplexity, and against the ir- 
 ritation, as well as the miserable shifts, to which they 
 sometimes lead. The action of the mind in prepar- 
 ing with calm foresight what is to be done, before it is 
 absolutely necessary, is widely different from its action 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD TERKINS. 245 
 
 when affairs are left until necessity presses, and the 
 powers are confused by various calls on the attention 
 in the midst of hurry and embarrassment. What is 
 only method in the first case actually becomes a 
 faculty, and sometimes passes for uncommon ability, 
 of which it has the effect. On the other hand, some 
 men, who really show great powers when pressed by 
 necessity for despatch, are in truth unable^ without 
 being aware of such a defect, to foresee and prepare 
 what they have to do before they feel the pressure. 
 When that ceases, the exertion too often ceases with 
 it ; and important matters are left to be done at some 
 future time, which perhaps are never done. The 
 older they grow, the more incurable is the evil ; and 
 melancholy instances might be given of bankruptcy 
 late in life, after great success, which might be traced 
 chiefly to this cause. It is said that the Hon. Peter 
 C. Brooks, of Boston, who left a large fortune, after a 
 life well worthy of imitation, on being once asked 
 what rule he would recommend to a young man as 
 most likely to insure success, answered, " Let him 
 mind his business." And to a similar inquiry, it has 
 been said that Robert Lenox, Esq., of New York, 
 well remembered as one of the most distinguished and 
 estimable merchants ever known in that great city, 
 and for his wide hospitality, once answered, " Let him 
 be beforehand with his business." One answer seems 
 to include the other; as no man can be beforehand 
 with his business, and enjoy the tranquil self-posses- 
 sion that accompanies forecast, unless he minds it 
 unremittingly. 
 
246 MEMOIR OF 
 
 At one time, when Col. Perkins had decided to 
 leave home for some time on a long journey of 
 several thousand miles to the South and West, ap- 
 plication had been made to him to give his guaranty 
 for a considerable sum, to enable one whose welfare 
 he wished to promote to engage in a commercial con- 
 nection that seemed to offer great advantages. As 
 the magnitude of the aifair required caution, it was 
 expected, of course, that, when he had considered the 
 subject, explanations on various points would be 
 necessary before he could decide to give it ; and it 
 was intended to take some favorable opportunity, 
 when he might be entirely at leisure, to explain every 
 thing fully. Suddenly, however, he found it best to 
 commence the journey a week or two sooner than 
 had been mentioned ; and engagements of various 
 kinds, previously made, so occupied him in the short 
 interval left, that there seemed to be no time for offer- 
 ing such explanation without danger of intruding; 
 and the hope of obtaining his aid at that time, in an 
 affair that required prompt action, was given up. 
 The applicant called at his house half an hour before 
 he was to go, merely to take leave, knowing that the 
 haste of departure in such cases usually precludes 
 attention to any matters requiring deliberation. On 
 entering the room, however, he found there was no 
 appearance of haste. All preparations for the journey 
 had been entirely completed in such good season, that 
 the last half-hour seemed to be one entirely of leisure 
 for any thing that might occur. After a little chat. 
 Col. Perkins introduced the subject himself, and made 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 247 
 
 pertinent inquiries ; which being answered satisfacto- 
 rily, he gave the guaranty, and very kindly added a 
 further facility, by allowing, until his return, the use 
 of a considerable sum of money which he was leaving 
 in the bank. The arrangements were, in consequence, 
 completed the next day. They proved, in the result, 
 to be eminently successful : all pledges were redeemed ; 
 his guaranty was cancelled in due course, without the 
 slightest cost or inconvenience to him ; and the person 
 whom he wished to oblige received very large profits, 
 which happily influenced the remainder of his life, 
 and which he perhaps might never have enjoyed, 
 if that last half-hour before the journey had been 
 hurried. 
 
 When doing an act of kindness like this, he seemed 
 to derive great pleasure from the consciousness that 
 the action of his life had given him the power to pro- 
 duce such results by the single influence of his name ; 
 from all proofs, too, which followed, that he had 
 decided correctly in bestowing his confidence where 
 he believed it to be deserved ; and from indulging an 
 impulse of his nature that prompted him to diffuse 
 happiness where he had the opportunity. 
 
 Numerous instances might be given of his kindness 
 in promoting the success of others, and particularly 
 of young men engaging in voyages or other commer- 
 cial enterprises; and he always showed a warm in- 
 terest in the Mercantile Library Association of Young 
 Men in Boston, to whom he made a donation to aid 
 in the erection of a building. 
 
 In a general view of his character, he appeared 
 
248 MEMOIR OF 
 
 as exercising the influence of one having a nice sense 
 of propriety with reference to the opinion of others, 
 love of order, a high standard of action, and a desire 
 to promote whatever tended to general advantage 
 and respectability, with such steadiness of purpose as 
 gave power to his example. His manners, formed in 
 an age of ceremony which has passed, retained some- 
 thing of its courteous dignity, divested of what was 
 artificial, and united with the ease of our own time. 
 
 As a leader of the Federal party, that party which 
 sustained the administration of Washington and 
 transmitted its principles, he had personally known 
 most of the distinguished men of the country who 
 belonged to the period next succeeding the Revolution, 
 and was intimate with many of them. He had thus 
 enjoyed the advantages of intercourse Mdth eminent 
 statesmen who had aided in giving the present form 
 to the government of the Union, or in directing its 
 early action ; among whom the high principles and 
 the resolute decision of his own political character 
 made him a welcome associate. 
 
 His personal appearance so far indicated his charac- 
 ter, that an observer of any class who saw him for 
 the first time was very likely to be impressed Avith a 
 desire to know who that personage might be. "A 
 very noble-looking man ! " said a young woman who 
 was called to fetch him a glass of water when he 
 stopped one day at the house of a friend some miles 
 from town. " Ce beau meillard ! " — that beautiful 
 old man ! — exclaimed the wife of a foreign ambassa- 
 dor, in speaking of his reception of her at his country- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 249 
 
 seat, when some one was showing her the environs 
 of Boston. And, in repeated instances, foreigners of 
 rank have remarked in a similar tone on his person, 
 and the high-bred courtesy of his manner. 
 
 Great personal strength and entire self-reliance 
 made him almost heedless of danger, in the full con- 
 fidence that he had the power and the presence of 
 mind to do just the right thing at the right moment; 
 and he had, at different times, some remarkable 
 escapes. On one occasion, when driving towards 
 town over a road made in one part on the slope of a 
 hill, with a steep bank on one side, and a descent, 
 guarded by a wall, on the other, some object fell from 
 the top of the bank on his right so suddenly that his 
 horse, a powerful animal, sprang to the opposite side, 
 and dashed into a run. Close before him was the stiff 
 branch of a large apple-tree, projecting over that side 
 of the road, at about the level of his waist as he sat. 
 He leaped at once from his seat over the wall, alight- 
 ing unhurt in the orchard below ; and, in an instant, 
 the top was swept from the vehicle in a manner that 
 must have proved fatal to himself if he had remained 
 in it a moment longer. 
 
 Though fond of social intercourse, his opinions 
 were often conveyed in monosyllables, or short and 
 terse expressions ; and he was more inclined, whether 
 abroad or at his own table, to promote conversation 
 in others than to talk much himself. But he listened 
 with attention, and contributed readily, from the stores 
 of his experience and knowledge, whatever occurred 
 to him as interesting, — occasionally introducing an 
 
 32 
 
250 MEMOIll OF 
 
 anecdote with striking effect, but rather as if he were 
 stating a fact than telling a story. He used language 
 with precision ; his expressions were concise ; and his 
 words carried the full force that belonged to them, 
 all the more because there was no attempt to exagge- 
 rate their true and precise meaning. The instances 
 that he gave were usually such as had occurred with- 
 in his own knowledge in reference to remarkable 
 events or distinguished men ; and most of them might 
 well have found place in history or biography. But 
 occasionally he related incidents of an amusing cha- 
 racter, such as the following, and in a manner that 
 afforded great entertainment. 
 
 In one of his early visits to London, Stuart, the cele- 
 brated portrait-painter, whom he knew well, resided 
 there, occupying apartments as a bachelor, with a boy 
 to attend him. One day, Stuart sent the boy with a 
 message to a man of rank, to say that he could com- 
 ply with a request to give him a sitting, if he would 
 come at a certain hour. The boy went off, accom- 
 panied by a large and favorite dog of his master's, 
 but did not return at the time expected ; and Stuart 
 waited, receiving no answer, until he found that the 
 forenoon was lost. He then went out to take his 
 usual walk ; and as he strolled on, finding himself in 
 that part of the city where the mother of the boy 
 resided, he made her a visit, and inquired whether 
 her son ever came to see her. " Oh, yes ! " she said : 
 he had been there that morning, with a great dog, 
 both of them full of mischief; and there had been 
 such a time ! First, they discovered a piece of beef- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 251 
 
 steak intended for her dinner, which, after great 
 struggles, the dog had been suffered to devour. Then, 
 in a scene of froHc and riot, they had upset her wash- 
 tub, and had just gone off. He desired the woman 
 not to mention his own visit to her ; and on returning 
 home, and inquiring what was the answer brought, 
 was told by the boy that he had been unable to find 
 the place, having lost his way, and got back as he 
 could ; to all which he said nothing, except as a slight 
 caution to be more attentive to the direction in future. 
 Soon afterwards, his dinner was brought, as usual, 
 from a chop-house, and the boy took his accus- 
 tomed stand opposite to him; while the dog placed 
 himself at his side, expecting an occasional mouthful. 
 In due course, Stuart, taking a piece of juicy meat on 
 his fork, held it towards the dog ; but, after looking 
 at him for a moment, suddenly drew back with well- 
 feigned surprise, exclaiming, " How is this ? What ! 
 dined already 1 " And he looked earnestly at the boy, 
 who became alarmed. Turning again to the dog, 
 with the meat still withheld over him, he said, " Ah 1 
 and beef-steak ! Is it possible ? " Casting an angry 
 and searching look at intervals towards the boy, he 
 went on : " What ! a wash-tub 1 — and upset it too 1 " 
 He at length turned back to the table ; and, laying 
 the fork on his plate, folded his arms, and looked 
 intently at the culprit. The boy, aghast at these 
 supernatural disclosures, as they seemed, from the 
 dog, confessed the whole, making solemn promises 
 for his future behavior, which became exemplary. 
 The pretended wonder of the artist, the eagerness 
 
252 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and disappointment of the dog, and the conscience- 
 stricken amazement of the boy, were all presented in 
 vivid light, while he only seemed to be mentioning 
 casually what had occurred. 
 
 The following is an incident of a different charac- 
 ter, which occurred in the National Convention during 
 the French revolution, and of which he was an eye- 
 witness. He related it with great effect. Soon after 
 the death of Robespierre, one of his former associates 
 proposed a sanguinary law ; which was objected to, by 
 a member who had been a butcher, as unnecessarily 
 cruel. The deputy who proposed it said, with a sneer, 
 that he had not looked for such fine sentiments from 
 one whose trade had been blood. The butcher, a 
 burly, powerful man, starting to his feet as if he 
 would destroy his opponent, exclaimed, " Scelerat ! 
 scelerat ! Je n'ai jamais trempe mes mains que dans 
 le sang des animaux. Sentez les votres ! " * 
 
 It has been thought that he showed a lack of dis- 
 cernment in judging of character. Whatever might 
 be the truth as to any defect of that sort, it rarely, if 
 ever, appeared in making unjust imputations, but 
 rather in giving others credit for good qualities which 
 they did not possess. Although he used strong terms 
 in condemning, on some occasions, what he disap- 
 proved, he seldom spoke in disparagement of any 
 one ; and, if he listened, it was with no indication of 
 pleasure at hearing any thing to the disadvantage of 
 others. There certainly were cases in which he found 
 
 * " Wretch ! wretch that you are ! I have never imbrued my hands but in the blood of 
 beasts. Smell of your own ! " 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 253 
 
 that his confidence had been misplaced; but, as he 
 was not apt to communicate his motives fully, it was 
 not clear whether it arose entirely from error of judg- 
 ment, or partly from a readiness to take risks of 
 which he was aware. In some instances, he misun- 
 derstood the intentions or difficulties and embarrass- 
 ments of others, and occasionally spoke with warmth 
 where he supposed there was just cause for displea- 
 sure, though he was more likely to be quite silent at 
 such times ; but no one was more ready than he to 
 make reparation, if it were explained to him that he 
 had been unjust. Probably he was supposed to be 
 unfriendly in other instances, when he would have 
 appeared to be entirely kind if he had talked more 
 freely. His nature was affectionate, appearing par- 
 ticularly so towards children ; and many of them were 
 his intimate friends, habitually exchanging with him 
 the liveliest pleasantry with perfect freedom. 
 
 It is not uncommon with those whose feelings are 
 characterized by great energy, as his were, that, from 
 an apprehension, perhaps, lest strong emotion might 
 escape control if expressed in any degree whatever, it 
 is guarded with such entire suppression and reserve, 
 that they seem to those around them almost to have 
 no feeling at all, when, in truth, they feel most deeply. 
 A striking instance of this nature may be mentioned 
 of him. 
 
 The death of his eldest son, who was named for 
 him, and in person, as well as in some points of 
 character, bore a strong natural resemblance to him- 
 self, occurred about four years before his own. They 
 
254 MEMOIR OF 
 
 differed in character, as the son of a widow, moved by 
 strong incitements to assist in relieving her of care, 
 and to secure his own advancement in the world, 
 might be very likely to differ from one born to the 
 enjoyment and expectation of wealth, and advancing 
 in youth under the auspices of a parent who stood 
 high in public estimation, and possessed powerful 
 influence. Like his father, he had preferred action to 
 the life of a student, and went early abroad, having 
 sailed for China, during the war of 1812, in a private 
 armed ship, that was prepared to fight her way for a 
 rich cargo, as was successfully done ; and he took 
 part in one bloody'naval action, besides other encoun- 
 ters. Daring in spirit, of a buoyant and generous 
 temper, and eminently handsome, he was a favorite 
 abroad, particularly among the officers of our public 
 ships as he met them in foreign ports ; and he had 
 seen much of the world, with various adventures, in 
 China, in South America, and in Europe. 
 
 He eventually joined his father's commercial house 
 in Boston, and, after a few years of remarkable suc- 
 cess, withdrew with a good fortune, and lived in 
 affluence and leisure, amusing himself with field 
 sports, of which he was fond, and varying his life by 
 an occasional tour in Europe. After rearing a beau- 
 tiful family, he fell the victim of a distressing illness, 
 and died in the prime of life. 
 
 At his funeral, his father appeared tranquil as 
 usual, advising on some matters of detail ; and, hav- 
 ing followed the hearse to the place of interment, 
 chose, rather against the suggestions of those near 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 255 
 
 him, to descend to the tomb under the church, that 
 he might see that all was arranged as he had intended. 
 But when nothing more remained to be done ; when 
 the single lamp, by the light of which the coffin had 
 been adjusted in its place, was withdrawn, and the 
 door was closed in darkness and silence on all that 
 remained of one who had been the object of so deep 
 interest from infancy upward, — nature prevailed, for 
 one moment only, over all restraint, and an involun- 
 tary burst of grief disclosed the depth of sorrow that 
 remained beneath the habitual composure of his 
 manner. 
 
 About two years after this, the death of Mrs. Per- 
 kins took place ; and the dissolution of a tie which 
 had continued for sixty-three years had a visible effect 
 on him. His younger brother, Samuel G. Perkins, 
 Esq., had died blind, past the age of eighty. His 
 own sight was failing. Of all the family left by his 
 father, he and two sisters only remained. His friend 
 through life, the Hon. Harrison Gray Otis, was dead. 
 The companions of his youth and middle age were 
 nearly all gone. Of the association remembered as 
 the " Saturday Club," consisting of some of the most 
 distinguished gentlemen of the town in their day, — 
 who, while they found mutual enjoyment in dining 
 successively at the houses of each other, gave hospita- 
 ble admission to such strangers as deserved attention, 
 — only two survived besides himself. The impression 
 had long been habitual with him, that the close of his 
 own life was near ; and he awaited it with tranquillity. 
 He had lived as he thought it was right to do. There 
 
256 MEMOIR OF 
 
 appears to have been no period in which he had been 
 inclined to vice of any sort. His life was marked by 
 self-control. But, besides that, he seems to have had 
 an innate purity and love of order that made excess 
 distasteful to him. In the order of events, he had 
 found the enjoyment, and incurred the responsibility, 
 of great success in the acquisition of property; and 
 he had shared it freely with the community in which 
 he lived, — his gifts and contributions continuing 
 numerous to the last. 
 
 He had become feeble, and moved with difficulty. 
 But an indomitable spirit, which remained ready for 
 action still, if any thing was to be done, carried him 
 once more from home as far as "Washington. This 
 spirit had long before borne him through some pas- 
 sages of ill health, that might have proved fatal if it 
 had not been that the energy with which his mind 
 opened itself to excitement and pleasure always im- 
 parted corresponding vigor to his physical frame in a 
 remarkable degree. 
 
 Twenty-five years before, being greatly debilitated 
 after a severe illness, he had resolved to try the eifect 
 of a voyage to England, though some of his friends 
 feared that he might never return ; and he sailed with 
 his nephew and friend, Mr. Gushing, in a new ship 
 belonging to his house. He was so weak that it was 
 necessary to assist him, almost to lift him, on board 
 the vessel ; but, becoming immediately interested in 
 the management of the ship, and in getting to sea, 
 when the pilot left them in the outer harbor he was 
 already better for the excitement. He continued to 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 257 
 
 improve during the voyage, and returned in vigorous 
 health. 
 
 A few years afterwards, being again reduced to much 
 the same state, he left Boston for New York, to em- 
 bark for Europe in company with his eldest son (who 
 thought it unsafe that his father should sail without 
 his personal care), and with his grandson, — three of 
 the name. He went from home so enfeebled that 
 his family doubted whether he could reach New York 
 in a condition to be carried on board the packet (it 
 Was before the day of steamships) ; and they were 
 surprised to learn, after waiting with solicitude, that 
 he was so well after the journey as to accompany his 
 friend Mr. Otis, whom he met there on his arrival, 
 to the theatre in the evening. 
 
 After the decease of Mrs. Perkins, some important 
 business in which he was concerned required attention 
 at Washington ; and, his courageous spirit still rising 
 above the infirmities of age, he made one more jour- 
 ney there, resolved to see to it himself While there, 
 he was concerned to find that labor was likely to be 
 suspended on the monument to the memory of Wash- 
 ington. On his return home, he took measures to 
 rouse fresh interest in the work ; and a considerable 
 sum was raised for it through his exertions. His 
 action in reference to this has been publicly alluded 
 to, since his decease, by the Hon. Robert C. Win- 
 throp, late Speaker of the House of Representatives 
 in Congress, who, at the close of an eloquent speech 
 addressed to the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic 
 
 33 
 
258 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Association, at their annual festival in Faneuil Hall 
 in October, 1854, spoke as follows: — 
 
 " The memory of your excellent and lamented president 
 (Mr. Chickering) has already received its appropriate and 
 feeling tribute. I can add nothing to that ; but I will ven- 
 ture to recall to your remembrance another venerated name. 
 You have alluded, in the sentiment which called me up, to 
 an humble service which I rendered some years ago, as the 
 organ of the Representatives of the Union, at the laying of 
 the corner-stone of the national monument to Washington. 
 I cannot but remember that the latest efforts in this quarter 
 of the country to raise funds for the completion of that monu- 
 ment were made by one whose long and honorable life has 
 been brought to a close within the past twelve months. 
 
 " I cannot forget the earnest and affectionate interest with 
 which that noble-hearted old American gentleman devoted 
 the last days — and I had almost said the last hours — of his 
 life to arranging the details and the machinery for an appeal 
 to the people of Massachusetts in behalf of that still unfi- 
 nished structure. He had seen Washington in his boyhood, 
 and had felt the inspiration of his majestic presence ; he had 
 known him in his manhood, and had spent two or three days 
 with him, by particular invitation, at Mount Vernon, — days 
 never to be forgotten in any man's life ; his whole heart 
 seemed to be imbued with the warmest admiration and affec- 
 tion for his character and services ; and it seemed as if he 
 could not go down to his grave in peace until he had done 
 something to aid in perpetuating the memory of his virtues 
 and his valor. I need not say that I allude to the late Hon. 
 Thomas Handasyd Perkins. He was one of the noblest spe- 
 cimens of humanity to which our city has ever given birth, 
 — leading the way for half a century in every generous en- 
 terprise, and setting one of the earliest examples of those 
 munificent charities which have given our city a name and 
 a praise throughout the earth. He was one of your own 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 259 
 
 honorary members, Mr. President ; and I have felt that I 
 could do nothing more appropriate to this occasion, — the 
 first public festive occasion in Faneuil Hall which has oc- 
 curred since his death, — and nothing more agreeable to the 
 feelings of this association or to my own, than to propose to 
 you, as I now do, — 
 
 " The memory of Thomas Handasyd Perkins." 
 
 For a long time, he had been deprived of the use 
 of one of his eyes, which was blinded by cataract, 
 how long he could not tell with accuracy, — for the 
 discovery that it was useless, and that he saw only 
 with the other, was made by accident, and much to his 
 surprise, — but it must have been more than twenty 
 years. Opening it one morning while the right eye 
 was buried in the pillow, he found himself unable to 
 perceive any objects about him. For many years, 
 however, he saw well enough for common purposes 
 with the other ; but, more recently, even that one had 
 caused him so much trouble that he lived in fear of 
 total blindness. Early in 1853, cataract appeared in 
 that eye also, and was making such rapid progress 
 that in a few weeks all useful vision was lost. Under 
 these circumstances, he resolved to submit to an ope- 
 ration on the one that had been so long obscured. It 
 was successfully performed by Dr. H. W. Williams, of 
 Boston, the cataract being broken up in the month 
 of March. Some time was necessary for the complete 
 absorption of the fragments ; but, in less than three 
 months, the pupil had become entirely clear, and, by 
 the aid of cataract-glasses, he could not only see large 
 objects as well as ever, but could read the newspapers, 
 
260 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and even the fine print in the column of ship-news. 
 His sight was at times rendered feeble afterwards by 
 the general debility of his system, and he never 
 recovered the power of reading and writing with 
 entire ease ; but to do both in some degree was an 
 advantage, in comparison with total loss of sight, that 
 could hardly be appreciated, particularly as it enabled 
 him still to manage his own affairs, which he always 
 wished to do, and did to his last day, — even keeping 
 his books with his own hand, except for a few months 
 of his last year, when the entries were made from his 
 dictation. 
 
 In this, the last year of his life, he gave one more 
 remarkable proof of his continued interest in what 
 was going on about him, and of his readiness to aid 
 liberally in all that he deemed important to public 
 welfare and intelligence. A large and costly building 
 had been erected for the Boston Athenseum, by con- 
 tribution from the public, liberally made for that 
 purpose, that there might be such a one as would 
 correspond to the aspirations of the accomplished 
 scholars, who, fifty years before, had founded the 
 institution. A fund was now to be provided for 
 annual expenses, and for regular additions to the 
 library. With this view, an effort was made to raise 
 a fund of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. 
 As Col. Perkins had already done a great deal for the 
 Athenaeum, no application was made to him for fur- 
 ther aid. He, however, voluntarily asked for the 
 book containing the largest class of subscriptions, 
 and added his name to those contributing three thou- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 261 
 
 sand dollars each. Soon afterwards, he inquired of 
 the President of the Athenaeum what progress had 
 been made, and was told that the subscriptions 
 amounted to eighty thousand dollars, — all of them 
 being, however, on the condition that the full sum 
 should be made up within the year ; that every 
 thing possible seemed to have been done ; but that, 
 as people were leaving town for the summer, nothing 
 further could be obtained until the autumn ; and that 
 it was doubtful whether the object could be effected 
 even then, by raising forty thousand dollars more, as 
 the applications appeared to have been thoroughly 
 made by a numerous committee. He then gave his 
 assurance that the attempt should not be suffered to 
 fail, even for so large a deficit as that, and agreed to 
 be responsible for it, in order that the subscriptions 
 already obtained might be made binding ; stipulating 
 only that nothing should be said of this until the expi- 
 ration of the last day fixed, and that the efforts to ob- 
 tain it from the public should not be at all relaxed in 
 the mean time. Further assistance from him, however, 
 was rendered unnecessary, chiefly by the noble be- 
 quest of Samuel Appleton, Esq., a man of liberality 
 and benevolence like his own, who died during the 
 summer, leaving the sum of two hundred thousand 
 dollars to trustees, to be distributed, at their discre- 
 tion, for scientific, literary, religious, or charitable 
 purposes. The trustees appropriated twenty-five thou- 
 sand dollars of this to the fund. for the Athenaeum; 
 and the remaining sum of fifteen thousand dollars 
 was easily obtained by further subscriptions at large. 
 
262 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 But the assurance given by Col. Perkins, although 
 any call on him thus became unnecessary, was useful 
 in warranting that confidence of success which helps, 
 in such cases, to secure it. 
 
 In January following (1854), he found it necessary 
 to submit to a slight surgical operation, for the remo- 
 val of some obstruction that troubled him. He had 
 passed most of the day — the 9th — in attending to his 
 domestic payments for the preceding year ; arranging 
 the papers himself, with his usual method in business. 
 The operation was successfully performed by Dr. Cabot, 
 his grandson ; and he went to bed with the agreeable 
 prospect of finding himself relieved for the remainder 
 of his life of what had, for some time, made him 
 uncomfortable, — but with a caution, too, from his 
 surgeon, not to rise the next morning, but remain 
 in perfect quiet. In such matters, however, he had 
 habitually judged and chosen to act for himself; and 
 in this instance he gave too little heed to the caution, 
 — refusing, too, to have any attendant in his chamber, 
 as had been recommended. He passed a good night ; 
 and, feeling only too well after it, chose to rise rather 
 early the next day. After being partly dressed, be- 
 coming faint, he was obliged to lie down on the sofa, 
 and never left it. He became more and more feeble 
 through the day ; and, falling into a state of uncon- 
 sciousness towards evening, he continued to breathe 
 for some hours, sleeping without pain or distress, and 
 died tranquilly on the morning of the 11th, soon after 
 midnight, in the ninetieth year of his age. 
 
 The impression of his character left on the com- 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 263 
 
 mnnity was such as had been sketched a short time 
 before — in language that hardly admits of improve- 
 ment, and needs no addition — by the Hon. Daniel 
 Webster, in a note written with his own hand on 
 the blank leaf of a copy of his works presented to 
 Col. Perkins : — 
 
 " Washington, April 19, 1852. 
 
 " My dear Sir, — If I possessed any thing which I 
 might suppose likely to be more acceptable to you, as a 
 proof of my esteem, than these volumes, I should have 
 sent it in their stead. 
 
 " But I do not ; and therefore ask your acceptance of a 
 copy of this edition of my speeches. 
 
 " I have long cherished, my dear sir, a profound, warm, af- 
 fectionate, and I may say a filial, regard for your person and 
 character. I have looked upon you as one born to do good, 
 and who has fulfilled his mission ; as a man without spot or 
 blemish ; as a merchant known and honored over the whole 
 world ; a most liberal supporter and promoter of science and 
 the arts ; always kind to scholars and literary men, and greatly 
 beloved by them all ; friendly to all the institutions of reli- 
 gion, morality, and education ; and an unwavering and de- 
 termined supporter of the constitution of the country, and of 
 those great principles of civil liberty which it is so well cal- 
 culated to uphold and advance. 
 
 " These sentiments I inscribe here in accordance with my 
 best judgment, and out of the fulness of my heart ; and I 
 wish here to record also my deep sense of the many personal 
 obligations under which you have placed me in the course 
 of our long acquaintance. 
 
 " Your ever-faithful friend, 
 
 "DANIEL WEBSTEK. 
 "To the Hon. Thomas H. Perkins." 
 
264 MEMOIR OF 
 
 A meeting of the merchants of Boston was held at 
 the Merchants' Exchange, for the purpose of testify- 
 ing their respect for his memory. The following is a 
 report of the proceedings as published : — 
 
 The meeting was called to order by T. B. Curtis, Esq., 
 who proposed that Hon. Abbott Lawrence be invited to 
 preside on the occasion. The motion was unanimously 
 adopted. 
 
 Mr. Lawrence, on taking the chair, said, " I thank you, 
 gentlemen, for the honor you have conferred on me in 
 placing me in the chair on this occasion. You all know 
 the cause of this meeting; and a melancholy occasion it is. 
 It was thought fit and proper, by the merchants of Boston, 
 that some special notice should be taken of the death of 
 Col. Thomas H. Perkins. In regard to the appropriateness 
 of such a course, there is no difference of opinion. 
 
 " I feel, as you feel, that we have lost our guide, our great 
 exemplar, in the mercantile profession. I have looked, from 
 a very early age, to Col. Perkins as the great merchant of 
 Boston ; as a man endowed with great talent ; ever devoted 
 to the best interests of his country, — his whole country ; 
 a man incapable of a mean thought or action; and a man 
 who has done more to elevate the mercantile character than 
 any man now living among us. We therefore feel it due to 
 the memory of a man and a merchant so distinguished as 
 Col. Perkins, that liis death should be noticed by the mer- 
 chants of Boston. 
 
 " There are many topics," Mr. Lawrence continued, " in 
 connection with the memory of Mr. Perkins, which press 
 upon my mind ; but this is not the time or place for me to 
 speak of his character, or the general attributes he possessed. 
 We all look with reverence and respect upon them ; and 
 this meeting has been called to give some testimony to the 
 world of the honor and respect in which we hold his charac- 
 ter, as a man, a philanthropist, a friend of science, of art, and 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 265 
 
 of literature. Though a merchant, he was not confined to 
 the mercantile profession alone ; but has taken an active 
 interest, for over threescore years and ten, in all the de- 
 partments of literature, science, and philanthropy. It is 
 remarkable that a man of his age should have been so fresh 
 in his feelings in these particulars, — a characteristic which 
 was as marked twelve hours before his death as it was twenty 
 years ago. 
 
 " But I must leave his character to be spoken of by others. 
 I will only say, that, in all the relations of life, he was faith- 
 ful. Even to the sitting on juries, he was conscientious ; 
 and never omitted it, whether it was for a longer or shorter 
 period. Another duty he always performed, which some are 
 too apt to neglect : he always went to the polls and voted, 
 because he deemed it one of the highest duties, as well as 
 one of the most valuable privileges, of an American citizen. 
 But, gentlemen, I will not detain you longer ; and will ask 
 you to complete the organization of this meeting by nomi- 
 nating one or more persons for secretaries." 
 
 Joseph B. Glover and James Sturgis, Esqrs., were nomi- 
 nated, and unanimously chosen, for secretaries. 
 
 John Amory Lowell, Esq., then addressed the Chair as 
 follows : — 
 
 " We have met here to-day, Mr. President, almost without 
 notice, in obedience to a spontaneous and irresistible impulse, 
 to exchange our feelings of regret and of respect for the 
 memory of one so much the senior of even the more advanced 
 among us ; whose name we have from childhood regarded as 
 the very symbol of mercantile honor and success. We would 
 fain contribute our mite to the universal testimony of society ; 
 for to us he peculiarly belonged. He was emphatically a 
 merchant. His very bearing reminded us of that noble class 
 of men, whose pride centres in the profession they contri- 
 bute so largely to adorn. Few of his associates in business 
 remain to tell us of his professional career ; but around us, 
 on every side, are the enduring monuments of the munifi- 
 
 34 
 
266 MEMOIR OF 
 
 cence and public spirit which graced and dignified the retire- 
 ment of that serene old age. 
 
 *' Mr. President, I may not trust myself to enlarge on 
 this topic, lest I perchance be deemed to glorify the past, — 
 ' Laudator temporis acti.' I will simply ofier for the accept- 
 ance of this meeting a few resolutions expressive of those 
 feelings, in which, I am sure, we all cordially unite : — 
 
 " Whereas, We have met here to-day to exchange and reciprocate the 
 feelings elicited by the death of one of the oldest, of the most distinguished, 
 and of the most public-spirited of those merchants who have so largely 
 contributed to raise the standard of mercantile honor in this community, 
 and who have caused the name of Boston to be respected at home and 
 abroad ; and 
 
 " Whereas, All history and all experience show that Uteratm-e, science, 
 art, all that ennobles and refines humanity, are ultimately connected with 
 the prosperity of commerce ; and it is our intimate conviction that that 
 prosperity is dependent upon, and inseparable from, those qualities for wliich 
 Col. Perkins was so eminently distinguished ; — 
 
 " Resolved, That, while we deeply mom-n the loss that this community 
 has sustained, it is a loss not unalloyed with pride in the high honor, the 
 great public spiiit, the extensive benevolence, and the noble example, of 
 Thomas Handasyd Perkins. 
 
 " Resolved, That the history of his life encourages us all by the example 
 of a long, honored, and successful career, and affords a valuable illustration 
 of the connection of private with public j)rosperity. 
 
 " Resolved, That, whatever of just estimation may have been awarded to 
 Boston for her enterprise, her sagacity, her institutions for education, litera- 
 ture, pliilanthrojiy, or art, a prominent share must be attributed to him who 
 was ever foremost where any good deed was to be done. 
 
 "Resolved, That these. resolutions be respectfully communicated, as the 
 spontaneous and mianimous sentiments of this meeting, to the family of the 
 Hon. Thomas H. Perkins." 
 
 Hon. J. Thomas Stevenson seconded the resolutions in 
 the following able and appropriate remarks : — 
 
 " Mr. Chairman, may I second the motion for the adoption 
 of the resolutions ? 
 
 " The report of the death of a noted man and a distin- 
 guished merchant has summoned us here, that we may take 
 counsel together as to a fit testimonial of the universal respect 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 
 
 felt in our ,«evcantire community towards Thomas Handasyd 
 Perkins, whose face we shall see no more on earth for ever. 
 He was the oldest merchant amongst us. None was more 
 honorable. All the qualities which go to make up and at 
 the same time to adorn, the character of a merchant, shone 
 brightly in him. He was a pattern of mercantile honor. In 
 thai he was a man fit for an example. He was sagacious, 
 bold, enterprising, honest. His word was a bond ; his pro- 
 mise was the performance. His age -his great age, his 
 good old age -prevents tears at the change which has con- 
 ducted him to his reward. Eighty-nine summers have smiled 
 upon him, and eighty-nine winters have prompted his warm 
 charities. We may not utter lamentations over he needed 
 repose of one who had overstepped so far the allotted bound- 
 aries of the life of man; but we are here, rather, to bear 
 willing witness to the love we bore him, and to the respect 
 he inspired us with. Literature, science, art, each received 
 his homage and his sacrifices; but his chosen altar was in 
 the beautiful temple of Charity. 
 
 "Public and private charities, -he absolutely revelled 
 in them. No stoiy of distress fell upon his ear withou 
 making his manly heart throb to the overflow of tears, it 
 Zls not weakness: but greatness, in him. Those tears were 
 the mingled outpourings of sorrow and of joy ; of sorrow 
 at the suffering, of joy that he could do somethmg to alle- 
 viate it. His full heart kept his full hand open. He, who 
 had achieved a fortune, himself dispensed its bounties. He 
 was liberal to a proverb, and as just as he was liberal. No 
 public charity lacked his substantial aid. His heart b^ 
 nobly in response to the wants of the less favored of his 
 race and that which his heart prompted soon became his 
 deed His munificent endowment of the Asylum for the 
 Blind, even if it had stood alone, instead of merely overtop- 
 ping a crowd of others like it, would have been enough to 
 have preserved his memory; for, in that, the ^aiid which 
 had been filled by an honest enterprise was opened wide by 
 
268 MEMOIR OF 
 
 a cheerful charity, and many an eye that could not see him 
 blessed him. We need not praise him : his deeds do that. 
 
 " May the large place which he has filled in our commu- 
 nity not be left vacant by his departure ; but may his bright 
 example lead others, who, like him, are enabled to rejoice 
 over a prosperous career, to realize, as he did, that the value 
 of wealth is in its proper and beneficent uses ! We will not 
 mourn him ; but we will remember him as an upright mer- 
 chant, a kind friend, a good citizen, an honest man, and an 
 honorable gentleman." 
 
 Mr. S. T. Dana offered, as an additional resolution, the 
 following : — 
 
 " Resolved, That the merchants of Boston vfill attend the funeral services 
 of the late Col. Thomas H. Perkins to-morrow ; and that, during those 
 services, they will close their places of business." 
 
 This, with the other resolutions, was unanimously 
 adopted. 
 
 There being no further business, Mr. Lawrence — with 
 the simple remark, that if ever a man died in this city who 
 deserved to have written on his tombstone, that " the world 
 is the better for his having lived in it," that man was Col. 
 Thomas H. Perkins — declared the meeting dissolved. 
 
 The bells in the city will be tolled from twelve to one ; 
 and owners and masters of ships in the harbor are requested 
 to display their colors at half-mast during the day, 
 
 Althougli private interment is most common now, 
 it seemed inappropriate for one who had filled so 
 large a space in public regard. The funeral service 
 took place at the church of Rev. Dr. Gannett, where 
 he had long worshipped, and was marked by one 
 incident peculiarly touching in its association. The 
 solemn music usual on such occasions was impres- 
 sively performed by a large choir of pupils from the 
 
THOMAS HANDASYD PERKINS. 269 
 
 Perkins Institution for the Blind, who had requested 
 permission to sing the requiem for that friend through 
 whom they enjoy the comforts of their spacious dwell- 
 ing. A further proof of their regard for his memory 
 was seen but lately, in gleams of pleasure lighting 
 their faces on being promised that they should soon 
 listen to this story of his life. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Page 218. 
 
 THE FRENCH CONSCRIPT. 
 
 Since the account was first published in the "Merchants' 
 Magazine," of the release of Jean Beau, the conscript at 
 Morlaix, in the manner related, his godfather, who is still 
 living at an advanced age, has stated that the circumstances 
 were as follows : — 
 
 Col. Perkins having observed the sudden gloom prevail- 
 ing an hour or two after so happy a wedding, and being 
 unwilling, from motives of delicacy, to make inquiries of any 
 of the family, applied to a respectable bookseller, who kept 
 at the next door, to learn what could be the cause of the 
 apparent change from joy, throughout the house, to dismay 
 and o-rief. " And you do not know, then," said the book- 
 seller, " that Jean has drawn the black ball, and must go at 
 once to the army ? " He answered that he had not heard it 
 before, but desired to know what was necessary to be done 
 to obtain a discharge. The bookseller told him that nothing 
 could be done ; that a discharge could not possibly be ob- 
 tained without the payment of a sum of money so large 
 that Madame Beau and all her relatives could not raise half 
 of it in the time required. " But I will see to that," said 
 
274 APPE>fDIX. 
 
 Col. Perkins ; and it was well known in Morlaix, that, mo- 
 destly as he states to Mrs. Perkins his share of the transac- 
 tion in " having put the thing in train/' he paid nearly all 
 the money himself. 
 
 Page 219. 
 
 LETTEE TO J. P. GUSHING, ESQ. 
 
 MISSION TO ■WASHINGTON. 
 
 The " public business in behalf of the State of Massachu- 
 setts," on which Col. Perkins went to Washington in February, 
 1815, had reference to the defence of the eastern frontier and 
 seaboard of the United States in the war with England. It 
 had become necessary to maintain a large force for that pur- 
 pose from the militia, if the war was to be continued ; the 
 troops of the Union being chiefly engaged in attempts on 
 Canada. Direct taxes for the support of the war, very bur- 
 densome in the general derangement of business, had been 
 imposed by Act of Congress, and were likely to be soon very 
 much increased. Under these circumstances, it was recom- 
 mended by a convention of delegates from some of the 
 Eastern States, held at Hartford, Conn., in December, 1814, 
 that application should be made to the Government of the 
 United States, requesting their consent to some arrangement 
 whereby the States exposed might be empowered to assume 
 the defence of their territory against the enemy, and a rea- 
 sonable portion of the taxes collected there might be paid 
 into their respective treasuries, and appropriated to that 
 object. A resolution was adopted, in consequence, by the 
 Legislature of Massachusetts, authorizing a mission to Wash- 
 ington for the purpose of making the request. 
 
 Other measures were recommended by the convention ; 
 but this was the only one leading to any action except such 
 
APPENDIX. 275 
 
 as would necessarily be subject to the jurisdiction of the 
 Supreme Court of the United States, or to the provisions of 
 the Constitution in regard to amendments. 
 
 Col. Perkins was not a member of the Hartford Conven- 
 tion ; but knowing most of the members personally, and 
 having entire confidence in the purity of their motives and 
 their devotion to the union of the States, with great defer- 
 ence for their wisdom, he willingly gave his support to the 
 principal measure thus recommended by them, and accepted 
 a place in the mission to Washington, believing that it would 
 be productive of good to the whole country. 
 
 He was accordingly commissioned, with the Hon. Harrison 
 Gray Otis, and William Sullivan, Esq., to proceed to Wash- 
 ington, " and make respectful and earnest application to the 
 Government of the United States, requesting them to con- 
 sent " to such an arrangement for defence. 
 
 Just after his arrival there, as appears by his letter, news 
 was received that a treaty of peace had been effected ; and 
 any further action became unnecessary. It was his opinion, 
 however, from indications at Washington when he reached 
 there, that, if the commissioners who had been sent to 
 Europe, early in the year preceding, had failed in their nego- 
 tiation for peace, the proposal recommended by the Hartford 
 Convention would have been readily acceded to by the 
 General Government, as the best mode that could be adopted 
 for the further conduct of the war. 
 
 Owing to a concurrence of circumstances at the time, a 
 mistaken and very unfavorable impression in regard to the 
 purposes of that convention prevailed for many years. The 
 subject is now better understood, and bears thorough inves- 
 tigation, without hazard to the character of its members for 
 patriotic attachment to the Constitution and the Union. 
 
 The respect for that body entertained by such a contem- 
 porary as Col. Perkins, is, in itself, historical testimony of 
 some value. He had the best opportunity to form a correct 
 judgment of its character and designs. He seems never to 
 
276 APPENDIX. 
 
 have desired political advancement for himself, and his judg- 
 ment was probably unbiased by any wish for it. Impatience 
 for the return of peace might at first seem likely to pre- 
 dominate with one engaged so largely in foreign commerce 
 as he was ; but it would rather appear, from his correspon- 
 dence, that his establishment in China and other extensive 
 arrangements gave him such peculiar advantages for success 
 during a state of war, when he had few competitors, as 
 left no motive of that nature for assisting in any improper 
 attempt to impede or influence the action of the General 
 Government. 
 
 Page 222. 
 COMMERCIAL LETTERS. 
 
 Boston, Feb. 7, 1795. 
 Mr. Thomas H. Pekkins, Bourdeaux. 
 
 Sir, — We have this day received certain information of the 
 conclusion of a treaty of commerce and navigation between 
 the United States and Great Britain, said to be bottomed on 
 terms of reciprocal advantage. We are also informed that 
 Holland has concluded a separate peace with France, and 
 that we have every reason to suppose that Great Britain will 
 stand alone in the war. If these facts are to be relied on 
 (and we presume they cannot be doubted), the advantages 
 we have long experienced will be continued, if not aug- 
 mented ; new sources will be opened to our commerce ; and 
 the late obstructions in the north of Europe so far removed 
 as to offer a market for our West-India goods, and revive the 
 demand for our navigation. Under these circumstances, I 
 conceive many opportunities for speculation will present 
 themselves during your stay in France ; and my object in 
 writing you at this moment is to urge the importance of 
 
APPENDIX. 277 
 
 your early attention to the advantages which may be derived 
 from the existing state of affairs in Europe. I find several 
 vessels have been advantageously employed in plying be- 
 tween Hamburg, Rotterdam, and France, and that neutral 
 vessels have been permitted a free trade even from England. 
 Williams, who is in our friend H.'s brig " William," has 
 pursued this business to great profit ; and I am very well 
 assured he has, notwithstanding, neglected many very im- 
 portant advantages, and that, in his choice of the articles he 
 has carried from port to port, he has been mistaken, though 
 they have yielded a profit worthy of attention. The " Betsy " 
 will be with you, ere long, with a cargo of rice. This cargo, 
 I conceive, will afibrd capital sufficient to be employed in the 
 pursuance of this object ; and, the vessel being exactly cal- 
 culated for the purpose, you will be enabled, in case of a 
 continuation of the war, to keep her employed to more 
 advantage in Europe than in sufiering her to return here. 
 H. informs me that some articles purchased by Williams 
 have given a profit of one hundred and fifty per cent, and 
 that any person well qualified to pursue this object might 
 render it infinitely productive. You will be enabled to 
 inform yourself on this head ; and, if satisfied of the facts, 
 you will undoubtedly pursue it. For my part, I am so far 
 impressed with its advantages, that I am resolved (if H. will 
 consent) to send the " Dolphin " out to you, that she may be 
 employed while the opportunity exists. 
 
 If you can sell your different cargoes for cash, or sure 
 bills on Hamburg or Amsterdam, I would by all means 
 advise it in preference to trusting to paper, which I observe 
 is depreciating, and which will probably experience the same 
 fate as ours at the close of the war. Many people say, 
 France having obtained her ends, her paper must be better. 
 The success of our contest did not produce this effect ; and 
 we may justly conclude that the same causes will produce 
 the same efiects, whether on this or the other side the At- 
 lantic. My motives for advising your establishing a fund in 
 
278 APPENDIX. 
 
 Holland are bottomed on a conviction that the best specula- 
 tions which can be made will be on the goods carried from 
 the northern ports to the republic, and not on the exports 
 from France, which are at this moment at most extravagant 
 prices, and will probably bear but a small or no profit. By 
 having your specie at either of those places, or in London, 
 you will not be detained to make your sales, but can provide 
 your cargoes for France with greater benefit and despatch. 
 The number of voyages made while the war lasts is certainly 
 an important consideration. Williams has already made seve- 
 ral trips on this plan, and his principal benefit has arisen from 
 the despatch he has made. If you should have a surplusage 
 of funds, you will establish a credit for our drafts in one of 
 the above places,' on which we can undertake new voyages 
 from hence. You will probably hear of the "Delight." 
 She was to take a freight from Hamburg for some part of 
 Europe. I hope you will find employ for her also. 
 
 The *' West Point's " duties become due in twenty days, 
 and of consequence her cargo must be shipped. H. and 
 myself have been looking at a vessel this morning, which 
 we probably shall take and load for Havre. Carter will go 
 in her. Yours, &c. 
 
 Boston, Dec. 8, 1795. 
 Mr. James Bush, London. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I arrived, after a tedious passage, at the port 
 of New York, and, a few days since, at this place ; and I 
 feel sensible it will give you pleasure when I add that my 
 family and friends are well. 
 
 The brigantine " Mary Hughes " was taken by the ship 
 "Assistance," of fifty guns, and sent to Newfoundland. 
 The pretence for restraining her was that she was laden 
 with provisions. How long coffee, which was her only lad- 
 ing, has been thus classed, I know not. She was to sail 
 
APPENDIX. 279 
 
 with convoy for England about the 1st of November. The 
 injury this interruption has been to our property is very 
 great. I hope your exertions will insure us reparation. 
 The captain is furnished with every document necessary : 
 the papers he took from hence are full and exj)licit as to the 
 property, destination, &c 
 
 To fill up the measure of injustice, I have no doubt the 
 captain of the " Assistance " will endeavor to get an order 
 for taking the *' Mary's " cargo at the ten per cent. This 
 you will oppose 
 
 The prospect of a permanent good understanding between 
 your court and the republic, gives me the fullest hopes of a 
 favorable issue to the " Charlotte's " cause. My brother has 
 forwarded to Mr. Bayard a claim of damages for the injury 
 done us in detaining a vessel and cargo at Jamaica under 
 the order of Nov. 6, 1792. The vessel is the same brig 
 " Delight " (though at that time a schooner) of which you 
 already know something. I hope to get the freight due the 
 brig " Delight " also 
 
 Yours, 
 
 T. H. P. 
 
 Boston, Feb. 8, 1796. 
 Mr. James Bush, London. 
 
 Dear Sir, — The above is duplicate of my last to you. 
 We are a long time without any European arrivals, and are 
 anxious to hear from your side the water. You will see, by 
 our papers, how much it is the wish of this Government to 
 live in peace with all the world. A few mad-heads have 
 said much, and their noise has been heard afar ; but they are 
 as impotent as they are desperate, and their ill intentions 
 have already been frustrated. This goes by a vessel of ours 
 with flour for a market in Europe, where, I have but little 
 doubt, it will bring a good price. 
 
 I am, 
 
 T. H. P. 
 
280 APPENDIX. 
 
 Boston, April 15, 1796. 
 Messrs. T. H. Cazenove, Nephew, & Co., London. 
 
 Gentlemen, .... From the cessation of hostilities on 
 the Rhine, we have been led to expect a general peace ; but 
 ■we observe, by your letter of the 6th February, that another 
 campaign will probably take place : indeed, from the exer- 
 tions made in the islands, we presume the war cannot termi- 
 nate the present year. We flatter ourselves our next will 
 advise you that all necessary measures for carrying our 
 pending treaty with Great Britain into effect will be com- 
 pleted, the disorganizers of this country notwithstanding. 
 From the unequalled firmness of our president, we have 
 every thing to hope ; and, from the general good sense of 
 the people, we conceive the Constitution will long remain 
 unshaken by its present enemies. 
 
 We remark with pleasure your approbation of the presi- 
 dent's speech in the opening of Congress. We now enclose 
 you his message to the House in reply to the requisition for 
 the papers relative to the treaty, which, if possible, does him 
 more honor than the former. 
 
 We are, &c. 
 
 Boston, April 30, 1796. 
 Messrs. William & E. Crafts & Co. 
 
 Gentlemen, .... We have daily accounts from Europe 
 of the low prices of American produce in proportion to home 
 prices. We hope you have not speculated deeply in your 
 staple commodities, but have been contented with being the 
 carriers for those who have been full in the faith of the last 
 year's prices in Europe. In consequence of the disposition 
 shown in the House of Representatives of the Union not 
 to grant the supplies for carrying the British treaty into 
 effect, business has been very slack for these two weeks. 
 
APPENDIX. 281 
 
 All new appropriations are entirely suspended. The alarm 
 is very general lest the dearest interests of our country — 
 peace and national honor — should be sacrificed to party- 
 spirit and Antifederalism. The doings of this place, and 
 those in its vicinity, have allayed fears ; and we are full in 
 faith that an appeal to the people will save us from the pre- 
 cipice over which we had like (involuntarily) to have been 
 precipitated. Yours, 
 
 J. & T. H. P. 
 
 Boston, Aug. 4, 1796. 
 Mr. James Bush. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I have none of your letters for a long time 
 past, though I have been in expectation of some to tell me 
 favorable news respecting the causes I am unfortunately 
 interested in at your courts. We — I mean the owners of 
 the " Charlotte " — hope for a favorable termination of her 
 appeal through the commissioners. I was in hopes the 
 freight of the " Delight " would have been awarded her ere 
 now. I send you the speech of Mr. Ames, member of our 
 Congress, on the subject of the appropriation to carry the 
 treaty with Great Britain into effect. I also send one, which 
 please to present to Dr. NichoU with my respectful compli- 
 ments. 
 
 With my most cordial wishes for the health and prosperity 
 of all who interest you, 
 
 * I am, my dear sir, yours, 
 
 T. H. P. 
 
 Boston, Oct. 18, 1796. 
 
 Mr. Joseph Russell, jun., American citizen now in Europe. 
 
 Dear Sir, .... Business in this country is becoming 
 very dull. A great number of vessels are flocking to the 
 American ports which have until this time been employed 
 
 36 
 
282 APPENDIX, 
 
 in Europe and the East Indies. What they will find to do 
 now, we cannot anticipate. American produce is high, — 
 every article of provisions at prices which exceed those 
 quoted in any country we are in correspondence with. Ar- 
 ticles of exports for Europe, which are the growth of the 
 West-India islands, are also at nearly the same prices as in 
 the places they are exported from. Thus you see we have 
 but indifferent prospects of employing our navigation. The 
 East-India voyages have turned out to more profit than any 
 other trading voyages for some time past ; and, we think, will 
 still do well if managed with skill 
 
 We anticipate the pleasure of yet seeing you this way in 
 the spring. We lament the circumstances which have re- 
 tarded your eagerness to revisit your native place, and hope 
 you are persuaded there are yet amongst us those to 
 whom you are very dear. Our young friend* Motier is 
 with our beloved President. He is fostered by this great 
 man, and is considered by him as a son. Frestel is with 
 him. Our T. H. P. was with him at the president's seat in 
 Virginia the past summer. He spoke with much gratitude 
 of your goodness to him and his hapless family. 
 
 With respects to our friends who are with you, believe us, 
 dear Hussell, &c.. Yours, 
 
 J. & T. H. P. 
 
 Boston, Dec. 27, 1796. 
 Mr. Geokge Perkins, Smyrna. 
 
 Sir, — The deranged state of the European trade, conse- 
 quent on the existing war between Great Britain and the 
 continental powers, having opened some new channels for 
 the American commerce in the Mediterranean, and the expe- 
 riments which have been made in those seas exciting a fur- 
 ther spirit of enterprise, we avail ourselves of a conveyance 
 
 * G. W. La Fayette. 
 
APPENDIX. 283 
 
 by way of Naples to mate a few inquiries respecting the 
 commerce of your city. On this subject we have conversed 
 with our friend and your brother, Mr. Thomas Perkins ; but 
 the unfrequent conamunications between Smyrna and this 
 continent have prevented his receiving the necessary informa- 
 tion. The meditated negotiations between these States and 
 the powers of Tunis and Tripoli, we think, will soon remove 
 all impediments between us ; and, if permission for the 
 entry of American vessels can be obtained, we have strong 
 hopes a sufficient incentive to an experimental voyage, at 
 least, may offer. 
 
 We have heard that many of our cargoes of coffee and 
 sugar have been reshipped from Leghorn, Naples, and other 
 ports in the Mediterranean, and have paid a valuable freight 
 at Smyrna. The uncertainty, however, of this fact, and the 
 great loss which might result from a merely speculative 
 essay, render us anxious to obtain certain information of the 
 state of your markets. We will therefore thank you to write 
 us on this head, and inform us if an American vessel would 
 be permitted an entry at your port, and under what restric- 
 tions ; what articles of West and East India produce are in 
 demand at your market, and what prices in English sterling 
 they bear ; what returns suitable for this country can be 
 made, and at what rates. 
 
 An intercourse reciprocally advantageous, we conceive, may 
 be formed between the two countries ; and as the informa- 
 tion we require, and the measures which may result from it, 
 will be for the joint benefit of your brother, Mr. Thomas 
 Perkins, our mutual friends and connections, Stephen Hlg- 
 ginson & Co., and ourselves, we feel a hope that you Avill 
 favor us with your communications as early as possible. 
 They may be addressed to us under cover of Messrs. Thomas 
 DIckason & Co., merchants, London ; or Messrs. Degen & 
 Iwertz, at Naples. 
 
 We are, sir, with respect. 
 
 Yours, &c., 
 
 J. & T. H. P. 
 
284 APPENDIX. 
 
 Boston, June 21, 1799. 
 Mr. Lareinty, Martinique. 
 
 Dear Sir, — We subjoin a copy of our last letter to you, 
 dated 22d April. Since then, we have received yours of 
 21st April. We feel much satisfied with the advice we for- 
 merly gave you as to the disposition of your funds in this 
 country. Such has been the uncertainty with respect to the 
 political situation of America for some time past, that great 
 fluctuations have been experienced in our stocks. Since 
 three months, some particular species of stocks have de- 
 clined eight to ten per cent. 
 
 The present unanimity in our councils gives us confidence 
 that we shall not become altogether the dupes of Mr. Talley- 
 rand. We shall at all times take great pleasure in doing all 
 in our power to secure your interest. We agree to the pro- 
 position that you shall have liberty to retire your funds, 
 giving us a little previous notice as you propose. 
 
 We have all our concerns in the India trade at present, 
 which we find more lucrative than the colonial trade, 
 particularly under the present embarrassment in getting 
 returns We are, &c. 
 
 P. S. — Our T. H. P.'s best regards to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Lareinty. Mrs. Perkins and our children are well, — the 
 present number, four, — who will be all very happy to see 
 you again in America. 
 
 Boston, Nov. 1, 1799. 
 Capt. Stephen Hall, of brig " Sally." 
 
 Sir, — Your brig being now ready for sea, our instructions 
 to you are to proceed from hence, with all possible expedi- 
 tion, to the Pacific Ocean, and touch at such islands as you 
 may think proper for the purpose of taking seals. Kergue- 
 len's Land we think you will do well to stop at first ; and 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 285 
 
 from thence to St. Paul's and Amsterdam, or any other 
 islands you, with Mr. Peron, your chief mate, may think 
 
 best. 
 
 As the success of the voyage depends altogether on your 
 unremitted exertions to procure seals, we do not doubt you 
 will use them on all occasions. We put a great plenty of 
 provisions on board your vessel ; but we calculate upon your 
 making use of fish and seal-flesh occasionally for your people, 
 and that your beef, pork, and bread will be used with the 
 utmost economy. In voyages like that you are now em- 
 barked upon, every thing depends upon harmony and good 
 understanding. Good treatment and tenderness to your 
 crew will do more than can be effected by diff'erent conduct. 
 Mr. Peron is so well acquainted with the sealing business, 
 that we shall not pretend to point out to you the mode of 
 procedure, but leave to you and him to devise and execute 
 your future opeiations. Should you be able to purchase 
 prime seal-skins at one-quarter to one-half a dollar, payable 
 by drafts on us, we authorize your doing it on account of 
 those concerned in the voyage. When you have collected 
 as many skins as may make it an object for you to go to 
 China with them, you will proceed there, and lay out the^ 
 amount they may net in such articles as you may think best, 
 being governed in this by the capital you have to invest. 
 You will recollect, that, unless the price of skins is high in 
 Canton, the expenses in the river will take away all your 
 cargo. You can learn the price at Macao, and be governed 
 accordingly. Should skins be very low in China, as we 
 think probable may be the case, the first eighteen or twenty- 
 four months, it would be best to place the skins in the hands 
 of the American consul, Mr. Snow, at Canton, until a favor- 
 able opportunity for sale arrives, and proceed to the islands 
 again, or go to the North-west Coast for sea-otters, if a favor- 
 able cargo can be had in China. We only intimate these 
 things for your consideration, and leave you to be the judges 
 of carrying them into effect. We depend upon hearing from 
 
286 APPENDIX. 
 
 you as often as opportunities may offer, and on having a cir- 
 cumstantial account of your proceedings. Should we have 
 any vessels bound to China, we shall probably order them 
 to stop at Amsterdam, to visit you, and take your skins to 
 China. As it is probable you may have an opportunity of 
 purchasing skins from persons left on the islands in the 
 Pacific Ocean, it may be necessary to say something on that 
 subject. It is very far from our wishes or intentions that 
 you should on any account purchase skins of any persons 
 left for the purpose of sealing by any vessel which has con- 
 tracted to take off the persons left. It may be (and we have 
 reason to suppose it is the case) that some persons have been 
 left on their own account to collect seal-skins, and are fully 
 empowered to dispose of them ; in which case you will pur- 
 chase them, provided you can make such a bargain as you 
 may think will answer. You can better afford to pay half a 
 dollar for good skins the present season than a quarter of 
 a dollar the next season, provided you can get a sufficient 
 quantity to induce you to go to market with them. The 
 reason of this difference is, that, the next season, there will 
 probably be a great glut of skins in China ; whereas, the 
 present season (or, in other words, in November next, or 
 earlier), the sealers will not have arrived. In all cases, when 
 you purchase skins, you will be well persuaded that the per- 
 sons have a good right to dispose of them ; and they will 
 probably have it in their power to convince you of their 
 property in them. Although we have pointed out to you 
 the objects of the voyage generally, yet we authorize you to 
 make such changes as you and Mr. Peron may think most 
 for the interest of the voyage. We depend much on Mr. 
 Peron's judgment and information in the sealing business, 
 and recommend your consulting him on all occasions. We 
 hope and presume there will be a perfect good understanding 
 between you and Mr. Peron, whom we recommend particu- 
 larly to you as a man who has our confidence, and deserves 
 yours. 
 
APPENDIX. 287 
 
 We again repeat to you the necessity of the most rigid 
 economy in the use of your provisions, particularly of the 
 bread kind. While at the islands, you will be able to eco- 
 nomize in your beef, as you will there find plenty of fish. 
 We think, if you should purchase skins to go to China with, 
 and find them sell well, — that is, if you should get. twenty 
 thousand to thirty thousand, and be able to sell them at one 
 dollar and three-fourths to two dollars each, — you would 
 raise capital sufficient to load the brig with Nankins ; and it 
 would be best to proceed home with them, as you may be 
 nearly as soon at the islands again as the people left would 
 be able to make up a second cargo. 
 
 Should you leave a large party at St. Paul's and Amster- 
 dam, and go to China, we think Mr. Peron's being at the 
 head of it would be important. 
 
 Boston, Nov. 9, 1799. 
 Mr. Samuel G. Perkins, London. 
 
 Dear S., We wrote you the " Eliza " had suc- 
 ceeded on the North-west, and had proceeded to China ; 
 that is, she was about leaving the coast for China. We pre- 
 sume, from the letters which are dated off St. Bias, that she 
 would dispose of her dry-goods for about one hundred per 
 cent advance. The collection of skins exceeded that of 
 Magee in the " Margaret," or Swift in the " Hazard ; " 
 although they were two years, and the " Eliza " ninety days. 
 This is a coup cle hasard rarely to be met with. Should she 
 get safe to China, of which we have but little doubt, she will 
 make a great voyage. 
 
 We are still of opinion the " Russell " had best be de- 
 spatched for Batavia with $40,000, unless she can make a 
 freight here which will net a handsome sum. Indeed, if 
 there is no difficulty in clearing for Batavia fi'om London, 
 there ought to be no question as to sending her forthwith.^ 
 
288 APPENDIX. 
 
 It may be that a freight from London may be had out to 
 Batavia, or that the revolution of Holland is so far com- 
 pleted as that the ship may be loaded at Amsterdam without 
 being implicated with the English. We are, however, of 
 opinion, that the more simple the plan, the better ; and, 
 for this reason, we prefer the voyage direct to Batavia and 
 home. If two hundred tons could be procured for China, 
 on freight, and the freight paid there, it would be best to 
 send her perhaps to Canton, in preference to anywhere else ; 
 and, in this case, the proceeds of freight out, and our own 
 stock, could be invested in Nankins, and brought home. 
 All these things are matters of calculation, and you must 
 decide upon them. 
 
 The " Massachusetts " goes to Batavia direct, with $80,000, 
 The other voyage is too speculative and uncertain. We shall 
 occasionally drop you a line, and hope the return of the 
 " Minerva " will see you once more with us. 
 
 God bless you ! 
 
 Boston, Nov. 9, 1799. 
 Mr. Joseph Marryat, London. 
 
 Sir, — We have written to Mr. Samuel Perkins on the 
 subject of the destination of the ship " Thomas Russell," 
 and give you an extract of our letter to him herewith. 
 Should no difficulty present to oppose our plan of sending 
 the ship to Batavia, we wish $40,000 put into her for that 
 place. 
 
 We fear there will not be arrangements made with Hol- 
 land which will authorize the projected voyage from thence 
 to Batavia; and we are induced, upon reflection, to adopt 
 the plan just mentioned, as the most eligible one to be pur- 
 sued. We rely on your kind interference and aid in getting 
 the ship to sea upon the most economical plan. 
 
 We are, &c. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 289 
 
 Boston, Dec. 30, 1799. 
 Mr. Samuel G. Perkins, London. 
 
 Dear Sir, — We now send you a triplicate of our last. A 
 recent arrival from India brings accounts of the Government 
 of the Isle of France having declared war against us, and 
 that several vessels have sailed from thence to cruise against 
 our commerce. This very much alarms us; and we are 
 concerned for the fate of all our vessels in those seas. We 
 cannot suppose the "Russell" is still with you. Should 
 she have been detained by any cause until this gets to hand, 
 if bound to Batavia, let her go through the Straits of Lom- 
 bok ; or, if going to China, let her go round the south 
 cape of New Holland. Sever and Preble, in the frigates 
 " Congress " and " Essex," sail for the Straits in a few days. 
 They will, however, be too late to protect those vessels which 
 will be on the return from Batavia and China in the spring. 
 We have no news in the political line. The General Go- 
 vernment now is, and the State Governments as they get in 
 session are, making arrangements to pay honor to the memory 
 
 of the man whom the world delighted to honor 
 
 Hoping soon to hear from you. We are, &c. 
 
 Boston, May 24, 1800. 
 
 Messrs. Henry Jackson and Joseph Tilden. 
 
 Sirs, ' — Herewith you have invoice and bill lading (duly 
 attested) of the cargo on board the ship " Thomas Russell," 
 Henry Jackson, master, for the sole account and risk of the 
 owners of said ship, and which goes to your address jointly. 
 You will proceed from hence direct to Malaga, and, on your 
 arrival there, inform yourselves of the state of the markets 
 in the Mediterranean ; and if, on investigation, you should 
 find your cargo will sell at that place for such prices as may 
 
 37 
 
290 APPENDIX. 
 
 be preferred to further hazard, you will there dispose of the 
 whole. 
 
 If, on the contrary, you may be convinced, from minute 
 inquiry and calculation, that it will be most expedient to 
 proceed further up, — say to Barcelona (Genoa, if open for 
 American ships), Leghorn, Naples, Smyrna, or any ports 
 between those and Trieste, — you will conduct accordingly ; 
 taking care, in all instances, to estimate the expenses of 
 detention, extra premium, wages, &c. From your own 
 knowledge of the trade of the Mediterranean, you will be 
 enabled to judge of those markets where your teas, Nankins, 
 and light articles will answer best ; and we would recom- 
 mend your embracing the first good opportunity to dispose 
 of this part of your cargo. Your coffee, sugar, and cocoa 
 being (more or less) in demand at every port, they will, of 
 course, govern your movements above Leghorn, and will 
 alone be an object for you to proceed beyond that place. 
 Having disposed of your cargo, you will convert the amount 
 into Spanish dollars, with which you will proceed direct to 
 Calcutta, and there invest the whole amount in such articles 
 as you may think best calculated for this market from the 
 memorandum furnished you, and return with this cargo 
 direct to Boston. If it should so happen that you cannot 
 procure dollars in the Mediterranean, and you can obtain well- 
 indorsed bills on London, you may proceed to Lisbon, and 
 there dispose of those bills for specie. In case it should be 
 necessary, for the satisfaction and security of the purchasers 
 of your bills, to receive our guaranty of their payment, we 
 authorize you to use the names of the owners to that effect. 
 We shall furnish you with a power of attorney, and letters 
 to respectable houses in that place, to facilitate your opera- 
 tions. Vessels have obtained freights, on advantageous 
 terms, to go from the ports in the Mediterranean to Lisbon, 
 London, and other ports within the Straits ; which would be 
 quite an object for the vessel, in case you are obliged to go 
 out of the Straits to look for dollars. "We should recommend 
 
APPENDIX. 291 
 
 your selling at a good profit, whenever you may find it, in 
 preference to going in search of extravagant mai'kets, parti- 
 cularly if specie can be got in payment. You will be able 
 to get advices of the state of the markets generally in the 
 Mediterranean on your arrival at Malaga. Selling at one of 
 the first ports will very much facilitate your voyage, and 
 lessen expenses. Those are calculations which you must 
 make on the spot, the ultimate object of your voyage being 
 the purchase of a cargo in Calcutta ; and the speedy conver- 
 sion of your present lading into dollars must be a governing 
 object in your operations. 
 
 Relying on your discretion, and having stated to you the 
 general plan of the voyage, we leave you to exercise your 
 judgment in its management; not doubting that your mea- 
 sures will be taken for the best interest of the concerned. 
 In case of taking a freight, you will take the earliest oppor- 
 tunity of communicating your destination ; and we beg you 
 to write us as often as you have an opportunity which pro- 
 mises safety to your letters, although it may be circuitous. 
 We agree to allow you five per cent upon the sales in the 
 Mediterranean over and above the commission you will be 
 obliged to pay to the merchant you may employ to do your 
 business. This commission is to be divided between you as 
 follows : Three per cent, or three-fifths, to Capt. H. Jackson ; 
 and two per cent, or two-fifths, to Mr. Tilden. We also allow 
 you five per cent for laying out the money arising from your 
 cargo and invested at Calcutta, and to be divided in the same 
 pi'oportions. Capt. Jackson is allowed five per cent privilege 
 in the ship, estimated upon what she carries under deck. To 
 Mr. Tilden we allow three tons privilege. Should you go as 
 far as Trieste, you will deliver the letters we enclose you for 
 Messrs. John & George D'Isay of that place ; and if, upon 
 inquiry, you are satisfied that they can do your business 
 upon as good terms as any other house, and that their repu- 
 tation for solidity and fidelity is well established, you will 
 give them the preference. For aiding you to transact your 
 
292 APPENDIX. 
 
 business, you will have the names of many houses at the 
 ports where you may probably fall in ; of all which you will 
 be the best judges on the spot. Perhaps better information 
 can be had of the reputation of a house at another port than 
 the one of its establishment, where persons, from motives 
 of interest, are sometimes led to blast the reputation of an- 
 other, to enable them to establish their own on the ruin of 
 those they have traduced. You will return quadruplicate 
 certificates for the landing your present cargo, being particu- 
 lar as to packages. You are furnished with memoranda for 
 a return cargo from Calcutta, which will preclude the neces- 
 sity of our saying any thing on the subject. We feel so much 
 impressed with the idea that a perfect good understanding 
 will prevail between you, that we think it almost unnecessary 
 to mention that mutual communication in every thing which 
 concerns the voyage is important. Mr. Parsons is to have 
 two tons privilege. You will avoid touching at Gibraltar, 
 that port being blockaded, but proceed direct to Malaga. 
 Oifend no law of either of the belligerent powers ; and re- 
 collect that it is important strictly to observe a conduct 
 perfectly neutral, and break no acts of trade. 
 
 It being impossible for us to provide for contingent events, 
 we finally leave you to exercise your discretion if it should 
 be necessary to deviate from the letter of instruction ; and, 
 wishing you success in your operations, we are, in behalf of 
 the owners of the ship " Thomas Russell," 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 Boston, Oct. 16, 1800. 
 Wel Edel Herr Siburg, Batavia. 
 
 Sir, — Since writing the letter of the 7th, of which we 
 have the honor to annex a copy, we have received letters 
 from Capt. Hutchings, who informs us he has some expecta- 
 tions of going to Japan in the service of the Dutch East- 
 
APPENDIX. 293 
 
 India Company. This is very gratifying to us, as we are in 
 hopes, from this intercourse, to be preferred in furnishing 
 the annual ship to Japan from Batavia. We repeat that we 
 shall be ready to provide a ship of such force and capacity 
 as may be thought most appropriate to the service for which 
 she is wanted. It would be highly gratifying to us to be 
 useful to you in this country. We have nothing very inte- 
 resting of a political nature of which to advise you. It was 
 the general opinion, both in this country and in Europe, that 
 a pacification would take place in the course of the coming 
 winter. From some circumstances which have transpired 
 from the cabinets of the belligerent powers, within a short 
 time, all hope of peace has for the present vanished. When 
 this much-wished-for event will take place, it is impossible 
 to calculate with any degree of precision. 
 
 We are, &c. 
 
 Boston, Oct. 16, 1800. 
 Mr. R. B. Forbes, New York. 
 
 Dear Sir, — We understand the United States frigate 
 ** New York," Capt. Morris, is destined for Batavia ; and we 
 enclose letters which we wish to have forwarded by that 
 ship to Capt. Hutchings, &c. It is possible the frigate may 
 arrive before the " Massachusetts " leaves Batavia for home. 
 Hutchings, we understand, took a freight for Japan. This 
 is the report of a captain who has arrived here from Batavia. 
 A letter from Hutchings mentions his expectations of doing 
 this ; but, when he wrote, it was not completed. He was to 
 have 1100,000 for the run. We expect he will not leave 
 Batavia until late in January, or early in February. We also 
 send you a letter to Mr. Peter Peron, who was landed, by 
 our brigantine " Sally," at the Island of St Paul's, which 
 lies in the route to Batavia, and which island is generally 
 run for by vessels bound to the Straits of Sunda. There 
 
^294 APPENDIX. 
 
 are eight men with Peron, and eight men on the Ishmd of 
 Amsterdam, which lies about fifteen leagues to the south- 
 ward of St. Paul's ; so that the object would be answered if 
 the letter could be put on either, as we presume they have 
 the means of communicating with each other. Capt. Hall's 
 letters were unfortunately lost; so that we are uncertain if 
 his return home was originally intended when he left the 
 islands, or whether it grew out of circumstances which trans- 
 pired at Batavia. At any rate, it would be highly gratifying 
 to us to let them know our intention of sending a vessel to 
 take them off. We hear they are well supplied with pro- 
 visions for two years. If it should not be inconvenient to 
 Capt. Morris to let his boat put this letter on shore, as he 
 passes the island, he would very much oblige us, and serve 
 his countrymen who are in those desert islands in a high 
 degree. It would not detain his ship more than a couple of 
 hours. Please to call on him, with our respects, and request 
 this favor of him. "VVe hope soon to hear of your safe arri- 
 val chez vous. Our regards at home. 
 
 We are, &c. 
 
 Boston, Dec. 4, 1813. 
 Messrs. Perkins & Co., Canton. 
 
 Gentlemen, — You will hear from us particularly and 
 generally ; but, that nothing may escape us, we take notice 
 of any thing that strikes us at the moment, and make a 
 record of it, that it may not be omitted in our general 
 
 letters 
 
 - We shall not be surprised to find the war continue a year 
 or two longer. Much will depend on European events. If 
 the allies are successful, our rulers may be more disposed to 
 meet Great Britain upon terms that are attainable. A fast 
 ship, belonging to ourselves and others, will be with you. 
 You must not keep her long in port ; though it would not be 
 
APPENDIX. ^^^ 
 
 best to buy her teas in anticipation of her arrival. We hope 
 you speculated in sea-otter skins : none can go down from 
 the North-west Coast to lower the market. No vessels can 
 be fitted from hence. It is said the British have sent frigates 
 to the coast of Peru. If so, they will go to the islands, and 
 our vessels in that quarter will be in danger. 
 
 Boston, Jan. 1, 1S14. 
 Messrs. Perkins & Co., Canton. 
 
 .... We shall send a couple of fast schooners to Manilla, 
 in all probability. We presume there is no difficulty in 
 landing a cargo of teas there, to be exported, and without 
 duty. This you must ascertain through some of the Spanish 
 residents at Canton or Macao. What would a cargo of Congo 
 tea cost, — say three thousand chests, which would load the 
 " Levant," worth now, short price, $250,000, and cost say 
 $36,000 ? Coming round Cape Horn, and arriving on the 
 coast in winter, she would stand a good chance of getting 
 in. We should be willing to try it, and hazard one-half, if 
 
 Honqua would take the other 
 
 You say a cargo laid in at Canton would bring three for 
 one in South America, and your copper would give two 
 prices back. Thus, $30,000 laid out in China would give 
 you .$90,000 in South America ; one-half of which, laid out 
 in copper, would give one hundred per cent, or $90,000 ; 
 making $135,000 for $30,000. 
 
 60,000 pounds indigo, even at 80 cents $48,000 
 
 120 tons sugar, at $60 '" 
 
 FiU up with cotton, or some other light freight, say skin tea . . 20,00 
 
 $75,000 
 
 would be worth here $400,000, and not employ the profits of 
 the voyage to South America. Manilla sugar is worth $400 
 to $500 per ton clear of duty. The ship should be flying 
 
296 APPENDIX. 
 
 light, her bottom in good order, the greatest vigilance used 
 on the passage, and make any port north of New York. 
 Perhaps those on the eastern shore are easiest of access. 
 There would be no very great chance but in the winter. 
 We should not be surprised if the British send some frigates 
 to the South-American coast, as one of our ships has been 
 there ; but yet the danger cannot be very great of going to 
 
 a single port 
 
 In times like these, the resources of the head must make 
 up for the limited state of trade. We have been fortunate 
 in getting home our property from abroad, except what is in 
 Canton ; and that we think in good hands, under your care. 
 We shall perhaps add to this. If the Chinese act with 
 spirit, the supercargoes will prevent capture above Macao. 
 This must be all-important. If not stopped at Macao, we 
 think we shall see some other vessels alonff. 
 
 Boston, Jan. 6, 1814. 
 To THE SAME. 
 
 Gentlemen, — We have good grounds of hope that the 
 present year will restore this country to a state of peace. 
 Teas have risen to enormous prices, but are now declining. 
 We hope that you may have bought a few thousand chests, 
 for the European market, when they were low 
 
 Teas will rise with you immediately after a knowledge 
 of peace takes place. Many voyages will be undertaken 
 after the war, and the country will be again flooded with 
 teas 
 
 Although we believe in peace, that event is not certain. 
 A light load of Congo and Hyson teas would bear a war- 
 risk, and would do well in peace. If Honqua would load 
 half the ship with a cargo purposely for the European 
 market, — say black teas of two or three years old, and 
 bought low, — and you can see your way clear out of the 
 
APPENDIX. ^^ ' 
 
 river, and in a good sailing vessel, — say the " Levant," — 
 letting her go by way of Cape Horn, and calculate to reach 
 the coast in December or January, making the first port on 
 our eastern coast, our belief is that the ship will find us at 
 peace ; and, if not, prices will be so high as to warrant the 
 
 operation 
 
 The North of Europe will be bare of teas ; and the first 
 vessel which may arrive there after peace, and with only 
 peace charges on her, will make a brilliant voyage. In all 
 cases, they should call here for orders. Mr. Williams will 
 write you what to expect 
 
 Boston, Jan. 12, 1814. 
 
 To THE SAME. 
 
 We have already written you by this conveyance ; since 
 which, circumstances have arisen which authorize an expec- 
 tation that peace between this country and Great Britain will 
 certainly take place in the course of the present year. Your 
 calculations, therefore, may be made, with a great degi-ee of 
 certainty of their being realized upon a basis of an unmter- 
 rupted trade. 
 
 Boston, July 15, 1814. 
 
 To THE SAME. 
 
 .... The power of France in Europe has been nearly 
 overthrown. Her armies have been driven before the allied 
 powers, and forced to recross the Rhine. All Germany is 
 already, or soon will be, in league against her. The Hanse 
 towns and Holland will no doubt be relieved from their 
 shackles ; and it is confidently hoped and believed that the 
 balance of power in Europe will again be restored. A mes- 
 senger has recently arrived in this country, offering, in the 
 name of the Prince Regent, propositions for concluding a 
 
298 APPENDIX. 
 
 peace between this country and Great Britain. Under all 
 circumstances, we regard it as a thing beyond a doubt that 
 an adjustment of differences must follow. The President 
 has accepted the overture ; and ministers will immediately be 
 named to treat at Gottenburg. 
 
 A final settlement, such as will enable us to navigate in 
 safety, may be protracted, by the diplomatic habits of our 
 Government, to the ensuing autumn. It may be concluded 
 sooner. All will depend on the complete prostration of 
 Bonaparte. God grant that this obstacle may not long in- 
 tervene ! How far we shall, in time of peace, be permitted 
 to pursue our former commerce, is a question difficult to 
 decide. Great Britain has neither affection nor respect for 
 us. Her interest will guide in relation to her future stipu- 
 lations. When she can, consistently with her own rights, 
 restrict us, she will naturally do so 
 
 The duties on all merchandise were doubled on the break- 
 ing out of the war, and are to be continued so until twelve 
 months after a peace with Great Britain. Of course. Hyson 
 tea pays 64 cents per pound ; Young Hyson Skin, 40 cents ; 
 Souchong, Campoi, and Congo, 24 cents. The ship " Sally " 
 arrived safely in our bay without knowing of the war. Two 
 British frigates were off this harbor. She received advice 
 from a fishing-boat, and ran into Plymouth. The cargo was 
 all brought by land to Boston 
 
 Boston, May 6, 1814. 
 
 To THE SAME. 
 
 .... Since the sailing of these vessels (19th January), 
 the events which we had anticipated have been gradually 
 developing. Ministers were appointed to treat with Great 
 Britain at Gottenburg. They sailed from New York towards 
 the end of February, furnished, as we are taught to believe, 
 with full power to conclude a peace with that power. No 
 
APPENDIX. ^^^ 
 
 advice of their arrival has yet reached us. If there existed 
 strong inducements, when we last wrote you, to put an end 
 to this ruinous war, there are now more urgent reasons lor 
 its termination, foreign as well as domestic. The alhed 
 powers have been extending and uniting their forces. Hoi- 
 land is in possession of the Dutch. Denmark has thrown 
 off the manacles of France, and formed a treaty with Great 
 Britain, and has joined in the war against her former tyrant. 
 All Germany, and the other Northern powers, are now pour- 
 in- their armies into the heart of France. Two hundred and 
 fifty thousand men, under the most able generals, were 
 opposing the remains of the French forces, at the last dates 
 (say 1st March), within forty miles of Pans 
 
 [The same letter.] ^lay ^4. 
 
 We learn, since we began this letter, that the allies 
 are in possession of Paris. Bourdeaux is in the hands of 
 Lord Wellington; and the white flag is now flying m that 
 part of France. The Duke of Angouleme is with Lord 
 Wellington, and is well received by the French, who ac- 
 knowledge their joy on the occasion. Mr. Ammidon will 
 give you the particulars. A peace must soon follow these 
 events, both in Europe and in this country 
 
 Boston, Nov. 17, 1814. 
 
 To THE SAME. 
 
 We hear that the " Jacob Jones " went safely into 
 Canton, 'and presume she may be despatched before the river 
 is blockaded. In such case, she ought to be here at the time 
 appointed, unless captured. Our coast is closely invested, 
 and the hazard of getting in very imminent. Some insur- 
 
>00 APPKNDIX. 
 
 auce has been done on her, owing to her beinq; a war-buiU 
 vessel, and having the reputation of a smfi sailer, at 
 fifty per cent ; but very little can be had. We have 
 only $8,000 written at present, and fear we shall not be 
 able to etfect more, by safe men, even at that. Vessels 
 built before the war cannot be insured at seventy-five per 
 cent, which premium has been given on prizes taken near 
 this coast and ordered in. Owing to the decline of public 
 credit' consequent on a continuance of the war, and the 
 many failures which have taken place, it is extremely difli- 
 cult to effect sales of any sort, except for immediate con- 
 sumption ; and those ai'e made only for cash, no one being 
 inclined to sell on credit at this critical juncture. Under 
 these circumstances, we can ill afford to pay a high premium 
 and double duties. 
 
 'We are yet unable to say when you may look for a termi- 
 nation of the war. Our negotiations at Ghent have been 
 suspended ; but reports say they are again renewed. It is 
 possible that peace may take place in the spring, but not 
 probable, unless the embarrassments and ruined credit of 
 our Government shall oblige them to aceept the terms Great 
 Britain may ofier. ISIr. AVilliams will be able to give you 
 better data than we can, on this side the Atlantic, to judge 
 the result that may follow. Europe is still in a state of agi- 
 tation ; and a war between France and Great Britain may be 
 renewed. I'ublic funds here (six per cent) are down to 
 sixty-five, and growing worse. Nothing but peace can 
 prevent an utter downfall of governmental credit and 
 means 
 
 "We have no expectation that the duties will be reduced 
 for several years, if at all. Keep the " Levant " safe in port 
 till yoii hear of peace. Then she may do well with black 
 teas for European markets. 
 
APPKNDIX. 
 
 301 
 
 Feb. 14, 1%15. 
 To THE 3AME. 
 
 Yesterday, an express arrived, saying that pear;e ^m con- 
 cluded between the commissioners at Ghent and the British 
 Government on the 26th December la-st, and that the treaty 
 had arrived at New Ywk by a special messenger, and was 
 sent immediately to Washington, accompanied by a British 
 diplomatic character. All this is true. It is now probably 
 before the Government, and will no doubt be ratified in a few 
 days. The terms we know nothing of, — probably the re- 
 storation of all territorial acquisitions on both sides ; the same 
 state in which our relations stood before the war ; with some 
 new stipulations respecting the security of the frontiers 
 
 Before this vessel sails (the schooner from Philadelphia), 
 we presume peace will be proclaimed- Our T. H. P. is now 
 at Washington, as one of the commissioners sent by this 
 State to treat with the General Government respecting its 
 af^irs. He will no doubt write you 
 
 March I&, 1815. 
 To THE 3AME, 
 
 .... It has been remarked that the return of peace 
 generally brings with it more mercantile embarrassments 
 than the first year of a war ; and the reason is obvious. 
 Having been long restrained from their accustomed trade, all 
 classes of men are led into speculations without calculating 
 the result, hoping that chance may enable them to retrieve 
 lost time. This will be the case now ; and you must expect 
 to see evidence of it in the adventures you will see in China. 
 
302 APPENDIX. 
 
 Boston, June 7, 1815. 
 
 To THE SAME. 
 
 Gentlemen, — - Letters are received in town from Holland, 
 stating that teas are interdicted in that country, unless under 
 the authority of a newly established company, which has 
 extended to it the special privilege of exclusive trade to 
 China. 
 
 We have no letters so late as those in question, which are 
 dated 10th April. This arrangement must have been made 
 under the expectation that Europe was to remain in peace, 
 and incipient measures taken before the bold steps of Napo- 
 leon were known. Upon the issue of the struggle, which 
 has ere this begun, to put down the power of this extraordi- 
 nary man, will depend the mercantile arrangements of France, 
 Holland, Sweden, &c. So long as they are at issue with 
 France, the Northern powers will be very wary, and not put 
 their property on the ocean, lest some of them should again 
 be compelled to wear the tri-colored cockade, and be forced 
 into a war with Great Britain. It is our opinion that such 
 will not be the issue of the contest. If Russia, Austria, and 
 Prussia act with good faith to each other, and Great Britain 
 enters heartily into the plan of putting down the dynasty of 
 Bonaparte, though much blood would be spilt, yet the allies 
 will eventually succeed. Were there any reliance to be 
 placed on the promises of Bonaparte, it is probable the 
 Bourbons would be left to mourn the loss of the throne, and 
 the power of Napoleon would be left undisturbed : but, from 
 past experience, no reliance can be placed on him ; and he 
 would only remain at peace to enable himself more effectu- 
 ally to carry on a war of conquest and ambition. It may 
 take some time to effect the destruction of the French power 
 under the new order of things ; and, so long as the struggle 
 continues, so long will commercial regulations be unstable 
 on the continent 
 
APPENDIX. 303 
 
 Boston, July 10, 1815. 
 
 To THE SAME. 
 
 .... You will be surprised to find that we have no 
 advice of hostilities in France. Reports up to the 1st June 
 say the " dreadful note of preparation " is not yet complete, 
 but that an early, if not an immediate, conflict must take 
 place, — a conflict which must exterminate the power of 
 Bonaparte, or degrade all Europe. We conceive his fate 
 almost certain. If he moves, he will draw on him the united 
 forces of Great Britain and the Continental powers. At any 
 rate, they will not suffer him to reign. For their own future 
 safety, they must annihilate his power. We have been long 
 without letters from England. Many vessels are hourly 
 expected, which will probably give us important informa- 
 tion 
 
 BosTox, Aug. 19, 1815. 
 
 To THE SAME. 
 
 .... The last accounts from Europe give us the strongest 
 grounds of hope that there will be long peace on the other 
 side the water, and on this side of course. Napoleon having 
 been annihilated, root and branch, we think there will be no 
 more war between France and the other hostile powers ; 
 though it seems highly probable that they may have some 
 domestic throat-cutting. If we are correct in our conjecture, 
 and the Continental powers should feel such security in their 
 situation as to induce their people to enter extensively into 
 manufactures, they may reduce the benefit on China silks. 
 Yet there is such an advantage on the part of China, from 
 the low price of raw silk, and even from the price of labor, 
 that we do not think that either the Italians or French can 
 come in competition with the Chinese in those manufac- 
 tures 
 
304 APPENDIX. 
 
 Oct. 4, 1815. 
 To THE SAME. 
 
 .... It seems that the price of raw silk, and the diminu- 
 tion of working hands, both in France and Italy, have made 
 a very considerable rise in the article of silk manufactures, 
 ■which must continue for some time, until the raising of silk- 
 worms can be increased, and workmen be taught the busi- 
 ness. Even at the high price of silks in France and Italy, 
 they would bring two for one in this market. Three years 
 of war, and twice that number of restriction upon commerce, 
 had made our people very rigidly economical ; and they 
 bought only what was necessary, not what was luxurious. 
 In place of a silk gown or pelisse, they purchased cotton for 
 the first, and dispensed with the last altogether. So with 
 tea. Although they did not wholly forego it, they were 
 careful in the use of it ; and now, to make up for lost time, 
 they feel as if they may indulge in the fashions of the city, 
 and gratify their palates with the beverage of the East. This 
 being the case, it will take a long time to overstock the mar- 
 ket with silks ; though, from the quantity of teas on hand 
 when the war began, the importations since, and the economy 
 spoken of in the use of it during the war, we think the spring 
 ships will cause a great fall of it in the market 
 
 THE END. 
 
«